Word: haiti
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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Revolutions broke out in the north and interior of Haiti and were put down, the natives say, by unnecessarily brutal methods. A corvee system was instituted to build roads, but this administration, too, brought bitter complaint. The fact that much of the American personnel spoke no French and most of the natives no English naturally impeded progress and cooperation...
...have both civil and military authorities in Haiti. The latter have organized a gendarmerie, which keeps order. It was at first officered entirely by Americans, but now to a considerable extent by natives. Through engineers from the United States Navy, we supervise the building of roads, and today there are more of these, and in better condition, than formerly; the Haitian complaint is that they have been built to facilitate luxurious automobile traffic which only the Americans can afford...
American Activities in Haiti...
...main American activity just now is in connection with the budget and financial rehabilitation. There is a general director of all American activities in Haiti, a financial adviser, and under him a score of assistants. The Americans have the veto power over all expenditures and, in fact, new laws must generally be submitted first to the financial adviser or to some other designated American...
Obviously, largely as a result of control, the country is now on a sound financial basis. The old loans have all been called in and new ones substituted. Taxes are collected regularly and yield much more than formerly. The export duty has been greatly reduced and Haiti is now exporting more than she imports. Altogether the country is more prosperous and better off from an economic standpoint than it was when the Americans took it over...