* o ^ t%\ o V J>1 THE ST. DOMIFGO QUESTION. AN AMERICAN POLICY. Ihe ratification of the treaty with St. Domingo; the annexation of that island to the United States; the establishment of an American Protectorate over Hayti, are questions of the clay that demand and ought to receive the gravest consideration. No fllp- pant genera'ization; no cursory or superficial in- quiry, will suffice for ihom. They are weighty questions, involving much in the present, more in the future. President Grant has grappled with and mastered their significance, and if Congress and the people shad do as well, there will bo solved the first equation of more than one social and political problem. THE ISLAND OF ST. DOMINGO. St. Domingo possesses a historic interest, as the first land discovered by Columbus, who called it Hispaniola; as the first South American colony that followed the example of revolutionary France in a struggle for liberty; as the first theatre of political action enjoyed by African freedmen; as the first ex- ample of a servile people achieving their indenend- ence unaided, and maintaining that independence, under various forms of government, against succes- sive attempts to re-enslave them. On its soil has been tested the b'ack man's capacity for self-govern- ment and self-defence, and this, duting many years, while the African slave trale continued in active op- eration, scoring its bloody code of whips and chains upon the statute-books of civilization. The island of St. Domingo is 390 miles long, and from 60 to 150 broad. It lies on the Windward Pas- sage, the route of transatlantic commerce. By ca- pacious harbors, at Port-au-Prince and the Bay of Gonaives, on its «outheastern and western coasts, it commands tho British island of Jamaioa and the southeast shores of Cuba; whde the Bay of Samana, at Us nor.hwcstern extremity, threatens all tho lee« ward islands. As a point d'appui, for naval opera- tions, it has no equal in the West Indies; (the Fii« bustiers and Buccaneers, from Lolonnais to Sir Henry Morgan, took notable advantage of this tact;) while its rocky coast lino and mountain fastnesses, enc osing fertile plateaux, make it a very Swit- zerland to attack or defend. It is, in effect, the Gib- raltar oi' our tropical archipelago; a veritable key to the extended groups of islands which form a gateway to the Spanish Main. With St. Domingo in pos- session of the United States, our "Monroe Doc- trine" might become more tnan a mere paper block- ade. THE PKESIDENI'S POLICY. President Grant, as a soldier and a statesman, comprehends tho situation of affairs; and if the work he has begun be happily completed, it will remain a solid memorial of the firsi year of his administra- tion. Not only does it embrace the acquisition of rich te.-rllory, and the possession of stratejde and commercial bases of vast importance, but it becomes a practical assertion of the balance of power on the American continent which it is our right to claim, and our duty to hold, not only for ourselves, but for the weaker Bepublic3 of Sout'a America. President Grant accepts tho lessons of the pact as admonitions for the future. Ho knows that if our government had controlled naval stations in the West Indies, during tho rebeUi m, it could have enforced a more rigorous blocl;ado, and repressed the deprodatlon of rebel crui;ers swarming out of tba Bahamas under 4 THE ST. DOMINGO QUESTION. British recognition of Confederate belligerency; a sion to us of Dominican soil, embracing more than a reminiscence very instructive to statesmen who may moiety of the island of Hay ti, is the fruition of no be called upon to exact " Alaoama claims" in the military conquest, as was the so-called purchase future. He is instructed by the record of English of California and New Mexico for $13,000,000, in intrigues in South America, for ha'f a century oi en- 1847— a purchase, it might be added, whi h was a croachment, whereby, from a mere trading foothold, necessary antecedent of Senator Cass^rly's official Great Britain has secured an extensive coast line position tc-day. The acquisition of St. Domingo, by in Guiana, whence her agents exert a mischievous this treaty, will be the result of a pooular vote of the political influence, from Brazil to Mexico. With 100,- Dominican p30p!e in a ratio of thirty to one in iavor 000 square miles of territory on the main land, com- of annexation to the United States. It will unite with prising three seaports, and with a dozeu import- ant islands beaidfl the Bermudas and Bahamas— not to speak at all of her "New Dominion"— England can be at no loss for points of naval rendezvous on this continent in case of war with the United States. Spain still c.ings to Cuba and Porto Rico, and has, within a few years past, made abortive attempts to re-occipy the Eas.ein side of St. Domingo. Imperi- al France clank- the chains of her Cayenne State pris- oners in the hearing of South American republics, and lauds her Atlantic cable opposite our own coast, while even Holland, Denmark, and Sweden maintain commercial entrepots in New World waters. It is only the United S ates — the nation most interested in having some West India maritime fulcrum — that can really claim not a fathom of insular sea to drop an anchor in, not a foot of insular soil, outside of her coast-borders, whereon to p'.ant the nether battery of an American ocean telegraph. AN AMERICAN SYSTEM WANTED. And what is the practical corollary? President us a population of lreemen, and demand no " Wilmot Proviso" to secure its labor to freedom hereafter. And herein lies a consideration which can hardly have suggested itself to the miud of Mr. Sumner, the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, or he should in candor have sought to reconcile it with his avowed hostility -to the project. SHALL ST. DOMINGO PERISH ? Mr. Sumner objects to the incorporation with our nationalities oi the Spanish. Creole and negro popula- tion of tropical islands, preferring an agglomeration of these in confederation, outside oi our American citizenship, or, at best, under an Amenean protec- torate. But what is the condition of St. Domingo as an independency? Does it exemplify Mr. Sumner's darling theory of human progress, or the reverse ? At the close of the last century, the annua! export of sugar trom St. Domingo fell but little short oi 100 COO.000 pounds, and of coffee 77,000,000 pounds. One buudred and fifty millions of dol.ars was the estimated value of her export?. A fleet of seven nun- Grant sees it in our anomalous attitude toward Spain dred vessels, a commercial marine of twenty seven and Cuba— our people sympathizing with the strug- thousand seamen, were required for her carrying gles of another people against foreign domination, trade. Her magnificent plains, watered by numerous while our Government is placej, by treaty stipula- rivers, gave growth to exhaustless cropo of sugar, tious, in apparent antagonism to the popular senti- coffee, and eottcn; her forests yielded the richest ment and to the spirit of its own institutions. Is it mahogany, mac lined, lignum vita3, and iron wood, strange ihat the Executive head o: the nation should giant oaks and lotty pines. Minej of gold, silver, favor the St. Domingo treaty, when such facts and and copper were worked to advantage, even with the moral to be deduced from them are patent to all slave labor. The soil, the capacity for culture, the of us? President Grant vindicates his country and climate all remain, but where are the productions? himself by indicating with a bold ftugor tae lines of where the exports? where the industry and oom- that original design which shadowed the " Monroe merce? Cultivation of the land is almost wholly Doctrine" upon the cliart of our republican future, abandoned. Within the last ten years, the popu ation He worthily illustrates our national traditions by of the entire island has diminished ten per cent, shaping the governmental policy in accordance with leaving but 830 003 inhabitants upon a territory that that "Americ in System" whereof Thomas Jefferson ought to support 20,1100,003 of prosperous citizens and Henry Clay were expounders according to their Is Mr. Sumner satisfied witn such retrogression and sympathies. decay as this ? Would he wrap himse.f in his higher The trea'y now awaiting ratification by the U.S. civilization, and see the poll of St. Dom.ngo revert to Senate invo ves no belligerent consequences, as did the state of mture in which Co umbus found it, when the annexation of Texas, that declared Democratic Carib proprietaries were content to raise cotton* issue (as Senator Casserly may remember) on which cloth for their scanty robe«, ana dye it ttith the pig- Mr. Polk was elected President. The proposed ces- moats of forest-barks? or would he passively sur THE ST. DOMINGO QUESTION. vey the spectacle of rival factions decimating one another, decade by decade, until their magnificent country becomes once more a mere refugo for bucca- neers ? ST. DOMINGO FOR FREEDMEN. Mr. Summer may recall the history of our Ameri- cau Colon'zition Society, years ago, and the unpro- ductive efforts ot well-meaning men to deport eman cipated slaves and free colored people to Monr other colonies. He can well remember the timo when a Virginia negro looked upon a transfer to Georgia or Mississippi as equivalent to exile or death. Does ho desire to make of St. Domingo the land of terror and despair which Georgia once offered to the crude percep'.ions of Virginia slaves ? Or has he reflected, with more of wisdom and pre- science, that, in the Providence of God, the tru'itlul land of Hayti may become for our American frecd- men what Canaan was to Israel's tribes — the goal of their long ri'grimage, the recompense of their weary toils? If Mr. Sumner will glance at t'.c movement of our colored population, steadily trending from North to South, from bordor States to Gulf Slates, with no longer any bugbear of Georgia or Mississippi slavery to keep it back, he must, as a political econo- mist, be impressed by the influence of those laws of attraction which are operating, at last, without abnor- mal restrictions. There is no truth more profound than that tho tendency of the Negro is to the tropics. In the North he decays, in the South he bourgeons. The sun is his vital source. The Equator is his home, and be is more or le.'s a full type of physical manhood as ho approaches or recedes from it. Henco the labor-exodus now depleting Virginia and other border States of their freedmen, to pour the new migration on Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. The freedmen obey an unerring instinct of nature, now that nature no longor is forced. Their vacant places will be presently filled by white men and women, who hasten from the Old World in myriads to occupy the w.ir-wasted fields and create a new dominion of tho South. Cannot Mr. S lmner perceive any significance in this — any link of the mystorious chain of cause and eflect which, to the simple trust of Abraham Lincoln, was so clear and tangible ? Suppose we adopt the laissez-faire policy, as regards the West In lies, and leave Hayti to work out her own destiny, for weal or wo? Suppose we rejoin, to the cry of her perishing popuallon, the sneering question ot C3in, repeated by Conservatism in every age — " Am I my brother's keeper?" But suppose, on the other hand, and in a broader and statesinar.-like spirit, we conceive the Hayiien territory to be a nobler field for the develop ment o ! her people in now and enlightened citizenship; a citizenship to be shared, in the near future, by mil- lions of our own freedmen voluntarily pursuing their march to tbe South, or rather fulfilling the law of their attractions, that impels them steadily toward a tropical home? What a sufficient solution of our social and i oliticil problem— of the "vexed question" bequeathed to us by dead and buried Slavery I What a grand exposition of the law of compensations! Is it the more robust faith o; President Grant that fore- sees such "manifest destiny" for our freedmen, un- der Divine supervision, while to Mr. Sumner's cas- uis'ry the question of Dominican annexation is but a p or ten' of social disparities and unsettled Alabama claims ? Is the orator, who shouted " On to Free- dom!" become a pessimist, blocking the wheels of Freedom's car, while the so'dier, who obeyed the orator's cry, and who reached the goddess, now sits charioted by her pile, a splendid optimist, like his predecessor Lincoln ? We think the nation is more inclined to advance with Grant, than to lag with Sumner. RESULTS OF ANNEXATION. No single, iso'accd interest invites the United Slates to an occupancy of Sr. Domingo, and the ex- tension of our political system over its dwindling population. The conceded benefits of a naval sta- tion, the assertion of a balance of power upon the continent, the accruing advantages to commerce, the acquisition of valuable lands, the substitution of order for anarchy, and the prospect, not remote, of constituting a congeries of intelligent and prosper- ous Haytien commonwealths, based upon the native population, improved and elevated through acces- sions of their own race from our Southern States; all these considerations enter into a broad and fit con- ception of the resu'ts to flow from the primary act of ratifying this St. Dommjo treaty. But, from a ma- terial staud-pomt alone, how appreciable is tho value of this annexation ! Before us, for example, is a map if fourteen contiguous estates lying behind Port-au-Prince, and s retelling from the Neyoe river (Bay of Ocoa) on the South, diagonally acro«3 the is'and, to the Bay of Gonaives, comprising about 187,500 a, i.iv* t w ^yjfjj 1U11,1LU1 fJUiSililUUO. Ill il LUI111 CL KJ Mechanical skill and modern machinery would add interests growing out of labor competition, tho weak tenfold value to the wealth of nature, and the soil er wi 1 go to the wall. Is it not wise, then, to avail whereon Coiumbus first planted the cross of disco v- ourselves, in time, of such a fulcrum of adjustment ery would by God's biessing become the peaceiui and equilibrium as the Island of St. Domingo mi ht heritage ot an industrious race, sustaining its own become under the control of our government and the burthens, molding its own institutions, and electing influence of our laws and institutions? President its proper representatives to sit with our own in a Grant presents to us the initiative of a large and Senate that recognizes no ] olitical distinction be tween a Sumner from Massachusetts and a Bevels from Mississippi. QUESTIONS FOB STATESMEN. Does Senator Casseriy. forgetful of Democralio tra- ditions, object to the absorption of hybrid popula- tions ? Let him ponder our view of St. Domingo as provilent poucy, whether viewed in the light of 1 eace or war — in the interests of commerce, civili- zation, or humanity. The American People, we be- lieve, are at one with him, and the verdict of his- tory will vindicate his cours?, on this great question of our day— the St. Domingo Treaty. SUPPLEMENTARY. HISTORY OF THE ISLAND, possession of all the territory that Spain had ceded Hayti was discovered by Christopher Columbus, to France. Toussaint was chosen general-in-chief for on Sunday, December 6, 1192, two months after he life, and a provisionary government was organized by had made his first lauding on the small island which the freedmeu, composed of ten members, three mu- he called San Salvador, The word Hayti, in the ab- lattoe^ and seven blaclrs, and a chamber of deputies, original tongue, signified a mountainous country. The French Republic refused to recognize the Freed- Columbus named the island Hispaniola, and subse- men's Government oi St. Domingo, and in 1801-2 quently the French and English called it St. Do- Bonaparie (then first consul) despatched his I rothei" mingo, from Ihe title of a town founded in 1495. by in-[aw, General Leclerc, with 20,000 troops, to bring Bartholomew Columbus, which became the princi- matters back to their old footing. Leclerc suc- pal seat of Spanish population. ceeded in capturing Toussant l'Ouverhue, by sur- The history of St. Domingo is full of s range and prise, and sent him to France, where he 'died in Bad interest. Beiore the close of the sixteenth cen- 1803. The capture of their chief exasperated the tury, the Spaniards had so nearly depopulated the people, and they rose, stronger than before, uuder island of its native inhabitants, by working them in two chiefs, Petion andDessa ines. The French soon the mines, that scarcely one hundred and fifty re- lost all the advantages they had gained, and were mained, while the Spaniards themselves became so driven to the sea-board. Gen. Rochambeau, suc- feeble thit, already, in 1586, the colony was unable sessor of Leclerc, who died in the expedition, was to make any defence agaiust the buccaneers, who, compelled to evacuate the French portion of St. from their sironghold on the neighboring island Donnugo about the end of the year 1803. The French of Tortuga, .were continually making raids. In 1664, planters still held the position that had been form- the French had established a colony, and by the er:y Spanish. The insurgents then proclaimed their treaty of Ryswick, in 1697, a large part of the island independence, adopting the aboriginal name of was yielded to French possession. The new settle- Hayti to describe their country. The old slave- ment began to prosper, under the stimulus of African population, not yet comprehending their liberty, slavery. In 1722, a rising of the blacks occurred, made Dessiiines their emperor, under the title of but it was soon suppressed. Fifty years afterward, James I., while Petion, at the south, established a in 1790, the French National Assembly decreed that Republic. At the death ot Dessalines, another slave- mulattoes and free negroes in the colonies should be emperor, named Christophe, succeeded, as Henry I., endowed with all the rights of citizens. Great but in 1822 the successor of Petion, President Boyer, troub es ensued. The planters demurred, proiesting succeeeded in uniting the two Slates, and adding to against endowing colored men with civil rights, them the eastern part of the island, whence the The result was, that mulattoes, free blacks, and French plantei-s had been finally expelled. In 1825, •laves joined in revolt, and the insurrection of St. France formally acknowledged the independence of Domingo began. In 1794, the abolition of slavery Hayti. In the French colonies was proclaimed by Revolu- In 1843 Boyer was deprived of authority and re- tionary France. The St, Domiugo planters appealed placed by General Herard-Riviere who, in turn, gave to England and Spain, to suppress the blacks and way, in 1844, to Guerier. Then followed successive- take possession of the whole island. It was at tide ly Pierrat in 1845, Riche in 1816. and Soulouque in time that Toussaint l'Ouverture appeared on the 1847. During the distractions arising out of the quar- •cene, driving away tne foreign troops, and gaining rels of these rulers, the people of the Eas.ern pari 8 THE ST. DOMINGO QUESTION. of the island seceded from the rest, and established the Republic of Dominica, electing as President a mulatio named Santana, who had defeated the black general Soulouque and repressed a Dominican pretender named Ximines. The Dominican Kepub- lic was recognized oy France and Eugland in 1848. Meantime Soulouque dominated the remainder of the island, and, in 1852, followed the example of Louis Napoleon by a coup d'etat, and proclaimed himself Emperor, under the title of l'anstin I. His mischievous reign ended by flight and exile in 1859, and General Fabre-Gefrrard then re-established a Kepublic and was chosen president. Iu 18G2, the Dominican Republic, nearly torn to pieces by the strife of factions, was yielded to Spaiu, with all its territory, comprising at least two thirds of ancient St. Domingo. Spain relinquished it, how- ever, after temporary possession. GOVERNMENTAL FEATURES. The Haytieu state, since 1790, has had ten consti- tutions. The general structure of government has not, however, been materially altered by the consti- tutional changes. The territory is divided into four departmental, known respectively as the department of tne South, of the East, if Amiborite, and of the North. These are sub-divided int) district, which 8re again partitioned in parishes. The capital is Port-au-Prince, in the North. Tiie population is about iour-fitth blacks and one-fifth mulattoes. All Hay aens are equal before the law, enjoying en are civil and political freedom. From twenty-one to twenty-five years of age they vote in tbe primary meetings of parishes, each of which chooses three elec- tors. The condition of domestic service causes a suspension of the right to vote — the effect., however, ceasing with the cause. After ihe age of twenty-five, all vote in the elecioral college or district, which chooses the deputies. Any African or Indian may be- come a Hay tien citizen, but Article 7 of the Constitu- tion ordains that no white of any nation shall acquire citizenship or hold real property in the Republic. 11 e constitutional government is administered by a Chamber of Representatives, a Sen ate, anrl au Exec- utive whose title is President of Hayti. The Presi- dent was formerly chosen for life, but a term has been lately fixed. He must be thirty-five years old, a Haytieu born, and a property holder. His sa'ary is $iG uuO per annum. His duties are such as generally attach to a democratic executive. Ho has the par- doning power, is Bworn to uphold the military laws, and possesses a modified veto power. The Deputies number Sixty-six, with as many aUerna.es- A Dep- uty must be twenty-five years of age. The Deputies are elected for five years, and hold annual sessions of three months, receiving eighty dollars each per month during the session, and mileage of three cents a mile. Ti;e Haytien Senate is compose.l of thirty- six members, chosen for nine yeirs. Each is elect- ed by the Chamber of Representatives, out of a list of three submitted by the President. A Senator must be thirty year3 old, and his pay is $1,000 per annum. The Senators are the official guardians of the Constitution, They sit permanently, cr, if they adjourn, delegate to a committee the duty of super- vision, with authority to call them together when- ever it may be necessary. To the Senate belongs the nomination of the President of the Republic, by se- cret ba lot, a majority of two-thirds of the members present being ne essary to a choice. The cabinet consists of five secretaries of state; one for a department, as fol'ows; Finances and Com- merce; Foreign Relations; War and Marine; Interior and A riculture; Public Instruction; Ju.liciary and Worship; ail appointed by the President. The couris are civil, criminal, and correctional. There are no courts of appeal, except the Courts of Cassation established for all the Republic. The French codes are generally enforced. Judges are all selected by the President, judges of the peace being removable at will, the others being appointed for life. Municral affairs are conducted by parish or town councils, with a president acting us a magis- trate or mayor, all appointed by the President, and exercising very little authority. The law magistrate sanctions marriages, and generally supervises civil matters, but the direction of the greater part of pub- lic aflairs, beyond a mere init ative, is withheid from him, so that it may be said that the Haytien com- munities are all, in a measure, under guardianship of the Presidential power. Education is ordained by law, with severe penalties against parents who neglect to provide for the in- struction of their children. There are between 250 and 300 schools, numbering from 15,000 to 20,000 pupils. RESOURCES OF HAYTI AT LARGE. The moral and political aspects of the St. Domingo question have been set forth abave, to invite t'ae re- flection of thoughtful citizens. To others, who may look upon the acquisition of the territory in a mate* rial view, or as a mere speculation, a few facts pos- sessing practical interest may not be unweicome; particularly as they demonstrate the full capacity of the island — whether taken in its Haytien entirety, or with its Dominican limits only — to provide, fr;>rn year to year, not only sufficient revenue to carry on public works, support public institutions, and sus- tain foreign and domestic warfare; but, moreover. THE ST. DOMINGO QUESTION. 9 to liquidate a large original debt, by regular pay- ments, thus preserving its credit at home and abroad. The financial history of this struggling Black Repub- lic may suggest, in truth, a moral of encouragement for our own stronger and more prosperous people. We give a summary of various features of the island of Hayti at large: Mineral 7 t easures.— Four mountain chains traverse the island from east to west. Numerous water-courses have their sources in these mountains, an I t'aence flowing, fertilize the plains and valleys. The peak of Cibo, 7,200 feet above the sea, marks the centre of a rich mineral region. Gold has been mined, and traced ex ensiv.'ly in the water-beds. Silver, copper, lead, mercury, rock salt, sulphur, and quarries of marble are found. Coil is discovered in many places. Valuable Woods.— Dye-woods, and cabinet-woods of the rarest kinds, are common, embraciug mahogany, iron-wood, ebony, lace- wool, machineel, live oat» and turpentine (rees. Plantation Products.— All tropical staples, including coffee, sugar, cocoa, cotton, and tobacco— every va- riety ot tropical frui: s growing spontaneous y. Climate.— Although very high, the temperature is modified by the trade winds, abundant rains, and the equality ot clays and nights. If the valleys be somewhat insalubrious from humidity, the plains are extremely healthy. Hurricanes and earthquakes are sometimes known, but the island is quite tree from dangerous animals and reptiles. Public Debt. — When France recognized the inde- pendence of Hayti, in 1825, Ihe payment ot an in- demnity was stipulated, of 150,000 franc3. At the same time, a loan was made by France to her former cotonv, of 30,000,000 francs, at six per cent. The in- demnity obligation, however, became an onerous burthen, ard, after long dis; utes, a treaty of com- merce and friendship was effected in 1838, by which the debt was reduced to 60,000,000 francs, without in- terest, to be paid in instalment between the years 1838 and 1867. The thirty years inc uded were divided into six fiscal periods of five years each, the amount of liquidation in the first to be 1,500,000?'.; in the second, 1,600,0001'.; in the third, 1,700 000 .; in the fourth. l,800,000f.; in the fifth, 2,400,000 '.; and in the sixth, 3,000,000f.; to be paid during the first six months of each year, at Paris, in French cur- rency. The first instalment, of l,500,000f. (for 1838) was paid in, and the future interest of the 30.000,- 0001. loan was reduced to three per cent. Five sub- sequent yearly payments were made, closing the first financial term, and making one payment on the second term; but the liquidation was then inter- rupted until 1848. Alter that year, payments were made punctually until 1861, when the Haytieu debt was only 38,903,000f. ($7,781,800). In that year, more than 800,0001. for interest on the loan, and for reduc- tion of 350 obligations of l,000f. each, was remitted to Paris. Finances.— In 1859, the government receipts were $1,858,292; expenses, $1,036,152. In 1861. the bud- get was calculated as follows : Receipts (customs), 33 843,000 gourdes (13 gourdes go to the dollar); various imposts, $1,483,500; total, $2,896,772. Expen- ditures, $3,041,208. The expenditures in that year were apportioned as follows : Finance and i oni- meree, 4.065,583g. ; external relations, 10, 309, 699g. ; war and marine. 8,301,654g; interior and agr'culture, 10 301 504g. ; public instruction, 2,689,542g. ; judiciary and religion, 1.662.818g. An issue of $4 000,000, paper, secured by the duties on coffee, was author- ized aoout ten years ago, and there havo been sev- eral issues since. Commerce and Trade.— From tables prepared in 1800, the toilowing exhibit is given of Haylien com- merce for the year previous : To nr Fro:i>. Imports. Unite 1 States $2,644,000 France England and her col- onic. 1 Hanse Town? Denmark and colo- nic- Belgium Other countries (,78,2,0 981.4001 221 600 76,600 ! 18 800 J9.0u0: $i,f- 90,000 1,439.200 i,ce?,coo 417,600 24,200 ■;s,400 107,COJ $4,434,000 2,117,400 2,047.100 642,2(0 100,800 93,200 18>:,000 Tota I $t,605,6CO| $5,017,4001 SjMSJ.OOO It will be seen I y the above that the imports to Hayti in one year from the United Stages, amounted to $432,000 more rhau from all uther coun tries combined. Tne tr.ule of the United States (imports and export*,) fell short of the total of all other countries only $765,000. This was ten years ago. During the de- cade a marked advance has taken place, especially in the export trade, spite of civil troubles. In 1863, sixty million lb", of crrffae were exported; in 1862 the amount was 54,529,059 lb3., against 41,702,106 in 1859. In that year a'so the exports of cocoa were 1,743,853 lbs; of cotton, 1,473,853 lbs; of log-wood. 167,005,650 lbs; mahogony, 2,441.887 feet, and of indigo a considerable quanli y. Popu'alion. The entire population of Hayti at this time is estimated at 800,000. That of St. Domingo, the most sparsely-settled though larger portion ot the island, is less than 200,000. The above- recited tacts respecting the past debts of Hayti may be relied upon, as they rest upon the state- mejls ot the iaLe niiuls.er-ivsideut for the R? ublic at Paris. Probably, the entire Haytien debt does in THE ST. DOMINGO QUESTION. not exceed $5,000,000, ami tint of the Dominican Government — which, since the Spanish re-occunation, has not. been bound by any Haytien obligation, cannot exceed $1,500,000, or at most $2,000,000, in- cluding Brilish or other claims. Since the Baez treaty, it is understood that a loan has been negotiated between the St. Domingo au- thorities, and an English banking house. Of the pros- pect of Haytien annexation, a London journal, the Saturday Review siys: The island, which is divided between the Spanish mulattoes of Dominica and the French negioes of Hayti, is the largest and richest of the West Indies, with the exception of Cuba. The Bay of Samana would in time ot war be a valuable naval station, and the natural resources of the country will be for the first time turned to accouut by American enter- prise. Every citizen of the Uniied States anticipates the ultimate aunexatiou of Cuba, and perhaps of the rest of the West indies. THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. If the limits fixed by the treaty between France and Spain, in 1777, be accepted, St. Domingo proper comprises more than two-fifth j o" the island, or 22,- 000 square miles, with two fine seaports. St, Domiu ,o (the capital) is a waked city on the south cuast, with a poi ulation oi 400,000. Its port is a most import- ant one for com mere. Its impo ts and exports are nearly balanced, each averaging about thres-quarlers of a million per annum. The harbor of Samana is another excellent port, at the mouth of the Tuna, the largest river in St. Domingo. Its mar- itime position, with reference to inter-oceanic trade, and its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico and Central America, must make it a most valuable ac- quisiiion, whether considered in a commercial or military point of view. In the event of a new iuter- oceauic canal across the Isthmus of Darien, it can- not fail to become the great entrepot of transatlantic traffic. As a station for overhauling ships, it has no equal in the West Indies, the harbor being land- locked, and great resources, both of coal and ship timber, being crommandedby it. IN CONCLUSION. Fifteen years ago, when the question of obtaining an American foothold in the West Indies, by pur- chase of the Bjy ot Samana from the Republic of San Domingo, was mooted, the scheme was warmly advocated by leadiDg Democratic statesmen, who recognized the great prospective advantages which must accrue to the United States Irom Its acqui- sition. It was about the same time that such Democrats as Buchanan, Marcy, Soule, and Mason proposed to pay $120,000,000 for the island of Cuba, if its purchase could not be effected for less. Our modern Democrats, who stickle at the figure ol $1,500,000 for St. Domingo, will do we'd to remember this, as well as the fact that when Spain, in 1857, be- gan to intrigue for the repossession of St. Domingo, she sent a special war-vessel from Cuba, with arms and ammunition, to aid the Dominican traitors, who styled themselves Matriculados. If Cuba furnished a point of menace to St. Domingo then, why may not St. Domingo be a corresponding vantage-ground at present ? The march ol events since that period has only served to enhance the value of a wise foresight The who.e oi St Domingo is now, as it was then, a political, a commercial, and a military base for pro- gressive statesmanship. Its possession will be the first important piece in a game of chess which con- cerns not our own country alone, but all the entire Western Continent consecrated to intelligent irce- dom. President Grant may begin his play with the whole Democratic party against him; but the Amerioan people will sustain him. 525 G* *o ° <> *"/.•• ,0 *o * < ^6* > > ^ v \^>" v^v v^-y A:i*./\> .**tfiteX X-;v;-.X y\*