The times., 1899-08-05
HHUREAUX THE DICTATOR
The Character of SantO DomingO's
AssasSinated Ruler.
His Antocrntic Methods of Running
n Republic for the Money There
Wns in It-intcrcsting Reminis-
ccnccs-Dominican Revenues Mort
gagged to Cover Personal Expenses.

New York, Aug. 4.-"Ulysses Heureaux
was peculiar figure IN modern history, in
m ny respects" said a merchant whom
long years of travel and trade in the West
Indies have enabled TO be entertai1insly
reminiscent, mot. perhaps. so very differ
ent from the average successful politician
of the smaller Spanish creole republics, but
still a decided anomaly in this nineteenth
century and within such short distance oil
civilization like ours
For years he held his post with tact
and fnesse that would have done credit To
finished diplomat; threatening one man,
paying hush money TO another, alternately
disgracing and rewarding friends a III ,ne-
mics alike; securing vast sums for his per-
sonal expenditure, and through it all man
aging somehow to keep the national credit
from failing utterly, while he boasted cpsn-
ly and with that peculiar bonhomie that
he sometimes chose to affect, that no five
men in the island could kill him Three
of them did it. however, the other day, but,
if the reports are to be believed, not in open
fight. 'Lilysse,' as he was commonly called,
was too thoroughly feared for that. Ills
assailants-patriots, | suppose. you might
call them-were men of good family in the
island. Horacio Vasquez, one Of them, Is
brother OF Leonte Vasluez. who was until
few years ago the Dominican Consul at
35 Broadway, and Caceres is his cousin.
Physically, Heureaux was an impressive
man. Tall beyond the height of most cre-
oles-he must have stood nearly six feet
| powerfully built, and commanding in ap-
| pearance, courteous and tactful in speech,
he made one forget the monkey-like gro
| tesqueness of his features. But he was
shrewd, crafty, and remorseless if thwart-
| ed. Under his ruie human life was held
| cheaper than l ever believed could be pos
| sible. To say that he had friends would
| hardly be possible, but he had many ad-
| herents, for disloyalty meant, sooner or
later, death to the transgressor. A friend
of mine, an English merchant, told me last
January that while in conversation with
| Heureaux the latter had alluded to his own
| quickness in suppressing crime, ins;ancing
| a case where. some years before, a man
| adjudged guilty of burning a sugar cane
plantation had been seized, quietly carried
across the river from San Domingo City to
place called Pajarito and there hung to
tree, TO remain for three days. warning
to the people at large. The fact that no
| form of legal trial had been gone through
| mattered little; the President, as man
| OF decisive action, had sustained his repu-
| tation
mother who came from St. Thomas. Ulys-
ses Heureaux took part in Slnto Domin-
gos early struggles against Spain, and
during the war of liberation in 1865 60
rose to the post of colonel of staff. Later
he served in the uprisings under Cabral,
and held cne minor Office after another
until 1874, when President Merino made
him his Minister OF the Interior. When
! Merino's term of office ceased Heureaux
was made President for the then consti-
tutional term of two years, at the close
of which he retired to private life. But
two years later he cropped up again as u
candidate and was elected
Then began the despotism-the almost
absolute autocracy-which he carried on
till the day OF his death. His first move
was to have the constitution modified so
as to make the Presidential term four in
stead of two years; then gradually he be-
gan to fill Offices with men upon whom he
could count, until within very short time
the reins of government were entirely in
his hands and the Judiciary and Congress
mere men OF straw, whose only value lay
in the fact that they did his bidding with
out opposition.
Iilysse,' as we called him when was
there. was always after money. / suppose
much of what he got-and he raised i'm
mense sums sometimes-weut to pension
off people who might have given him
trouble. 1 know that great deal of it was
spent in maintaining rather gorgeous es-
tablishments for quite rumber Of women
who at different times visited the capital.
Heureaux neither drank to excess nor
smoked-strange enough to say in a coun-
try where everyone smokes. He may have
gambled-the national wee of the Spanish
creole. He always dressed in plain black
alpaca and wore panama hat, the simple
dress of any welf-to-do planter. But his
private budget of expense was none the
less enormous. Only short time ago,
while l was still there. he raised 500 900
from firm of foreign merchants and mort
gagged the customs receipts of the island to
them for certain period security. The
money, of course. he had the personal pow
er to dispose of as he saw fit, and there
never was a man in the Government Bu-
reau of Accounts who questioned the fact
He was always honest in his dealings with
foreigners, and as he had that reputation
and paid usually from to 8 per cent
monthly, he could raise pretty nearly any
sum he happened to need. But he was far
from being as scrupulous with his own
people, and how they stood it so long is
more than / can see.
Il remember some years ago when the
reciprocity treaty was being negotiated be.
tween this country and Santo Domingo
Heureaux for some unaccountable reason
held back. Those who were most interest
ed in the negotiations went to him for in
formation and were met with the declara-
tion that the treasury lacked the necessary
funds TO send a diplomat TO Washington
How much would be needed Well, SOME
thing like $4,000 at least That va,
enough. A number of prominent planter:
who foresaw the advantages OF the treaty
got together and raised the necessary funds
which were duly turned over TO the Govern
ment that is, TO Heaureaux. Finally, after
some delay, Manuel Galvan was sent &c
Washington. 1t is an open secret thar he
received less than one-third of this sum
for his services and expenses while in tht
United States. What became of the res'
everyone could guess, but nobody cared &c
ask 'Lilysse' who was known to be rn'
pleasant when his private affairs were prtet
irto.
las for Wenceslao Figuereo, the Vice
President. who is acting executive now. ht
is an entirely different type of man. irn
but conciliatory, and personally popular be-
sides. which Heureaux never was. Re may
yet avert the revolution which threatens
but his term of Office unfortunately expne {:
very soon
SUES A WHEEL COMPANY.