Evening star., 1949-11-27

Ny q 6AoAP VI o4AAehAi SAS kAAt4AooAAo
1 the reactionary right and the
if Haitians appear unusually sus-
picious of President Trujillo's good
intentions, it is because they find
it hard to forget the mysterious
but brutal slaughter of several
thousand of their fellow country
men on the Haitian-Dominican
frontier a few years ago.
unemployment an Issue
1t is true that President Estime
himself came to power after
coup d'etat that overthrew Presi-
dent Ellie Lescot in 1916. But he
actually took Office from a military
junta which had governed in the
interim, and after an election had
been called which gave Estime the
He belongs to no par
ticular party. and his cabinets
have reflected all shades of polit-
ical opinion. except the Commu-
nists and other extremists. Nor
has he been noticeably anti
United States, which seems to
have been, in the eyes of the COM
rades and the extreme rightists
opposition groups, his greatest sin.
Otherwise the rallying cry of
the opposition at home has been
unemployment and the forthcom-
ing SIS 600, 900 Port-au-Prince Ex-
position, originally scheduled to
open on December the 9th. OF
course, public unemployment in
the country is widespread, because
there are very few large. or even
sized. industries to en-
ploy people. Indeed there has al
ways been poverty and unemploy-
ment in Haiti. Some three million
people, or nearly three hundred
to the square mile, live in this lit
tie country. Except for few for
sisal and sugar-cane
and one or two large
rum manufacturing concerns, the
of the population. per-
hapS nine-tenths of the total, ekes
out an existence by some means Of
agriculture.
Government Income Low
Fortunately, nearly every FAM
lily in Haiti owns small plot OF
land. The average holding is about
one carreau, or three and two
tenths acres. Usually such q tract
of land furnishes a livelihood for
three and four persons. The pro-
prietor produces beans. coffee and
sugar cane. He has a few banana,
orange and mango trees. He keeps
a COW, two or three pigs, few
goats and chickens. Because OF
the tropical climate he can pro-
duce as many as three crops on
the same piece of land during 2
single year. What one owner does
not produce another does. and
they barter with one another for
what they need. The market
places in Port-au-Prince or any
other city or town are not so much
places for buying and selling as
they are places for the exchange
of commodities. The products or
goods Of one community are
swapped for those Of another.
Perhaps no government in Latin
America is as little able to solve
unemployment problems, or give
aid to the unemployed. Govern
ment income is the lowest of any
of the island countries. A nation
of mere peasants. who have hardly
enough upon which to subsist
themselves. are not able to pay
sufficient taxes to provide the pub
lie treasury with enough money
for large-scale public works. New
ertheless. considerable progress
has been made to improve the
situation.
Bids for Tourist Trade
During it's three years in Office
the Estime administration has in
creased the cultivable land by
retaining and irrigating new
tracts. A portion of a $4,000, 900
loan from the United States Ex-
port-Import Bank is to be used
for a large irrigation project in
the Artobonite Valley. This en-
terprise is expected to make avail
able some $4,000 additional acres
of rich farm land. The balance
of the loan is to be used for the
construction of new roads and for
sanitation in the cities, the latter
in cooperation with the Pan
American Sanitary Bureau and
the children's fund of the United
Nations. In accordance with the
terms of the loan, a special agency
has been set up to administer the
funds so that the. Haitian people
may extract a miximum benefit
from it.
Because the nation is limited in
industry and large-scale agricul-
ture the government has, like
those of all the other islands and
countries of the Caribbean, been
trying hard to develop a tourist
trade. as an additional source Of
income. This is the purpose Of
the forthcoming exposition; to
call attention. to the country's de-
lightful climate, its scenic ad-
vantages and its colorful life. But
the opposition has condemned the
project as unnecessary, costly and
a waste of the peoples money.
Such charges have a great apepal
to the underprivileged population.
Nevertheless, short of a wholesale
upheaval, the exposition will be
inaugurated in early February. A
commemorative ceremony will be
held on December 8, the original
date of the opening.
Among the foreign governments
which will participate are those Of
France, England, the United
States, Vatican City and a num-
|,ar ~ tho latin Aroerican and