The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-02-18
have the best opportunity OF studying the
negroes capacity for self.gove n T..
prccnll y thu ore hundreith anniversary

d
have the best opportunity OF studying the
Negroes capacity for self.governtmniotdnrltt'.
recently the one hundredth aiiaiv ersar y
Of the setting Up Of Il negro govern
mcnt over the island OF Hnyu was ce l'o-
brntod. For d century the negroes there
have attempted to rule themselves and and
they made made a sorry mess of IT.
In connection with this celebration '1;i!7 n q
writer In the philadelphia Public Ledger
gives m interesting sketch Of the his
tory Of 11ayti or San Domingo AZ the Ne
outset ho says TINT tho island Is ono OF
the most richly endowed regions Of the Inc
earth, land In which probably more ele-
ments Of wealth are accumulated than
my other spot on tho terrestrial glon 20
rho population numbers about Two mn :
lion souls. Three-fourths OF the people
arc In tho Notwithstanding western part
a 1Inyti proper, much the moro import
ant section. But they FORM says TINS
correspondent, probably the most 90
graded population that anywhere on the
earth pretends to nationality or civliizn-
ton. Tho Haytinns are full-blooded nc
proes, On tho San Domingo side mulaur
toes predominate; on tho western t L le''e
are only blacks with true African fea-
lures. They live In huts In the llills ana
subsist on bananas, beans. rice. salt ilsh
aud rum. rhe cabins are rude affairs
md each householder has as many wives
as he can persuade to live with him and
~ 4, T1p1ar negro
rule, this rich land has gone to waste.
The fine roads and bridges and great
buildings, Of former days are now IN
rulns; the hnrbors are filling up; the
whnrves arc falling down; the rich
rIains. once covered with grain and to-.
tacco, are hid beneath scrub OF prick
IS acacia; degeneration is everywhere.
The towns, according to this corresponds
ont, are as filthy as one Gun imagine
and the negroes who live In them are as
degenerate as it Is possible for human
teings to be- Nothing that calls itself
civilization, says the Ledger man, has
ever ebbed 50 low before. He tells US,
moreover, that voodoolsm is rampant;
that every night the tom-tom calls the
people together to take part IN the Weird
religious dance, and that scenes as wild
aud savage as any witnessed in the Wild
erness Of Africa are common. There IS
always sacrifice. and time and again
children have been butchcred for the
feast, their flesh torn and passed around
among the savages and voraciousiy
eaton. Al
But enough Of this ,sickcning story.
AS for government, Hayti and San Do
mingo both profess to be republics, but
always have been military despotisnls.
There are no elections; liberty is fic-
ticn: the pretense of self-government Is
a farce; presidents have always obtained
office by force Of arms and ruled by
terrorism.
That Is what tho negro has done Tor
himself in fertile island, where life
1alght have been made delightful. But
so far from progressing, he has lapsed
back into savagery, and the last con-
dition is worse than the first Yet a
few years back there were thousands and
tens of thousands of fanatics in tho
North whose one aim in life seemed to
be to give the negroes Of the South con-
troll Of government In the Southern
States. There Is marked change OF
sentiment however, since the Northern
rcope themselves have come face to
face with tho negro question.