HAYTI. 



HONDURAS. 



305 



oners who had been sentenced for murder and 

 rape, on the ground that their conviction was un- 

 constitutional because a jury of fewer than 12 

 men had found them guilty. Attorney-General 

 Dole immediately caused their rearrest on the old 

 charge and asked for an appeal, which was denied 

 by the lower court on the ground that in habeas 

 corpus cases no appeal can lie. The Attorney- 

 General then brought the matter before the Su- 

 preme Court, in which Chief-Justice Fear and Jus- 

 tice Perry were members of the old regime. The 

 circuit court called a special grand jury, and dis- 

 charged it because it would not act before the 

 Supreme Court had rendered its decision. The 

 Legislature took up the controversy, which was 

 discussed with unbridled license in the Honolulu 

 press. When the session had to be closed by lapse 

 of time the Legislature passed a vote of want of 

 confidence in the Governor, and deputed Mr. 

 Beckley, leader of the Home Rulers, to go to the 

 United States to communicate the same to Presi- 

 dent McKinley. 



HAYTI, a republic in the West Indies, occupy- 

 ing the western third of the island of Hayti. The 

 legislative power is vested in the National As- 

 sembly, consisting of a Senate of 39 members, 

 chosen by the lower house for six years from 

 lists submitted by the President and by a college 

 of electors, and of a House of Representatives, 

 95 in number, elected for three years by all adult 

 male citizens possessing visible means of support. 

 The President is elected by the people, or some- 

 times by the National Assembly, for seven years. 

 Gen. Tiresias Simon Sam was elected in 1890 for 

 the remainder of Gen. Hippolyte's term, which 

 ends on May 15, 1902. The Cabinet at the be- 

 ginning of 1901 was composed- as follows: Secre- 

 tary of State for Foreign Affairs, Brutus San 

 Victor; for Finance and Commerce, B. Faine; for 

 the Interior and Police, Tancrede Auguste; for 

 Agriculture and Public Works, C. Leconte; for 

 Justice and Public Worship, L. Cauvin; for War 

 and Marine, V. Guillaume; for Public Instruc- 

 tion, M. Chanzy. President Sam, taking the 

 ground that he was elected for the regular, period, 

 not for an unexpired term, announced the inten- 

 tion of remaining in office till May, 1903, the 

 National Assembly in 1896 having passed a reso- 

 lution declaring that his term w r ill not expire be- 

 fore that date. 



Area and Population. The area of Hayti is 

 estimated at 10,204 square miles. The population 

 in 1894 was 1,210,625 according to an enumera- 

 tion made by the clergy. Port-au-Prince, the 

 capital, has about 50,000 inhabitants; Cape Hai- 

 tien, 29,000; Les Cayes, 25,000; Gonai'ves, 18,000. 



Finances. The revenue for 1900 was esti- 

 mated at $4,516,096 in paper and $2,912,984 in gold, 

 the expenditure at $4,499,067 in paper and $2,913,- 

 593 in gold. The export duties, paid in American 

 gold, amounted to $2,815,902 in 1899; the import 

 duties, paid in currency, to $2,618,869. American 

 gold in 1899 was at an average premium of 172. 

 There were in circulation $3,749,000 in paper cur- 

 rency, $3,500,000 in silver, and $1,200,000 in 

 American gold. 



The external debt on Jan. 1, 1900, was $12,960,- 

 642, bearing 5 and 6 per cent, interest and pay- 

 able in gold. The internal debt payable in gold, 

 partly secured on the export duty on coffee, was 

 $6,115,091, besides which there was a currency 

 debt of $9,372,183. 



Commerce and Production. Coffee is the 

 most valuable crop, and is subjected to a heavy 

 export duty. Cacao is also cultivated, and cotton 

 in increasing quantities. A company has been 

 formed for 'the cultivation of tobacco. Cattle, 

 VOL. XLI. 20 A 



as well as horses and goats, aro r;i i , d, but their 

 exportation has been chocked by ih< imposition 

 of onerous duties. The mineral ue;.i.li.h of the 

 country is not developed, except Unit <*<>]([ is 

 washed in a crude fashion and copper-mines have 

 been opened. A concession has boon givrn lot- 

 mining coal. Silver, iron, antimony, tin, ^uli'ur, 

 kaolin, nickel, gypsum, and porphyry have been 

 found. Logwood is abundant, and various valu- 

 able woods are found in the forests. The export 

 of coffee in the year ending Sept. 30, 181)9, was 

 61,622,184 pounds; of cacao, 4,039,500 pounds; of 

 logwood, 82,836,302 pounds; of cotton, 1,471,992 

 pounds; of hides, 291,133 pounds; of copper, 22,- 

 590 pounds. Other exports are honey and wax, 

 goatskins, and cabinet woods. 



HOLLAND. (See NETHERLANDS.) 



HONDURAS, a republic of Central America. 

 The legislative power is vested in the Congress, a 

 single chamber of 46 members, elected for four 

 years by universal adult male suffrage. The 

 President of the republic is elected likewise by 

 popular suffrage for four years. Gen. Terencio 

 Sierra was elected President in 1899 for the term 

 ending Jan. 31, 1903, and Gen. Jose M. Reina was 

 elected Vice-President. The members of the Cabi- 

 net at the beginning of 1901 were as follow: 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. C. Bonilla; Min- 

 ister of Public Works, F. Altschul; Minister of 

 Justice and Public Instruction, Dr. Juan A. Arias; 

 Acting Minister of the Interior, Dr. Bonilla; Min- 

 ister of Finance, D. Fortin; Minister of War, Gen. 

 M: Rosales. 



Area and Population. The area of Honduras 

 is estimated at 45,250 square miles, the popula- 

 tion at 407,000. Tegucigalpa, the capital, has 

 about 12,600 inhabitants. 



Finances. The revenue in 1899 was reported 

 to be $2,351,240, and expenditure $2,378,565. For 

 1901 the estimate of revenue was $2,423,000, of 

 which $970,000 were from customs and $800,000 

 from the spirit monopoly. The estimated ex- 

 penditure was $2,416,824, of which $814,124 were 

 required for the army, $419.708 for public works, 

 and $405,695 for the interior. 



The foreign debt in the middle of 1900 was 

 stated to amount to 18,298,258, of which 12,- 

 899,688 were arrears of interest. The internal 

 debt was $1,800,812. The Honduras Government 

 in 1897 signed a contract giving the management 

 of the customs to a New York syndicate which 

 assumed the English-held debt which has blighted 

 the country's prosperity since 1870. The bonds 

 were given for the construction of a railroad 

 across the isthmus. The original issue was 1,- 

 000,000, and with fresh issues the debt grew to 

 5,000,000, and the promoters of the railroad 

 scheme who handled all the money expended only 

 a fraction of it on the railroad, building the sec- 

 tion from Puerto Cortez to La Pimienta, and call- 

 ing upon the Government to issue more bonds in 

 order to carry it farther. The credit of the Gov- 

 ernment was already exhausted when the con- 

 clusion was reached that it had been swindled. 

 The British Government declined to use pressure 

 to enforce the collection of this debt after inves- 

 tigating it and finding all the transactions tainted 

 with fraud. Nevertheless, the Honduras Govern- 

 ment acknowledged the obligation, and has tried 

 various plans for discharging the debt. The rail- 

 road was leased to St. Louis capitalists from 1892 

 till 1897 for $25,000 a year. The syndicate of 

 New Yorkers which then took it and the conces- 

 sion of the customs agreed to pay the Govern- 

 ment $1.000,000 a year, to wipe out the bonds, 

 to complete the railroad across the isthmus in 

 five years, and to establish a bank. The work of 



