Most of the large plantations are located in the vicinity of San Pedro de Macoris, and to them the city owes its rapid development. These represent a value of millions of dollars, are equipped with plantation railroads and modern mills and extend over thousands of acres of the plains behind the city. The great Consuelo estate, the Santa Fe plantation, the Porvenir and the Puerto Rico estates are owned by American capital, and two others, the Quisqueya and Cristobal Colon plantations are owned by Americans and Cubans. The Angelina estate is an Italian investment, but its owners hold it in the name of the General Industrial Company, a corporation organized by them under the laws of New Jersey, apparently with a view to claiming American protection in case of disturbances. The principal owners of this estate as well as of other Italian sugar estates on the south coast are heirs of J.B. Vicini, who was a wealthy Italian merchant of Santo Domingo City.

One of the largest sugar estates of the Republic is the Central Romana, which controls some 40,000 acres near the port of La Romana, and is owned by the South Porto Rico Sugar Company. Since the first crop in 1911 the cane has been shipped to the mill at Guanica, Porto Rico, for grinding, but a huge fifteen-roller mill, which will be the largest on the island, is now in course of erection at La Romana.

Two plantations near Santo Domingo City, San Isidro and La Fe, belong to Americans. The Italia sugar estate at Yaguate, near the Nizao River, the Ocoa estate and the Central Azuano, on the outskirts of Azua all belong to the Vicini heirs. At Azua there is another plantation, the Ansonia estate, which is the property of Americans. The plantations at Azua and Ocoa are watered by irrigation, those of Azua deriving their water from artesian wells. American capital is also establishing sugar plantations near Barahona. On the north coast there are only two small sugar plantations near Puerto Plata, in which German and Spanish capital is interested, but another is being established at Sosua.

So rich are the Dominican lands that cane will grow from the same root for ten and even twenty years, while in Porto Rico and the lesser Antilles long cultivation has exhausted the soil and replanting is necessary every three years. Near Macoris the planters have had so much land available that instead of replanting they have often abandoned their old fields and taken up virgin lands instead. The busiest time in Macoris is the crop season from November to May. Many laborers are then required, and as native labor is not abundant, large numbers of negroes come from the British West Indies to work on the plantations, returning to their homes when the cane has been cut.

Most of the Dominican sugar goes to the United States and a large portion is eventually sold in Canada and England. When the amount of sugar produced in little Porto Rico is compared with that grown in Santo Domingo, it is evident that the Dominican production might easily be increased to twenty times its present figure.

While sugar attracts the foreigner, the Dominican's favorite staple has been cacao. The cacao or chocolate tree grows in a number of the West India Islands, but in none of them is it cultivated to such an extent as in Santo Domingo. Cacao is peculiarly fitted to be a "poor man's crop," as little land and labor are required and, while the trees are growing, corn, bananas and other crops can be raised on the same field. Most of the cacao is raised on small plantations, producing from fifty to one hundred barrels, a barrel being worth about eight dollars. For the preparation and planting of the field of a poor man the whole family turns out and neighbors often come to help, regular planting bees being organized. The larger landowner makes contracts for the preparation of his lands, paying at the rate of $2 or $2.50 a tarea.

The best months for planting cacao are the wet months, which in the Cibao are May and October. Small holes are dug in the earth about three yards apart and three beans placed in each. When the sprouts grow into young trees, two of the three should be cut off, and the best developed allowed to remain; but the countrymen generally permit all three to grow, with resulting dwarfed trees and poor crops. To protect the small plants from the hot sun a yuca or cassava plant is set out next to each one. While the trees are growing, corn is planted between the rows and three or even four crops are obtained in each year. After two years the cacao trees begin to bloom, after three years they begin to give fruit, and their production gradually increases until their eighth year when they reach mature growth. Each tree furnishes about two pounds of cacao per year. On the larger plantations less attention is paid to ancillary crops and the cacao plants are raised in seedbeds, the seedlings being transplanted to the field after six months or a year. When the pods containing the cacao beans are ripe the beans are extracted, soaked in water and then dried in the sun. During the crop season cacao beans are spread on mats before every native hut and in the streets of every town and village in the Cibao, and the sourish smell of the drying bean pervades the air.

The principal cacao region is the Cibao and the upper Seibo plain, and the largest plantation, belonging to the well-known Swiss chocolate manufacturer, Suchard, is situated near Sabana la Mar, on the south side of Samana Bay. The cacao here produced is not of the finest grade, such as that grown in Ecuador, but goes to make the cheaper grades of chocolate.

The ease with which cacao is planted and the profits to be derived from it often cause the small farmers to neglect everything else for cacao and purchase articles of food which they could themselves raise. The consequence is that when the cacao crop fails, there is widespread want and discontent.

Cacao has been exported since 1888, before which time it was grown for local consumption only. For years it led the country's exports, until sugar took first place in 1914. The greater portion of the cacao crop is exported through the port of Sanchez, on Samana Bay. Formerly almost the whole crop went to Europe, Havre being the chief market, but of late years the United States has become one of the principal buyers.

The cultivation of tobacco is confined to the Cibao region, where it was grown by the Indians when the Spaniards landed. It is a crop yielding rapid returns, but cacao has paid so much better that the progress of tobacco culture has been slow. The effort of the countrymen to produce quantity rather than quality has prevented the development of the finer grades and the price paid for Dominican tobacco is low. While the tobacco grown is of inferior quality, there is no reason why it should not be susceptible of improvement as the climatic and soil conditions of the interior valleys are very similar to those of the tobacco regions of Cuba and Porto Rico.

Tobacco is grown mostly by small planters and sold to the large commercial houses of Santiago and Puerto Plata. Practically the entire crop is exported through Puerto Plata. Before the European war the great market for Dominican tobacco was Hamburg. Up to 1907 tobacco was exported only in leaf, but since then a small cigarette industry has developed.

Coffee is another native crop the development of which has been checked by the popularity of cacao. It is also a crop which can be grown with profit on small tracts of land. The coffee bushes flourish in the mountains and are grown under the shade of larger trees. A clearing having been made in the forest, the small coffee trees are planted in rows or irregularly and near each a banana or plantain tree. The latter reach full height within six months and afford shade until guava and other shade trees planted on the field have attained sufficient size. A wait of five years is necessary before the coffee bushes begin to bear, but after that they continue indefinitely every year, the only labor required being that of keeping the plantation clear of brush and picking the berries when they are ripe. The trees grow to a height of six or eight feet; they bloom with a fragrant, white, star-like flower which on withering leaves the green embryo of the berry. When the berry has reached the size of a hazel-nut it turns red and is picked, much of the picking being done by women. The berries are poured into a simple machine which extracts the two coffee beans encased in each berry. The beans are dried in the sun, on the largest plantations in drying machines. They are then transported to the merchants in town, where they are polished in another machine, assorted and bagged for export. The town of Moca owes its name to the fact that the principal coffee plantations lie in its vicinity. Other important coffee districts are Santiago and Bani. About two-thirds of the coffee of the Republic is exported from Puerto Plata.

The coffee of Santo Domingo is of excellent quality. In normal times the greater portion was exported to France and Germany, but most of it now goes to the United States.

With one exception the limitless resources of Santo Domingo with reference to fruit culture have remained untouched. The single exception was the United Fruit Company's banana plantation at Sosua, about ten miles east of Puerto Plata, and even this estate is at present, in consequence of the greater attractiveness of sugar, being converted into a sugar plantation. Otherwise there has been no attempt to raise fruit for export, though the sweet and bitter orange, the lemon, the lime, the grapefruit and the paradoxical sweet lemon, grow wild. Pineapples are raised only for the small home consumption. An obstacle to the cultivation of such fruits at the present time would be the absence of rapid fruit steamers to the United States. The fruits peculiar to the torrid zone all grow in profusion and among them the native is fondest of the juicy mango, the guava, the aguacate or alligator pear, the anon or custard apple, the guanabana or soursop, the mamon or sweetsop, the mamey or marmalade fruit, the nispero or sapodilla and the tamarind. From the large palm-groves about Samana Bay cocoanuts and a little copra are exported, principally to the United States.

Small attempts have been made to cultivate other products to which the country is adapted. Growers of cotton and hemp are encouraged by results, but a rice plantation established in the swamp-lands near the head of Samana Bay proved a failure rather on account of errors of management than for other reasons.

In the forests which cover her mountains Santo Domingo has hardwoods, dyewoods and building timber of inestimable value. Only a generation ago mahogany trees grew all the way to the water's edge, but years of wasteful cutting have exhausted the nearer supplies and the more valuable woods must now be sought in the interior. In the mountains and on the high plateaus of the interior there are hundreds of square miles of Spanish cedar and longleaf pine. The principal woods exported are mahogany, guayacan, known to commerce as lignum vitae (one of the hardest woods and so heavy that when in loading the steamer a log drops into the sea it sinks to the bottom like iron), bera or bastard lignum vitae, espinillo or yellowwood, campeche or logwood (a famous dyeing material), sparwood and cedar. Other forest products exported are dividivi, a tanning bark, and resins. Most of these exports go to the United States and England. For the preparation of lumber for local needs there are sawmills in La Vega and Santiago de los Caballeros.

With regard to indigenous fauna Santo Domingo occupies a position midway between the diverse and abundant fauna of Cuba and the more limited species of the Leeward Islands. Insects abound and in all the coast towns it is necessary to sleep under a mosquito bar. Wild bees are found in many parts of the country and apiculture has met with much success. Of poisonous insects there are few. Those sometimes met with are the species of tarantula known as the hairy spider, the spider known as guava, and the blue spider, also the scorpion and the centipede. Their sting produces intense pain, inflammation and fever. They are found in crevices, under stones, in caves, and in rotten wood. The last two are often seen in old houses, but daily use of the broom and duster will make them appear but rarely. Some of these animals grow to a large size. On a ride on the Haitian border my horse shied at a tarantula in the trail, and in calling my Dominican companion's attention to it, I remarked that it was as large as a saucer. "That is nothing," he replied, "there are many around here as large as a soup plate."

There are few classes of reptiles. Santo Domingo is a paradise where serpents are at a discount, for they are few in number and although occasionally some are found of considerable size, they are all harmless. Lizards are plentiful in the forests, the largest class being known as iguana, which is eaten by some of the country people, as it was in former days by the Indians. The lizards are all inoffensive. A species of alligator is found in the lower waters of the Yaque del Norte and of the Yaque del Sur, and in the salt lakes on the Haitian border. Tortoises occur in such numbers that their shell forms an article of commerce.

Crustaceans and testaceans are abundant in number though few in species. A tiny oyster is found, not much larger than a thumb-nail, but very succulent. The marine fauna is the same as that of the neighboring Antilles, the sea and rivers teeming with edible fish, to which, however, but little attention is paid. Sharks infest the coasts and render bathing unsafe except behind protecting reefs. Occasionally, too, a manati, or sea-cow, is seen. This strange mammal has breasts which resemble those of a human being and emits cries that sound almost human. It was probably a party of manati gamboling about in the water which induced Columbus gravely to enter in his logbook that he had sighted mermaids near Monte Cristi.

Of birds there are over one hundred and fifty species, about ninety-five of which are residents and among these several peculiar to this island. The forests resound with the cries of parrots and other birds of beautiful plumage; from any point on the coast pelicans and other ichthyophagous birds can be observed darting into the waters after their prey; the lakes and rivers are the home of thousands of wild ducks; myriads of wild pigeons breed in the woods; and the number of insectivorous birds, including the sweet-singing nightingale, jilguero and turpial, the swallow and the small pitirre and colibri, is infinite. The caves are inhabited by swarms of bats, the guano of which, mingled with the calcareous detritus of the rocky walls, is found in great deposits and constitutes a good fertilizer.

At the time of the discovery the Spaniards found very few kinds of quadruped mammals. One was the agouti, looking like a large rat and inhabiting the forests; another the coati, similar to the squirrel and easily domesticated. Three other classes are mentioned, the quemi, mohui and perro mudo (dumb dog), but are not now to be found and as the description of two of them almost tallies with that of the others above mentioned, it is possible that different names were applied to the same animals. It is possible, too, that reference was made to the solenodon or almiqui, an animal long thought to be extinct but of which several specimens have recently been found in Santo Domingo. This animal is about two feet, long and resembles a rat, but having a long prehensile snout and the habits of an ant-eater, it is considered to be a remnant of the early zooelogical type from which diverged both the rodents and the insectivorous animals of the present.

The Spaniards introduced the European domestic animals, which immediately began to flourish. During the seventeenth and eighteenth century the principal and for a long time almost the only industry of the Spanish portion of the island was cattle-raising. Some of the cattle and pigs escaped to the woods and reverted to the wild state, and towards the middle and end of the seventeenth century great herds of wild cattle roamed over the island. Such herds no longer exist, but wild pigs have found their way to the most remote recesses of the mountains and are the plague of the fields. The equine species, sprung from the Andalusian horses brought by the Spaniards, has degenerated considerably and the best horses in the Republic today are of Porto Rican stock, but attention is at last being given to breeding. The largest herds of cattle roam about in the unfenced arid regions of the northwest. Hides are exported in large quantities, but there is little dairying. Of late years attention is being directed to improving the stock and several stock farms have been established near San Pedro de Macoris.

Sheep raising is followed to some extent in the arid regions of the southwest and northwest, but the wool is of coarse grade. An important industry in these regions, especially in the neighborhood of Azua, is goat-raising. My inquiry as to the population of Azua was answered by the purser of the Clyde line steamer: "About three thousand people and about three million goats." Though his estimate of the number of goats may have been somewhat exaggerated, the fact is that they are everywhere in evidence and charge through the streets in droves, and at the great Azua church I found a goat in the vestibule looking reverently in. Over nine-tenths of the goatskins exported from the Republic go to the United States.



CHAPTER XI

THE PEOPLE

Population.—Distribution.—Race.—Descendants of American negroes.—Language.—Physical traits.—Mental traits.—Amusements. —Dances, theaters, clubs, carnivals.—Gaming.—Morality.—Homes.

The estimates of the early Spanish writers as to the Indian population of Hispaniola at the time of its first settlement in 1493 range all the way from one million to three million inhabitants. While it is probable that the former number was nearer to the truth, it is evident that the island was well inhabited, for Columbus found every valley swarming with natives. The severe labor imposed by the Spaniards made such frightful inroads on the native population that within a decade labor for the plantations and mines began to grow scarce and forty thousand inhabitants of the Bahama Islands were imported to increase the supply. They were lured on board the Spanish transports by the promise that they were to be conveyed to the beautiful home of their departed ancestors and though they did indeed quickly join their deceased relatives, it was not until after a taste of purgatory in the mines of Santo Domingo. In 1507 the entire Indian population was estimated at only 70,000, in 1508 it had fallen to 40,000, and in 1514 to 14,000. Six years later the remnant of the aborigines united in the mountains to resist the Spaniards to the end, but in 1533 a treaty was concluded by which the Indians were assigned certain lands near Boya, thirty miles northeast of Santo Domingo City. According to some authorities 4000 and according to others only 600 natives remained to take advantage of this provision. Thereafter all mention of the Indians disappears from Dominican annals. Types recalling Indian characteristics are sometimes seen, however, and it is probable that some Indian blood is still represented in the country.

Father Las Casas, the friend of the Indians, is credited with the suggestion that in place of the frail natives negroes be imported for labor in the mines and on the plantations. The earliest importations seem to have taken place in the opening years of the sixteenth century, for as early as 1505 King Ferdinand authorized the shipment of more negroes in lots of 100. Later, licenses were issued for the importation of negro slaves by the thousands and many more were probably smuggled in. The Spanish population also grew rapidly until about 1530 when the colony reached the zenith of its wealth and prosperity. Twelve years later, when the decline had become marked, it was estimated that besides a substantial white population there were 30,000 negro slaves on the island. The superior attractions of other newly discovered countries and the fear of piratical invasions had by 1591 decreased the total population of the colony to 15,000. This number remained almost stationary until about 1663 when it began to dwindle further until the low water mark was reached, about 1737, and the entire population of the Spanish portion of the island was estimated at but 6,000. Timely tariff concessions revived trade and encouraged immigration and new importations of slaves the number of inhabitants increased rapidly and in 1785 was reckoned at 150,000, including 30,000 slaves and a considerable proportion of free colored persons. A decade later saw the beginning of the negro insurrection in the French section of Santo Domingo; the horrors attending this war, the invasion of the Spanish colony by the Haitians, the menace of further invasions, the frequent changes of sovereignty, and adverse economic conditions, produced an exodus in the course of which the great majority of the white population abandoned the island, many with all their slaves and dependents. A few returned, but in 1809 it was calculated that the inhabitants of Spanish Santo Domingo numbered 104,000 and in 1819 but 63,000, of whom the greater number were colored. During Haitian rule, from 1822 to 1844, white emigration again took place and white immigration was discouraged, while settlements of negroes from Haiti and the United States were made in different parts of the country. The increase of the population since that time has been subject to little outside influence; there has been practically no emigration, and immigration has been insignificant, the few new settlers being chiefly negroes from the British colonies, Haitians, Porto Ricans, Syrians and European merchants. In 1863 an ecclesiastical census, based on the returns of the various parish priests, placed the population at 207,700. This number may be described as little more than a compilation of guesses and was probably exaggerated. A similar ecclesiastical census taken in 1888 gave a total of 382,312 inhabitants.

These ecclesiastical computations were founded to some extent on parish records of baptisms and burials, but this basis became more and more precarious as the population increased. Probably the records most nearly accurate are the baptismal records of the Church, for almost every Dominican is baptized at some time in his life. The death records are the least complete on account of the obstacles presented during the civil disorders and the distance at which many country people live from the place of registry. A law of civil registry, requiring the inscription of all births, marriages and deaths has been only indifferently carried out and during times of insurrection entirely suspended. A government census was begun in 1908 but not concluded. Any accurate computation is thus out of the question.

Unofficial estimates of the population to-day range all the way from 400,000 to 920,000. In 1908 an official estimate based on birth statistics, placed it at 605,000. An unofficial estimate in 1917, made on the assumption that there are 1000 inhabitants for every 37 births reported, calculated the total population at 795,432, thus distributed among the several provinces:

Santo Domingo ... 127,976 Santiago ........ 123,972 La Vega.......... 105,000 Pacificador...... 90,569 Seibo............ 68,135 Espaillat........ 64,108 Azua ............ 59,783 Puerto Plata ... 55,864 Monte Cristi ... 41,459 Macoris.......... 28,000 Barahona ........ 17,891 Samana .......... 12,675

The estimate of 37 births per 1000 inhabitants is probably too large as the birth-rate in Jamaica is but 34.6, in the Leeward Islands 33, and in the birth-registration area of the United States only 24.9. A reduction of ten per cent in the above figures would probably make them more nearly correct. That would give a total population of about 715,000. Accepting the number of inhabitants as 715,000 the population per square mile is about 39.6. A comparison with the surrounding West Indian countries reveals considerable disproportion. The Dominican Republic is not quite one-half the size of Cuba but has only one-fourth the number of inhabitants; it is almost double the size of the Republic of Haiti but has less than one-half the inhabitants; it is five times the size of Porto Rico and has but one-half the population; it is one hundred and seven times as large as Barbados but has only four times the population. If the Dominican Republic were as densely populated as the neighboring Republic of Haiti, it would have 3,000,000 inhabitants; if the population were as dense as that of Porto Rico, it would be 7,000,000; if the Republic were as densely inhabited as Barbados it would have over 21,000,000 people. Though the climatic and topographical conditions of the country would not permit it to become as thickly populated as Barbados, there is no reason why it should not support a population proportional to that of Porto Rico.

As in the other West India Islands the population is principally rural. There are probably not more than a dozen towns in the Republic with more than 1500 inhabitants. A government census of Santo Domingo City, the capital and largest urban center, taken in November, 1908, showed a population of 18,626, and the number is now estimated as 21,000.

A census of Santiago de los Caballeros, taken by the municipal authorities in 1903, showed an urban population of 10,921, the present estimate being 14,000. The estimated population of Puerto Plata is about 7000; La Vega and San Pedro de Macoris are believed to have about 5000 inhabitants each, but in every other case the urban population falls below 3000. The population of the Dominican Republic is not scattered uniformly over the country, but is to be found chiefly in a fringe along the shore all the way from Monte Cristi to Barahona, and in the Cibao Valley. The most densely populated region is that part of the Cibao Valley known as the Royal Plain. In the mountainous interior there are vast stretches almost or entirely uninhabited; and remote valleys which have not been visited since the days of the conquest.

The vicissitudes through which Santo Domingo has passed, the departure of so large a proportion of whites in the beginning of the nineteenth century and the intermingling of blood before and since that time have determined the character of the population. At the present time the pure negroes are in a minority, constituting probably less than one-fourth the entire population. The great majority of the inhabitants are of mixed Spanish and African blood, their color ranging from black to white. The lighter shades predominate, especially in the Cibao. There is also a sprinkling of pure whites, the majority of whom are to be found in the Cibao region or are foreigners residing in the larger cities. Many families would pass for white anywhere, showing absolutely no trace of colored blood, and it is difficult to believe confidential assurances of their intimate friends, indicating a different condition. A few families trace their ancestry back to the first Spanish colonists. As most of the blacks live south of the central mountain range the population of this region is a good deal darker than that of the northern part of the island. The census of Santo Domingo City in 1908 reported 7016 whites, 6934 colored persons and 4676 blacks, but apart from the circumstance that numerous white foreigners reside in the capital, it is probable that many persons were classified as white who would have been considered colored in the United States under the stricter rules there prevailing.

A comparison with Haiti discloses marked racial differences. In the French-speaking republic about ninety per cent of the inhabitants are pure blacks, the remainder being mulattoes. The distinction between the two countries is due to several circumstances: in Santo Domingo the pure blacks have never been in a majority; the whites have never all left the country; massacres of mulattoes and whites have never taken place; there have never been political parties based on color; and the relations between the races have always been cordial. In company, side by side, mulattoes, blacks and whites have lived, worked, enjoyed themselves and fought their revolutions. There is absolutely no color line. A friend of mine from Virginia received quite a shock the first time he attended a state ball in Santo Domingo and saw an immense negro, as black as coal, a member of Congress, dancing with a girl as white as any of the foreign ladies present. He rushed to the refreshment room and beckoned to a tall mulatto in a dress suit: "I'll have something to cool off, here waiter—" He was stopped just in time for he was mistaking the secretary of foreign affairs for a waiter; but after this experience he was afraid of giving his order to anyone else for fear he might be offending some other high official. The blacks are commonly the lower laborers, but negroes are to be found in all grades of society and are not infrequently represented in the cabinet itself. Of the presidents the majority have been of mixed blood, but several, like Luperon and Heureaux, were full-blood negroes. It appears that the strong strain of white blood in the country has elevated all, mulattoes and negroes. The negroes have produced men of high ability: Heureaux, for instance, though unscrupulous and cruel, was a man of remarkable sagacity and energy.

It must not be supposed for a moment that the Dominicans are inimical to whites or, like their neighbors, the Haitians, prefer to see their country peopled by negroes only. On the contrary they are anxious to be considered as belonging to the white race and are not pleased by reference to their mixed blood. For this reason the former policy of the United States of sending colored men as ministers and consuls to Santo Domingo was resented by the Dominicans who saw therein an evidence of contempt. I have often heard Dominican statesmen express an eager desire for immigration, but only white immigration. This sentiment is reflected in immigration laws and in several concessions granted in late years in which the concessionnaire was prohibited from importing laborers of African or Asiatic descent. The Congress has even made appropriations for the introduction of white families and their settlement along the Haitian frontier, but the isolation of this region and other circumstances made such laws impracticable of execution.

During Haitian rule, from 1822 to 1844, a different policy prevailed. President Boyer was desirous of seeing every part of the island populated by blacks and accordingly settled Haitian negroes in various parts of Santo Domingo and encouraged negro immigration from the United States by premiums to ship captains bringing such immigrants. The American negroes were distributed in Haiti and in Santo Domingo, particularly near Puerto Plata and in the Samana peninsula. The Puerto Plata settlers have mingled with the rest of the population, but around the town of Samana, where the largest settlement, consisting of some sixty families, was made, the descendants of the American immigrants still form a distinct class. Large portions of the peninsula are taken up by their well kept farms, and one of the sections or districts into which the commune of Samana is divided, is officially named "Seccion de los Americanos." The people still preserve the English language and proudly proclaim that they are "of American abstraction."

They have kept considerably aloof and only in recent years have there been marriages between them and their Spanish-speaking neighbors. Their exclusiveness has more than once been criticised by Dominicans. Of the original settlers all have passed away, their surviving children are advanced in age and the third generation is in its prime. The Methodist preacher of the district, a kindly black man, presented me to the oldest person of the American colony, a woman of about eighty years of age who was born only a few years after her parents arrived from Virginia. As the old woman stood smiling in the door of her little cabin, the walls of which were covered with leafy creepers, she looked the picture of an old Southern mammy. Her dialect was typical; when I said: "I am glad to meet you, Mrs. Sheppard," she answered, beaming, "Me likewise, I'se always glad to meet Americans, I is." Several of the American negroes have distinguished themselves in military matters, one of the most noted being General Anderson who grew gray in many revolutions.

Between the coast towns and the ports of the surrounding countries, particularly Porto Rico, there is considerable coming and going. This was called to my attention the first time I set foot on Dominican soil, when a large negro darted out from a group of loungers on the wharf and seized my suit-case, crying: "Let me carry your baggage, Judge." Surprised, I inquired how he knew me, whereupon he asked reproachfully: "Don't you remember you sent me to jail in Mayaguez for shampooing a saucy stevedore's head with a brick?"

Whether as a settler or transient visitor the foreigner may be sure of courteous and respectful treatment so long as he himself observes the proprieties. The laws grant the foreigner rights as ample as in the most advanced countries of the world.

The language of Santo Domingo is Spanish, and the comparative purity with which it is spoken is remarkable when the long period of isolation of the country and the extended duration of Haitian rule are considered. In this particular Haiti offers a contrast, for though French is the official language the mass of the people speak Creole French, a patois unintelligible to anyone who has not lived in Haiti. The Dominicans do not lisp the "c" as do the Spaniards, and other peculiarities of Spanish as spoken in America are manifest, but on the whole the difference between the Dominican's Spanish and the Spaniard's Spanish may be compared to the difference between English as spoken in the United States and as spoken in England. Like several other Spanish-American nations the Dominicans are to be distinguished by their preference for certain words and endings, and by their accent and inflection. As everywhere else the unlettered classes are given to grammatical faults and provincialisms, but on the whole the vocabulary of the Dominican peasant contains fewer archaic expressions and Indian roots than that of the Porto Rican "jibaro" and is more easily understood by the outsider. Slight differences of pronunciation are noticeable in different parts of the country: the people of Seibo are inclined to use the vowel "i" instead of the consonant "r" and say "poique" instead of "porque," somewhat as the New York street urchin says "boid" for "bird"; the people of Santiago sometimes drop the "r" entirely and say "poque," as the Southern negro in the United States says "fo" for "four"; the peasants of Puerto Plata show a tendency to use the "u" instead of "o" and say "tudu" instead of "todo," like some of the inhabitants of Catalonia in Spain. The Azuans claim to speak the best Spanish of the Republic, but their claim is disputed by other provinces.

Besides Spanish, the English and French languages are heard to a limited extent. On the Samana peninsula, where the descendants of American negroes are in a majority, as much English is spoken as Spanish, and in the coast towns, San Pedro de Macoris, Puerto Plata, Monte Cristi and Santo Domingo, it is also often heard. In these cities it is usually the singsong English of negroes from the British colonies. Along the Haitian border and at the extremity of the Samana peninsula, where a Haitian colony was planted by President Boyer, the French language is spoken. On the wharf at Monte Cristi I have encountered fruit-vendors from the interior who spoke no language except Creole French. Some persons who have been born and bred on the Samana peninsula know not a word of Spanish but only English. Many members of the wealthier class of the Republic have studied or traveled in Europe or the United States and speak one or more foreign languages. In Puerto Plata I was surprised to hear a jet-black negro speak German fluently; he had been educated in a commercial school in Hamburg. The larger cities have their foreign colonies, consisting principally of merchants, and most of the languages of Europe are represented.

As a race the Dominicans are robust and sturdy. All the Dominican presidents of late years have been men of commanding physique, fitting representatives of their people. As far as industry is concerned the average Dominican is little more laborious than absolutely necessary to support himself and his family. Why should he do more when nature has been so bountiful and when in the past any accumulated fruits of his toil might have been swept away by the next revolution? The spirit of the tropics pervades the country and the tendency not to do to-day what can be conveniently left for "manana" is constantly observed.

The Dominican women are as a rule graceful of body and fair of face, with large and beautiful eyes. They make devoted wives and loving mothers. The ladies of the better class are quite as susceptible to the allurements of Parisian fashions as their American and European cousins, and the scenes at balls and at evening promenades on the plaza are very attractive. The heat of the climate makes a liberal use of powder necessary, and it almost seems as if the darker the color of the woman the greater is her fondness for powder, so that some of the negresses assume an almost grayish hue. The Dominican woman is very domestic, she rarely goes out except to church, to an occasional dance or to the band concerts on the plaza. Before her marriage she is carefully chaperoned and guarded; all courting takes place in the presence of her mother or some other near relative.

Notwithstanding the large mixture of African blood and long isolation of the Dominican race, the strong personality of the Spaniard has survived unmodified and the population is to-day as thoroughly Spanish in character, customs and mode of thinking as the people of Cuba and Porto Rico. How completely the Spanish consciousness pervades the country was illustrated by a remark made to an American naval officer by the mayor of an inland town of Santo Domingo; he was a very black negro, but in the course of a discussion observed: "Your arguments will fit Anglo-Saxons, but we Latins are a different people." The first trait noticeable is the politeness of Dominicans of every degree. Only once have I met a rude official and that by a curious coincidence was the very first one with whom I had dealings, but after this beginning there were no further exceptions to the rule. A charming characteristic is the open-hearted hospitality everywhere encountered. The stranger who is introduced in any home is immediately assured in the customary Spanish way: "This is your house." The words, though figuratively spoken, are sincere, and the hosts are glad to have their new friend visit their house as though it were his own. As companions the Dominicans are delightful, being generally jovial and amiable. Some there are, especially among the country people, whose natural reticence makes them seem sullen, but once the ice is broken they are quite as light-hearted as the others.

In the idealistic tendency of their mind the Dominicans strongly show their brotherhood with the other Spanish peoples. In this connection the spirit of their renowned kinsman, Don Quixote de la Mancha, is often in evidence. When one of them mounts his Rocinante in defense of some particularly attractive abstract proposition, nothing less than a blow from a windmill will bring him back to reality. And so when any person or group of persons become enamored of an idea they are unwilling to brook contradiction or compromise. The inclination of the majority to do their will irrespective of the wishes of the minority and the unwillingness of the minority to bow to the resolutions of the majority have been and will continue to be grave problems in the government of the country. Even in personal relations a spirit of intolerance can frequently be noticed and while almost anything is forgiven a friend, not a single redeeming feature is recognized in an enemy. To their idealistic tendency may be ascribed the worship of the words "patriotism" and "liberty." Unnumbered sins have been committed under the cloak of patriotism, and true personal liberty, such as it is understood in the United States, has never prevailed in Santo Domingo; but the adoration of these conceptions continues and it is to be hoped that now, with American assistance, it will bring real and lasting liberty to the country. Perhaps it is their idealism, as much as their isolation, which causes the Dominicans to take themselves so very seriously and renders them so extremely sensitive to criticism or jokes on the subject of their country, customs or revolutions.

Foreigners sometimes complain that the affirmations of Dominicans cannot be trusted. In many cases investigation has shown that these foreigners were misled with regard to some mine, woodland or other property they had come to buy. Persons anxious to sell mines and other undeveloped properties have not distinguished themselves for veracity in any country, and with regard to sincerity in general the Dominicans may be regarded as no better but certainly no worse than the general run of humanity. With their personal friends they are generally loyal and true, but in their political relations the picture is not so attractive; for while there have been many cases where subordinates have followed their fallen chief into exile rather than submit to the victor, it is saddening to note the frequency with which governors of provinces and other local authorities have betrayed the confidence reposed in them by the chief executive, and have initiated or joined revolutionary uprisings. I have heard both ex-President Jimenez and ex-President Morales sorrowfully complain that their fall was due to the treachery of trusted subordinates. A particularly repulsive case of perfidiousness was that of General Luis Felipe Vidal, a prominent politician, who participated in the murder of President Caceres, though he had only a few hours before visited the President, played billiards with him and fondled his infant daughter.

Of all amusements there is none which appeals so strongly to every class of the population as dancing. Every public holiday is an excuse for the giving of a "baile" or dance, and when holidays are scarce the "baile" is arranged anyhow. So, while elsewhere special occasions are celebrated by banquets, here the rule is to give a dance. Historical anniversaries, political triumphs, religious holidays, weddings, birthdays, christenings: all are celebrated by dances. Waltz music is popular but the favorite dance music is the pretty Porto Rican "danza," which is kin to Mexican airs and to the Cuban "guaracha" and may be compared to a flowing brook, now gliding along serenely, now rushing in cascades. The dances are often interrupted by the serving of sweets and ices.

In the country the dance music is quite different. A rhythmic beating is kept up on a drum made of a barrel or hollow log and rude fiddles or guitars or an accordion play an accompaniment. To the traveler, riding along his road at night, the deep regular rumbling of the drums of distant "bailes" comes with indescribable weirdness. In some dances the participants engage in a monotonous chant, in others there are pauses in which the young men must quickly improvise verses on some subject suggested by one of the lassies. In the cities the dances begin at ten o'clock at night and last until the wee hours of morning, but in the country they begin at almost any time and occasionally last two or three days—especially during the Christmas holidays.

These country dances with drum accompaniment are similar to those popular among the negroes in Porto Rico and are probably an African legacy. But, like Porto Rico, the Dominican Republic is absolutely free from the practise of those barbarous negro rites, of which dances like these often form part, and which are known in Haiti under the name of "voudou," in Cuba under that of "witchcraft" and in the British West Indies under that of "obeah," and which sometimes lead even to human sacrifices. This is all the more remarkable in Santo Domingo as the adjoining Republic of Haiti has been the worst sufferer from such practices.

The country dances are occasionally the scenes of violent personal altercations. While drunkenness is very rare and a drunkard is regarded almost as a social outcast, the countrymen are fond of regaling themselves with rum made of cane juice, and at dances where such rum is served it is not infrequent for some one to become unduly excited. If he happened to meet another in the same condition and a controversy arose with reference to some dusky damsel, a frequent unfortunate outcome was, until lately, for both to draw revolvers and blaze away at each other and if ejected from the house to stand nearby and fire through the wooden walls. In Porto Rico such affairs are decided with the machete and only the immediate combatants are hurt, but revolver bullets are more dangerous to the innocent bystander than to those doing the shooting. In Macoris I was told of a dance where the casualties were fifteen killed—more than in the average revolution. Yet so deep-seated is the fondness for dancing that after the smoke has cleared away and the dead or wounded victim been removed, it has often happened that the ladies dried their tears and men and women continued with the "baile."

Up to the time of American intervention in 1916, the practise of carrying weapons was general. In the country a man strapped on his pistol or carried his gun as he would in other countries put on his necktie or take up his cane. At the railroad stations in the Cibao I have sometimes observed everyone congregated about the station wearing a revolver more or less visible, except two or three, evidently the poorest farm-laborers, who could not afford anything more than a dirk and who gazed at the others with envious eyes. Beautiful pearl-handled revolvers were proudly exhibited to the public eye, and on one occasion I saw a little boy not over ten years old with a revolver that reached to his knee. The habit was all the more indefensible as it was absolutely unnecessary, Santo Domingo being as safe a country to travel in as any other. Governors of provinces sometimes forbade the carrying of arms, but the prohibition was rarely enforced with reference to their friends and adherents. The American authorities have put a stop to the habit, however, and confiscated all the arms they could find; some 15,000 rifles and revolvers have thus been taken up.

After all, the average Dominican will resent a shot less than a blow. A story is told of a prominent youth in the capital who received a slap during a quarrel; the aggressor fled, but the young man kept holding his handkerchief to his cheek for days until he met his assailant and was able to wipe out the insult in blood.

Only in the larger towns are there facilities for the gratification of the popular fondness for theatrical performances. Puerto Plata has a pretty theatre. In Santo Domingo City the ancient Jesuit church, long abandoned, was converted into a theater, the stage being located where the altar formerly stood, the boxes occupying the aisles, and the chairs of the audience being arranged in the nave; but a new open-air theatre, the "Teatro Independencia," is more commodious. The Spanish drama is popular, as well as the delightful Spanish "zarzuela" or musical comedy. Owing to the isolation of the country it is not often visited by good professional troupes, and the interior is entirely dependent upon amateur talent.

In social life the clubs are prominent features. A town must be unimportant indeed if it has not at least one club where the men can meet, read the papers and play cards or billiards. The first attention shown the stranger within the gates is to take him to the club and enroll him as a visitor, this action being equivalent to a general local introduction. The clubs give pleasant musical and literary entertainments and dances attended by the best local society. In Santo Domingo, Puerto Plata and Santiago the ladies have a club of their own where they can meet and chat to their hearts' content. Needless to say the most popular entertainments and dances are those given by the "Club de Damas." All these clubs have been of great value in the social development of the country and many of them have given important impulses to education.

Another valuable contribution to civic development is rendered by the municipal bands existing in many towns. They are voluntary associations and tend to awaken in the inhabitants an interest and pride in their city. On Sunday night and sometimes on other nights during the week they play on the plaza, while the people, following the usual custom in the Spanish cities, promenade up and down. Such scenes are very attractive, the ladies, dressed in their best, with their light gowns brilliant in the moonlight; the men walking with them or watching the promenaders. It is on the plaza and in the ball-room where Cupid's arrows do most execution.

Of late years some interest has been shown in athletics, and baseball has invaded the island. Bicycle races occasionally form part of public celebrations, and horse-races and tournaments have long been popular.

Santo Domingo may be said to have two carnivals, one on St. Andrew's day, November 30, the other during the three days preceding Lent. The former is the more exciting. Until recent years there was not a person in the capital and Santiago, where the populace was most given to the typical diversion of the day, who did not voluntarily or involuntarily participate therein. The diversion consisted in throwing water or flour or both on everyone within reach. The poorer people would arm themselves with great syringes and discharge them at every passerby or through the keyholes of house-doors. Others would station themselves at points of vantage with barrels and tubs of water and duck the unwary they were able to entrap. People of the better class would place great tubs of water on their balconies or roofs, which the servants would assiduously keep filled while their masters emptied buckets-full on friends in the street. The young men rode through the streets in open carriages, bombarding the ladies on balconies and housetops with eggs filled with perfumed water, and receiving drenchings in return. Within the last few years the authorities have restricted or prohibited the throwing of water, and the principal celebration of the day is now what is called a "white dance" given by the better society, at which the participants are supposed to come dressed in white in order that the many-colored confetti, serpentines and gilt powders which those present throw at each other between dances, may appear to better effect. During the carnival proper, before Lent, the streets are filled with masked persons in groups or alone, who dance, make impudent remarks or otherwise indulge in nonsense, to the special delight of the ubiquitous small boy. The better class celebrate with masquerade balls, where the merry spirit of the Dominican is given free rein.

The principal vice of the country is gaming. Men of the better class play cards, dominoes, chess, checkers and billiards, for money, but they do so rather for pastime than for gain. Among the poorer classes, however, the predominant idea is that of making money quickly. Cards and dice are often used, but the typical form of gambling, the one at which the poor countryman is fondest of staking his hard-earned wages, is the cockfight. Every town has its cockpit where on Sundays and holidays the barbarous sport is carried on in the presence of crowds of whooping, screaming spectators who often ride miles to attend. The authorities claim that efforts have been made to stop this sport, but that they have all been unavailing. It constitutes a source of municipal income, the right to open cockpits being annually conceded to the highest bidder by the various municipalities. Raffles and lotteries are also permitted by law, being subject to taxation by the municipalities, and in one or two cities there are municipal lotteries.

With respect to morality the same conditions may be said to prevail in Santo Domingo as in other southern countries, the women being in general virtuous and pure and the men inclined to amorous intrigues. The official statistics relating to marriages and births show that of the children born in the Republic almost sixty per cent are illegitimate. These figures, while serious, are rendered less alarming than would appear at first sight by the large number of what the census-takers term "consensual unions" among the humbler classes, or cases where a man and woman, though not united by marriage ceremony, live together publicly as man and wife, rear a family and are as faithful to each other as if they were legitimately married. "Married but not parsoned" is the way in which such unions are referred to in some of the British West Indies. The considerable number of these unions may be explained by the high cost of the marriage ceremony,—for while there are some priests ready to waive their fees for a religious wedding and some alcaldes who are satisfied with what the law allows for the civil ceremony, others are not so complaisant—also by the fact that such unions have become so common that the parties see nothing wrong in them, and further by the circumstance that the parties often believe it more to their advantage to remain single rather than to be married. A friend of mine had a respectable colored man working on his plantation, the head of a large family, but not married to the woman with whom he had been living for over a score of years and to whom he was devotedly attached. My friend endeavored to persuade him to marry the woman, but the answer was a determined negative. "If I marry her she will know I have to support her and she may get careless and lazy. Knowing that I can leave her when I like she will continue to behave herself." Persuasion was then tried with his wife and her refusal was almost identical: "If I marry him he will know that I am bound to him and then he may go and fall in love with some other woman. Knowing that I can leave him when I like he will continue to behave himself."

The homes of the poorer people are mere huts generally built of palmwood and covered with palm-thatch. The houses of the country people are exactly like the "bohios" used by the Indians at the time of the conquest, as pictured and described by the early writers. In the towns outside of the capital wooden houses are the rule and some of the wealthier people have pretty chalets. In the large cities there is a good deal of "mamposteria" construction: brick or stone work, covered with cement. In the capital the walls of a majority of the houses have come down from the early days and are of great solidity—here a man's house is literally his fortress. The barred windows of the olden days are here still to be seen. One-story structures are the rule, and there are few if any of more than two stories. The heat of the climate makes window-glass impracticable and the windows and doors are fitted with shutters which permit the air to pass through. Except in the houses of the wealthiest persons the furniture is very simple and of small amount. In the parlors a caneseat sofa, several rockers and chairs and a small table with a few knicknacks are arranged everywhere in the same way. The bedsteads are of iron and the bedroom furniture is reduced to the simplest articles. The floors are bare except for a few rugs. The climate is responsible for the simplicity of the furniture, as carpets would breed insects, and more furniture would mean endless cleaning and dusting, since everything must be open all day. The kitchens are not furnished with iron stoves, but cooking is done on brick hearths, as in Cuba and Porto Rico. The most serious drawback about Dominican houses is the want of proper bathing facilities and of sanitary closets, due to lack of running water in most cities. The most attractive feature of the houses is the patio, or yard, which is often gay with flowers, though not so assiduously cared for as in some other Spanish countries. In similarity to other tropical lands home life is not nearly so intense as in colder climates.



CHAPTER XII

RELIGION

Catholic religion.—Concordat.—Ownership of church buildings.—Clergy.—Religious sentiment.—Shrines.—Religious customs and holidays.—Religious toleration.—Protestant sects.

The Roman Catholic creed has been the dominant religion of Santo Domingo from the time of the conquest. When Columbus arrived on his second voyage he brought with him twelve friars, some of whom were as holy men as their leader, the vindictive Father Boil, was a nuisance. Others were not long in arriving and soon the country had as many priests in proportion as Spain herself. Large estates came into possession of the church, and in the city of Santo Domingo imposing churches and spacious cloisters were erected, which still stand, either in ruins or used for religious or secular purposes. There were three monasteries, two nunneries, and some ten churches and chapels in the capital.

As early as 1511 bishops were appointed for Santo Domingo and Concepcion de la Vega and in 1547 the first archbishopric in the new world was established in Santo Domingo City. From 1516 to 1519 the island was governed directly by three friars, and the licentiate Alonso de Fuenmayor, who governed thirty years later, was not only governor and captain-general of the island, and president of the royal audiencia, but archbishop of Santo Domingo as well. The Inquisition was established in Santo Domingo in 1564.

With the decline of the colony the number of churchmen declined also, and by the middle of the seventeenth century the majority of the church buildings were closed and falling to ruin and the church's vast country estates were abandoned. The revival of the country during the eighteenth century affected the church as well, but the occupation by Haitians and French during the beginning of the nineteenth century caused its influence to wane, and restrictive legislation under Haitian dominion and the expulsion of the archbishop for political reasons in 1830, severed all connection with Rome for many years. The first archbishop appointed after the independence of the Republic was consecrated in 1848.

The Roman Catholic religion is now the recognized state religion. In 1884 the Dominican government entered into an agreement with the Holy See according to the terms of which the archbishop of Santo Domingo is to be appointed by the Pope from a list of three names, native Dominicans or residents of the Republic, submitted by the Dominican Congress, which in turn engaged to pay the salary of the archbishop and certain other officials. The agreement as to the payments incumbent upon the Dominican government had the same fate as other financial contracts: it was observed for a short time and then disregarded, so that for years only small appropriations have been made for church purposes.

In the year 1908 a controversy arose with reference to the ownership of the buildings and lands occupied by the church. The archbishop and church officials claimed that such buildings belong to the church absolutely; while the government officials alleged that they are the property of the state, possessed by the church with the state's consent. Previously few persons had ever given a thought to the matter, the church having as many buildings as it could properly care for, and more, while other former religious edifices were used by the state. Contributions for the erection and repair of churches were frequently made by Dominican towns without exciting discussion. The controversy of 1908 was precipitated by the determination of the church authorities to erect a mausoleum in the cathedral of Santo Domingo City for the remains of the late Archbishop Merino. The Executive of Santo Domingo demanded that the government's permission be first obtained, but the church officials refused to ask for such permission, holding it unnecessary. Neither side lacked historical grounds for its contention. In the old colonial days church and state were united and the questions of ownership of the church buildings never arose. When the Haitians assumed control in 1822 they considered the church edifices as the property of the state alone and religious services continued only by sufferance of the government. Upon the establishment of the independence of Santo Domingo, the new government, although friendly towards the Catholic Church, took a similar view of the ownership of church edifices and property. By law of June 7, 1845, of the Dominican Congress, all "censos" and other perpetual rents established in favor of the church were declared extinguished and by law of July 2, 1845, all property, real and personal, formerly belonging to convents and orders no longer in being in the country was formally proclaimed to pertain to the state. In 1853 burials in churches were prohibited by law of Congress as being dangerous to the public health, but in exceptional cases the Executive granted permission therefor on the payment of a fee which of late years has been $300. On the other hand, it was argued that the church has been in uninterrupted possession of its present buildings for centuries; that these buildings are not comprised in the laws of 1845; that a law of 1867 granting the gardens of the archbishop's residence to the municipality of Santo Domingo for the establishment of a market and cockpit was repealed in 1871 as being a despoilment of the church and unconstitutional; and that when the mausoleum of Columbus was erected in the cathedral the committee in charge, presided over by the vice-president of the Republic, applied for permission to the authorities of the church. The dispute regarding the mausoleum of Archbishop Merino came to an end when the government receded from its demand, but the main question is not regarded as settled.

At the present time the Republic is divided into fifty-seven parishes. The episcopal head is the Archbishop of Santo Domingo. In 1903, when old age had enfeebled Archbishop Merino, one of his assistants, Monsignor Adolfo Nouel, was made titular Archbishop of Metymne, and on the death of the venerable churchman in 1906 succeeded him as Archbishop of Santo Domingo.

In the olden days many religious orders were represented in the island, but to-day the clergy is secular, with the exception of a few friars brought over in recent years from Spain and France. The majority of the priests are native Dominicans, graduated from the seminary in the capital. There are in the clerical body a number of black sheep, far too fond of the pleasures of the flesh. Of this stamp was a noted prelate, of whom I was told when I asked whether he was old: "Yes, quite old, his oldest son is over forty." As a general rule, however, the priests of Santo Domingo are earnest, hardworking, honorable men. The standard is being raised through the efforts of the present Archbishop Nouel.

The unfortunate political history of the country has not been conducive to the establishment of eleemosynary institutions or to other philanthropic activity, and such work has devolved almost exclusively upon the priests. The names of many of these are held in grateful remembrance for their efforts in behalf of charity. Perhaps the most celebrated was Father Billini, who, a member of one of the foremost families of Santo Domingo, consecrated his life to helping his fellowmen. He was a father to the poor and through his efforts the insane asylum of Santo Domingo, an orphan asylum and a college were established. His name became notable in other directions also, for he was instrumental in the discovery of the remains of Columbus in the Santo Domingo cathedral in 1877. At times the methods of the good father were a little spectacular: thus on one occasion when supplicating Heureaux in behalf of several prisoners sentenced to death, he took off his hat and vowed he would not put it on again until the prisoners were pardoned, but the order of execution was carried out and ever afterwards Father Billini went hatless. In so great esteem is his name held that the only statue in Santo Domingo City, besides that of Columbus on the plaza, is erected to his memory.

Practically the entire population of the country is at least nominally Roman Catholic. Among the educated classes in the cities the women, as a rule, are devout; the men either openly acknowledge themselves free thinkers or their religion is very superficial indeed. On one occasion a Dominican earnestly assured me he was a Catholic and would always remain one, "but," he added, "I cannot accept all the doctrines of the church: thus I do not believe in the Virgin Mary, nor the saints, nor the power of the priests to forgive sins, nor in the divinity of Christ, but I feel almost certain of the existence of a God." The fondness for display makes the ornate ceremonies of the Catholic Church popular with all, however, and they are observed by officers of the state whenever possible. The president always goes to mass after taking the oath of office, and the army flags are solemnly blessed.

The less educated people of the cities and most of the country people not only hold their priests in great respect, but are blindly superstitious. It is common to find crosses in the courtyards of country houses, placed there to keep evil spirits away. Frequently also, three crosses are seen in conspicuous places near the roadside or even in the middle of the road. They are supposed to propitiate the Almighty, and pious persons mumble prayers as they pass them. When the destruction wrought by the Martinique volcano became known here, the dismay of the countrymen was responsible for more than one "calvario" (calvary), as these collections of crosses are called. It is especially desired by the country people to receive the last sacraments from the priests before death. On one occasion far out in the country I met a crowd of people engaged in transporting a dying man many miles to the priest in the nearest town. When asked why the priest was not called to the sick man, they explained innocently: "He couldn't come. The priest is too fat."

There are in the territory of the Republic several shrines of more than usual renown, which at certain seasons of the year attract crowds of worshipers, some coming all the way from Porto Rico. Wonderful cures of invalids are registered which recall the miracles of Lourdes. The most celebrated of these churches is the one on the Santo Cerro, the Holy Hill, built on the exact spot where forces of Columbus planted their cross when defending the hill against the Indians. After the Indians had stormed the place all their efforts to destroy the cross were unavailing, so the story goes, and they were finally driven to precipitate flight by the apparition of the Virgin, sitting on the cross. A church was founded on the spot and a convent near by. During the dark years of the colony the convent was abandoned and fell to ruin but at no time was a priest lacking to look after the site of the miracle. In the time of Heureaux the humble wooden chapel then crowning the hill was replaced by a larger but modest brick church, the greater part of the bricks being carried up from the ruins of the old city of La Vega which lie at the foot of the hill. The church occupies an eminence overlooking the great Royal Plain. Its most prized treasure, which is reverently kissed by the priest before he shows it to the stranger, consists of two splinters about an inch long, of black wood, parts of the original cross of Columbus, enclosed in another small cross of gold filigree work. A larger piece of the original cross is kept in the cathedral at Santo Domingo City, to be exhibited on special occasions. The pieces of the original cross carried away by the Spaniards were enough to make a score of crosses, yet nevertheless there was always some wood left, which circumstance was heralded as an additional miracle.

Within the church on the Holy Hill, in one of the chapels, there is a hole in the stone floor a little over two feet square and deep, which is pointed out as the exact place where the cross of Columbus stood. There is nothing so coveted by pilgrims as to be able to kneel in this hole and offer up their prayers. The soil from this spot is credited with strange powers, such as that of healing wounds on which it is laid, and that of causing floods to subside, when sprinkled on the troubled waters. The late Archbishop Merino assured me that the miraculous nature of the spot is evidenced by the fact that however much soil is taken out of the hole, the bottom thereof always retains the same level, but my later inspection of the dry yellow earth at the bottom disclosed nothing unusual. Near the Santo Cerro church is the trunk of the nispero tree, gnarled with age, from which Columbus is said to have cut the wood for his cross. All around are miserable shacks, inhabited, so the pure-minded priest of the church sorrowfully told me, by people the conduct of many of whom is quite at variance with the holiness supposed to pervade the place.

The town of Bayaguana, to the northeast of Santo Domingo City, also attracts the faithful, especially about the first of the year, by reason of the fame of the "Cristo de Bayaguana," a very ancient figure of Christ in the church of that town. In the same way Higuey in the eastern part of the island is specially noted for its shrine of the "Altagracia," a picture of the Virgin, of which tradition says that in the early days of the colony it was given by an aged mysterious stranger to the father of a devout maiden who had pined therefor. The church is built on the site of an orange tree under which, it is said, the picture was first admired by the girl and her relatives; the trunk of this tree is shown behind the altar of the church. Pilgrimages to this place take place preferably about the twenty-first of January and the miracles ascribed to the Virgin are astounding. Miracles of quite a different nature are attributed to an image of Saint Andrew, in the capital. The populace confidently believe that as sure as this figure is carried to the street an earthquake will follow.

There are always several altars in the churches, surmounted by figures of the saints to whom they are dedicated. Some of these statues are quite beautiful, others, in some of the poorer churches, are hideous. As in other Spanish countries the churches are bare of seats, and people who attend either send small chairs before the service, or stand. It is not unusual to see well dressed ladies carrying their chairs to church. Women are much more in evidence than men, and the Dominican woman is not different from her sisters in other countries, for a new hat or dress is apt to awaken in her an irresistible yearning to go to church. Young men are fond of attending, too, but it is to be feared that in many cases their object is to see the young ladies rather than to hear the sermon.

The custom of celebrating the saint's day instead of the birthday is followed, so that birthdays pass unperceived while the day dedicated in the calendar of the Catholic Church to the saint whose name a person bears, is the day which he celebrates and on which he receives the felicitations of his friends.

Christmas tide is not a time when presents are exchanged, and Christmas trees are not found, save rarely and where the foreign influence is strong. There is no lack of celebration, however. On Christmas Eve the churches are crowded and there are banquets and dances going on everywhere. In the cities the small boys amuse themselves by setting off fireworks. During the Christmas week dances are frequent, and in the country they continue sometimes for days to the lugubrious accompaniment of accordions and large drums. December the twenty-eighth, Holy Innocents' day, is All Fools' day, instead of April the first, it being argued that just as the innocents of Herod's day were made to suffer, so the innocents of this age should be persecuted. Many are the pranks perpetrated and the small boy is in his glory. On New Year's Eve many families receive their friends; there is generally some large ball, and the new year is ushered in with fireworks and other noises.

The great day of the year for the children is the sixth of January, the feast of Epiphany, or Three Kings' Day, as it is called in Santo Domingo. Just as the three wise men from the East brought presents to the infant Christ in ages past, so they now make the rounds and leave presents for deserving children, thus taking the place of our Santa Claus. The receptacles they choose for the good things they deliver are either the children's slippers or shoes, or boxes made ready by the little ones. For weeks before the anxiously awaited day, letters are written to the Kings, explaining what gifts would be acceptable, and are given to the parents who undertake to deliver them. The children are careful to facilitate the display of the Kings' generosity by placing their shoes or boxes in conspicuous places and filling the boxes with grass, so that the horses of the Kings can eat. Their thoughtfulness is rewarded, for on the following morning the visit of the Kings is attested by indubitable evidence, as there is an abundance of toys and sweets and the grass is often quite strewn about. Excited little ones are sure they heard the pawing of the horses on the balcony. The Kings usually show a magnanimous disregard of past offenses, but occasionally they leave a letter of advice or warning, and they have even been known to place a switch in the box of a particularly bad boy.

Easter is celebrated with great solemnity. In order to provide opportunity for observing all the ceremonies prescribed by the church, they are so arranged that the ceremonies corresponding to the commemoration of the death of Christ are begun on Thursday at noon and the celebration of the resurrection on Saturday at noon, and this is the order of dates accepted by the people in general. On Thursday and Friday soldiers form a guard of honor before the churches, and up to Easter of 1906 there was a strict prohibition of any vehicle going through the streets between Thursday noon and Saturday noon. Not a wheel was permitted to turn in this period, giving rise to much inconvenience and discomfort. Since 1906 a more liberal view has prevailed. At this time as on certain other church festivals, solemn religious processions wind through the streets.

The church has charge of several small hospitals and orphan asylums. A few schools in the Republic are also under its auspices, but in general religious education is much neglected.

Although the Catholic religion is the state religion and is professed by so large a majority of the population, the influence of the church in the government is no more than in many countries where no such circumstances prevail. Discipline in the priesthood is limited almost entirely to ecclesiastical matters and priests otherwise speak and act for themselves. They frequently participate in politics and are often to be met in municipal councils and in Congress, and in such cases their acts indicate that they sit, not as priests representing the church, but entirely as individuals representing the constituency from which they were elected. Father Merino, who later became archbishop, was elected president and served out his term. President Morales had been a priest, but had abandoned the priesthood when he was elected to Congress. The present head of the church, Archbishop Nouel, has also been president, under a temporary compromise.

Another peculiarity of Dominican Catholicism is its tolerant attitude towards freemasonry. It is not unusual for persons who are recognized as fervent Catholics to be at the same time enthusiastic masons. There are instances even of devout families, where one of the sons belongs to the priesthood and the other sons and the father are zealous masons, but where all live under the same roof in absolute concord. The first lodges were founded in 1858 and there are lodges to be found to-day in all the principal cities. Several of them have their own buildings, that at Santiago being especially worthy of remark. They have done excellent work in behalf of charity and education. The lodges of Santo Domingo City, Santiago, La Vega and Moca maintain free public schools, and the lodge of Puerto Plata a hospital. The lodges of oddfellows in the Republic have done similar good work.

The absence of religious fanaticism is further exemplified by the tolerance accorded other religious sects. These, it is true, are but slimly represented. Of the Jewish faith there are probably not two dozen persons in the Republic. The Protestants are almost entirely negroes from the British and former Danish islands and other foreigners, and descendants of the American negroes settled in Santo Domingo. For these the Wesleyan Methodist Church of England maintains a flourishing mission with chapels in Puerto Plata, Samana, and Sanchez and a small branch in Santo Domingo City. The principal chapel is in Puerto Plata, which is also the residence of the minister in charge of the mission. The African Methodist Church also has small stations at Samana and San Pedro de Macoris, though the word "African" does not tend to make the church popular in Santo Domingo. There is further an almost abandoned Baptist mission in Puerto Plata and Monte Cristi. In all these churches, services are generally carried on in the English language alone. In San Francisco de Macoris, Protestant services are conducted in Spanish by devotees who do not seem to be ordained by any particular sect.



CHAPTER XIII

EDUCATION AND LITERATURE

Education in Spanish times.—Work of Hostos.—School organization.—Professional institute.—Primary and secondary education.—Literacy.—Libraries.—Newspapers.—Literature.—Fine Arts.

As in other Spanish colonies, it was not the policy of the Spanish government in Santo Domingo to foster popular education. Learning was confined to the clergy and the aristocracy and was imparted only by servants of the church. As early as 1538, the Dominican friars obtained a papal bull for the establishment of a university, and in 1558 the institution known as the University of St. Thomas of Aquino was inaugurated by them in Santo Domingo City, with faculties of medicine, philosophy, theology and law, the principal branch being theology. This university acquired considerable celebrity, but practically disappeared during the colony's decline, being revived by royal decree of May 26, 1747, which gave it the title of Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Domingo. The cession of the island to France and the wars which followed weakened the famous institution, which was definitely closed by the Haitians when they assumed control of the government. The Haitian occupation and the civil disorders of the first forty years of the Republic were not propitious for the spreading of education. Beyond a theological seminary founded in 1848, there were only a few humble public and private schools, leading a precarious existence. An eminent Porto Rican educator, Eugenio M. de Hostos, was responsible for the intellectual renaissance of Santo Domingo. This remarkable man was one of those talented dreamers produced by Latin-America, a lover of the abstract ideal in government, philosophy and pedagogy, erudite, eloquent, with an enthusiasm which fired his pupils and hearers. Early in life he conceived the idea which he preached unceasingly: that of a Confederated West Indian Republic, in which the principal states were to be Cuba, Santo Domingo and Porto Rico. Inspired by the Cuban war of independence of 1868 to 1878, he wrote and spoke throughout Spanish America in behalf of the union of the Spanish speaking peoples of the West Indies, the first step to that end to be the independence of Cuba. In 1880 he arrived for the third time in Santo Domingo, where he was then less known than in South America. Having obtained from the government a commission to found normal schools in the Republic, he was appointed director of the normal school of Santo Domingo City. He came as the right man at the right time. His teachings touched a responsive chord in the hearts of the Dominicans; his unsparing condemnation of old pedagogical methods and eager advocacy of new ones gave rise to discussions which awakened a general interest in education and letters; and his aggressive enthusiasm smote the rock which held Dominican literature bound. A prominent Dominican historian, Americo Lugo, says: "I believe that what may be called national literature does not begin until after the arrival in the Republic of the eminent educator Eugenio M. de Hostos."

Hostos labored in Santo Domingo for eight years, during which time he had as pupils many who have since become prominent in the councils of the Republic. The baneful policies of Heureaux forced his departure, and he settled in Chile with his family, being appointed professor of constitutional law at the National University. Upon the conclusion of the Spanish-American war, when it became apparent that Porto Rico would be American and his ideal of an Antillan Confederation definitely shattered, he journeyed to Washington to labor in behalf of Porto Rico, returning later to his native island in the hope of uniting the Porto Ricans in a demand for autonomy. There political passion ran high, and Hostos, disappointed, went back to Santo Domingo, where his entry was almost triumphal. He again assumed charge of public education though the civil disorders filled him with sadness. In 1903 he died in Santo Domingo, but the seed he sowed lives and flourishes and his memory is revered by Dominicans.

In 1884 a general school law was passed, repeatedly modified since, according to which primary instruction is a charge upon the municipality, while the cost of secondary instruction is to be defrayed by the state. Supreme inspection over educational matters was given to the Minister of Justice and Public Instruction, who was assisted by a superior board of education with school inspectors in the various provinces. There were further special boards of education in each province, presided over by the governor, and school boards in the communes which are not capitals of provinces and in the cantons. Owing to the difficulty of finding competent personnel, the inspection of the educational institutions has generally been perfunctory and the teachers have done pretty much as they pleased. Unfortunately the financial limitations of the country have not permitted the development of the schools in the measure desired. Since the middle of 1917 numerous changes in the school system and curriculum have been decreed by the Department of Public Instruction and the system is undergoing a general reorganization.

In 1882 a "Professional Institute" was founded, the name of which was in 1914 changed to "University of Santo Domingo," and it is now called the Central University of Santo Domingo. It occupies the same building in the capital, adjoining the church of St. Dominic, where the old university was located. It confers degrees in five branches: law, medicine, pharmacy, dental surgery and mathematics and surveying. Practically all the lawyers of the Republic have graduated from this school. Most of the native pharmacists, also, have studied here. With reference to instruction in medicine and surgery, and in dentistry, the institution is handicapped by the lack of a suitable hospital and clinic. As a result those who wish to adopt any of these professions pursue their studies abroad, if possible, and all the best known physicians are graduates of foreign universities. The entire annual appropriation for the University is only about $24,000. A similar institution, on a smaller scale, is the Professional Institute of Santiago, founded in 1916. In several cities there are high schools called normal schools, and other institutions called superior schools, and the capital has an academy of drawing, painting and sculpture.

With the exception of a few private schools, primary education is in the hands of the municipalities, which are assisted by small subventions from the national government. In the municipalities there is more enthusiasm for education than in Congress, if we judge from the figures presented by the budgets. Every little town takes pride in making its budget for education as large as possible, year after year. The total amount spent for educational purposes, however, including salaries, rent, supplies, subventions and teachers' pensions, is only in the neighborhood of $500,000, contributed about in equal shares by the state and the municipalities.

The total number of scholars enrolled is only about 20,000. The schools are generally located in rented houses, there being no buildings erected expressly for school purposes. Their equipment is as a rule deficient. The teaching force is handicapped by lack of facilities and training. The salaries of the elementary teachers are very small, and while some municipalities are prompt in their payments, others lag far behind, and the Spanish saying "as hungry as a schoolmaster" has not lost all its meaning.

If the amounts expended for education are not large, it is due to lack of money and not to lack of realization of the advantages of learning. The interest manifested in education and the eagerness of parents to furnish their children as much schooling as possible, are among the most hopeful signs for the future. In the towns and villages where the schools are located, most children learn at least to read and write, but out in the country illiteracy and ignorance reign supreme. In the absence of statistics it is not possible to determine the proportion of illiterates; there is no doubt, however, that it is very large, and I have heard it estimated at all the way from seventy to ninety per cent of the population over ten years of age.

Some of the best schools are private institutions, one of the best known being the institute for girls and young ladies, founded by Santo Domingo's foremost woman poet, Salome Urena de Henriquez. It is the custom also for well-to-do families to send their children abroad for study and to travel themselves, and the Dominicans are not few who, besides their native Spanish, speak other languages, acquired abroad. Within the country, too, there is a predilection among the upper class for the study of foreign tongues, and many learn English and French in the family circle or by association with persons speaking these languages.

As a result of the educational limitations, the population of the country may be divided into three groups: first, a number of persons, small in comparison with the whole number of inhabitants, who compare in culture, education and accomplishments with members of the best society in any country; second, a much larger group of persons who possess knowledge more or less rudimentary; and third, the great majority of the inhabitants, who are unlettered and unlearned.

One obstacle to the spread of information is the lack of public libraries. There is a public library in Puerto Plata, and various clubs in the larger towns have libraries, for their members or the public, but they are all very small and limited. The newspapers, therefore, furnish the only source of reading for the majority. Practically all the papers are published in the cities of Santo Domingo, Santiago and Puerto Plata, and all are of modest dimensions. Many newspapers have been founded in the Republic and after leading an ephemeral existence have succumbed, some because their editors were persuaded by threats or rewards on the part of the government to cease publication, and the greater portion because of financial embarrassment. Notwithstanding the constitutional precept guaranteeing free speech, editors of the opposition have generally found it more healthy to withdraw to the neighboring countries and conduct their campaigns at long range. On the other hand, it must be said that several governments have honestly endeavored to allow the press full liberty, but that the privilege has always been abused. The principal daily newspaper of the Republic, and the one having the largest circulation is the "Listin Diario" of Santo Domingo. It is a four-page sheet and its daily edition is about 10,000 copies. It is the only paper having a cable service, and it receives its cablegrams from the French cable company, whose line crosses the island. It is also one of the oldest of the existing newspapers, having been founded in 1889, and maintained itself by constantly observing a prudent attitude. In the capital there also appear the "Gaceta Oficial," in which the laws and governmental decisions and announcements are published; the "Boletin Municipal," containing municipal announcements; several reviews whose character is indicated by their title: "Revista Medica," "Revista de Agricultura," "Revista Judicial," "Boletin Masonico"; two small humorous papers; two commercial sheets; an illustrated paper, "Blanco y Negro," and a well-known literary monthly, "Cuna de America" (Cradle of America). Santiago also boasts a daily paper, "El Diario," as also several smaller papers and literary periodicals. In Puerto Plata "El Porvenir," the oldest of existing Dominican newspapers, is published, as well as three less important sheets.

Especially interesting among these publications are the "Cuna de America" and others devoted to belles-lettres. They constitute a reflection of current Dominican literature, being given over to poems, lyric compositions, biographic, historical, philosophic and other articles, and extracts from new plays and books. In these periodicals most of the poems which have brought fame to Santo Domingo have appeared.

Before the intellectual awakening incident to the labors of Hostos the number of Dominican writers was small. Little was done in colonial times. In the turbulent period following the cessation of Spanish sovereignty at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the situation of the country was not favorable for the cultivation of the muses, but scions of the families who then emigrated have made their names immortal in the literature of Cuba and other neighboring countries. Juan Pablo Duarte, the liberator, Antonio Delmonte y Tejada, the historian, and a small group of others who flourished shortly before or at the time of the establishment of the Republic, may be said to initiate the literature of the country, but their fame is mostly local. The first generation of Dominican citizens furnished a somewhat larger proportion of literary men, among whom may be mentioned the venerable Emiliano Tejera, the late Archbishop Fernando A. de Merino, Francisco X. Amiama, Francisco Gregorio Billini, Mariano A. Cestero, the historian Jose G. Garcia and the novelist Manuel de J. Galvan, though it is significant that the best productions of some of these appeared after 1880. It is since that year that literature has really flourished. So fecund have Dominican writers been, and so excellent their productions, that Santo Domingo occupies a proud place in the beautiful field of Latin-American literature, where only a few years ago it was practically unknown. There is an abundance of poets, essayists, historians and novelists worthy of mention, and an attempt to single out a few might lead to unjust distinctions. A number of the best writers are women, and all prominent newspaper men are also distinguished in literature.

In poetry, especially lyric poetry, the Dominican writers excel. They show great depth of feeling and a full command of the sonorous Castilian tongue. A favorite theme is, of course, the old story which is ever new. The civil wars have inspired many pathetic compositions, and poems like Salome Urena's apostrophe to the ruins of colonial times, Bienvenido S. Nouel's elegy on the ruins left by the late revolutions, and Enrique Henriquez' "Miserere!", gems of verse, are veritable cries of anguish at the desolation wrought by fratricidal strife. Perhaps it is the poets' sorrow at the misfortunes of their country which is the cause of the note of sadness so often to be remarked in Dominican writings. Some writers are classed as poets though they have versified little or not at all; of these Tulio M. Cestero, one of the most popular of the younger writers, is an example, it being said of him that "he writes his poetry in prose."