Page:Haiti- Her History and Her Detractors.djvu/250

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Haiti: Her History and Her Detractors

Prince[1] that his country was "the faithful depositary and jealous guardian of justice and right."

Captain Autran also requested the arraignment of those persons who were charged with crying aloud, "Down with Spain!" and "Vive Cuba libre!" whilst passing before the Spanish Consulate at night; other grievances mentioned in the ultimatum were that the Spanish flag had been trampled on by unknown persons and had also been insulted by one Despeaux.

Haiti refused to admit the contention of Spain concerning Santisi and Fernandez and insisted on applying the same treatment to both; she denied also all responsibility for the alleged cries of defiance heard at night before the Spanish Consulate by unknown parties and for the non-specified insult to the Spanish flag.

The diplomatic corps at Port-au-Prince tendered its good offices, and on the 19th of December the matter was satisfactorily ended by an exchange of salutes between the Jose Juan and the Haitian man-of-war "1804."

In his letter of December 17, 1877, to the diplomatic corps at Port-au-Prince, Captain Autran had stated that the Cuban insurgents enjoyed also great sympathy in Jamaica, Nassau, etc. It is worthy of notice that Spain refrained not only from sending any ultimatum to Great Britain, but did not even venture to make any remonstrance to this Power, whilst toward Haiti her manner was most offensively overbearing.

It would seem as though there were an agreement among the European Powers to harass the government of Boisrond Canal; for Great Britain now made a claim for $682,000 on behalf of Madame Maunder.[2] This woman, a Haitian by birth, had been granted the concession of Tortuga Island. But she failed to pay the rent due from 1870 to 1875; and the Haitian Government, in order to safeguard the interests of the treasury, seized the products of the island, and brought suit against the grantee with the object of obtaining from

  1. Foreign Relations of the United States, p. 425.
  2. See page 240.