Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-07-08

participation in any manner IN their affairs.
A Lazy Mans EIysiun.
All the settlers of French extraction hav-
ing been murdered. all their property
not claimed by their inegitimate children
was absorbed by the state. and as all the
country mansions had been destroyed, they
can be traced today only by their ruins
During the reign of Dessalines and Chris
topic the blacks were kept employed and
though the proceeds of their labors were
spent In keeping up the toznfoolery OF their
courts, yet that was better than what
succeeded upon Boyers accession. when
Haiti became what II is now-a negro para
disc. Labor was not compulsory and every
one had sufficient for his needs The sugar
plantations had been destroyed, and have
never been restored: but the coffee trees
planted by the French and seedlings from
them still flourish. and it Is chiefly upon
their products that the Hai;lans suhsiss
Even 50 early as 1888 the crop Of the year
exceeded 50,Oooo0o pounds or enough to
load nifty large ships; and TO the coffee
crop. the logwood and mahogany the nat
ural fruits and vegetables. the fish of the
rivers and the sea. and take into account
the glorious climate. that requires neither
clothes nor fuel of the jewellers there and
we have some OF the requirements for a
natural paradise or lazy mans elyslum.
Rob the Governments.
Some labor is necessary. of course 10 cut
~. n
little exertion to pick up the coffee berries;
but other than this the Haitians of the in
terror districts exert themselves hardly at
all. The black peasartry OF the hills bring
down the produce OF the old plantations.
where IL is taken In hand by the politicians
who control the customs. and, needless 10
say, the bulk Of the proceeds is appropriate
ed. As the OILY revenue is derived from
the customs at the ports, the most desira-
bic governmental positions are of course
those that enable their occupants to get
their hands on the exports and imports
There is a Haitian proverb that il is no
crime to steal from the state "Prendre
fargent de retat cen'est pas voler." The
collector of the port rules the roost until
ne Is removed, or promoted" when an
other Is given chance TO dip into the
treasury. No ruler has arisen since the
emancipation having the interests of the
people really at heart; no great public work
has ever been undertaken for the improve
ment OF the country: the only structures of
Importance, with very few exceptions. are
those left by the French. and these are,
most of them, in ruins. Buildings DESTROYED
by hre or earthquake are never replaced.
ana the nearest approach to rebuilding is
seen in the slab shanty leaning against the
walls of some large structure demolished.
A Dirty Capital
As for Port au Prince. the capital city,
the writer can bear testimony respecting
its utter filthiness, and agrees with a recent
resident there that IL may bear away the
palm of being the most fouI-smelling and
consequently fever-stricken city in the
world: Every one throws his refuse be-
and every species of rubbish incum-
Der the way. The cutters are open,
pools OF stagnant water obstruct the
street everywhere, and receive constant ac-
cession from the Inhabitants using them as
cesspools and sewers. There are few
good buildings in town, and none in the
country, the torch of the incendiary being
constantly applied. and no encourag msnt
offered to rebuild. through the protection of
government or local enterprise
These incendiary fires are continually oc-
curing, and are usually certain precursors
of revolts or evolutions. The few foreign
ers in Haiti are there only on sufferance
and, though the opportunities for making
large fortunes are many, yet few mer-
chants have ever come away with much
Tor II usually happens that about the time
departure is contemplated an incendiary
hre sweeps off the Accommodations of years,
or the stores and warehouses are plundered
| by revolutionists.
Caustic Criticism.
What an outspoken editor of a local ma
per, the Gazette du Peuple, wrote more
| than twenty years ago applies to the con-
| dition of affairs in Haiti today: For six
| ty-eight years. or from the date of our
| national existence, what have We done7
Nothing. or almost nothing. All our con-
situations are defective, all our laws are
incomplete, our customs badly administered
our navy is detestable. our police I'll or
| ganized, cur army in a, pftiable state. our
| finances rotten to the base, the legislative
power is not understood and never will be-
i the primary elections are neglected, and
our people do not feel their Importance
| Nearly all our public edifices are in ruins;
| the public instruction is almost entirely
| abandoned"
| The government has several times been
| on the verge of bankruptcy, its paper
| money so deprecated that ii was worth
| not more than about a dollar a barrel. At
present gold commands premium OF from
! 80 to 225 in gold on Haitian money, with
capricious fluctuations.
| But were the evils of Haiti only financial
| or even political, yet hope might be enter
| tanned for her eventual redemption. Haiti
| has doubtless the most ridiculous carica-
| ture OF civilization in the whole world"
| says Froude, the historian. . but
| this is not the worst. immortality is so
| universal that il ceases to be a fault for
| it is the rule. But behind the immortality,
behind the religiosity, there lies active and
| alive the horrible revival Of the west Afri-
| can superstitions-the serpent worship and
| the child sacrifice and the cannibalisml
4 There is no room TO doubt il. A missionary
| assured me that an instance occurred with
| in his own personal knowledge. The facts
| are notorious. A full account was pub
| lished in one of the local papers, and the
| only result was that the president impris-
oned the editor for exposing his country.
| A few years ago persons guilty of these
| infamies were tried and punished; now they
are left alone because to prosecute and
| convict them would be to acknowledge the
| truth of the indictment" F. A. ODER.