Page:American Historical Review vol. 6.djvu/496

 486 P. S. Reinsch It was not long before there appeared among the leaders of the mulattoes the signs of coming factional struggles. Two men con- tended for leadership and management of the political patronage, M. Hurard, the founder of Les Colonies, and M. Deproge, both rep- resentatives of Martinique in the national parliament. About these two men the factional strife began to centre, — a warfare of much bitterness in which no expedient was left untried. In order to gain more influence both sides appealed to the black electors, who had hitherto taken but little part in political life, M. Deproge, who was an exceedingly shrewd political organizer, succeeded finally in ob- taining the control of the political patronage. M. Hurard, on the other hand, to counterbalance this influence preached the policy of reconciliation among all classes of the island, and their co-operation in a unified political life without factional struggles. Thus he not only appealed to the black population, but also favored the partici- pation of the whites in the politics of the island, and caused them to be nominated for public office. The two parties were originally called simply Hurardist and Dcprogist, but as the breach between them became irremediable, they assumed the names of Republican- Progressist and Socialist respectively. Since the middle of the last decade, the whites have entered politics in large numbers, making use of the former party to give expression to their political aims. In the parliamentary election of 1898 the Progressists were suc- cessful ; one of their candidates, M. Guibert, a resident of France, had been selected as a mark of conciliation between the races.' The other, M. Duguesnay, was one of the original leaders of the colored party in 1878. These two men are the deputies of Martinique in the national parliament at the present time. In the senatorial elec- tion which followed in 1899, upon the death of Senator Allegre, victory was with the Socialists, who had nominated M. Knight, a wealthy distiller and landowner. By the exigencies of colonial poli- tics, this capitalist is now forced to make common cause in France with Fourniere, Millerand, Rochefort, and Guesde. In Martinique the two parties are at present in a state of balance, the Socialists having a majority of one in the general council. We must not, however, attribute to these parties a close adhesion to the principles advocated by the parties bearing the same names in France. Thus the Socialists, whose leaders are taken from among the property-holding colored bourgeoisie, pursue none of the measures favored by true Socialists. They leave the building of roads in private hands and refuse to pass a progressive income-tax, or vote subventions for old-age insurance ; moreover they show no ' Lcs Colonies, April II, 1900.