To know the reasons for the present political situation in Haiti, to
understand why the United States landed and has for five years
maintained military forces in that country, why some three thousand
Haitian men, women, and children have been shot down by American rifles
and machine guns, it is necessary, among other things, to know that the
National City Bank of New York is very much interested in Haiti. It is
necessary to know that the National City Bank controls the National Bank
of Haiti and is the depository for all of the Haitian national funds
that are being collected by American officials, and that Mr. R. L.
Farnham, vice-president of the National City Bank, is virtually the
representative of the State Department in matters relating to the island
republic. Most Americans have the opinion--if they have any opinion at
all on the subject--that the United States was forced, on purely humane
grounds, to intervene in the black republic because of the tragic coup
d'etat which resulted in the overthrow and death of President Vilbrun
Guillaume Sam and the execution of the political prisoners confined at
Port-au-Prince, July 27-28, 1915; and that this government has been
compelled to keep a military force in Haiti since that time to pacify
the country and maintain order.
The fact is that for nearly a year before forcible intervention on the
part of the United States this government was seeking to compel Haiti to
submit to "peaceable" intervention. Toward the close of 1914 the United
States notified the government of Haiti that it was disposed to
recognize the newly-elected president, Theodore Davilmar, as soon as a
Haitian commission would sign at Washington "satisfactory protocols"
relative to a convention with the United States on the model of the
Dominican-American Convention. On December 15, 1914, the Haitian
government, through its Secretary of Foreign Affairs, replied: "The
Government of the Republic of Haiti would consider itself lax in its
duty to the United States and to itself if it allowed the least doubt
to exist of its irrevocable intention not to accept any control of the
administration of Haitian affairs by a foreign Power." On December 19,
the United States, through its legation at Port-au-Prince, replied, that
in expressing its willingness to do in Haiti what had been done in Santo
Domingo it "was actuated entirely by a disinterested desire to give
assistance."
Two months later, the Theodore government was overthrown by a revolution
and Vilbrun Guillaume was elected president. Immediately afterwards
there arrived at Port-au-Prince an American commission from
Washington--the Ford mission. The commissioners were received at the
National Palace and attempted to take up the discussion of the
convention that had been broken off in December, 1914. However, they
lacked full powers and no negotiations were entered into. After several
days, the Ford mission sailed for the United States. But soon after, in
May, the United States sent to Haiti Mr. Paul Fuller, Jr., with the
title Envoy Extraordinary, on a special mission to apprise the Haitian
government that the Guillaume administration would not be recognized by
the American government unless Haiti accepted and signed the project of
a convention which he was authorized to present. After examining the
project the Haitian government submitted to the American commission a
counter-project, formulating the conditions under which it would be
possible to accept the assistance of the United States. To this
counter-project Mr. Fuller proposed certain modifications, some of which
were accepted by the Haitian government. On June 5, 1915, Mr. Fuller
acknowledged the receipt of the Haitian communication regarding these
modifications, and sailed from Port-au-Prince.
Before any further discussion of the Fuller project between the two
governments, political incidents in Haiti led rapidly to the events of
July, 27 and 28. On July 27 President Guillaume fled to the French
Legation, and on the same day took place a massacre of the political
prisoners in the prison at Port-au-Prince. On the morning of July 28
President Guillaume was forcibly taken from French Legation and killed.
On the afternoon of July 28 an American man-of-war dropped anchor in the
harbor of Port-au-Prince and landed American forces. It should be borne
in mind that through all of this the life of not a single American
citizen had been taken or jeopardized.
The overthrow of Guillaume and its attending consequences did not
constitute the cause of American intervention in Haiti, but merely
furnished the awaited opportunity. Since July 28, 1915, American
military forces have been in control of Haiti. These forces have been
increased until there are now somewhere near three thousand Americans
under arms in the republic. From the very first, the attitude of the
Occupation has been that it was dealing with a conquered territory.
Haitian forces were disarmed, military posts and barracks were occupied,
and the National Palace was taken as headquarters for the Occupation.
After selecting a new and acceptable president for the country, steps
were at once taken to compel the Haitian government to sign a convention
in which it virtually foreswore its independence. This was accomplished
by September 16, 1915; and although the terms of this convention
provided for the administration of the Haitian customs by American
civilian officials, all the principal custom houses of the country had
been seized by military force and placed in charge of American Marine
officers before the end of August. The disposition of the funds
collected in duties from the time of the military seizure of the custom
houses to the time of their administration by civilian officials is
still a question concerning which the established censorship in Haiti
allows no discussion.
It is interesting to note the wide difference between the convention
which Haiti was forced to sign and the convention which was in course of
diplomatic negotiation at the moment of intervention. The Fuller
convention asked little of Haiti and gave something, the Occupation
convention demands everything of Haiti and gives nothing. The Occupation
convention is really the same convention which the Haitian government
peremptorily refused to discuss in December, 1914, except that in
addition to American control of Haitian finances it also provides for
American control of the Haitian military forces. The Fuller convention
contained neither of these provisions. When the United States found
itself in a position to take what it had not even dared to ask, it used
brute force and took it. But even a convention which practically
deprived Haiti of its independence was found not wholly adequate for
the accomplishment of all that was contemplated. The Haitian
constitution still offered some embarrassments, so it was decided that
Haiti must have a new constitution. It was drafted and presented to the
Haitian assembly for adoption. The assembly balked--chiefly at the
article in the proposed document removing the constitutional disability
which prevented aliens from owning land in Haiti. Haiti had long
considered the denial of this right to aliens as her main bulwark
against overwhelming economic exploitation; and it must be admitted that
she had better reasons than the several states of the United States that
have similar provisions.
The balking of the assembly resulted in its being dissolved by actual
military force and the locking of doors of the Chamber. There has been
no Haitian legislative body since. The desired constitution was
submitted to a plebiscite by a decree of the President, although such a
method of constitutional revision was clearly unconstitutional. Under
the circumstances of the Occupation the plebiscite was, of course,
almost unanimous for the desired change, and the new constitution was
promulgated on June 18, 1918. Thus Haiti was given a new constitution by
a flagrantly unconstitutional method. The new document contains several
fundamental changes and includes a "Special Article" which declares:
All the acts of the Government of the United States during its
military Occupation in Haiti are ratified and confirmed.
No Haitian shall be liable to civil or criminal prosecution for
any act done by order of the Occupation or under its authority.
The acts of the courts martial of the Occupation, without,
however, infringing on the right to pardon, shall not be
subject to revision.
The acts of the Executive Power (the President) up to the
promulgation of the present constitution are likewise ratified
and confirmed.
The above is the chronological order of the principal steps by which the
independence of a neighboring republic has been taken away, the people
placed under foreign military domination from which they have no appeal,
and exposed to foreign economic exploitation against which they are
defenseless. All of this has been done in the name of the Government of
the United States; however, without any act by Congress and without any
knowledge of the American people.
The law by which Haiti is ruled today is martial law dispensed by
Americans. There is a form of Haitian civil government, but it is
entirely dominated by the military Occupation. President Dartiguenave,
bitterly rebellious at heart as is every good Haitian, confessed to me
the powerlessness of himself and his cabinet. He told me that the
American authorities give no heed to recommendations made by him or his
officers; that they would not even discuss matters about which the
Haitian officials have superior knowledge. The provisions of both the
old and the new constitutions are ignored in that there is no Haitian
legislative body, and there has been none since the dissolution of the
Assembly in April, 1916. In its stead there is a Council of State
composed of twenty-one members appointed by the president, which
functions effectively only when carrying out the will of the Occupation.
Indeed the Occupation often overrides the civil courts. A prisoner
brought before the proper court, exonerated, and discharged, is,
nevertheless, frequently held by the military. All government funds are
collected by the Occupation and are dispensed at its will and pleasure.
The greater part of these funds is expended for the maintenance of the
military forces. There is the strictest censorship of the press. No
Haitian newspaper is allowed to publish anything in criticism of the
Occupation or the Haitian government. Each newspaper in Haiti received
an order to that effect from the Occupation, _and the same order carried
the injunction not to print the order_. Nothing that might reflect upon
the Occupation administration in Haiti is allowed to reach the
newspapers of the United States.
The Haitian people justly complain that not only is the convention
inimical to the best interests of their country, but that the
convention, such as it is, is not being carried out in accordance with
the letter, nor in accordance with the spirit in which they were led to
believe it would be carried out. Except one, all of the obligations in
the convention which the United States undertakes in favor of Haiti are
contained in the first article of that document, the other fourteen
articles being made up substantially of obligations to the United States
assumed by Haiti. But nowhere in those fourteen articles is there
anything to indicate that Haiti would be subjected to military
domination. In Article I the United States promises to "aid the Haitian
government in the proper and efficient development of its agricultural,
mineral, and commercial resources and in the establishment of the
finances of Haiti on a firm and solid basis." And the whole convention
and, especially, the protestations of the United States before the
signing of the instrument can be construed only to mean that that aid
would be extended through the supervision of civilian officials.
The one promise of the United States to Haiti not contained in the first
article of the convention is that clause of Article XIV which says,
"and, should the necessity occur, the United States will lend an
efficient aid for the preservation of Haitian independence and the
maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life,
property, and individual liberty." It is the extreme of irony that this
clause which the Haitians had a right to interpret as a guarantee to
them against foreign invasion should first of all be invoked against the
Haitian people themselves, and offer the only peg on which any pretense
to a right of military domination can be hung.
There are several distinct forces--financial, military, bureaucratic--at
work in Haiti which, tending to aggravate the conditions they themselves
have created, are largely self-perpetuating. The most sinister of these,
the financial engulfment of Haiti by the National City Bank of New York,
already alluded to, will be discussed in detail in a subsequent article.
The military Occupation has made and continues to make military
Occupation necessary. The justification given is that it is necessary
for the pacification of the country. Pacification would never have been
necessary had not American policies been filled with so many stupid and
brutal blunders; and it will never be effective so long as
"pacification" means merely the hunting of ragged Haitians in the hills
with machine guns.
Then there is the force which the several hundred American civilian
place-holders constitute. They have found in Haiti the veritable
promised land of "jobs for deserving democrats" and naturally do not
wish to see the present status discontinued. Most of these deserving
democrats are Southerners. The head of the customs service of Haiti was
a clerk of one of the parishes of Louisiana. Second in charge of the
customs service of Haiti is a man who was Deputy Collector of Customs at
Pascagoula, Mississippi [population, 3,379, 1910 Census]. The
Superintendent of Public Instruction was a school teacher in
Louisiana--a State which has not good schools even for white children;
the financial advisor, Mr. McIlhenny, is also from Louisiana.
Many of the Occupation officers are in the same category with the
civilian place-holders. These men have taken their wives and families to
Haiti. Those at Port-au-Prince live in beautiful villas. Families that
could not keep a hired girl in the United States have a half-dozen
servants. They ride in automobiles--not their own. Every American head
of a department in Haiti has an automobile furnished at the expense of
the Haitian Government, whereas members of the Haitian cabinet, who are
theoretically above them, have no such convenience or luxury. While I
was there, the President himself was obliged to borrow an automobile
from the Occupation for a trip through the interior. The Louisiana
school-teacher Superintendent of Instruction has an automobile furnished
at government expense, whereas the Haitian Minister of Public
Instruction, his supposed superior officer, has none. These automobiles
seem to be chiefly employed in giving the women and children an airing
each afternoon. It must be amusing, when it is not maddening to the
Haitians, to see with what disdainful air these people look upon them as
they ride by.
The platform adopted by the Democratic party at San Francisco said of
the Wilson policy in Mexico:
The Administration, remembering always that Mexico is an
independent nation and that permanent stability in her
government and her institutions could come only from the
consent of her own people to a government of her own making,
has been unwilling either to profit by the misfortunes of the
people of Mexico or to enfeeble their future by imposing from
the outside a rule upon their temporarily distracted councils.
Haiti has never been so distracted in its councils as Mexico. And even
in its moments of greatest distraction it never slaughtered an American
citizen, it never molested an American woman, it never injured a
dollar's worth of American property. And yet, the Administration whose
lofty purpose was proclaimed as above--with less justification than
Austria's invasion of Serbia, or Germany's rape of Belgium, without
warrant other than the doctrine that "might makes right," has conquered
Haiti. It has done this through the very period when, in the words of
its chief spokesman, our sons were laying down their lives overseas "for
democracy, for the rights of those who submit to authority to have a
voice in their own government, for the rights and liberties of small
nations." By command of the author of "pitiless publicity" and
originator of "open covenants openly arrived at," it has enforced by the
bayonet a covenant whose secret has been well guarded by a rigid
censorship from the American nation, and kept a people enslaved by the
military tyranny which it was his avowed purpose to destroy throughout
the world.
_From The Nation of August 25, 1920._