Star.
London, England, 1827-01-29 00:00:00

HAITIAN PROCLAMATION.

FELLOW CITIUNS—You will easily conceive that
agriculture is the support cf Government, since it ir the
foundation of commerce and wealth, the source of arts
/and indostty; it keeps everybody 'employed, as being
the mechanism of all trades ; and from rhtf moment that
/every individual becomes useful, it create: public tran-
quaky ; disturbances -disappear, together wills idleness,
by which they are commonly generated. and army one
peaceably etijoys the fruits of his industry.
Officers, civil and military, that it what yen OW 4 aim
at ; such is the plan toile adopted which I prescribe to
you ; and I declare in the most peremptory: manner,
that it shall be enforced. My country demand: this
salutary step; I am bound to it by my- cffice, and the
sent ity of our liberties demands it imperiously.
Considering that the soldier (who has sacred duties
to perfot in, as being the safeguard of the people, and
in perpetual activity, to execute the orders of his chief,
.ither for maintaining interior tranquillity, or for fight-
ing abroad the enemies of the county)) is striotly subor-
dinate to his superior officers; and' as it is of great im-
portance that overseers, drivers, and field nerves, who
in like manner have their superiors, should conduct
themselves as officers, non-commissioned officers, and

soldiers, in whatever may concern them:
Clnsidering that, when an officer, non-commissioned
officer, or a soldier, deviates from his duty, he is de-
livered over to a Court-martial, to be tried and punished
according to the laws of the Republic (for in military
service no rank is to be (avowed sylvan guiby); the
overseers, drivers, and fild negroes, as subject to con-
stant labour, and equally subordinate to their superiors,
shall be punished in like manner, in case of failure in
their respective duties.
Whereas a soldier cannot leave his company, his
battalion, or half brigade, and enter into another, with-
out the severest punishment, unless provided with a
permission in due form from hii Chief; field negroes
are forbidden to quit their respective plantations with•
out a lawful permission: this is by no means attended
to, since they change theih place of labour as they
please, go to and fro, and pay not the least attention to
agriculture, though the only means of furnishing ins •
tenance to the military, their protectors; they even
I conceal themselves in towns, in villages, and monn.-
tains,.where, allured by the enemies of good order,
they live by plunder, and in a state of open hostility to
society. . _

Whereas, since the revolution, labourers of both fetes,
then too young to be employed in the field, refuse to go
to it now, under pretext of freedom, spend their time
in wandering about, and give a bed example to the other
cultivators; while, on the other hand, the Generale,
Officers, non-commissioned Officers, and eoldiers, are in

,a state of constant activity to maintainlbe sacred righ •
of the people.
And whereas, My proclamation to the people of St:
Domingo was calculated to establish an onifornesystela
of incessant and laborious industry ;at the sante time eft
it required from all the citizens indiscriminittalpi
co-
operation of cultivators, soldiers, and civil poweeii
necessary for the restoration of St. Domingo ; it being
therefore my determination that the abovementiona
.Proclamation should be carried into full effect, and that
'the abases now in practice amongst the labourers should
be at an end, from the publication of this present regu-
lation, I do most peremptorily order as follows I
Art. I. AR overseers, drivers. and held regrets, are bound to
ob-
sisrve,with exactness. eubeniedea and obedience, side duty, in the
same manner as soldiers.
Art. 2. All overseers, drivers, and Bea labourers, who will not
perform With assiduity the dudes reqd!red eff them, dial' be arrested
and pinislaid as severely as soldiers deviating (nen their duty ; after
which punifbment, if the offender be all overseer, be shall be enlist.
ed in one of the regiments of the army of St. Domingo; if a driver,
he shall be dismissed from his employment, and placed among the
field degrees, without ever being permitted to act as a driver again;
and if a common labourer, be shall be punished with the same 'eve-
rity as a private soldier, according to his guilt.
Art. 3. All field labourers, men and women, now in a state isf
idleness, living in towns, village,, and on other plantations than these
to which they belong, with an intention to evade work, even elope
of bush testes, who have not been employed in Geld bboter sinlindes
reveledea, are required to return immediately to their yespesedeo.
plantations, if. in the course of eight dap from the prmnidgation of
thle present regulation, they shall not produce sufficient proof to the
attlimanding dicers in the pieces of their residence, of their having
Minn useful ereupation or means of livelihood; but it is to toe
danteod, that being a servant is not to be considered as an. ; in consequence whereof those amongst the labourers
who Lave quitted the* plantations, in order to hire sheasselvet,
AIA return thereto ander the personal responsibility cif those With
Whoa Sty rive In that capacity. By die terms, " tteefil ship
Alas; Is meant what enables a nun so pay a coatribeiss
the State.
Art. 4. This measure' indispensable to die public welfare, poiti
dvely prescribes to all those of either sea that are not labourers,*
produce the proofs of their` having an necipition or 'prefirselon .416
dent to gain their livelihood, and that they can afford te pay a can.
tribution to the Republic ; otherwise and in default thereof, all
those who shall be found in contravention hereto, shall be instantly
*rested, and if they are found guilty, they shill be draughted Inter'
'bre of the regiments of the ariny ; if lobe, they shall be*nt to the
field, and compelled to work. This measure, which is strictly
enforced, will put a step to the idle habit of wandering about, since '
it will oblige every one to be usefully employed.
Att..s. Parents are earnestly entreated to attend to their duty
toward/ children, which is, to mike them good citizens; for that
purpose they must instruct them in 'geed morals, in the Christian
religion, arid in the fear of Goo; above all, ezeinsive of this educe.,
non, they must be brought up in some specific business err prefer.,
don, to enable them not only to earn their living, but also to con.
tribute to the reprises of the. Government.
Art. 6. All perms rending in town, and village., *be shall
harbour labourers of either sex, all ,proprietors or tenants, who
shall suffer on their plantations labourers belonging to other estates,
without immediately making it known to the Commandant of the
district, or other military Officers, .in the places of their residence
shall pay a fine of 200,300, or 400 dere., according to the abilities
of the delinquent; in case of repetition of the offence' they shall
pay three times as much; if the fine cannot)* levied for wantof
effects, the utiender shall be imprisoned for a month, and in case of '
repetition, for three months.

Art. 7. The overseers and drivers of every plantation shell make
It their business to inform the Commanding (Alter of the dinner,
in regard to the conduct of the labourers under their management,
as well as of those who shall absent themselves from their planta-
tions without a pass: and of those who, residing on the estates,
shall refuse to work. They shall be forced to go to the labour of the
held, and if they prove obstinate, they shall be arrested and carried
before the Military Commandant, in order to suffer the punish.
moral above prescribed. according to the exigence of the case.
The military Commandants who shall not inform the
Commandants of districts, and these the Generals under
whose orders they act, shall be severely punished, at
the discretion of the said Generale.
An. a. The Generals commanding the departments shall hence-
forth be answerable to me for any neglect in the cultivation of air
districts; and if when going through the several pari,hes and de-
pattiletts I shall perceive any marks of negligence, I shall proceed
galas' thou who have tolerated it.

Art. 9. I forbid all military men whatsoever, under the rnpon.
Ability of the commanding °Dicers, to soarer au), women to remain
in the barracks, those excepted who are Married to =Mien, as wrU
as those who carry victuals to men confined to their quarters; but
then shall not be allowed to noun any time. Plantation women
are totally excluded. The commanding °Mars shall answer for
the execu.ion of dais article.

•
Art. JO. Tke Commandants's,' the towns, or the Officers is the
shall not surer the !abrasive,' or field tirgrors to spend the
ducadekla tewsislitivv shall alseteke2are that they du not collets!
themselves. Sack 06cets as shall not putcc.,alty attend t 7 this

order, shaft be puniated with elz days' conlriment for the first
'time, a month for tilieretwend,-end shalt be cashiered for the third
offence. They shall give informatioa to the Commandant of. the
district of such labourers as are found Ip the towns doting the de-
cades, and of the person+ at whose herders they were taken up, that
the said persons may he cendemned'io pay the flue imposed by
Article fof this present regulation. The plantation people, who in
such cues may be brought before the Commandant of the district,
shall be sent back to their plantations, after receiving the punish-
ment kWahoee directed by Article tr, with a strong recommendation
to the ennuttendlog Olikeer of their goat terythet a watchful eye may
be kept ea them teethe future.•
AIL 11. All the mutiitipal administrations of St. Domingo arc
reqbested to take the wisest oseassurs, together with the Cone
nrandants of town, and of the districts, to inform themsehes whe-
ther those who call themselves domeetice really are achobserving
that plantation negroes cannot be donwitica; soy porsoo.keeping
them in that quality will be liable ibiny the above-mentioned Atte,
as well a+ those who shall detain labourers of either sex for any
kind of etnpharment:
Art. 14. Al commissaries of Goversnoent in the monicipelities
will melte it their duty to inform me of MI the abuses rupectleg
execution of this regulation, and to give advice of the same to the
Geiterah of departntenr.
Art. 13. I command all the Geeerah of department, General.,
and other yeitscipal Officers in the districts, to attend to the retro-,
than adds tegoletiew, for which they shalt be personally respon-
sible; end limier myself that their zeal, in twisting me to restore
the public prosperity, will net be mottietitery; convinced as they
most be, that liberty cannot elite without industry.
This present regulation shall be printed. read, pub-,
fished, and posted up, wherever it is necessary, even on
plantations, so that no one may pretend ignorance
thereof. It shall likewise be seat to all the civil and
military authorities. BOYKR.

EXTRACTS FROM THE CODE RURAL OF HAY I.

•ILTICLZI WHKM LILAIK TO THUM WlOO/4
Art. 173. The Police nitrate has for ite object—lse, the remiss.
sing of vagaboodage; 2d, the directing of assiduity in agricultural
labour; 3d, the discipline of the labourer; 4th, the making and
keeping in repair of the roads, both public and private.
Art. 174. All persons who are not proprietors or renters of the
land en which they are residing, or who shall not have made a con-
tract to work with some proprietor or renter, Mall be reputed
vagabonds, and shall be arrested by the rural police of the section
in which they may be found, and carried before the justice of the
pear, of the district.
Art. 175. The justice of the peace, after Interrogating and hear-
ing the person brought before him, shall make known to bits the
articles of the law, which oblige him to employ himself in agri-
cultural labour ; and, after that communicatien„ be dual remand
him to prison until he shall agree to labour, according to the pro-
visions of the law.

Art. 176. The justice of the peace will allow the persoo arrested
to snake hie own choice of the individual with whom he is to con-
tract to labour.

Art. 177. It, after eight days of dettotion, the prisoner shall not
have weed to go to field wink, he shah be sent to the public work
of the town or district where be shall be arrested, and there be
shall be employed anti be shall consent to go to field labour. The
person who shall detach any labourer frog the public works to
employ hint in work for a pleat individual, shall be subject to •
Saco( Sfry dollars, of which a moiety to be ,paid to the penises
complaining.
Art. 174. If the prisoner be a child under age, the justice of the
peace shall inquire out his parents, sad send him to them, to follow
their condition of life.
, Art. 179. Alter the expiration of three months from the publica-
tion of this Cat, compuhion shall be used against delinquents.
" Are leek Every pinyon, attached to the country as a cultivator,
'who Askant working dey, and during hours of labour, be found
unemplegesk Bonging un the pobik mods, shall be considered
kW, end shall be arrested, and taken befogs the justice of the
peace, who dual commit him to prison for 24 hours, for the first
Whom, and skill and him to labour on the public worksfor a repe-
dem of theedfetwo.
Aire 99i. To provide against vagaboodage under pretence of
beluga soldier.
Art. 182. Oaken of the Rural Police shall take care, that in
their respective sections no person shall live in idleness ; fur this
purpose, they have authority to oblige such persons as see not sc-
malty *explored in labour to render section of their occupations ;1
and such persons as cannot prove that they are absolute labourers,
or keepers of cattle.pens, shall be considered as without visible
mean* of procuring their livelihood, and shall be arrested
as vagsbeeds. _ _ _

Art. lea. Field labour sisal eseeesenee es Monday soorning,
sod shall never etas* until *Way otrasing (local holidays excepted) ;
and in extraordinary eases, whose the Warta of the cultivator, as
well as proprietor appears to require week 'kW be continued
until Satardayevokog.

Art. 154. on working days, the ordinary Reid labour shall cova-
lence at day dawn, to swatione natli atid-day, with thE interval of
half an hoar for breakfast, which shall be taken on the spot where
the work ia carrying so; after add-day the field labour shall coat.
anent at two o'clock and continue until sunset.

Art. 186. Pregnant females shall be employed on light work
only, and after the fourth month of pregnancy, they shall not he
obligee. to du any work In the field.
Art. 1841. Four months after deilvery, they shall be obliged to
resume the labour in the Geld; but they shall not turn out to work
until fine hour after sends*; they dal continue to work until
eleven o'clock, and front two o'clock until one bout before sunset.
Art. 187. iqo cultivator, dwelling one property in the country,
shall absent himself from the laboor assigned him, without the per-
miseion of the *veneer, le the absence of the proprietor, or far-
mer. ; and no erne shall give that permission inlets the case be
urgent.
Art. 189. Every act of disobedience or insult, on the part of a
umlauts, commanded to do any work, to which he is subjected.,
►hall be muddied ►y imprisonment according to the exigency of the
case, twat the decision of she justice of the pence of she district.
Art. 180. Sateirday, Sundays, and holidays, being at the entire
disposal of the labourers, they shall not be permitted, on working
"days, to leave their work, to Indulge in dancing or feasting, neit►er
by night nor by day. Delinqueots shill be subject to imprisonment
for sheet days for the halt for six days for the repetition of
the offence.

The remaining articles of the Code are touching the
making roads and keeping theta in repair.
Art.lo4. From the roll of wttlements and habitations, ordered
by Article f 32, the number of labourers necessary for any prams.
lir troth on the roads, shall be taken in proportion to the popula-
tion of that district, able to work, and every one in lOWA shall assist
•In tire week.

An. 196. Every labourer ordered to work on the roads, who
shall absent himself from that work, shall pay a fine of six dollars a
'Week, or suffer imprisonment for one week, which Sae or ha-
prisoolnent notmtempt him from working the week iambi's.
Art. 601. W.-permit, for private considerations, shall abstract
from tbe public narks those sent to labour thereon, under a hoe of
SO dollars, for every labourer thus abstracted, if it be but for one
day. Every morning the overseer of the work of the day shall
call over a list of the labourers to ascertain their presence.
Art. 4109.. Labourers on a:public works shall present them-
selves early on Monday morning, and shall not absent themselves,
unless the work be finished, until Friday evening.
Oleo in the Chamber of the Commons, at Port-au-Prince, the
41st of April, 1426-23 d year of Independence.
MUZAINE, President.
Passed tke Senate the 4th of May, 1666.
P. ROUANEZ, President.
Signed, the 6th of May, 1546, BOYER.
By order, 11. INOINAC.
These clauses are given, as more particularly exhi-
biting the effect of the Code on the held labourer. To
exhibit the whole system by which the driver is made
answerable for the labourer, the overseer for his drivers
and labourers, and the police in its various grades for
the whole, it would be necessary to translate the en-
tire Code.
Nu B. During impriesoment, the labourer being absent from
field work, forfeits lips wage; the pregnant women also appear to
receive no wages during their exemption.

COMMISSION OF LUNACY.—Further arguments were
heard on Saturday in the case of Mr. E. KING ; after
which the Court adjourned.
A man nam, d Smith has been committed to Lan.
caster vol, for trial, charged with forging a note on
the Branch Binhim Mauchrstrr. This, we believe, is
the first attempt at *largely on the notes of any of the
I:har;ch Banks. The note a teenrecl to be pa.,sed by
Smith is exccedingfy ill executed.