CHAPTER XIX
POLITICS AND REVOLUTIONS
Political parties.—Elections.—Relation between politics and revolutions.—Conduct of revolutions.—Casualties.—Number of revolutions.—Effect of revolutions.
The characteristic features of Dominican politics are the violence of political antagonism and the absence of differences of principle between the political parties. None of the three parties existing to-day has a platform, and the distinction between them is entirely a matter of the personality of the leaders. Each party alleges that it has the best people and the purest motives and views with alarm the government of the country by any other party. In practice therefore, politics follows the rule only too common in the Spanish-American countries, of resolving itself into a personal struggle between the "ins" and the "outs."
In the early days of the Republic different policies were occasionally seriously considered. It was then held by some that independence should be preserved at any cost while others contended that in view of the constant, civil wars the country should seek peace and progress under the protection of some foreign power. Although the annexationists were at first called conservatives and their opponents liberals, these divergent views were not the exclusive property of any designated group of men, but the annexation idea was generally espoused by the party that happened to be in power, which thus hoped both to save the country and perpetuate its own rule, while independence was invariably supported by the opposition, which bristled with patriotic indignation and the fear that it might be permanently excluded from the banquet-table. Thus Santana obtained a return to Spanish rule in 1861 and Cabral a few years later agitated the question of American annexation and their action was denounced by Baez; yet shortly after Baez almost succeeded in securing annexation to the United States and was stigmatized as a traitor by Cabral.
Another issue which existed for a few years after the separation from Haiti in 1844 was the division between clericals on the one hand and liberals on the other, a party division that has created havoc in other parts of Spanish America. The very indefinite claims on each side and the practical unanimity of the country in its attitude towards the church caused this issue to disappear.
The real parties that kept see-sawing in and out of power from the early days of the Republic down to the time of Heureaux were those founded by General Pedro Santana and General Buenaventura Baez. Intimate friends in the struggles with Haiti which followed Santo Domingo's declaration of independence, their ambitious and domineering natures soon clashed, and each collected a group of friends and incessantly conspired against the other. The partisans of Baez, or Baecistas, adopted red for the color of the cockades and ribbons which distinguished them in the civil wars, and came to be known as the "Reds," while the followers of Santana, or Santanistas, adopted blue and were known as the "Blues."
On the death of Santana in 1863, Luperon and Cabral became the leaders of the Blue party, and for several years after the expulsion of the Spaniards in 1865 the Reds and Blues took turns in setting up governments and having them overthrown. In 1873 General Ignacio Maria Gonzalez, a former adherent of Baez, assembled a following from both factions and formed a Green party with which he ousted the Reds who were then in power. In the next six years the Reds and Greens alternated in control, but in 1879 the Greens were driven out and definitely scattered by the Blues, who thereby gained a foothold which they did not lose for years. The death of Baez in 1884 threw the Reds into confusion and their constant persecution by the "blue" President Ulises Heureaux effectually crushed them. Ulises Heureaux with Blues, Reds and Greens built up his own party of "Lilicistas" which remained in power until his death in 1899. In the later years of Heureaux's rule the distinguishing color used by his troops was white.
On the death of Heureaux, Juan Isidro Jimenez, as president, and Horacio Vasquez, as vice-president, came into power. The rivalry between Jimenez and Vasquez caused a division between their respective followers, who called themselves Jimenistas and Horacistas, thus forming the principal parties which continue to the present time. The old Reds and Blues had disappeared and their survivors aligned themselves with Jimenez and Vasquez indiscriminately; members of the Baez family joined old Blues to follow Jimenez, while other old Reds and Blues as well as the Lilicistas seemed to prefer Vasquez. In 1901 an attempt was made to form a party known as the Republican Party, which it was intended to endow with a platform, but being composed largely of Jimenez' friends, it was viewed with suspicion and fell with him.
In 1902 the Horacistas revolted and obtained the government, only to be overthrown in 1903 by followers of Jimenez. The new administration proving odious to both parties they combined to drive it out in the fall of 1903. The Horacistas gained the upper hand in the succeeding government and remained in power until 1912, though a serious division developed in the party, to the extent that the nominal leader, Horacio Vasquez, himself joined in conspiracies and uprisings against the administration. His efforts, combined with those of the Jimenistas, led to the choice of Archbishop Nouel as compromise candidate for president in 1912. Monsignor Nouel unsuccessfully attempted to govern with both parties and on his resignation in 1913 another Horacista became president. Again there was opposition from Horacistas as well as Jimenistas and in 1914 a Jimenista became provisional president.
At about this time a small third party appeared, led by Federico Velazquez, a former Horacista. His followers are known as Velazquistas, though the party has adopted the official name of Progresista. In the elections of 1914 he joined forces with Jimenez, who thus secured the presidency. The government, or what remains of it under the present military occupation, is still constituted largely by followers of Jimenez and Velazquez.
Though both Jimenistas and Horacistas claim to have the larger following in the country in general, it is probable that they are about equally matched, the Velazquistas holding the balance of power.
The Jimenistas are often vulgarly called "bolos" or bob-tailed cocks, and the Horacistas "rabudos" or "coludos," meaning bushy-tailed or long-tailed cocks. In the fighting on the Monte Cristi plains the Jimenistas would often attack, but retire as soon as their opponents showed fight, and as such tactics reminded the Dominicans of the habits of bob-tailed fighting cocks, the nicknames were imposed.
The men who attain prominence in politics range all the way from rude ignorant military chiefs to polished members of the aristocracy. In looking over the annals of Dominican history the same family names constantly recur and it may be affirmed that the government of the country has during the time of independence been in the hands of some twenty families, the members of which have swayed its councils and led its revolutions. They have tasted the sweets of power but also the bitterness of defeat, alternately occupying high positions in the government and pining in prison or exile. Almost all the chiefs of state since 1899 would have done honor to any country, but all have been obliged by the exigencies of politics to give places in their entourage to men of low standing, whose deeds or misdeeds when in power and whose unbridled ambition, have been a factor in the civil wars. At the present moment perhaps the most prominent political figure is Federico Velazquez, a man of unusual force of character, who as minister of finance under Caceres, enforced the settlement of the Dominican debt and gave what was probably the most honest administration of public revenues in the Republic's history. He is one of the few men having the moral courage openly to advocate American cooperation in the government of the country. He is about forty-seven years old, was born in Tamboril, near Santiago, and advanced through the stages of schoolmaster, shopkeeper, secretary to Vasquez and Caceres, and cabinet minister, to the position of a political leader.
The ill-feeling akin to hatred between many members of the political parties is incredible to one not accustomed to Latin-American politics. They will have nothing in common, neither will acknowledge the existence of any good in the other, they endeavor to keep apart in the clubs, they do not care to buy in each other's stores. Even the women enter into this bitterness and engagements have been broken because the bridegroom was discovered to favor one party while the bride or her family sympathized with the other.
The parties are not unalterably composed of the same individuals. On the contrary a great number of the leaders and of the rank and file are continually drifting from one party to another, evincing particular anxiety to "get on the band-wagon." These changelings, while they belong to any one party, affect to be its most ardent supporters in order to avert any suspicion of insincerity. Much of the disorder which has sapped the life-blood of the Republic has been due to disappointed office-seekers who suddenly veered about and joined the opposing party.
Not only to personal ambitions and corruption of the persons in power, but also to the perfunctory mode in which elections have been conducted the many revolutions are to be ascribed. The municipal councils in the communes and the justices of the peace and two residents in the cantons form the election board before which the voters of the respective commune or canton are supposed to appear to deposit their votes. It is evident that if anything more than a small proportion of the qualified voters appeared, such election boards would be swamped, yet no difficulty has ever been registered. The election of the presidential candidate supported by the government was generally so certain that all other aspirants realized the futility of launching their candidacy, and their followers either voted for the official candidate or refrained from voting. In this connection I am reminded of the convincing political speeches attributed to one of the foremost men of La Vega during the farcical campaigns preceding the elections of Heureaux. He is quoted as saying: "My friends, this Republic is founded on the free and unrestricted suffrage of its citizens. It is the proud boast of the Dominican that under the constitution he may vote as he pleases. You are therefore free to cast your vote for whomsoever you prefer. I would not be your friend, however, if I did not advise you that whoever does not vote for Heureaux might as well leave the country." In elections for municipal councilmen and members of Congress there was occasionally an exception to the rule of having a cut and dried program and contests sometimes arose for a seat.
The real campaigns and expressions of the people's will have therefore been the revolutions, and politics and revolutions have thus come to be regarded as going hand in hand. In a town of the Cibao an expression of the garrulous landlady of the inn attracted my attention. The old lady, after regaling me with the local gossip, started with her own troubles. "Two revolutions ago," she said—and her mode of measuring time struck me as peculiar—"my eldest son took a gun and went into politics." "Cojió un fusil y se metió en la politica"—"took a gun and went into politics," the phrase is sadly expressive.
Such campaigns were only too easily begun. When a new president entered upon office on the crest of a successful revolution, apparently with the whole country behind him and his adversaries silenced or scattered, his popularity generally lasted until the spoils were distributed. ("To the victors belong the spoils" was the policy of the past; the American military authorities are making an important innovation by the introduction of civil service principles for selecting public employees.) The disappointed spirits immediately entered into the plots which the vanquished opponents were not slow in fomenting. The leader of the adverse party or one of his trusted lieutenants raised the standard of revolt and issued manifestoes which echoed with patriotic sentiments and decried the faults of the administration. He was joined by a number of disgruntled "generals" and their followers. The telegraph wires were cut and the revolution had begun.
Before 1905 the seizure of a custom-house was invariably the next step, which would at the same time provide the insurgents with the sinews of war and make it impossible for the government to pay its employees in that province. The custom-houses were eliminated as pawns in the revolutionary game by the fiscal treaty with the United States, according to which the customs receipts were paid over to an American receiver-general. Revolutions for a short time became more difficult, but where there's a will there's a way, and under a new routine the necessary funds were derived from the government's internal revenues and from levies on private citizens.
The first two or three weeks of a revolt constituted its critical period, for the government at once poured troops into the district in order to suppress the insurrection, while the rebels sought to obtain as many strategical points as possible. Both sides lived on the country while roaming about in pursuit of each other. If the government was victorious the leaders of the revolt would usually scramble across the border into Haitian territory, or leave the country by boat, or otherwise make themselves inconspicuous until the time was ripe for another rebellion. When the government was unready or unsuccessful, the insurrection spread with great rapidity from town to town until it arrived before the walls of Santo Domingo City. There was more or less of a siege and when the president capitulated he was permitted to board a vessel and go into exile. The head of the new revolution then assumed charge of the government and had himself elected president and the game began all over again.
The personal property of the fallen adversaries was respected and there was no confiscation, such as has occasionally been witnessed in certain other Latin republics. When Baez was overthrown in 1858 there was an exception to the rule, his properties being seized by the Santana government on the ground that he was a traitor ready to deliver the country over to the Haitians and was guilty of other high crimes and misdemeanors. But when the wheel of fortune again brought Baez to the top he promptly reentered upon his lands.
During the uprisings there has rarely been wanton destruction of property, the property of foreigners being especially respected. The owner of a plantation near Macoris told me that on one occasion the general of an insurgent force even halted at his gates and sent him a polite request for permission to cross the property. Such consideration was not universal, however, and large sums have been paid to foreigners for damages inflicted during revolutions. A serious inconvenience was caused farmers by revolutions as many laborers were enrolled in one army or the other, either voluntarily or by impressment.
In the course of the insurrection there were numerous encounters between the rebels and the government troops, most of them being mere skirmishes. There is hardly a town where there are not houses which show the marks of bullets. The walls and gates of Santo Domingo City and the houses in the vicinity are full of such marks, though generally painted over now. In 1904 and 1905 one of the sights of the city was a beautiful villa opposite the Puerta del Conde, which had served as target for the government forces while occupied by the insurgents and was so peppered by shot and shell as to look like a sieve. The sieges of Santo Domingo City sometimes lasted for many months. At such times almost every citizen took part in the excitement, barricades were erected at every street opening and the rattle of musketry was heard at all hours.
The proportion of shots fired to casualties inflicted is known to be enormous in all wars and in Santo Domingo it is almost incredible. Battles have been fought lasting for hours with thousands of shots fired, yet with not one man lost. There have been revolutionary uprisings lasting for months with not a man wounded. In Puerto Plata it is said that when the government troops attacked the city in 1904 a fierce battle ensued which continued from morning till the town was taken by storm in the evening; yet only one man was killed and his death was due to his own carelessness, for he appeared not far from where soldiers of the other side were training a cannon and refused to obey their warning to get out of the way, whereupon the cannon was discharged and his arm shot off, causing a mortal wound.
At other times, however, the results have been far more serious, as many a maimed soldier and bereaved family can testify. The graves of victims of the revolutions are scattered all over the Republic. How many have fallen in the disturbances of the past fifteen years it is impossible to determine; I have heard estimates ranging from 1000 up to 15,000. Nor is revolutionizing a pleasant business when continued for any length of time. When the men entered a town contributions could be levied on the merchants, but when they were harassed and forced to retreat to the mountains they roamed for weeks half nude, bare-headed, barefooted, exposed to the weather, living on what bananas and wild fruits they could find or occasional wild hogs they were able to kill, undermining their constitutions and brutalizing their natures. The landlady whose son sought political distinction with a gun told me amid sobs that her boys were dutiful, industrious lads before being caught in the revolutionary torrent, but that in the woods they lost all inclination for work and returned home completely demoralized. From grieving relatives of victims I have heard many another story of ruined lives and early deaths. It is saddening to reflect on the tears which have been shed and the misery which has been caused by this long continued civil strife.
While women have been heavy sufferers from the revolutions they have not hesitated to take sides and contribute their mite. Many are the stories current in Santo Domingo of women who smilingly passed through the enemy's ranks and carried ammunition and supplies concealed beneath their garments to their friends in the woods.
Excluding the revolution by which the Haitian yoke was thrown off in 1844 and that of 1863-65, which expelled the Spaniards, there have occurred in the seventy years of Dominican independence no less than twenty-three successful revolutions. One occurred in each of the years 1848, 1844, 1849, 1857 and 1864, three in 1865, one each in 1866, 1867 and 1873, three in 1876, one each in 1877, 1878, 1879, 1899 and 1902, two in 1903 and one each in 1912 and 1914. At times hardly had a revolution proved successful when a counter-revolution broke out and secured the victory. The longest intermissions were from 1879 to 1899 when the party of the dictator Heureaux was in power, and from 1903 to 1912, when the indirect protection of the United States was sufficient to sustain the government.
These were the successful revolutions; the unsuccessful insurrections are innumerable. It has been unfortunate for the credit of Santo Domingo that almost every little shooting affray is classed as an insurrection or revolution. Most of these unsuccessful uprisings have been unimportant excursions into the country by some disaffected local chief and a handful of followers, the band being promptly rounded up or scattered by government forces or induced to come in by promise of a job or some other consideration.
The circumstance that the provincial governors found it to their advantage to have disturbances in their district explains many of the smaller commotions. Upon the outbreak of an insurrection or before the threat of an outbreak the authorities in the capital would authorize the provincial governor to recruit troops and draw funds for their payment. The governor would do so, but if two or three thousand men had been authorized he would raise only two or three hundred and forget to account for the balance of the money. The suppression of the "revolution" would thus benefit both his military reputation and his pocketbook. Governors were therefore prone to exaggerate rumors of insurrection and sometimes themselves sent out men to fire a few shots in the woods and create alarm.
Other insurrections have been fierce and formidable and some administrations were obliged to engage in constant warfare in order to maintain themselves. A serious unsuccessful insurrection was that led by Gen. Casimiro de Moya against Heureaux in 1886, which lasted six months. The most widespread was that of Jimenez against the Morales government, lasting from December, 1903, to May, 1904, and during which the insurgents gained possession of practically the entire Republic. Other serious outbreaks occurred in 1904, 1905, 1906, 1909, 1911, 1913 and 1916. The fires smouldered constantly, especially in the Cibao, which raises the largest crops of everything, including revolutions.
The effect of such continuous commotion has been most disastrous to the country and the people at large. This is all the more saddening when it is considered that, less than ten per cent of the people took part in the disturbances. Revolutions, successful and unsuccessful, have been fought to a finish with less than a thousand men on either side. Ninety per cent of the population are law-abiding citizens who would like nothing better than to be let alone and permitted to pursue their vocations in peace. The other ten per cent were not entirely to blame: they have been the victims of their environment.
Not only have the revolutionary disturbances caused enormous indirect loss to the country through paralyzation of agriculture, arrest of development and loss of credit, but they have also been a large direct expense. A considerable portion of every budget was devoted to appropriations for the purchase of war material and the maintenance of the military and naval establishment. When uprisings occurred the additional amounts necessary for their suppression have been taken from other appropriations, those for public works usually being the first to be cancelled. If the uprisings became serious the other appropriations of the budget were reduced by fifty or even seventy-five per cent until all the available cash was devoted to war purposes. In 1903 military and naval expenditures absorbed 71.7 per cent of the Republic's disbursements, and in 1904 72.6 per cent. At such times the government was reduced to a desperate struggle for existence; the loss of the custom-houses in power of the insurgents made its position still more precarious; it contracted loans on ruinous terms; it neglected its foreign obligations and paid its employees in promissory notes and even in postage stamps, which they would then peddle about the streets. Under such conditions it is natural that nothing was left for public improvements. Even under the peaceful administration of Heureaux a disproportionate part of the national funds was expended for military purposes and three gunboats were acquired and maintained, but not a single mile of improved road was laid out.
With the American military occupation political conditions in the Dominican Republic have radically changed. The system of waging political campaigns by force of arms has stopped abruptly and absolutely. Revolutions have become a matter of history. Ballots will hereafter take the place of bullets, and politics will be conducted in the same manner as in other orderly countries. Evolution, not revolution, will be the characteristic of the future.