SANTO DOMINGO. 



705 



The finances of the republic, owing to pro- 

 tracted civil wars, are in extreme disorder ; so 

 that accurate statements thereof can scarcely 

 be obtained. In 1870 the estimated revenue 

 was 40,000,000 gourdes, or $2,500,000 ; and the 

 expenditures double that sum. 



The income and outlay are, however, placed 

 in an entirely different light by the President, 

 who, in his message to the Corps Legislatif, un- 

 der date August 12, 1873, mentions the reve- 

 nue as being "four millions and a half; " and 

 the expenditure for the year ending Septem- 

 ber 30, 1872, as having amounted to only 

 $2,067,867.40. 



There is a large floating debt, proceeding 

 from the accumulation of the paper money 

 successively emitted by several administra- 

 tions, especially from 1853 to 1855, when the 

 country was flooded by an annual emission of 

 some $4,500,000. This currency, which, in 

 1872, amounted to about $800,000,000, has fre- 

 quently been subject to considerable deprecia- 

 tion, fluctuating in the year last mentioned be- 

 tween 165 and 350, and becoming almost val- 

 ueless during the late civil war. A reform 

 was initiated by the Government to redeem 

 the paper money; but as the rate of exchange 

 was fixed at 300 per cent., the commercial 

 value being 250 paper dollars to one of silver, 

 the scheme proved abortive, and was succeeded 

 by another, the evil effects of which are still 

 sensibly felt in the mercantile community. 

 This new project consisted in a temporary 

 augmentation, first of 10, and again of 25 per 

 cent., in the already exorbitant duties upon 

 the exports and imports. As an almost imme- 

 diate result of this short-sighted measure, 

 smuggling was established upon a systematic 

 basis; but one-half of the duties prescribed by 

 law were collected by the Government; and 

 the other half was divided between the mer- 

 chants and the custom-house officials them- 

 selves. 



In December of the year mentioned, more 

 efficient measures were adopted for the pur- 

 pose of relieving the country from the burden 

 of the currency, a task which, apparently, pre- 

 sented no great difficulty qfter all, at a time 

 when the paper money had reached such a de- 

 gree of depreciation that one dollar in specie 

 was equivalent to three hundred paper dollars. 

 The plan now proposed was, to withdraw the 

 notes from circulation, and supply their place 

 with a corresponding quantity of coin. It is 

 true the Goverment had not enough specie at 

 command to begin this work of redemption ; 

 bnt there was, nevertheless, a certain amount 

 in the reserve fund, and that ndrled to the pro- 

 coeds of a loan negotiated with four merchants 

 of Port-nn-Prinrf, furnished the Government 

 about $1,000,000, wherewith to inaugurate the 

 movement. A decree was issued to the effect 

 that in four months from the 15th of Decem- 

 ber the paper currency should cense to be a 

 legal tender in the republic, and that the 

 twenty-dollar notes (which had been largely 



VOL. XIII. 45 A 



counterfeited) should at once cease to circu- 

 late. It was feared that the sudden with- 

 drawal of the notes of the denomination men- 

 tioned, and which constituted about two-thirds 

 of the whole currency, would be followed by 

 popular tumults in different parts of the state ; 

 but such apprehensions were of course ground- 

 less, except in the event of tardiness on the 

 part of the Government to fulfill its promise to 

 give specie in exchange for the paper. 



The navy is at present composed of two 

 gunboats ; a third, the Terreur, formerly the 

 United States gunboat Pequot, and purchased 

 in 1870, was announced to be sold in February 

 1873. 



An uprising took place in March at Gonaives, 

 under one Gallumette, a black man, chief 

 leader of the party inimical to the Govern- 

 ment, but it was soon suppressed by the troops ; 

 many persons were arrested, and some sixty 

 executed without trial. Gonaives was imme- 

 diately declared in state of siege. 



According to the constitution, the first Mon- 

 day in April is the day fixed for the opening 

 of the Corps Legislatif; bnt on that day the 

 usual number of members necessary to form a 

 quorum were not present, so that the session 

 was postponed, notwithstanding the sugges- 

 tion from the cabinet that the members then 

 assembled might be conveniently constituted 

 a quorum. On May 2d, after long delibera- 

 tion, the House was organized with forty-five 

 members, General Brice being elected presi- 

 dent (Speaker) ; the Executive was notified of 

 the fact, but he promptly transmitted an an- 

 swer, signed by all the cabinet, and to the ef- 

 fect that, " as the Senate could not organize on 

 the day lawfully appointed therefor, on ac- 

 count of the absence of one single member, so 

 it must now await the completion of its con- 

 stitutional quorum of two-thirds of its mem- 

 bers before being recognized by the Execu- 

 tive." 



In the same month the Ministers of the In- 

 terior and of Foreign Affairs tendered their 

 resignations, which were accepted ; and a new 

 cabinet was formed. 



President Saget issued a decree on May 9th, 

 convoking the legislative body in session ex- 

 traordinary for the first Monday in July. 



The President's message to that body under 

 date August 13th, was of remarkable length. 

 One of the topics referred to therein was the 

 convocation by him of an extraordinary ses- 

 sion of the Chambers, for which measure he 

 cited as the chief motive, the urgency to de- 

 liberate upon the foreign claims against the 

 Government in order " to avoid the possibility 

 of new complications with foreign powers." 



DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (Republica Domini- 

 eana), an independent state occupying the 

 eastern portion of the island of Santo Domin- 

 go, or Hayti. 



The territory of the republic is divided into 

 five provinces, which are Santo Domingo, 

 Azua de Compostela, Santa Cruz del Seybo, 



