Mr. Grimke to Mr. Day.

No. 187.]

Sir: I have to inform you that I transmit herewith a copy of the proclamation of President Heureaux relative to the neutrality of the Dominican Republic during the war between the United States and Spain.

I am, etc.,

Archibald H. Grimke,
United States Consul.
[Inclosure.]

The United States and Spain are in a state of war, and as this formidable struggle, which must take place principally in our vicinity, will interfere at least temporarily with the business of the Republic, it becomes my duty, in my capacity as First Magistrate of the nation, to lay down rules for the guidance of the people from whom I hold so great responsibility.

First, I must counsel my fellow-citizens to observe the strictest neutrality in the [Page 858] war which has commenced. Our international duties, the good faith due to the northern Republic and to its citizens, impose this upon us. The friend of both combatants, it would be treachery if, while expressing cordial sentiments, we should, secretly or openly, favor one party to the inevitable injury of the other. We must confine ourselves to deploring sincerely that two friendly peoples have been unable to find a peaceful solution of the differences which divide them, and that, compelled by circumstances to appeal to arms, the blood of their sons, which we would wish to spare, must flow in abundance, and the wealth laboriously accumulated in times of peace be dissipated.

The people of the Dominican Republic should be before all and above all Dominicans. The interests of their country should take precedence above all others; a national ideal should ever inspire their acts and thoughts. * * *

Our own security, the danger to which we would be exposed by compromising ourselves with either of the two nations, endowed with forces so greatly superior to our own, compels us to be neutral, absolutely neutral, between Spain and the United States. Justice and good faith are our safeguards, and it would be imprudent to separate ourselves voluntarily from them and to enter the lists without the only arms capable of protecting us.

By preserving strict neutrality we can succeed in avoiding the gravest contingencies of the bloody conflict, but we can not suceeed in protecting ourselves from its fatal economic consequences. Misfortune can not knock at our neighbor’s door without bequeathing to us a portion of the sorrow it brings. The close ties which progress establishes between civilized nations make tolerance and prosperity common property. The wound which bleeds the one exhausts both. I wish to call attention to these consequences of the war unfortunately inevitable, that, knowing the causes, public opinion may not be misled and that precious time may not be lost studying the situation from a false point of view and searching for relief where it can not be found. The first injurious result for us, one already experienced, is the reducing of credits, by which commercial interests are affected, resources depreciated, the sphere of action limited, and serious perturbation produced. Capital is timid, and at the first intimation of war everyone who could withdraw his money from the hazardous circulation of the times did so, reducing by so much the quantity available. The natural result is that the credits to Dominican merchants are reduced in the same proportion; everyone who has not ready money with which to make his purchases in the producing markets meets with loss, equilibrium being shaken at the very time when it is most difficult, on account of the natural fear of the capitalists in our markets, to find the funds needful to continue business with the same freedom as before.

On the other hand, the transportation and the sale of our fruits has become difficult while the war lasts, costs and risks being increased and profits diminished. Thus, the amount which the country annually spends for its purchases in foreign lands being diminished, exchange is higher than usual. The price of everything has increased and will continue to increase. The scarcity of the most necessary articles has begun to be felt, and will be accentuated if our people do not display the courage that circumstances demand. The provisioning of our markets can not, perhaps, be accomplished with the usual regularity; and, even if this adverse possibility were met, another more serious and more difficult to be overcome will remain in existence. The United States, our principal granary, is organizing a great army, for which the Government will be compelled to provide enormous quantities of provisions, reducing in this manner the quantity offered for export and causing an advance in the prices. In our land prices have already increased and will continue to rise, so that the laboring classes will suffer painful privations, the scarcity of food occurring at the same time as the reduction of the circulating medium, together with the decrease of occupation in export enterprises.

On account of the urgent needs, for the sake of our national honor, that we may not have the shame of suffering want in time of peace for lack of the grains and fruits which our soil produces with such liberality, I beg and entreat our agriculturists to devote themselves to the cultivation of small fruits, to confide to the generous bosom of the earth not only the capital they possess, but the fate and destiny of their country, seriously menaced by famine. Grains, potatoes, etc., that are easily preserved and yield an abundant yearly harvest, will repay with interest the labor devoted to their cultivation, and will save the country from suffering caused by lack of foresight and industry. The circular of the minister of the interior should receive the attention of everyone; and to the governors and municipal heads I especially recommend the reading and carrying out of his directions. Let us search with earnestness and intelligence for the remedy for the evils threatening us, and cease useless lamentations for misfortunes that man can not avert.

With the preservation and advancement of the Republic, civilized, united, and [Page 859] self-governed as our sole ideal, we invoke the patriotism of our citizens to supply the calm and good sense necessary to permanent, absolute neutrality. The gravity of the situation, our national interests, the necessities of the hour, should inspire us, and wisdom and prudence will indicate the means of preventing misery, of producing the food we consume, of becoming our own providers. Our soil is capable of yielding an abundant harvest of rice, corn, beans, and potatoes, articles which to-day come to us from abroad. Thus we will not only prevent present want, but will save ourselves from even greater misfortunes. Times of hardship are the ones chosen by revolutionists for their wicked propaganda, as the mind of the people is then most ready to receive impressions. There is a fatal tendency in the heart of man to make someone responsible for his misfortunes, attributing them to fate or to some individual who perhaps did his best to avoid them. In the interests of our country let us reflect upon these observations. The Republic enjoys the most complete peace; under its protection obvious progress has been made, and the Government has prepared itself to meet any emergency that may arise; and to its beneficent influence the civil and political authorities owe the union of force and good will so necessary to the success of all undertakings intrusted to them. If, unfortunately, peace should be broken, the Government relies on all the necessary elements to reestablish it; but it would profoundly regret being obliged to exercise repressive action at the very time when its greatest anxiety is to favor all with its paternal aid. The most discreet, the most patriotic part is to maintain the tranquillity which the situation demands; to place our hearts, full of love for our country, at the service of reason, which must guide us in saving the Republic and making it prosperous. Thus we will succeed in conducting the affairs of state with prudence and skill that will reflect credit on a people which possesses such qualities and uses them at the critical hour when other states show their lack of calm and good sense. Labor in all its forms, agricultural labor especially, is our salvation. Let us place our trust, our energy, our perseverance in this, and, with the impetus that it gives to production, we will gain the great advantage of changing the position of our State from dependence to independence, providing the provisions the lack of which to-day exposes us to such misfortune.

U. Heureaux.