Evening star., 1922-02-12

I'N HE United States is trying to
| find the best way out of a dif-
| ficult situation through the
hearings now in progress be-
| fore the special Senate committee in
| vestigating conditions in Haiti. Since
1915. when the American occupation
| oe Haiti began, affairs on the island
| have been anything but satisfactory
from any ones point of view. and
little improvement has been noted in
the way of permanently stabilizing
conditions in the tiny republic.
The problem now is to get out
| gracefully. 1t is a question in the
| minds Of many whether. left to her
| self, Haiti will be able to get along.
| While. on the other hand. as long as
there is an American marine on the
| island there will continue the same
criticism and censure which has
marked American occupation to date
X X X
The situation is not confined to
Haiti nor to it's next-door neignpor'
propaganda which owes its source to
political malcontents has been dis-
| seminated from Haiti and the Do
minican Republic throughout Central
and South America = propaganda
| which puts the United States IN pa
light in all of Latin America. We
may not believe here in Washing
ton that United States marines go
about the island carrying the heads
of murdered natives on their nayo,
nets, but such stories are enlarged
f, and eagerly seized upon by anti
Americans, who make use of them to
| create an unfavorable and damaging
| impression of this countrys activi-
| ties.
| Government reports would indicate
| that the American occupation OF Haiti
and Santo Domingo has benented
| both the republics. For 1t shows the
| establishment of schools. the modern
| supervision and arrangement OF Gus
! toms duties and impartial levying OF
| taxes and a proper accounting LOT
public moneys.
| But the Haitians viewpoint diners.
| Dr. Pierre Hudicourt, one OF the most
prominent citizens and public men OF
Haiti, contributed valuable testi-
mony Of this nature before the SEN
ate committee last week. He de-
clared. first, that our occupation OF
Haiti is in violation of the treaty be-
tween the United States and that re-
public. He asserted the unstable po-
! litical and economic situation there is
| due to American occupation: that the
president of Haiti and his govern
ment represent rubber stamp Tor
| the military authorities and official
i government advisers. and that the
| departure of the United States ma
rines at 4 o'clock one afternoon would
be followed by the hasty exit of the
president the next morning. He
maintains that Haiti will never be
| come independent nor attain the de-
velopment of which she is capable
until the United States takes its
| hands off.
! One of his most sensational charges
| was that the contemplated loan to
Haiti by New York and Boston bank
ers of $14.000.0o0 is not needed and
inot wanted in Haiti. He asserted that
liz it was made, the people OF Haiti
would repudiate it. In this connec-
duced a resolution calling upon the
State Department to furnish informa.
ton concerning the loan.
While Haiti theoretically maintains
her own government establishment
assisted by American advisers. it is
doubted in some quarters IL. in case
| of American withdrawal. she would
be able to weather through the po-
litical upheaval likely to follow. One
plan advanced has been to appoint a
| high commissioner. an American, who
| would have precedence over all other
authority on the island. and. when con.
ditions were believed sufficiently stable.
to withdraw this virtual protectorate
and leave Haiti foot loose and free.
| 1t will be remembered that when
| the State Department some time ago
4 issued a proclamation in Santo Do
| mingo announcing the determination
| Of this government to withdraw its
| forces and permit an election. which
would enable the Dominican govern
ment gradually to regain control of
| its own affairs, contending political
| parties in Santo Domingo were un-
| able to agree over the terms Of the
proclamation. So the status quo in
| Santo Domingo remains. and there
| seems no imm Mediate prospect of with
drawing American forces.
This illustrates the difficulty Of
\ making a satisfactory arrangement.
| While Haitians and Dominicans de-
nounce the United States and demand
Independence. they are unable to get
| the desired direction.
| The Argentine embassy has COM
pleted an exhaustive report covering
| all phases Of the work of the bureau
| of markets and crop estimates OF
the United States Department of Ag-
| rfculture, which it has forwarded to
Argentina for the use of that gov
eminent in improving and enlargins
the scope of the methods in use there
for distributing crop production,
marketing and statistical data. So