Travelers pay no tax and samples are admitted duty free.
The chief cities are:
| Population | |
|---|---|
| Santo Domingo | 30,000 |
| Santiago | 15,000 |
| Puerto Plata | 10,000 |
| San Pedro de Macoris | 7,000 |
| Sanchez | 5,000 |
The Clyde S. S. Company (American) maintains a semi-monthly service from New York touching all the ports of the Republic. There are many European lines calling at the various ports also.
XVI
HAITI
Much of the history of Haiti is associated with its neighbor, Santo Domingo, and need not be again told. After the French had established their government in this island they imported negroes from Africa as slaves. These revolted in 1791 and in 1801 declared their independence, finally expelling the French in 1804. This land has been the scene of much bloodshed and lacks stability in its government, as it always will until taken under the control of some strong power.
Its geography and climatic conditions are the same as those of Santo Domingo, its area of 10,200 square miles supporting a population estimated at 2,000,000, French or a “patois” being the language spoken. Perhaps 95 per cent. of its inhabitants are negroes, or have negro blood. The country is backward. But few attempts have been made to modernize it and it is to-day one of the most hopeless nations of this hemisphere. About 75 miles of railways are in operation. No navigable streams exist. There are no roads, travel in the interior being over trails. The natives are ignorant, uneducated and in some portions of the land are supposed to practice cannibalism. There are two seasons—a rainy and a dry—the rainy lasting from April to November.
Haiti’s chief products are coffee, 40,000 tons of which were exported last year, cocoa, dye woods and cabinet woods, medicinal gums, rubber, castor oil bean and bark for tanning. Her exports of $17,300,000 for 1913 were divided as follows:
| France | $8,500,000 |
| Germany | 6,400,000 |
| United Kingdom | 1,300,000 |
| United States | 1,100,000 |
while her imports for the same period amounted to $8,700,000, credited to the following nations: