Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-08-04

district and municipal courts and other
tribunals OF special jurisdiction.
The country is divided into five depart
ments, which are again divided into ar
rondissements these into communes and the
latter into sections or districts. The Gov
ernor and other executive officers Of the de-
partment are appointed by the President of
the Republic {"
But what's the Constitution, you may ask
in Haiti7
Mr.. Bonsall answers as follows:
ELECTIONS to the Chamber are held or not
held not as prescribed by law and at the
proper Intervals, but simply when and how
1t may suit the personal convenience of and
private profit Of the supreme military chief
Of the day. II he can secure more money in
bribes from the deputies already assembled
and In session than is offered by those de-
slrous OF legislative honors and opportunities
for corruption, then the old Chamber re-
mains on Indefinitely. II tho new men offer
to the military chief a sufficiently sub
stantial inducement. the legislature in being
s dismissed, although 1t may have enjoyed
only month OF life, and new elections Of
fered.
"The manner Of holding elections is sim
pllcity itself The candidates, in person or
through their agents, call upon the military
President, upon whom they make known
their aspirations and their claims, He refers
them one and all to his business man, who
generally is the Secretary of the Treasury.
Here money talks exclusively, but not by any
means the filthy paper currency of the coun-
try, whose want of any real value is we'll
appreciated at the treasury, but the ringing
gold of the hated foreigners.
"The Secretary of the Treasury makes out
a list Of the bids which he has received and
submits them to the President. The latter
looks 1t over and then sends his orders to
the district generals. his appointees In
Jeremie. Mr.. so-and-so must be elected, and
at Cape Francis, MIR. This-or-That, and in
q few days he learns that the governmental
candidates have been returned by over
majorites and in the midst of
great popular enthusiasm.
"As matter of fact, as often as not out
of pure laziness the local general does not
hold any election at all, but simply declares
the Government candidates successful. When
the prescribed forms are observed, however,
the soldiers deposit in a bunch the required
number of ballots in the box and then the |
polls are closed. l am certain no election has /
been held in Haiti in the last thirty years |
where these forms have not been observed"
government Dy GenefalS
Not only in the case of elections, but in all
other respects the constitution is meaning
less instrument Of free government.
Over each OF the five ACCOMPLISHMENTS pre-
sides a general This general is the chief
Justice, the supreme chief Of his district, and
L law unto himself so long as he remains on
good terms with his chief, the military Presi-
lent The peasantry under him constantly
evolution breaks out the general summons
lIs ragamuffin soldiers Many observers of
he course of events in luckless Haiti, both
native and foreign born, have declared that
more blood is shed in rushing the peasants
o their standards than in the actual con-
licts which ensue. Recruits are brought
lightly bound with ropes and thongs that,
when liberated in the barrack yards, they
AN neither walk nor lift an arm to receive
he battered muskets thrust upon them.
ireat loss of human life takes place in
bringing the unfortunate and unwilling re-
ruits In and through the punishment of
hose who hold back or seem lukewarm.
Private feuds paid off with murder when
ecruiting parties are abroad In the land, as
he peasants can be shot down on any pre-
ext.
This is the government of Hati-a military
utocracy supported by military banditti in
he hundreds OF offices in the gift of the
triumphant chieftain. A new revolution and
he numerous generals put out of office are
ensioned to keep them from making trouble.
md then another revolution But never a
evolution of the people for freedom. They
now neither the sign nor the substance of
reedom They live in terror of their own
Government