Iditarod pioneer., 1915-11-13
MENACE OF BLACK REPUBLIC
 DEMANDS PUBLIC ATTENTION
Washington Special to Seattle Post-ln-
 telligencer'

Washington Special to Seattle Postln
 telllgencer,
 Among those who are acquainted with conditions in Haiti, which led up to the re cent murder of political prisoners and the disruption of the recent government there it is believed that the United States must take over the affairs of the "black republic.' For, not only is the island bankrupt from graft and revolution, but its commercial in terests are in the hands of German and French traders and its magnificent harbor at Mole St Nicholas is the key to the Panama canal trade and a menace to the defense of the canal in event ot war.
 While the efforts of Admiral Caperton to bring the armed leaders into peace and order is lauded, it IS pointed out that the trouble lies deeper It is said here that the only way possible to end the deplorable grating and the horrible murders of that benlghted land is by intervention. That this interven- tion should include the taking over of the finances of the island and their readJust- ment is generally thought by those Tn touch with affairs ill Haiti to be the main neces- slty.
 1t is probably because the unspeakabe abuses in Haiti have been committed in the name of liberty that the United States has been loath to interfere. Discussing the sort of free and democratic government man tained in Haiti, one of the oldest Ottlcl2ls of the state department remarked: Tn a century of independence the sole right which these peolle have saved for themselves IS the right to go to the devil in the way they choose. And they hold this to be their dear
 C+bor Ioht he taken without protest, but let 1t be insisted that they behave themselves and they become worse than a nest of hornets.
 Apart from the humanitarian phases of the Haitian problem, there are consldera- tions demanding action by the umted States which are of deep if not vital importance to this government. Since the birth of the German miperalistic policy ln lS9o the ac- tiyities of the Germans in Haiti have made it more and more evident that 1t was essen tial for the United States to protect Its n- terests in this little island of the Caribbean. The harbor of Mole St. Nicholas Is the key to the Haitian problem. There the Ger mans have for years been strengthening their grip and now control practically all the trade Many Germans have marned native Haitian women III order to ehaple them to own property on the island It Is charged that they have financed one reVou- ton after another, when the government Tn power refused to abide by their will. In this way huge debts have been piled on the republic at high rates of interest, which have steadily weakened the government and brought it further and further into the clutches of those who sought control. When government IS Tn such deploraole condition as have been the last twentv-odd governments of Haiti the money-enGer naturally owns 1t body and soul. Whatever the government possesses that the creditor wants he can take. And the United States has begun to find it very disagreeable to its interests to have the Germans in such re lationship to the harbor of Mole St. Nicholas, particularly since the Panama canal was built
 In 1911 the United States first insisted upon obt aiming a representation Tn the man cial operations sustaining the Haltl2n gov ernment This was done on the same theory that it was attempted in China namely, that if the United States had direct m terest in loans it could check any move on the part of other creditors that were lmml, cal to HlIlellGdIl llllS4C''''7' States obtained minority interest. The European interest, German and French, pre- vailed.
 When the 1911 measure proved unSuc- cessful by reason of a succession ot reVo- lutions financed largely by Haitian mer- chants, the United States contemplated con soEdating the entire debt of the republic, refundlng it through loan from trSt- class American house, reducing the rate of interest so that it would be less bur densome to the Haitian people, and han ding through American agents the collec- tion and disbursement Of the customs, Tn
 ~der to end the grating which was running the country
 The fact that such a scheme would have ended the grating was enough to earn the opposition of al the Haitian pohuclans. tf- forts were repeatedly made to carry the scheme through Finally the European war put temporary end to European opposl- tion. and now the French interests are willing to sell out But the Haltlans are still opposed to the plan.