HAITI AXD ITS REGEXERATIOX BY THE EXITED STATES 



50i 



much truth. Some of the traits of these 

 rulers of Haiti are worthy of note. Few 

 of them could read and write. Most of 

 them were intimates of the voodoo priests 

 and doctors and many of them were 

 accused of being practitioners of the 

 highest voodoo rite — cannibalism. Only 

 two of her presidents, Soulouque and 

 Salnave, were generally admitted canni- 

 bals and adepts in the feasts which fol- 

 lowed the killing of "the goat without 

 horns," as the human victims of the 

 voodoo ceremonies are commonly known, 

 but many others were accused. 



Where else on earth could the casket 

 containing the remains of a ruler lying in 

 state in the cathedral be riddled with 

 bullets, or the remains of another ruler 

 be drawn and quartered and the parts 

 dragged through the streets, providing a 

 Roman holiday for a frenzied populace? 



After 1903 the open season on presi- 

 dents became more open than ever, and 

 the procession of revolutions speeded up 

 considerably, the events occurring which 

 brought about the landing of the Ameri- 

 can forces in 191 5. 



Administration after administration 

 came into power, each obtaining new 

 loans from European and American 

 bankers and vanishing in turn in revolu- 

 tionary smoke, leaving only unpaid loans 

 to mark their passage. By 191 1 the pro- 

 cession of revolutions had attained such 

 headway that the average official life of 

 Haiti's presidents was less than a year 

 after taking office. 



PRESIDENT LECONTE IS BLOWN UP 



In August, 191 1, the president, General 

 Simon, was overthrown by a revolution, 

 and Cincinnatus Leconte was elected to 

 the office. Leconte lasted until January, 

 1 91 2, when he attempted to oust a num- 

 ber of incompetent office-holders. Then 

 the evicted ones and their friends pro- 

 cured the aid of the bands of cacos, put 

 the federal troops to flight, surrounded 

 the Presidential Palace, and when Le- 

 conte refused to surrender, blew up 

 president, palace, and guards together. 



After Leconte's tragic exit, Tancrede 

 Auguste was elected, in August, 1912. 

 He was suspected of being at heart a re- 

 former and was poisoned about eight 

 months after taking office. Shortly after 

 Auguste's death, in May, 191 3, Michael 



Oreste became president. Oreste didn't 

 tarry long in the presidential chair, how- 

 ever. When, in January, 1914, a revo- 

 lution was started with the avowed in- 

 tention of adding his scalp to those of 

 other late lamented presidents of Haiti 

 who had been run over by revolutions, 

 he forestalled the revolutionists by emi- 

 grating hastily to Jamaica. 



A leader named Orestes Zamor next 

 took up the presidential burden. He 

 took office February, 191 4, and was added 

 to the list of ex-presidents of Haiti in 

 October of the same year. He was 

 thrown into prison, where he was mur- 

 dered a few months later because it was 

 feared that he might escape and resume 

 political activities. Zamor was succeeded 

 by Davilmar Theodore, who lasted from 

 November, 1914, to February, 191 5, when 

 he was overthrown and succeeded by 

 Vilbrun Guillaume Sam. 



WHOLESALE SLAUGHTER OF HOSTAGES 



A few months later the chronic revo- 

 lution made its appearance and the cacos 

 were mobilized against Sam by one Doc- 

 tor Bobo. Sam, however, was a deter- 

 mined soul and decided not to become an 

 ex-president without a fight. He knew 

 that the revolution was stirred up, 

 financed, and the cacos egged on by 

 wealthy and influential families in his 

 capital city of Port au Prince, and he 

 determined to strike at the root of the 

 trouble. Accordingly, he threw into jail 

 more than 160 of the leading men of the 

 town and announced that unless the revo- 

 lution subsided there would be vacant 

 chairs in the circles of many of Haiti's 

 first families. 



This action, instead of quieting the 

 revolutionists, excited them to greater 

 fury, and new uprisings broke forth. 

 Whereupon the president's threat was 

 promptly translated into action, and all 

 of the hostages, including many of the 

 most prominent men in Haiti, were mur- 

 dered and parts of their mutilated bodies 

 exhibited. 



OUTRAGE TO FRENCH LEGATION PRECIPI- 

 TATES AMERICAN INTERFERENCE 



Shortly after this slaughter, in July, 

 1915, Sam's own turn came. Overthrown 

 and deserted by his adherents, he fled to 

 the French legation, asking protection. 



