Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 2.djvu/238

218 to Baez. Do you remember, sir, how touching his description was of the patriotic unselfishness of that man, who was going to sacrifice all his power and all his honors in transferring the republic of San Domingo to the United States? He, the powerful ruler of that republic, to step voluntarily back into private life; and all that not for reward, not for his own personal advantage, but merely for the good of his fellow-citizens; an example of sublime disinterestedness hardly paralleled in the history of mankind. This morning I happened to see an abstract of the forthcoming report of the commission that was sent down to San Domingo—by the way, as I understand, the whole report will be in the newspapers very soon—and in that abstract I find a very interesting piece of information about the sublime unselfishness of the pure and disinterested patriot. It is this:

The public debt statement is to be compared with the letter to-day received by the commission to see if they have been furnished with the correct figures. As now made up, the debt is, in round numbers, $1,400,000; additional pending claim, $204,000; inclusive of $70,000 by President Baez for personal property destroyed in the Spanish war, and under the first head $600,000 for back salaries.

Ah! what a disinterested and pure patriot Baez is! How his heart aches to get rid of all his worldly honors and possessions, merely for the purpose of turning over his country to the tender care of the United States! How impatient he is to sacrifice himself for the welfare of his fellow-citizens with the snug sum of $70,000 damages in his pocket, and $600,000 to be divided among, mark you, brothers and relatives who constitute the chief officeholding force of the republic of Dominica, and Baez himself!

Considering that Baez is sure to be driven from his