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 "Sección 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 "mañana" is constantly observed.