Office of the Historian

Mr. Douglass to Mr. Blaine.

Legation of the United States,
Port-au-Prince, May 30, 1890. (Received June 10.)
No. 72.]

Sir: I have the honor to send to you herewith inclosed an extract from the official journal of this Government, Le Moniteur, of the 28th instant, containing a decree or order of that date by which the decree of May 24, 1888, placing the arrondissement of Port-au-Prince under martial law, is revoked. A translation of the decree is likewise inclosed.

It will be observed from the inclosed decree that Port-au-Prince and its environs were under martial law from May 24, 1888, until the 28th instant, or during 2 years and 4 days. It is thought that the restoration of the civil authorities to their full power at this time must be taken as an evidence of the confidence which the Government feels in its strength and stability, and that it will tend to allay any apprehensions that may have been occasioned by the proceedings recorded in my No. 70 of the 28th instant concerning the banishment of Sultzer Wart, J. R. Love, and Francois Manigat.

I am, etc.,

Frederick Douglass.
[Inclosure in No. 72.—Translation.]

Extract from Le Moniteur of May 28, 1890.

Hyppolite, President of Haiti, in view of articles 2 and 9 of the law of April 13, 1880, concerning martial law, on the advice of the council of the secretaries of state, decrees that which follows:

  • Article 1. The decree of May 24, 1888, which declares martial law in the arrondissement of Port-au-Prince is and remains revoked.
  • Art. 2. The present decree shall be printed, published, and executed under the diligence of the secretaries of state, each in that which concerns him.

Done at the National Palace of Port-au-Prince the 28th of May, 1890, the eighty-seventh year of independence.

Hyppolite.

By the President:

  • Mompoint, Jr.,
    Secretary of War and Marine.
  • St. M. Dupuy,
    Secretary of the Interior and of the Police General.
  • Clement Haentgens,
    Secretary of Agriculture and of Public Works.
  • H. Le Chaud,
    Secretary of Justice and Worship.
  • D. S. Rameau,
    Secretary of Public Instruction.