Carl Kelsey--Address on the Republic of Haiti of Today (1922)

8/2/2019 Carl Kelsey--Address on the Republic of Haiti of Today (1922)

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ADDRESSON

The Republic of Haiti of TodayBYCARL KELSEY

Professor of Sociology in the University of Pennsylvania

WITH ANINTRODUCTIONBYDOCTOR THOMAS E. GREEN

DELIVERED BEFORE THESOCIETY of the SONS of the REVOLUTION

in the DISTRICT of COLUMBIAOn April 29, 1922

PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETYWASHINGTON

1922


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This paper is one of a series ofimportant historical papers thathave been delivered before theSociety and found of sufficientvalue to be published.

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SntrobucttonMr. President, Gentlemen of the Society:OUR meeting tonight commemoratesnot merely the crowning work of the

Revolution, nor indeed does it recallmerely the honor paid to that great man whohad come out of the struggle for indepen-dence with a record unique in history:" First in War, First in Peace, and First inthe hearts of his fellow citizens." There issomething more to be commemorated withthis anniversary of the Inauguration ofGeorge Washington as the first President ofthe United States, on April 30, 1789.

It commemorates the successful func-tioning of the Constitution of the UnitedStates of Americathe document whichWilliam E. Gladstone called "the mostwonderful work ever struck off at a giventime by the brain and purpose of man."

Reverence for that Constitution ought tobe the corner-stone of the political faith ofevery loyal American. All that we are,and all that we ever may be as an influencefor righteousness among men depends uponour devotion to the great fundamental ideasthat the founders of our nation enunciated inour Constitution.When James Russell Lowell, our Ameri-can poethimself more than an ordinary

statesmanmet Francois Guizot, the Frenchphilosopher, historian, and prime minister to


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Louis Phillipe, the Frenchman asked therepresentative of new world philosophy:"How long do you think the AmericanRepublic will endure?" Lowell answered:"So long as the ideas of its founders con-tinue to be dominant in the hearts of itspeople." And the Honorable Joseph Story,of the Supreme Court, said: "This Consti-tution is reared for immortality, if the workof man may justly aspire to such a title. Itmay, nevertheless, perish in an hour by thefolly or corruption or negligence of its onlyprotectors, the people."The men who builded this Constitutionwere prophets. Not merely were theyidealists, . dreaming dreams incapable ofrealization, but out of the study of thedynamic forces that had made and marredprevious civilization, with all the deliberate-ness of one who should fit together theintricate parts of an elaborate machine, theyconstructed a concrete Governmental planwhose object was not simply the creationof a confederation between thirteen scat-tered differing, more or less jealous and an-tagonistic, states, from whom the unity ofaction that war entailed had been takenaway.

It is worth remembering that Article Iof the Treaty of Paris, signed September 3,1783, which brought the War of the Revo-lution to a close, expressly says: "HisBritannic Majesty acknowledges the saidUnited States," and here each state ismentioned by name "to be Free, Sovereignand Independent States, and he treats withthem as such."


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The fathers of the Constitutional Con-vention were intent upon something fargreater than confederation. They wereworking out their idea drawn from a carefulstudy of the history of mankind as of whatsort a nation ought to be, that shouldanswer to the broadest and the highestaspirations of mankind.They built that idea into the words ofthe Constitution, and so conscious were theyof what they were doing that when theysought a design for a Great Seal they putupon it an unfinished pyramid, significantof the fact that their ideal had not yetreached its culmination, but above it theywrote what was the intense conviction oftheir souls: "Novus ordo Seclorum""anew order of the ages."With the inauguration of its first Presi-dent, a single federal nation stepped uponthe stage of history. The period from 1783 to1789 was not only one of cardinal importanceto mankind, but what has been called by adistinguished historian: "the critical periodof American history." These six years werethe most crucial of any in all of our past.Yorktown brought us our independence,but Yorktown did not secure for us ournational life. Both national and inter-national confusion reigned at the close of thegreat conflict, as it always does at the endof war. The Articles of Confederation,designed to create a perpetual Union be-tween the States, proved to be utterly in-adequate and without binding force. Con-troversies with foreign powers, as the con-


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troversy that arose with Spain over theMississippi River, had nothing fundamentalto which to make an appeal.

Treaties were violated. Each state main-tained its own army. States trespassedupon each other's rights and disregardedeach other's laws. Business conditionswere utterly demoralized. There was nouniformity of value so far as money wasconcerned, nor was there any authority ap-parently for the collection of the excessivetaxes. There were no trade regulations,scarcely any community of interest, nojudicial power to enforce such regulations aswere recognized. The days were of suchtumult and uncertainty, of such disputationand confusion, as to justify the words ofRobert Morris: "that the affairs of Americawere at their darkest."

It was in the midst of such conditions asthis that the far-sighted genius of Washing-ton, upheld and cooperated with by the bestand most patriotic of his advisers and col-laborators, saved to the American people inpeace what they had won in war. Underthis inspiration America developed fromconfusion and chaos, avoiding on the oneside a loose confederation that could nothave failed of disintegration, and on theother side an attempt to form merely anation out of constituent and loosely moldedfragments.The vast wisdom of the plan was evi-denced by the fact that it chosenot the

title " National Government"; not the title" Union of States," but the title "THEGOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED


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STATES." It was just this touch of far-seeing wisdom that taking the long strug-gling series of Republics fringing the At-lantic Coastmutually jealous, mutuallysuspicious, politically and economically di-vided, and yet each one of themunder theDeclaration of IndependenceFree andIndependent States, called them together inwhat was in reality an International Con-ference, in Independence Hall in Phila-delphia, where in 1776 the Declaration ofIndependence was signed, and builded ofthem a Nation.

I doubt if George Washington himselfwas as far-seeing in his constructive states-manship as were some of the greater scholarsby whom he was surrounded. But Wash-ington had developed, during the war of theRevolution, into a keen and far-sightedcommander of troops, a sagacious andrecognized leader of men. During the war,with its many reverses and many mistakes,lie had learned the great necessity of unityand now in peace his fears were constantlydrawn to the danger through the separationof the states or groups of states from eachother.

His strategy had always been directedtoward the maintenance of free lines of com-munication between the various colonies.Owing to the absence of great sources anddepots of munitions, the constant lack ofgreat store of provisions and equipment, thiswas essential. Washington realized thiswhen he centered men and action along theHudson River.


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To keep open the line of the Hudson,when New York Bay was held by theBritish, was most important, because toclose it meant to cut the states apart. Thuswe see Washington writing to D'Estaing:"All of our supplies are drawn from theStates westward of Hudson's River. Securecommunication across that river is in-dispensably necessary. The enemy beingmasters of navigation would interrupt thisessential intercourse between States." Thatthe British were so completely masters ofnavigation constantly disturbed Washing-ton. He writes to Lafayette: " Without adecisive naval force, we can do nothingdefinite, but with it, we can do everythinghonorable and glorious."In 1777, when the British failed in theirattempt to cut off New England, whenBurgoyne's effort from Canada ended inhis surrender in the fall of that year, greatevents followed.The French people were not indifferent,even in the beginning, to what was going onon this side of the Atlantic. At almost theoutset of our struggle, munitions came toWashington from France secretly ofcourseand French officers passed intoour service without hindrance from theirGovernment.The influence, the work, the skillfulmanagement of Beaumarchais and hisFrench associates, in providing guns, am-munitions, and money for the AmericanArmy, when skies were darkest, and hopewas almost lost, form an episode in therelations between France and the United


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States that is too little known and tooseldom remembered.

Following Burgoyne's surrender, how-ever, France openly declared war againstEngland, and on February 6, 1778, theFranco-American alliance was signed. Inthat Treaty, France expressly renouncedany claim to recover her lost territory ofCanada and Nova Scotia, and in this respectforeshadowed the American political theorylater known as the Monroe Doctrine.That alliance gave to our cause what aboveall was most neededa sea power tocounter-balance that of England. France,under the enlightened policy of Louis XVI,had spent much time and money on therehabilitation of her Navy. From Toulon,on April 13, 1778, there sailed the Fleet ofCount D'Estaing, destined for America, hisobjective to wrest, if possible, from theBritish, the control of the Atlantic Sea.

Unforeseen and unfavorable circum-stances, including the lengthy voyage to theDelaware Capes, interfered with D'Esta-ing's successand, after the summer hadbeen spent in fruitless manoeuvers in theNorth Atlantic, in November he sailed torefit his fleet in the West Indies.He encountered the British Fleets withvarying success during that winter and thespring of 1779, when word reached him of thecapture by the British of Savannah, withurgent appeals for his return to Americanwaters. He had orders in hand directinghis return to France, but he did not obej^them. From the French Colonies in the


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West Indies he refitted his fleet in men andsupplies and sailed for Savannah.Tonight, we are to hear something of

Haiti. It was then known as the Island ofSainte Dominique, a French possession.D'Estaing embarked at Sainte Dominique,with 800 mulattoes and blacks. These sonsof Haiti came to America and shed theirblood in the effort of the French and Amer-ican troops to recover Savannah from theBritish. Amongst those Haitiens whofought under our Flag were Beauvais,Rigaud, Chauvannes, Jourdain, Christophe,Lambert, and others later distinguished inthe subsequent struggles of their own coun-trymen for independence.

In Jones' History of Georgia, the Franco-American forces operating before Savannahin the fall of 1779 are listed. The Divisionof D'Estaing included 156 Volunteer Grena-diers from Cape Francois, 545 VolunteerChasseurs from Sainte Dominique, andthese included troops from Port-au-Princeand the Cape, as Cap Haitien was thenknown.As we are to hear something of modernHaiti tonight, this earlier history is certainlyof interest, with its reminder of the obli-gation we owe to these volunteers in ourstruggle for Freedom.

It is furthermore well to remember, aswe are to consider our obligations andresponsibilities in connection with our pres-ent day problems in Haiti and SantoDomingo, the days when the whirligig offate had brought Napoleon Bonaparte tothe headship of France.

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The peculiar though consistent states-manship of John Adams had led the UnitedStates to where she was almost makingcommon cause with England against herearlier allyfor Napoleon by the Treaty ofSan Ildefonso had obtained a return fromSpain of title and possession to Louisiana,the vast tract that La Salle had discoveredin his wide voyaging down the Mississippito the Gulf.Napoleon's dream of Empirehad narroweditself to the establishment at New Orleansof a French-Colonial administration thatshould cramp alike the expanding strengthof the new republic, for Napoleon was nonetoo friendly to the United States, and againcheckmate England, the hereditary enemyof France.

I say we do well to remember that, in1802, Thomas Jefferson said: "If Francetakes possession of New Orleans it meansthat we marry ourselves with the BritishNavy and the British Nation/' and thatFrance was prepared to take that posses-sion,its expedition assembled, its shipsloaded, its plans for sailing completed.Then there came word from Santo Do-mingo that the blacks under ToussaintL'Ouverture had risen against the French asbefore they had stood for the French, andhad declared their independence. The ex-pedition that was intended for New Orleanswas loaded with soldiers instead of col-onists and under Napoleon's brother-in-law,LeClerc, sailed for Santo Domingo.Between Napoleon and his dream ofempire overseas there stood the battalions

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of a generation of heroic blacks throwing offthe yoke of slavery.Toussaint L'Ouverture and the men ofHaiti and Santo Domingo re-inforced byyellow fever and dominated and directed,we believe, by the Providence of AlmightyGod, saved the United States from whatwould have been a world-wide and an agelong catastrophe, a war with France, andflung her eminent domain across the con-tinent and spread her beneficent controlfrom ocean to ocean.We should remember this indebtednessas we think these days about our duty tothe people of this island, who need in amarked degree our sympathy and ourfriendly cooperation.Our present problems in Haiti have re-ceived not alone the study of our officialsand statesmen, but of such great non-

partisan organizations as the AmericanAcademy of Political and Social Science.We have with us tonight, as our principalspeaker, Professor Carl Kelsey, who servedfor sixyearsas Secretary of that organizationand is now its Vice-President. More thana year ago, he very quietly undertook forhis organization, and under the direction ofDr. Leo S. Rowe, Director of the Pan-American Union, the President of theSociety, an investigation into conditions inHaiti.Mr. President, and Gentlemen of theSociety, it gives me much pleasure to in-

troduce as the speaker of the evening, Pro-fessor Carl Kelsey, of the University ofPennsylvania.

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W&e Republic of Haiti of obaj>BETWEEN Cuba and Porto Rico there

lies a beautiful tropical island aboutas large as the state of South Carolina,

which we call indiscriminately either SantoDomingo or Haiti. The eastern two-thirdsof the island forms the territory of theDominican Republic, the western third isHaiti. The country as a whole is extremelymountainous, althoughthere are several levelplains on the seashore and one in the in-terior.The history of the island is both fasci-nating and tragic. Here Columbus madehis first settlement. Here the native In-dians were found to be owners of gold andthe desire of the Spaniards for more of theyellow metal led the chiefs to say that theywould plant a belt of manioc across theisland and give it to the Europeans, but thatit was impossible to meet the demand forgold. Here as a result of the contact withthe white man the natives died out soquickly and completely that one rarelysees any trace of their blood in the faces ofthe present inhabitants, and but few of theirplace names have survived. It cannot besaid of Haiti as has been well said ofAmerica as a whole: "Our names are writupon your waters, Ye cannot wash themout." Here the good bishop Las Casasgrieving over the fate of the Indians recom-mended the introduction of Negroes from

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Africa and thus fastened the curse of slaveryon the new world. Here the French de-veloped the most valuable tropical colonyof the XVIII Century and by the labor ofslaves turned the fertile Plain of the Northinto a vast garden which supplied greatquantities of sugar, cotton, indigo, and otherproducts to Europe, of which you will finddetailed accounts in the pages of MoreauSt. Mery if you are sufficiently curious.Roads were built, irrigation works estab-lished, steam pumps installed, all of whichfell into decay with the passing of system,just as did the Roman improvements inEngland when the legions were recalled.Suddenly the scene changes. The French

are gone. Some 450,000 Negroes and 28,000mixed bloods, if we may trust St. Mery, findthemselves practically alone on the ship ofstate, headed for the Utopia called Democ-racy, whose exact location is a bit uncertainbut towards which the powerful winds,"liberty, equality, and fraternity," mustsurely bear the bark. Gone are the whites,gone the white color from the flag. To makecertain that they return not no foreigner isto be allowed to own Haitian soil.The scene shifts again. A century hasintervened. Just before eight o'clock onemorning you and I are standing in front ofthe beautiful palace built to replace onedestroyed ten years ago when a formerpresident demonstrated that there werecertain dangers connected with a residenceabove a powder magazine. A squad ofgendarmes and a band are making ready to

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raise the Haitian flag, when, without warn-ing, there comes to us the strains of The Star-Spangled Banner, immediately followed bythe Haitian National Air. Ere we recoverfrom our surprise we see not far away acompany of gendarmes drilling under awhite officer, while in the other directionacross the Champs de Mars there marches acompany of American Marines. What hashappened to the black ship of state whichset sail but a paragraph ago?The story is long. The answer is short.Shibboleths do not make nations. Theymay be useful as pass-words but as founda-tion stones they are valueless. Haiti is notthe only place on earth where it has beensought to rival the superstructure of someother country without troubling to layfirst an adequate foundation. A brief sum-mary of the existing situation will help us tounderstand.The population of the country is about2,000,000, nearly all of whom are of unmixedNegro ancestry. There are only a fewhundred whites in the country, if we leaveout of account the two thousand AmericanMarines and the six hundred French menand women who are there as missionaries.The natives may be divided into twogroups. The first includes not over fivepercent of the total. These can read andwrite French and may be said to haveadopted European culture standards. Manyare well educated. In politeness andcourtesy they are often our superiors. This

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group has almost complete control of thecountry.The ninety-five per cent of the peoplewho form the second group are sunk inignorance and poverty. They have manyexcellent traits, as do other primitive folks.They are kind-hearted and generous, faith-ful, and loyal. They work hard accordingto their standards, and are so busy keepingbody and soul together that they rarelyquestion the decisions of the first group.In fact, though they are free to come and goand in theory may aspire to any position inthe country, they are little better than bond-servants. Privation and suffering is theirlot. They are utterly indifferent as tomatters political provided they may beundisturbed in their own work. "Am I nothere?" is their common answer to thequestion, "How are you?" Irregularly fedand scantily clothed, always suffering, theyare easily persuaded to follow any leaderwho promises better things.Given this situation with its background

of slavery and it is not hard to understandthe difficulties encountered by the Haitiangovernment. The upper classes of Haitihave no work ideal. They are the elect tobe cared for by the common herd. Theresult is that there are always more peopleseeking public berths than there are berths.There are always more people interested inupsetting a given government than in main-taining it. Hence, it need not surprise usthat only two or three Haitian presidentshave ever served their full terms and that

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practically all have been everthrown byrevolution. A series of constitutions, sometwelve in number, has not served to changethe situation. The trouble does not lie inthe plan of government, which is very similarto our own, nor in the laws which are basedon those of France, but in the attitude ofthe people themselves.Democracy has been but a name in Haiti.Elections have but given a paper title to theman who had shown that he was in control.Patriotism has consisted in antagonismtowards the outside world and in the effortto secure position for self. Self-sacrifice forthe state has been rare. I do not questionfor a moment that there have been, and are,men of broader vision than this, but theyhave been lost in the crowd. Practicallyevery man has sought to profit for himselfand has believed that everyone else wasdoing the same.

It requires little exercise of the imagina-tion to picture the result. There is in Haitian attitude of suspicion and doubt towardfellow man which makes cooperation im-possible. Each man thinks that he alone isfit to govern. Admiral Caperton's accountof an interview with Bobo and Dartiguenaveis to the point: "Dr. Bobo, if Senator Darti-guenave is elected president, will you helphim loyally and earnestly in his efforts tobenefit Haiti? " "No, I will not," shoutedBobo. "If Senator Dartiguenave is electedpresident I will not help him. I will goaway and leave Haiti to her fate. I aloneam fit to be president of Haiti ; I alone under-

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stand Haiti's aspirations; no one else is fitto be president but me; there is no patriotismin Haiti to be compared with mine; theHaitians love no one as they love me."When Dartiguenave was elected Bobowent away and instead of leaving Haiti toher fate tried to start a revolution. Thislittle incident marks a fundamental differ-ence between our concept of government andthat which obtains in Haiti. For all I knowMr. Bryan may have felt as did Bobo butMr. Bryan does not believe in revolutionany more than he does in evolution. UntilHaiti gets a vision of government by law andof respect for public opinion there can be nohope of stopping the revolutions which havecursed her career.Now revolutions have causes like othersocial phenomena and even if we were toadmit that every Haitian revolution hadample justification we are but reversing thepicture and observing that the actions ofgovernment must be regulated by law for thebenefit of all and not conducted for the profitof the office holders.This attitude towards government hasdone more than cause personal rivalrybetween different aspirants for power. Ithas made the army the one great nationalinstitution of Haiti. I do not mean that ithas made for an efficient army but it hasforced the president to think most of themeans for protecting himself against hisenemies and has meant armed revolutionsrather than battles of ballots. The evilresults of this condition have been seen and

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described by able Haitians, such as the lateFrederick Marcelin, who wrote: "As longas the army remains what it is with us, theonly national institution, the only one beforewhich everyone must bend and bow, whichabsorbs everything, both money and men,which levels everyone under its domination,nothing good, nothing useful can be ac-complished."

' Another result of this attitude must bementioned. It makes impossible a soundfinancial policy. As the price of Frenchrecognition Haiti was saddled at the outsetwith a goodly debt. This debt has beengreatly increased by the presidents who,fearing overthrow, have borrowed regardlessof interest rates to overcome the enemy orto provide for future support in exile. It hasbeen increased by the revolutionary leaderswho made lavish promises to be redeemedat the expense of the treasury in case theywere successful. I regret to add that theevidence indicates that in many instancespublic officials have diverted funds to theirprivate purses. On paper the present in-debtedness of Haiti approximates $35,-000,000, but if advantage could be taken ofthe favorable rate of exchange and the debtrefunded the total would be about $20,-000,000. It is impossible to give exactfigures as there are important internalclaims as yet unsettled.The income of Haiti is derived almostwholly from import and export duties. For

the last ten years the total income hasaveraged under $5,000,000. The runningexpenses have averaged over $3,500,000. Of

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this sum about $350,000 has been spent onschools. Although the interest on theforeign debt has been paid the governmentwas over $2,000,000 behind on the amorti-zation in 1915 and greatly in arrears onsalaries and other internal obligations.Even if we assume that careful and honestcollection of both custom duties and internalrevenue be secured it is evident that thesum total is inadequate for the needs of thecountry. Haiti is, and for some time hasbeen, bankrupt. No wonder that a formerpresident translated the miserere of theMass "nous avons de misere," we aremiserable. In a word it is impossible forHaiti to maintain her obligations, to developschools, roads, public health, and otherfundamentals with her present income. Itis likewise out of the question to increasethe burden of taxation to any great extent.Even if the upper class, which has dodgednearly all taxes in the past, paid its full shareit is numerically so small that the increase inrevenue would not be large. Until someway can be found to increase the productionof wealth the most that Haiti can hope to dois to make ends meet by painstaking economyand scrupulous honesty of administration.The seriousness of the situation will bebetter appreciated if one keeps in mind thefact that all the local public officials such asmagistrates and school teachers are paidsuch pittances that it is really impossiblefor them to devote themselves to publicservice. In the past even these pittanceshave been irregularly paid, while by contrast

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the president has been paid the apparentlyexhorbitant salary of $2,000 a month plusfunds for expenses.

Let us consider the situation from anotherview-point. Haiti is purely agricultural.This agriculture is extremely primitive anda competent observer has stated that in 1915not over 1000 acres in the entire countrywere well cultivated. The great estatesrapidly went to pieces after the expulsion ofthe French. In the century from 1819 to1919 no sugar was exported and all therefined sugar used was imported. Cane hasbeen grown and has been consumed locally,in part raw, turned into coarse brown sugarin part, but to a considerable extent has beenconverted into rum. The peasants left thelarge estates to take small holdings forthemselves. They have continued to pickthe coffee berries from the semi wild plantsleft by the French but they have establishedno coffee plantations. Yet the tax oncoffee, three cents a pound, yields about one-third of the national income. Draft animalsand plows are hardly known and the peasantuses the machete almost to the exclusion ofother agricultural implements. The cropgathered it is carried to market on the headsof the women, or on the backs of burros,facetiously known as "Haitian nightingales,"over trails about as hard to imagine as todescribe. Because of the prohibition of landownership there have been few agriculturaldevelopments in the hands of foreigners . Inspite then of the density of population thecountry could be made to produce vastly

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greater crops of sugar, coffee, cotton, fruitand other valuable commodities than it has.There are sections adapted to stock raisingsuch as the upper Artibonite Valley and thePlain of St. Michel, an opportunity utilizedto some extent, but the disturbed politicalconditions of the last quarter century havealmost destroyed this industry.

There is practically no middle class inHaiti. There is a goodly group of shoe-makers in the various towns, some carpen-ters, masons, and other skilled or semi-skilled laborers. The visitor notices, how-ever, that if he finds a little cigar factory hewill discover a Cuban or Dominican at itshead. If he seeks to have his glassesrepaired the worker comes from Jamaica orMartinique. He finds many Haitians incharge of small shops but he also finds thatnearly all the larger enterprises are in thehands of foreigners, most of whom areEuropeans. Even in the higher businesscircles he is freely told that in days gone byall big money was made not by taking alegitimate profit on merchandise bought orsold but by speculating in local money, bydodging customs duties with the aid of dis-honest officials, or by financing revolution-ary and anti-revolutionary movements. Anyreal investment in enterprises which wouldbe of permanent value to the country,whether by natives or foreigners, has beenalmost non-existent. The foreigner hassought to make his money in the quickestand easiest way possible and then to get out,while the native who prospered has pre-

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ferred to go to Europe to spend his accumu-lation. "Why should I visit the interior ofthe country?" said a man to me: " There aremany more interesting places if I have thetime and the money."Has your imagination supplied the manydetails which I have omitted? If not, letme summarize a bit. There are two Haities,not one, though their geographical bounda-ries are the same. The one is a pagan worldfrom Africa covered by a very thin veneerof Christianity. It has lost the tribal ethicsof Africa and has not gained a concept ofnational life save in the sense of unityagainst the outsider. It has the virtuesand defects of primitive man. Its criticaljudgments are rudimentary and its thoughtis really centered on the problem of exist-ence. Boundless superstition typifies itsmind. It has possibilities.The second, upper, smaller Haiti, hasreached the point described by the poet inthe lines:

"We are going to live in cities,We are going to fight in wars,We are going to eat three times a dayWithout the natural cause,

We are going to wear great piles of stuffOutside our proper skins,We are going to have Diseases:And Accomplishments; And Sins."

This group has apppropriated unto itselfthe language and law as well as the wineand dance of France. It has added baconand automobiles as well as poker and bridgefrom the United States. It seeks in other

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words to be one of us. With this desire wemust be very sympathetic and yet we mustnot allow our sympathy to blind us to thefact that it takes a long time to change theideals of a group. This higher class wantsto build first the superstructure. It has notlearned the lesson of " noblesse oblige." Itthinks of itself as the master of the mass.Until this upper class is ready to sacrificeitself for its country instead of seeking tosecure a life of ease for itself, democracy inHaiti will remain but a term. Outsidersmay help or hinder this process but the realchange must come from within.

Hitherto we have been considering theproblems of Haiti as if they concerned noone else. Such is far from being the case.In no small measure the welfare of Haititurns on the attitude of other countries andher success or failure affects others as well.It is necessary, then, to inquire into ourrelations to Haiti.

Perfection on this earth is achieved onlyin theory. We speak of mathematics asperfect, but it is difficult for two surveyors toget the same result. So in the social realmman worked long to evolve a statement ofindividual relationships which would preventthe exploitation of the weak by the strongbefore he finally arrived at the individualisticphilosophy of the XVIII Century with itsemphatic declarations of "equality" and" inalienable rights." In theory then allmen are equal before the law but in actuallife we know with what care that theorymust be applied. We do not treat the idiot


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and the insane as we treat the normal man,nor the child as we treat the adult.Just now the center of interest has shiftedfrom the individual to the inter-relations ofgroups of individuals in the desire to securea working philosophy which will prevent theexploitation of weak groups for the sel-fish advantage of strong groups. With thisdesire we are all in accord but we mustrecognize that the result sought is not tobe achieved by the enunciation of somecatchy phrase such as " self-determination ofpeoples," for everything depends on theinterpretation given thereto. " Survival ofthe fittest" had a definite place in the fieldof biology, but shifted to the political realmit caused much confusion. Individual rightsare those privileges granted the individualby the society of which he is a member. Ihave a right to life as long as I do not com-mit the acts punished by death. When,therefore, we speak of " group rights" weare either asserting that any group can doanything it has the power to do, and thusjustify the German attitude towards Bel-gium, or we are assuming the existence ofcertain inter-group standards which anygiven group should observe and, note well,in the long run will be compelled to observe.As the world becomes more and more of aunit with the development of trade andtransportation, we must expect to see theestablishment of central agencies which wemay call leagues of nations. Into this dis-cussion I cannot enter. I am but warningyou of the danger of catch phrases and sug-

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gesting that in the near future no group ofpeople will be allowed exclusive jurisdic-tion of any area of earth unless it recognizesinter-group standards and develops a senseof responsibility, any more than societygives the individual unlimited jurisdictionof what we call private property. Thehistory of the doctrine of " states rights" inour own country should be enlightening onthis point.

I think no one will question the fact thatthe United States has always desired thesuccess of Haiti and that today we all wishher not only success but complete inde-pendence. Personally I think that herindependence during the last century wasmade possible by the American attitude. Itremains true, nevertheless, that the con-tinued troubles in Haiti which were produc-ing a condition of anarchy, gave our govern-ment great concern. It would surprisemost Americans to know how often wehave felt forced to send our gunboats to theisland to try to limit the damage done, orto learn that prior to 1915 American officershavegone from port to portaskingrevolution-ary leaders not to destroy the towns or doother needless harm. Nevertheless our tra-ditional "hands-on" " policy was so strongthat we did not intervene until unexpectedlyforced to do so in 1915.

Into the details of that intervention Ineed not enter and a crude sketch willsuffice. Actuated solely, as I believe, by adesire to help Haiti and not for hidden com-mercial or financial reasons, the United

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States determined to put an end to thereign of anarchy by maintaining the govern-ment which the Haitians might chooseagainst change by revolution. In order toput the country on a firm basis it deter-mined to straighten out the finances and tocontrol the collection of revenue. It did notseek to eliminate the Haitian governmentnor to interfere with local institutions. Withthese aims and others which I need notmention the Haitian leaders were in heartyaccord, for they were despondent over thesituation and had lost confidence in theirown power to maintain an orderly govern-ment. Dartiguenave was elected by theHaitians and, thanks to American pro-tection, finishes next month his seven yearterm of office. In the effort to maintainorder the Americans have done some un-expected things, both good and bad. Thecountry has been policed and banditrystamped out. The peasant is safer asregards life, limb and property than he hasbeen in a century and he knows it. Theincome of the country has been honestly col-lected with the exception of part of theinternal revenue not under American con-trol where the old system of graft has con-tinued. Certain other improvements havebeen made but the sum total is not grati-fying to our pride or satisfactory to theHaitians.

It must be admitted that the representa-tives of the State Department faced adifficult task when they drew up the con-vention of 1915. There was every desire

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to maintain the government of Haiti as areality and to encroach upon it as little aspossible. Yet, it was necessary to give realpower to the officials to be appointed underthe convention if its intent was to berealized. The language of the conventionseems to me to be open to sharp criticismfor it is susceptible of different interpre-tations. I have been assured both byAmericans and Haitians who took part inthe negotiations that there was mutualunderstanding of its provisions and a clearrecognition of its consequences. Haitiagreed to appoint certain men on the nomi-nation of the President of the United States,the chief of whom was perhaps the financialadvisor, and Haiti also agreed to put hisadvice into effect. As a matter of fact thishas not been done, but the Convention pro-vides no method for meeting such a refusal,although it does provide a method for keep-ing order. We were thus confronted withthe possibility of a deadlock if the Haitiangovernment refused to cooperate. In otherwords we put ourselves into a position wherethe onus of failure could be put on us withoutclear power to control the situation if neces-sary. My guess is that when Haiti dis-covered that the United States had no realprogram and no intention of maintaining afirm policy, the present result became acertainty.

It must be admitted further that theestablishment of military, financial, anddiplomatic representatives not only inde-pendent of each other but under no common

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head did not make either for peace or effi-ciency. It is gratifying to note that thishas now been changed and a high com-missioner appointed. Unfortunately histask has been made doubly difficult by theevents of the last seven years. Inasmuchas changes in the convention could notnow be secured, all that can be done is forthe United States to say what it under-stands by the same, to outline a policy andto stick to it. In my opinion this will be allthat is needed.The failure to settle the internal loans andto take active steps to refund the debt hassubjected us to great criticism, in part, atleast, well founded. This failure has in-jured our prestige and is not easy to ex-plain. I am glad to say that I believe thismatter will soon be adjusted.

In 1915 there were many Haitians whofelt that we should dismiss the local govern-ment and assume complete control for thetime being. There are some who feel thatwe shall be obliged to do this even yet.Such action was not desired by our govern-ment, nor would it have been supported byour people. I am among those who believethat we can secure reasonable cooperationfrom the Haitians if we show both tact andfirmness in dealing with them. Whateverthey may say for publication they do notbelieve that we are trying to destroy theirsovereignty. They feel rather that we havenot done a good job and they want us tomake good or quit.


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Haiti is by no means of one opinion as tothe best course to follow now. The greatmass of the peasants are well content withthe present situation, save when some agi-tator arouses them by appealing to preju-dice against the foreigner. Everything thatgoes wrong now is charged to the American,from the financial depression which affectsHaiti as well as the rest of the world to thedrying up of a little brook which was said tocarry plenty of water prior to our advent.There are able and intelligent men whothink it better that they be allowed tostruggle along even though this involvesconstant revolution and bankruptcy. Forthese men I have great respect. Thereare others equally competent who see nosolution unless we continue our activeassistance and who beg us not to withdraw.There are some who fawn on us in hopes ofpolitical preferment through our assistance,whom I despise. Nor am I greatly worriedby the crocodile tears of would be exploitersof fellow men who want us to leave at oncein order that they may be free to followtheir own devices.

I have indicated that there are elementsboth of success and failure in our experi-ment so far. It behooves us to rememberthat complete success would not in itselfnecessarily justify the continuance of thepresent policy, nor would complete failurebe in itself a reason for our withdrawal fromthe enterprise. What we must do is to takeaccount of stock and determine our dutyin the matter, and, having decided, to take

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whatever steps may be necessary to makeour policy effective. Viewed from thisangle there are three possible courses:

1. Withdraw from Haiti but let othernations intervene should they so desire.

2. Withdraw and refuse to intervene againon any ground and refuse to let other nationsintervene.

3 Continue the present intervention mak-ing whatever changes in our program thatexperience may dictate.

I know no one who favors the first course,for we all recognize that we do not intendto let any other country control the island.The second course has many advocates.I was formerly in favor of this policymyself, but first-hand acquaintance with theproblem led me to change my views. Ithas the advantage of involving no respon-sibility on our part and of being purelynegative. The fundamental difficulty withit is that it solves nothing; that it permitsthe continuance of the old regime with all ofits horrors; and that in the long run wemight be forced to abandon it under pres-sure from other nations.

I have come therefore to feel that weshould follow the third course. I am fullyconscious of the difficulties and dangersinvolved, but it seems to me the only way inwhich we can really meet our obligations.

Let us make sure that the situation isclearly before us. There is no antagonismbetween Haiti and the United States and weare not at war with Haiti. All that we ask

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is that Haiti shall be so conducted that shemay keep her obligations and not become asource of danger to us at any future time.We do not want to impair the sovereigntyof the Haitian government nor do we covetany of Haiti's territory. Just as it is some-times an individual's duty to pull anotherperson out of the mud or save his life whenhe seeks to destroy himself, so I believe itmay be a nation's duty to save another insome time of emergency for, as I havealready said, these groups are not isolatedbut have many and close relations. Theman who burns his own house may burnmine unwittingly, and I am involved re-gardless of his intentions. The causes ofthe World War did concern us, though ittook some of us a long time to find it out.It will take even longer to repair the damageit did us.

If then it be granted that we are con-cerned with what goes on in Haiti and arejustified in asking that there be a rule oflaw and not of anarchy on the island, whatother difficulties may we encounter? I willmention four.With the present organization of theState Department we cannot be sure that acompetent man of mature judgment will befound in charge of the questions that mayarise in connection with Haiti. To illus-trate, let me quote from a recent letter." Important matters in the hands of a suc-cession of young men. You hit the spotexactly. Coming back from the WestIndies my business took me to the Latin

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American division, where I found Mr. A.in charge. I returned to New York andgoing back within a few days on the samematter I found Mr. B. in charge. A fewweeks after that while I was getting readyto go to Port-au-Prince I found Mr. C. incharge. Returning from there and arrivingin Washington I found Mr. B. in charge.Last week I was informed that Mr. B. hadresigned; Mr. C. has temporary charge anda new man is to be appointed. I do hope areally experienced and broad-minded manwill get the position and hold it for at leasta reasonable time." It should be possibleto remedy this difficulty.The second grows out of the fact that menmay be chosen to represent us in Haitibecause of partisan political services hererather than because of fitness for the positionto which they are sent. If, however, weassume the responsibilities which go withthe suggested course, I cannot imagine thatthe president would nominate or Congressapprove this type of man.The third grows out of our custom of shift-ing our marines and other military men in

accordance with some time-schedule. As amatter of fact we should have a foreignlegion both of officers and men, speciallytrained in so far as might be necessary, andkept at a given task as long as necessarywith due regard for health. It is little shortof criminal to send raw recruits, whetherofficers or men, to a place where theirconduct has great political and socialsignificance.

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The fourth is that I believe Congressshould immediately and formally approveor disapprove any such action as that takenin Haiti by the State Department. It is, ofcourse, foolish to assert as has been donethat Congress did not approve this action,indirectly at least. It accepted the Con-vention by passing a law permitting theofficers of the Marine Corps to serve in theHaitian Gendarmerie. It has voted theappropriations necessary for the mainte-nance of the men there. I am but indicatingthat I consider more formal action desirablein all such cases.Inasmuch as there are indications that ourgovernment intends to follow substantiallythe course I have outlined, we might wellask what other steps if any should be taken,here or in Haiti.

In Haiti I favor interfering as little aspossible with local institutions, except tomake studies and recommendations on theinvitation of the Haitians. I would notattempt to reform the courts, much as theyneed it, nor would I try to develop a newschool system. Haiti should be free todevelop its own agencies except where theoutside world is directly involved. It willbe necessary to extend our financial super-vision to secure absolute honesty in han-dling of funds. It will be necessary to main-tain provost courts for the protection of ourown men and it will be necessary to prohibitthe press from instigating revolt. We shallkeep as many marines on the island as maybe needed to make insurrection impossible

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and we shall develop the Gendarmerie asrapidly as possible into a competent policeforce. In other words, we shall carry out theConvention, whose intent and spirit weregood.At home we might well consider theadvisability of putting Haiti on the samebasis as Cuba as regards our tariff laws. Ifwe want Haiti to buy from us, we mustmake it possible for her to sell to us.More important than the suggestions justmade would be a frank declaration fromCongress to Haiti and to the world at largethat we have no hidden designs on Haiti;that we shall welcome the coming of thetime when we can withdraw all our troops,but that we propose to remain until a spiritof law and order manifests itself whichmakes possible an orderly government.Haiti will always be willing to enter into adefensive and offensive alliance with us ifdesired in return for our guarantee of herindependence.Thus in bold outline I have tried to sketchsome of the more important features of thepresent situation. I see no possible groundof antagonism between Haiti and the UnitedStates and I am confident that if we ap-proach the questions in a courteous way weshall find happy solutions and that theHaitians will trust and admire us in thefuture as they have in the past.

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Documents

Carl Kelsey--Address on the Republic of Haiti of Today (1922)