From 1915 to 1922, however, little was accomplished, for there was continual bickering and disagreement between the Haitian Government and the Americans. But in 1922 a new President, Borno, was elected. He proved very friendly to American plans. From then until the present time there has been more of less cooperation between the native Government and the American occupation.
We have both civil and military authorities in Haiti. The latter have organized a gendarmerie, which keeps order. It was at first officered entirely by Americans, but now to a considerable extent by natives. Through engineers from the United States Navy, we supervise the building of roads, and today there are more of these, and in better condition, than formerly; the Haitian complaint is that they have been built to facilitate luxurious automobile traffic which only the Americans can afford.
American Activities in Haiti
The civil authorities have done their best job in the field of public health. A medical school, in which the lecturers are Haitians, is flourishing and many clinics and hospitals have been established in rural districts.
The main American activity just now is in connection with the budget and financial rehabilitation. There is a general director of all American activities in Haiti, a financial adviser, and under him a score of assistants. The Americans have the veto power over all expenditures and, in fact, new laws must generally be submitted first to the financial adviser or to some other designated American.
Obviously, largely as a result of control, the country is now on a sound financial basis. The old loans have all been called in and new ones substituted. Taxes are collected regularly and yield much more than formerly. The export duty has been greatly reduced and Haiti is now exporting more than she imports. Altogether the country is more prosperous and better off from an economic standpoint than it was when the Americans took it over.
Nearly everyone is willing to admit that the problems in Haiti has not been solved and that the six years left us is a short time for accomplishing needed changes.