Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 6, 1880

No. 394.
Mr. Langston to Mr. Evarts.

Legation of the United States,
Port-au-Prince, December 20, 1879. (Received Jan. 3.)

No. 205.]

Sir: Perhaps no utterance made by General Salomon since his inauguration as president of this Republic, has produced such general and profound satisfaction among his admirers and partisans as the one herewith inclosed, with translation as published in Le Moniteur of the 6th instant.

This speech was delivered on the 30th day of last month, and under peculiarly favorable circumstances, when the president could give play to his remarkably fine facility of elocution and when the imagination and sensibility of his audience were unusually lively and impressible.

The president was giving a large, brilliant, official reception to the leading members of the administration, especially those who have the management and control of public instruction. The attendance was great, and as the president entered the spacious reception room of the National Palace, filled to its utmost capacity, supported by the ministers of state, cordial demonstrations of applause discovered at once, that the chief of state was among admiring and enthusiastic friends who were prepared, to indorse and accept any utterance which he chose to make. Under such circumstances, on a beautiful Sabbath morning, in the flush of political victory, conscious of a generous popular support for the time being certainly, he made this speech.

Those portions of the speech which were received with special delight, and which are approved and applauded with the greatest emphasis by the journals of his party, are the ones which concern administrative reforms and the reorganization of the personnel of the various departments of the government. Such feelings may be regarded as being altogether natural; for the declarations made on these topics give promise of place and employment, with remunerative salaries, to those who have not enjoyed such benefits for a long time, and who may very much need and who do very much desire them. Besides it is not to be denied that many really patriotic persons, intelligent and sagacious, believe that such reforms and such changes should be made at once in the interest of the country.

The language of the President with regard to the reforms proposed is emphatic and plain. He says:

I promise you that they shall he complete and radical. I do not wish, after the example of President Boisrond Canal, to appoint to the offices of the state the enemies of my government. I do not wish that the functionaries, that those who live upon the public pence and whose commissions I would have to sign, should come hereafter to take up arms against the state. I intend that my government shall be served by my friends and not by my enemies. I know that the offices of the present administration are in good part occupied by these last. This shall not be always so.

The policy indicated in these words is being thoroughly applied by the administration; and the friction, the disturbance, which its inauguration would naturally produce is witnessed already, especially in the northern part of the republic, where the secretary of war and marine has now gone to supervise, according to report, the installation of certain newly-appointed officers. It is but a few days ago that the same officers made a visit to Mirabalais upon a similar errand.

The authorities appear to understand and appreciate the condition of the public mind produced by this cause, and their movements with regard thereto seem to be made with reasonable wisdom and sagacity.

With reference, in all probability, to this state of feeling more than any other present and immediate source of disturbance, the government has deemed it wise to reorganize the army, particularly the national guard.

Connected with this subject, there has been some anxiety, though no trouble, found in the fact that the call of the government, made some two weeks ago, for recruits to this branch of the service, was quite unheeded, and the government found itself forced to adopt the system of general and indiscriminate impressment, as provided by law, under such circumstances. For, among other things which the President has promised, is the maintenance of the public peace and the assurance of the public order.

How difficult his task in this regard will prove to be, and how well he will keep his promise in that behalf, the future alone can demonstrate. He seems to recognize the gravity of his responsibility as well as the difficulty of his task. But his confidence and purpose would seem adequate to his duty.

The revision of the constitution, upon which the President lays special stress, has been fully accomplished, and his prerogatives are distinctly and clearly defined. A copy of this document, as revised, will, hereafter, be transmitted to you. Any obstructions found here, then, are supposed to be removed, and he may go forward in the way of reorganization “rapidly and without weakness.”

Referring to exile, the President pronounces it, after the manner of a distinguished author, to whom he refers, “impious.” And he declares that he does not wish it for any one of his compatriots. Nevertheless, on the 12th instant, several of the first men of the country left it, according to the usage under which the President himself took his departure at the fall of Soulouque. The men to whom reference is made are Darius Denis, Dr. Louis Andain, Jean Louis, Duverman, and Claude. There remain several others, refugees in different legations and consulates here, such as Tanis, Benjamin, and Paul, who must soon go. It were well could such men find employment at home, laboring for the good of their country, rather than spending their time in an exile which must be hateful to every one of manly impulse.

The closing words of the President, in which he pledges himself to the people to maintain peace, are as strictly eloquent as they are patriotic, while they certainly challenge the admiration of his fellow-citizens. He says:

I shall employ all my energy, all my will, and all my strength, which the sufferings of life and the trials of exile have not taken from me, to give and maintain peace in order that you may be able to labor without disquietude, enjoy tranquilly the fruit of your labors, and leave to your children, after your death, a patrimony.

I have, &c.,

JOHN MERCER LANGSTON.

[Inclosure in No. 205.—Translation.]

address of president solomon.

Gentlemen: I have the satisfaction to announce to you that the country is at peace and that tranquillity reigns everywhere. Yet, for several days it has been reported that the city of Gonaives had taken up arms. This news came from Je’re’mie, but correspondence which I have received lately from the last-named place contradicts these reports.

The peace has not been disturbed for a single instant at Gonaïves. The country is quiet and tranquillity has not ceased for a single instant to prevail at all points of the republic. Here is the proof that all these reports are simply false. Those who propagate this false news entertain but one object, to bring disquietude and desolation to the families, to interrupt the march of business, to create division and discord, to facilitate the accomplishment of their base designs. Such ought, especially, to comprehend that these maneuvers are to-day out of season. In presence of the unanimity of the suffrages which has brought me to the Presidency, before the imposing manifestations of all the people who have applauded me, the malcontents should understand that the attitude which best becomes them is that of repentance, silence, and submission to the will of the nation. Some have been designated to me. I have notified them, as I have notified everybody, I would believe that they are not blameworthy, as they themselves have declared to me, but every one is duly warned; I do not wish to take any iy surprise; I do not desire to find myself under the necessity of exercising severity, but I will be severe, if necessary unpitying, and I promise you that considerations of no kind will prevent me from causing the chastisement, impartially and as they merit it, of all those who shall be taken. The chastisement shall be severe in order that the example may be profitable to others and deter them always from their wicked projects.

Gentlemen, I have suffered much in exile. I do not desire this for any of my compatriots, and I do not wish ever to return there; besides I am not now of the age to do it. Hence, I am disposed to repress, energetically and without weakness, all seditious acts which would work in the end the overthrow of society and the subversion of the legal government of the country.

I have been chosen with unanimity; I have never employed intrigue or any indirect means to reach the executive; I have reached there loyally, legally, constitutionally, and in that I have had a rare good fortune, which my predecessors have not had.

Presidential elections, up to mine, have always been under the influence of united and preconcerted means. Only the Emperor Soulouque was elevated to power without his own effort; hut his election was a scheme (calcul). They wished to make of him an instrument, a plaything. He did not lend himself to this; he marred all such calculations; you know this as well as I.

I do not think, gentlemen, that any would have desired thus to make a plaything of me. My character, my opinions, my sentiments, my past are too well known for any to fall into error with regard to me. The vote which called me to power was free and sincere; scheming was altogether a stranger therein.

In placing in me its confidence, in giving to me the direction of its affairs, the country has imposed upon me a great task and a heavy responsibility.

In spite of the difficulties which I will have to surmount; in spite of the ruin of the country and the state, exceptionally grave, in which it is found, I have accepted this charge and this responsibility, with the sincere faith of a man who loves his country and who ardently desires to accomplish for it the largest possible good.

I do not know, gentlemen, whether time will permit me to realize all the points of my programme.

I have promised to maintain peace and tranquillity; to maintain respect for all; to assure order, under the shelter of which every citizen shall be able to maintain peaceably his life by honest labor. As to this part of my programme, I promise you to accomplish it entirely.

You can count upon me for that, and I repeat it: woe be to those who shall attempt to disturb order.

Gentlemen, the epoch of revolution ought to be forever past in our country Revolutions, after having destroyed the vitals of the nation, have led the country into a condition of debasement in which it finds itself to-day. Its credit is ruined, and has been diminished to a point where it will disappear at the least breath.

Revolutions have made of every Haytian a general, and often when I would distribute employments to those who merit them and place each in a position which befits him, I am very much embarrassed, because the applicants occupy in the army high grades incompatible with modest employment.

I am reproached that I do not go sufficiently fast in the way of administrative reforms and of the reorganization of the personnel. A deputation of the Chamber of Deputies came even recently to express to me an opinion on this subject; but those who reproach me only consider Port-au-Prince. I am in continual relations with the different points of the republic. I receive each moment deputations from the communes.

I do not wish to perform a disjointed and interrupted work. These reforms will only be useful and serious upon condition of their being accomplished according to a general plan, a system maturely considered, and a profound study of the question. All this is not the affair of a moment.

Above all, gentlemen, it is necessary that the constitution be adopted. The new constitution ought to give to the chief of state prerogatives which my predecessors have not enjoyed. With these new powers, the President of the republic can, according to the desire of all, advance rapidly and without weakness in the way of reorganization.

Political reasons, which I cannot mention to you, and certain considerations of deference for absent members of the cabinet, as yet restrain me. There is also the embarrassment of the choice. Sometimes there are seventeen candidates equally meritorious for the same employment. How can one make choice of one of the seventeen without making malcontents of the other sixteen?

Reforms are necessary; the whole country demands them with impatience. I promise you that they shall be complete and radical. I do not wish, alter the example of President Boisrond Canal, to appoint to the offices of the state the enemies of my government. I do not wish that the functionaries, that those Avho live upon the public pence and whose commissions I would have to sign, should come hereafter to take up arms against the state. I intend that my government shall be served by my friends and not by my enemies. I know that the offices of the present administration are in good part occupied by these last. This shall not be always so.

I have invited the ministers to commence to-morrow the reorganization of the personnel of their respective departments.

I give you, Messrs. Ministers, full latitude, full power, for that. Be unmerciful to those insubordinate, undisciplined, arrogant, and insolent employes who regard themselves as superior to their chiefs. I commend to you for their places, Messrs. Ministers, those brave young men who offered their breasts, exposed their lives in the days from the 30th of June to the 4th of July, and contributed to the establishment of the present order of affairs. If there are any such in the audience, I advise them to present themselves to-morrow to the ministers and make valid their title; they shall be examined and employed according to their capacity.

My government shall not be a government of despotism. I have suffered too much from despotism. I have not forgotten the sufferings which I endured during the twenty years which I spent in exile. Many others in my place would have succumbed, but, thanks to my convictions, to which I have always remained faithful, thanks to my hopes and to my sincere faith in the future, I have not succumbed; I have remained the same.

The finances of the republic have become dilapidated, wasted by those same persons who were charged to watch their employment.

I am finally resolved to cause these abuses to cease. I wish that the resources of the country may be employed with economy; that honesty and good faith may enter every branch of the administration. I shall commence by setting the example.

I have held high offices in my country, either as director of the registry, as administrator of the finances, or minister of state charged with the portfolio of finances, and I can say, without boasting, that I have filled these positions with honor and dignity. I administered during eleven years the finances of the republic; I retired poor; I retired, I say, poorer than when I came to the ministry. The pittance which was left of my fortune I have spent in exile, little by little to the last cent. After this I suffered; and I remained steadfast, because I had profound faith in the future.

I have, however, passed through cruel trials; I found myself in Paris in the greatest embarrassment. It was to a noble friend, inspired no doubt by God, that I owe it not to have yielded. I make to him a public testimony of my gratitude; I will never forget him. I did not yield, because God had not willed it. In his inscrutable designs he had preserved me, perhaps to a later period, that I might play a prominent part in the destinies of this country.

Gentlemen, “exile is impious,” has said a great writer; if I knew a word more energetic, I would use it to you; I do not desire it for any one of my compatriots. I have promised you peace, and I shall be faithful to my promise. I shall employ all my energy, all my will, and all my strength which the surf erings of life and the trials of exile have not taken from me, to give peace and to maintain it in order that you may work without disquietude, enjoy tranquilly the fruit of your labors, and leave after your death a patrimony for your children.