Hayti; or, The black republic.

AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE, AND FINANCE.

Agriculture.

M. Eugène Nau, in his pamphlet on the influence of agriculture on civilisation, endeavoured to bring his countrymen to look with favour on the principal source of prosperity in all tropical countries; but the seed he sowed fell on revolutionary soil, and agriculture is more neglected than ever.

And yet in all the wide world there is not a country more suited to agriculture than Hayti; not one where the returns for labour are more magnificent; a rich, well-watered soil, with a sun which actually appears to draw vegetation towards itself with such energetic force that the growth of plants, though not actually visible to the eye, may be almost daily measured.

The system of cultivation varies greatly. In the north an effort was made by King Christophe to keep up large estates, whilst in the west and south President Pétion encouraged the division of the land among peasant proprietors. Large estates still remain, however, in these provinces, which are cultivated under different arrangements, to which I will hereafter refer. The general rule is that large estates obtain mostly in the plains, whilst in the mountains the land is practically in the hands of the peasantry, though many large estates exist nominally.

In 1877 a law was passed for regulating the management of the State domains, for selling them or leasing them for nine years. A longer lease would require a special authorisation of the Legislature. This last clause is principally aimed at foreigners, whom the Haytians desire to keep away from all interest in land.

The national estates lie in different parts of the country, and the extent of them in the aggregate is but imperfectly known, owing to careless administration. According to an official return published in 1877, there were under lease 2105 farms of national land, containing about 230,000 acres, let on an average at the rate of two shillings per acre.

The laws on the tenure of real estate are, with some modifications, the same as the agrarian laws that were framed by the French during their possession of the country, and are remarkable for that minute accuracy and definition of right which characterise French laws in general.

For the better elucidation of the subject a few retrospective notices are necessary.

Going back to 1804, the year of independence, one of the first acts of Dessalines was to create a national domain out of the following elements:—

All the real estate which constituted the State domains during the French period.

All the real estates of the whites which had not been legally transferred.

All land without owners.

Confiscated lands.

In furtherance of his project to get the best part of the land into the hands of Government, Dessalines is accused of resorting to every kind of arbitrary and cruel act, and did not even disdain to encourage forgery in order to dispossess those proprietors who stood firm to their rights. This attack on private property was one of the main causes of the successful plot against his life.

Of the national estate thus formed a great part was subsequently parcelled out by Pétion in donations to those who had deserved well in the war of independence, whilst other lots were sold in fee-simple.

Of the class of large proprietors created under the republic of Pétion, but few undertook the cultivation of their own lands. The usage at once came into favour of letting them out in small lots to working men on the Metayer system, the landlord to receive half the produce, on the condition of furnishing, on sugar-cane estates, the mill and the other necessary appliances. With regard to produce, there are two classes recognised and kept distinct by law, namely, “la grande culture” (large farming) and “la petite culture” (small farming). The first consists in the cultivation of sugar-cane and similar articles; the second in the cultivation of provisions for the market. As in the “grande culture” half went to the proprietor, the tendency has been for some years to encroach with the “petite culture” on the lands reserved for the former. Each peasant is allowed a patch of ground near his portion of the cane-field on which to grow vegetables, and it has been found that his attention is more directed to this than formerly. As long as the sugar-cane is reserved for the manufacture of cheap rum to keep the population in a continued state of intoxication, the falling off in its culture is not to be regretted. In fact, the “great” and “little” culture did very well when anything exportable was cultivated, but now are of little practical importance, as they do not so much affect the great stay of the country, the coffee crop.[22]

I may repeat that the first thing in point of importance in Haytian agriculture is the coffee-tree, which grows almost wild in every mountainous part of the country and around the cottages of the peasantry at elevations of from 500 to 7000 feet above the level of the sea—wild in the sense that the plants appear to spring from the seeds that have fallen from the parent trees, though occasionally I have seen them carefully planted round the cottages.

There is a notion in Hayti that the coffee crop will come to an end by the old trees dying out. I was told this twenty years ago, and the story is still repeated; but any one who observantly travels in the interior would find the old trees surrounded by younger ones that spring from the teeming soil from seeds scattered by the wind or rain. The idea, also prevalent among many foreigners in Hayti, that the coffee collected now is taken from the original trees planted by the French, is untenable. As soon as the civil war caused by King Christophe’s assumption of power ceased (1820), a marked progress took place in the production of coffee. There is another fact which is also forgotten; coffee-plants in wet tropical countries generally bear from twenty to twenty-five years; therefore their age may be taken at about thirty years. If this statement be correct, the trees must have been renewed three times since the old colonial days. Most of the coffee plantations I saw in Hayti contained shrubs that have seldom exceeded from seven to ten feet in height, though on the way to Kenskoff I noticed many from twelve to fifteen feet. At Furcy and at La Selle we saw some very good plants, properly cleaned and attended to, and kept at a suitable height for picking the berries. Mackenzie noticed, in 1827, whole sides of mountains covered with coffee-trees of spontaneous growth, two-thirds of the produce being lost for want of hands to gather it. So prolific, he says, were the bushes, that many which were carefully tended produced from five to six lbs. and some were known to give nine lbs.

I have never noticed the peasantry use more than the mauchette, a sort of chopper almost as long as a sword, whilst cleaning their coffee plantations. They simply cut down the weeds and creepers, but never stir the soil around the roots with a hoe. The use of manure is unknown.

The only preventable cause for any decline in the coffee crop would be the neglect following the withdrawal of the peasantry to take part in civil wars and revolutions, and the lazy habits engendered by camp life. When riding through coffee plantations after the civil wars of 1868 and 1869, I noticed a marked deterioration from 1864. Creepers of every description were suffered to grow over and almost choke the plants, and poor crops were sometimes the result. In Geffrard’s time, though the cultivation was slovenly, efforts were made to keep the plants clean, and during the quiet four years of Nissage-Saget’s presidency the peasantry returned to their old habits.

Notwithstanding this occasional neglect, there appears no progressive falling off in the crops; they vary as before, but on the whole keep up to the average.

The quality of Haytian coffee is excellent, but its price in the market is low, from various causes. Sometimes the crop is gathered hastily, and ripe and unripe seeds are mixed; and then it is dried on the bare ground, regardless of the state of the weather; and when swept up into heaps, it is too often intermingled with small stones, leaves, and dirt; and fraudulent cultivators or middle-men add other substances to increase the weight. I have known carefully-selected parcels sent to France marked Mocha, and there realising full prices. Nowhere is coffee made better than in Hayti; it is roasted to a rich brown, ground and prepared with a sufficient allowance of the material, all on the same day, and the result is perfect.

As with other crops in the world, there are good years and bad years; but with neglected plants, the bad come oftener than they would if due attention were paid to their cultivation.

In 1789, when the French possessed the island, the amount produced greatly exceeded anything seen since, with the exceptions of 1863, 1875, and 1876. In those years above 71,000,000 lbs. passed through the custom-house, and it is calculated that about 15,000,000 lbs. were smuggled.

The variations have been as follows:—

This striking increase in the amount of coffee produced since the great war would appear somewhat to contradict the theory of the degeneracy and idleness of the Haytians, but it must be remembered that the women and children are very hard-working; that the women are in a majority, and that the work is mostly done by Nature; the men, also, are not very light-handed taskmasters. If a space be cleared round the bushes with a mauchette—easy work that a child can do—the increase in a plantation will continue, as I have remarked, by the beneficent hand of Nature; the heavy rains knock off the ripe berries and scatter them down the mountain-sides, and give rise to those matted undergrowths of coffee-bushes whose fecundity often surprises the traveller. It is not likely that the produce of the coffee-plants will decrease.

During the French colonial days the principal product was sugar, and in the year 1789 they exported 54,000,000 lbs. of white sugar and 107,000,000 lbs. of brown. As the slaves left the estates, so production decreased, and was fast disappearing when Christophe in the north forced the people by severe measures to resume its manufacture. He gave the great estates of the old colonists to his generals and courtiers, with an order that they should produce a certain amount of sugar under pain of forfeiture. As they had the population under their command, and an unrestrained use of the stick, they succeeded fairly; but as soon as this pressure was removed, the manufacture of sugar ceased, and it is no longer found in the list of exports, except as a fancy article to obtain bounties.

In 1818 the export of sugar had fallen from 161,000,000 to 1,900,000 lbs., and in 1821 to 600,000 lbs., then to disappear from the custom-house lists.

The prejudice against sugar-making is still strong, though, could the owners of estates prove to their people that large profits would accrue to them from its manufacture, it is very probable that the prejudice would die out. A friend of mine tried to persuade one of his cultivators to aid him in a sugar-making project, but the man answered sulkily, “Moué pas esclave” (“I’m not a slave”), and walked away. The negroes do not like a bell to be used to ring them to work, as it reminds them of colonial days, but some bold innovators have introduced and continued the practice, without producing any other effect than occasional grumbling.

Sugar-cane, however, is still very extensively cultivated, and succeeds admirably, the soil appearing peculiarly adapted to it. The cane is now grown for making tafia or white rum, and for molasses, which the people use instead of sugar. Most of the factories built by the French were destroyed, and inferior buildings have been erected in their stead. Watermills are generally used, as being economical, and the never-failing streams from the hills afford abundant power. A few proprietors have put up extensive machinery for sugar-making, but their success has been so doubtful as not to encourage others. A Haytian knows that during a revolution his property would not be respected, and, if a defeated partisan, would be either confiscated or destroyed: so no encouragement is held out to agricultural enterprise; and, what adds to his difficulties, a dangerous spirit of communism has spread among the people, and in many districts the peasantry begin to regard the estates as their own.

Of cotton 8,400,000 lbs. were exported in 1789. This amount, however, soon decreased under independent rule:—

to rise, on the outbreak of the civil war in the United States, to—

increasing until 1865, when the crop was over 4,000,000 pounds; but the fall of prices, occasioned by the collapse of the civil war in the States, from 2s. 6d. to 11d. in the course of a few months, discouraged the agriculturists, and cotton was again neglected. In the last commercial reports the amount of cotton exported from the whole republic is not given.

During the Great Exhibition held in London in 1862, the report on the cotton exhibited there by Hayti mentioned very favourably the two bales which were sent as specimens, and it remarked that England required at least 2,000,000 bales of each of the qualities exhibited. It has been calculated that there is sufficient suitable land in Hayti to furnish half the quantity required. This, however, appears to me an over-estimate.

President Geffrard was fully aware of the importance of taking advantage of the opportunity offered by the civil war in the United States, and supported two measures to encourage cotton cultivation. The first was the immigration of free blacks from America, and the next the offer of bounties.

The immigration was badly managed, as blacks from the North were sent, instead of Southern cultivators. Most of those who arrived, being unfitted for field-labour in a tropical climate, added but little to the production of cotton. A few kept to the work, but many died, and most of the others either migrated to the towns or left the country. As might have been expected, the Haytian arrangements were as bad as they could be. Settlers were given ground without any water, but were told that a canal should some day be cut; food and money were distributed irregularly, and malversation added to the other difficulties.

Bounties were scarcely required, as the price rose from 4d. in 1859 to 1s., 1s. 2d., and 1s. 5d. in 1863, and 2s. 6d. in 1864; and many Haytians tried to do something in order to win a portion of this harvest. Field-hands, however, were scarce, and in order to get in their crops the proprietors had to offer half the amount to those who would come and gather it for them. One peasant proprietor, in 1863, managed with his family to secure 8000 lbs. of cotton, which he sold for £500, a sum to which he was wholly unaccustomed. The comparative large amounts to be received would have had a very great effect on the prosperity of the country had there been the necessary hands ready to take advantage of the opportunity offered. The industrious, however, were few, and many proprietors had to leave a portion of their crop to rot on the plants.

When the prices rose to three or four times the former value, the Government abolished the system of bounties, and imposed a tax of one penny a pound, but had to abolish it in 1865 on the sudden fall in prices. The cultivation is now again neglected, as Haytian cotton has returned to its old level in price, and the land must be more valuable for provision crops. With the uncertainty which characterises the supply of labour in Hayti, it is not likely that cotton will again become an important export.

The French appear to have paid but little attention to the cultivation of the cacao-tree, and in 1789 only exported 600,000 lbs. Even this small quantity decreased, and the amount that passed through the custom-house in 1821 fell to 264,792 lbs. The crops have since much varied, but the export rose gradually, until, in 1863, the amount was 2,217,769 lbs. As far as I have been able to ascertain, no subsequent year has produced so abundant a crop.

Cacao is principally grown near the farthest point of the peninsula, west of Jérémie, amid a population rarely visited, and reported as among the most barbarous of the island.

Tobacco is not mentioned in the list of exports during the French period, and only appears in those returns which were published when the Dominican end of the island formed part of the Haytian republic. A little has been occasionally grown for home consumption, as at the Fonds-aux-Nègres.

Logwood is found in all parts of the country, and is a very important article of export.

There is nothing else grown in Hayti which can be called an article of commerce, but the peasantry cultivate large amounts of garden produce, and some rice and Indian-corn, but they do not do so in sufficient quantities to supply the market. Bananas for cooking purposes are a valuable crop, as they take the place of bread in the daily consumption of the people. Fruit-trees abound, particularly mangoes, sour oranges, and the avocado (alligator pear). The last fruit comes to great perfection, whilst the mango is inferior except in a few localities, and is not to be compared to the “number elevens” grown in Jamaica.

The markets of the capital are well supplied with European vegetables, which are grown in the mountains at the back of La Coupe, the old summer resort of the people of the capital. When staying there, I have often walked to the gardens at the foot of Fort Jaques, where not only vegetables may be found, but many orchards full of peach-trees—sadly neglected, however—with their branches covered with long moss, to the exclusion of leaf and fruit. A few apples and chestnuts are occasionally brought to market. Fort Jaques is situated about 6000 feet above the level of the sea. I may notice that the peaches are usually picked before they ripen, on account of the pilfering habits of the people.

There is little to be said about the domestic animals. The horses are generally small, but strong and full of endurance, and are of Spanish breed. Mules and donkeys are plentiful, as no person is satisfied unless he possesses some beast of burden. The cattle are supplied from the Dominican part of the island, and are much used for traction. Good beef may often be found in the markets. Sheep and goats are plentiful, but of inferior breeds, whilst pigs wander about untended, and are generally so lean that they warrant the reproach that the Haytians cannot even fatten a pig. Poultry are thought to be getting scarcer than formerly: they are generally of an inferior kind.

Commerce.

Hayti has for many years carried on a very fair commerce with Europe and America, though probably not a quarter of what she might have if her inhabitants were industrious. In the colonial days, the exports were valued at from £6,000,000 to £8,000,000 a year, and in 1790 had reached nearly £11,000,000 with a less numerous population, whilst the highest since the independence has probably not exceeded £2,300,000.

Notwithstanding foreign wars, civil wars, insurrections, and those continued conspiracies which have almost every year disturbed the country, the productive powers of the soil are so great, that nothing appears permanently to depress the exports, and therefore the imports.

The export trade of Hayti in 1835, which then included the whole island, was as follows:—

At the exchange of the day this represented just £1,000,000 sterling. The last year in which the statistics refer to the whole island is 1842.

M. Madiou, in his “History of Hayti,” vol. i. p. 31, gives the amount of the produce exported in the years 1842 and 1845, but does not affix a value to them:—

1842.

and various small amounts of miscellaneous articles.

It will be remarked that in the returns for 1845 tobacco has ceased to appear, as Santo Domingo had by this time separated from Hayti. M. Madiou considers that about 5,000,000 lbs. of coffee are consumed in the island, which is probably an under-estimate, considering the lavish manner in which it is used, and that 20,000,000 lbs. are exported as contraband, to avoid the heavy duties. This calculation appears too high. Whilst I was in Hayti, the illicit trade was considered to represent from 15 to 20 per cent of the acknowledged exports. Much, however, depends on the character of the men in power.

1845.

The other woods consist of lignum vitæ, &c. It is curious that he makes no mention of cacao.

In the next returns it will be noticed how mahogany decreased—the cuttings near the coast were beginning to be exhausted—whilst the exports of logwood were greatly increased. This is work that just suits the negro; it can be done by fits and starts, and never requires continuous labour. The following tables may appear superfluous, but they show the effect of comparatively orderly government. These six years were free from any serious civil trouble, and no foreign complications prevented all development that was possible. The war in the States gave trade considerable impulse.

1859.

1860.

1861.

1862.

1863.

1864.

No trustworthy statistics could be obtained for the time of Soulouque, on account of the monopolies and the various interferences with commerce. In 1865 the siege of Cap Haïtien, and the disturbances which followed in 1866, the fall of Geffrard in 1867, and the civil war of 1868 and 1869, completely disturbed trade, and no reliable statistics can be obtained.

The latest trade return which I have seen is of the year 1880:—

Mr. Mackenzie, who was English Consul-General at Port-au-Prince during the years 1826 and 1827, gives a table of the commerce of Hayti in 1825, which includes the whole island.

Imports.

The large amount of American vessels will be noticed, and the comparative extent of their trade. In 1864 English-sailing shipping rose to 281 vessels (of 41,199 tonnage) and 74 steamers, against those under the American flag, 88 sailing vessels (of 16,316 tonnage) and two steamers. This, however, was only nominal, the ravages of the Alabama having induced American shipowners to transfer their vessels to the British flag.

In 1877 the tonnage of vessels calling at the three chief ports of Hayti (Port-au-Prince, Cap Haïtien, and Les Cayes) was as follows:—

It must be noticed, however, that the English, French, and German tonnage consists principally of steamers, which have ports of call on the island, whereas the Americans have two-fifths of the sailing tonnage.

In 1863 the imports into Hayti amounted to £1,743,052, and in 1864 to £2,045,333. The United States then held the first place, having sent £762,724 and £994,266, their imports, as usual, being principally provisions and lumber. England occupied the second position with £503,630 and £626,624; France, £255,747 and £273,778. Both in the years 1863 and 1864 there was a great decrease in the amount of provisions grown in the country, partly on account of the increase of cotton cultivation; hence the very heavy imports of provisions from the United States.

The exports in 1863 and 1864 were valued at £2,458,000 and £1,895,000, the decrease arising from the inferiority of the coffee crop, and the fall in the price of goods. The average value of the principal articles of export varied as follows:—

Present Prices.

Prices have fallen lately to an unprecedented extent. During the autumn of the year 1882, coffee was once quoted as low as 16s. per 100 lbs., but rose afterwards to 24s.; and all other produce was also depreciated in value.

In 1876 the total imports into the island were £2,110,000; the total exports, £2,200,000.

In 1877 the total imports were £1,594,200; the total exports, £1,694,800, which was below the average.

In 1877 the imports into the capital were as follows, which shows a marked change in the position of the importing countries:—

In some of the smaller ports the position of the trade of the United States was relatively better. In Les Cayes, for instance:—

A portion of these imports from the United States consisted of manufactures in transit from England. We appear to be holding our own everywhere as regards piece goods and iron, whilst five-sixths of the imports of the United States consist of flour, salt pork, and other provisions. The Haytians are French in their tastes, but the cheapness of our Manchester goods enables our importers to hold their own. The great export, coffee, appears in great part ultimately to reach French ports, as it is not appreciated in other countries, whereas its cheapness and good quality recommend it strongly to the French Government for the use of the army.

When in Port-au-Prince I drew the attention of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the great discrepancy between their published returns and those of our Board of Trade. In 1865 our exports are set down at £1,163,274, and in 1866 at £1,425,402, for the whole island. Santo Domingo takes but a small amount, whilst the Haytian custom-house did not acknowledge more than half the amount of our returns. Either we overvalue our goods in England, or the smuggling must be large.

The imports from the United States appear to have greatly fallen off since 1864, which must imply that the peasantry are planting more food and consuming a very much smaller amount of imported provisions.

Finance.

As in most American republics, the income of the Haytian state depends chiefly on the custom-house. It is said the people will not bear direct taxation, and that therefore the Government must rely on import and export duties. The heavy debt which was imposed on Hayti by France nearly sixty years ago has been the principal cause of the financial embarrassments of the republic.

The mission of Baron Mackau, sent by Charles X. in 1825, had for object the imperfect recognition of the independence of the republic of Hayti, on condition of their paying £6,000,000 as an indemnity to the old colonists—a sum quite out of the power of the country to raise—and only five years were allowed to complete the transaction. One is at a loss to understand how President Boyer could have consented to so burdensome an arrangement. Subsequently the indemnity was reduced to £3,600,000, but although fifty-eight years have passed, a balance still remains due. It was not till 1838 that these arrangements were concluded, and France definitively recognised the independence of Hayti. The republic had effected a loan in Paris in 1825 of £1,200,000 nominal to pay the first instalment due, and even this debt has not been completely settled. The whole transaction proved a cruel burden to the country, and, by introducing heavy export duties and the curse of paper money, greatly injured agricultural and every other interest.

The import duties average about 30 per cent. on the value, whilst the export duties are at so much a quintal on coffee, and have varied according to the exigencies of the moment. Major Stuart’s Report for 1877 enters into many details which may be found interesting. I propose to give here only the general results; but I may say that the duties embrace almost every article, and are as high as they can bear.

The progress of the revenue collected in Hayti is another proof to me that the population has greatly increased.

It is not necessary to examine the budgets of many years. In 1821, before the union with Santo Domingo, the income is stated by Mackenzie to have been $3,570,691, and the expenditure $3,461,993. In these sums must be included some exceptional receipts and expenditure, as the revenue of the whole island in 1825 was only $2,421,592. The long and quiet Presidency of Boyer, coupled with his honest administration, enabled him not only to pay off considerable sums to France, but to leave a heavy balance in the treasury. Boyer, however, has the demerit of having introduced the paper currency, and of having put into circulation $2,500,000 more than he withdrew, thus reducing the exchange of the doubloon from 16 to 1 (par) to 40 to 1.

After Boyer came the period of revolutions, and consequent deficits and heavy issues of paper money. In four years they had sent down the exchange to $60 to one doubloon. But the disastrous period of Haytian financial history was the reign of Soulouque, when millions of paper dollars were issued every year, sending down the exchange to $289 to one doubloon.

In 1849 no less than $4,195,400 were issued to meet the expenses of the establishment of the empire.

The budget for 1848, the last year of the republic, is nominally a very modest one (exchange $25 to £1):—

But as 2,200,000 paper dollars were issued during the year, it is probable that this budget was not adhered to.

The budget for the year in which the empire was established is given as follows (exchange $40 to £1):—

But these budgets are not to be trusted, and do not represent the real expenses.

When the accounts were examined subsequent to the fall of Soulouque, it was found that of the coffee monopoly alone £400,000 had been abstracted for the use of the Emperor and some of his Ministers and favourites. The comparative large sums of £40,000, £20,000, and £12,000 were taken at a time, without any account being rendered. During Soulouque’s reign over $28,000,000 were added to the currency.

In June 1863, General Dupuy, Finance Minister to President Geffrard, published a very clear financial statement. The total debt remaining due to France was £1,436,000. The custom duties produced:—

Minor taxes, £26,341.

Deficits.

These were calculated on the amount of paper money signed to meet them, but at the close of 1862 there was £79,834 in hand.

The budget of 1863-64 was fixed as follows:—

The deficit was met by adding ten per cent. to the duties.

During the Presidency of General Geffrard the finances were better administered than under Soulouque, but millions of dollars disappeared, without any one being found willing to give an account of what had become of them. One coloured and two black generals are supposed to have appropriated the principal portion. On the Chamber of Deputies venturing to make inquiries on this interesting point, it was summarily dismissed, and a packed Chamber substituted.

Civil war ended by General Geffrard resigning and quitting the country. I do not believe, however, that he carried with him more than he could have fairly saved out of his salary. He, moreover, was the only President that I knew who kept up the position of chief of the State with any dignity.

No budgets were procurable during Salnave’s time, and the civil war that was carried on during three years caused the Government and insurgents to issue paper money, so that before Salnave’s fall this paper currency was to be obtained at 3000 paper to one silver dollar. It was withdrawn by the subsequent Government at 10 to 1 for their own paper.

The finances under General Nissage-Saget were, for Hayti, at first decently administered; but when the bad black element from the south entered into its councils, malversation became the order of the day. But during this Presidency a great change was made in the currency: all paper money was withdrawn at an exchange of 300 to 1, and American silver dollars substituted. This change was much criticised both before and since, as unsuited to the circumstances of the country. On the whole, the balance of arguments was in favour of a metallic currency.

Under President Domingue there were no honest financial measures taken. Everything was done to suit the pleasure of Septimus Rameau, and a loan was raised in France, and the largest portion distributed among the friends of the Minister in a manner which astonished even Haytians. It was a disgraceful transaction, that the next Chamber endeavoured to ignore; but as it was supported by the French agents, the Government of Boisrond-Canal had to yield and acknowledge it.

For the years 1876 and 1877 we have the receipts and expenditure stated in detail. The income from duties, &c., was £805,900; the expenditure, £804,737; including £202,876 to the sinking fund. The army and navy figure for only £167,568, and public instruction was increased to £82,245. In Soulouque’s budget of 1849, justice, education, and public worship were credited with only £7732.

Budget for 1876-77.

The latest budget I have before me is that of 1881. It is as follows:—

The amount of the income to meet this expenditure is not stated.

The circulating medium in the early days of Haytian independence consisted of foreign gold and silver coins, and then some fabricated in the country, of inferior quality and appearance, of both silver and copper. In 1826, President Boyer beginning to feel the pressure of his engagements with France, issued paper notes of different values. Being irredeemable, they soon fell to a heavy discount, 3½ to 1. The succeeding Governments, as I have noticed, continued the same course, until, on the accession of Soulouque to power, the exchange was about 4½ to 1. The unchecked emissions after he ascended the imperial throne gradually lessened the value of the paper, until, in 1858, it was 18 to 1.

Some order having been put into the finances by General Dupuy, the exchange in 1863 was more favourable, being 12½ to 1; the troubles which succeeded in 1865 sent it to 17 to 1; and with the revolutionary Government of Salnave and the civil war that followed it went down like the assignats during the French Revolution,—in 1857, 30 to 1; in 1859, 3000 to 1.

The issues of Salnave’s Government were so discredited that they were at one time exchanged at 6500 paper dollars for one of silver. Until lately the American dollar and its fractions, with a plentiful bronze currency, sufficed for all wants. Now, however, a special Haytian dollar is being coined, with the object apparently of preventing its export—a very futile expedient, as experience proves.

A sort of National Bank, managed principally by Frenchmen, was established a few years since, but its operations do not as yet appear to have had much influence on the country. As the bank, however, has some control over the collection of duties, it may introduce a more honest perception of these imports; but I do not think the managers will find that their lines have fallen in pleasant places.

THE END.

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