Page:Haiti- Her History and Her Detractors.djvu/294

 264 of the eleven ports is a custom-house, where all goods or products imported or exported are controlled.

The Administrator of Finance signs all documents relative to the collection of duties or to the expenditure in that part of the territory under his authority; the duties are afterward collected and all expenses paid by the National Bank of Haiti, which has charge of the Service of the Treasury. He is in relations with the Secretary of the Treasury and Commerce as well as with the Court of Accounts.

The members of this Court of Accounts are elected by the Senate from a list of candidates presented by the House of Representatives. The property of the Secretaries of State and of all those who are accountable for the management of the public funds remains mortgaged until a favorable report is made by the Court of Accounts concerning their administration.

The financial situation of Haiti is in a better condition than that of many other countries. The external debt amounted on the 31st of December, 1904, to $12,123,105; it consists of two loans floated in France in 1875 and in 1896. The balance due on the loan of 1875 is 19,252,560 francs or $3,609,855, and yields an interest of 5 per cent. Haiti pays an annuity of 1,557,492 francs. In 1922 this loan will be entirely redeemed.

The loan of 1896, amounting to a total of 50,000,000 francs, pays 6 per cent interest. Owing to the regular payment of the annuities the balance of this loan in December, 1904, was 45,404,000 francs, or $8,513,250. It will be entirely paid in 1932.

On the 31st of December, 1904, the home or internal debt amounted to $14,181,870, not including the paper money, which is being gradually redeemed by means of special taxes.

There are usually as many academic circumscriptions as arrondissements, although an academic circumscription may, according to circumstances, include two or