The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-09-05

der i'm the sO-CRlIed RepubIic-Bad Snakes and Other Bad Things.
 Especial Correspondence of the Journal
 and Courier)
 Port au Prince, Hayti, Aug. 1-Ever since their discovery by Europeans, sentimental travellers have been dub ping these islands "the necklace of Ca- ribbean diamonds" emerald gems in the ring O. the wave" "fawless jewels set in turquoise" and other epithets calculated to express great value as well as beauty; and it is frequently as- serted-especially since the Spanish American war-that Uncle Sam will sooner or later stretch out his strong hand and gather them all into his coffer of territories. But if President Roose- welt, or any of his successors, harbors an idea of such benevolent assimila- tion,' the sooner he puts the impracti- cable ambition out of his mind the bet ter for all concerned. Though beautiful beyond compare, the best of these so- called gems have serious flaws, and Haiti-the most beautiful of them all- is absolutely hopeless, so far as civili zation is concerned, as long as the re- nnotest descendant of the present popu- lation remains above ground. It is the degenerate of the West Indies-the typ ical "black sheep" of the Antillian fam fly. Our soldiers might easily seize these ports and compel ostensible sub mission along the edges of the island, but the dreadful rites of primitive Af rican barbarism would still be practiced in the interior, and the f1ercely indeper- dent savages, hidden in the swamps and } mountain fastnesses. would carry on 0 murderous. implacable guerilla warfare to the bitter end, bidding defiance to the best white troops as successfully as they did in years gone by to the armies of France and Spain. It is an open boast in Haiti to-day that if an invad- ing force should land upon their shores they would at once burn the towns, de- stroy the crops on the plantations. kill or drive off the cattle and poison all the streams and wells; and then they would retire inland, leaving the tropical sun, yellow fever, ague and malaria tn com plete the work of externinatlns the whites. Undoubtedly they wouli keep their word, and for every worthl ?ss ne- 4 gro life hundreds of white soldiers would be sacrificed Surely America has trouble enough now, with her own abounding, but much-adulterated ano mostly civilized colored population, without Haiti's million blacks. who at heart are as savage as the tribes of the Corgo.
 In this so-called republic there is no sembance of law and order. Every tnlng bends to the power of brute force and the lives of men are taken as caGlly as if they were flies The saying, "Un- easy lies the head that wears the crown" is here exemplified to the ut most, where out of eighteen successive presidents, only one lived to complete his term of office. The Haitien army from eighteen to twenty thousand strong-is as innocent of anything like discipline as of regular arms and uni- forming. But what it lacks in other re- spects it more than makes up In pletho- ra of officers in gorgeous array. It is authoritatively stated that there are up wards of two thousand generals" to say nothing of majors. colonels and all
 
 ident Salnave raised a common negro laborer, whom he happened to see in the chain-gang and admired on account of his bare and brawny arms, to the rank of general of brigade. The new officer had no money to buy a uniform, and so he began by "swiping" beautiful pair of gold-laced trousers from a taior's shop. For this offence he was paraded around Port au Prince on donkey, his face toward the tail and the stolen trou- sers tied around his neck This unto- ward incident, however, did not effect his career as general of brigade, though it occurred on the very day he received his commission. He made a glorious re- cord in the army. from the Haitien standpoint, and his ugly portrait to- day occupies @ place of honor in the palace.
 The Haitien government is supposed to have been patterned after that of the United States-with several important variations. As, for example, article six of the constitution prohibits white men from owning any real estate in Haiti This is vigorously adhered to; while cer- tain other clauses such as article six teen, which guarantees personal liberty to everybody, is ignored. Universal suffrage is proclaimed in the constitu- tion, but only for the election of the congress and senate. The president is not elected by the people, but nominally by the senate and the congress. As a matter of fact, he is never elected at all but seizes the reins of government and holds them as long as he can. He is al ways a general" and exercises the despotic sway of military dictator Neither the cabinet nor the senate, nor house of representatives has any inf1u- ence over him, so long as he can control the army. Yet every minor official of the government has the power to in- prison whomsoever he chooses, without !, going into embarrassing details as to the alleged offense of the imprisoned Thus it frequently happens that an off, < cial "geta even" with his political oppo- nents, or satisfies old grudges to his hearts content; for, once in jail in this careless country, one is likely to remain \ there, though guilty of no crime, until the next revolution throws open all the prison doors to secure recruits. Article 24 of the constitution abolishes the death penalty for political offenses, but wholesale executions take place after each nattv war The constitution ey-