984 HAITI
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HAITI.
(RePUBLIQUE d'Haiti.)
Constitution and Government.
The Republic of Haiti, formerly a French colony, was proclaimed indepen- dent January 1, 1804, and is now governed under a Constitution ratified on June 12, 1918. The legislative power is vested in a Chamber of Deputies on the basis of one member for each 60,000 inhabitants, members being chosen for 2 years by direct popular vote, and in a Senate of 15 members chosen for 6 years likewise by direct vote of the people. Citizens over 21 enjoy the franchise. The President is elected for 4 years by the two Chambers in joint session. Members of both houses are paid a monthly salary of 150 dollars throughout the year.
President of the Republic. — Monsieur Sudre Dartiguenave ; elected August 12, 1915.
The administration of the Republic is carried on, under the President, by five Secretaries of State. The President receives an annual salary of 24,000 dollars.
In November, 1915, both Houses of the Haitian Congress ratified the treaty with the United States establishing a virtual protectorate by the United States over Haiti.
Area and Population.
The area of the Republic, which embraces the western portion of the island of Haiti — tho larger but less populated eastern division forming the Kepublic of Santo Domingo — is estimated at 10,204 English square miles,. The inhabitants were estimated to number 960,000 in 1887 ; the ecclesiastical estimate, based on parish registers, in 1909 put the number at 2,029,700. In 1912 the estimated population was 2J millions. The majority of them are negroes ; tin re are also great numbers of Mulatto Haitians, the descendants of the former French settlers. There are about 5,000 foreigners, of whom about 10 per cent, are white. Capital : Port-au- Prince, with 120,000 inhabitants, situated on a large bay, and possessed of an excellent harbour. Cape Haiti has an estimated population of about 15,000 ; Jacrnol, 20,000 ; Cayes about 15,000 ; Gonaivos, 8,000 ; Portde Paix, 5,000. The official language of the country is French, though most of the common people speak a debased dialect known as Creole French.
Religion and Instruction.
The religion is Roman Catholicism. There is an archbishop with 4 suffragan bishops. The Catholic clergy are French. Public elementary education is free, the country being divided into 15 inspectors' districts. The sum allotted for public instruction amouuts to nearly 1,000,000 dollars
