Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-08-14
FRED. DOUGLASS ARRIVES.
OUR MINISTER TO HAYTI HOME ON
SIXTY DAYS LEAVE.
A Talk About the Black Republic-Inter-
esting Facts About the Island-The
Form of Government.
From the washington Star. july 2stb

From the Washington Star, July 26th
Hon. Frederick Douglass, United States
Minister to Hayti, arrived in the city at 4
o'clock this morning over the Baltimore
and Potomac Railroad from New York, on
sixty days leave of absence from his
official post. He was accompanied by Mrs.
Douglass and by Theodore Wiener, Port
au-Prince merchant. As soon as Mr..
Douglass had breakfasted he was seen in
his beautiful suburban home beyond the
Eastern Branch by Star 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 verandah, and reaching out
both arms in gestures of admiration, Mr..
| Douglas 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 be-
held scene like this. And why should /,
in the last few years of my life, go away
and be robbed of its delights ?' His mas
sive frame, long, wavy white hair and dig
nifed bearing made him seem patriarch
beholding from distant nights the promised
land He has had birthday since he left
here, and is now well along in his 74th
year.
81 left Port-au-Prince week ago to-
day." he said, "on the steamer Prince
Frederick Hendrix of a German line,
plying between that city, New York, Ham
burg and some other southern islands. We
had pleasant voyage of six days almost
!, directly north, for [ find watch with the
sun there is but few minutes away from
it in Washington"
NEWSPAPER STORIES coNTRADIcTED.
SIT was reported in the American papers
that my presence in Hayti was not accept
able to that Government, but the report
was without foundation. My stay there
has been extremely pleasant, so far as my
relations with that Government are con-
cerned. The ground upon which it was
thought | would be less acceptable than
some other person might be was my color.
There is something rather absurd about
that supposed objection. when it is
remembered that Hayti's population is
composed of black and colored people, who
are naturally proud to see one of their own
race invested with any public trust
The climate of Hayti is, of course,
tropical, and is exceptionally warm in
Port-au-Prince. The city is situated at
the head of magnificent bay, but little
inferior to the Bay of Naples, and it is
walled in on two sides with lofty noun
tains, clothed with verdure from base to
summit Being so situated under verti-
cal sun, and the mountains excluding some
what the winds from the north, accounts
Europeans there who had lived in the
country ten, twenty and thirty years, who
assured me they had enjoyed as good health
there as they ever experienced in any part
of Europe or the United States. For my
own part found it necessary, in order to
keep on my taps 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
"Of course, the productions of the coun-
try 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 90,000,000 pounds,
most of which goes to France The ex-
pense of running the Government is about
$5,000,000 annually, and the revenue
about 81 100000, this being chiefly raised
by an export duty on coffee
"In regard to the present Government.
the President as all are aware, is Hippo
lyte, the successor of Legitime. Hippo
lyte is a man of marked intelligence, evil
IDENTIFY thoughtful man, and while re-
markably amiable, is by no means weak.
His government thus far has maintained
order and given large assurance of its per-
manence. There is one trouble about
Hayti which it seems hard to overcome
the love of change and a certain fickleness
of policy. They have had several reyolu-
tons of late years, but, after all, not more
Of these than might be nationally expected
of any people of similar antecedents.
They obtained their liberty by sanguin-
airy struggle against slavery in 1904, when
most Christian nations maintained that
institution, and who, therefore, held this
people in adherence for their alleged cru
city to their French masters. For a time
slave-holding nations, our own included,
refused to acknowledge their independ-
ence. In fact, they were boycotted by the
surrounding nations, being recognized as a
dangerous example.
"What of the future of the country ~
he was asked.
Il will tell yon in word, that, judging
from all | have seen there, taking the good
with the bad, the whimsical and changea-
BILE with the stable, | have come to the
conclusion that Hayti has future. A
country that exports as much coffee, log
wood and mahogany as Hayti does is not
lazy country. 1t is something for peo-
pie to rise out of the condition of absolute
slavery and ignorance and form themselves
into body polite, under constitution in
some respects similar to our own, and to
have maintained order during period of
eighty seven years. They have an execu-
tive, judiciary and legislative department
of the government, House answering
somewhat to our House of Representatives,
and Senate. They had one President
who held the chair for twenty-five years,
and several of the Presidents have contin-
ued in Office period Of eight years. The
fact that these people have maintained a
government thus long, and are still main
tanning it, gives some assurance of stability
and progress. l visited Hayti twenty
years ago, and although on my second visit
/ saw much that impressed me unfavorably,
| still could see evidences of progress;
the schools are much more numerous and
much more largely attended than twenty
years ago. have met hundreds and hun
dreds Of well dressed and well behaved
boys and girls on their way to school l
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 years ago. These |