Frank B. Willis to Charles W. Chesnutt, 8 May 1922
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United States Senate,
COMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION.
LE BARON B. COLT, R. I., CHAIRMAN.
WILLIAM P. DILLINGHAM, VT.
THOMAS STERLING, S. DAK.
HIRAM W. JOHNSON, CALIF.
HENRY W. KEYES, N. H.
FRANK B. WILLIS, OHIO.
WILLIAM E. CROW, PA.
WILLIAM H. KING, UTAH.
WILLIAM J. HARRIS, GA.
PAT HARRISON, MISS.
THOMAS E. WATSON, GA.
HENRY M. BARRY, CLERK.
May 8, 1922.
Dear Mr. Chesnutt:
I have your letter in re conditions in Haiti. As you may know a Senate Committee has recently visited Haiti and investigated conditions. This Committee has not yet completed and filed its report and it is probable the resolutions you mention can not be passed upon till this Committee completes its work.1 This matter will have my most careful attention from a viewpoint most friendly to Haitian independence and welfare.
Yours very truly, Frank B. Willis Mr. Chas. W. Chesnutt, 1105 Williamson Bldg., Cleveland, Ohio.Correspondent: Frank Bartlett Willis (1871–1928) was a White Republican politician from Ohio. Trained as a lawyer, he served in the Ohio House (1900–1904) before becoming a U.S. Congressman (1911–1915) and then governor of Ohio (1915–1917). From 1921 to 1928 he represented Ohio in the U.S. Senate, where he served alongside his Democratic rival, Atlee Pomerene, for the first two years.
1. In July 1915, U.S. forces invaded Haiti after the collapse of the Haitian government. Although initial resolutions to investigate had failed in both houses of Congress, in July 1921 the Senate passed a resolution and a committee was formed. Following hearings between August 1921 and June 1922, it eventually concluded that the occupation should continue. The official records of the hearings appeared in two parts, and those from October to early November 1921 served as the basis of Ernest Angell's brief shared with Chesnutt and others. [back]
