Evening star., 1902-02-01

eeSo oSkatCtS S1cCpt2S Otf- IUi4fodQ
tracks 1t delays trafiic., Once every year
the army takes practice march, clear
across the republic. This is to let the in
habitants know the army Is still in good
working order It also tends to curb the
growth of insomnia amongst the men 1t
would be an interesting sight to see the en-
tire Haytien army marching across coun-
try. Coxey's army would take second
place right away. I saw one gatling gun
under shed 1t was the only clean thing
connected with the military. The last 1
saw of the Haytien army It was busily
playing crap on bench In the shade.
The Cathedral.
There is a cathedral at Port Au Prince.
facing on probably the toughest paved
square in the world. The building itself
fs a tawdry imitation OF French chapel.
The pictures with which the walls were
decorated were interesting only in the fact
that they showed the Holy Family to be
of the white race. In France you always
find the Holy Family to have beerl bf
French extraction; in Germany the pic
lures assure us that they were all German,
while in Spain and Italy there is no doubt
left upon the mind of the observer in the
churches that the holy family were GER
tainly Spaniards or Italians. 1t would not
have been strange, then, to have found here
In Hayu pictorial representations of a very
black Holy Family.
Drenched In Blood.
/ cannot believe after my stay here that
the Republic of Hayti is as black as it has
been painted. All sorts Of horrible stories
have been told of Hayti, and almost every
traveller to this place has afterwards held
up the republic a horrible example of
the fact that negroes. if left to themselves,
would drift back into savagery. The pres
eft conditions here, however, do not prove
this statement by any means. It is neces-
sary to work back little into the history
OF the island to find on what basis the pres
ent civilization rests This was among
the first islands discovered by Columbus.
1t was populated at that time by esti-
mated population of 100000 Caribs This
entire population was wiped Off the face
of the earth by the Spaniards, the most
horrible cruelties being practiced. In
twenty-five years the inhabitants were re-
duced to 10000 and today, the Carib race is
extinct. The utter determination of the
consequences and in 1910 the Spaniards be-
gan to import Africans as slaves. The ne
groes were a harder race and have sur
vived- Under Spain and France 10000 Of
this race have been brought here from
Africa. Thousands upon thousands perish
Ell under torture and cruel driving of their
masters, but the present inhabitants are
the descendants of these imported slaves.
Spain held control here for 200 years,
which years were marked with little but
avarice and cruelty. The watchword of the
20o years was to get as much from the peo-
pie and from the land as possible and to
give up as little.
The French buccaneers conquered the
Haytien end of the island in 1853. The
French improved and developed the coun-
try. They put their stamp it and the
stamp remains today. The French control
covered a period of 10 years Then came
the uprising of the inhabitants of Hayti
and the birth Of the republic, This move
ment had its root in the American revou-
ton. During our struggle with England, in
which France was our ally, that nation
sent one or two regiments from this island
fhn e+o Too. I,
several actions, being present at the sur
render of Yorktown. These troops were.
French troops, be it remembered, not col
ored men. but recruited from the French
inhabitants Of Hayti These men, during
their stay in the United States, acquired
thirst for liberty which led them, on their
return to Haytf, to demand from France
larger liberties and greater privileges for
the colony, These demands were refused
and revolution took place in which the
planters called to their aid the half breeds
or mulattoes who were not slaves. Where
upon the French government an Offset
called upon, the blacks or the slaves, to
rise against their masters and the mulat-
toes. Just here TousSaint appears as
maker of Haytieh history. He was a slave
himself and a man of splendid physique
and considerable education. He immedi-
ately became the head and front of the
black movement By his personal mag
netism he caused the mulattoeS to join with
their black brothers and make common
cause. against the whites. He subdued the
planters and caused them to acknowledge
the sovereignty of France. Shortly after
wards. when the English attempted to seize
a portion of the island, Toussaint took the
field and defeated them. During all this
time Toussafnt fought not as a rebel, but
as representing France. Napoleon notwith-
standing this, had him decoyed on a French
boat and confined him in a French prison,
where he died. This act caused the most
Intense feeling among the blacks in Hayti
and the fire was still further famed by
the. ALLEGED intention of France anSlava
them again. This brought about in 1902
and 1903 the terrible uprising of the blacks
in Hayti and the massacre Of nearly every
white person in the colony. Men, women
and children were alike victims and many
thousands of mulattoeS were slaughtered
also. After. this terrible reign of blood
constitution was framed in which sHayti-
declared itself free. Thousands of French
troops were sent to recover the colony only
to fall by disease or by sword. and finally
France relinquished it's claims to Hayti
and the republic so born exists today.
Here, then, is an island nearly every foot
of which has been literally drenched with
blood. Two and one-half millions of orig
ihal Inhabitants were murdered by the
Spaniards. Blacks imported as slaves are
freed and turn on their late masters and
massacre men, women and children. Then
arose this republic, which almost invariably
murders it's rulers and in turn is piIlaged
by those rulers before the blow is struck
1t is q dark and bloody history, but what
then2 The history of every race, as it
emerges from barbarism, is equally
dark and bloody. With other nations these
blcod-stained paths were trod far back in
the past and are lost to sight. With Hayti
the deeds were done under the searchiight
of modern civilization.
Similar Conditions.
Today this Haytien city does not differ in
it's essential features from a settlement of
co,ored people in the states. Take every
house, with it's surroundings, occupied by
colored people in the District of Columbia,
put them all together, as child fits blocks,
and in general way you will approximate
Port Au Prince. The difference would be
the French language, French touch to the
architecture and tropical vegetation.
These people have their well-defined social
distinctions The upper class, mainly of
mulattoes, looks down and does not asso-
cate with the lower class, composed main
ly of blacks. The upper class lives well,
speaks pure French, sends its children to
Paris for their education and would like
much to follow them there permanently.
The lower class speaks a French patois; is
ignorant, lazy and with little or no idea of
morality. The women of this class rarely
marry, because they prefer their freedom
civ l,at,. - - 1,os.l