The Minneapolis journal., 1902-08-29
HAlTpS BEST CITIZENS
HOPE. FOR ANNEXATION
With Anarchy Revolution Of the Comic Opera Full Swing,
Intelligent Wait Confidently for the Time When the United
States Shall Lay Hands the Island
Correspondence of the Philadelphia Times

Correspondence of the Philadelphia Times.
Port -au- Prince, Haiti, Aug. 18.-Haiti
at this moment is in complete anarchy,
but anarchy of a sort unfaithfplly por-
trayed in the reports that reach the outer
world The famous revolution" that re-
Gently effected the downfall of President
Sam. and which yet boils and bubbles
about the selection of new president, has
thus far to answer for but six deaths
throughout all Haiti The sanguinary
battles described for the foreign press
have been, as matter of fact, as harm
less as battles of clowns in pantonatrae.
The elections now in progress are not
themselves more farcical than the dis
turbances that they cause. : S1@
The whole political situation beggars a
comic opera for chaotic absurdity.,- Yet,
taken all in all, 1t lays bare the ruin OF
the country.
The mass of the best Haitian citizens
stand to-day as one man in open ac-
acknowledgement of the impossibility of a
successful or even of a decent black re-
public Their racial hope and pride can
carry no further. Under self-government,
they say. with frank despair, Haiti must
remain forever thing Of ridicule and
shame, so that they look forward with i'm
patience as with certainty to the day
when some outburst Of special foolery shall
compel the United States to lay hands
upon the island and make it her own.
Nothing Is more striking than the force
and prevalence of this desire for annexa-
ton.
within twelve years 1t must come"
you hear on all sides, ''and then, within
twenty hours, the country will be
ipurged. 80 only" say the Intelligent
sHaitians, "shall we become reputable
Fpeople." $50 only" the resident foreign.
snerchants add with one accord can the
ric Of he e
and preserved
And both wait, with faith somewhat
hard to understand, for the realization OF
ffheir dream.
The real nature of the Haitian admins
,tation is perhaps little known abroad. or
sthe whole Haitian people, about one in
twelve can read write. No white man
.- can serve in the government. All men Of
color are regarded by the blacks, who form
fhe overwhelming majority, with jealousy
and distrust. And any black who has re-
Fceived particular advantages of education
is looked upon somewhat askance by his
brothers in blood. Despite their expert
ence, the people wish to be governed, lit
orally, from their own ranks, and it IS
therefore from the lowest class that the
highest officers of state are chosen.
The Presidents.
AS to the presidents, each in turn mod
of his predecessor. Once invested with
office, he shuts himself up in his palace,
where he proceeds, by aid Of his new ia
cilities, on the one hand to ruin his health
, by riotous living and on the other to fill
his Golfers from the public lands.
The palace is always guarded by troops
in force, and his excellency. ordinarily
makes but one sortie a week-on Sunday
mornings, when he drives to church to
hear mass, his carriage hidden by a
guard Of 600 men, The reason of his
seclusion is his fear Of assassination and
the reason of his fear is his knowledge
of his just deserts. ! ",~
The salary Of the president is about
S25, 900 year, sum very inadequate for
the eXtravagances in which he INDUCES.
Yet most presidents have quilted office
possessed of large fortunes The example
of the chief executive is repeated down
the official scale, each man according to
his skill and his opportunities And the
source from which the profits come are
apparent on every hand. i. =
The population pays taxes for all man
ner of public works, their! erection and
maintenance. Yet public works can hard
!ly be said to exist. The population pays
taxes for the proper paving, cleaning,
and lighting of the capital. Yet the
streets of Port-au-P Prince remain. from
year to year exactly as accidents, wear,
and the undisturbed accumulation of un-
belevable filth compound. The popula-
tion pays taxes for the support of a rela-
lively large force of voluntary troops.
Yet of that force but fraction really ex-
lists, while the fraction itself sees little
or nothing of the money that is Its due.
With the regular troops the same moth
ods are observed For the pay Of the
enlisted men of the garrison of any dis
trict that you may choose to name, the
government appropriates a certain sum
weekly. This sum passes first into the
hands of the general commanding the dis
= trict, who appropriates about so per cent
.,of the whole and gives over the residue tc
his second in command. ~
-S The second abstracts perhaps 40 pei
cent of what he receives before commit
ting the funds to his subordinate; and so
in the end, the enlisted man gets, If he Is
= in luck, about 10 per cent of his theoreti.
cal wages. He never complains, because
to complain Is to court punishment an6
L discharge And authortty>ever inter
feres in his behalf, because no personagt
Of authority lacks sympathy with tht
general commanding. -, - "
= Easily Satisfied.
+ The system naturally breeds some dis
content but the people are very ignorant
and few long words, a little cloud Q
T grandiloquence and mystifcation, viii
always suffice to befog and confuse thei
minds. Whatever means one demasogu
& II may take to GUST another he is alway
ii carefully not really to awaken the com
mon dupes to their wrongs, and so to clos
81 the doors upon his, own paradise. Yet a.
II the period of education draws on the long
suffering populace occasionally gets it
7gc>s sop. -.z
For example, from the beginning of tn
b current year until the last week in Jun
3 none of the small government employe
had received a cent of wages, though eac
had received, month by month, as not
4 duly acknowledging his credit. Thes
4 notes his pressing necessities natural
obliged him to turn over, one by; one, t
! whomever would buy them at some pal
Of their face valne; and the government
\ enthusiastically. was more, than cor
t tent with the arrangement, shutting II
4 eyes to the ultimate results. g..
AS the 18th of June approached how
4 ever, bringing with 1t the election
!. IDENTITIES. the goYernmeut cannily decide