428 



HAYTI. 



ident Barrios to try this experiment. The 

 cinchona - tree was introduced into India in 



000 been repaid, but the trees have been 

 valued at 1,000,000. The cinchona tree re- 



1879, at the instance of the British Govern- quires a tropical climate and a plentiful rain- 



ment, and the culture was so profitable that fall. 



not only has the original investment of 150,- GHANA. See WEST INDIES. 



H 



HAYTL The Haytian Republic covers the 

 western third of the West Indian island of 

 Santo Domingo, and an area of 10,205 square 

 miles. The President is G-en. Salomon, elect- 

 ed for seven years, dating from 1879. The 

 Cabinet is composed of the following-named 

 ministers : Foreign Affairs, Finance, and Com- 

 merce, Gen. Damier ; Justice and Public Wor- 

 ship, Madion; War and Navy, Michel Pierre; 

 Interior, Ovide Camera ; Public Instruction and 

 Agriculture, F. Manigat. 



The United States Minister Resident and 

 Consul-General at Port-au-Prince is Mr. J. M. 

 Langston, and the Vice Consul-General, Dr. 

 J. B. Terres. The Haytian Envoy Extraor- 

 dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the 

 United States is Mr. S. Preston; and the Hay- 

 tian Consul at New York, Mr. E. D. Bassett. 

 The republic is divided into five administrative 

 departments ; that of the west having Port- 

 au-Prince for its capital; that of the south, 

 Aux Cayes ; the northern, Cape Haytien ; the 

 northwestern, Port-de-Paix; and the depart- 

 ment of Artibotiite, of which Gonai'ves is the 

 capital. The national capital, Port-au Prince, 

 contains a population of 35,000. The popula- 

 tion of the country is estimated at 550,000, 90 

 per cent, of whom are negroes, and the others 

 mulattoes. This gives 23 individuals to the 

 square kilometre, against 50 in Jamaica, 75 in 

 Porto Rico, 76 in Guadeloupe, 163 in Marti- 

 nique, and 12 in Cuba. There are few perma- 

 nent white inhabitants of the republic; these 

 few are merchants and French teachers. Al- 

 though the official language of the country is 

 French and it is correctly spoken, written, 

 and printed, even having a creditable native 

 literature among the educated the mass of 

 the people indulge in a sort of patois, a cor- 

 rupted French. 



In 1844 Hayti separated from Santo Domin- 

 go, the eastern, Spanish-speaking portion of 

 the island, which has since then maintained its 

 independence, with the exception of a short 

 interval during the American civil war, when 

 it formed part of the dominions of Spain. In 

 1846, under the new Constitution, which went 

 into existence on November 14th of that year, 

 a sort of ostracism was decreed against the 

 whites, by virtue of Article YII of that docu- 

 ment, which stipulates that "no white man, to 

 whatever nation he may belong, is allowed to 

 reside in Haytian territory as master or prop- 

 erty-holder, and he is forbidden from ever ac- 

 quiring real estate or Haytian citizenship." 



Finance. The budget for 1882-'83 made the 

 following estimate of expenditures : 



In dollars of five francs. 



Department of Finance and Commerce $494,625 



Foreign Affairs 352,080 



War and Navy 1,221,197 



the Interior and Police 1,159,814 



Justice 323,624 



Public Instruction 744,350 



Public Worship 62,375 



Agriculture 309,800 



Sundry outlays 1,333,947 



Total $6,006,310 



The public debt amounted in May, 1882, to 

 $12,507,884, of which the remainder due 

 France under the arrangement of 1825 consti- 

 tuted $307,884 ; the Dominique loan, $7,200,- 

 000 ; and the internal debt, $5,000,000. 



During the late insurrection the Haytian 

 National Assembly authorized the Government 

 to borrow $1,000,000 from the National Bank 

 of Hayti and issue paper money to an equal 

 amount, to be a legal tender for three years ; 

 this loan to be refunded by means of addition- 

 al taxes to be levied under provisions of a spe- 

 cial law to that effect passed on Aug. 28, 1883. 



Since 1873 American silver has constituted 

 the principal part of the circulating medium 

 of Hayti ; but between 1880 and 1882 a large 

 amount of Mexican silver dollars has been im- 

 ported, and this money has circulated freely. 

 Within the same period an amount of Haytian 

 coins, bearing the effigies of Boyer and Petion, 

 variously estimated at from $50,000 to $100,- 

 000, has been remonetized and again been put 

 in circulation. If to these several elements of 

 silver money be added a small amount of 

 American, English, French, and Spanish gold, 

 the aggregate of the whole, both kinds of spe- 

 cie, amounting to about $7,000,000, we will 

 have, substantially, the sum total and charac- 

 ter of the currency which has been employed 

 in Hayti for the period indicated. 



It was in this monetary condition of the 

 country, on the election of Gen. Salomon to 

 the presidency, that the proposition to estab- 

 lish a national bank, with foreign capital and 

 by grant of a special concession, was consid- 

 ered and determined by the Haytian National 

 Assembly. 



The upshot of the matter is presented in a 

 contract with the Parisian General Industrial 

 and Commercial Credit Company for the es- 

 tablishment of such institution for fifty years. 

 The bank founded under the auspices of this 

 society is a joint-stock company, with its head- 

 quarters at Paris. The capital consists of 10,- 

 000,000 francs, or $2,000,000. It has the ex- 

 clusive privilege of emitting bills which shall 

 pass current throughout the country, provided 

 that the amount of such bills shall not exceed 



