nication made to the Corps Législatif at the opening of its session in June, 1892, says: Unfortunately, one has always been satisfied at the Department of Commerce to draw up en bloc the amount of importations, taking into consideration only the deductions to be drawn relative to the product of our custom-houses. The most essential part of a work of this kind, that relative to the determination of the quantity of each article imported, has been constantly neglected. This is an omission which will be speedily remedied. The Department is, indeed, happy to place from this time forward under the eyes of the representatives of the nation the beginnings of the work, executed according to its indications, which must be so useful as the foundation of every custom-house tariff. Even recourse to the statistics of countries that export to Haiti, if that were feasible, would fail to produce a complete detailed statement of her imports, inasmuch as some of those countries, Great Britain, for instance, have not always given the figures concerning that Republic separately. The importations from the United States for 1891 may be stated as follows: Wood and manufactures of, including lumber and furniture. Imported from the United States, but not produced there.. Total value... III, IOI 25, 243 383, 461 162, 059 370, 635 5, 959, 813 For more minutely detailed statements under this head, see the publications issued periodically by the Treasury Department of the United States entitled "Commerce of the United States with American countries." The total value of precisely the same articles imported from the United States during the preceding year (1890) was $5,335,068. The same importations were for: It is estimated that the present average import duties on dry goods practically amount to about 40 per centum ad valorem, and the same duties on provisions to about 50 per centum ad valorem. The duties are placed as high as possible for as high as possible for purposes of revenues only. It should be noted that in all these statements concerning the trade of Haiti, the statistics of the exchange of products and other articles over the frontiers and along the coasts of the two Republics of the Island, between the citizens thereof, are not included. It is, however, known that the volume of that trade is quite considerable. Of exports, by far the most important article is coffee. Indeed, so important is this product that the prosperity of the country is measured by it from year to year. The plant flourishes everywhere in the uplands, that is, after passing an altitude of 300 feet above the sea level, and it is met with on all sides above that altitude. The coffee tree, as it is usually called, lives and bears for about 30 years, but new ones constantly spring up from the seeds that fall from the parent plant, so that, in that remarkably rich soil, coffee trees would, even without care, probably always be found. If it be properly cultivated, the rule is to plant one tree for every 10 feet, which would give 1,225 trees to each carreau of land, the carreau being equal to about 3 (3.1935) acres. It is estimated Bull. 62-6 that the average annual yield of a tree under good cultivation is about 5 pounds. A carreau of land ought, therefore, to produce 6,125 pounds of coffee on the average. This would be at the rate of 1,914 pounds to the acre. The quality of Haitian coffee is confessedly most excellent, but owing to the imperfect and indifferent way in which it was, until within a few years back, gathered and prepared for foreign markets, it has never become a favorite in the United States, and most of it finds its way to France and Belgium for final consumption. At Petit Goâve, Pétionville, and in other localities considered convenient for the purpose, there are establishments at which it is suitably cleared, hulled, and prepared for shipment by machinery. This has led to greater care as to gathering the berry when it is in the proper state of ripeness, a very important step which was formerly too much neglected. In 1789, there were 88,360,502 pounds of it exported, but in 1791, the quantity fell to 63,151,180 pounds. The export of this article in 1789 has never been equaled. At that time, however, only a comparatively small quantity was consumed in the country, whereas the Haitian historian, M. Madiou, who wrote more than forty-five years ago, considered that 5,000,000 pounds were so used annually. It would probably be safe to place from 8,000,000 pounds to 10,000,000 pounds under this head at the present day. A "good crop" for export is set down at 70,000,000 pounds, and calculations are apt to be made on that basis; but, as a matter of fact, the quantity exported annually since the foundation of the Republic has varied from 41,000,000 to 86,138,208 pounds, and once, in 1818, it went down to 20,281,000 pounds. Only very rarely, has it passed the 70,000,000-pound mark. Some of the best years were as follows: Exported 1863..... 1875. 1876. 1888... 1890... Pounds. 71, 712, 345 72, 637, 716 72, 289, 504 86, 138, 208 79.340, 53 If the average annual exportation since 1876 be taken, it will be found to be not far from 63,000,000 pounds. The pounds here mentioned are French, and about 8 per cent must be added to bring them to represent the American or English pound avoirdupois. This would place the average annual export of coffee at 68,040,000 pounds avoirdupois. Then, if 8,000,000 pounds, French, be allowed for home consumption, the average annual yield of the crop since 1876 will stand at about 78,040,000 pounds avoirdupois. The customs duty on that which is exported is $3.86% on each 100 pounds, French. The article of export which figures next to coffee in importance is logwood. It is found growing in all parts of the country, and the demand for it is steady and increasing. It is considered to be of the very best quality; indeed, it is said to stand almost without a peer in the markets of the world. The tree flourishes best in damp places, and is ready for the market at ten years' growth. The amount of it exported annually depends on the disposition and energy of the country people in cutting it, trimming it, and transporting it within easy reach of a place of shipment. In 1880, when profound peace reigned and there were hopes for its continuance throughout the Republic, 321,729,801 pounds of logwood were shipped, but the average yearly exportation since and including that year has been about 178,000,000 pounds. In the colonial times, it scarcely if ever exceeded 2,000,000 pounds. Lately, the export of it has been in— 1890..... 1891.. 1892. Pounds. 190, 861, 248 *165, 423, 485 114, 542, 697 There are some discrepancies that appear between the returns given in the national bank's report and those issued by the Chambre des Comptes. For instance, in the former, this item is set down at 159,406,485 pounds. These discrepancies crop out in some other instances. Thus the coffee exported in 1890 is given in one report as 78,213.445 pounds and in the other as 79,340,531 pounds. Generally, however, the two reports agree. The present export duty on logwood is $5.90 on each ton of 2,000 pounds. Coffee and logwood form the two great staples on which, it is considered, the financial prosperity of the country largely depends. Cacao comes in as a sort of adjunct to coffee. While it is found in several localities, it can not be said that it flourishes and is abundant everywhere. The great bulk of it is grown on the western half of the peninsula whose chief sea port is Jérémie, and it is from this latter port that more than five-sixths of that which is exported are shipped. Under the French, there were, on the average, less than 300,000 pounds of it exported annually, though the figures for 1789 give 600,000 pounds. From the fall of Soulouque in 1859 up to 1880, the yearly export averaged about 1,700,000 pounds. In that year it reached 2,729,833 pounds. Within the past few years, more attention has been given to the culture of this product. there were exported in 1890.... 1891. 1892. Of it, Pounds. 4, 270, 145 2,873, 774 4,054, 378 The cultivation of this article is clearly on the increase, and it is likely within the next few years to take a high place in the list of exports. The raising of cotton on a large and important scale in Haiti would be easily attainable; the soil and climate alike seem especially adapted to this end. In the very height of colonial prosperity in 1789, 8,400,000 pounds of it were exported. After the independence, the quantity soon fell to less than 2,000,000 pounds a year, and in 1845, it came down to 557,480 pound. From this time, the average annual exportation was about 900,000 pounds, though in 1835, it was 1,649,717 pounds,* until the impulse given *It must be remembered that from 1822 to 1843, the whole island was under the Government of Haiti. |