Haiti has a republican form of government, and its present Constitution, adopted in 1889, is an outgrowth of the original instrument of 1805, which has passed through numerous changes and modifications in consequence of the political up heavals to which the Republic has been subjected. The President is elected for seven years by the Senate and Chamber of Communes in joint ses sion. He is assisted by a Cabinet of four mem bers, nominated by himself. The Chamber of Communes consists of 95 members elected direct ly by the people for three years, each commune being represented in proportion to its population. The Senate has 39 members, chosen by the Cham ber of Communes for six years, from two lists, one submitted by the President and one by the Electors. The administrative divisions of the Republic are modeled after those of France. The country is divided into five departments, sub divided into arrondissements and communes. The laws of the Republic are based on the Code Napo iclon, and the forms of legal procedure are the same as in France. Foreigners, and especially white foreigners, are prohibited from owning real estate, and are otherwise discriminated against. The Constitution provides for a system of free elementary schools, but this provision is hardly observed, the number of schools in the rural districts being far from adequate. There are altogether about 400 free elementary schools and 5 public lyeks. The revenue of the country is derived almost exclusively from import and export duties, a part of the latter being a guar anty for several debts. The import and export duties for 1900 amounted to $4,293,000 and $3, 332,300 respectively, showing an increase of over $2,000,000 against the preceding year. The ex penditures for the same year amounted to $6, 589,480. The public debt was consolidated in 1900, and amounted to $27,000,000 gold. Haiti adopted the gold standard in 1900. The military strength of the Republic is about 7000 men, chiefly infantry. The navy consists of six ves
sels, which may be rated as third-class cruisers.
No accurate figures for the population of the Republic arc available, as no census has ever been taken in the country. An ecclesiastical enumera tion of 1894 placed it at over 1,200.000, while more recent estimates give it as 1,700.000. Ac cording to general estimates, about 90 per cent. of the total population is black. and the remain ing 10 per cent. consists chiefly of mulattoes, in cluding a few Europeans. The mulattoes form the aristocracy of the Republic, and occupy a prominent position in State affairs as well as in the professions. The negroes are, as a rule, inferior in intelligence to the mulattoes, and the relations between them are those of mutual contempt and hatred, a fact which has played a prominent part in the political affairs of the Republic, and hindered considerably its develop ment. The State religion is Roman Catholic, al though religious freedom is guaranteed by the Constitution, and the Protestant churches also receive considerable support from the State. In its social and intellectual life Haiti is full of in congruities. The higher classes, who mostly receive their education in France and in many cases travel extensively, do not in any essential respect differ from Europeans of the same class. The peasantry, on the contrary, seem to show a retrograding tendency, in spite of a century of practical self-government and freedom. A large number of the lower classes, especially in the rural districts, practice vaudouv-worshiping, and, according to some authorities, the practice is occasionally accompanied by human sacrifices and acts of cannibalism Marriage ties are very loose, and polygamy prevails to some extent. The current language is French, but the peas antry speak a dialect. The capital is Port-au Prince (q.v.). There are United States consuls at Cape Gonaives, Port-au-Prince, Aux Cayes, Jacmel, Jeremie, Miragoane, Petit Gohve, and Saint-Mare.