Santo Domingo: A Country with a Future Part 4

In May, 1898, Jimenez made a bold attempt to overthrow the Heureaux government. He fitted out a small steamer, the "Fanita," in the United States and left ostensibly to aid the Cuban insurgents; and as the United States was then at war with Spain the expedition was not opposed by the American government. A landing was made at Monte Cristi with only twenty-five men, a general uprising being expected as soon as his arrival became known. Jimenez' followers took the town, but the governor of the district was able to escape to the country and returned with a large force, driving Jimenez back to his vessel with a loss of one-half of his companions. The "Fanita" had touched in the Bahamas on the way down and on returning to Inagua Island, Jimenez was arrested by the British authorities as a filibuster. Heureaux sent a man-of-war to Na.s.sau and did all he could to have the case pressed.

Jimenez was tried twice; at the first trial the jury did not agree, and the second time he was acquitted.

Though popular hatred against Heureaux was strong on account of his tyrannical conduct and his attempts to compel the circulation of a large issue of inconvertible bank notes with which he flooded the country, the fear in which he was held prevented any general uprising.

There were many, however, among them Horacio Vasquez, who never ceased conspiring against the dictator. When it became known that Heureaux was resolved to bring about Vasquez' death, Ramon Caceres, a cousin of Vasquez, and other members of the Vasquez clan, were drawn into the conspiracies. The father of Caceres, once vice-president under Baez, had been killed, it is said, by order of Heureaux. In July, 1899, when Heureaux prepared for a trip through the Cibao, he was informed of a plot to kill him on the way. When he arrived in Moca he thought that no danger awaited him there, as he expected that if any attack were to be made on him it would be at some solitary portion of the road and not in a town in broad daylight. When about to leave Moca on July 26, 1899, he ordered the governor of the province to arrest Caceres and his companions. Caceres was informed of the order by the secretary of the governor, who was his friend, and knowing that the arrest would probably be followed by an execution, with several companions he repaired to a store where Heureaux was talking with the proprietor, the provincial treasurer. As soon as Heureaux appeared in the doorway Caceres began to shoot, and the other conspirators continued firing, although the first shot had been fatal. Heureaux before falling drew his revolver and returned the fire, but the darkness of death clouded his vision and the shots went wild, one of them, however, killing a beggar to whom he had a few moments before given alms. Caceres and his companions fled to the mountains, and the body of Heureaux was taken to Santiago, where it was afterwards interred in the cathedral. Juan Wenceslao Figuereo, vice-president of the Republic, an aged negro, succeeded to the presidency.

The death of Heureaux precipitated a revolution headed by General Horacio Vasquez. President Figuereo made no resistance, but at the end of August resigned, together with his cabinet, first designating a committee of citizens to administer affairs until the arrival of Vasquez, who entered the capital on September 5, 1899, and became the head of the provisional government. Jimenez in the meantime hastened to the country and was everywhere received with rejoicing. The two leaders arranged that Jimenez should become president and Vasquez vice-president, and an election was held on October 20, by which this result was attained, the inauguration taking place November 20, 1899.

Ramon Caceres, the slayer of Heureaux, was made governor of Santiago and delegate of the government in the Cibao.

The Jimenez administration was the reaction of that of Heureaux. It deserved, more than any the Republic had had up to that time, the name of civil and const.i.tutional government. The executive was not absolute, as in the time of Heureaux, nor were there sanguinary executions. Almost too little restraint was exercised, and the press, so long muzzled, began to convert its liberty into license. Jimenez, too, was so good-hearted that at times he yielded to importunities which had better been resisted. The financial problems left by the Heureaux administration caused considerable trouble and though the waste of the public revenues was curtailed, large sums were still absorbed in the payment of revolutionary claims and of pensions for local military chiefs.

Jealousies soon ripened between Jimenez and Vasquez, who was known to long for the presidency and had only temporarily laid aside his aspirations on account of the overwhelming popularity of Jimenez. Each of the chiefs collected a group of friends about him and in this way originated the still existing political parties, Jimenistas and Horacistas, the respective followers of Jimenez and Horacio Vasquez.

Several minor uprisings occurred but were suppressed by the government. In the beginning of 1902 the Dominican Congress, which was composed largely of Vasquez' friends, considered the advisability of impeaching President Jimenez on account of the financial transactions of the administration, and a vote of censure was finally pa.s.sed.

Jimenez believed Vasquez at the bottom of the agitation and endeavored to have the munic.i.p.alities protest against the action of Congress.

Rumors became current that Jimenez intended to imprison his vice-president and thus insure his own reelection. Vasquez, urged on by his friends, therefore started a revolution in the Cibao, and after a fight in San Carlos and a four days' siege of the capital entered Santo Domingo City on May 2, 1902, and became president of a provisional government. Jimenez sought refuge in the French consulate and embarked for Porto Rico a few days later.

General Horacio Vasquez was born in Moca and was a ranchman, merchant and planter. He possessed military capacity and took a minor part in several revolutions. At first a friend of Heureaux, he afterwards became one of his bitterest enemies, and for a number of years lived as an exile in Cuba and Porto Rico, returning to Moca shortly before the death of Heureaux to remain in retirement on his plantation. The Vasquez administration had as much difficulty with financial matters as that of his predecessor, but the president had little opportunity to show what he could do. Local outbreaks began in Monte Cristi and became general in October, 1902. Disturbances continued until March 24, 1903, when, during the absence of President Vasquez in the Cibao, the political prisoners in the fort of Santo Domingo City, through connivance with the general in charge, broke out, took the fort, liberated the convicts, threw the city into a panic with a continued fusillade, and proclaimed a revolution. They were for the most part Jimenistas and "Lilicistas," or members of the old Heureaux party, and their candidate for the presidency would probably have been Jimenez; but in Jimenez' absence the presidency was offered to Figuereo and others, who declined, and was finally accepted by Alejandro Woss y Gil, who had only the week before been liberated from the same political prison.

General Vasquez returned with an army, arriving before Santo Domingo City at the end of March. The ensuing siege was one long battle, during which a portion of the suburban town of San Carlos was destroyed by fire. On April 18, 1903, Generals Alvarez and Cordero, the best generals of the besiegers, made a violent attack on the city and effected an entrance, but fighting continued in the streets and these leaders and most of the storming party were killed. Vasquez thereupon fled to Santiago, resigned his post, and left the country for Cuba. On the triumph of his party a year later, he returned to Santo Domingo and retired to his plantation in Moca.

Woss y Gil, who thus became president of the provisional government, called a session of Congress and by appointments favorable to his interests so intrenched himself that his continuance as president became a.s.sured. Jimenez, who arrived shortly after, advanced the claim that he was still president de jure, since the const.i.tutional term of four years for which he had been elected had not expired, and he denominated the Vasquez government a temporary and illegal usurpation of power. In his efforts to regain office he sent his friend Eugenio Deschamps to treat with Gil, but Deschamps, seeing Gil obdurate, made an agreement by which Woss y Gil was to become president and Deschamps vice-president, Jimenez was obliged to yield to the inevitable and returned to Porto Rico in the hope of eventually succeeding Woss y Gil. An election was held in which Woss y Gil and Deschamps were the only candidates and on June 20, 1903, they were inaugurated.

In General Alejandro Woss y Gil the Republic had a very talented man as president. Born in Seibo, he had entered politics in his youth, and became a friend and follower of Heureaux. At times he was governor of a province, later for a long period Dominican consul at New York, and from 1885 to 1887 president of the Republic. He had received a good education and traveled extensively, spoke several modern languages, had some knowledge of the cla.s.sic languages, and was a poet, musician and writer.

Unfortunately the talents of Woss y Gil did not extend to the securing of an honest and efficient administration. The ministers appointed by him were exceedingly injudicious selections, and a carnival of fraud and dishonesty was soon in progress. Discontent grew general, and by the end of October, 1903, General Carlos F. Morales, governor of Puerto Plata, raised the standard of revolt and his troops marched on the capital. The revolution was supported by both parties, the Jimenistas and Horacistas, and was known as the "war of the union."

Morales, the leader of the insurrection, had been a follower of Jimenez and favored the aspirations of the latter to the extent even of sending requests to Jimenez to come to Santo Domingo at once. The siege of Santo Domingo City lasted for about three weeks. On November 24, 1903, Woss y Gil, finding himself vanquished, permitted Morales'

troops to enter the city and sought refuge in the British consulate.

Three days later a German man-of-war carried him to Porto Rico, and he later continued to Cuba, where he long resided in the city of Santiago.

For a short time a tripart.i.te revolution was in progress, the supporters of Woss y Gil, Horacio Vasquez and Jimenez fighting in different parts of the country. Morales, on entering Santo Domingo, became president of the provisional government. The new governors of the Cibao were Jimenistas, but most of the appointments Morales made in the south were Horacistas, and it began to be suspected among the Jimenez followers that he had designs on the presidency. When Jimenez arrived in Santiago he realized that his ambitions were again endangered and he and his friends grew restless. On December 6, 1903, Jimenez fled from Santiago to Monte Cristi, claiming that Morales had sent a troop of fifty men to a.s.sa.s.sinate him.

A counter revolution followed at once and swiftly attained large proportions. It became the most serious unsuccessful revolution the Republic had seen. At one time the whole country was in the hands of Jimenez except Santo Domingo City and the small port of Sosua, near Puerto Plata. The government forces were able to retake Puerto Plata, but the siege of the capital continued uninterruptedly from December to February. Attacks and sallies were frequent, every house along the walls and in the suburbs soon showed bullet marks and the town of San Carlos was again partially destroyed by fire. Finally Morales defeated the besiegers, and in March, Macoris was taken by the government forces and the backbone of the revolution was broken. The insurrection had spent itself on account of lack of supplies and efficient leaders.

Jimenez, financially ruined by his attempts to reestablish himself in power, again withdrew to Porto Rico. The government forces were unable to retake the Monte Cristi district, but an agreement was reached by which the Jimenista authorities remained in full control and the district became practically independent.

An election was held, as a result of which Carlos F. Morales became president and Ramon Caceres vice-president, and they were inaugurated on June 19, 1904. The new president, Morales, was an unusually clever man, although his conduct sometimes betrayed that he came from a family in which there had been mental derangement. He was born in Puerto Plata, studied for the priesthood, took orders, and held the office of parish priest in various places in the Cibao. After the death of a brother who partic.i.p.ated in Jimenez' ill-fated "Fanita"

expedition and was killed in the attack on Monte Cristi, Morales took an interest in public affairs and during the administration of Jimenez became a member of Congress. At this time he laid aside his religious habit, married, and devoted himself exclusively to politics. During the Vasquez administration he was an exile in Cuba, but on the ascendancy of Woss y Gil he was made governor of Puerto Plata, and in this capacity initiated the revolt against the Gil government.

CHAPTER VI

HISTORICAL SKETCH.--AMERICAN INFLUENCE.--1904 TO DATE (1918)

Financial difficulties.--Fiscal convention with the United States.--Caceres' administration.-Provisional presidents.--Civil disturbances.--Jimenez' second administration.--American intervention.

The enormous foreign and internal debt left by the Heureaux administration had been constantly increased by ruinous loans to which the succeeding governments were obliged to resort during the years of civil warfare, until the country was in a condition of hopeless bankruptcy. In the beginning of 1904 every item of the debt had been in default for months.

Under pressure from foreign governments, the princ.i.p.al debt items due foreign citizens had been recognized in international protocols and the income from each of the more important custom-houses was specifically pledged for their payment, but in no case was payment made. One of these protocols, signed with the American charge d'affaires, liquidated the government's accounts with the San Domingo Improvement Company, which had been turned out from the administration of custom-houses by President Jimenez, and provided for a board of arbitration to settle the manner of payment. The arbitrators determined the instalments payable and specified the custom-house of Puerto Plata and certain others as security, which were to be turned over to an American agent in case of failure to pay. No payment being made, the American agent demanded compliance with the arbitral award and on October 20, 1904, was placed in possession of the custom-house at Puerto Plata.

The other foreign creditors, princ.i.p.ally French, Belgian, and Italian, naturally began to clamor for the payment of their credits and for the delivery of the custom-houses pledged to them. To have done so would have meant absolute ruin, as the government would have been entirely deprived of means of subsistence. In face of the imminent likelihood of foreign intervention the Dominican government applied to the United States for a.s.sistance, and in February, 1905, the protocol of an agreement between the Dominican Republic and the United States was approved, providing for the collection of Dominican customs revenues under the direction of the United States, and the segregation of a specified portion toward the ultimate payment of the debt. The treaty was submitted to the United States Senate, but that body adjourned in March, 1905, without final action. The creditors again became importunate and an interim modus vivendi was therefore arranged, under which the Dominican customs were to be collected by a receiver designated by the President of the United States, and the proportion mentioned in the pending treaty was reserved as a creditors' fund. The temporary arrangement went into effect on April 1, 1905, and the effect was immediately apparent. Confidence was restored, the customs receipts rose to higher figures than ever before, and the prospects of peace became brighter as revolutionists could no longer count on captured customhouses to replenish their exchequer.

The position of President Morales was a difficult one. He was an ex-Jimenista at the head of an Horacista government, and there was no sympathy between him and his council. The Horacistas distrusted him and forced him to dismiss his friends from the cabinet and to make distasteful appointments. Seeing that he was being reduced to a figurehead, Morales secretly tried to form a party for himself or make arrangements with the Jimenistas who for months had been conspiring and threatening to rise. The friction became more severe until Morales, fearing that both his office and his life were in danger, on the day before Christmas, 1905, fled from the capital, while the Jimenistas rose in Monte Cristi and marched down to attack Santiago and Puerto Plata.

It was the anomalous spectacle of a president leading an insurrection against his own government. Fortune was against the insurgents from the beginning. Morales, while trying to scale a rocky wall near the Jaina River, in the neighborhood of the capital, fell and sprained his leg, so that he was unable to proceed further but was obliged to remain in hiding in the woods, suffering much pain. In the Cibao, important dispatches of the revolutionists were captured by the government forces, which were thus enabled to make surprise attacks.

The insurgents attacked Puerto Plata under their best general, Demetrio Rodriguez, an intelligent mulatto, and would probably have taken the town, had not Rodriguez received a bullet in the temple, whereupon his men became panic-stricken and dispersed. Morales saw that all was lost and returned to the capital, where he went to the American legation for protection. On the following morning, January 12, 1906, with his foot bandaged and tears rolling down his cheeks, he wrote out his resignation. He was immediately conveyed to Porto Rico on an American cruiser. The triumph of the government was complete, its troops overran Monte Cristi, and an Horacista was made governor of the district. Morales fixed his residence in the island of St. Thomas and later in France. He continually conspired for a return to the presidency, and was once tried for filibustering in Porto Rico, but acquitted. A friendly administration made him Dominican minister in Paris, where he died in 1914.

Upon the resignation of Morales the vice-president, General Ramon Caceres, a.s.sumed the presidency. Caceres was born in Moca on December 15, 1867, and was a prominent cacao-planter. It was he who killed Heureaux in 1899, after which he entered public life, being governor of Santiago and delegate of the government in the Cibao during the administrations of Jimenez and Vasquez, an exile in Cuba during the administration of Woss y Gil, and vice-president and governmental delegate during the administration of Morales. He had the appearance of an honest country squire, large of body and great of heart.

During the years 1906 and 1907 special attention was given to the settlement of the debts of the republic. A new bond issue of $20,000,000 was made for the purpose of converting the old debts, and an arrangement was effected with the princ.i.p.al creditors, by which the amounts due were reduced by about one-half. Instead of the still pending convention of February, 1905, with the United States, a new fiscal treaty was agreed upon, and approved by the United States Senate and the Dominican Congress, taking effect on August 1, 1907. In similarity with the provisions of the modus vivendi, the customs income of the Republic is collected by a General Receiver of Dominican Customs, appointed by the President of the United States, and a portion of the income is set aside by him for the service of the loan.

For years the various governments had been planning to revise the const.i.tution of 1896, Vasquez even calling a const.i.tutional convention; but the political kaleidoscope turned before such intentions could be realized. Conditions becoming sufficiently stable, a new const.i.tution was promulgated on September 9, 1907. It was found unsatisfactory and a const.i.tutional convention met in Santiago and on February 22, 1908, promulgated the present const.i.tution, by which the presidential term was lengthened to six years and the office of vice-president abolished. An election was held and General Ramon Caceres was chosen president, entering upon his new term on July 1, 1908.

As a result of the Dominican-American fiscal arrangement the old debt was practically all canceled, burdensome concessions were redeemed, and a large portion of the surplus from the new bond issue was set aside for public works, of which several were undertaken. A few uprisings by dissatisfied chiefs remained local and unsuccessful. A border clash with Haiti, which in January, 1911, caused the dispatch of troops to the frontier, was settled by diplomacy. The hope of continued peaceful conditions gave a new impulse to agriculture, industry and commerce, and the exports and imports increased year by year.

At a time when the future seemed brightest, the Republic was suddenly startled by the news of the a.s.sa.s.sination of President Caceres on Sunday afternoon, November 19, 1911. The president, with a single companion, was returning from a drive along the new road to San Geronimo. At Guibia, a suburb of the capital, a number of conspirators rushed for the carriage, seized the reins of the horse and began to shoot. The president's companion fled, but Caceres, a fearless man and an excellent shot, returned the fire. Almost simultaneously a bullet shattered his right wrist. The coachman lashed the horse in an attempt to escape, but the horse reared and threw the carriage against a hedge. The coachman then dragged Caceres from the carriage and a.s.sisted him to the stable of a house on the roadside, adjoining the American legation, but the conspirators meantime continued to fire furiously and several shots struck the president. Seeing their object accomplished, the a.s.sa.s.sins withdrew, and the president, mortally wounded, was carried to the American legation, where he expired a few minutes later.

The conspirators were a handful of malcontents led by General Luis Tejera, a young man of prominent family, at one time governor of the capital under Caceres, but lately estranged. Caceres had known of Tejera's seditious sentiments but refused to take them seriously.

Immediately after the shooting, the conspirators hastened away in a waiting automobile, carrying with them their leader Tejera, who had been wounded in the leg during the affray. At the Jaina ferry the automobile was accidentally precipitated into the river, and the wounded man was fished out half drowned. The other conspirators left him in a hut by the road and escaped. Tejera was found by the pursuers, taken to the fort in Santo Domingo City, and summarily executed.

The commandant of arms of the capital, General Alfredo M. Victoria, who controlled the military forces, permitted his own ambitions to influence him more than the welfare of his country. Being only twenty-six years old, he was not of the const.i.tutional age to be president, but listening to the counsel of scheming politicians, he dominated the situation by force of arms and brought about the selection of his uncle, Eladio Victoria, as provisional president. The latter was a senator from Santiago province, and had at one time been a member of Caceres' cabinet, but he was not regarded as of presidential calibre and his selection provoked general surprise and indignation. General Victoria's army was a potent argument; it withered the ambition of other aspirants to the presidency, and Senator Victoria was elected provisional president and entered upon office December 6, 1911. In the following February the usual form of public election was gone through and on February 27, 1912, he took the oath of office as const.i.tutional president. His nephew occupied important cabinet positions under the new administration.

The general opposition to President Victoria and to the method of electing him found expression in revolutionary uprisings throughout the country, especially in the Cibao and Azua. Ex-President Vasquez, ex-President Morales and several Jimenista generals took the field independently. Morales was captured, but the others continued the fight. Beginning early in December, 1911, the war dragged on for months, both sides sustaining heavy losses and extensive sections of the country being devastated.

It became apparent that there was a deadlock, the government being powerless to subdue the revolutionists, while the revolutionists were unable to carry on an active campaign against the government. The American government eventually extended its good offices with a view to the reestablishment of peace and order. A special commission appointed by the President of the United States and consisting of an official of the War Department and another of the State Department arrived in Santo Domingo in October, 1912, and initiated a series of conferences with government and revolutionary leaders. An agreement was concluded and in accordance therewith the Dominican Congress a.s.sembled on November 26, 1912, accepted the resignation of President Victoria, and elected the archbishop of Santo Domingo, Monsignor Adolfo A. Nouel, as provisional president for a period of two years.

He was inducted into office on December 1, 1912.

Archbishop Nouel, a man of great learning, beloved and respected throughout the country, entered upon his duties with the announced purpose of giving an impartial administration and governing with both parties. The difficulties of the plan were soon impressed upon him, particularly as he relied entirely upon moral suasion to carry his policies into effect. Pressure was applied for favors which he could not grant, his appointments were bitterly criticised as savoring of nepotism or as unduly favoring one side or the other, and some of the fiercer military chiefs a.s.sumed a menacing att.i.tude. Sick and disgusted, Monsignor Nouel resigned the presidential office on March 31, 1913, and embarked for Europe.

The Dominican Congress immediately considered the choice of a temporary successor and after many ballots elected a compromise candidate, General Jose Bordas Valdez, an Horacista senator from Monte Cristi, as provisional president for a period of one year. He a.s.sumed office April 14, 1913. His designation did not please the Jimenistas, and the Horacistas also became hostile when it appeared that President Bordas contemplated forming a party of his own. His opponents promptly rose in the Cibao and took possession of the ports of Puerto Plata, Sanchez and Samana, which were thereupon blockaded by the government forces. In the latter part of September, 1913, the revolutionists laid down their arms on the promise of the American minister that free elections for presidential electors and members of a const.i.tutional convention would be guaranteed. A munic.i.p.al election was in fact held, but President Bordas, alleging that conditions were too unsettled for a general presidential election, held on as president de facto beyond the term for which he had been provisionally elected. On the day his term ended, April 13, 1914, another revolution broke out and rapidly spread to all parts of the Republic. Puerto Plata was occupied by the insurgents and blockaded for several months by government vessels, the blockade being accompanied by a siege of the city under the direction of the president himself. On the other hand, the insurgents laid siege to the capital. The government contracted heavy debts to carry on the war and the commerce of the country suffered greatly.

Again the American government lent its good offices for the restoration of order. In August, 1914, a commission of three delegates of the United States arrived in Santo Domingo to present a plan for the resignation of Bordas, the selection of a provisional president by the chiefs of the several political parties, a revision of the election law, and the holding of general elections. The plan was agreed to, President Bordas resigned, and Dr. Ramon Baez, a son of former President Buenaventura Baez, was elected by the Dominican Congress as provisional president on August 27, 1914.

Popular elections were held in October, at which there were four candidates: ex-President Juan Isidro Jimenez, ex-President Horacio Vasquez, ex-Minister of Finance Federico Velazquez, and a fourth of little consequence. The Jimenez and Velazquez forces effected a combination, as a result of which Juan Isidro Jimenez was elected president a second time, and took the oath of office on December 5, 1914.

For a moment it seemed as though the country was at last entering upon an era of peace and prosperity. The government made efforts to solve the financial problems left by the recent civil wars and to resume public improvements. Investments of foreign capital increased, and agriculture and commerce expanded.

The elements of disorganization were present, however, in as strong a degree as ever. Corruption was general in the administration of the public funds, but attempts at reform had no result further than to stimulate violent opposition. The old leaven of sedition was at work, and disgruntled military chiefs found a willing leader in the minister of war, General Desiderio Arias, a chronic revolutionist from Monte Cristi, who had for years used the popularity of Jimenez as a cloak for his own aspirations. The president, aged and infirm, was unable to meet the situation with energy, and disinclined to adopt severe measures.

In the early part of 1916 Arias had his friends in Congress vote to impeach President Jimenez for alleged frauds. The matter was still under discussion, and the president was ill at his country place on the San Cristobal road, near Santo Domingo City, when in April, 1916, General Arias suddenly seized the military control of the capital and issued a proclamation by which he practically deposed Jimenez and a.s.sumed the executive power himself.

Another civil war was imminent when deliverance came in an unexpected manner. For many years past in previous disturbances, one or both of the warring factions had looked to the United States government for help in restoring order, and diplomatic a.s.sistance had time after time put an end to strife. The endless succession of revolts had at length exhausted the patience of the American government. In the face of another general war with its attendant destruction of life and property, harm to American and other foreign interests, and danger of international complications (a British and a French man-of-war were already solicitously hovering off the capital), the American government took decisive action. With the consent of President Jimenez, it landed marines at old San Geronimo castle, on the Guibia road, near Santo Domingo City.

Though Jimenez approved of this action and recognized that his country could not emerge from the slough of revolution without American a.s.sistance, he was depressed at the condition of affairs, and in view of his physical feebleness felt himself unequal to the task of guiding the country through impending difficulties. He therefore on May 6, 1916, resigned the presidency of the Republic, and subsequently returned to Porto Rico to live. The council of ministers temporarily a.s.sumed the administration.

Arias, dismayed at the action of the United States, made protest, but the American government refused to admit the legality or sincerity of his conduct. Its troops advanced on Santo Domingo City and Rear-Admiral Caperton, the American commander, gave Arias twenty-four hours to evacuate. He promptly obeyed, and on May 15 the Americans occupied the city.