Mr. Douglass to Mr. Blaine.
Port au-Prince, June 27, 1890. (Received July 5.)
Sir: The political situation in Haiti, which exhibited a momentary perturbation a few weeks ago in connection with the sudden expulsion of General Manigat and Messrs. Sultzer Wart and Love, speedily assumed, after that affair, even more than its usual tranquil aspect. At no time since the election of General Hyppolite has the country afforded stronger assurance of the stability of its Government than at present. If there is not perfect concord between its executive and legislative departments, which may be true, the alleged differences are not such as to cause any doubt that they will be easily composed in the spirit of patriotism and with the settled determination manifested on the part of both branches of the Government to heal as speedily as possible all the wounds left by the late revolution.
[Page 530]The augmentation of public confidence is seen on every hand—in the appreciation of the national currency, in the manifold projects for improving streets, roads, and wharves, and in the increasing number of private dwellings in process of erection both within and without the limits of Port-au-Prince. The sound of the hammer and the trowel is heard late and early. Soon an electric cable from Port-au-Prince will connect with the cable at the Môle St. Nicolas, and thus bring Port-au-Prince en rapport with the outside world.
But, perhaps, one of the best guaranties of peace, as it certainly is one of the best guaranties of prosperity, is providential, and that is a large harvest of coffee. In this respect the outlook at this writing is full of promise. The coffee plantations of Haiti have never looked better than now, and on this much hope is predicated for the country. It is not, however, to be presumed from this favorable aspect of the political and material situation that there is no language of complaint to be heard in the voices of the citizens or to be read in the columns of the newspapers.
I am, etc.,