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RURAL CODE OF HAITI,


LITERALLY TRANSLATED


FPOM A PUBLICATION BY THE GOVERNMENT PRESS



TOGETHER WITH


LETTERS FROM THAT COUNTRY,


CoScgRING ITS PRESENT CONDITION,


MBr a Seatera rnte


flANILLE, MIDDLETOWN,


GEORGE I. EVANS.


1887


93fl11-sdtw


















ADVERTISEMENT.


This pamphlet was put to press more than a year ago, but its publicsa
tion was delayedby unforeseen causes. It is thought, however, that the
present time is no less propitious for the promulgation of the information
t contains than the former period, since it is every day becoming more
apparent, that the increase of the colored population of the United States
fobodes an evil, which a large portion of the people are evidently
anxious to avoid.












RURAL CODE OF HAITI.


The Chamber of the Representatives of Communes; on
the proposition of the President of Haiti, and having heard
the Report of its Committee of the Interior, has passed the
six following laws, constituting the Rurhl Code of Haiti.,
LAW, No..
ON THE GENERAL ARRANGEMENTS RELATIVE TO
AGRICULTURE.
Article 1. Agriculture, being the main source of the pros-
perityof the state, shall enjoy the special protection and en-
eouragement of the Civil and Military authorities.
2. The citizens, of the profession of agriculture, cannot
be taken off from their pursuits, except in the cases pointed
out by law.
3. All the citizens being bound to give their aid towards
supporting the state, either by their services or their indus-
try; those who shall not be employed in-ivil offices, or call-
ed out on military services; those who shall not be engaged
in any business subject to the patent; those who shall not
be employed as working artificers, or as domestic servants; -
those who shall not be employed in the cutting of wood fit for
exportation; and those, in fine, who shall not he able to
show that they possess the means of subsistence, shall be
bound to cultivate the earth.
4. Citizens of the agricultural profession shall not be at
liberty to quit the country, in order to reside in cities or towns,
without the authorization of the Justice of Peace of the
Commune they wish to quit, and of that of the Commune
where they mean to fix themselves; and the Justice of
Peace shall not give his authorization, until he has assured
himself that the applicant is a person of good behavior
whohas correctly conducted himself in the canton he desires
to quit, and that he has the means of subsistence in the

SA tax so named imposed on merchants, shopkepers, tradesmen, &e.




4 I URAL CODE OF HAVIt.

town,where be wishes to reside. All who shall not cono
form to these rules, shall be considered and dealt with as
vagrants.
5. The children, of either sex, whom their parents (them-
selves engaged in agriculture) shall desire to send into the
cities or towns to be apprenticed or educated, are not to be
received either by master workmen, or by teachers of pub-
lic or private schools, without a certificate of the Justice of
Peace, which certificate shall be granted at the request
either of the proprietor or principal renter of the.placer or
of the officer of the rural police, or of the father or the
mother. of the child. Every contravenjon .of this rule
shall a subject to a fine of 25 dollars, to be -paid by the
person who shall have received the child without authoria-
tion.
6, Recruiting for the army can only take place by order
of the President, and it shall not extend to citizens engaged
in agriculture, unless the Chief of the State, induced by a
pressing danger, shall give orders to that effect.
7. No shop, either wholesale or retail; shall be established,
and no commerce in the produce of the island shallbe ear-
ried on in the country parts on any pretext whatsoever,
From thisruleare excepted raw sugars delivered to the refif
series, and masses to the distilleries, and cottonin the seed
when sent to the millto beginred.
8. Nevertheless the patented travelling'pedlars, residing
in, and going from, cities or towns, may, while travelling
over the country, sell provisions, foreign merchandise -and
hardware.*
9. The houses or cottages which private persons have al-
ready erected in the interior of the Communes, in situations
Where there is no regular township, but merely a collection
of cottages, whether for their own accommodation or to let to
others, shall be subject to the same tax, on the value of the
rent of those houses, which is payable in cities and towns.
In future, however, no cottage shall be erected in the coun-
try, where there is no recognized township, except when con-
nected with a rural establishment.
10. No proprietor of land bordering on the sea shall pos-
sess boats or vessels except for the transport of his produce

The articles 7 and B seem framed nathe absnd spirit of xay of our owi
old laws. Theyawe probably intended to seltre the revenue by conf aing the
sale of taxable commodities and the reside of taxed (patented) traders to
the town.





IVtIRAL CODE OF HAITL 5

to the neighboring city or town ; nd for this he shall have,
from theJustice of Peace of the Commune, a licence which
shall be delivered gratis; and on no pretenceshall these boats
be at liberty to carry on the coastingtrade of other ports, or
of the adjacent little islands, nor the business of fishing
except for the exclusive use of the plantation.
11. All the fines and forfeitures imposed by the Rural
Code, shall be inflicted by the Justices of Peace when not
exceeding-the value of 100 dollars, and, when they exceed
that sum, by the civil tribunals. The half of the said fines
and forfeitures shall belong to the public treasury, the other
half to the informer.
12. On the day of the festival of agriculture, (the first of
May,) parties of cultivators from each section shall attend, at
the place where the Council of Notables meets, with samples
of their produce. The Council of Notables, in the presence
of all the authorities, shall crown the cultivator who shall
have best cultivated his farm, in each Section, and in each
kind of culture ; and he shall receive a prize of encourage-
miet.- Exact details of these proceedings shall be drawn
up and made public.
13.' Every year, on the first of September, the Councils of
Notables shall-address, to the President of Haiti, a circum-
stantial report respecting the state of agriculture in each
Common ne, accompanied by their observations as to the best
means of improving it.
14. At the eid of the year,the Commandants of Depart-
ments, shall, in like manner, render to the President of Hai-
ti an account of the state of agriculture in their respective
departments, and also of the state of the roads and high-
ways,
LAW, No. 1L
ON THE GENERAL ADMINISTRATION OF I E DIFFERENT
AGIICULTUIRAL ESTABLISHMENTS.
CHAPTER .
Rules relating to the administration of agricultural establisAh
ments as respects the proprietors of the soil.
Section 1.-Of Landmarks, Boundaries, and
Bstablishinents.
15. All the landed properties situated in the country, and
proceeding from grants made by the State, whether under
the title of National property, or under that of partial gift,
which have not yet been surveyed and measured, niust be so






within the space of one year from the date of the promul-
gation of the present code, under penalty f a fine of one dol-
larfor everycarreau ofland, to be paidbytheproprietor. With
a view to the due execution of this. regulation, the Justice of
Peace of the Communeshall,after the lapse of the above inter-
val, on a declaration beiiij made to him of the facts, employ a
surveyorduly commissioned, to measure and draw plan of the
unsurveyed grounds at the expense of the delinquent gran-
tee: when the amount of the fine shall be fixed, and levied
together with the expense of the survey.
16. From the date of the, promulgation of this law, no
sale of property, situated in the country, can be executed be-
fore a notary, if that property shall hre- not been previously
surveyed, and tha boundaries previously recognized hy the
title-deeds; norinany case'can a partial sale take place un-
less the land shalt have been previously surveyed. Notaries
acting in contratention of this article shall incur the penal-
ties of the law.
17. All grants o land made previousto the promulgation
of the presentftcbIe,'and on whidiin a year from that time,
no settj#ment shall have begun and 4tgants made subse-
quent-o that time, on which, iAd'yearfrom the date of the
grant, t~ p settle~eebt selalhaye cimmenced, shall revert to
the domain of the state; and the title-dged shall begiven up
and sent back to the Goggraon et.
18., To .carry the liaStreg htion into ;effect, the officer of
Ruralaflice inm conjbnctioni ith the Cqincil of Agriculture,
shall rpbrr t6 the Justice of Peace, and military Command-
ant of the Commune, the uncultivatei state of the grant;
and these, afteraeseettainimg thieorrectness of this Report,
shall examine 'and subscribe itp and then address it to the
Commandant if the Delartmdnt, who, after having obtain-
ed proof of the'fact, shbil withdraw the title-deed, and.send
it to the Governhent. '
19. A settleqnt.4 iIl" be considered as begun, when
there shall be a pirden cultivated according to the rules es-
blished by law, add the extent of which shall be duly pro-
portioned to the number of cultivators attached to the pro-
pprty.
20. The proprietors of cultivated Tarids, which areconti-
guous to each other, shall be bound, at their common ex-
penge, adequately-to fence their properties. Anyone refu-
sing to do so shall be compellable by course of law.
21. The proprietors of rural estates are bound to cause




RURAL CODE OF HAITI. 7
to be fixed, during any surveys made at their requisition, so-
lid landmarks inionorin masonry work, orin durable wood,
underpaid of a fine of five dollars for every landmark which
may be wanting.
22. The proprietors who shall have neglected to execute
the preceding regulation shall be bound, besides paying the
fine, to pay the artificer who shall bIe employed, by the
orders of the Justice of the Peace of theCommune, to fix the
requisite landmark. *.
SECTWr N I.f-Of ike obligations imposed o the proprietors or
administrators of rralpropert .
23. It is special forbidden to cut down the wood on the
crest of mountains and for a hundred j~p of their descent,
or at the head or in the environs ofp prin or on the banks
ofrivers. The proprietors of lands walered by springs, or
rivers, must surround the head, of those springs, and plant
the borders of the rivers, witNl plantain trees, bamboos, and
other trees calculated to promote coolness,'
24. When a proprietor inttidstoql fafe 44gw wood, or
to a field ofld f od canesr to savannahs, or to any er kind
of field, heshe al bouni wenty-fr hours before ap-
prize all the neighbors borae gpon him of his intention,
under the penalty. os paying for all the damage j ich the
fire may occasion. I "
25. As soon as & fAre Aall bireakli ut on a estate, bhe
neighboring propridtors-- and ecultivators- shall e iound.
to repair thither, in order to asi$st in arresting it pregfess.
26. It is forbidden to kindle 'i fire in tie savannahs or
in the fields or gardens of plan0itions, without the express
permission of-their proIpietors, enters; managers, or con-
ductors. .- .
27. There must not be kept oa estates appropriated to
cultivation, manufactures,or other establishments, any more
cattle than are required for carrying' n tha work of them,
or for.thense of the proprietors, managers, conductors, rept-
ers or cultivators; and these animals' ilst be kept dir-
ing the day in herds, and at night. in pens or inclosed fields.
28. Animals of the horse kind, horned cattle, swine,
&c. appropriated to breeding, cannot be kept except on
breeding establishments according tothe fourth law relating
to such establishments.
29. No proprietor, renter, or manager of a plantation
can establish on his estate a system contrary to that establish-
ed by law.




RURAt CODE OF. HAITI.


30. No company or association of cultivators, fixed on
the same plantation, shall be allowed to rent the whole of"
the estate on which they reside, in order to manage it by
themselves as a partnership.
31. The cottages or dwellings of the cultivators must be
built on one.and the same point of the plantation to which
they are attached.
CHAPTER II.
Of ultivation general.
32. The principal branch of cultivation consists in the
raising of plants and trees yielding produce for exportation
to foreign countries, grain of all descriptions, and all kinds
of food and roots designed for the subsistence of the popu-
lation.
33. All who carry on this principal branch of culture, are
Snot subject to the territorial and land tax, except on the
gross produce fit for expprtation which they shall have
got in. -
34.:The.Aeeondry branch of cultivation consists of the
culture Anerely of pot herbs, of flowers, of .fruit trees, of
'provisions, and of fodder, when the growth of these takes
place op estates which are not established for carrying on
the principal branch of cultivation.
35. Those whose establishment is specially directed to the
secondary branch of cultivation, are subject to the territo-
rial and land tax onthe estimated value of their produce in
each six months.
36. On every.rural establishment, they shall be bound to
cultivate provisions, grain, fruit trees, such as the bread
tree, &c., sufficient for the sustenance of the persons em-
ployed there.
37. All the gardens, whether they produce provisions
or grain, must be carefully attended to, under the responsi-
bility of the proprietor, renter, or manager, who, in case of
neglect, shall be condemned to a fine of from three to fifteen
dollars.
38. On every plantation the cultivators attached to
-it,and whowork for fourth of the produce, shall be bound
to have, for their personal use, a garden of provisions,
which they shall cultivate during their hours or days of
repose.
99. With this view the proprietors, renters, or -ma-
nagers shall be bound -to place, at the disposal of the cul,





RURAL CODE OF HAYTI.


tivators, the land necessary for the formation of their pri,
vate gardens. ,
40. The dikes, reservoirs, and conduits which serve to
supply and distribute the water required for the inhabitants,
both for irrigation, and for everyother useful purpose, shall
be kept in order by all the parties interested, who shall
be bound to contribute to the labors necessary to that
end. No one can refuse to share in these labors ; nor can
he alienate his neighbor's share of the water without his
consent. Every one acting contrary te these rules shall
pay a fine, of from ten to fifty dollars, and shall be bound to
repair at his own charge the conduit which be shall have ob-
structed or destroyed.,
41, When on any rural property'the produce of it shall
be on the point of' being packed in sacks, bales, casks, or
other packages, the officer of the Rural Police of the Sec-
tion, shall have the right of examining it, to satisfy him.
self that there is no fraud ; and when there is, he shall
stop the delivery, and immediately report the matter to the
Justice e of Peae of th. e Com. If the producehas only
been badly prepared, he shall suspend its removal, and oblige
the parties to clean it anew,
42. The Justice of Peace, on receiving the report, shall
appoint skillful persons to examine the produce, and if
fraud should be proved, the produce shall be forfeited to the
State.
43. The produce intended for exportation, cannot quit
the plantation to be carried to the cities or towns, and deli-
vered for sale, without a permit from the proprietor, when
be resides on the estate, or when he does not reside, from
the officer of the Rural Police of the Section. The, per-
mit shall be furnished gratis, on unstamped paper, by the
officer of the Police, who shall be bound to register it.
44. All produce removed in contravention of this regula-
tion, shall be seized on the way, and taken to the Justice of
Peace of the Commune, who shall ascertain whether the
produce has not beep stolen, in, order that it maybe sent
back to the proprietor, and that the presumed offender may
be prosecuted. If it should appear that the proprietor him-
self had failed to furnish the permit, he shall pay a fine of
from three to five dollars,




10 RURAL CODE OF HAYTr.

LAW, No. III.
CONCERNING THE MUTUAL CONTRACTS BETWEeN THE
PROPRIETORS OR PRINCIPAL RENTERS AND THECULTIVA
TOM OR LABORERS, AND THE RECIPROCAL OBLIGATIONS
OF BOTH.
CHAPTER 1.
General regulations.
45. Those persons who shall not be in the actual service
of the state, as soldiers, mechanics, or otherwise, and
whose profession it is to cultivate the ground, or to cut tim-
ber for exportation, shall be obliged, for their mutual secur-
ity, to enter into a reciprocal engagement with the proprie-
tor or chief renter of the rural property, or of the wood-
land, where they are to exercise theirindustry. The contract
may be entered into either collectively or individually, at the
pleasure e of te contracting parties.
46. The duration of these contracts cannot be for a short-
er time than two years, nor for longer time than nine years,
in the case of the secondary branch of cultivation and ma-
nufactures ; nor a shorter time than three years, nor for a
longer than nine, for the other branches of cultivation ; nor
for less than six months, nor-longer than a year, for the cut-
ting of wood for exportation.
47. The contract shall be made on stamped paper, before
a Notary, who shall preserve a minute of it, and who must
express clearly all the conditions entered into bythe contract-
ing parties,'who shall be at liberty to make such stipulations
as they shalljadge suitable, provided these do not contravene
the regulations of the present code. 2
48. Every proprietor, renter, or manager of a plantation
who shall-there receive or admit any cultivators, without
making with them the contract required by the two preced-
ingarticles, shall be condemned for the first offence, to afineof
ten dollars for every person so received without a contract,
and to double that sum in case of a second offence ; and be-
sides this, the proprietor, renter, or manager, shall not be
able to bring any action t. law, against the cultivators who
may have failed to fulfil their verbal agreements. The same
arle wil apply to wood cutters for exploration.
49. Every contract entered into with a cultivator, whose
former contract shall not have been terminated, shall be null
and void; and the cultivator, who shall have entered into
this second contract, shall be sent back, at his own expense,
to the property on which he had engaged himself, and shall
be subject th fine fixed by the last article.




RURAL CODE OF HAYTI, 1
50. The headmen of, parties contracting to work for half
of the produce shall shaie, in an equal proportion of half,
with the principal proprietor of the plantation, in all they
shall reap on that particular estate, in the way of fruit, pro-
visions, pulse, grain, and produce of every kind.
51. Whenever, on souar -plantations, the labor shall be
done for half of the produce, theproprietor, before'the divi-
sion is made, shall deduct a fifth part of. the gross produce
as an equivalent for the hire of machinery, utensils, cattle,
&c., employedin carrying on the work, and for the expense.
of repairs. In the culture of other articles the amount
of the expenses caused by the rent, or by the charge of
carrying on the-work; shallbe deducted previous to the di-
vision.
52. The Cultivators contractingto the laborers for a fourth
part of the returns they produce, shall have for their share
a fourth part of the gross of all they raise. They shall
enjoy the whole of what they raise on their own private gar-
dens, cultivated by themselves during their hours or daysof
rest.
53. Whenever, in the great plantations of sugar, coffee,
cotton, and indigo, the season shall require that the labor
should be pressed with activity, the different associations
laboring for half, employed in the same plantation, shall
mutually assist each other in their labors, giving and repay-
ing to each other an equal number of days' labor. The
adminstratorof the property shall regulate this kind of mu-
tual aid.
54. When the products or crops, whatever they be, shall
be prepared and collected, whether they proceed from la-
borers working for a fourth, or associations laboring for a
half, they cannot be removed from the property where they
were grown, until division shall have taken placebetween
the proprietor or chief renter, and the cultivator laboring for
a fourth, or associations for a half oftheproduce.
55. Upon sugar plantations, the division of the shares
coming to the cultivators shall be made after the grindingof
each piece of canes. On the plantations where they only
cultivate provisions or grain ; or cut wood for firewood or
for charcoal, or for cabinet worker building ; or raise fod-
der ; or are engaged in other irregular works, the division
shall be made to the workmen only every six months.
On other plantations, as of coffee, cotton, cocoa, indigo,
&c., the division shall take place at the end of the respoo-
tive crops.





ittAL CODn oF SItAtt


S'.5.. When the period arrive foa dividing the proceeds
among the cultivators, the offieer of the Rural Police of the
Section in which the plantation is situated, shall be called
by the proprietor, chief renter, or their manager, to witness
the division. The accounts of the articles manufactured, or
other products reaped, shall be exhibited, with a certificate
of the price current, and one from the purchaser of the
commodities mentioned in the last article The list of per-
sons entitled to share shall be settled, and the proceeds shall
be reckoned up.
57. Each of the co-shaletN shall be inscribed in the distri-
bution Listj according to their strength and the activity and
the time they have worked, either in the first, second, or third
class. And the money to be shared shall be divided into
quarter shares, half shares, and whole shares. The conduct.
ors of the laborers contracted fop at a fourth of the pro-
duce, and the headmen of the associations laboring for a half,
shall each have three whole share. The head sugar-boilers,
the head-waggoners, and, in short, the head of each depart-
ment of labor, shall have two shares. The good workers
bf the Arst class, Whether men or women, shall have a
share and a half; those of the second, one share ; those of
the third, three quarters of a share ; children from twelve
to sixteen years of agd, who have made themselves servi-
ceable according to their capacities, and the old people who
can only work moderately, half a share; and children from
nine to eleven who have ben occupied according -to their
age and strength, and infirm persons, shall have a quar-
ter share. The brokenmoney, arising from the formation
of the shares, shall go to augmentthe portion of those labor-
ers who shall have displayed the greatest punctuality and
perseverance in their labors.
58. There shall be furnished to the laborers daily tick-
ets, to show the days they are present atwork. Every week
these daily tickets shallbe withdrawn and replaced by week-
ly tickets, which shall be brought into account when the divi-
sion of the money, arising from the crops, takes place.
. 59. In no case shall the officer of the Rural Police of
the Section withdraw, from the share divided, any part for
himself. He shall prepare a written statement of the divi-
sion that has been made, which shall be addressed, along
with the documents in verification of it, to the Council
of Notables of the Commune, there to be referred to, if ne*
cessary.




UtJRAL CODE OF lAyTI.-


60. Proprietorsa renters, or managers, cannot give a per-
mit to a cultivator, or under-tenant, to travel in the same
Commune,fandto absent himself from his home and his la-
bor for more than eight days,-which permit shall be deli-
verd gratis on unstamped paper, and examined and subscri-
bed by the officer of the Rural Police. When a permit
is required for a longer time, the proprietor, chief renter,
or manager, shall refer the matter to the Commandant of the
Commune.,
CHAPTER IL.
Of the Obligation of Proprietors, Renters, or Managers .to
wards the Cultivators. -
61. Proprietors or Reuters cannot give a permit, cannot
employ, except in agricultural labor, and in such labor as is
connected therewith, the cultivators who shall have contract-
ed with them. They are bound to behave to them as good
fathers of families.
62. Proprietors or chief renters shall furnish, at their cost
and charge, the tools or implements of husbandry for the
cultivators contracting to work for a fourth of the produce.
These tools cannot be renewed unless it is shown that they
havebeen worn out or been in the service of the proprietors.
The cultivator, however, who shall lose the tools supplied
to him, shall be bound to replace them; and if he does not
others will be furnished to him, the value of which shall be
retained out of his portion of the income.
63 The proprietor, or chief renter, shall be bound to fur-
hish without expense, to the cultivators working for a fourth,
the means of conveying their shares of the produce to the
place of sale. Those associated for half shall convey it thi-
ther at their own charge.
64. When the proprietor or chief renter undertakes to
sell, or cause to be sold, the portion of the produce coming
to the cultivators for a fourth, or to the associations labor-
ing for a half, he-shall be bound to furnish clear,'legal
proof of the price current of the articles at the time they
are sold, and to produce, at the timeof dividing the proceeds,
the certificate of the purchaser, as well as the attestation of
the price current.
65. When the part of the'produce coming to the culiva-
tors working for a fourth, or for a half, shall be sold by the
conductors of the workmen, or the headmen of the associa-
tions, these shall be equally bound to-furnish proof of the




14 RURAL CODE OF HAYTI.
price current of the article-at the moment of sale, and to
exhibit the certificate of the purchaser, (as fixed in the last
article,) in order to show that the co-sharers receive fair-
ly that part prod of the produce of their labor to which they are
entitled.
-66. In no case can the proprietors or chief renters deduct
any part of the share coming to the cultivators working for
a fourth, or to the associations working for a half, in order
to pay the managers ; their salaries shall be placed to the
account of the proprietor or chief renter.
67. Proprietors or renters shall be bound, under penalty
of a fine of fromfive to fifteen dollars, to agree beforehand with
a medical practitioner if there be one in the Commune, to
look after their cultivators, and furnish the necessary medi-
cines these medici thes being furnishedicines being furnishedgratis to the cultiva-
tors contracting at a fourth; but being paid for, at cost
price, when furnished to associations working for half, or to
under tenants.
68. Proprietors and chief renters and rural proprietors,
tust look it that the infant children on the property be well
taken care of. To this end one or more females shall be ex-
pressly appointed to the charge, the remuneration for whose
attention shall be paidtby the cultivators, in proportion to the
number of their children.
CHAPTER. III.
Of the obligations of the Cultivators towards the Proprietors,
Renters, or Mangers.
19. The cultivators shall be obedient and respectful to the
proprietors and renters with whom they have contracted, as
well as to the managers.
70. The cultivators are bound to execute, with zeal and
punctuality, all the agricultural labors which shall be required
of them by the proprietors, renters, or managers, with whom
they shall have contracted.
71. The cultivators, whatever be the nature of their con-
tract, shall be bound to'devote their whole time to the la
borsthey have engagedto perform, and on no account to
leave them. They shall'not be at liberty to absent them-
selves from their habitation, except from Saturday morn-
ing to Monday at sunrise, without the consent of the pro-
prietors, chief renters, or managers. On all the other work-
ing days they shall be bound to have a permit from the
proprietor, chief renter, or manager, if-they are not going




RURAL CODE OF HAYTI.


out of the Commune. But if they are, the permit shall be
examined and subscribed by the officer of the Rural Police,
of the Section, and by the Commandant of the Place.
72. The cultivators working for a fourth, or associations
for a half of the produce, shall be bound to prepare, and
put in a state fit for delivery, the portion of the produce be-
longing to the proprietor or chief renter, and to convey that
produce to the place for delivery, the proprietor or chief ren-
ter furnishing the means of transport.
CHAPTER IV.
Of the under contracts between the farmers contracting for
half, and the altivators mpled by them.
73. The sub-tenants, and the headmen of associated parties
upon the plantations, shall have the power of forming sub-
contracts directly with the cultivators; but they shall continue
responsible to the proprietor or chief -renter for the acts bf
the sub-contracting parties.
74. The number sub-contracting cannot exceed ten for
each sub-tenant or headman of an association.
CHAPTER V.
Of the rules relating to suck as, being'in the serric of the re-
public, reside and labor on rural properties. -
75. Soldiers in active service or other persons in the em-
ployment of the State, may make arrangements with the-
proprietors or chief renters, and with headmen of associa-
tions working for half, or under tenants, to labor in cultiva-
ting the ground either for a fourth or a half, or as sub-te-
nants. In this case they shall be subject to all the obliga-
tions which they shall have contracted, and which shall be
compatible with their public duties.
76. When soldiers or others, in the service of the State,
who have fixed their residence on a plantation, shall not
have contracted with the proprietor or renter of that pro-
perty, they may still make arrangements with him either
verbally or in writing to work by the week, by the month, or
by the job, at such price and on such terms as shall be agreed
between them, but these soldiers shall be bound to give their
assistance, without any payment on that account, in all the
labors connected with the conduits for irrigation, and with
the other wells and cisterns as well as the fences and enclo-
sures of thegardens and savannahs, and the general mainte.
nanee of good order on the property,





RURAL CODE OF JAYTI.


77. When the soldiers or others, in the service of the
State, shall not at agreeably to the two last articles, in regard
to the proprietors or chief renters, they may be sent away
from the property.
78. The soldiers or others, in the service of the State,
who shall contract with proprietors or renters to work for
wages by the week or otherwise, must respect and obey the
said proprietors, renters, or managers of the property on
which they shall labor.
79. When soldiers or others, in the service of the State,
shall have been required by the proprietor, chief renter, or
manager, to work by the day, by the week, or by the job,
or otherwise, in a field cultivated by laborers for a fourth,
or to assist in the manufacture, or gathering in of the crop
of produce, the wages paid to this description of labor-
ers shall be deducted from the mass of the proceeds of
this labor before the fourth, coming to the cultivators, shall
be deducted.
80. When laborers, such as are spoken of in the pre-
ceding article, shall be required, by the headman of an
association working for half, to assist them in their labors,
the wages paid to them shall be deducted from the por-
tion coming to the associated body, before the distribution
of it to that body can be made.-If these laborers should
quit, of their own accord, the work for which they have
been engaged, before the end of the week, they shall have
no claim for the time they shall have worked during the for-
mer part of the same week.
CHAPTER VL
Of the method of ternating diculties between proprietors,
renters, managers, cutivators, associated persons,
sub-tenants, ,c.
81. When differences shall arise between agricultural pro*
prietors, principal renters, managers, and cultivators, asso-
ciates for a half, or sub-tenants, the parties shall first carry
their complaints or claims before the officer of Rural Po-
lice of the Section, who, assisted, if need be, by the Couna
cifof Agriculture of the quarteri shall fortwith employ
himself in amicably terminating the differences, as far as
they may be within his province.
- 82. In cases where the differences are of a nature not to
be decided by the officer of the Rural Police, assisted by the
Council of Agriculture, he shall call upon the parties to choose
arbiters, within the Section, to settle and decide their diftr-
ences,




RURAL CODE OF fAYTI.


83. In cases where the differences cannot thus be set-
tied by arbitration on the spot, or where the parties shall not
have named arbiters, the officer of the Rural Police shall
wait till Saturday or Sunday in -order to send the parties
before the Justice of Peace of the Commune, The whole
must be concluded within-the space of six days at most.
84. The Justice of Peace shall be bound to decide; the
difference, and shall not be at liberty, under pain of being
punished for a denial of justice, to allege the silence of the
law on the case brought before him for his decision.
85.. The Justice of Peace shall be bound to pronounce
within twenty-four hours, at the utmost, after the appear,
ance of the parties.

LAW, No. IV.
CONCERNING BREEDING FARMS,
CHAPTER .
Of the establishment and administration of breeding farms.
86. Breeding farms cannot be established except in
places sufficiently distant, not less at the least than a
league, from the plantations cultivated for produce.
87. In future, in order to establish a breeding farm for hor-
ned'cattle, it is necessary to be a proprietor of at least fifty
carreau* of land provided with the necessary pasturage;
and for hogs twenty-iave carreaus.
88. The number of keepers on breeding farms cannot exs
ceed five men' comprising the master keeper, they having
with them their wives and children.
89. Every keeper 9f a breeding farm, who shall find in
the herds committed to his care, oi in the savannabs of the
breeding fan on which he is employed, any strange animals,
shall be bound to give notice of them forthwithto'the neigh-
boring cattle keepers; and if these animals should not belong
to their cattle pens, then notice of them shall be given to the
officer of the Rural Police of the Section,
90. After thesestrange aninials have remained three months
in the savannah of a breeding farm, without being reclaim,
ed by their owners, they shall be taken by the cattle keeper
before the Justice of Peace of the Commune, in order that
they may be conducted to the pound,
91. As soon as an animal on a breeding farm'shallp
pear to be attacked by a contagious disorder, it must, under
Scarr0au coDtains about three acres,
a




RURAL CODE OF HAYTI.


pain of a fine of ten to twenty dollars, payable by the cattle
keeper, be separated and shut out from all communication
with the other cattle, in order to be taken proper care of till
its cure or death.
92. Every animal dying on a breeding farm of a conta-
gious disorder shall be burnt or buried.
93. It is forbidden on pain of afine of ten to twenty dol,
lars, payable by every offender, to set fire to the savannabs of
breeding farms withoutthe permissionoftheofficer of the Ru-
ral Police of the Commune.
94. When.it shall happen that cattle die, on the planta-
tions, of ordinary maladies, or by accident, if the proprietor
or chief renter of the breeding farm is not present, the mas-
ter keeper shall be bound to obtain an attestation of the
deathof the animal from the-officer of the Rural Police, or
from some of.the neighbors ; and the skin, having the stamp
or mark, shall be produced to the proprietor, otherwise the
keeper shall be bound to replace the animal.
95. The animals, not only those of the breeding farms,
but those which are employed in the work of plantations,
cannot be stamped except with cast stamps; and it is for-
bidden to make marks On these animals by the hand.
CHAPTER.II.
Of the contracts between the proprietors or reters of breeding
farms and tih e emptoged on thmni
96. The proprietors or renters of breeding farms cannot
receive on their farms any keepers or other persons, unless
they have previously contracted with them agreeably to the
article 47, of Law IIt.
97. The obligations imposed reciprocally on rural proprie-
tors or renters and the cultivators, shall be- common to the
proprietors or renters of breeding farms, and all employed
by them, in all that concerns good orderand the general po-
lice.
98. Neither th'e master cattle keeper or any other cat-
tle keeper can receive on the breeding farm where they
are employed, animals or cattle belonging to other people,
without the consent of the proprietors or renters of the
farm.
99. Neither the master cattle keeper nor the other keepers
shall be at liberty to remove orsell any animal of the farm,
without'havinng,in writing, the consent of the proprietor or
renter, and without a permit on stamped paper from the




RURAL CODE 6f HAYTI.


officer of the Rural Police of the Section, who shall be
bound to register the permit with the stamp of the animals,

LAW, No. V.
ON THE CARE AND MANAGEMENT OP THE ANIMALS, AND
THE DAMAGE THEY MAY DO IN THE FIELDS.
100. Cattle belonging to cultivators, shal be ept in herds
with those of the proprietor ; and the keepers shall be paid
their salary, half by the proprietor, and half by the cul-
tivators. "
101. It is forbidden to mutilate, maim, or kill beasts of
burden, or horned cattle, found in the cultivated land, or
gardens, having leaped over or forced the fences.
102. It is forbidden likewise to wound or kill sheep found
in cultivated gardens, or enclosures.
103.- Pigs and goats, found in cultivated gardens and enclo-
sures, may be killed.
104. The aimnals enumerated in Articles 101 and 102,
which may be found in cultivated gardens, shall be conduct-
ed, within twenty-foar hours after their seizure, before a Jus-
tice of Peace, to be sent to the pound of the Commune,
if within that time the owner-do not-withdraw them from
the pen of the plantation in the gardens of which they may
be found.
105. The officer of the Rural Police shall, within twen-
ty-four hours after a declaration by the parties interested,
be bound to draw up a written statement of the damage done
by the animals, and send it to the Justice of Peace, unless
the due compensation is voluntarily made to the owner of the
damaged garden.
106. The offer of the Rural Police shall take care
to send the written statement to the Justice of Peace, i ndue
form as above, that the said Justice may decide according to
law.
107. The keepers who shall have suffered the animals
mentioned in Article 27, to escape, when committed to their
charge, shall be boundto pay the expenses attending their
capture, according to the tariff established by law.
108. Proprietors,renters, or managers of plantations, are
expressly forbidden to make use in any manner for them-
selves of the cattle, taken in their gardens, during the time
they shall remain in their pens before being sent to the pound:
any violation of this article shall be punished by a fine of
from five to fifteen dollars.





k&iAL Cont oF tATIfl


100. The seizure of the animals mentioned in Articles 101
and 102, in gardens, when they are conducted to the pound
of the Commune,shall be paid for as follows :-For each of
the horse kind, one dollar; for each ass, sevebty-five cents I
for each horned animal, one dollar and a half; and for each
ram or sheep, twenty-live dents i one half to belong to the
seizor, and one half to the rural guards.
110. When the animals seized in gardens shall be with-
drawn from the pen of the plantation, before being sent to
the pound, there shall then be paid, and only to the persons
Who have taken them, half the penalty fixed by the last Ar-
ticle.
111. Whe n anl imal seized in a garden, and sent to the
pen of the plantation, happens to die by accident, or other'
wise, during the short time it remains there, or while passing
to the residence of the Justice of the Peace of the Commune,
the officer of the Police shall be bound, by witnesses, to as-
certain the cause of the death of the animal.
112. When the death of the animal shall have been caused
by negligence, want of food, or violence, the proprietor,
renter, or manager of the plantation shall pay its value, as
estimated by arbidrators named by the Justice of-the Peace
of the Commune, The sum thus paid, shall be sent to the
public administrator of the district, to be paid to the owner,
should he appear, or, failing this, into the treasury. In all
cases, the damage done by the animal shall be paid for out
of these proceeds.
113. When animals seized in gardens, by virtue of Article
104, shall be taken to the Justice of the Peace of the Com-
mune, to be sent to the pound, if-the owner consents to pay
the damage done, and the expenses of seizure, before they
enter the pound the Justhe Justic of the ce shall acquiesce.
114. Persons conducting herds of cattle from one Com-
mune to another, whether to market, or for agriculture, shall
be bound to provide themselves with a permit, stating the
kind and number of animals they are conducting, their de-
scription and marks.
115. The permits shall be delivered either by the Com-
mandants of Communes, or given by the owners and exa-
mined and signed by the Commandants; or upon certificates
furnished by the officer of the Rural Police of the Sections
from whence the animals come. These permits shall be re-
gistered by those- who delivered them, and seen and signed
by the Commandants of all the Communes through which the
herds may pass.




htlfAL CODE OF HAYTI.


1106 The conductors of herds, when met by the Rural
Police or the gend'srmerie, shall be bound, on demand, to
show their permits; and where the number of animals, or
their description, .shall not agree with the statement in the
permit, they may, should any cause of suspicion appear, be
arrested, and conducted to the nearest post, with the animals,
in order to be brought before the Justice of the Peace of the
Commune.
117. If the parties brought before the Justice of the Peace,
cannot prove their right of property in the animals for which
there is no permit, and if they cannot give good security for
their bringing back the proof of property within a time to be
allowed them, not exceeding fifteen days, they shall be sent
to prison, and the animals to the pound.
118. Within a month from the day of the arrest, the Jus-
tice of the Peace shall be bound to write to the Justice of
the Commune from which the person imprisoned may have
Come, or to the officer of the Rural Police of the section, (if
in the same Commune,) to obtain information both about the
person, and the animals stopped: which information, on be-
ing received, shall be forwarded to the public'administrator,
with the written statement of the Justice of the Peace, to be
used as the ground of charge against the suspected person,
should cause appear for prosecuting him.

LAW No. VI.
ColNCERNING THE RURAL POLICE,
TITLE FiRST.
General Regulations
119. The fural Police embraces all which belongs to the
management and the prosperity of rural property.
120. The Rural Police is conducted under the superin-
tendance of the Commandants of Departments, and of the
Commandants of Communes, by officers of Rural Police
placed in the Sections of each Commune; -by the rural
guards, by the gend'armerie, and, at need, by detachments
of-troops of the line, ,
121. The Justices of the Peace exercise also the Rural
Police in the pases pointed out by law.
12M The Councils of Notables of the Communes, and the
Councils of Agriculture are to assist, at need, all the authori-
ties in perfectly maintaining the superintendance of the
Agricultural Police.






TITLE. SECOND.
Of the Superintendance.
CHAPTER L
Of the high superintendance of the Commandants of
Departments.
123. The Military Commandant of the Department having
the general superintendance of the agriculture of the Depart-
ment entrusted to him, unites the authority necessary for
giving activity to agriculture, and is responsible, 1st, for the
decay of cultivation within the extent of'his command; 2d,
for the execution of the whole or part of the Rural Code
within the extent of his Department; 3d, for the negligence
of the Commandants of Communes under his orders, rela-
tive to the superintendence of agriculture in the Communes
confined to them, provided he shall not have checked that
negligence.
124. The Commandant of the Department is bound to
make, once in every year, a circuit through all the rural Sec-
tions of the different Communes composing the department,
in order to satisfy himself personally of the execution of the
laws, of the progress and state of industry, and to make ade-
tailed report upon the subject to the President of Hayti.
125. This annual report, which must be made by the
Commandants of departments to the President, shall state
the number of plantations kept up in every Section, their
kind of cultivation, their improvement, or their decay, to-
gether with the condition of the roads and ways, both pub-
lic and private.
CHAPTER 11. -
Of tlheSuperinendancef t Co an of adat of Places and
Communes.
126. The commandant of the Place or the Commune-
has the cultivation of the Commune entrusted to him. If
he has under his orders Cantons or parishes which form mili-
tary posts, the Commandants of these posts have the parti-
cular oversight of the cultivation of the district subject to
their command.
127. The Commandant of the Commune is responsible
for the decrease of cultivation within the sphere of his com-
tand, if it proceeds from the neglect of any branch of the
public service,
S128. The Commandants of Places and Communes are




RURAL CODE OF HAYTI.


bound to make, three times -ia the year, the circuit of the
different Sections under their command.
129. The Commandant of the Commune, in his circuits,
shall visitthe gardens of produce and provisions, the fences,
and the new plantations. He shall enter into all the details
pointed out by the Rural Code, ascertaining whether the
officer of the Rural Police of the Section has fulfilled all the
duties imposed upon him by the law. He shall repress what-
ever acts of negligence and irregularity he shall observe ;
and of the whole an account shall be drawn up in the pre-
scribed form for each Section; a duplicate of which shall be
sent to the Commandant of the Department.
CHAPTER III.
Of the rural sections, of the officers of the Rural Police, of
the rural guards, and of the managers and conductors
of plantations.
SECT. 1.-Of the Rural Sections.
130. The Comn unes shall, by an express regulation of
the President of Hayti for each military Department, be di-
vid into agricultural Sections, of about four-leagues each in
the plains, and in the mountains according to the nature of
the ground.
131. Each Section shall have its proper name; and its
limit and boundaries shall be fixed.
132. After the Sections are formed, the Commandant of
the Commune, the Council of-Notables, and one of the pri-
vate surveyers, shall prepare-in triplicate, upon sheets endor-
sed by the Justice of Peace, schedules of all the rural proper-
ties situated in each section, with the names and designation
of the proprietors, the extent of each property, and the kind of
tillage carried on there. One of these schedules shall be de-
posited in the office of the Commandant of the Commune,
one with the Council of Notables, and the other in the hands
of the officer of the Rural Police of the Section.
133. The Council of Notables shall urnish to the Justice
of Peace of the Commune a collated copy of the schedule
deposited with them. The Commandant of the Commune
'shall furnish to the Commandant of the Department a-copy
of the same schedule deposited in his office. The Com-
mandant of the Department, after having connected the
schedules of the plantations of all the Sections of the Com-
mune forming his Department, shall draw up a catalogue of
the whole, a certified copy of which he shall address to the
President of Hayti,






134. The officer of the Rural Police shall give notice to
the Commandant of the Commune, of every change of pro-
perty of a rural estate situated in the Section, and of every
change of cultivation, who shall note it in the roll deposited in
his office, and shall give notice of it to the Commandant of
the Department, who shall likewise inscribe the change on
the roll in his hands, and inform the Government of it.
135: The Council of Agriculture of the Section, shall
give the same notice to the Council of Notables of the Com-
mune; and the Council of Notables, after having noted it,
shall inform the Justice of Peace, who shall cause the change
to be inscribed on the copy of the roll in his office.
136. Every year, between the first and fifteenth of Feb-
ruary, the officers of the Rural Police of each Section, shall
receive from the agents for the financial department of their
Commune, a certain number of stamped lists of population
in blank; which they shall be bound to furnish to the proprie-
tor, renter, or manager of each plantation of the Section,
before the end of the month; receivingthe price of the stamp,
which shall be paid over to the agent. This assessment
shall be made as follows:-The stamped list of population
for an estate containing ten carreaux of land, shall be twelve
and a half cents; for those having eleven to twenty-one car-
reaux, twenty-five cents ; for twenty-one carreaux, and up
wards, fifty cents.
137. The proprietors, renters, or managers of plantations,
Shall be bound to return the population list filled up in the
manner there pointed out, to the officer of the Rural Police,
at the latest on the 20th of March following, under penalty
of a fine of fifteen to fifty dollars for each neglect.
188. The officer of the Rural Police of each section shall
be bound, on the 5th of April at the latest, to send in all the
population lists of his Section, or to note the names of the
defaulters, to the Council of Notables of each Commune,
tinder penalty of suffering himself, the fine imposed by the
preceding Article.
139. On the first of May every year, the Councils of No-
tables of every Commune shall address to the Government
the original population lists which they have received, in vir-
tue of the preceding Article.
SEc. II.-Of the officers of Rural Police, and of te rural
guards.
140. In every Rural Section, a military officer of subaltern
rank (from sub-lieutenant to captain) chosen by the Presi-





RURAL CODE OF HAYTI.


dent of Hayti, shall be stationed, who shall be charged with
the superintendance of the Section, and its police.
141. The officers of the Rural Police of the different See-
tions, shall be independent of each other and shall have no
relation except with the Commandants of the Commune and
of the Department under whose orders they are placed: they
shall correspond moreover with the civil authorities, and
shall pay deference to their requisitions.
142. The dwelling of the officer of the Rural Police shall
be fixed in the centre of his Section, and near the public road
which traverses it.
143. The officer of the Rural Police is specially charged
to cause agriculture to prosper in the Section confided to him,
and to cause the law and property to be there respected.
He is responsible, in the extent of his Section, 1, for the due
execution of the Rural Code-in what is within his province,
as well as all other acts of the Government relative to the
agriculture, or the Rural Police. 2. For every neglect in the
superintendance and manual labor of the plantations of the
Section., 3. For all vagrancies, disorders, and breaches of po-
lice in the Section, when he has not repressed them, or report-
ed them to the superior authority.- He shall take an oath be-
fore the Commandant of the District, previous to entering
on the duties of his office.
144. The Officer of the Rural Police shall have under his
orders, at a fixed station, three rural guards, one of whom
shall be of the rank of quarter master, and perform the
functions of secretary;'one of the rank of brigadier; and
the other a simple dragoon. These rural guards shall be
sworn; the oath shall be taken before the Commandant of
the Department.
145. The officer of the Rural Police shall be bound to
make the circuit of his Section, and visit each plantation in
it once a week.
146. The officer of the Rural Police shall be ready to at-
tend to the calls of the proprietors, renters, or managers of
plantations, by day and by night, or to send rural guards
there to enforce the law, and to maintain order.
147. One of the rural guards shall repeat every week, on
each plantation of the Section, the visit of the officer of the
Rural Police, so that the plantations shall be visited at the
least twice every week.
148. When the offiers of the Rural Police, or the rural
guards, in their ordinary rounds, shall arriveupon a planta-
tion, they shall address themselves first to the proprietor, if
4





RURAL CODE OF HAYTI.


pr'eseat, or, in his absence, to the chief renter, or to the ma-
nager, and shall inquire if every thing is in order: after this
formality, they shall set themselves to inspect the labors, to
satisfy themselves that these proceed properly; they shall
also see whether all the laborers are at work; and they shall
inquire the causes of the absence of such as are not at work,
and shall act according to law.
149. When an officer of the Rural Police of the Section, is
prevented by any lawful cause from making the circuit and
visit required by articles 145 and 146, he shall be bound to
give notice thereof to the Commandant of the Commune,
who shall replace him by an officer of gend'armerie, or of
the troops of the line quartered in the Commune, while the
impediment lasts.
150. The officer of the Rural Police, who, without lawful
hindrance, shell neglect to make the rounds and visits re-
quired by the articles 145 and 146, shall suffer a punishment,
to be inflicted by the Commandant of the Commune; and in
case of his repeating the neglect, he shall be reported to the
Commandant of the Department, who shall be bound to
bring him to the notice of the President of Hayti.
151. Every Sunday morning, the officer of the Rural
Police shall be bound to present himself in person, or send
one of his rural guards, with a written report, to the com-
mandantof the Commune, to inform him of whatever re-
markable may have occurred in iis section.
152. The officer of the Rural Police, and the rural guards;
shall receive their pay and allowances, according to their
ranks, whenever the troops of the line in active service shall
be paid.
153. The State shall supply to the rural guards arms,
accoutrements, and clothing, as to the troops of the line.
154. The uniform of officers of the Rural Police, shall
be a green cat, with flaps turned back, collar, cuffs, and
facings red, white lining, white buttons half arched, with a
cornucopia surrounded by the cap of liberty, and for a le-
gend, Republique d'Hayti, and a cocked hat. They shall
also bear in silver the epaulettes and fringes of their ranks,
wear white waiscoats and pantaloons, and horsemen's boots.
That of the rural guards shall be jacket of the same color
and make as the officers of the Rural Police, with the marks
bf their rank in lace of silver or white worsted, and plated
helmets. The arms shall be the dragoon sabre, cartouche-
box and blunderbuss ; they shall wear a red shoulder belt
from right to left, with "force d la loi," written upon it ia
blue letters. -




URAL CnDE OF HAYTI.


SECT. 3.-Of Managers and Conductors of Planttions.
155. Upon every plantation where the proprietor is not
resident, and where. there is no chief renter resident, there
shall be a manager appointed by the proprietor or chief
renter.
156. The proprietor or chief renter, after having chosen
such manager as he pleases, shall enter into a mutual conm
tract with him, before a notary, the terms being such as the
parties may agree upon : after which the manager shall be
made known to the officer of the Rural Police of the Section.
157. Every proprietor, or chief renter of a rural property
in cultivation, not residing upon it, and who shall not have
appointed a manager for the property, shall be subject, if the
number of cultivators exceed ten, to a fine of from ten to fifty
dollars, according to the extent of the property. When the
number of laborers does not exceed ten, the management
may be entrusted to a conductor.
15h. the duties of the manager are to superintend, in the
interest of the proprietor who employs him, the laborers of
the plantation entrusted to him.
159. The managers of plantations are answerable to the
proprietors, or chief renters, for every neglect or abandon-
ment of labor where they are employed. They shall in such
case be prosecuted by the parties entitled.
160. The manager shall have the respect of all the labor-
ers of the estate where he is employed.
161. Upon an estate wherethefields or gardens are divided
aiong associations working for -half, or among sub-tenants,
each headman of such association, and each sub-tenant, be-
comes the conductor of his own working party, or of his asso-
ciation. He is answerable for the labor of his associates.
162. The duties of the conductors are, to cause the work
to be done by the laboring parties entrusted to them, under
the direction of the proprietor, chief renter, or manager.
163. The conduutors shall be answerable for all neglect
of work; for all absence, without lawful authority, of the la-
borers; and for all disorders and vagrancies of the laborers ;
when they shall not have reported the same to the competent
authorities.
164. The conductors shall be paid from the proceeds of
the produce raised by the laborers they direct, according to
article 57, of Law No. 3.




RURAL CODE OF HAYTI,


CHAPTER I.
Of the Council of Agriculture in the Rural Sections,
165. On the first of May in every year, being the day of
the Festival of Agriculture, the Commandant of each Com-
mune, the Justice of Peace, and the Council of Notables,
shall conjointly select from each Rural Section, three of the
most respectable citizens, being proprietors, chief renters, or
managers, to fqrm the Council of Agriculture of the Section.
166. The selection of the members of the Council of Ag-
riculture shall be immediately communicated, by the Com-
mandant of the Commune, to the Commandant -of the De-
partment, who shall communicate it to the Government.
167. The members of the Council of Agriculture shall be
in office for one year only; but they may be re-elected each
year, if they have shown zeal in the execution of their duties
during the former year.
168. The Council of Agriculture being composed of per-
sons cultivating the soil, and interested in the preservation of
good order in the rural administration, each of the members
is bound, without essentially deranging his own affairs, to
inquire into all that passes in-his Section, in order to report
to the Council of Notables.
169. The business of the Councils of Agriculture is, 1. To
see that the laws relating to cultivation, are not infringed in
their execution. 2. To endeavor, by new experiments, and
by maintaining concord among all those interested in cultiva-
tion, to increase progressively its results. 3. To communi-
cate to the Council of Notables, and to the military authorities,
every abuse or neglect which may occur in the Section which
they inhabit.
170. The members of the Council of Agriculture are to
correspond, individually or collectively, with the functionaries
or authorities with whom they are required to have relations.
171. The office of a member of Abe Council of Agriculture
is honorary.
TITLE THIRD
Of the Rural Police.
S172. The Rural Police is to be specially administered by
the officers charged with the Rural Sections of the Com-
munes, assisted by rural guards.
173. The Rural Police has for its objects, 1. To repress
vagrancy. 2. Order and assiduity in the labors of the field.
8. The discipline of the laboring population. 4. The making
and repairing public and private roads.






CHAPTER 1.
Of te Repression of Vagrancy.
i14. All persons who shall not be proprietors, or renters
of the land on which they are fixed, or who shall not have
contracted with some proprietor or chief renter, shall be re-
puted vagrants, and shall be arrested by the Rural Police of
the Section in which they may be found, and carried before
the Justice of Peace of the Commune.
175. The Justice of Peace, after interrogating and hearing
the person brought before him, shall make known the law
which obliges him to employ himself in agricultural labor;
and after that notice, he shall detain him in prison, until he
shall have contracted according to the terms of the law.
176. The Justice of Peace shall take care the person ar-
rested shall make his own choice of the proprietor, or chief
renter, or sub-tenant, or headman of an association, with
whom he may contract.
177. If after eight days' detention, the detained has not
taken measures for engaging in agricultural employment, he
shall be sent to the public works, for cleaning the city or town
where the prison is situated, and there he shall be employed
until he determines to contract to engage in rural labor. Any
person who withdraws any of these detained persons from
the public works, to employ them in private work, shall be
subject to a fine of fifty dollars, of which a moiety shall be
paid to the detained person complaining.
178. If the person arrested be a minor, the Justice of
Peace shall inquire for his parents, and send him to join
them, to follow their condition of life.
179. After three months from the publication of this Code,
rigor shall be employed against delinquents.
180, Every person fixed in the country as a cultivator,
who shall on a working day, and during the hours of labor,
be found unemployed, or running about, or lounging on the
public roads, shall be considered as idle, and shall in conse-
quence be arrested, and taken before the Justice of Peace,
who shall send him to prison for twenty-four hours, for the
first offence; and shall send him to public labor in the town
on a repetition of it.
181. The officers of the Rural Police, shall take care that
vagrants and idlers do not conceal themselves under the garb
of soldiers of the different corps. When they discover, in
the Sections under their superintendance, men whom they
do not personally know to be in active service in the corps





RauiA CODE OF. HAYTi.


Whose uniform they wear, they shall arrest them, and send
them to the military commandant of theCommune, to ascer-
tain if the individual arrested with the uniform of a corps
really belongs to jt. If the party prove not to be a soldier,
he shall be put in prison, according to article 175, until he
enter into a contract to labor in agriculture.
182. The officers of the Rural Police, shall take care that
in the respective Sections under their command, no person
shall live in idleness, To this end, they-have authority to
oblige such persons as are employed in labor; to give account
of the nature of their occupations; and if they cannot prove
that they cultivate the soil, or are employed on breeding
farms, according to the Law No. IV., they shall be consider-
ed as without a living, and shall be arrested as vagrants.
CHAPTER II.
Of order and assiduity in rural labor.
183. The labors of the field shall commence on Monday
morning, not to cease until Friday evening, (legal holidays
excepted). But in extraordinary cases, when the interest of
the cultivators as well asnf the proprietors requires it, work
shall be continued until Saturday.
184. On working-days, the ordinary labor of the field shall
commence at day-dawn, and continue until mid-day, with
the interval of half an hour for breakfast, which shall be
taken on the spot where they are at work. In the afternoon,
the labor shall commence at two o'clock, to continue until
sunset.
185. Pregnant females shall be employed on light work
only; and after the fourth month of pregnancy, they shall
not be liable to work in the field.
186. Four months after delivery, they shall be bound to
resume labor; but they shall not be at work until one hour
after sun-rise, to quit it at eleven o'clock, andfrom two o'clock
until one hour before sunset.
187. No cultivator fixed on a rural property, shall absent
himself from the labor assigned him, without the permission
of the manager, in the absence of the proprietor or chief
tenter, who shall not give this permission unless the case be
urgent.
CHAPTER. III
Of the discipline of the laborers.
188. The laborers upon rural properties shall be obedient
to the conductors of the works, to the headmen of associa-




RURAL CODE OP HAYTI.


tions, to the sub-tenants, chief renters, proprietors, and mana-
gers, whenever they are called upon to execute the labors
for which they have contracted.
189. Every act of disobedience or insult, on the part of a
workman, commanded to do any work which he has engaged
to do by a reciprocal contract or agreement, shall be punish-
ed by imprisonment, according to the exigency of the case,
and according to the decision of the Justice of Peace of the
Commune.
190. Saturday, Sundays, and Holidays, being at the dispo-
sal of the cultivators, they shall not be permittedyon working
days, to quit their work, to indulge in dancing or feasting,
neither by night nor by day. Offenders against'this rule,
shall be subject to three day's imprisonment for the first of,
fence, and to six days for a repetition of it.
CHAPTER IV.
On the making and repairing the public roads.
191. The public roads shall be kept up and repaired by
the laborers, in turn, of the whole Section they pass through,
whenever their state of injury may require repair. The pri,
vate roads shall in like manner be kept in order by the cul-
tivators of the estates of the Section, who are in the habit of
using them.
192. Whenever a public-or private road needs repair, the
officer of the Rural Police shall give notice of it to the Com-
mandant of the Commune.
193. If the repairs are of small importance, the Com-
,mandant of the Commune shall order themto be done. But
if they require many hands, he shall give notice of it to the
Commandant of the Department, that it may be promptly
accelerated. The Council of Agriculture of the Section
shall inform the Council of Notables of the work which is to
be done,
194. The number of laborers necessary for any particular
repair, shall be taken from the plantation rolls mentionedin
article 132, in proportion to the laboring population of each,
which is bound to assist in the work.
195. Those proprietors who have not four laborers at-
tached to their estate, shall, in no case, furnish more than one
laborer for the repairs of roads.
196. Every cultivator ordered to work in repairing the
roads, who shall not come to that work, shall pay a fine of six
quarter dollars a week, or be imprisoned for one week, and
this shall not exempt him from working the week following.






197. Every proprietor, or chief renter of a plantation, who
having received a demand for laborers; shall *not furnish
them, shall.be liable to a fine of three dollars for each labor-
er not furnished; half the fine to be paid to the chest of fines,
and half to be employed in replacing the laborers.
198. Laborers called out to repaid the roads, shall bring
the tools and agricultural instruments used on the plantation,
otherwise the officer of the Rural Police shall furnish them
with tools with which he is to be supplied by the administra-
tion, and upon the report of it being made to the Justice of
Peace of the Commune, he shall sentence the proprietor of
the plantation to which the defaulters may belong, or his re-
presentative, to reimburse to the administration double the
value of the tools furnished.
199. When means of transport are wanted for the repair
of public or private roads, the estates having wains or carts
shall send them ;in default of wains or carts, cattle shall be
supplied.
200. The supply of eight beasts of burden, shall be equal
to one cart with its team.
201. No person shall, for his private interest, take from
the repair of the toads, those who are sent to work upon
them. Every one contravening this order shall pay fifty
dollars for each laborer so withdrawn, even for one day. The
director of the work shall call over the laborers every morn-
ing, to ascertain their presence.
202. The laborers ordered on the public roads, shall pre-
sent themselves on Monday morning, not to quit while the
workshall last, until Friday evening.

Passed in the Chamber of Commons, at Port-au-Prince, on
the 21st of April, 1826, 23d year of Independence.

MUZAINE, President of the Chamber.
Pre, J3UCA, and ARDOUIN, Secretaries.

The Senate decrees the acceptance of the Rural Code of
Hayti, which shall be sent, within twenty-four hours, to the
President of Hayti, to have his execution, in the manner fix-
ed by the Constitution. At the National House at Port-au-
Prince, this 4th f May, 1826, 28d year of Independence.

P. ROUANEZ, President of the Senate.
GAYOT, and F. DUBREUIL, Secretaries.




/RURAL CODE OF HAYTI.


In the Name of te Republic.
The President of Iayti orders, that the above Laws, con-
stituting the Rural Code of Hayti, be sealed with the Seal of
the Republic, and be published and executed.
Given at the National Palace of Port-au-Prince, this 6th of
May, 1826, 23d year of Independence.
BOYER,
By the President, Be I]N











LETTERS 'ON HAITI.


The Lotter whic follow are from the Working Man's
Advocate, the editor of which Faper iotrodhees the first of
them by sayibg-" The'fohlowing Letter from an intelligent
and philanthropic southern gentleman (though a large slave-
holder) now travelling in Haiti, will doubtless convey much
information -to our readers respecting, the present political
condition and nattureadvaintages of that interesting Islahnd
The statements of the writer may be implicitly relied on"

LETTER I
Puerto de Pltoa, Harti, 1 Sept., 1835.
MR. cEORGE HEvANS. -
DeARlSaStR-When I left New Ybrk, about month ago,
with.the intention of pending the hot season of summer un-
der the cool-shade of the plantai .and royal pflm trees,
fanned by the sea breezes of the healthy and temperate cli-
maie of Hlayi, promised to convey to you, as soon and at
intelligibly as I cold, a true description of what I saw in my-
progres tro t rough t his -ad of Libety, which, although
hardly twoweek's sail from New York, must become of great
political importance, but is now quite unknown, even ly
name, to bine-tenths of mar New York citizens.
On the 3d inst.,- ieing nearly 20 N. lat., we made the
Island of Haiti. It resembled the Catskill mountains, only
more- extended. Oh the 4th we sailed into a harbor on its
N. side, called Puerto de Plata, where we found American
and foreign shipping anchored .before a pretty, scattered-
looking 'mail town ofine story bihuses, somethirig-abaut the
ize-ofSt. Augsatine. We landed soon after, amidst logs of
mahogany, iu which, and tobacco in bales, most oftits export
consists. The poor appearance of the town was-amply com,
pensated for by the rich verdure of the wvin'g ocoa nut and
majestic palm trees, growing on the gently rising pain which
lays between the town and the mountain, (called Torre de
Isabella,) majestically rising behind it, to-he height of three
thousand feet, and ricbly covered with tieesto the top.





iLThtkg ON fAlnTt.


SThis afternoon and next day, I was occupied in walking
about the town, and gardens in its vicinity, and in cultivating
the acquaintance of its inhabitants, who received me, as a
white stranger, with great civility as well as hospitality.
They consisted of white and black, (the latter predominated,)
speaking Spanish,' French, and English,as languages com-
mon to all, the Spanish rather the most, and the white part
of the population very iuch resembled the Minoroian popu-
lation of St. Augustine. The beautiful and rich plain on
which the town is built, of two miles in extent, and gradually
Rising o thofoot of the mountain of La Torre, contains first
the town ad gardens, and tens, and then some small frms,cultivated
with sugar ,cane, coffee, oranges, mangoes, corn, yams, po-
tatoes, caasava, and all kinds of fancy produce, to suit the
market, and for-the supply of the town. The low lands be-
'tween tIle sea and the mountains, extend to the east and to
the west as far asthe eye can reach; and if the soil is a fair
sample of the soil of this Island, which, from all that I can
hear, is probable, there is nothing that I have ever seen in
any country, not even the low lands of the Mississippi, nor
the alluvial deposits ofGuiana, in South America, equal it in
-fertility. The sugar cane grows to a prodigious size, and
lasts for twenty years without replanting. -The plantain, as
food for man, is the richest of nature's gifts, and also perpe-
tuates itself, with little attention, for an equal period of time
without replanting. Groves of cocoa nut and royal palm
trees, the most magnificent of nature's productions, shade
the ground with their waving tops, and furnish food for rounnt-
less hummers of wild hogs, cattle, &c.; wild guinea fowls
also are very abundant. 6th September being Sunday, I
this morning went to hear mass in a very large church of one
$tory, which safe mode of building, I presume, is on account
of earthquakes that sometimes happen here. The audience
was large and most respectable, the female part especially
was devout, and would bear comparison, in point of good
looks or dress, with any of our white congregations in Nev-
York. In the evening, I went to hear an old style methodist
sermon, by an English missionary, where most of our poor
-Ameritan colored emigrants were assembled, to hear them-
selves denounced as fit subjects for a very necessary person-
age, now dormantin fashionable life, but all went off well:
we had no mob.
13th. I have-now been here ten days, and have closely ex-
aminedthezofintry on horseback, for twelve leagues of coast
and three leagues inland, to the summit ridges, where they





LETTERS ON HAYTfl


out mahogany; no sentry has ever hailed me, no officer of
police has ever enquired into my business, or whatI wanted.
I brought no letter of introduction : which ever way I tra-
velled, I have been treated with hospitality and attention,
and all possible kindness rendered to me voluntarily aid
without reward. 'I have had a hearty welcome every where,
abundance to eat, aid a place to hang my hammock at night,
from black and poor colored people, who live insulated, upon
small farms of one family,, scattered within the.rich, upcut
forests of Haiti,' where their -living in simple abundance
and with little labor does not detract from their natural kind-
hess ofheart, which sustains their practical moral-merit of
character; for notwithstanding our fashionable propensity for
aviliating the merit of color; no one has ever cited one solitary
instance of a breach of honesty, or honorable hospitality to
any white man or other person. A single unarmed foot man
is the only conveyance of mohey-remittance. froon here to
Port-au-Prince, a distance of nearly one hundred leagues,
mostly through solitary woods ; but no instance is recorded
of either robbery, murder, orinsult. Further comment Upon
natural kindness of heart is needless. I have not heard of
any other instance similar in any country, or under any go-
vernmeiht--here every appearance indicates perfect freedom
and equality without law or restraint; yet no one trespasses
upon the'strictest laws of decorum and politeness.
- Many of our pseudo republicans openly abuse Haiti,-its
people and government, but here they-read our newspapers,
and daily accounts of mobs, and persecution of color, without
any symptom orese ent or aner against the citizens of
those very countries where their color is outlawed, and who
enjoy every protection, both of person and proper ty, in Haiti.
Although many families here are white in all their relations,
I hive never seen nor heard of any slight or symptom of na-
tural prejudice against color: indeed, as a white man, I feel
ashamed to receive such kindiessand hospitably from thevery
people whom public prejudice, or rather fashion or jealousy, in
New York, would exclude from obtaining necessary refresh-
ment at an ina, or from travellihg in any public conveyance
or vehicle, or even to walk the, streets'but as outlawed rmis-
creants. The state of sQciety here proves very clearly to me,
that our main argument to excuse our persecution of color,
naturall prejudice of caste,) if unsupported by law, soon
melts, and is dissolved by our moral relations, if let alone,
like another legal privilege. Privileged grades of society
are necessary to the existence of a regal aristocracy, or of a




LETTERS ON HATTt.


popular demb cracy or oligarchy: annul the privileges and
these governments become republican, or mf equal laws.
This government of Haiti approached nearer to pure re-
publicanism than any other, now in use or on record. Al-
though the aggregate population of this island may approach
towards a million of people,yet it is hardly possible to find a
servant to hire, which is easy to account for from the circum-
stance that every colored person of good-character is a citi-
zen from the unament of his arrival, and ouon application to
the Commandant, can have as much good land, gratis, fronm
government, as he thinks he can cultivate; therefore, noneD
will hire, and the quantity of population and small farms-of
one'family each, is fast increasing. To gain information
where every thing is new, I have reposed but little in-the
shade nce my arrival, but the air is delightfully cool every
might and morning, and during be day, while travelling, I
"have suffered but little from heat, as our roads lay through
lofty-thick woods, the shade of which completely excluded
the solar rays. We generally'have had a refreshing shower
every day, and Ifeel my health much improved since my ar-
rival from New York, nor can I hear of 6 single instance of
sickness any where, although this is called the sickly season,
and if I canjudge from the number of children playing about
-in the streets and houses, the population must be increasing
very rapidly. In a few days proposecontinIing my jour-
ney west, towards Cape Haitian, formerlyCape Frangais,
and will, from thence, communicate what may seem new.
I remain, &e.


LETTER II.
Cape Hatiien, 29th Sept., 1835.
MR. GEORGE H. EVANS:
DEAR SiR-In my last letter, from Puerto de Plata, I en-
deavored t4give you a short descriptionof thatplace and its
vicinity. Since that time I have rode on horseback, in com-
pany with one-person and a guide, to this place, where I now
am in good health, a distance of two hundred miles or more,
chiefly within a few miles of-the coast, through an uninter-
rupted scenery of the-most romantic order, sometimes over
level and very extensive prairie pasturages, well peopled with
he finest cattle I ever saw, mixed here and there with flocks
of sheep and goats, and every where abounding with wild
guinea fowls at other times we crossed clear and rapid





LETTERS ON lHAYTI.


streams of water, coming from between the mountains, situ-
ated a few miles further in the interior, and. of an height sel-
dom less than one, or more than three thousand feet, and
thickly wooded to the top. This space between the sea and
the mountains, of about two or three leagues wide, is a rich
alluvial valley, gradually rising from the sea to the foot of
"the mountains, which are also very fertile and well wooded,
and lay convenient for cultivation. This valley of levye land
is interrupted in two places by moantainogs ridges, which ex-
tend down to the sea, one immediately below Puerto de Plata,
the other at Point Isabellique. In most places the luxuriant
growth of timber was thickly interspersed with the elegant
royal palm, and covered a deep soil of incomparable richness
add fertility, mostly colvenientto water power for machinery.
That part of the island formerly Spanish, terminates at a
flourishing and romantic little town called Laxavon, which
is watered by the river Massacre. This river formed the
boundary line between the former Spanish and French posn
sessions of St. Domingo; it fallslinto the sea a small distance
east of Fort D auphin, now Fort _Liberti6, which lays fifteen
miles to the S. W.,and is a very extensive welilaid out town,
conveniently watered by a clear -river, which flows partly
around it. The houses are, elegantly built of stone, and
covered with French i mn tiles y of them, however, have
been taken down and removed, to furnish' materials for other
buildings, Its harbor is excellent, and superior, I believe,
to any other on the whole island. Here begins the famous
Plain of the Cape, 86 miles distant, through which its wide,
level, aundwell laid out road, bordered with high, shady log-
wood hedges, still exists: in some parts it passed over pas-
turage or prairie lands, but generally, the massy remains.of
extensive stone buildings indicated the value of thesoil of its
former sugar plantations, now mostly grown up with woods.
Many old plantations are still more or less under the cultiva-
tion of sugar, but the extreme scarcity of hands to hire, ren-
ders the extensive- cultivation of that staple at present ii-
practicable..
Passing through the very rich and extensive alluvial plan-
tations of the Grand Riviere, we-arrived at Cape Haitien,
about nine miles distant from it. This City (formerly Cape
Frangais,) is built on a level plain, just under a romantic
r ontainuof perhaps 2000 feet high. The-great extent and
magnificent remains of elegant and extensive stone buildings
indicate its former wealth, founded upon the richness and ex-
tent of its soil, when it stood the peerless Mistress of Ameri






can opulence. It seems now recovering a little its importance,
which will no doubt- keep pace with the present-increase of
population and cultivation throughout the island.
Excepting Saturdays and Sundays, the great market days,
when all is alive with well dressed good-looking people, few
persons are to be seen in the streets. This is owing to the
great scarcity of domestic servants, who can employ them-
selves more profitably upon their own lands, liberally bestow-
ed by government, whose policy it is to discourage all nega-
tive and unproductive occupations. .
I will now close this letter by a few observations upon the
people inhabiting the country between Puerto de Plata and
Cape Haitic, their complexion, moral habits, etc. In that
part.formerly Spanish, that language is still retained, though
the French is generally understood, and must soon predomi-
nate, as the law requires that all records and public docu-
ments shall be kept in French. A great tendency to white
is also observable in the complexions of the people, which
seem to be changing very fast by intermixture with color.
Soon after crossing the river Massacre,-the French language
predominates, or-rather.the Creole,for both are spoken and
generally understood. The complexions of the inhabitants,
too, are generally darker, indicating a greater predominancy
Sof African blood, but no general color can be'said to charac-
terize-any section. The extremes of white and black, whe
divested.of all legal preference as in Haiti, are more com-
monly found in conjugal union than otherwise, and as no dis-
tinctive predilection of color has yet manifested itself, the
national complexion is continually changing, and must finally
depend upon the sources of population from whence the color
is derived.
I found no tavern or public house on the whole road-we
lodged wherever circumstances rendered it most convenient
to stop. Every where we found gratuitous hospitality and
welcome, with an abundant supply of wholesome provisions,
sach as pork, fowlsy,oney, corn, cassava bread, ad delicious
plantains and fruit. The lonesome and romantic woods
were'interspersed with small farms oo ne family each, all
living in careless abundance, and fu of. healthy children.
Some of the towns had a more fashi able and military ap-
pearance, apd it seemed to, be a general customn of every
Commandant to, assume the prerogative 'right of offering-
hospitalityto strangers, and where we met, not only friendly
welcome, but genteel and fashionable accommodations. No
tale of robbery or personal insult could be heard of. The




- LETTERS ON HAT'.


houses of these farms are of the most simple construction,
with posts of durable wood set in the ground, and wattled or
enclosed with palm-tree claptioards and generally' covered
with the same; they were mostly opea, so as to allow a free
circulation of the cool breezes of this healthy climate. I nei-
therhave seen noi.heard'of oiinstance of sickness as yet,
nor any kind of indisposition, in my whole route. They ap-
pear to be 4 healthy apd good looking people, and in the
towns fashionable, with many Women of excellent beauty. I
oulid discover.no prejudice of caste, although whites seemed
rather tobe treated with most deferepce, which I imputed
either to their being considered as more helpless or their
being supposed to have the mhost money; but all seemed tq
mix together equally in society, which was regulated by the
conditions of the individuals only. ,
My next communication will probably be dated from Port,
at-Prince, and will contain such new matter as may grow
out of further observation.
I remain, very respectfully, &cr


LETTER III -
Port-au:Princ, Oct. 1lth, 1835.
MR. GEORGE H. Evas-
My lastletter was from 'Cape Haitien, wlich we left on
horseback for Gpnaives, a distance of about 65 miles to the
westward, with one colored attendant. The first part of or
way wasupthe beautiful vale of the'Cape and river Sale6,
through ruins'of extensive mason work, and old plantations,
now but little cultivated. -fhe-road lead towards the con-
spicuous and elevated palace and'villoge of Sans Soucie,
situated'near the top of a well cultivated mountain on ou left,
After leaving this plain, and ascending a moderate eleva-
tion, we came in sightof the fine plain qnd harbor of Limbl,
into which a beautiful river of the same name falls, up the
valley of the south branch of which, with many crossings we
ascended to the small and romantic valley of Camp Cog, sur,
rounded by richywooded hills; here we were hospitably en
tertained foi the night : early nexstmorning we continued ouo
route up this romantic valley, thicklysettled with-small coffee
farms of one family each to its top, from which we had q,
very interesting view of the happy vale which we had just ags
ended; then crossing this height of land and descending 4
few miles westerly, to the other or main branch of the Limbs
river, upon which is situated the lively village of Plaisance,




LETTERS ON HAYT.


whose healthy and elevated situation, with its fertile fields
and well stored gardens of fruit and vegetables, afforded an
interesting picture of substantial plenty amid tropical ease
and fecundity. Leaving this valley of the river, we ascend-
ed another elevation, to the height of land at the escalence
or ladder, down which we descended through.a grand chasm
composed of perpendicular layers of limestone work fringed
with calcunrous crystals, many hundred feet in height, at the
foot of which we had a view of the river and very extensive
plain of the Gonalves, which lay before us. The town is
about six leagues distant from this place, on our way to
which, we again.saw many massy remains of cottpn and
sugar plantations, whose. costly mason work indicated the
intrinsic value of the soil for the cultivation of which they
had been erected.
We arrived at the town of Gonaives about 4 o'clock P. M,
It is still important, and derives some benefit from its salt
pond. The fine mahogany, floated down the great river
of Artibonite, laying a few miles to the southward, loads a
great many vessels, and coMtributes also to its prosperity.
The small coaster in which we were crowded, for two days
and three nights, on our passage from Gonaives to Port-an-
Prince, along with a good many Haitien passengers of differ-
ent shades and sexes, but all upon an equal footing, af-
forded a good opportunity for displaying the manners and
estimating the degree of civilization attained by this new
people, of whom the female part seemed perfectly at their
ease, and full of laughter and good humor. The male part
was more musical, and often, in the intervals between sto-
ries of wars and battles, in which they had had an opportunity
of showing their prowess, (for all the Haitiens are soldiers) ex-
ercised their fine voices in singing favorite airs in good taste,
and some national songs with great melody and effect. I
heard nothing like vulgarity or abusive language amongst
them.
On the I th Oct., we landed at Port-an-Prince, which be-
ing the seat of Government is considered the capital of Haiti,
and being Sunday, their great market and parade day made
it a novel sight for a stranger from the American States.
The superabundant variety of provisions of every description
for the supply of the ensuing week, brought in profusion by
great numbers of small craft, and innumerable horse and
jackass loads of all kinds of tropical fruit and country pro-
duce, chiefly conducted by women, mixed with some good
Cooking men, all of whom were colored, whose dark and ro.
bust arms, contrasted with the clean and snow white clothes





t'ETTE#R ON IAYTt.


of the females, all full of gaiety and good health, gave no
unfavorable idea of the happy circumstances and substantial
prosperity of this agricultural community. I will take this
opportunity to say, that I have Dever before, in any country,
seen such general indications of personal cleanliness and
taste in dress, as I have observed among these Hmatien wo-
men, amongst whom, the eastern customs of ablution, handed
down from their African ancestors, are religiously observed;
nor do I think that there is any civilized country now known
to us, where substantial freedom and happiness, unalloyed by
licentiousness, or any dread of injury to person or property,
are enjoyed to the same extent as in Haiti; for, whether you
reside in the towns, or travel alone through the country or
over the mountains, by night or by day, whether you are
armed or unarmed, white or black, on foot or on horseback,
loaded with doubloons or with sour oranges, you are equally
safe from injury. I can hear of no instance of exception. I
must now have travelled by land more than 300 miles through
the interior, and mostly in company with a genteel dressed
man of color; and I naturally expected that a white person,
and especially a stranger from the United States, would ex-
perience, from the lower order of people at least,who were all
colored or black, and living under a colored government,
some small slight or sign of neglect, or have his feelings in
some way insulted by their resentment, for I naturally felt
conscious of the persecution and open war now carrying on
against them in the United States, which I had just left; but
I must confess that [ felt humbled and ashamed at the unde-
served respect and deference with which I, as a white man,
was every where treated and received.
Oct. 17.-This day I had a long and familiar interview
with President Boyer, who is a very intelligent and sensible
man, and I think of great integrity and patriotism. He is of
the middle size and rather dark complexion, his manners
are easy and polite, many of his generals and military offi-
cers were near his person, and, being Sunday, seven regi-
ments of regular troops, besides some cavalry, with fine mu-
sie, were reviewed on a very extensive and even parade
ground behind the Government House; this is a part of 33
regiments of regular infantry and one regiment of cavalry,
besides 4 regiments of artillery, &c., all paid by government,
now composing the standing army of this island ; but while
we admire the offc their clothing, armofficers, men, ir lothng arms, and disci-
pline, &e., all excellent in a military point of view, we can-
not help regretting the cause of this display of mihtary pomp
and expense in a time of peace, caused, it is said, by the fear of





LETTERS ON HATTt.


enemies from without: but as this danger seems gradually sub
siding, while the agricultural capital and population of the
island are rapidly increasing, in a short time it is probable
that the standing army, now said to be diminishing, will be
reduced to the actual want and internal circumstances of
the government. -The navy is small, and consists of a few
vessels of war and revenue cutters, merely to assist in the
transportation f government stores, and the protection of the
revenue. The militia troops are well armed and all muster-
ed in uniform once every three months; they consist of one
hundred thousand effective men, but as their muster takes
place on Sunday, and in the parishes where they reside, no
time is lost by their military parade.
The city of Port-au-Prince has an excellent harbor; it is
mostly built of wood, and situated on a regular declivity,
having high land aback, whose springs and rivulets supply its
numerous fountains with abundance of excellent water;
the lowermost fountain, which is built out in the harbor,
where the water is of sufficient depth, supplies the vessels
With water without unloading the casks. Its streets are broad
and regularly laid out with side walks, mostly under cover of
plazas, where many well dressed females sit and enjoy the
bool breeze before their numerous shops of various wares,
for the supply of customers. There are three large market
squares, embellished with fountains, &c., and the streets near
the harbor, where the custom house is, indicates a good deal
of commercial bustle, by the discharging of numerous coast-
ers, and loading and unloading of 15 or 20 foreign square
rigged vessels, which usually are seen in port at the same
time. I have heard of no late census of the population of
Haiti, but the general estimate of inhabitants is about one
million, and it certainly is increasing most rapidly. The
extraordinary fertility ofits soil, fitted for all sortsof produce;
the convenient temperature of its climate, which, at the sea
side in summer, generally ranges from t0 to 90", and in
the interior between 75' and 850 Farenhelt ; (in winter it is
ten degrees lower;) its extreme salubrity, its convenient situ-
ation for commerce, both as relates to Europe and to North
and SouthAmerica, together with all the West India Islands!
its numerous and spacious ports and harbors, cannot fail, un-
der its present free and well organized gove ainent, of
bringing it, in a few years, to a state of enviable prosperity;
to say that riches would increase its happiness, would be con-
trary to human experience, for I doubt whether in the known
world another example of a country of such extent can he
found, where there is so little crime, and so little human Su-






fenng as now exists within the Island of Haiti, which exults
in freedom and plenty ; and it would be flattering to humraity
to see it prosper, after sacrificing so many lives, and fighting
its way through such extraordinary obstacles, to liberty and
independence, which it now temperately enjoys, without abuse
or licentiousness.
Oct. 26.-As 1 have now been travelling in this island for
two months, and studying the theory of its situation, I will,
by way of closing my remarks, give you the following abbre-
riated view of my information.
The Island of Haiti is about 190 leagues in, length, from
east to west, its north side lays in 200 north latitude, the sea
coast generally is low, the soil extremely rich, but rising gra-
dually for several leagues inland, becomes more steep, and
terminates in mountains richly wooded to the top. "These, by
arresting the clouds and rain, give rise to numerous rivers,
which, after irrigating these rich plains below, fall into the
surrounding ocean. Those ridges of mountains are of great
extent, from east to west : the central ranges being from 5
to 7000 feet high, are intersected, lengthways, by wide val-
leys of rich land and extensive pasturages between them,
Watered by large and rapid rivers, convenient for floating
down mahogany and other produce, fourof which, especiBily,
after running longitudinally for several hundred miles each,
between those different ranges of mountains, and intersect-
ing tire streams of the whole interior, fall into the sea at four
opposite parts of the island.
Owing to the great extent of this island, and the want of
capital, the price of lands is extremely low, and many snperb
and costly old plantations, with all their improvements anfl
imperishable buildings of brick and stone, together with their
valuable mill streams and water privileges convenient to
towns, are to be purchased for a small part of what the im-
provements alone would cost. No country, perhaps, in the
world is so little annoyed with noxious animals or insects;
very few flies or mosquitoes; very feiv birds of pey; no
wild carnivorous animal bigger than a rat, nor any venomous
snake or reptile, is to be found upon it.
' In short it is a most salubrious place of residence, and of&
fers every variety of climate, and I can see no opposing cir-
cumstanceto theimmediate development of the natural power
and wealth of Haiti but its want of capital, the introduction
of which, must depend upon the policy of its government
which, from every appearance, is now fast approaching toA
wards the accomplishment of that object.





LETTERS QN HAYTf.


LETTER IV.
-Nero tor, 18th Nov., 183S.
Ma. GEORGE I. EVANS
DEAR SIRa- here enclose sundry interrogatories putt6
the President of Haiti, with his answers thereto. .I wrote
three letters to you from Haiti, one from Puerto dePlata, one
from Cape Haitien, and one rom Port-au-Prince, an4 nowj
these interogatories. I remain, &c.
Translation f a letter from the Scretary General of the Re-
public of Hati, to a Cititen of the United States, in answer
to a letter to his Excellency Jean. P. Boyer, President of
Statt lRepuli reirin information upon 41e subject of enr-
grants from te United State. -
Si--His Excellency, the President of Haiti, orders me to
answer the questions contained in twiletters, which you ad&
dressed to him on the 15th of this month of October, 1835r,
regarding the introduction'into this republic of some people
of African descent, who propose emigrating from the United
States of America, where they now inhabit.
On purpose that the answers may reply fully to the ques-
tions, I shall, Sir, arrange the translations of these questions
in the same order as you have placed them.
1st Ques. For how long a period of time, and upon what
conditions, could such emigrants contract with their servants
abroad, as mechanics or agricultural laborers, in Haiti, so
that such contracts may be held legal, and guaranteed by the
Haitien Government, after the arrival ofthe parties in Haiti,
and -how many working days in each week, and how many
working hours each day, would be held legal in said contract?
Ant. To answer your first question, Sir, I refer you to tli
Law No. 3, page 11, of the Rural Code of Haiti, of which I
now send you a copy, and to legalize any contract passed in
a foreign country, between the emigrant and his servants, it
will be suffieint that they appear, upon their arrival in Haiti,
before a Justice of Peace, and that they mutually declare that
the'clauses set forth in the contract have been consented to
of their own free will; and that the parties are mutually will-
ing to execute them according to their form and tenor. All
legal acts can be executed by virtue of the laws of the Re-
public.
2d Ques. At what age could hired servants enter into such
qoitracts in their own behalf, and for how many years after-
wards, and what would be considered as a reasonable com-
pensation or gratuity over and above such services?
Ans. To the second question I answer that the fixed age of





LETTERS ON HAYTI,


majority i .21 years, or that of emancipation, which are
clearly established in our civil. code-they give the right to
our citizens, or to those who are constitutionally enabled to
become such, to contract in their own proper name aid be-
half, and the article 46 of the Rural-Code fixes the duration
of the time for which they cab contract, whether as agricul-
turalists or mechanicsa
Bd Quem, By what authority could childredrnder age be
bound, and until what age would such agricultural appren-
ticeship be binding in Haiti, upon those-apprentices, so as to
indemnify the emigrants for the passages, losses, c&.
-Ans. To the 3d question I answer, that the fathers and
mothers, and, in their absence, the parents in direct line, and
in their absence, the guardians or tutors, can contract for such
minors, and bind them until the age of majority or 21 years,
4th Ques.'Wpuld the government of Haiti be disposed to
grant lands to such emigrants near a landing on the coast,
where, and how much?
Ans. I answer to the fourth question, that since the 1st of
May, 1826, the law has put an end to gratuitious commissions
of lands, which composed a part of the public domain; but
that the government of Haiti now rents or causes to be sold,
such lands as belong to the State, so that such emigrants as
have a right to become Haitiens, according to article 44 of the
Constitution, may either rent or purchase such lands as they-
wish, whether it be from the Republic, or from the individu-
als who possess them.
5th Qwe. Would any duties of importation be charged by
government upon such property belonging to emigrants, as
Wya not for sale, but merely intended for the agricultural or
domestic purposes of such emigrants.
Ans. To answer the 5th question, I will say to you, that
-no dutyof importation or entry will be imposed upon the
moveable property of ermigrants intended fortheir own use,
or for.their agricultural pursuits, or for the exercise of their
mechanical professions.
6Ot Ques. Would colored emigrants be allowed to purchase
land and locatethemselves any where within the Island ofHaiti?
Aem. The question put by the 6th article will be answered
by that given to 4th article. The descendants of African
emigrants may locate themselves within the Republic, any
The extent is 9 years-at 15 years they can contract through the act
6f their parents or guardians for 9 years and in the same way chlen
may be boud until 1 years. A note or bond may be taken from the par-
ty as a further se these he fulflment of such contracts.
t The wod colored means every person not white.





LETTERS ON HAYTI,


where they may judge most suitable to their interests, and
may hold real properly when, after one year's residence in
SHaiti, they become citizens of the Republic.
7lA Qus. How long a time would emigrants bepallqwed to
go or come as foreigners before they were liable to the duties
and constraints of citizens.
Anss I answer the 7th questionrithat entrance into the Re
public being free, to every onewhd will submit to the laws,
the Africans or their descendants who intend to emigrate may
go and come freely, in doing their business, as foreigners, but
from the time they may determine to remain within the Rev
public, they ought to'conform themselves to the 14th article
of the civil code, for the security of their future rights.
8t4 Ques. Would government be disposed to grant a licence
to a foreign vessel to enter or anchor in Qny bay or harbor on the
porth side oCftlis island, under the direction of a colored emi.
grant, for the purpose of examining lands, apd choosing a
place for settlement
SAms. In answer to the 8th question, I am ordered to tell
you, that instruclions will be sent to the military authorities
all roundthe shores, on the north east side of the Republie,
to permit emigrants for Haiti to'land, to visit the country
add to examine such lands as mayappear suitable fortheirpur-
poses, and to settle upon them, according to the arrangement
which they may iake with their several proprietors.
9th ques. Would apprentices, introduced into Haiti as be
fore mentioned, be liable to the iame military duties as othey
free emigrants, who had contracted no obligation of labor be-
fore their introduction ?-What would be the duties of both
or either ?-Could either of them be forced into the regular
army wit thout their own consent ?
Ans. Finally, sir, to answer your 9th question, I am ordered
to tell you, that neither the emigrants nor any person of Afri.
can descent whom they may brin along-with them to work,
whether as mechanics or cultivators, will be in any manner
required or held liable to do military duty as regular soldiers
of the Republic. With regard to the proprietors, after one
year's residence, they witlb considered as forming a part of
the MiHtiiain the district where they reside. I ought to ob-
serve to you that the National Guard, or Militia, is liable to no
other service but such as is mentioned in the law, of which I
now send you a copy, and which consists in a simple muster
every three mouths, on purpose to inspect the state of the
arms, with which every citizen ought to be provided, for the
security of his liberties, and to maintain the independence of
his country. Signed B. INGENA4,