676 



SAN DOMINGO. 



was in the place of Mr. Hunt instructed to pro- 

 ceed to San Domingo on the same mission, and 

 sailed from New York about four days after re- 

 ceivin* his instructions. Upon his return to 

 Washington, General Babcock made a verbal re- 

 port favorable to the project of annexation. He 

 was therefore, directed to return to San Domin- 

 o-o in order to aid Mr. Raymond H. Perry, the 

 commercial agent of the United States, to ne- 

 gotiate for the annexation of the whole ter- 

 ritory of the republic to the United States, 

 and, as an alternative proposition, for a lease of 

 the Peninsula and Bay of Samana to the United 

 States. A treaty for the annexation of the ter- 

 ritories of the republic and a convention for 

 the lease of the Bay and Peninsula of Samana 

 were accordingly concluded on November 29, 

 1869. The terms of the treaty required that a 

 popular vote should be taken upon the question 

 of annexation. The vote was almost unani- 

 mously affirmative. On May 31, 1870, President 

 Grant transmitted to the Senate an additional 

 article to the treaty of November 29th. The 

 message was as follows : 



EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 81, 1870. 

 To the Senate of the United States : 



I transmit to the Senate for consideration, with a 

 view to its ratification, an additional article to the 

 treaty of the 29th of November last for the annexation 

 of the Dominican Republic to the United States, stipu- 

 latinw for an extension of the time for exchanging the 

 ratifications thereof, signed in this city on the 14th 

 inst. by the plenipotentaries of the parties. It was 

 my intention to have also negotiated with the plem- 

 potentary of San Domingo amendments to the treaty 

 of annexation to obviate objections which may be urged 

 against the treaty as it is now worded ; but. on reflec- 



"TO _ . S . . A- _ T 't. *.. 4-V* Q.nr\ft + i 4-ll a 



against the treaty as it is now worueu , uuu. uu 

 turn I deem it better to submit to the Senate the 

 propriety of their amending the treaty as follows : 

 First, to specify that the obligations of this Govern- 

 ment shall not exceed the $1,500,000 stipulated in the 

 treaty ; secondly, to determine the manner ot appoint- 

 in^ the agents to receive and disburse the same ; third- 

 ly to determine the class of creditors who shall take 

 precedence in the settlement of their claims; and 

 finally to insert such amendments as may suggest 

 themselves to the minds of Senators to carry out m 

 good faith the conditions of the treaty submitted to the 

 Senate of the United States in January last, accord- 

 in to the spirit and intent of that treaty. From the 

 most reliable information I can obtain, the sum speci- 

 fied in the treaty will pay every just claim against the 

 republic of San Domingo, and leave a balance sut- 

 ficieut to carry on a territorial government until such 

 time as new laws for providing a territorial revenue 

 can be enacted and put in force. . 



I feel an unusual anxiety for the ratification ot this 

 treaty, because I believe it will redound greatly to the 

 glory of the two countries' interest, to civilization, 

 and to the extirpation of the institution of slavery. 

 The doctrine promulgated by President Monroe has 

 been adhered to by all political parties, and I now 

 deem it proper to assert the equally important prin- 

 ciple that hereafter no territory on this continent shall 

 be regarded as subject to transfer to a European 

 power" The government of San Domingo has 

 voluntarily sought this annexation. It is a weak 

 power, numbering probably less than 120 000 souls, 

 and yet possessing one of the richest territories 

 under the sun, capable of supporting a population ot 

 10 000 000 of people in luxury. The people ot ban 

 Domingo are not capable of maintaining themselves 

 in their present condition, and must look for outside 

 support. They yearn for the protection of our tree 

 institutions and laws, our progress and civilization. 



Shall we refuse them ? 1 have Information, which 1 

 believe reliable, that a European power stands ready 

 now to offer $2,000,000 for the possession of Samana 

 Bay alone, if refused by us. With what grace can we 

 prevent a foreign power from attempting to secure 

 the prize ? 



The acquisition of San Domingo is desirable be- 

 cause of its geographical position. It commands the 

 entrance to the Caribbean Sea and the Isthmus transit 

 of commerce. It possesses the richest soil, best and 

 most capacious harbors, most salubrious climate, and 

 the most valuable products of the forest, mine, and 

 soil, of any of the West-India Islands. Its possession 

 by us will, in a few years, build up a coastwise com- 

 merce of immense magnitude, which will go far toward 

 restoring to us our lost merchant marine. It will 

 give to us those articles which we consume so largely 

 and do not produce, thus equalizing our exports and 

 imports. In case of foreign war it will give us com- 

 mand of all the islands referred to, and thus prevent 

 an enemy from ever again possessing himself of a 

 rendezvous upon our very coast. At present our 

 coast-trade between the States bordering on the At- 

 lantic and those bordering on the Gulf of Mexico is 

 cut in two by the Bahamas and the Antilles. Since we 

 must, as it were, pass through foreign countries to 



et by sea from Georgia to the west coast of 1 londa, 

 an Domingo, with a stable government under which 

 her immense resources can be developed, will give 

 remunerative wages to tens of thousands of laborers 

 not now upon the island. This labor will take advan- 

 ta<re of every available means of transportation to 

 abandon the adjacent islands and seek the blessings 

 of freedom and its sequence, each inhabitant receiv- 

 in<r the reward of his own labor. Porto Kico ana 

 Cuba will have to abolish slavery as a measure ol self- 

 preservation, to retain their laborers. San Domingo 

 will become a large consumer of the products 

 Northern farms and manufactories. The cheap rate 

 at which her citizens can be furnished with food, tools, 

 and machinery, will make it necessary that the con- 

 tiguous islands should have the same advantages m 

 order to compete in the production of sugar, coifee, 



, i 1*^1 *-.,:*, trt TViia will rmnn to lift n 



tobacco, tropical fruits, etc. This will open to us a 

 still wider market for our products. The production 

 of our own supply of these articles will cut ott more 

 than $100,000,000 of our annual imports, besides 

 largely increasing our exports. With such a picture 

 it is easy to see how our large debt abroad is ulti- 

 mately to be extinguished. With a balance of trade 

 against us, including interest on bonds held by lor- 

 efgners and money spent by our citizens travelling 

 in foreign lands, equal to the entire yield ot the 

 precious metals in this country, it is not so easy to 

 see how this result is to be otherwise accomplished. 



The acquisition of San Domingo is an adherence 

 to the Monroe doctrine. It is a measure of national 

 protection; it is asserting our just claim to a control- 

 lino- influence over the great commercial traffic soon 

 to flow from East to West by way of the Isthmus ot 

 Darien ; it is to build up our merchant marine ; it 

 furnish new markets for the products of our tarms, 

 shops, and manufactories ; it is to make slavery insup- 

 portable in Cuba and Porto Rico at once, and ultimately 

 so in Brazil ; it is to settle the unhappy condition < 

 Cuba and end an exterminating conflict; it is to pro. 

 vide honest means of paying our honest debts wi 

 out overtaxing the people ; it is to furnish our ci 

 with the necessaries of every-dav life at cheaper 

 rates than ever before, and it is, in fine, a rapid_str 

 toward that greatness which the intelligence indu 

 try and enterprise, of the citizens of the United States 

 entitle this country to assume among 



The Senate of the United States did not agree 

 with the views of General Gran* on the annex- 

 ation of San Domingo, and the treaty was re- 

 iected on June 30th. Colonel Fabens was sent 

 as bearer of the news, arrived at San Domingo 



