about $15,000,000 a year, of which $9,500,000 consists
of exports, but the capacity of the country for
profitable production is scarcely touched by the
thriftless population. Political conditions and a
narrow and exclusive policy, dictated by jealousy
and fear, keep out foreign capital and enterprise as
well as the civilising influences that might induce
progress and elevation, though probably at the e x pense
of the full freedom of the blacks in the experiment
of self-government, for which they were so
ill-prepared.
C H A P T E R X X I I
THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
TH E full form of the Spanish title “ Santo ” was
reserved to Dominicus and two or three other
special worthies in the calendar of saints, and the
English habit of abridging it to “ San ” in the case
of this name is highly improper, though ignorant
usage has forced its acceptance by some “ authoritie
s .” The Republic of Santo Domingo has an
area of 18,045 square miles, which is nearly double
that of Haiti, while its population numbers only
610,000, or about one half that of the negro nation.
There is also a wide difference in the character of
the people of the two republics. Those of Santo
Domingo are to a considerable degree Spanish in
their origin and traditions, and retain the Spanish
language without much degeneration. T h e Spaniards
were not driven out when the bond of sovereignty
was broken, and have never been excluded.
A b ou t one tenth of the present inhabitants are of
pure Castilian blood, and the rest exhibit every degree
of mixture of white and “ coloured,” with
comparatively little of the unadulterated negro.
T he Spanish slavery system was not so harsh as
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