No. 268.
Mr. Langston to Mr. Evarts.
Port au Prince, Hayti, March 26, 1878. (Received April 9.)
Sir: Referring to my No. 39, dated the 18th of this month, I have the honor to advise you with greater fullness and particularity with regard to the revolutionary movement which commenced in this city on the 14th instant at one o’clock in the morning.
The leaders of this movement are Louis Tanis, aîné, and Fontange Chevalier. The former is a prominent military character, commanding the western department, and an aid-de-camp to the President, is ambitious, as many claim, to gain the Presidency of the republic; and to accomplish [Page 432] this end, as the same persons claim, was willing to attempt the overthrow of the present administration of the government by revolution. General Tanis is a representative, in his complexion, of the blacks of this country, and this is a fact of significance here where classes divide themselves on lines of color. This particular movement, however, considered in view of its personnel, has been confined to no line of color. Black men and colored have alike been found marching side by side under the banner of revolution. Tanis is a man without culture; his educational advantages must have been very limited. But he is a man of decided native ability, and, prior to this movement, by reason of his popularity and influence, a most formidable competitor for the Presidency. Heretofore he has been a special and trusted friend and adviser of President Canal. He is said to have made Canal President, and since his election to have done more than any other man in the republic to sustain and support him in his office. His situation made it possible for him to do so, and, besides, it was generally understood that Canal meant to make him his successor in the Presidency. It is said that very latterly a strong combination has been organized to prevent the attainment of this object and to make a more scholarly and accomplished person, not a military character, but a statesman, the successor of Boisrond Canal. It is also said with great positiveness that it was this combination which, seizing the opportunity afforded by the absence of the President in his recent tour to the south, precipitated this movement by bringing about a condition of things which induced the report that the authorities of the government had issued an order for the arrest of General Tanis, of which he learned indirectly while in Fort National attending, at one o’clock in the morning of the 14th instant, to his usual duty. Whereupon he at once concluded to remain in the fort, and, if necessary, defend himself against such attempt at his arrest. Entering the fort at midnight on the 13th instant, attended by some ten or twelve persons who claimed to be his personal friends accompanying him upon his tour of inspection to give assistance should there be need, he remained there quietly till five o’clock in the morning of the 14th instant, when he fired the cannon of alarm, calling the people to his aid; no one, however, publicly went to his assistance. At first he displayed the Haytian flag. About eleven o’clock of the 14th instant he ran up the red flag, and from that time up to the hour of evacuation he kept such flag flying. Whether such combination, infact revolutionary in its character and purpose, has existence in this city, and by a cunning and skillful manipulation of affairs forced General Tanis into the attitude of seeming rebellion and treachery, is a matter which I am unable to determine at this writing. I can only say that such supposition is stoutly maintained by many in whose knowledge and integrity I have a goodly degree of confidence, and besides, General Tanis’ conduct while holding the fort is only explained on some such theory. In the first place, taking the fort at about one o’clock in the morning of the 14th instant, he made no attack upon the city and opened no fire upon any class of the inhabitants. He asserted, in the next place, again and again, that he should attack no one only as he did so in self-defense; and, in the third place, he protested that he had always been loyal to Boisrond Canal; that he should continue to be so, and that he should hold the fort till he returned to the capital, when he should surrender it to him at once. This was the course pursued by Tanis, when he must have known that the forces of the government were without organization, without commanding officers, and the community was in the most excited and unmanageable condition by reason of the various and sometimes conflicting reports with regard to his purposes and forces. [Page 433] Twice he was attacked, and each time he contented himself by simply repulsing the attacking force; and during the four days that he held the fort, there was, I think, no hour he did not hold himself ready to hear and consider any proposition which the government saw fit to make to him through the corps diplomatique with regard to the surrender of the same. I speak advisably on this particular branch of the matter, for early on the 14th instant Hon. Felix Carrié, the secretary of state for the department of foreign relations, in the absence of the president in charge of the government, and Hon. Hannibal Price, a member of the chamber of representatives, called at my legation and requested that I would do all that I might find to be practicable under the circumstances to aid the government in bringing General Tanis to surrender the fort upon such conditions as the government might deem it wise to suggest. I replied to these gentlemen by saying, “If you put your request upon paper I will at once bring it to the attention of the corps diplomatique and consulaire, and I have no doubt that the body will be glad to render the government such assistance in the premises as lies within its power.” These gentlemen retired, and very soon Mr. Price returned bringing me the dispatch herewith inclosed (Inclosure 1). I communicated at once with my excellent colleague, Maj. R. Stuart, minister resident and consul-general of Her Britannic Majesty, who, as dean of the corps diplomatique, convened the body, and this dispatch having been presented, after due consideration, a reply was made to the government in a dispatch herewith inclosed (Inclosures 2 and 3.) Subsequently, a dispatch in reply was received from the government advising us as to what the government was disposed to have done, and this dispatch is herewith inclosed (Inclosure 4.) After submitting it to the corps diplomatique, and taking the judgment ot that body upon its vote, Major Stuart and myself were appointed on its behalf to conduct the negotiations between the government and General Louis Tanis. Major Stuart and myself entered at once and promptly, with no little danger to us personally, upon the discharge of the duties enjoined by the action of the corps diplomatique. We repaired at once to the Fort National, where we had a free and full conversation with General Tanis upon the subject of the dispatch. His reply thereto is herewith inclosed (Inclosure 5.) This reply was, after being submitted to the corps diplomatique, delivered to the government. The government authorities not deeming it wise to accept the terms named by General Tanis, a second dispatch, herewith inclosed (Inclosure 6), was prepared, and after being submitted to the corps diplomatique, was delivered by Major Stuart and myself to General Tanis. After fully considering the subject of the dispatch, General Tanis presented his decision with regard thereto in a paper, herewith inclosed (Inclosure 7), which was submitted to the corps diplomatique and afterwards delivered to the government. The reply of the government to this proposition of General Tanis is herewith inclosed (Inclosure 8), which, after being submitted to the corps diplomatique, was delivered by my colleague and myself to General Tanis. General Tanis at once, and with no little apparent indignation, refused to entertain for a moment this proposition of the government, especially that branch of it which concerns the officers and soldiers found in the fort and commanded by him. His rejection of this proposition was verbal. Report of this proceeding on the part of General Tanis was made by my colleague and myself to the corps diplomatique and the government, and thus attempts at adjustment of the difficulties in this case, in peaceable manner, were suddenly terminated.
[Page 434]However, on the next day, Saturday, I received a dispatch from Louis Tanis, herewith inclosed (Inclosure 9), begging that my colleague and myself come to the fort to hear a new communication from him in the interest of humanity. This dispatch was at once brought to the attention of the corps diplomatique and the government. Although it was the judgment of the corps diplomatique that further efforts might wisely be made to settle the difficulties pending in a peaceable manner, the government declined to treat further with General Tanis. The dispatch herewith inclosed (Inclosure 10) is the one in which the government presents its decision on the subject. In reply thereto, and as expressive of the judgment of the corps diplomatique under the circumstances, my colleague, Major Stuart, addressed to the government the dispatch herewith inclosed (Inclosure 11.) At this point the efforts of the corps diplomatique, in the beginning invoked by the government, subsequently by General Tanis, as already explained, were closed. General Tanis remained in the position of defiance, however, and in the possession of the fort, being disturbed once by a regular but unsuccessful assault, while very constantly during the day, Saturday, the 16th instant, he was disturbed by occasional firing from Fort Eveillard, the arsenal, and the war-vessel “1804.” The firing, which reached and took effect in and upon the Fort National, came from Fort Eveillard. This fort is situated in the northeast part of the city, and not far from Fort National.
Saturday night was quiet, and Sunday was not very specially disturbed by any demonstrations, either from the government or the forces of General Tanis, and so matters remained till one o’clock in the afternoon of the 17th instant, when President Canal arrived upon the Haytian man-of-war Saint Michel. His reception was quite imposing. Large multitudes of people turned out to welcome him, and his presence and assuring words, used so effectively in his brief off-hand address, delivered from the portico of the office of the department of state, brought a glad relief to the anxious minds of his fellow-citizens.
As the President arrived, firing from the Fort National ceased entirely. During the time occupied in his reception it was evacuated, and General Tanis and his companions took refuge in the several legations and consulates located in the city.
Up to this time there has been no further exhibition of a revolutionary purpose than an occurrence which took place at Croix des Bouquets last Monday, the 18th instant, at noon. I inclose herewith (Inclosure 12) the account of this affair as published in the “Moniteur,” the official organ of the Government. It is not stated in this account, but I learn that it is the fact, that two of the persons shot by General Catulle Mirville were the brother, an aged and infirm man, and the nephew of General Tanis. It is strange that it should now be claimed that Mirville is a confederate of Tanis. This can hardly be true. I cannot, however, speak of the matter with assurance. At all events, the affair is a bloody one and has produced a general feeling of horror and disgust.
Connected with and prompted by this affair, the President has issued several proclamations, in which he commands obedience to the law and expresses vigorous denunciation of treason.
As far as General Tanis is concerned, I desire to emphasize one or two things: First, he claims to be a loyal man, true to his chief, the President of the republic, and that he was forced into the seemingly hostile and disloyal position which he has occupied in going into and holding the Fort National. In the next place, he did not fire upon the city of Port au Prince, nor offer any resistance to the government forces further [Page 435] than he found it necessary in making self-defense; and, in the third place, he claimed all the while that he, as an officer of the government, to prevent an illegal premeditated arrest of himself, had gone into the fort and would hold it only till the President returned, when he would at once give it up to him; and, fourth, on the afternoon of the 13th instant, as late as five o’clock, he had issued, as expressive of his sentiments and purposes, a proclamation, in substance like the one transmitted in my No. 28, of February 11, 1878, protesting his loyalty to the President, Canal.
It does seem strange that, if he intended to attempt and carry on a well-considered and well-planned revolution, that he behaved in this way and made such expressions, and that he did not take advantage of his situation and the disorganized condition of the forces of the government to push his plans and carry out his purposes. He seemed, however, to stand constantly upon the defensive. I have already described his evacuation of the fort.
I have not yet mentioned that about this time the arsenal was taken by General Chevalier, and assault was made upon the national palace. General Choisil Marc, formerly chief of the President’s guard, led this assault. He is regarded as an adherent of Tanis, and held responsible for the consequences connected with this assault. Several lives were taken, some property destroyed, and perhaps some public papers. I am advised that his property will be confiscated by the government to answer the losses indicated.
The combination of which I have made mention, and which, as some claim, forced Tanis into his unfortunate (not to call it by a harder name) position, is led by perhaps the ablest of the Haytian politicians. I refer to Boyer Bazelais, who is a civilian, a lawyer by profession, but who has presidential aspirations, and is in fact a very popular as well as a very able man. He is supported by many of the more educated and cultured younger men of the republic.
Another Haytian, said by his friends to be even abler than Bazelais, and more popular, a man of age and large official experience, and a man of no mean military name, General Salomon, also heads a party determined, if possible, to make him President of the republic; and it is said that General Tanis was not forced into his position, but, moving rather in his own interest, or that of Salomon’s, chose it deliberately. But if this be so, his conduct is only explicable on the supposition that the followers of Salomon did not come to his support. Of course, the friends, of Bazelais, and those of Salomon, now deny that they knew anything about Tanis’ purposes or movements. Time may confirm, it may contradict, these assertions. Time and facts yet to be developed may show Tanis loyal rather than false to his government.
* * * * * * *
In their demonstration, whatever the purpose which actuated them they discovered neither sagacity and vigor, nor ability, by reason of their courage or the numbers of their comrades. I do not believe that there were at any time, during the four days that General Tanis held Fort National, a hundred men with him in the fort. Of course, I am not able to say how large his general following was; but I think it small. As I have already advised you, General Chevalier held the arsenal, after taking possession of it, but one or two hours.
After evacuating the fort, General Tanis and most of his men took refuge under the Liberian flag, in the legation of General Lubin, the chargé d’affaires of Liberia. Generals Tanis and Chevalier are both in that legation. Others who were in the fort, and some who have had their [Page 436] names only connected with the movement, and who are apprehensive of danger to their lives, have taken refuge in other legations and consulates—in the British, the French, the American, and one or two others. I have in my own legation three of the men who were in the fort—Boyer Laforest, Phillip Laraque, and Eugene Sentard; all three are intelligent men, but subordinates in this revolutionary movement. They protest their loyalty, and seek refuge in my residence against violence and death, which certainly were imminent when they came to me. Two of them came from the Fort National, leaving General Tanis, with his permission, Saturday evening before the evacuation of the fort. The other, Laraque, came after the evacuation. Laforest and Sentard had, within a few days, been elected members of the conseil communal of Port au Prince.
I have already reported the names of these persons in my legation, in answer to a dispatch from the government, a copy of which I transmit herewith inclosed, marked M, together with a copy of my reply thereto, herewith inclosed, marked N. I have also asked that I be relieved of their presence at an early day by the action of the government. I think there cannot be any special difficulty connected with the cases of these persons. However, there may be some delay.
I have just learned that as early as last Saturday morning a commissioner d’enquête was organized to consider and make determination with regard to these cases, including not only Tanis and his immediate comrades, but others who are under suspicion. This last class includes a large number of persons, of whom several are very respectable, as General Salomen, whose name I have already mentioned in this dispatch, and J. J. Audain, a prominent candidate for the mayoralty of this city. The first of these persons has taken refuge in the Peruvian legation, the other in the British. This commission d’enquête is composed of Messrs. Henry Durant, D. Frouillot, Rodolph Gardire, Camille Bruno, L. Vallis, commissaire du government; M. Zephile, a judge of the peace of Port au Prince.
It is reported that the commission is not altogether satisfactory to the President; and there may be some change made in the composition of its membership. I am not able to say that this report is well grounded. It is true, however, that the commission was organized before the President returned.
In my No. 39 I stated that Generals Tanis and Chevalier had both been demanded of the chargé d’affaires of Liberia, with a threat that if not delivered they would be taken by the government. I desire now to correct so much of my statement as includes in the demand General Tanis. He has not been demanded; but both have been declared outlaws, and Chevalier demanded.
The corps diplomatique has determined not to deliver up any one taking refuge in a legation or consulate. The action of the body on this subject was unanimous and emphatic. In expressing my own views upon the subject, I took the positions announced with such clearness and force by Mr. Fish, your own excellent predecessor, in a letter addressed to Hon. Stephen Preston, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the republic of Hayti, December 11, 1875. You will recollect the doctrine presented and illustrated by Mr. Fish in this communication; and I need not enlarge upon it further than to state it, No. 179, pp. 343 and 344, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1876.
I beg to invite your attention especially to the remarkable phraseology of the dispatch of the Hon. F. Carrié, herewith inclosed (Inclosure 15). In my answer I do not dwell upon it, but I do not fail to understand [Page 437] and appreciate it. Under the circumstances this dispatch is a very unusual paper.
So far all is quiet. There is no outbreak in other cities of the republic, and business is again earnestly resumed. An outbreak was threatened at Cape Haytien, but it was easily suppressed. There may have been some feeling exhibited against the government in one or two other small places, but no demonstration worthy of the name revolution has has taken place.
This dispatch must not be closed without an opinion expressed in the most approving terms of the conduct of the corps diplomatique, as wise and sagacious. By its action, at least forty-eight hours were gained to the government for preparation to attack, if necessary, the insurgents; and as much time was gained to stay the destruction of life and property. Indeed, the moral effect of the conduct of the corps lasted even up to the very hour of the evacuation. I speak of the community generally, and the government, and the opinion may prove to be a well-grounded one that the government will not succeed finally in dealing with the vexed and intricate questions connected with this revolutionary attempt without its aid.
It is now reported that on to-morrow, in the early part of the day, formal demand will be made by the government upon the chargés d’affaires of Liberia for the delivery of Generals Tanis and Chevalier. This demand may be accompanied with the threat to take them should General Lubin not deliver them as requested. You understand, I doubt not, that General Lubin is a Haytian citizen; and since this is so, he may find it the more difficult to manage this affair with the government.
On the 25th instant, Sunday, there was a general military parade in this city. The display was unusually imposing, and an occurrence which has special significance transpired. General Niblo, who had been left by the President as chief in command of the palace in his absence, was publicly degraded from his rank and sent to prison. Like General Marc, who was formerly chief of the guard of the President, he had deserted his post and gone with General Tanis into revolution. The President also, on this occasion, made a most effective address, denouncing traitors and declaring his purpose to maintain his authority to the close of his administration.
Several persons wounded in this revolutionary attempt, either in attacking Fort National or otherwise, have died within a few days.
I am, &c.,