Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The advocate. (Portland, Or.) 19??-19?? | View Entire Issue (June 6, 1931)
Clean Fiction Human Interest Features Cm. I N I rfca • H I . * 1st r Ms4«| • •| M «N s ls U tM Kil l t The Advocate THK ILLUSTRATED FEATURE SECTION —June 0, Jif.il ( - — " iij True Stories Achievement Stories pKtures In the lllustrateo Pe«tu rr Section were povea • n4 do not depict principals unless so captioned Iron Handed Black President of Santo Domingo Ht'uri'MUX invited hi* enemies to dinner first and then had them shot. "H ow did you like that dinner?” the President asked his General. "Excellent," was the reply. "G lad you liked it, old chap,” laughed the President, "for it's your last. Have some more liquor and another ciKar.” Inset— President d isc s Heureaux, and Hamon Caceres, his assassin and successor in office. In the twenty-one y-ars before him, there were twenty-four presidents and twenty revolutions. In the first sixteen years after his death there were thirteen presidents and seven revolutions. Heureaux ruled the island for twenty years before he was assassinated. Conspirators against Heureaux and the government were invited to the palace and turned over to the firing squad. rhajit who once demanded $10,000 for General d isc s Heureaux, "strong man” of the Republic of Santo Horn intro, was not only one of the ablest of the many Spanish American dictators, but one of the most fas cinating figures in the history of Latin America. Hi that disturbed Republic he maintained unbroken peace for twenty years which was a record. In the twenty- one years preceding him there had been twenty-four presi dents and twenty general revolutions. Banto D om in i;» w h lrli con stitutes* alleged violation of concessions. When told by his consul that the Itomlnl- can government was poor, and that he would be fortunate If he received $40, the Dane readtly agreed to ac- cept that. The (laying of these crush- tug debts and Indemnities has been the great handicap of the republics ot Haiti and Santo Domingo — the real cause of all their internal strife T o meet |>ayments other usurious loans had to be made, which In turn caused heavy taxation and dl.won- tent. Such was the slate of affairs when Heureaux came on the political scene III 1871, at the age of 2»> But first, a brief sketch of hlg pre vious career. Heureaux was born In Puerto P la ta. Santo Domingo. In 1845. of full- blooded Negro imrents. though It has been said that he had a Syrian strain on Ills mother's side. His father, a Haitian sailor, had given up the sea tor business Young Heureaux. taken Into hts father's shop, found trade too unex citing and went oil to Join the army. The Dominicans were then lighting against Spain for their independence Heureaux distinguished himself from the start and rose in a short time to be a general. He was then only IS. His courage and daring were so conspicuous that hr qutrkly gain ed the reputation of bring the bravest man in the army. Noth ] ing seemed to drlight him more ¡ than to find himself surrounded | by several of the enemy then to ! hew hts way out with revolyer or cutlass His skill in the use of both Ihrse weapons was unexcell ed. Many times hr was danger ously wounded. After the defeat of the Spaniards In 1805, Heureaux found peace and Ins father's shop again too dull. ' Mounting his horse and gathering a | few followers, he rode of! to the Hai- tlan border. Santo Domingo had an old unsettled boundary dispute. Haiti claimed land that stretched well Into territory tile Dominicans Insisted was theirs. Oolng Into tilts disputed ter ritory. Heureaux began raiding farms and driving off cattle. But once more peace was made and again Heureaux found himself In an two-thirds of the la land ot Hispaniola: baler to mark the supremacy of the or Haiti, lias had a very stormy ca- j blacks, Drasnlinrs Inserted black, ver- reer. Discovered by Columbus on hta tlcally. After the driving out of the first voyaRr, that great navigator, Haitians, the Dominicans took the himself, was Its first governor. Under red and the blue Haitian ItAg and Bartholomew Columbus, his brother, ran a white cross through Its centre and other Spanish governors. It r o s e to mark prare and union between the to be very wealthy, but the rise of I black and white races, other colonies on tin* mainland, m u .- ; H ie frequent changes of government ed a withdrawal of home supiMil and in Santo Domingo together with long It declined warfaie with Mjmtn and Haiti had In Igai, It was raptured by created a state of chaos War had bred Toussnlnt I . Ouverture and made a large crop of adventurers, totally a French colony anil still later it disinclined to pursue commerce or was dominated by the Republic of agriculture. These soldiers of for Columbia. Thrice it has been won tune found politics the quickest way and Inst by Spain; twice it has of mnktng an easy living. Ambitious been a republic under Its nwn and domineering lenders arose like rule, and nine nmlrr the super mushrooms, wjth passions so heated vision of the United States. Ill that violence and bloodshed were the addition it lias bad several wars only arguments heeded. wllb Haiti Assassination followed nssassinn Bantu Domingo la ns rich In his lion with slnrtllng rapidity. tory as any other country In the New After freedom had been won World. O f all landa, Columbus loved from the Spaniards, conditions It last and his dying request was to were so unsettled that annexation be burled there. He wan Interred In to the United States had been sue - the olii cathedral and Ills remains are Rested by certain leaders. With still there. Ilumgli the Spaniard* hold this end in view the United States Ihnt they transferred them to Spain bad sent a commission, composed before their withdrawn! from the Is of Frederick Douglass and others land. to the Island, but later the pro Bantu Domingo also has the oldest posal was detralrd because of op cathedral and the oldest fort In tlw position both ill America and in ' a _ x l* New World and Negro slavery was Santo llom liiR O . Since then a f lust, established there. fairs had grown steadily worse This republic dilTers from its The great trouble of the republic was financial. The slate was heavily Raff tibor, Haiti, In that It is p re dominantly mulatto, while tlie saddled with debt, the greater part of which was composed of foreign population of Haiti Is nearer the luuns that had been contracted at pure African. The majority of the mulattoes In ruinous interest There were also the Haiti were wiped out .by massacres Indemnities due to certain European ordered by Christophe and I lessa lines ixiwrrs, whose nationalists often d e for trivial Desanimes l i c i ■ il e t he H a i n a n manded heavy damages Map shows how Island between Cuba and Porto Rica Is divided between Haiti flag, tore the while out of the Frenrli reasons. and Santo Domingo, the land Heureaux ruled. flag, leaving the red and the blue. The story Is told of a Danish mer- occupation too tame to suit hts la s t* He h id been given a post in the cus toms service. Only one path seemed open to him —politics At that time there were three par ties. the Blues, headed by General Luperon. a black man: the Reds, led by Genera! Baez, half-Indian, halt- Spanlard. who had long opposed the Spaniards and the Haitians: and the Greens, under Oencral Gonsatez, a mulatto. Colors were chosen because politi cal issues seemed to have been lack ing It was a case of the "Ins" and the “ outs' Heureaux, taking serv ice under Luperon. aided him In de feating two successive presidents But some time later when Luperon tried to elevate himself to the presidency, he found his dashing subordinate, Heureaux, barring the way. , Soon after. Hrureaux was elect ed to supreme power. In the presidential chair, his popularity continued. Affable and grnrroos. but jrecise and firm, hr was Ihr idol of Ihr working people and all who wrlromrd a rest from Ihr in- rrssant strife. Ills manners were princely, and a subject of special lom m rnl by foreign visitors. The women adored him and hr had the reputation of having broken many hearts It was a rase of the Iron hand In the velvet glovr. His first step was to try to rid the country of the host of political as pirants that swarmed about the treasury. Some he won over by giv ing them lucrative posts, others by bribes and flattery. Those, however, who would be content with nothing less than the presidency, and tried to reach it by military force, he sup pressed with the firing squad. Ho spared neither friend, foe nor for mer companion-in-arms. One of his mast trusted men was General Marcheno. In 1892 and 1894. he had sent him to Europe to ne gotiate loans, which Marcheno nad done successfully Later Marcheno op- poaed Heureaux for the presidency. Heureaux won easily and Marcheno began to plot against hint, whcreu|xm Heureaux had him shot with little ceremony. Heureaux had a vein of dry humor, which became famous. For instance, hearing that his brother - in - law was plotting against him, Heureaux Invited him to the palace, entertained him regally, and at the close of the meal, quietly asked him: Continued on Rage 5,