Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-07-26

TALK WITH Nm ABOUT THE BLACK REPUBLIC N
THE WEST IxDIHs-ISTKREsrINa Facts AsouT
TIE IsLAND-rTs PREsENr AND FuTuRE-TKI
FORM OF Government MUCH LIKE OURS.
Hon. Frederick Douglass United States min
lister to Hayti, arrived in the city at 4 O'Clock
this morning over the Baltimore and Potomac
| railroad from New York on a sixty days leave
OF absence from his official post. He was &C
companied by Mrs. Douglass and BY Mr.. Theo-
dore Wiener, Port-au-Prince merchant. As
soon ~ Mr.. Douglass had breakfasted he was
seen in his beautiful suburban home beyond
| the Eastern Branch by a. STAB reporter. The
sun had just come out from behind the clouds.
| after two days Of rain, and the burst Of light
thrown over the national capital gave it an extra
! touch OF beauty. Standing on the broad versnda
and reaching out both arms in gestures Of ad-
miration, MIR. Douglass said he had invited Mr..
Wiener to come and see the
MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY IN THE WORLD.
81 have been in most of the cities Of Europe
London, Paris, Venice-and in Egypt, too
but nowhere else have beheld scene like
| this. And why should l, in the last few years
OF my life. go away and be robbed of its de-
lightsY' His massive frame. long. wavy white
hair and dignified bearing made him seem
patriarch behoiding from distant heights the
be left here and Is now well along in his
seventy-fourth year.
II left sPort-au-Prince a week ago today"
be said. ION the steamer Prince Frederick
Hendrix OF German line, plying between
| that city, New York. Hamburg and some other
southern islands. We had pleasant voyage
| OF six days almost directly north, for I fnd .
| watch with the sun there il but q few minutes
away from it in Washington"
NEWSPAPER STORIES CONTRADICTION.
ut was reported in the American papers that
| my presence in Hayti was not acceptable to
that government but the report was without
foundation. My stay there has been extremely
peasants FAR as my relations with that govern
ment are concerned. The ground upon which
! it was thought would be less acceptable than
some other person might be was nv color.
There is something rather absurd about that
| supposed objection when it il remem bered that
Haytis population is composed of black and
| colored people. who are naturally proud to see
one OF their own rGce invested with any public
trust.
''The climate Of Hayti is, Of course, tropical
and IL exceptionally warm in Port-au-Prince
The city is situated at the head Of a magniH-
cent bay. but little inferior to the Bay of
Naples, and is walled in on two sides with lofty
mountains clothed with verdure from base TO
| summit. Being SO situated under q vertical
sun, and the mountains excluding somewhat
the winds from the north, accounts for its
there who had lived in the country ten, twenty
and thirty years, who assured me they had en-
joyed as good health there az they ever OK.
perienced in any part of Europe or the United
States For my own part found it necessary,
In order to keep on my tops at all, to keep much
out of the sun. No European can expose him.
self at first to the direct rays of the sun without
prostration and, perhaps, fever.
SOMETHING ABOUT HAYTr.
"Of course the productions of the country are
such as are found in all tropical countries,
bananas, oranges, pineapples, alligator pears,
apricots some peaches on high places and
melons of all kinds; but the staple product is
coffee. Of this the annual export is about go
600. 900 pounds, most OF which COOS to France
The expense of running the government 10
about $5,00000o annually and the revenue
about $1,000, 600, this being chiefly raised by
an export duty on coffee.
I'm regard to the present government the
president as all are aware, is Hippolyte, the
successor OF Legitime. Hippolyte is man of
marked intelligence, evidently a thoughtful
man, and while remarkably amiabie is BY no
means weak. His government thus far has
maintained order and given large assurance of
It's permanence. There is one trouble about
hayi which 1t seems hard to overcome-the
love OF change and a certain 6ckleness of
policy. They have had several revolutions of
late years. but after all not more of those than
might be nationally expected Of any people of
similar antecedents They obtained their lib
erty by sanguinary struggle against slavery in
1904, when most Christian nations maintained
that institution and who, therefore, held this
people in adherence for their alleged cruelty
TO their French masters. For time slave
holding nations, our own included, refused to
acknowledge their independence. In fact, they
were boycotted by the surrounding nations, be-
Ing recognized as dangerous example"
THE FUTURE OF THE ISLAND.
"What OF the future Of the country" he was
asked.
Il will tell you in word, that judging from
all have seen there, taking the good with the
bad, the whimsical and changeabe with the
stable, / have come to the conclusion that
Hayti has future. country that exports as
much coffee. logwood and mahogany as Hayti
does is not lazy country. 1t is something for
people to rise out OF the condition of abso-
lutte slavery and ignorance and form them
selves into body polite under a constitution
In some respects very similar to our own aud
to have maintained order during o period of
eighty-seven years. They have an executive,
Judiciary and legislative department Of gov
ernment. a house answering somewhat to our
House OF Representatives aud senate. They
nad one president, who held the
several of the presidents have continued in
office period Of eight years. The fact that
these people have maintained a government
thus long and are still maintaining it gives
some assurance OF stability and progress. !
visited Hayti twenty years ago and, although on
my second visit, saw much that impressed me
unfavorably, still could easily see evidences
OF progress; the schools are much more numer-
Gus and more largely attended than twenty
years ago l have met with hundreds and
hundreds Of well-dressed and well-behaved
boys and girls on their way to school. do not
deny that children are sometimes allowed to
appear nude in the streets, but these cases are
the exceptions and by no means the rule, there
being much less of this now than twenty wears
ago. These schools are mostly under the in.
struction OF Catholic priests the Catholic re-
ligion being the state religion. There are.
however, several Protestant denominations in
Hayti. There are at least two Methodist
churches and one Episcopal church In Port-au-
Prince. The government tolerates freedom of
worship for all denominations"
LAND WHICH INVITES TO rpLEyEss
'1s the population increasing, Mr. Doug
lass?"
''The census is Q modern institution Of civil.
ization and there are no statistics affordng in
formation on that point. The climate is SO
mild and the land SO rich that the country could
support vast population, but these advan es
invite to idleness. 1t is impossible to estimate
the future OF such country under enterpris-
ing American hands, and yet, perhaps, in few
generations they would indulge the same hab-
its of leisure"
What of the language there; were you not