Evening star., 1929-12-21
Haiti, Richly Endowed by Nature,
Also a Land of Bloody Tyrants

"Picture an island more wonderful,
more beautiful and more richly en-
dowed by Nature even than the tabled
isles that medieval mariners loved to
dream about; q country of pleasant
peaks charming wales and fertile plains;
an idyllic land set in a Summer sea.
Picture, then, land where the ava
rice of conquerors, ruthlessly exploiting,
has blasted promises of progress, where
the passions of men have run riot,
where tyrant after tyrant, some great,
some petty, have waded to power
through pools Of blood: a land from
which the gods Of peace and industry
seem to have turned away"
Both are pictures of Haiti" says the
National Geographic Society.
To avoid confusion, it must be ex-
planned at the outset" continues the
bulletin, that the name Haiti is used
, sometimes to denote the entire island,
which IS the second largest land mass
IN the west Indies. sometimes to denote
merely the Republic of Haiti, which oc-
cupies the western third of its area.
Inc posslbilities OF confusion are in
creased by the fact that the island is
also known as Santo Domingo and San
domingo. names applied likewise to the
Dominican Republic. which occupies
the eastern two-thirds of the land unit.
X y ~
"The name Haiti is much used be-
| cause it was the descriptive term, mean
ing high land given to the island by
! Its aborigines. This was the fayorite
| island of the West Indies to Columbus
VINO reserved for it the most compli-
, mentary name bestowed on the islands
which he discovered-Hispanio Little
| Spain Something of the impression
, which this beautiful and promising
| island made on the great discoyerer
| can be Cleaned from his reference to
| 1t as a Garden of Eden and from the
fact that he named the point at which
! he first set foot on Haiti, December 6,
1892, The Vale of Paradise
History has been prodigal to the
Island of Haiti and has crowded one
interesting and tragic event after an
| other into the relatively short span of
years since the eyes of white men first
beheld its towering peaks On its north
ern coast, near the present Cape
Haitien, the Santa Maria, which bore
Columbus to the New World, was
| wrecked on Christmas eve, 1892, and
from It's broken, historic boards was set
| up by the crew the first structure erect
ed by Europeans in the Western Hemis-
phere. This was the Fortress of Navi-
dad in which the men of the Santa
Maria were killed while Columbus was
on his return voyage to Spain to report
| his epoch-making discovery of the In
dies
Farther to the east on the northern
coast of the island, Columbus built on
his return the first white settlement in
the New World, naming the little town
Isabella for the Queen who had made
his voyage Of discovery possible. On this
second trip Columbus brought with him
to his magic isle a great fleet bearing a
large force of soldiers and adventures.
| After defeating the natives, the con-
querorS journeyed to the south coast
| and there laid the foundations for the
city Of San Domingo-first permanent
city established by Europeans in Amer
lea. for many years the most important
outpost of western civilization and FORE
runner Of the countless cities and vii
lagos that are the seats today Of the
industry, commerce and culture of the
three Americas.
1T was wonderful future that
seemed to open before Columbus and
his fellow voyagerS as they took pos
session Of the most favored Of the
| Antilles. Those of vision among them
saw 1t in the future, no doubt, as q
mighty island treasure house, yielding
up its riches of mine and forest and
field harboring q great and prosperous
population. But the avarice Of man
stepped in and blotted out the promis-
ing picture. Early adventures, unwill-
ing to work, enslaved the native In
dians and drove them SO cruelty that
they died off by thousands When
death threatened to rob them of their
laborers, the exploiters imported large
numbers of African slaves who were
better able to bear up under the heavy
tasks and who multiplied rapidly. Soon
the mattress were exterminated and the