E 673 
 
 .K29 DOMINICA 
 
 Copy 1 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 HON. WILLIAM D. KELLEY, 
 
 OF F»EISr]Sr8YLV_A:N^IA^, 
 
 DELIVERED 
 
 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 
 
 JIJTUAEI 21, 1871. -y' 
 
 W ASHING T N : 
 
 F. & J. RIVES & gf:o. a. bailey, 
 
 RKPORTKP.S AND PRINTKItS OK TIFn OKIi.VTKS OF (X1N0RKSS. 
 
 1S71. 
 
DOMINICA 
 
 The House having under consideration the; joint 
 resolution (S. R. No. 262) authorizing the appoint- 
 ment of commissioners in relation to the republic 
 of Dominica — 
 
 Mr. KELLEYsaid: 
 
 Mr. Speaker: The desire of President 
 Grant to acquire direct trade with and a foot- 
 ing upon San Domingo, the richest of the 
 West India islands, is inspired by a keen per- 
 ception of the commercial requirements of 
 the country, and sanctioned by the action of 
 Washington and his most illustrious success- 
 ors in the presidential office. On the 1-lth 
 of October,.1789,les3 than six months after his 
 inauguration, Washington addressed an auto- 
 graph letter to Mr. Gouverneur Morris, who 
 was then representing us in Europe, in which 
 he said : 
 
 "Let it be strongly impressed on your mind that 
 the privilege of carrying our productions in our 
 own vessels to their islands, and bringing in return 
 the productions of those islands to our ports and 
 markets, is regarded here as of the greatest import- 
 ance." 
 
 Time and observation increased Washing- 
 ton's appreciation of the importance of this 
 trade to our country. He adhered to the 
 point with the tenacity which characterizes 
 the efforts of President Grant. And in his 
 letter of instructions to Mr. Jay, our minister 
 to England, nearly five years after his letter 
 to Mr. Morris, in May, 1794, he said : 
 
 "If to the actual footing of our commerce and 
 navigation in the British European dominions could 
 be added the privilege of carrying directly from the 
 United States to the British West Indies, in our hot- 
 tomi generally, or of certain sped fiedhurdenn. the articles 
 which bu the act of Parliament, (23 Geo. III., chap. 6,) 
 may he carried thither in British bottoms and of bring- 
 ing others thence directly to the United States in Amer- 
 ican bottoms, this would afford an acceptable basis 
 of treaty for a term not exceeding fifteen years." 
 
 It was not, however, permitted the Father 
 of his Country to secure to its people this itn 
 
 portant commercial privilege, even as to a few 
 articles and in vessels of limited tonnage. 
 Presidents Adams, Jefferson, Madissn, Mon- 
 roe, and John Quincy Adams made the same 
 object a leading feature of their respective 
 administrations, but with like want of success. 
 It is possible that the younger Adams might 
 have succeeded bilt for the fact that what Wash- 
 ington and the others had sued for as a priv- 
 ilege he demanded as a right. By thus placing 
 the negotiation upon a new footing he failed 
 as the others had done. At the end of more 
 than forty years, however, President Jackson 
 succeeded in accomplishing this most desirable 
 object; and to his administration belongs the 
 glory of its consummation and the immense 
 and immediate expansion of our commerce 
 that ensued. 
 
 Let me pause for a moment to ask why the 
 fathers of the country were so anxious for the 
 privilege of direct trade with the West Indies, 
 and why the European Powers who had domin- 
 ion over the archipelago so persistently refused 
 to accord us the privilege of direct commerce 
 with our neighbors, of whose productions we 
 have ever been such large consumers ? It was 
 because those Governments saw, as clearly as 
 the statesmen of our country, the importance 
 to the American Republic of unrestricted trade 
 with the islands of the Caribbean sea, whose 
 waters wash our shores. 
 
 The fathers of the country having been forced 
 into armed rebellion by the restrictions imposed 
 by the Parliament of GreatBritain upon the de- 
 velopment of our natural resources and manu- 
 facturing and commercial power, had learned 
 that international trade conducted exclusively 
 along parallels of latitude, and consequently 
 between nations producing the same commodi- 
 ties, could not be generally profitable to the 
 people of both countries, and must, if left to the 
 government of the laws of trade, uninfluenced 
 by a tariff (if compensatory duties, be ultimately 
 
(5 
 
 BFrKOTOK TUB AC>)LisrriON irroN .sLAvr.:;v. 
 
 Some of my fiiciiils who remember the 
 f'liergy with which I have hilhcrlo opposed llie 
 acquisition ofsoiiihorn territory may deem ine 
 inconsistent in advocating earnestly, as I do, 
 the acquisition of San Domingo; but if they 
 will listen for a moment they will, I think, per- 
 ceive that I could not maintain my consistency 
 and do otherwise. Believing, as I have long 
 done, that commerce, to be generally and en- 
 duringly profitable to both parties, must cross 
 parallels of latitude and not run upon them, 
 I have believed that it v/ould add to the com- 
 pleteness of our country to acquire tropical 
 or semi-tropical territory with the people of 
 which we might exchange, under our own rev- 
 enue system, without the interposition of du- 
 ties, the products of our northern fields and 
 workshops for the many commodities which 
 they produce but which we cannot, and of 
 which we are large consumers. But, sir, not- 
 withstanding these convictions and the fact 
 that I was a member of the Democratic party, 
 I opposed the anne.xation of Texas, was hos- 
 tile to the armed occupation of Yucatan, as 
 suggested by President Polk in his message 
 ef April 29, 1848, and regarded the Ostend 
 manifesto and other efforts to acquire Cuba, 
 v/hether pacific or hostile, as outrages upon 
 our republican institutions and humanity. 
 
 I did not stop to consider the constitution- 
 ality of these measures. They were projected 
 in pursuance of precedents which, though con- 
 fessedly indefensible on constitutional grounds, 
 had vindicated themselves to the judgment of 
 the country, the acquisition of the Louisiana 
 territory and the Floridas. My hostility to the 
 measures alluded to did not, therefore, rest 
 on constitutional scruples, but upon the fact 
 that they were efforts to extend the area of 
 slavery and to perpetuate that accursed insti- 
 tution. They were all favorite measures of 
 the Democratic party, whose degenerate and 
 puerile leaders array themselves against the 
 acquisition of San Domingo, and resisted with 
 all their power the ordering of a commission 
 K) inquire into the propriety of accepting 
 dominion over it. Absurdly — I had almost 
 Raid impiously — they claim to be the success- 
 ors of JeQ'erson and .Jackson, but do not 
 
 believe in the expansion of our country and 
 its manifest destiny. They are purblind and 
 without faith in the capacity of man for self- 
 government, and I apprehend that they and 
 I have changed grounds on this question for 
 the same reason. They resist the acquisition 
 of San Domingo because it wiil extend the 
 area of freedom and give republican institu- 
 tions, common schools, a free press, our laws, 
 language, and literature, and all the appli- 
 ances of modern civilization to a tropical peo- 
 ple, most of whom are of African descent, 
 while I give it my support for this as chief 
 among a thousand reasons, each one of which 
 is, in my judgment, conclusive. 
 
 The people of the United States have waded 
 through a sea of blood and incumbered them- 
 selves and their posterity with mountains of 
 debt to abolish human slavery and make our 
 institutions throughout our broad limits homo- 
 geneous and harmonious with the fundamental 
 principles that underlie them. And yet, sir, we 
 are to- day the support and buttress of slavery 
 wherever it exists upon the continent or islands 
 of America, as we must continue to be until 
 we shall acquire tropical territory, on which 
 to grow coffee and sugar, and tobacco equal 
 to that of Cuba. By the acquisition of San 
 Domingo, and by'no other peaceable means, 
 wo can overthrow both slavery and Spanish 
 supremacy in Cuba, for we consume fully 
 seventy per cent, of her exports, every pound 
 of which might be pi-oduced by free labor in 
 San Domingo. 
 
 Few gentlemen have probably considered 
 the question in this connection, and I beg 
 leave to invite attention to a fev/ fiicts illustra- 
 tive of its importance. But before doing so, 
 permit me to suggest that San Domingo pro- 
 duces large-grained white coffee equal to that 
 of Java, and vastly superior to the green cof- 
 fee of Brazil, sugars, molasses, and melada 
 equal in quality to those of Cuba, and tobacco 
 which compares favorably with the best smok- 
 ing tobacco from the finest fields of that 
 island ; and that were the production of these 
 articles stimulated by the sense of security 
 that would be imparted by our acquisition of 
 her territory and by the admission of her pro- 
 ductions to our port^ free of duty, it would 
 cause the transfer of the American and other 
 
foreign capital now employed in Cuba to San 
 Domingo, and thereby people the latter and 
 increase her productions and deprive Cuba 
 of the power to support the Spanish army, 
 which now holds her in subjection, or to make 
 the contributions toward the support of the 
 Spanish monarchy, which now regards her as 
 its most profitable appendage. 
 
 Cuba owes its commercial importance to the 
 tact that San Domingo has been distracted and 
 desolated by war and oppression from the year 
 of its discovery to the present date. Hispan- 
 iola, as San Domingo was first called, was 
 once the most fertile, most highly cultivated, 
 and most productive of all the West India 
 islands; but she has relapsed into a wilder- 
 ness, and would present to the enterprise that 
 would seek her fields, under a sense of secur- 
 ity derived from American law and admin- 
 istration, as fertile and virgin a soil as she 
 did to the followers of Columbus nearly four 
 centuries ago. 
 
 The population of the entire island in 
 1492-93 was believed to exceed a million, but 
 such were the cruelty and rapacity of the Span- 
 iards that an enumeration made in 1507 shov/ed 
 that the native population had been reduced 
 by the exhausting labors demanded from the 
 enslaved natives in the unventilated gold 
 mines, and the barbarous means by which 
 their labor was enforced, to sixty thousand. 
 Another enumeration, made by an officer knswn 
 as the distributor of Indians, in 1514, showed 
 that the number had been reduced to fourteen 
 thousand; and the history of the island from 
 these early dates to the close of the v/ar be- 
 tween Hayti and Dominica is but a contin- 
 uous story of wrong, outrage, and desolation. 
 After consulting the best authorities to whicli 
 I have access, I estimate the entire population 
 of the island at this time at from one million 
 to twelve hundred thousand, of which number 
 not more than twenty per cent, are within th^ 
 limits of San Domingo. 
 
 The natives welc'omed Columbus on his rrturn 
 from Spain with presents, consisting chiefly of 
 great quantities of gold, and in the course of 
 his progress through the island, in 1495, in 
 grateful return he imposed tribute on all of 
 them above the age of fourteen, requiring each 
 
 one to pay quarterly a certain quantity of gold 
 or twenty-five pounds of cotton. It is record- 
 ed by Captain James BIrney, in his History of 
 the Buccaneers of America, that to prevent 
 evasion of paying this tribute Columbus caused 
 "rings or tokens to be produced, in the nature 
 of receipts, which were given to the islanders 
 on their paying the tribute, and any islander 
 found without such a mark in his possession 
 was deemed not to have paid, and proceeded 
 against." 
 
 In a recent conversation with a!i intelligent 
 merchant of Philadelphia, who has spent many 
 years in Cuba and San Domingo, I said to 
 him, " What would be the effect of American 
 occupation of San Domingo, or its acquisition 
 by us, upon the productions and commerce 
 of the island?" To which he replied: 
 
 "In five years from the occurrence of sucli an 
 event San Domingo will have resumed her former 
 station among the producing and commercial coun- 
 tries of the world, and will have become the weal tli- 
 iest and most prosperous island in the Archipelago. 
 Under such new circumstances it will far exceed the 
 Cuba of to-day. Sau Domingo is in my judgment 
 worth five times what Cuba is worth. Prior to the 
 revolution of 17S9 and 1790, San Domingo was the 
 wealthiest American colonial possession owned by 
 any nation. The French part was immensely pros- 
 perous although the French had kept it but a few 
 years. I have not the figures at hand, but, having 
 examined them, assure you thatthe exports of coffee, 
 tobacco, sugar, indigo, cocoa, and other productions 
 sustain my assertion. The Spanish side was also 
 very prosperous. In fact, the whole island was in a 
 prosperous condition, and the mines were yielding 
 large quantities of gold. Since the revolution of 
 1790, when the blacks expelled the French froraSan 
 Domingo, the condition of the country has retro- 
 graded, and very little progress has since been made 
 in Ilayti." 
 
 In view of these facts we may certainly 
 regard the soil of Dominica as virgin, and by 
 embracing it under our jurisdiction do for 
 the wealth and commerce of the world what 
 Columbus and their Catholic majesties might 
 have done could they have founded a liberal 
 republic v.'hose affi.irs should be so adminis- 
 tered as to promote the welfaie of ail the 
 inhabitants of the island. 
 
 The march of our prosperity has marked 
 and measured the prosperity of the ruling 
 classes in Cuba. In 1820 she produced but 
 fifty thousand tons of sugar, and in 18G8, to 
 
 ^ 
 
8 
 
 meet our increased wants, she produced nine 
 hundred thousand tons. The increase has 
 always been in proportion to the increasing 
 market our country aftordcd. It was to sup- 
 ply our market that she maintained the slave 
 trade with Africa, and patronized the equally 
 inhuman and murderous traffic in coolies. 
 Enriched by our patronage she employs to- 
 {^y both of these execrable agencies in our 
 service. Let me prove this. She ships her 
 sugar in the following proportions: seventy 
 per cent, directly to the United States; tv,-enty- 
 two per cent, to Great Britain direct, and to 
 Falmouth or a market; two per cent, to Spain, 
 (a largo estimate;) and six per cent, to other 
 countries of Europe and to South America. 
 
 I have said, sir, that Cuba has maintained 
 and does maintain the slave trade and the 
 coolie trade in order to supply our wants. 
 More and worse than this, prior to 18G1 she 
 imported her victims chiefly under our flag, 
 though our lav^ declared the slave trade to be 
 piracy. Spain had bound herself by treaty 
 with England to abolish the slave trade, for 
 doing which she received what she deemed 
 ample compensation; yet slaves continued to 
 be introduced clandestinely under the Spanish 
 flag, under the administration of every captain 
 general ; but the favorite flag of the slave-trader 
 was the stars and stripes, because vessels bear- 
 ing it were exempt from search by British 
 cruisers on the coast of Africa. The execu- 
 tion of the slave-trader, Gordon, at New 
 York, in 18G1, put a stop to the use of our 
 fl;ig 10 cover this unholy traffic. Since then 
 cD'.nparaiively few slaves have been introduced 
 into Cuba, but the number of coolies imported 
 annually has greatly increased. 
 
 OL'K ttESPONSIBILITV, AND DOW WR Jf.VY AVOID IT. 
 
 Such are our responsibilities ; and it is now 
 in our power to control the whole subject, not 
 by ravishing Na'ijoth's vineyard, but by con- 
 firming his title thereto and enabling him to 
 enjoy in serene confidence his vine and Gg- tree. 
 
 The duty of two cents a pound imposed by 
 our laws on raw sugar and the duties on mo- 
 lasses, melada, tobacco, and other productions 
 common to both islands would make it so much 
 more profitable to produce them in San Do- 
 mingo than in Cuba that tho Spanish despots 
 
 and native slaveholders who govern that island 
 would have no need for new victims, but would 
 find a steadily diminishing market for the crops 
 grown by those they now hold in bondage. 
 
 The dulies on imports from Cuba into this 
 country during the fiscal year ending June 30, 
 1870, all of which could have been raised by free 
 labor in San Domingo, amount to $32,208,750, 
 and the value of the imports was $52,904,220. 
 This statement embraces only sugar, molasses, 
 melada, tobacco, and cigars, which, though the 
 principal, are not our only imporls from Cuba. 
 The whole could have been grown in San 
 Domingo, together with immense supplies of 
 colTee, cocoa, indigo, and the valuable woods 
 of the island. The following table shows the 
 amount and value of each of the commodities 
 named that we imported from Cuba during 
 the last fiscal year, the value thereof, and the 
 duty to which they were subject at three cents 
 per pound on sugar, eight cents per gallon 
 on molasses, and three cents per pound on 
 melada: 
 
 Qiiantitii. Value. Dull'. 
 
 Sugar, lbs 801.033,313 633,086,448 $24,049,000 
 
 Molassos, gala. 45.084,152 9,696,783 3,606,732 
 
 Melada, lbs 35.828,771 1,247,240 1.074.863 
 
 Tobacco and 
 
 cigars 3.933,715 3.538,15'. 
 
 $52,904,225 $32,263,750 
 
 1 need noi further elaborate this point to 
 merchant or philanthropist, for every man who 
 will dispassionately consider the facts 1 have 
 presented will admit that, were San Domingo 
 free, and her people strengthened by the sense 
 of security that would be derived from Amer- 
 ican protection against Uaytian or other inva- 
 sion, and were her savannas and hill-sides 
 cultivated, as they then might be, with mod- 
 ern appliances, under the control of American 
 enterprise, slavery would cease to be valu- 
 able to Cuba, and Spain would be divested of 
 interest in her as a colony. This is the age 
 of commerce, and the lav/s of trade are in- 
 vincible. By accepting San Domingo we can 
 peaceably emancipate the whole archipelago, 
 and secure to those of our people whose con- 
 stitution fits them for tropical homes posses- 
 sion and the peaceable enjoyment of tha most 
 proiiuctive island of tho world. 
 
9 
 
 EXTENT TO WHICH WE SUPPORT SLAVERY IN FOREIGN 
 COUNTRIES. 
 
 I have said tliat, notwilbstanding the sacri- 
 fices we made to abolish slavery, we are its sup- 
 port and buttress throughout the world. We 
 cannot ascertain precisely the total amount 
 of slave products imported into this country 
 during the last fiscal year, but I find enough 
 in the four leading articles mentioned, together 
 with coffee, to demonstrate the truth of my 
 proposition, and to show, by the amount of 
 duties collected from these articles, that if we 
 could produce them within the limits of our 
 revenue system, as San Domingo would be 
 if accepted by us, we could overthrow slavery 
 on every island of the archipelago, and so far 
 impair its value in Brazil as to make eman- 
 cipation probable. The value of slave-grown 
 productions imported from Cuba, Porto Rico, 
 p.nd Brazil during that year was $79,414,0-19, 
 being seventeen per cent, of the entire im- 
 ports of the country, and the amount of duties 
 on them $45,930,374, or nearly twenty-four per 
 cent, of the total duties collected for the year. 
 
 The following statement exhibits the amount 
 and value of the articles named which we im- 
 ported from slave-labor countries during the 
 last fiscal year, and the amount of duties levied 
 thereon. Of those from Cuba, which I have 
 already given in detail, T refer but to the value 
 ,and amount, of duties : 
 
 Cuba: Value. Duty. 
 
 Total .*52,964.22o $22,268,750 
 
 Porlo Ilico : 
 
 Sugar, lbs $130,706,182 6.081,072 3,921.185 
 
 Molasses, gals... 7.119.928 2.046.172 569.594 
 
 Brazil : 
 
 CoSFee. IbL' 183,413,456 18,322,580 9.170.672 
 
 179,414,049 
 
 §45,930, 201 
 
 As 1 have said, Mr. Speaker, San Domingo 
 is capable of producing an equal amount of 
 all the commodities embraced in this state- 
 ment; and she can do this without impairing 
 her capacity to espo<rt mahogany, satin, and 
 other woods for furniture, indigo, and a con- 
 siderable list of' dye-woods. That portion of 
 the island which belongs to the Dominican 
 Republic could support a population of five 
 million people and an immense export trade, 
 yet the exports from the entire island, em- 
 bracing Hayti and San Domingo, to this 
 ■ country for the last year were but $979,055, 
 
 of which $419,700, or about four ninths, came 
 came to us in foreign vessels. The people of 
 Dominica are not only without machinery, but 
 without the simplest tools for agriculture or 
 the arts. There is not an iron plow within the 
 limits of the republic nor the simplest form of 
 a saw-mill, though among the leading exports 
 are mahogany, lignum-vite, logwood, fustic, 
 lance, satin, and other woods; and it is impos- 
 sible to estimate what would be the value and 
 extent of the productions of the country under 
 the application of modern improvements in 
 science, agricultural machinery, and the pro- 
 cesses for manufacturing sugar and reducing 
 fine woods to slab and veneer, or the stimu- 
 lus that would be given to American ship- 
 building, the production of agricultural and 
 other implements, and to our carrying trade 
 and commerce, by the development of the 
 resources of this island by Anjcrican intelli- 
 gence and enterprise. 
 
 F.ILSK POSITION OP THE DEMOCRACY ON TOieSOBJECT. 
 
 Those who lead the Democratic party and 
 claim to have inherited the patriotism and wis- 
 dom of Jefferson and Jackson cannot see that 
 any advantage is to result to the country from 
 the acquisition of San Domingo. They can- 
 not even tolerate inquiry into the propriety 
 thereof. They dread territorial expansion, and 
 would rather let our languishing commerce 
 perish and the ceuntry remain tributary to Spain 
 and Brazil than incur theriskof accepting San 
 Domingo from a people who seek peace and 
 security by adopting our institutions and iden- 
 tifying their fortunes and fate with ours. 
 Could anything be more absurd than the pre- 
 tentious claim of these timid and purblind 
 beings to be inspired by the spirit of Jefferson 
 and Jackson. 
 
 There was never a day in the life of the Dem- 
 ocratic party, before slavery was abolished, on 
 which it would not gladly have availed itself of 
 this opportunity to secureunrestricted and direct 
 trade with the West India islands, and to plant 
 upon the grandest of them an outpost of our 
 country as a matter of convenience and safety 
 in time of war. Worthy and respected as was 
 General Lewis Cass, he was never regarded as 
 among the far-sighted and courageous leaders 
 of his party. There were always those who 
 would have gladly elevated him to the Prcei- 
 
10 
 
 (lency, yet few regarded him as jireeininently 
 qualified to lead public opinion or shape the 
 destinicB of a nation. lie was cliaracterized 
 by a broad measure of good, practical sense, 
 l)ut not by keen foresight; yet he foresaw 
 more of the results of the last quarter of a 
 century than these men, who have lived 
 through it and witnessed all its stirring events, 
 are even now able to see. 
 
 The influence that steam was to exercise in 
 ocean commerce and naval warfare had been 
 but dimly foreshadowed in 1818 f yet, on the 
 10th of May. in that year. General Cass ad- 
 dressed the Senate of the United States in 
 support of Mr. Poll;'s proposition to take 
 armed occupation of Yucatan, in order, as was 
 their theory, to prevent England from getting 
 possession thereof, and to countervail her influ- 
 ence in setting up the Mosquito king. There 
 had then been no contest between Ericsson's 
 Monitor and the Merrimac. France and Eng- 
 land had no liavy of ponderous iron ships. 
 'Jhe bulky commerce of the world was still 
 carried in wooden vessels, under sail. Yet 
 General Cass foresaw what, as I have said, the 
 blind leaders of the Democratic party are in- 
 capable of perceiving today. They have not 
 yet discovered that depots for fuel are a para- 
 mount necessity for commercial nations, and 
 that without them steam navigation must be 
 circumscribed and incQicient : but in the speech 
 to which I have referred General Cass said: 
 
 "The application of steam-power to armed vessels 
 has introduced an improvement which may occasion 
 :'.n entire change in naval warfare. It is difficult to 
 I'srcsee its conscQucncc?, or the effect it may hereafter 
 produce. One thing, however, is certain, that armed 
 ?lcam vessels, of a. size and draught suitable to the 
 navig.'ition tbcy are designed to encounter, will take 
 11 dfcisivo part in uav:il oiicrations. Depots for fuel 
 become, therefore, of paramount necessity for com- 
 incrciiil nations. Without them their steam navi- 
 gation will bo circumscribed and inefficient. With 
 them, to furnish the supplies required to vessels as 
 they call for them, the world may bo circumnavi- 
 patcd, and steam-power everywhere used. Now, sir, 
 we have no places of deposit anywhere but at home, 
 and England has them everywhere, She has select- 
 ed her positions for that purpose with that foresight 
 which marks her character, and she will keep them 
 at all times supplied with abundance of necessary 
 fuel. Tho advantages she will derive from this sys- 
 tem of policy aro suQiciently obvious, and we must 
 depend upon our energy to meet them as best we can 
 when the proper time comes." 
 
 Mr. Speaker, the acquisition of San Do- 
 mingo would not only increase our commerce 
 and enable us to rely mainly upon a volunteer 
 navy for war purposes, but it would give us 
 such a depot and coaling station as could be 
 established on no other island in the Carib- 
 bean sea. The Bay of Samana is unequaled 
 in extent, beauty, and safety, and the hills 
 around it are filled with coal suitable for the 
 purposes of the workshop and the generation 
 of steam, and crowned with wood fit for naval 
 purposes. Man's experience discloses uo 
 want for which nature has not made ample 
 provision; and the Bay of Samana, in its ex- 
 tent and safety and the mineral deposits and 
 forests of timber which surround it, seems 
 to have been preordained for a great naval 
 station, and one, too, that would give to the 
 nation to whom it might belong control of the 
 passages through the archipelago of our south- 
 ern coast and of the shores of Central and the 
 northern part of South America. 
 
 The scheme of the pro-slavery Democracy 
 of 18-18 for the armed occupation of Yucatan 
 having failed, and the necessity for a station 
 for supplies and repairs having pressed itself 
 upon the attention of successive Administra- 
 tions, President Pierce ordered then Captain 
 now General George B. McClellan to repair to 
 the Dominican republic, inquire into and report 
 upon the fitness of its bays and harbors for such 
 a station. A copy of his report is before me. 
 It is dated August 27, 185-1. lie says he found 
 three good harbors, of which Samana was the 
 best, the others being Mansanilla and Ocoa. 
 He found excellent oak and yellow pine fit for 
 use in naval construction, and palm and other 
 trees adequate for the construction of durable 
 wharves in a tropical sea. One of these, the 
 name of which escaped his memory before he 
 made his report, he learned was peculiarly 
 free from liability to attack by worms, the 
 special foe to timber when exposed to salt 
 water at tropical temperature. He also found 
 bituminous coal in many places, and certifies 
 that specimens thereof that had been exposed 
 to the weather for three years burned well. As 
 to the fitness of Samana for such a station, he 
 says: 
 
 "The best harbors in the republic of Dominica .are 
 those of Samana, Mansanilla, and Oooa. 
 
11 
 
 "Ocoa, nearly in the middle of the soutbern coast 
 of the island, is entirely out of tbo usual track of 
 navigation, and commands nothing. Mansanilla, on 
 the northern coast, about two thirds of its length to 
 the westward, is too far from the Mona passage, is 
 somewhat out of the way from the passage between 
 Cuba and Ilayti, and is badly situated with regard 
 to the line of reefs extending eastward from the 
 Inagua islands, besides having dangerous reefs near 
 its entrace. 
 
 "The h.arbor of Samana is almost directly in the 
 route of all vessels using the Mona passage, and gives 
 complete command of that very important thorough- 
 fare, which is the most safely approached, and most 
 advantageous in its position with regard to the Span- 
 ish main and Caribbean sea of all the frequented 
 passages. 
 
 "Having reason to believe that it possessed all the 
 requisite properties, and great advantages over the 
 others with regard to health and defense, I devoted 
 all my time and attention to its examination. The 
 bay of Samana, extending some thirty miles from 
 east to west, and from nine to twelve north and south, 
 is formed bj'thenarrow peninsulaof thesame name. 
 The entrance for vessels dr.awing more than eight 
 feet is contracted to two thousand yards by a broad 
 coral reef extending from the southern shore of 
 tho bay. At the no/th point of the reef are five 
 keys, thelargest containing about one hundred acres, 
 the smallest a mere sand-bank ; the passage for ves- 
 sels lies between the most northern key and the 
 peninsula. Tho largest ships of tho line can enter 
 thisb.iy with theutmost case, and find secure anchor- 
 age within, entirely out of cannon range from ves- 
 sels outside the keys. 
 
 "The .anchorages and small habors on the north- 
 ern side of the bay near the entrance are very good, 
 and have excellent holding-ground. The only objec- 
 tion to this bay arises from the rareness of land 
 brecKesat certain seasons of the ycaratleast; so that 
 it is difiicult for large vessels to sail out, as the chan- 
 nel is somewhat narrow for them to beat through. 
 This difficulty can be remedied by tho use of a steam- 
 tug, by kedging, or warping. Were the channel well 
 'buoyed out,' it is probable that a ship of the lino 
 could, in case of necessity, beat out. With respect to 
 steamers, there is no obstacle in tho way of their enter- 
 ing or leaving at any time in the day or night. The 
 peninsula of Samana is almost an island; for at its 
 base the land is low and swampy, much cut up by 
 inlets, and overgrown with mangrove bushes. The 
 approach from the mainland is for a league and a 
 half over a narrow, winding path, practicable for 
 only one man at a time, partly under water to the 
 armpits, and in many places overhead in mud and 
 water on either side. 
 
 "The peninsula itself is high and broken ; the hills 
 ranging from a few hundred to two thousand feet in 
 altitude, exceedingly steep, very irregular in direc- 
 tion, and interspersed with narrow, sloping valleys, 
 thewhole covered with a dense growth of underbrush, 
 vines, .and timber. It is well watered by smal 1 moun t- 
 ain streams. The predominant rock is a limestone. 
 
 generally jiorous.but often occurring of such a qual- 
 ity as to form a good building-stone in that climate, 
 and in localities convenient for working." 
 
 But General McClellan's report is not the 
 only evidence of the wisdom and patriotism 
 of President Grant's effort to acquire San 
 Domingo furnished by Democratic Adminis- 
 trations while statesmen of sagacity were at 
 the head of that party. It appears that Yuca- 
 tan was not sufficient to satisfy the ambitious 
 desires of Mr. Polk and his administration. In 
 February, 1845, he sent Mr. John Hogan as 
 "the special agent and commissioner of the 
 United States to the islandof San Domingo or 
 Hayti." The duties enjoined on him were 
 "particularly to inquire into and report upon 
 the present condition, capacity, and resources 
 of the new republic of Dominica." Mr. Hogan 
 having performed his duties made a much more 
 elaborate and intelligent report than General 
 McClellaTi submitted to President Pierce, nine 
 years later. Let rae quote his description of 
 the island and its probable future relation to 
 the international affairs of the world. In open- 
 ing his report he said : 
 
 "The island known under the several names of 
 Ilispaniola, San Domingo, and Ilayti is, as is vrell 
 known, in extent among the largest, and in fertility 
 of soil, character, and quantity of its productions, 
 one of the most important of the islands of the "West 
 Indies. The central position whish it occupies in 
 that archipelago, separated from Cuba by a channel 
 of only forty miles, intermediate between Jamaica 
 on the west and Porto Rico on the east, its vicinity 
 to the corareevcial ports of the United States, the 
 provinces of Honduras aTid Yucatan, and what has 
 been long known as the Spanish main of South 
 America, confer upon it a political importance 
 second only to its commercial. In the hands of n 
 poxcerful and enterprising nation its influence rooidd 
 he felt in all iJie ramifications of human concerns. 
 
 " This island is again peculiar from the number and 
 capacity of its harbors. The entire coast is studded 
 with deep and valuable ports, and intersected with 
 rivers penetrating far into the interior, which render 
 all its resources, natural and industrial, available in 
 augmenting the power and extending the commerce 
 of the nation which might either acquire the power 
 of sovereignty over it or become connected with it 
 in the relations of mutual independence. A glance 
 at the map will exhibit at once to your eye theinest- 
 imable value of this island, and its commanding 
 position in a military and commercial point of view. 
 Independently of itsown internal resources, mineral 
 and agricultural, its position renders this magnifi- 
 cent island one of the most admirable positions 
 which the world can exhibit for a commercial em- 
 
12 
 
 poriuKi. lU vast and Eccurc bays vfoul J afford shel- 
 ter for the congregated navies of the world. Its 
 Bitiiation renders it ncce?sil;le to Iho most important 
 marts of this continent." 
 
 If, ns Mr. Ilogan prctlicls, the influence of 
 San Domingo is to be felt in all the raniiGca- 
 tions of Liimr.n concerns, had it not belter l)e 
 under the inspiration of American republic- 
 ani.sm than as the colony of any of the des- 
 potic or reactionary Govcrnmeuts of Europe? 
 That she may put forth her influence wisely and 
 for the good of mankind I would give her our 
 literature, laws, and institutions, and through 
 her common schools begin the v/orlc of making 
 our language that of the people of the entire 
 archipelago. 
 
 But let U3 hear further from President Polk's 
 commissioner, Mr. Ilogan, as to the importance 
 of the geographical position and the grandeur 
 and variety of her material resources. Recur- 
 ring to the subject, and speaking first of the 
 whole island, he says : 
 
 "Tho island, which has of lato years rc'^umcd in 
 the hands of the blacks its original name of Haiti, 
 or llayti.was usually known as San Doiuinso by the 
 English and French, and as IlisiJaniolaby the Span- 
 iards. It lies about southeast of tho island of Cuba, 
 from which it is separated by a channel of about 
 forty miles in width; castwardly from Jamaica, 
 which is at tho distanccof one hundred miles; west- 
 wardly fiom Porto Rico, distant thirty miles. It is 
 directly south from tho city of New York, which is 
 about fifteen hundred miles removed ; from Charles- 
 ton and Savannah, about nine hundred miles; 
 within a few days' s;iil of Nicaragua, Yucatan, and 
 Honduras, and equally convenient to Trinidad and 
 tho northern shores of tho South American couti- 
 noat. This commanding position, in both a political 
 and commercial point of view, is materially .strength- 
 ened by tho number and capacity of its harbors. 
 Tho Day ofSamana, on tho eastern extremity of tho 
 island, trends into the interior for a depth of eight 
 leagues, with a proportionate width, and is capabio 
 of holding all tho navies of tho world. The char- 
 acter of the shores of this bay and the noble timber 
 which covers the adjacent country furnish inex- 
 haustible means for repairing or even building 
 «hip3 of every dimension. This island c.\tends, iu 
 its greatest length, nearly, from cast to west, a dis- 
 tance of about three hundred miles, and from north 
 to south its greatest breadth is about ono hundred 
 and filty miles, with a superficial area of thirty thou- 
 sand square miles. Its Indian name, llayli, mcan- 
 iuR mountainous, indicates the moststriliing feature 
 in its physical conformation, tho most elevated points 
 rising to the height of aboutsis thousand feet above 
 tho surrounding ocean. Tho hilly region is, how- 
 ever, interjected with numerous valleys, where tho 
 
 fertile character of the soil and a genial clinaate 
 produce an exuberance of the most valuable and 
 diversified vegetation. In other parts of the island 
 extensive natural meadows or savannahs appear, 
 which furnish an abundant provision for large quan- 
 tities of cattle and horses. San Domingo is, in gen- 
 eral, well watered by numerous rivers, which pen- 
 etrate into the interior and add to tho productive 
 capacities of a soil of unsurii.assed fertility. The 
 irregular character of the surfice and the greater 
 or less distance from the oee.an occasion consider- 
 able diversiliesof climate, varying from thcopprcss- 
 ivo tropical heat, which, combined with a humid 
 atmosphere, renders some parts iicculiarly obnox- 
 ious to tho vomito or yellow fuver, to the elevated 
 mountain ridges, where the cold is sometimes found 
 to be unplcasftnt to those habituated to the more 
 enervating influences of the tropics. Tho excessive 
 heal, which would otherwise be insupportable, of 
 the sea-board is, however, delightfully tempered by 
 the sea breeze, which regularly, at ten o'clock a; m., 
 lends its refreshing influences to the weary and 
 exhausted sufferers. 
 
 " Under such propltiouscircumstances, as may read- 
 ily bo supposed, the vegetable products of the island 
 arc as abundant as they arc diversified in character. 
 Almost all the productions of the tropical and tem- 
 perate zones find a genial soil and climate in some 
 part of its various region?. The sugar-cane, cotton, 
 tobacco, rice, and cocoa are grown in great abun- 
 dance; while the plantain, vanilla, potato, and other 
 minor articlcsarc indigenous to thesoil. The mount- 
 ains are covered with valuable timber, among which 
 aro especially to bo noticed the mahogany, satin- 
 wood, live-oak, and other useful descriptions of 
 tree. 
 
 " Nor arc the mineral riches of this island lees im- 
 portant. It is v.'cll known that from tho period of 
 its discovery by the Spaniards large quantities of 
 gold have been extracted from the soil, chiefly, how- 
 ever, by washing from tho hills. It is known that 
 there also exists the most copious supplies of copper, 
 coal, rock-salt, iron ore, uitcr, and other valuable 
 minerals. These, however, o^vins to the distracted 
 state of the country, have been imi)erfectly developed. 
 
 "This magniflecut island, upon which aature has 
 lavished her choicest treasures witli a profuse hand, 
 has, however, been tho victim of all the misery which 
 man can iuflict upon his brother man. It was occu- 
 pied by the divided authority of Franco and Spain, 
 tho former possessing tho western portion and the 
 l.itter tho eastern part &f tho island, while the lino 
 of dcraarkation between them was irregular, extend- 
 ing in a northerly and Fouthwardly course across it. 
 The part belonging to Spain extended over rather a 
 greater extent of superflces than that whioh apper- 
 tained to France. 
 
 "About tho year 17S9 the island had perhaps at- 
 tained its highest condition of prosperity, and its ex- 
 ports were then deemed more abundant and more 
 valuable than those of Cuba. At that period broke 
 out those devastating intestine cuiumotious which 
 spread horror and misery over this unfortunate 
 
 \ 
 
1 9 
 
 region, marked by traits of ferocity and a depth of 
 human suffering rarely equaled and never surpassed. 
 The black population of the French moiety of the 
 island rose in insurrection against their masters; a 
 servile war raged vrith all its terrors. Armies, the 
 pride and boast of France, were annihilated by the 
 combined influenccsof war and climate; the negroes 
 established their ascendency, and the independency 
 of the Haytian republic was finally recognized by 
 the French monarch in 1S2'>, in consideration of a 
 large pecuniary indemnity, payable to the former 
 proprietors of the soil. 
 
 "Itis,however, to be remarked, what cat) not indeed 
 be readily understood and has notbeen satisfactorily 
 explained, so far as my information extends, that 
 although the political authority of the blacks had 
 been extended as early 331821 over the Spanish por- 
 tion of the island, so that it was wholly subjugated 
 to their sway, yet this recognition of independence 
 by France is in terms restricted to the French part 
 of the island, 
 
 "This extension of the black authority continued 
 without intermission until the opening of the year 
 1844, when the inhabitants of the Spanish portion of 
 the island raised the standard of revolt, threw off the 
 ignominious yoke which had been imposed by the 
 authorities of Ilayti, and declared their independ- 
 ence. The republic of Dominica was then consti- 
 tuted. Since that period the war between the two 
 parties has been continued, but the new community 
 has thus far successfully maintained its independ- 
 ence, has organized a regular form of government, 
 established a written fundamental constitution based 
 upon republican principles, and holds out the best 
 founded prospects of triumphing in the contest, even 
 to the extent of extending its authority throughout 
 the entire island. 
 
 "Such was the origin, and in brief such the present 
 position of the new republic, to which I have had 
 the honor of being commissioned. 
 
 "The territories of the republic arc those which 
 formerly belonged to Spain, and constitute about a 
 moiety of the island, whether we estimate the ex- 
 tent of country, the character of the soil, and gener- 
 ally the sources of wealth. The population consists 
 of about two hundred and thirty thousand, of whom 
 forty thousand are blacks, and over one hundred 
 thousand are whites." 
 
 Such, Mr. Speaker, is San Domingo, the 
 true Queen of the Antilles, and such is the sad 
 story of her people. Her natural wealth is 
 boundless, and infinite in its variety. It is also 
 exhaustless, for its sources are perennial ; yet 
 her impoverished and decimated people live 
 in dread uncertainty, which, like the shadow 
 of impending death, precludes exertion for 
 the future. In view of her resources and her 
 many bays and harbors, she should be the 
 center of a wo; Id- wide and busy commerce; I 
 
 but her bays and harbors are rarely shadowed 
 by a sail, and a single steamer, the Tybee, vis- 
 iting her ports but once a month, suffices for 
 the greater part of her trade and communica- 
 tion with the great commercial Republic whose 
 immediate neighbor she is. From the depths 
 of their despair the people of the republic 
 of Dominica implore us to remove the dread 
 shadow under which they live, expose her 
 wealth to view, and cause it to be applied to 
 the uses of mankind. Moved by their appeal, 
 and instructed by the action of all his really 
 great predecessors, the President proposes to 
 the country to bless them and the world by 
 granting their prayer ; and for this be is assailed 
 by the puny and short sighted leaders of the 
 Democratic party. Against their assaults I 
 will not pause to defend him. He has vindi- 
 cated to the world and history the singleness 
 and rectitude of his purposes by the selection 
 of Benjamin F. Wade, Andrew D. White, and 
 Samuel G. Howe, as commissioners to make 
 the inquiries ordered by Congress. Truer men 
 than these he could not have named, nor men 
 more free from the suspicion of liability to- 
 corrupt or sinister influences; and President 
 Grant may well express a willingness to abide 
 the result of their investigations, confident tha^ 
 it will justify all that he has done, and result 
 in adding the tropical wealth of San Domingo 
 to the mighty resources of the United States^ 
 and in the revival and expansion of our lan- 
 guishing commerce. 
 
 From among many communications con- 
 firming the foregoing statements I fill what 
 would otherwise be blank space with the fol- 
 lowing from an esteemed constituent: 
 
 1723 Mount Veknon Street, 
 Philadelphia, January 28, 1871. 
 Dkak Sir : I have just finished the perusalof your 
 very able speech in support of the acquisition of San 
 Domingo. Having been years ago engaged in com- 
 mercial relations with many ports of that island, and 
 selling its various productions, besides visiting it 
 twice, I thought I would add my testimony to all 
 you have said as to the very great advantages that 
 would inure to this country by its annexation. My 
 uncle, Henry Wilson, at Baltimore, was agent there 
 for the Emperor Christophc ; and the consignments of 
 sugar and molasses then were very heavy. I estab- 
 lished at Cape Hayticn in 1841 a branch house, and 
 shortly after, on a visit, I wa.s informed reliably that 
 
14 
 
 daring tlio French occupation and jjr.rl of Clni. - | 
 toplie's reign as many ns ciglity l.trgcsnil of vessels | 
 could often bo seen lyins in tlic Ciiicjiaffc. oi)poRile i 
 C:ipc Ilnyticn, then called Capo Fi-anfois, awaiting j 
 their cnrpocs ufsucar. niola^sc!', and coITeOiite. Tlio i 
 forincr were the leadiiiR articles of export, but were i 
 go ncplcctrd r.ftcrwiird that from 1811 to 18IG 1 ."cnt ; 
 thitlicr in every carpro an invoice of Lovorins <fc Co. 's | 
 refined ."■ucars ! San Dorainfjo coffee was formerly the 
 most esteemed of any (except Mocha) in Europe ; but 
 in the decay if agriculture, and from want of proper 
 attention to its picking, and fraud in mixing small 
 s-toneswith it. itboeamefuftcr triapo) the lowest Krade 
 in'thc markcl.-i. Our house paid particular .ittcntion 
 to its fclcction, and tlio brand of " II. AV. k Co." was 
 widely known, and brought much higher prices in i 
 conscqupncc. When under American cultivators the 
 article will return to its pristine rank, and the cul- 
 tivation of the eano will be resumed, which requires 
 capital, which the Haytians do not possess. I speak 
 of llayti in connection with Iho San Domingo ques- 
 tion, beeauie I feel satisfied its people will gladly fol- 
 low the e:campli' of theirneiglibors of San Domingo, 
 and become Americans. The most valuable logwood 
 and fustic come from the east and north. The fruits 
 cannot bo surpa-ssed. Their oranges and pine-apples 
 are infinitely better than those of the Bahamas and 
 fully equal to those of Cuba. I traded with Puerto 
 Plat.a forsonie years, andfrom thence received entire 
 cargoes of leaf tobacco, which was particularly 
 esteemed for wrappory use, being rot only full- 
 flavored, but of a much larger size than that of Culia; 
 Fome invoices were fully equal to the famous Yalta 
 do Abajo, of Cuba. This trade fell off on account 
 of not being able to compete, with duties, itc, with 
 the then growing interest of Connecticut and Penn- 
 sylvania leaf fur wrappers. This trade would cer- 
 tainly return with annexation. Cocoa was also re- 
 ceived in moderate quantities, and a strong red 
 
 013 789 109 8 * 
 
 pepper. Honey and wax wouli liavc cumo hero 
 more largely, but Franco offered better markets. 
 From tho city of St. Domingo I used to receive three 
 or four cargoes per annum of the most valuable ma- 
 hogiiny, in logs and crotches, but tho introduction 
 of walnut (instead) in furniture affected this trade; 
 but fashion is ever varying, and we could place our 
 hand on the source of supply when needed. From 
 Cape llayticn to far beyond Samana the climate is 
 as salubrious as any in tho world. The land breeze 
 at night comes from tho high mountains free from 
 miasrna,(aaHt Port au Prince,) and the sea breeze by 
 day brings with it from the ocean invigoration and 
 health. Gold, silver, and copper abound in tho 
 mountains of San Domingo, and for many years 
 English cai)ital has been employed in copper-smelt- 
 ing. Rich and beautiful valleys of great extent spread 
 themselves at tho foot of tliese mountains, and rail- 
 road communication could thereby link together the 
 extremes of the island. You have well termed it the 
 "Queen of the Antilles." It is more valuable in its 
 resources than Cuba, and Americans will develop 
 these. It is offered to us fur "a mere song," andlfeel 
 confident that after the return of the commissioners 
 their report will be so favorable and alluring to emi- 
 grants that our people will applaud and appreciate 
 tho wi3dom of the President and his supporters in 
 their efforts to add this prize to their domain. The 
 decay of trade and falling off of exports, especially 
 in Ilayti proper, is attributable alono to bad govern- 
 mcnt and its sequence, depreciated currency. In 
 1S41 paper was worth S2 50 for oncdidlar in gold ; now 
 it is SI, 000 for ono dollar in gold, I believe. The 
 fruit may be v,'ilted,but the germ is there intact, and 
 as capable as formerly. 
 
 Ilopingyou will excuse the crudity of these hastily 
 penned lines, I am, most respectfully, youi-s, 
 
 HENRY -W. ANDREWS, 
 lion. William D. Kkllf.y, Washinglon. D. C. 
 
mill iiiiiiiiimtiiiiii 
 
 013 7891098 % 
 
 peRnulipe* 
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