Page:Haiti- Her History and Her Detractors.djvu/260

 respect for the rights of a weaker nation, Great Britain was resorting to threats in order to compel Haiti to pay an indemnity to the Maunders.

This claim might easily have been referred to arbitration; for the Haitian Government contended that the grantee had not paid the rent agreed upon, whilst the Maunders declared that they had sustained heavy losses—the case being thus a mere matter of accounts to be settled and damages to be estimated. But Great Britain arbitrarily determined upon the amount to be paid, and in March, 1887, the man-of-war Canada, with a special Commissioner on board, anchored in the harbor of Port-au-Prince, demanding an immediate settlement. In order to secure peace Haiti had to agree to pay the sum of $32,000.

Foreigners never cease criticising the management of Haitian finances, without seeking the reason for the impoverished state of the exchequer. The frequent assaults made upon the Haitian treasury by one or other of the great Powers have in a large measure contributed to a deficit in the budgets and to the straitened circumstances in which the country has many a time found itself.

However, Salomon did not allow these various difficulties to prevent him from taking some useful measures. He started at once to enter into direct negotiations with the holders of the bonds of the Domingue loan. An agreement was speedily arrived at, and since then the interest has been regularly paid. By the year 1922 this loan will have been entirely redeemed.

Convinced as to the integrity of the Haitians, French capitalists undertook to establish a State Bank in Haiti. This bank, which is called Banque Nationale d'Haiti, was established in 1881; it is intrusted with the mission of collecting the revenues and meeting all the expenses of the Republic. Unfortunately, this institution did not give the example of strict probity and careful