Page:Haiti- Her History and Her Detractors.djvu/210

building of fortresses, and the establishment of storehouses for arms and ammunition in the inaccessible parts of the island. The heavy indemnity requested by France had increased the embarrassment caused by these comparatively high expenses. The aggravation of the bad financial circumstances in which the country found itself was not the only result of the ordinance of Charles X. The discontent provoked by this inconsiderate document was taken advantage of by President Boyer's opponents. The opposition in the House of Representatives grew more and more bitter. The Constitution had conferred on the President alone the right to introduce laws. And it was thought that the Chief of the Executive Power was abusing his privilege of initiative by refraining from submitting to the legislative body the measures which were required by circumstances. The opposition, of which Hérard Dumesle, the Representative from Cayes, was the leader, was resorting to every available means in order to bring about the revision of the Constitution with a view to invest in the House the right of introducing laws and to curtail the President's prerogatives, which, it was claimed, were excessive. On the other hand, a new generation had sprung up. From the schools created since the independence had come many young men imbued with ideas of liberty and progress, and desirous of participating in the affairs of State in order to give the country the benefit of their knowledge. Finding the offices in possession of the old collaborators who, for 25 years, had been working with Boyer, these young men were loud in their complaints about what they termed the President's exclusiveness. The situation had become so tense that a catastrophe was imminent. Boyer might have prevented this occurring by taking the proper measures necessitated by the new state of things, after the Treaty of 1838, which gave full security to the country's future. Unfortunately, he refrained from acting at the right moment. And as a final stroke to a situation already very much strained, an earthquake, which occurred on the 7th of May, 1842, destroyed Cap-