Evening star., 1928-10-12
HAITIAN IS CALLED
| u. S. BENEFACTOR
Gen. Richards Gives CoIored
Man Credit for Aid in
Louisiana Purchase.

The expansion of America through
) the Louisiana purchase in 1903, in ad-
dition to its . quisition of much OF
the Western and Northwestern terri
tory. was the indirect result of the
work of a "despised negro" TouSsaint
f,'Ouverture. declared Brig. Gen. George
Richards. u S. M. c., in an address
at the first Fall meeting of the Sons OF
>sthe Revolution in the District OF Co
lumbia at the Metropolitan Club last
night.
Gen. Richards. who is past preSi-
dent of the local society, Sons OF the
Revolution. indicated that the very
development of the great American
Republic of today might not have been
had it not been for L'Ouverture making
/. trouble for Napoleon on the Island OF
s- Haiti, then known as Sainte Dominique,
and causing the great French general
to give up the idea of keeping New
Orleans as a French possession. The
speaker then described how this IN
< reality averted a war between the
United States and France.
'NapoleonS dream of empire had
narrowed itself TO the establishment at
New Orleans of French colonial ad-
\ ministration that should cramp the
expanding strength Of the new republic.
Napoleon was then none too friendly
with the United States. And above all
he wished to checkmate England, the
hereditary enemy OF France, Gen.
Richards said.
To show the opinions existing at that
time and what probably would have
been the result had Napoleon carried
cut his original purpose, Gen. Richards
quoted a statement of Thomas Jeffer-
son, reading, in part that If France
takes possession of New Orleans 1t
means that we marry ourselves with
the British navy and the British ma
ton"
Prepared for Invasion.
The latter. Gen. Richards said,
France had prepared to do, even to the
! extent of having assembled an eXpedi-
ton and loaded ships. About the same
slime. however. he stated, Napoleon also
! decided to re-enSlave the people OF
Sainte Dominique. Then it was that
|. L'Ouverture caused an uprising that
resulted in the defeat of Napoleon's
legions on the island. Although
: LtOuverture was "treacherouSly be-
trayed and carried to France a pris-
Cner, his lieutenants of war continued
I his patriotic work." Gen. Richards said.
AS a result, Gen. Richards said, "the
great Napoleon, who had his dreams
, of making the rich territory of Louis
lana the brightest star in his royal
diadem, said: If a few negroes In
far-off Sainte Dominique can destroy
my legions, cannot hold Louisiana in
case of war. I must sell it right away
y "Thus," continued Gen. Richards, ''all
Of Indian Territory, all of Kansas and
Nebraska, Iowa, Wyoming, Montana,
the Dakotas and most of Colorado and
Minnesota and all of Washington and
Oregon came to us as the indirect work
Of a negro"
Gen. Richards pointed out that the
United States was rather slow, or even
afraid, to go about the work of navi
eating the Mississippi River before
having possession of Louisiana. In
this connection he said:
. q "It will be interesting here to note
but one statement of Washington. In
1885 he wrote in opposition to the open
ing of the Mississippi its outlet to the
sea being then not under the control Of
the United States. He said: How
ever singular the opinion may be, I
cannot divest myself of it-that the
navigation of the Mississippi at this
time ought to be no object with us. On
the contrary until we have little time
allowed to open and make easy the
ways between the Atlantic States and
the Western territory the distractions
had better remain"
He quoted the late Gaillard Hunt,
student of American history, as having
said that he never passed the Chesa-
peake & Ohio Canal without feeling
an impulse to lift his hat in solemn
reverence, adding that Mr.. Hunt had
said: But for that we might never
have had the Constitution of the United
States"
Pays Haitians Tribute.
; Gen. Richards paid tributes to the
Haitians for the aid rendered by them
to the French and American troops in
an effort to recover Savannah from the
British, and said:
! "We Marines are proud to remember,
when considering our responsibilities in
connection with our present day prob
lens in Haiti, of our obligations to
these Haitian patriots in the days when
{ the whirligig of fate had brought Ma