No. 377.
Mr. Bassett to Mr. Fish.
Port au Prince, May 21, 1874. (Received May 29.)
Sir: Referring to my No. 308 of the 9th instant. I have the honor to [Page 612] represent that from that date until the afternoon of the 14th instant, apprehension of impending commotion and danger to the general safety continued to fill the public mind, and the utmost inquietude and even consternation prevailed everywhere, as the war-cloud seemed already charged and ready to burst upon the country; but that such public steps were taken on the latter-named day as averted open hostilities then, and up to the present writing have so far dissipated the war-cloud which hung over the Haytian people as even to give some hope, but not yet a certainty, of clearer skies and more peaceful times for the immediate future.
As related in my No. 308, it had been well ascertained that there could be no constitutional election of a successor to President Saget, because no chamber of deputies could be organized, and that the party of the Corps Législatif were beseeching the President to remain in power until a constitutional choice could be made of that successor. I knew very well, and the senate must have known equally well, that if President Saget attempted to remain in power a single hour after the 15th instant, the adherents of General Domingue, right or wrong, were fully decided to appeal at once to arms. It was known, too, that their forces were equipped, camped, and within easy call, and that, moreover, the leading military chieftains of the country were ready to join the standard of Domingue. And yet with an apparently stolid adherence to a principle of constitutional government which really does not now exist, and never has existed in Hayti, and in full view of the fact that there could be no adequate forces at hand to meet those of Domingue’s adherents, the senate on the 11th instant, after learnedly referring to articles of the constitution and plausibly stating its views on the subject, declared “that to prevent the anarchy which would result on the 15th of May from the absence of an executive power regularly constituted, President Nissage Saget, who holds his powers by the vote of the National Assembly, and who has taken the following oath: “I swear before God and before the nation to observe, and cause to be observed, faithfully the constitution and the laws of the Haytian people, to respect its rights, to maintain the national independence, and the integrity of the territory,’ is bound (est tenu) in the interval, and until the senate and the chamber of deputies, forming actually the fourteenth legislature, united in National Assembly, shall have designated his successor, to provide for the public security, and for the faithful execution of the constitution and the laws, in the highest interest of order and public tranquillity, and in accord with the senate to take by right and by reason all measures to extricate the country from the perilous situation in which it is placed.”
Up to this time no human ingenuity had succeeded in drawing from the President any expression as to the course he intended to pursue. Domingue was quietly quartered near the palace watching the course of events, with no apparent emotion or concern in the progress of events. The country and the capital especially were, as already intimated, in the greatest consternation. Many leading citizens with their families took passage for foreign lands, and others moved their personal effects to places of supposed security. The President was besieged by the adherents of the different parties, by the priesthood and others who should, perhaps, have maintained a dignified neutrality. The ministers of state were irreconcilably discordant and divided at this critical moment, and there appeared no way out of the fearful situation. But on the 12th instant a self constituted committee, among whom were Mr. Thomas Madiou, Mr. Preston, father of the Haytian minister in Washington, [Page 613] and others, in whom the President placed great confidence, called upon his excellency, and told him that they had come to him in the interests of society to reason and advise with him, in that sacred interest, as to the course he intended to pursue. At first he would not listen to them, and conducted himself in such an impassioned and boisterous way that all the committee were about to retire except Mr. Madiou, who, with perfect self-command, insisted on fulfilling his mission. Finally the President yielded and said he would give ear to their counsels. They then pictured to him faithfully the state of affairs above noted, and assured him that he must retire at the end of his term. The force of their arguments was such as to secure from him an assent to their propositions. They advised him to hand over his power to the secretaries of state, according to the constitution, which provides that in case of the resignation, death, or deposition (en cas de demission, de mort, ou de déchéance) of the President, the executive power shall go to the cabinet. If Saget remained until the exact end of his term, the cases foreseen by the constitution would be inapplicable. Therefore, on the 13th instant he addressed a dispatch to the cabinet (inclosure 1) handing over to them the executive power, and informing them that General Domingue was charged with the chief command of the army. This particular dispatch was, however, not made public until the 16th instant. On the same 13th instant also he issued a proclamation (inclosure 2) declaring that Mr. Excellent was appointed secretary of finance in place of Mr. Charles Haentjens who had resigned. Another proclamation bearing the same date was simultaneously issued pardoning several prisoners. The citizen Excellent is a son of ex-President Boyer, and was a minister of state under Salnave. Everybody seems to take these two executive acts, thought to have been inspired by Domingue, as evidence of a conciliatory disposition on his part.
On the morning of the 14th, the capital was surprised to find that during the night several thousand of Domingue’s troops had entered the city and quietly stationed themselves on the Champ de Mars. I passed them as I was coming to the legation-office early that morning, and I think I never saw a more determined looking set of men. Later in the forenoon they were moved into the heart of the city. As the decision of President Saget to retire was not at that hour known except to a chosen few, it can readily be imagined that the presence of these troops in no way tended to allay the existing excitement and alarm. Presently the drums were beat, the fifes were sounded, the troops were drawn up in long lines through some of the chief streets, and almost every one thought the critical moment had arrived. But relief soon came, for shortly afterward there was announced and read to the army and to the populace, amid much pomp and display, the proclamation of President Saget, in which he publicly resigned his office and handed over the executive authority to the cabinet, and announced that he had invested General Dominigue with the chief command of the Haytian Army. The proclamation is herewith inclosed, marked 3. I think you may find it worth perusal. It is a remarkable document, well conceived and well expressed. No such step has ever before been taken in this republic as a chief of state voluntarily retiring at the end of his term. It forms an important precedent, and under whatever circumstances it was established, and whatever purposes he may have cherished even until the last moment, I think it will be regarded as reflecting more or less credit upon General Saget. When he took leave of the army at the public square on the 15th instant, amid an immense collection of the military, citizens, and foreigners, he was received with some enthusiasm, in evident [Page 614] appreciation of the step he had at last taken. And yesterday the cabinet issued a decree, (inclosure 4,) according to him a pension of four thousand dollars per annum and a guard of honor. Last evening, when he came with his staff to my house to take leave of my family, he informed us that he should to-day leave Port au Prince for his home, at Saint Marc, where he intended passing the remainder of his days in quiet devotion to his personal affairs.
Meantime General Dominque, both by his command as generalissimo of the army and by his prominence and popularity as a candidate for the presidency, is almost complete master of the situation. It is claimed for him, too, that thus far he has in no way violated any provision of the constitution or of the laws, and I suppose that, technically speaking, this may be correct. It was likely, therefore, that his friends would see to it that he should come to the presidency in some way technically consistent with the constitution, if possible. The propositions to have him proclaimed by the armies and to have him elected by a direct appeal to the people were rejected, and the cabinet yesterday issued a proclamation, (which I trust you will pardon me for sending herewith in the original, as it reached me too late this forenoon to allow me to write out a translation of it in time for the departure of the steamer to-day,) directing the election of members for a constituent assembly, which is to meet at the capital on the 10th proximo, whose duty it shall be, (1) “to provide for the election of the President of Hayti,” and (2) “to make a constitution in accord with the customs and aspirations of the Haytian people.” I have heard the provisions of the proclamation as to the details of carrying on the election severely criticised. It is said that they in some respects contravene the electoral law. Of this, however, I am not now called upon to give an opinion. But the great fact remains, that the constitution of 1867, which cost the country two years of bloody civil strife, and for which Salnave was sacrificed and his friends persecuted, has been found in the end impracticable, and may be said to have no more a healthy existence.
The result of the elections and the action of the constituent assembly after the 10th proximo are awaited with no little interest and anxiety.
I am, &c.,