FOREIGN POLICY ASSOCIATION

INCORPORATED

18 EAST FORTY-FIRST STREET, NEW YORK

Luncheon Discussion at HOTEL ASTOR

Broadway and 45th Street

Saturday, December 21, 1929, at 12:45

HAITI

W. E. B. DUBOIS

Editor, "The Crisis"; Member, Board of Directors, National Association for Advancement of Colored People

W. W. CUMBERLAND

Financial Adviser, General Receiver of Republic of Haiti, 1924-1927

Chairman
JAMES G. McDONALD

NEXT LUNCHEON DISCUSSION—JANUARY 4, 1930

IN THE LEAGUE AND OUT

NORMAN THOMAS

Executive Director, League for Industrial Democracy

MARY AGNES HAMILTON, M. P.

Member, British Delegation to the League of Nations Assembly, 1929

RAYMOND L. BUELL

Director, Research Department, Foreign Policy Association

HAITI

The Republic of Haiti occupies the western third of the island of Haiti. It has a population of somewhat more than 2,000,000, composed principally of descendants of African slaves brought to the island by French colonists several centuries ago. About 90 per cent of the people live in the country and derive their living from a primitive agriculture. Coffee is the principal export, being much more important than all other exports combined.

Under Toussaint Louverture and Dessalines, the Negro population revolted against their French masters, and in 1804 proclaimed the independence of the Republic of Haiti. This republic maintained an independent existence until 1915. Its history was, however, troubled. Between 1807 and 1915 Haiti had 24 Presidents, of whom 17 were deposed by revolution. Although an educated class arose in the towns, the mass of the country remained in ignorance. At present it is estimated that from 75 to 90 per cent of the population is illiterate.

Following the massacre of some 165 political prisoners at Port-au-Prince in July, 1915, Admiral Caperton of the United States Navy landed forces. The Haitian government, after the United States had declared martial law and seized the customhouses, signed a convention on September 16, 1915, providing for the admission of American officials into certain branches of Haitian administration. This convention obligated the President of Haiti, upon nomination of the President of the United States, to appoint a General Receiver, and also a Financial Adviser. To preserve domestic peace, Haiti promised to create a constabulary, organized and officered for the most part by Americans nominated by the President of the United States. Haiti agreed to carry out such measures as "may be necessary for the sanitation and public improvement of the Republic," under the supervision of engineers appointed by Haiti upon nomination by the President of the United States. Moreover, the United States promised that it "will lend an efficient aid for the preservation of Haitian independence and the maintenance of a Government adequate for the protection of life, property and individual liberty." The convention went into effect on May 3, 1916, for a term of ten years. In 1917 it was renewed for a further term of ten years, and will therefore expire in May, 1936.

At present, American participation in Haitian administration is exercised through a High Commissioner, General John H. Russell, and five treaty officials; namely, the Financial Adviser-General Receiver, the Engineer in Chief of the Public Works Service, the Director General of the Public Health Service, the Director General of the Service of Agriculture and Vocational

Education, and the Commandant of the Garde. These treaty officials are assisted by about 250 other Americans.

The Haitian government consists of a President, a Cabinet, a Council of State and the Courts. The Council of State enacts laws, votes the budget and elects the President. It consists of 21

members appointed by the President. No elections for the legislature have been held in Haiti since 1917. The President of Haiti is His Excellency, M. Louis Borno, who was elected in 1922 and re-elected in 1926. The Haitian Constitution forbids a third term; and President Borno has announced that he will not be a candidate for re-election. The new President of Haiti will, under present procedure, be elected by the Council of State in April, 1930.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON HAITI

Balch, E. G., Occupied Haiti. New York, Writers' Publishing Company, 1927

Buell, R. L., The American Occupation of Haiti. New York, Foreign Policy Association, 1929

Davis, H. P., Black Democracy. New York, Dial Press, 1929

Léger, J. N., Haiti: Her History and Her Detractors. New York, Neale Publishing Company, 1907

Niles, Blair, Black Haiti. New York, Putnam, 1926

Seabrook, W. B., The Magic Island. New York, Harcourt, Brace, 1929

United States. Senate. Hearings before a select committee on Haiti and Santo Domingo. . . 67th Congress, Second Session, Washington, 1922

F. P. A. Information Service Reports sold in the lobby

SPEAKERS' TABLE

(from left to right facing table)

CAPTAIN NAPOLEON BONAPARTE MARSHALL—President, Save Haiti League

PIERRE WINKLER—Holder of a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship for the study of Caribbean problems

MRS. BLAIR NILES—Author of "Black Haiti," etc.

DR. ALAIN LOCKE—Professor of Philosophy, Howard University; author, "Race Contracts and Inter-racial Relations," "The New Negro," etc.

RALPH S. ROUNDS—Lawyer, of Rounds, Dillingham, Mead & Neagle; member, F. P. A. Board of Directors

MAJOR H. CASE WILLCOX—Foreign Department, Pan-American Airways, Inc.

WILBUR L. CUMMINGS—Lawyer, of Sullivan & Cromwell

DR. W. E. DUNN—Director General of Internal Revenue in Haiti, 1924-27; now with Foreman-State Corporation

MRS. HENRY GODDARD LEACH—Chairman, N. Y. State League of Women Voters; member, F. P. A. Board of Directors

MR. CUMBERLAND

MR. McDONALD

MR. DUBOIS

JAMES WELDON JOHNSON—Secretary, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; author, "Self-Determining Haiti"; U. S. Consul in Nicaragua, 1909-12; in Venezuela, 1906

MRS. HELENA HILL WEED—Contributor of articles on Haiti to The Nation, etc.

HORACE G. KNOWLES—Representative of the Dominican Government before the Senate Investigating Committee of 1921; formerly Minister to Santo Domingo

PROF. RAYFORD LOGAN—Head of the Department of Modern Languages, Virginia Union University; made an investigation in Haiti, 1926

OSWALD GARRISON VILLARD—Editor, the Nation

H. P. DAVIS—Organizer and Manager, American Chamber of Commerce of Haiti; in Haiti 1915-28; made most complete collection of Haitiania in the Republic; author, "Black Democracy"

ARTHUR B. RUHL—Of the New York Herald-Tribune; formerly its correspondent in Central America

ERNEST ANGELL—Lawyer, of Harbin, Hess, Eder & Freschi