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MARCH, 1861. DOUGLASS' MONTHLY. 429 [[line across page]] [[3 columns]] [[column 1]] NOTES ON HAYTI. [[short line]] RELIGIOUS TOLERATION. Religious toleration is a prominent characteristic of the Haytian people. Although they are Catholics they have never persecuted Protestants. No civilized nation in the world has so stainless a record on this point. The great principle of toleration has been embodied in every Constitution, and maintained under every form of Government that has prevailed in Hayti, from the dawn of its National Independence. Dessalines, who completed the extinction of the whites, first proclaimed the doctrine of religious toleration. In the Constitution of 1805 of the Empire of Hayti, the fifteenth article declares that the 'laws admit of no governing religion;' the fifty-first, that 'the liberty of worship is tolerated;' and the fifty-second, that 'the State makes no provision for the support of either worship or minister.' Petion, the first President of the Republic of Hayti, made equally liberal provisions. In the Constitution of 1806, the thirty-fifth article is, 'The Roman Catholic religion being the religion of all the Haytians, is the religion of the State. It shall be specially protected; as, also its ministers.' Article 36 is, 'The law allows each minister the extent of his spiritual administration. Their ministers cannot, under any pretext, form a body of State.'--Article 37 is, 'If, hereafter, other religions are introduced, no person shall be restrained in the exercise of the religion of their choice; provided he conforms to the laws.' I venture the assertion that the statute book of no other nation contains so remarkable a provision,--the assertion of the right of religious freedom by a nation of Catholics only, in anticipation of a possible future contingency. Protestantism was introduced under Petion, by his special invitation, in 1847; he gave the missionaries a cordial welcome, and assured them of perfect liberty to preach, travel, and build houses of worship where they pleased. In the Constitution of 1816, under Boyer, the forty-ninth article reads, 'All religious worship is permitted in the Republic, conformably with the laws.' By the Constitution of 1843, (under Reviere,) 'All religions are equally free. Each one has the right to profess his religion and worship in freedom; provided he does not disturb the public order.' In the Constitutions of 1846 and 1849, (the last being under the Empire of Soulouque,) the rights of religious freedom and worship are expressed in the language of the Constitutian of 1843. The constitution of 1846 is in vigor now. The emphatic declaration of the present Government, that 'no one shall be called on to defend the Roman Catholic religion, whether he believes it or not,' and the frequent official repetitions of its intention to permit no manner of religious persceutions, [sic] are guarantees that the principle of religious toleration will suffer no abatement under the enlightened rule of President Geffrard and his ministers. Such official guarantees, however, are unnecessary; the character and history of the people are all sufficient. If there are those, however, who desire to make 'assurance doubly sure' in this respect, they will find ample opportunities of doing so in the archieves of the Bureau at Boston. UNITED STATES COMMERCE WITH HAYTI. The commerce between the United States and Hayti is the eighth in point of importance to this country. It is larger than that with Venezuela, Bolivar, Peru, the Argentine, and Cisalpine Republics, all included. In 1851, the Mexican States imported from the United States $330,000 less than did Hayti, and employed 26,000 tons less of our shipping. In 1852 there were 330 cargoes carried between Boston and Hayti alone. Since then the commerce has largely increased. The present value of the importations from the United States is about $2,250,000, and the amount of the duty paid by them to the Haytian treasury is about forty per cent. of the whole revenue.-- [[/column 1]] [[column 2]] The chief of these importations are pork and flour, which amount to about fifty per cent. of the whole. The imports at Port-au-Prince, for the first six months of 1860, amounted to $1,438,145, of which the United States received for its supplies $665,400. This, of course, does not include what were landed at other ports, as Cape Haytien, Gonaives Jacmel, St. Marks, Jeremie, &c, with which the trade under the United States flag is extensive. The exports from Port-au Prince for the same period amount to $1,400,000 of which the United States took values to the amount of $275,000 only--but little more than one-third of that received. The tonnage of the port amounted to 19 860 tons, of which the United States was represented by 9600, France 5000, England 2200 tons. The whole commerce of the island employs annually between 500 and 600 vessels, giving a total of about 70,000 tons, of which the United States commerce employs about 250 ships, and an aggregate of 37,000 tons. The import duties paid by the United States to the Haytian government, under the rule of Soulouque, amounted annually to about $300,000, or one-third of the revenue of the Empire. Since the re-inauguration of the Republic, under President Geffrard, the commerce of the two nations has largely increased. Should the measures now pending to secure a large colored emigration from this country be successful, it may be reasonably expected that this will be still further increased. The productiveness of Hayti may be easily seen by the following statement of its products at the period just previous to its revolution.--There were in cultivation about two million acres of land which yielded as follows: brown sugar, 93,773,300 lbs.; white sugar, 47,516,351 lbs.; coffee, 77,000,000 lbs; cotton, 7,004,274 lbs.; indigo, 758,628 lbs. This does not cover a large trade in hides, valuable woods, minerals and smaller vegetable products. These figures embrace only the French colony, which thus produced as much sugar as all of the British West Indies together. At present the Haytian Republic is the third coffee producing country of the world. Hitherto but little attention has been paid to cotton. The variety grown there is of that kind known as tree cotton. The Sea Island and all other varieties become perennial and yield two crops a year, averaging 500 lbs. per acre. Two-thirds of the land in Hayti are admirable adapted to the cultivation of this staple. Machinery for its culture and munufacture [sic] is now being imported by the government of Hayti, and every effort, it is announced by them, will be made to secure a share of the tempting prize which the trade in this staple offers. Hayti is in the very centre of the cotton belt of the world, and wants nothing but labor and skill to develop her immense resources to become one of the foremost sources of the cotton supply, demanded by the great manufacturing interest of Europe and New England. [[line]] --A Milwaukee merchant at New Orleans, recently heard two men, partially intoxicated, call out 'Hurrah for Lincoln!' In a moment they were dangling from the rafters of a building, for their 'incendiary' remarks. The merchant thought this was 'rather rough usage,' and so stated to a friend, when he was summarily told that if he did not 'dry up' he would share the same fate. In about ten minutes a vigilance committee waited on him and warned him to leave immediately, and in spite of his business which called him there, he thought it best to comply with the request. --The returns of the census for the four slaveholding Indian communities west of the State of Arkansas, have been received by the Department at Washington. The communities referred to are the Choctaws, Cherokees, Chickasaws and Siminoles. The latter were the only tribe which refused to let the assistant Marshal enumerate their slaves. Several thousand slaves are owned by the tribes taken in aggregate, and these slaves are employed by the Indians in cultivating their lands. --Mr. Conway, Representative from the new State of Kansas, was born at Charleston, S. C., and is now only about 30 years of age.--He is a Republican, as are all the other officers of that State. [[/column 2]] [[column 3]] THE CLEVELAND FUGITIVE SLAVE CASE. [[line]] While the scoundrels of the South are charging that the North does not fulfill her constitutional obligations, a poor, forlorn woman, named Lucy, has been surrendered, as we announced in our last number, to her assumed owner, a Mr. Goshorn of Virginia, in the very heart of the Western Reserve. The following is the closing scene before the U. S. Commissioner: When the evidence had all been submitted, Hon. R. P. SPAULDING, counsel for the woman, arose and said : May it please the Court--The time has arrived when I feel myself in duty bound to surrender my unfortunate client to the demands of that law 'whose tender mercies are cruelties.' By your indulgence, Sir, a full opportunity has been presented to me to procure testimony that would enable me to vindicate this woman's claim to personal freedom, even in the eye of the Fugitive Enactment itself. I had strong hopes of finding such testimony; but, Sir, after the most earnest efforts made in that behalf, by means of money freely furnished by the good and humane of Cleveland, I am constrained to say that, according to the law of slavery, the colored girl Lucy does owe service to Wm. S. Goshorn of Virginia, and I am quite satisfied, from sundry affidavits, that I shall take the liberty to read, and from other and more unerring evidence, that she made her escape from such service in Virginia at the time stated by the claimant. Nothing now remains that may impede the performance of your painful duty, Sir, unless I be permitted to trespass a little further upon your indulgence and say to this assemblage, 'we are this day offering to the majesty of constitutional law a homage that takes with it a virtual surrender of the finest feelings of our nature--the vanquishing of many of our strictest resolutions--the mortification of a freeman's pride, and, I almost said, the contravention of a Christian's duty to his God.'-- While we do this, in the city of Cleveland, in the Connecticut Western Reserve, and permit this poor piece of humanity to be taken [[italics]] peaceably [[/italics]] through our streets, and upon our railways back to the land of bondage, will not the frantic South stay its parricidal arm? Will not our compromising legislators cry, 'Hold, enough!' Affidavits of several persons were then read, after which Mr. BARLOW, counsel for the claimants, arose and said: I must thank my learned friend for what to me seems the patriotic course he has pursued. I must say, however, that this question before us does not involve the right or wrong of slavery, and I do not understand that the constitutionality of the Fugitive Slave law is involved, nor the propriety of its provisions. The whole duty of the court is to give force and vigor to the law as it is. In justice to the claimants, I will say that they are actuated by no mercenary motives, nor do they come to harass the prejudices of the North; their object is simply to test whether our declamations of being law-abiding citizens are true, and are really meant. Cleveland has come up to work manfully, and no citizen has laid a single straw in the way, and these gentlemen from Virginia thank you for it, and it will satisfy them more than all else. Mr. Commissioner WHITE, in giving his decision, remarked that the Constitution requires that persons held to service or labor, having escaped from a slave to a free State, shall be given up. The law of 1793 furnishes means to enforce this, and the law of 1850 has given greater facilities. The only facts required to be known in order that a certificate shall be furnished, are :--1st, Is she a slave? I can assume that slavery exists in Virginia, and that persons can be held there, to service, and the proof is undisputed that she is a slave. 2d, Did she escape? This is admitted. 3d, Is Mr. Goshorn her owner?-- [[/column 3]]
