Kitabı oku: «The Present State of Hayti (Saint Domingo) with Remarks on its Agriculture, Commerce, Laws, Religion, Finances, and Population», sayfa 18

Although there are a great many fields in which the indigo grows wild, and settlements in which it was once extensively cultivated still exist, yet at this period but very little is produced. Its cultivation requires the greatest care, for it has to go through a very long process, from the picking of the leaves on which the blue is found until it is fit to be removed into chests. This is too much for the fickle Haytian planter to undergo. It is said to be a plant that cannot be cultivated without shade and moisture, and that it will not bear any other vegetable near it without sustaining great injury. It is a plant also that exhausts the soil very considerably indeed, and at the end of two years it has not only become degenerated, but the land which bore it becomes weak and unfit to be again used for its production. After the loss of Hayti to the French, they made experiments on its growth in some parts of their dominions in Europe, and they are I think stated to have been successful, but the quantity which they raised was small. The indigo from Guatemala is esteemed the finest, and in that republic is an article of very extensive cultivation, and a source of great wealth to the people who cultivate it; but the native Spaniards and the Indians of that country are a very industrious race of people, and leave nothing untried which may improve their country, or enrich themselves.

I am astonished that the cochineal insect was never extensively sought after, and the raising of it more generally attended to in Hayti, as the cactus, or prickly pear, on which it feeds, grows throughout the whole of the country, and forms a common fence round gardens in many parts of the island. So precious an insect, and requiring no labour in the preservation of it, must be a valuable acquisition to those who would devote their time in looking after it; but the attention which it absolutely requires causes the Haytians to neglect it. It is said to have been in the time of the Spaniards an indigenous insect, and that in the districts of St. John’s and Ocoa they usually collected large quantities for the European market.

The cultivation of tobacco has declined exceedingly, although the districts of St. Jago and the whole of the banks of the Yague, as well as the plains of La Vega, produced an article very little inferior in its quality to that of Cuba. The large quantities of this commodity which found their way to Jamaica were a source of great wealth to the Spaniards who cultivated it; but that vent being closed, it has now become much neglected; and as the Spanish cultivators of it have mostly left the island, and have gone to the Spanish Main or to Cuba, a little is still produced by the Haytian planters; but, as with respect to every other article derived from the soil, they are quite careless about the culture of it, and often leave it to decay, rather than undergo the toil of preparing it for market. There are other territorial productions which formerly were considered important to raise, and which gave the planter very handsome returns, such as ginger, pimento, rice, vanilla, palma christi oil (ricinus Americanus), and sarsaparilla, as well as many indigenous plants that contain qualities which might make a valuable addition to the number of useful drugs now comprised in the Materia Medica. All these may now be said to be totally disregarded, with the exception of rice, which is occasionally grown, for I could never ascertain that any individual devoted the least of his time to cultivating them, nor did I ever see any of them exhibited as articles of commerce in any part of the country.

Having now adverted to the productions of the soil in Hayti, and the decline of agriculture through the country, it may not be improper, by way of a conclusion to this subject, to offer a few remarks on what is termed free labour, and the consequences which have arisen from it in Hayti. It seems to me quite clear that this subject is by no means well understood in Europe, and that its advocates are much too sanguine and enthusiastic when they expect that it would be found practicable to keep up the tillage of the colonies if their present sable cultivators were to be set free. It is indisputable that the declaration of freedom to the slave population in Hayti was the ruin of the country, and that it has not been attended with those benefits which the sanguine philanthropists of Europe anticipated. The inhabitants have neither advanced in moral improvement, nor are their civil rights more respected; their condition is not changed for the better. They are not slaves, it is true, but they are suffering under greater deprivations than can well be imagined, whilst slaves have nothing to apprehend, for they are clothed, fed, and receive every medical aid in the time of sickness. The free labourer in Hayti, from innate indolence and from his state of ignorance, obtains barely enough for his subsistence. He cares not for clothing, and as to aid under sickness he cannot obtain it; thus he is left to pursue a course that sinks him to a level with the brute creation, and the reasoning faculties of the one are almost inferior to the instinct of the other, and will be so until moral instruction effect a change. Had the Haytians been prepared for freedom by moral and religious education, emancipation might have done them some good; but even then, they would not have made much progress unless agriculture had been legally imposed as a duty, and the government enforced all the laws enacted for punishing negligence and disobedience. I have never yet been able to discover in Hayti, that the blacks since their emancipation have improved in the extraordinary degree which they are sometimes represented to have done. It is probable that those blacks who live in the towns may have improved a little. Their intercourse with the strangers who visit the country and their avocations afford them opportunities of improving, which are denied to their brethren in the interior parts. But to calculate the increase of improvement from the progress of those in the towns, is wrong. The whole mass of the people must be taken, and then, if the measure of moral improvement be ascertained, it will not be found to exceed one in fifteen. The state of ignorance prevailing among the people in the mountains and the interior parts is almost inconceivable. It appears as if the work of civilization had not commenced, and that the people had not taken one voluntary step towards improving themselves in any one thing. Neither is there one step taken by the government to force some degree of attention to those duties that may eventually improve them, unless, since the conviction of their own impolitic system of governing, the Code Rural should effect that change which ought to have been accomplished before.

If any one suppose for a moment that the present race of free labourers in Hayti resemble the free labourers of any other part of the world, he will be most egregiously deceived. There cannot be a greater distinction between two classes of people than there is between the free labourers in Hayti and those of Cuba and the southern states of North America. The first are in a state of profound ignorance, inheriting all those vices of idolatry and heathenism so peculiar to the African race; whilst the second, before they received the boon of freedom, had been taught how to value it, had received the blessings of a moral and religious education, and, although they were not admitted into the general community of free persons, but formed a class of their own, yet they were respected and became valuable as labourers. In the United States the incitements to labour are great, the most important being that of want; and until the Haytians are impelled by a stimulus equally powerful, they will not work; and that such a stimulus will be found is not probable, while we know that the labour of a few days will furnish a negro with sustenance for a month. Experiments may be tried, laws may be enacted, and encouragement given, but nothing short of coercion and want will impel the Haytian to labour; and I have my doubts as to the practicability of enforcing labour in Hayti until the people have been better instructed, and their characters become changed. As to want, the fertility of the soil is so great that it offers every security against its occurrence, by the most simple exertions. It is evident to me, that unless constant labour be required for the support of the negro, he never can become like the free labourers in other countries; and to imagine that he will work for hire without coercion, is absolutely to imagine that to be practicable which is physically impossible. I am well aware that it has been often asserted that the Haytians are always found willing to contract, or engage to perform any proportion of the work required on a plantation, on being fairly and equitably remunerated for their labour; but I am bold to pronounce such an assertion, come from what quarter it may, to be unfounded. It was, I aver, out of the power of a proprietor to obtain labourers, although the most liberal offers were made to them to undertake a proportion of such work as he wished to be performed.

It is perhaps unfortunate that the local authorities in Hayti are individuals without decision, and too apt to submit to the will of the people; mere nonentities, without resolution sufficient to command obedience in their several districts, although invested with power to commit, or inflict summary punishment. Hence there is much reason to presume that the enactments of the Code Rural will become inefficacious for a more general and extensive cultivation of the soil, and that agricultural pursuits will not be the least encouraged or promoted by its clauses, because the task of enforcing them devolves on the very imbecile class of persons who constitute the executive part of the government.

Before I conclude this part of my observations, I cannot avoid repeating, that Hayti must not be held up as an example of what can be accomplished by free labour; but that it ought rather to be the beacon to warn the government of England against an experiment which may prove absolutely fatal to her colonial system. If it be not wished that a fate similar to that which has befallen Hayti should overtake our own colonies, that they should be rendered totally unproductive to the revenue of the country, and that the property invested in them should be preserved from destruction, the advisers of the crown must pause before they listen to the ill-judged suggestions of enthusiasts; for they must banish from their minds the idea that the work of cultivation can be made productive by means of free labour. Such a thing appears to me impossible. The negro, constituted as he is, has such an aversion from labour, and so great a propensity for indulgence and vice, that no prospect of advantage can stimulate him, and as for emulation it has not the slightest influence over him. Without force he will sink into lethargy, and revert to his primitive savage character, and the only feasible and effectual plan to promote his civilization is to persist in those measures which compel him to labour, inculcate morality, and tend to extirpate those vices which are inherent in the descendants of the African race. This has been often exemplified in cases of Africans who have been taken from their native soil and educated in England. When they have returned to the spot of their nativity, and have beheld their kindred indulging in all the habits of savage life, they have thrown off all traces of civilization, and embraced with all their primeval ardour the vices of their native country. As Africa has presented various instances of this, so has it occurred also among the Indian tribes, not only of North but of South America.

I trust that my readers will not for a moment consider that I am advocating the cause of slavery; that I have the most distant wish that freedom should not be conceded to the slave population of the world; but that, if it were possible, the whole of the British colonies should be cultivated by free labourers. Nothing can be more opposite to my feelings than such a supposition, for I should be one of the first to exult were the measure practicable, and were the condition of the slave to be changed for the better by it. But I have Hayti before me as an example, as a forcible illustration of the evils likely to attend such an experiment; for I am convinced that to attempt it, would inevitably ruin all interests, be a signal for general insurrection, and the colonies would then be lost for ever as a productive possession of the crown, without improving the condition of the slave. I venture to make this declaration from a knowledge of the character of the slave. From having, during an intercourse of twenty-two years with those countries in which slavery exists, minutely examined him in all his essential qualities, I have been only able to arrive at the conclusion, that it will be found an undertaking of extreme difficulty to change his nature so as to make freedom a good to him; and even assuming that such an attempt should be considered practicable, it is evident that it must be the work of time, and not the result of any sudden and precipitate act. But I would, with great deference, call upon my countrymen to deliberate before they venture upon further experiments, unless they wish to subvert their colonial establishments; and not to be hurried into the adoption of any measure without the most serious consideration of the consequences which are likely to ensue from it. I would call upon them to examine into the state and condition of the Haytian people, before they adopt any plan, or devise any means, for attempting to cultivate their colonies by free labour. The state of the population of this island is calculated to excite the most painful sensations, and their abject sloth, indolence, and ignorance, would, I should think, induce the warmest philanthropists of England to form the wish that their condition were rendered equal to that of the slave population of the British colonies. Their condition has not been improved by the change from slaves to free labourers. In point of fact, the slave is infinitely better off than the free labourer of Hayti; in physical circumstances he is particularly so; and even as regards morality, the former has the advantage. I say again that Hayti, instead of being an example of what may be done by free labour in the tropics, or a proof that agriculture can be successfully carried on by it, stands as a beacon to caution us against the rock on which the prosperity of the colonies is likely to be wrecked.

CHAPTER XII

Commerce. – State of exports and imports. – Exactions at the customs – depredations and impositions. – Foreign merchants – disabilities they labour under. – Insecurity. – State of finances. – Revenue, etc

Commerce, like agriculture, in Hayti is at a very low ebb, and presents a very discouraging view of the state of that country. Without agriculture commerce can receive but little encouragement; and if the cultivation of the soil decline, commerce must decline also, the one being unquestionably dependent on the other. If there be a failure in those territorial productions which constitute the staple commodities of Hayti, there will be nothing to excite commercial enterprise and speculation, and consequently the intercourse with foreigners will decrease, to the great injury of the country. Were Hayti in a situation to become an entrepôt for foreign property, or were it so circumstanced as to have the means of carrying on an extensive trade with the South American states, it might probably relieve her in some measure from the heavy weight with which she is now borne down. But she has no such intercourse, nor are the people in the least conversant with the nature of it: their knowledge of commerce not extending much beyond the limits of mere petty bartering, and all important commercial dealings are centred in the foreign houses established there. The British, Americans, and even the French, will not confide in the integrity of the Haytians; all their engagements are effected, all their arrangements are made by the agents from their respective countries, who have patents to reside in the several parts of the republic. An attempt was made to induce the legislative body to enact a law for compelling foreigners to consign their cargoes or shipments to Haytian citizen agents; and I believe Boyer was much disposed to countenance the proposition, but it met with great disapprobation from those individuals in the chamber of communes who were on friendly terms with the foreigners, and who had discretion enough to foresee that such a law would be destructive of that commerce which they were so anxious to extend. This iniquitous law was proposed by M. Elic and M. Ardouin, the representatives for Port au Prince, and it was supported by other members of the chamber, who, as native agents, resided in the several ports, but decried by those who apprehended the serious check which foreign intercourse would receive from so unwise and impolitic a measure. It was, however, negatived, and the proposers and supporters of it drew upon themselves much obloquy and reproach.

The Haytian government has often promulgated very glowing abstracts of the flourishing state of its commerce, and would seem to expect that such accounts should be received as proofs of the rising greatness of the country. But the very documents themselves are prima facie evidence of their being a fabrication. They are gross impositions to lead strangers into the belief that the intercourse is of importance, and that considerable advantages accrue from it to those nations who engage in it with spirit, and pursue it without relaxation.

As there is no individual wealth in the country, the means of the people depend upon their own exertions in the culture of the soil; and therefore as cultivation has dwindled from the want of industry, those means must have become exceedingly circumscribed. Hence it is not probable that the annual value of the imports into the country can have so far exceeded the exports from it, as the following statements, which have been already before the public, particularly exhibit.

The return for the year 1821, being the year after the annexation of Christophe’s dominions to the republic, gives the following balance of commerce with foreign nations: —

Making an excess of imports into the country over the means of the people from the value of the exports, in three years, no less a sum than twelve million, five hundred and nine thousand, five hundred and thirty-one dollars and twenty-two centimes, about treble the amount of the collective wealth of the people through the whole country! In the two succeeding years the exports and imports have kept, it would appear, an equal pace. By the same documents also, the proportion of the above balances with the respective countries is particularly detailed, and the three principal ones I shall enumerate.

I think it must be admitted that documents like the foregoing carry on the face of them evident marks of their spurious character. Although it is a known fact that they were issued from the bureau of government, it cannot for a moment be believed that there could be such an extraordinary excess of imports over the exports in a country the credit of which has been so often impeached, and the integrity of the government and people so much questioned. It is not probable, – it is not credible, – that the enterprising, yet wary, American should so implicitly confide in Haytian integrity and honour as to become a creditor of the latter to the extent of nearly nine million three hundred thousand dollars; and that the British trader should be led into a similar mistaken confidence, whilst France and every other country appear to have acted with the greatest possible precaution, and always to have obtained a quid pro quo – a consideration in return for an equal value given.

Nothing can be more discouraging to the commercial intercourse with Hayti, than the irregular system under which every operation is conducted, from the highest to the lowest office of the state. The delays and procrastinations of the officers of the customs are exceedingly injurious both to the consignee and to the vessel: a studied dilatoriness pervades all their proceedings. This delay is well known to the government, and repeated representations and remonstrances have been sent in to the proper authorities, and some remedy particularly sought for; but they have all been unsuccessful, and the foreign merchants were left to pursue the best course they possibly could, to obtain some little expedition in their progress through the customs. The only successful way to obtain this despatch is by one that never fails in its aim, that of a douceur, for the principal officers are open to bribes, and they seem determined not to do their duty without one, so long as the government sanctions their conduct.

The inconvenience as well as the impositions under which commerce labours in respect to the Haytian tariff furnishes another ground of complaint among foreigners. This is a matter which ought to be taken into the most serious consideration of the respective governments who have representatives in that country. The delay which ensues between the landing of the merchant’s property, and the examination of it by the officers of the customs for the purpose of ascertaining its qualities, agreeably to the regulations of the tariff, is not only most injurious, but in Hayti every thing becomes so exposed that depredations are not unfrequent, and the injured party has no remedy. The officers of the customs afford no redress, nor will the government make any compensation; and in a country where theft is so prevalent, and justice so seldom overtakes the perpetrator, there is but little security for property. I have seen many instances of goods being most unwarrantably exposed, and all the remonstrances of the consignee have been unavailing; there appeared on the contrary every reason to suspect connivance on the part of those whose duty it was to protect the property against those persons who are always on the alert to plunder, for they were negligent, and shewed no wish to detect offenders, and bring them to justice.

The way in which goods are valued agreeably to the tariff is a monstrous imposition on the trader, and imperatively calls for the most prompt and efficient remedy. Many of the articles of British manufacture are actually subjected to a duty equal to twenty per cent. instead of twelve, from the excess of valuation, the tariff fixing a value nearly double the actual sale price of the goods; and although it may be argued that the consumer pays the duty, yet it seriously affects the sale of the article, and in most cases is felt very grievously by the consignor. In no other country have I ever witnessed such impositions and such depredations as are committed in Hayti, where the injured individuals have not the least possible chance of redress. The British government has been, however, I have no doubt, apprised of the impositions practised by the Haytians on our commerce: hence it has been found adviseable to obtain some change, and in future to protect it against similar attacks. The appointment of a consul-general of talents and decision will, I am confident, bring the Haytian government and President Boyer to a proper sense of justice towards those British subjects who have so long suffered from these impositions. A trade fettered with such heavy duties, and charges of various description, where payment is extremely uncertain and insecure, from the character of the people and the state of the country, can never prosper if these exactions and depredations be not effectually restrained. I have heard of the ingenuity and dexterity evinced by the people of the South American states in abstracting merchandize that may be exposed; but I am confident that the Haytian may challenge competition, and on a trial of their respective merits, I have no doubt of his being pronounced the victor. The internal commerce of Hayti also as regards foreigners is rendered quite unprofitable by the absurd regulations which fetter it. The foreign merchant has no latitude given to his operations; he is not permitted to trade with any but Haytian citizens, and to them alone can he offer his goods. Though he might be able to effect a more advantageous arrangement with other importers or consignees like himself, he cannot even dispose of the produce of the country, should he have an excess beyond the quantity which he may require for exportation; he must ship it, however disadvantageous it may be. Neither can the foreign merchant dispose of his goods upon the coast; he is forced to place them under the agency of a Haytian citizen for that purpose, and confide in people possessing but little integrity.

All the produce which the foreigner purchases for exportation must pass through the hands of a broker, to whom he is obliged to pay a commission. He is not allowed to make his own purchases; but this difficulty is obviated by an understanding with the broker, that he shall be paid the commission on what the merchant may purchase himself. This commission is about six pence per one hundred pounds weight of coffee, and other articles in proportion. The French, by the arrangements of 1825, enjoy a much more extensive intercourse with Hayti than they did previously, and from their paying only half duties both on imports and exports, they are able to compete with the British and Americans, who before had decidedly the advantage. I do not know whether any arrangements are likely to be effected, by which British commerce will be put on the same footing as that of France, although I should hope that such a thing is not improbable, or else the little intercourse that now exists will decline more, for the French will be able to undersell us, having so great an advantage as half duties both ways.

In a commercial point of view Hayti presents but little encouragement to the speculator or adventurer. There is no extensive sphere for mercantile operation: every thing is confined within a narrow compass. The foreigner, with unlimited pecuniary means, has no opportunity of employing them to advantage. The heavy exactions of the government are too burthensome to admit of any successful application of capital, and to invest it under the impression of security would be an error that might bring on very fatal results. No such thing as security exists in that country; a foreigner cannot hold property in the soil, and he cannot, without a great deal of inconvenience and expense, obtain a lien on the real property of a citizen. To bring it to sale for the purpose of liquidating a debt, would be impossible, from the corrupt administration of justice; for the judicial seat is filled by persons who have not the least idea of either law or equity. Under all these circumstances, Hayti cannot advance much in commerce, for she holds out no inducements, and until the government remove the restraints which they have put upon it, and give it greater latitude and freedom, it will not be worth the foreigner’s seeking, for he cannot benefit by his operations, and he is exposed to inconceivable difficulties, and often to severe losses.

The finances of Hayti are exceedingly low; no country can labour under greater depression in its financial state than the republic at this moment, and there does not appear the least probability of a revival. Without agriculture and commerce, I cannot see how they are to be recruited, and as those are at the lowest ebb, despair seems to me inevitable. Their application to the French government to extend the period for the payment of the debt due for the recognition of independence, is corroborative of their impoverished condition. The receipts from all their sources of income are small, and their expenditure is large, and the government is often obliged to borrow money of the merchants in anticipation of duties they may have to pay, for the purpose of meeting the exigences of the country; and this has become so very frequent of late, that they have met with some refusals, merchants entertaining much doubt as to the safety of making such advances.

The public expenditure is estimated at about five millions of dollars annually, which one would think cannot be true, when a reference is made to the produce of the country. It is certain their ways and means fall considerably short of that amount. The customs on imports and exports produce about two million two hundred thousand dollars annually, and the territorial duties on produce, duty on houses, patents, tax on markets, and other taxes of minor consideration, about the same amount; so that the total revenue of the republic does not exceed four million four hundred thousand dollars. On this I can place some reliance; for the best informed persons in the country, both natives and foreigners, state that amount to be correct, and that it is impossible that it can be greater, from the condition into which both commerce and agriculture have sunk. The government, these last two years, anticipated a large revenue from the produce of the mines of Cibao, but that scheme turned out to be a fallacious ground-work of expectation; and a great deal also was expected to be realized by sales of the government lands, but this also has failed, from landed property being considered at the present moment of very insecure tenure. These two anticipated sources of revenue display the weakness of the government, and betray their want of foresight in an amazing degree, for nothing could be more inconsistent than to calculate upon repairing the finances of the country by hidden treasures, or think of obtaining any thing from mines which, had they been known to be worth working, would never have been neglected by the Spaniards or the French. With respect to government lands, I cannot conceive how any expectation of deriving benefit from them could have been entertained, when it is so notorious that the people have not a shilling to invest in the soil; and the constitution will not permit Europeans, or white persons from any country, to hold property in their own right, were they disposed to do so.