Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1912-08-29


abroad, against which 1t has nothing
tangible to hypothecate but the Gus
toms and internal revenues, already
well pledged to pay for previous for
eign loans, the dissipation Of revolu-
tion, and the annual budget.
"Graft" Deep Seated.
Another Of these difficulties is the
deep-seated institution Of graft" in
Haitian politics. 1t Is hardly necessary
to observe that this development OF
popular government is not confined to
Haiti, but there It's prevalence has
been more an essential than an incl
dent Of otfice-holding This condition
Of affairs has naturally been attractive
to foreign eXploters who, by mutual
ly satisfactory agreement, divide the
margin" on nearly every article pur-
chased abroad, from electric-light
bulbs to grand stands and junk men-of-
war The few detractors of the pres
ent government say 1t Is impossible. or
at least incredible, that 1t should con-
tinue long on its present plane. They
say that 1t cannot hold its chief sub
ordinates, such, for example, as the
semi-independent Delegues. a cabal OF
five men, each In charge of one OF the
five geographical departments, with
out, at the least connivance at extra
iofticial emoluments; that no foreign
capital or enterprise can hope to make
an entry without clearing the way be-
forehand by liberal qualifications, and
finally that. even If a successful at
tempt Is made to administrate the
country on a "non-graft" basis. the dis
gusted otiice-holders would soon com
bne with office-seekers to oust so anna
teurish and non-Dractical regime.
Whatever economic and political in.
terest Haiti may have, it is quite sub
ordinate in the mind Of the traveller
to the delight which he finds in the
beauty of the Haitian landscape, the
picturesqueness Of It's people. In the
first place 1t Is a never-ending sur
prise to find in tropic lattudes so
many different kinds of country. Try
to imagine a very mountainous island
80 varying in altitude and rainfall, and
in the resulting climate and vegeta-
ton, that as you ride across 1t from
Caribbean to Atlantic you pass
through Bermuda, Arizona, the foot
hills of the Rockies, and frst-class con-
ventional tropics resembling the most
luxuriant parts Of the neighboring An
titles, Cuba and Porto Rico. Haiti Is
as surprisingly varied as that. The
sky-lines are long and high and noble,
not at all Jagged and volcanic. One
day for companions one may have
pines and cedars, and the next, still
riding north, by some lattudinal
magic be whsked a thousand miles
south to follow a trail through cocoa
and royal palms. ducking low-hanging
clusters Of bananas.
Among the tales they told us in the
ports and on the steamers about Haiti
only one did not prove an exaggeration
or myth. 1t would be impossible to
exaggerate the character of Haitian
streets and highways. In the whole Of
Haiti there are only two streets, and
they are monopolized by the capital,
Except In Port-auPrince, you rarely
see any one or anything being trans
ported in a wheeled vehicle. The
mortality statistics Of the country
must stand as formidable menace to
the theory Of germ-spread contagion;
a most careful research has demon.
strated that revolution Is by far the
most prevalent epidemic. l found no
trace Of the anemla which affects
Spanish American and Carib types in
the tropics, and during five weeks Of
travel In the seaports and through
the interior observed only three cases
OF what might have been leprosy
As for the women of Haiti, they de-
serve a separate essay-a panegyric.
In what passes in Haiti for a census
they outnumber the men by about three
to one but If you made your own esti-
mate after inspecting of markets and
dusty highways leading into market
towns you would say that there were
in Haiti at least one hundred women
for every man. BY contrast with them
the Haitian gentry seem rank anna
teurs; they fritter away their time
with cock.fghting and revolutions.
The women of Haiti concern them
selves all the time with the serious
business of life. Every mountain trail
is alive at daybreak with their hurry
Ing feet, and the dust rises up In the
lowlands over their professions, on
mule or burro back, but mostly on
foot, each having her burden on her
head as she hastens to market And
in the evenings, unfatigued, the ebb
tide flows back. even more pictur-
esquely than the food came through
a panoply OF dust shot through and
made golden now by sunset.