into slavery. … Indeed, my own doubts about the legality of the vessel's proceedings were so great that, had she escaped from Fort-Liberté, I should at once have written to Saint-Thomas, Aspinwall and Havana, requesting the American Consuls of those places to lay the facts before the commander of any foreign man-of-war in port, so that the vessel might have been apprehended and her real intention discovered."[1]
Nevertheless, eighteen years later, in February, 1879, Mr. Langston, then United States Minister at Port-au-Prince, introduced a claim on Pelletier's behalf; in the name of this pirate he did his utmost to extort from the Haitian people the trifling amount of $2,466,480.
The foreign Powers seemed bent upon causing embarrassments to the government of Boisrond Canal, which was showing in every way the greatest respect for the law. The two Houses of Congress exercised a rigid control of the finances, and the public expenses were reduced to the strictest necessities. Public works also received much attention. Mr. Borrott, an American citizen, obtained the concession for the building of a railroad and tramway at Port-au-Prince; the construction of canals was undertaken and pipes were laid for supplying water to private houses; contracts for the building of wharves and bridges were also signed. Haitians and foreigners alike enjoyed complete freedom. Yet throughout Boisrond Canal's administration there was continued trouble arising from all kinds of pretensions on the part of the foreign legations at Port-au-Prince, as well as from party strife. The opposition in the legislative body aimed at absorbing the prerogatives of the Executive Power. The rivalry in Congress during 1879 between the National and Liberal parties, both of which were contending for the supremacy, made the situation still more delicate. On the 30th of June, 1879, a disturbance occurred in the
- ↑ The American and Haitian Claims Commission, Claim of Antonio Pelletier (Washington, 1885), p. 1103.
