The broad ax. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1895-19??, 1926-12-18
DECLARES RACIAL PREJUDICE
HAMPERS u. S. IN ITS PRO-
TEcToRATE OF HAITI.
preston News Service)

ANSNdAAg ~. - OCN. As.-~AAhSt Q
study of a survey which she had made
with FIVE other persons, Miss Emily
Balch, speaker last Thursday night
at the weekly meeting OF the Peoples
Institute Of Newark, expressed herself
as not in favor Of United States i'm
perialism in its protectorate of Haiti.
Miss Balch, former professor Of eco
Monies at Wellesley College, one time
associate editor of the Nation" and
for three years worker at the League
of Nations headquarters at Geneva,
had been asked to speak on why Are
We in HAITI"
Haitians Lack Confidence
Miss Balch outlined the history Of
the country, described the social and
economic conditions of its people, and
gave both sides of the question. There
is value, she asserted, in the work
done by the United States there in
its control and in the keeping of order.
But this value is overbalanced by other
things such as racial prejudice and lack
OF trust by the Haitians in Americans.
The population of the Island is of two
kinds. The mulatto of French and
Haitian blood, called the elite, are the
city people and have what culture and
wealth there is. The other type is the
black peasant. Among the former
there is less prejudiced contact with
the French than with the Americans,
people Of the nation with whom Haiti
ratified a treaty in 1916. This treaty
expires in 1886, and in Miss Balch's
own words, mo one has ever sug-
gested that we stay there later"
Navy Is Southern
Miss Balch said that the United
States navy is much more southern in
aspect than northern, and since the
u. S. marines have the power in Haiti,
the relationship is not that or equals
t equals. On the other hand, the
Haitians, while living in land often
troubled by strife, had independence
and their own social divisions within
their own race. This attitude of the
Haitian that he is the equal of other
races, confronted with the attitude Of
the American that he is inferior be-
cause of his black skin, is not produc-
tive Of harmony Each resents the
other.
Imperialism Adds to Suspicion
And the United States imperialism in
Haiti also adds to the general suspicion
Of this country which is in the mind Of
all South American Latins, the feel
ing that the United States is seeking
means Of getting hold on South
America solely for her own purposes.
The speaker said that there were
ways in which we could help these
people, to that which she considers
they are entitled. The religion OF the
country is Catholic, and all Of the
priests are French, no seminaries being
established to train Haitians for the
priesthood. The educational system,
she said, was in a poor condition, and
the contact with France much closer
than that with the country which occu-
pies Haiti. Haitians wishing higher
training than offered in their own
country 60 to France rather than to
the United States.
Most Agricultural Experiments Failed
Taken all in all, the experiment has
not been a success, from the social
angle of the relations of the two peo-
pies, nor economically, because most
of the agricultural experiments have
failed, the speaker said The business
and banks are dominated by the
United States, and practically no pow
er is in the hands of the Haitians, she
added