The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1884-12-20

the nudiA lcdtulco VI INC noCAdls III
dustrial and moral blight which |
has cursed Hayti since its white
inhabitants were literally hacked |
and burned off the face of the |
earth, and the civilization they
had reared was left for the blacks
and the mulattOes to fight over
and pull down. Let us begin with
saying that a considerable quanti-
ty of coffee is still exported. this
oeing product obtainable with
the minimum of care and labor.
1t has also been asserted, Sir
Spencer tells us, that the Haytian
coffee crop would come to an end
when the old trees died out, be-
cause the blacks plant no new
ones. Inasmuch g the average
age of the coffee plant is thirty
years, while at least thrice as long
a time has elapsed ice the negro
iusurrection, the prediction was
clearly unfounded-for the reason,
according to the author, that na
ture has remedied the neglect of
man, the old trees being every.
where surrounded by younger
ones that have sprung up sponta-
neously from seeds scattered by
the wind or rain in the teeming
soil. Nevertheless, the coffee
crop of recent years falls greatly
short of the amount produced
when the French possessed the
country. Thus, the quantity ex.
ported, which in 1889 exceeded
$4,000, 900 pounds, was less than
$4,000, 600 in 1880, which was much
above the average of the last fif.
ty years. Of cotton, 100000
pounds were exported in 1889, but
by 1860 this amount had sunk to
6SS,000 Under the artificial stim.
ulus impaired by the civil war in
the United States the crop rose in
1865 to 100000, but with the fall
of prices cotton was neglected,
and it did not figure at all in the
latest commercial reports inspect
ed by the author. The only cult.
vated product which can be said
to have increased since the insur.
rection is that of the cacao tree
to which the white planters paid
but little attention. OF this only
100000 pounds wero exported in
1889, against some 2,22O, 900 in 1868,
an amount, however, which does
not seem to have been equalled by
any subsequent output. The ex-
ports of logwood have naturally
increased, the delivery of this sta.
pie being q work that just suits the
negro, since, as Sir Spencer points
out, it can be done by fits and
starts, and never requires contin.
uous labor. On the other hand,
the shipments of mahogany have
much defined, since the cutting has
involved more toll, owing to the
fact that the forests near the coast
are becoming exhausted. But the
most conclusive proof of Haytian
decadence is the total disappear.
ance of sugar from the list of ex.
ports, whereas in 1889 more than
100000, 900 pounds OF it we're sent
to France. The blacks could find
nothing better to do with the mills
and factories built by the white
planters than to burn them, and all
the cane now grown in Hayti is
used for making molasses and a
vile kind of rum which is con
sumed by the negroes in enormous
quantities.
So much for the complete prostra
tion of what was once the fore
most industry of Hayti. Now LEI
US see what has become of the
fixed improvements andapplianceE
of civilization with which the
country entered on the era of ne
gro government. The fate which
has befallen the cities and large
towns may be summed up in the
authors comment that "the ne
crosses cook their bananas annie
the ruins of the best houses of the
capital.n Cape Haitien, the once
populous and opulent seaport o.
the northern provinces is now {
heap of novels and debris. st
Marc, formerly built of stone, is ii
our day mostly made up of woodel
shanties. In Port Au Prince
which was carefully laid out b,
the French and was conspicuoui
for well-constructed editces, "yol
are struck we are told, with tn,
utter shabbiness of the buildings
mean cottages, and miserable hut
by the side of the few decen
brick dwellings," Even the churcl
is a struggling wooden structure
a mere overgrown shed, with it
walls disfigured by numerou
wretched paintings, in which "ou