The record-union., 1897-12-20
LIFE IN HAYTI.
THE INHABITANTS OF THE
BLACK REPUBLIC.
Either Aristocrats or Peasants
Not Fond Of ''The States"-A
Land of Revolutions.

Land of Revolutions.
| If Frederick Douglass ever had bit
| ter dsa ppointment in his life, 1t was
| the day he landed from the old hear-
sarge in the harbor of Port au Fflnce
as the newly appointed United states
Minister to the Republic of Hayu, tnen
just recovering from revolution That
was III October, 1889. Thousands OF
! Hippolyte's soldiers were encamped IN
the streets, nor did they cheer the
newly appointed Minister the famous
man of their race, when his carriage
| drove by their gutter camps, interrupt
! ing for moment the roasting OF pa
nanas or a game of cards. ihe ap-
! sence OF enthusiasm at the arrival OF
! Frederick Douglass in the Black Re-
! public was better understood by him
when he knew the Haytians better,
when he had learned that the French
or Latinized negro of the West Indies
| had little in common with the negro
of our Southern States or his descend
ants
| The Haytian is either an aristocrat
! or a peasant-master or slave in a GER
tain sense-the ignorance, degradation
them helpless tools in the hands of the
aristocrats, under whose despotism the
dominant industry of the republic is
| carried on-that of revolutions. The
Haytian of means and influence is, in
way Partisan. He frequently visits
Paris, his family resides there good
| deal, and his children are educated
| there. He hates New York, through
/ int, he otyaS fra
where he bears with no exceeding
grace the affronts which, as a negro,
he must receive if he ventures to ask
admission to frst-class hotels, the
opera, etc. Frederick Douglass counted
upon a welcome from his race. 1t was
phase of race development that he
encountered in the Black Republic with
which he was not familiar, but to which
he discreetly adjusted himself in time.
| He must have seen, what some would
be elevators of his race have not yet
| discovered, that something more than
| culture. education and material pros
perity is demanded for the higher civ
| ilization of the negro, for holding in
| check those racial tendencies which
make Port au Prince a sink of moral
| pollution. For years Douglass had
been saying in reply to the charge that
the negro could never thrive apart from
| the white man: Look at Hayti. There
| he is the ruler of his own republic, and
| has been for 100 years" Having looked
| at Hay ii for himself at last, having
| seen the filth of its streets, the corrup-
| ton of it's officials, both national and
| municipal, having met coldness and
! treacbery where he looked for brother
! ~ greeting the heroic resolution of
| Frederick Douglass not to loose faith
! in his race in spite of it all reveals the
! bitterest struggle of his life. Perhaps
he never knew his race until he had
been United States Minister to Hayti.
INFLUENCE OF THE ROMAN
CATHOLIC CHURCH.
There is not a more dominant inNl-
ence in the Black Republic than that
Of the Roman Catholic Church, as ex-
ercised through the French priesthood
Through the religious orders of both
| men and women, whose schools and
charities, admirably conducted, are
centers Of benefcent influence. So try
! ing is the climate and so exhausting
! is the labor of the French missionaries
| (for the spiritual care Of Haytians is
| no trivial task, nor the education of
| HaytiAn boys and girls-even those Of
| the better class that q system has been
! established by the Mother Church of
! ca1nS home the missionaries after
/ some three years service and giving
| them successors trained by themselves
| for the work. The community houses
| or these religious orders, their walled
| IN gardens under the great palm trees;
the methodical, scholarly, peaceful life
of the brothers and sisters in the
midst of squalor and revolving degrada-
ton, make bright spots in a somber-
| picture. And therein lies the secret
of the prosperity of the Catholic mis-
sions. When the Protestant missions
have learned to gather their CO.
workers as families into community
houses, making these head centers for
and keeping the control Of the mission
in the hands of the white race. then the
Protestant missions may bear compar-
ison with those of the Roman Catholic
Church but hardly before.
The Haytian speaks a musical Creole
"a patois, but sweet as a singing brook
| to the ear He reads French books
when he reads at all; French newspa-
pers-those Of Paris-and affects to
have little interest in anything in "the
| States" prison in a more horrible
cohdltlOn tnan the one at Port au
Prince seven years ago it would be
hard to find; or a more wretchedly con-
Quoted Government Hospital and Re-
form School for Boys. What might
nave been seen seven years ago in that
reform school would hardly be believed
if described. The almshouse was an
other Illustration of what was not done
with large appropriation of Govern
to
department of the republic and the city
look al Haytil"
Nowhere on the face of the earth is
there a more beautiful island The
scenery on the nights overlooking Port
au Prince is magnificent; the climate
superb, and tropical fruits abundant.
There are occasional traces of the old
| French ownership; glimpse of the
ruins of plantation villas when the lash