CONTENTS. NO. 633.Economic Conditions in Haiti.The Cape Nome Gold Fields.

Issued daily except Sundays and legal holidays, by the Bureau of Foreign Commerce,Department of State, to which applications for copies should be addressed.

Haiti, Republic of-

ADVANCE SHEETSOFCONSULAR REPORTS.JANUARY 20, 1900.

The severe business depression in Haiti noted last year has not only continued, but is supposed by conservative business men to have increase. Importations are restricted closely to the necessaries of life, and a fall in the prices of home productions has diminished exportations. Money has shown all the sensitiveness of a barometer in its fluctuations, the premium on gold varying from day to day anywhere within the limits of 125 and 200 per cent, without any appreciable cause. The rumor of an attempt to negotiate a loan, or of a minor financial operation, or of an incipient insurrection has been sufficient to cause the premium to take an upward or downward leap, accordingly as the report was favorable or unfavorable to commercial improvement and stability. The trade with the United States, although it has fallen off very materially from its former proportions, has not suffered in an exact ratio with the general decline on account of its character the importations from the United States being confined almost wholly to provisions and the tough, cheap cotton goods worn by the masses.

The most probable cause of this industrial depression are the disordered condition of the finances, the heavy export duty on staple products, and the want of capital to develop the natural resources of the country. A large proportion of the silver money has been bought up at less than its intrinsic value during this period of high premiums and shipped off to New York, where it has probably been melted down. The guaranty for the paper in circulation is the export duty on coffee, and this duty has become so high that it is stifling 00022production, an anomaly in which the weight of the prop is contributing to the collapse of the very structure it was designed to support.

There is probably no other country in the world where capital is so greatly needed as in Haiti, or where it ought to yield greater results, all things considered. Capital invested here, with proper security and protection--and it is believed that security and protection are now easily obtainable--ought not only to yield a handsome profit, but if coupled with the introduction of improved modern methods and appliances, would create a vast market for agricultural and mining implements, railway and electrical supplies, machinery, and general manufactures. The present demand for the simplest of these things is very small and for most of them, entirely wanting. And yet millions of acres of the most fertile lands in the world, suited to the growth of all species of tropical products, are either wholly idle or cultivated in a spasmodic and primitive fashion. It is the natural soil for the sugar cane, and yet no sugar is made. Tobacco of a superior quality can be grown, and yet all the tobacco consumed is imported. The Haitian orange is probably second only to the Florida orange in the delicious and juicy character of its pulp; but, notwithstanding this fact, there are no orange groves. Lands capable, in quality and extent, of enriching so small a country through the cultivation of the banana alone remain untouched. Even coffee and cocoa, the staple products, are left almost wholly to nature. There are vast quantities of mahogany and other cabinet woods and deposits of unknown extent of iron, coal and other minerals.

The projected railroad from Cape Haitian to La Grande Rivière, referred to at some length in a previous report from this consulate,* is now well under construction and, being the only one in the Republic, promises to be an important factor in the development of the country. The concession for the enterprise, as amended and now in force, is the most liberal one ever granted by the Haitian Government, allowing the formation of a joint-stock company in which foreigners not only can hold shares, but are able through their holdings to acquire a controlling interest. One of the most active members of the syndicate is an Englishman, a merchant residing at Cape Haitian. All material for the construction and equipment of the road is admitted free of duty. The concession is for sixty years, and the Government offers to guarantee an interest of 6 per cent on $24,000 per kilometer in the construction. The Government also grants to the company for a period of twenty years the tolls of an iron bridge at the Cape Haitian terminus, which at present amount to $800 a month in Haitian currency. The distance from Cape 00033Haitien to La Grande Rivière is only 15 miles, but the concession includes the privilege of constructing branch roads to Ouanaminte, a distance of 35 miles, and to Limbé, about 19 miles. The region through which these roads are to pass is one of the most fertile plains on the island, adapted to the cultivation of all the tropical products for which Haiti is noted. The Government lands granted to the company include 4,000 acres specially suited to banana growing. Deposits of coal and iron have been discovered within easy access of the road, for the exploitation of which concessions can be secured by the company. The company is now soliciting capital to complete these roads, cultivate the fertile lands included in its grants, and develop the iron and coal mines in the neighborhood. It is believed to offer an unusually enticing field for the investment of American capital.

Following is a statement of the exports and imports, port of Cape Haitien, for the six months ended June 30, 1899. It is proper to add that, in addition to what is here mentioned, some lumber was imported from the United States and salt from Turks Island. Small quantities of fustic, mahogany, wax, honey, and old copper were exported to Europe.

Exports; port of Cape Haitien, for six months ended June 30, 1899.ArticlesTo United StatesTo EuropeQuantityValueQuantityValuePounds. Pounds.Logwood4,256,750$25,858.00Logwood roots10,208,500$57,720.8312,764,750 60,000.00Goatskins5,7551,253.53Coffee4,491,407320,392.76Cacao364,84138,213.78Fustic47,500154.97Wax800178.83Hides61.9405,906.24Imports, port of Cape Haitien, for six months ended 30, 1899.From--Quantity.Value.Tons.United States2,424$209,381.72Europe521107,326.95Lemuel W. Livingston,Cape Haitien, November 8, 1899.Consul.

The indications are that there will be a great rush to Cape Nome next spring, something like that to the Klondike in the spring of 1898. It is evident that numbers will go there from Victoria and this province in preference to either Atlin of the Northwest Territory. The transportation companies here and on the sound are all actively engaged in preparing steamers for the long trip. The distance from Victoria to Cape Nome is 2,500 miles, entirely by water. But, notwithstanding that fact, the transportation companies have already booked all the passengers that can be carried on the first trips, on every vessel that can be secured. At a recent meeting of representatives of the companies it was computed that 65,000 persons desired to go to Cape Nome as soon as possible.

The reports that had been circulating last season in regard to the gold discoveries at Cape Nome were quite generally disputed here, the opinion being that the Atlin and Klondike countries were more promising and also easier of access. But the last two steamers from the north effectually dispelled all uncertainties, the passengers bringing with them indisputable evidence that all along the beach in the vicinity of Cape Nome gold in paying quantities can be had for the digging.

A number of these men have called at the consulate, exhibiting specimens of the gold, saying they dug it on the beach, near the water's edge; that men with only hand shovels and the simplest and rudest of pans cleared from $50 to $100 and even $300 per day, while sometimes a clean up of from $1,000 to $1,500 has been reported. Nuggets worth from $300 to $400 were found near Anvil Creek, and it is believed $300,000 to $400,000 were taken out of Snow Gulch last summer; one man, it is said, took out $190,000, while another claims still more. Every one of the men who came down expressed his resolve to return in the spring--some even engaging return passage on the steamers on which they came down. According to their statements, the gold does not extend to a great depth, 5 or 6 feet being as low as any have yet found "paying dirt."

Complaint was made by some of the returning miners that claims--20 acres each--which stretched for miles around and virtually embraced the whole shore from Cape Nome to Cape York, some 40 miles distant, had been staked. This, however, has been much changed by the decision of Commissioner Hermann, which is understood to mean that no land below ordinary high tide can be 00055disposed of to individuals or corporations but is open to the public to operate on; that the right to dig in these tide lands is as free as the right to fish in the adjacent waters; and that anybody may wash gold out of the sand between high and low water, while no authority can give any person an exclusive right to do so; so that the land can not be obtained by corporations or syndicates. * Some apprehension is felt that there may be a clashing of interests on that point, and it is generally desired that the Government establish regulations and have sufficient police to enforce them. Anxiety is expressed here regarding the establishment of a port of entry at Cape None. Captains all agree that there is practically no anchorage or harbor at the cape itself, but that at Port Clarence, distant only a few miles, there is a harbor, safe and commodious. *Inquiry at the department of the Interior develops the fact that, according to a decision of the Secretary, no private individual under existing laws can acquire an exclusive right in land below low-water mark; consequently, the Land Department has no authority to make a grant of such land.

There are now between 5,000 and 6,000 people at Nome City, Anvil City, Cape York, Port Clarence, and vicinity. The buildings are, of course, of the most temporary character. A large number are on the beach below high-water mark, which does not tend to promote health, although the extreme cold of six months of the year precludes epidemics. Two newspapers are printed there, from which I take the following market quotations, current last fall:

Articles.Price.Articles.PriceBeefper pound $0.75 to $1.00Potatoesper cwt $10.00 to 15.00Woodper cord35.00 to 50.00Onionsdo10.00 to 15.00Flourper cwt.10.00Tomatoesper can3.00Butterper pound1.00Coalper ton75.00Canned milkper can50Shinglesper bunch7.50Canned meats and fruits, about.75lumber per 1,000 feet250.00Maple sirupper gallon4.00Ruling restaurant prices.Articles.Price.Articles.Price.Steaks $1.50 to $3.00 Clam chowder$0.75Reindeer steak2.00Sardinesper box1.00Pork chops1.50Chicken tamales.75Mutton chops1.50 Pork and beans.75Boiled mackerel1.50 Cheese, with any order.25Coffee and doughnuts.50 Ham and eggs2.00Hot cakes and maple sirup.75 Three eggs2.00Corned-beef hash1.00Fruit and jam, all kinds.50eachPickled pigs' feet1.00Coffee, tea, or chocolate25Mush and milk.50 Pieseach.50Oyster stew, lobsters, etc. 1.50One loaf of bread.25Ham or salmon1.00 Welsh rarebit1.00Hamburger steak1.50Coffee, with bread and butter1.0000066

An ordinary two-story dwelling of eight rooms frequently for $200 a month. Freight taken from the beach, where it is landed from steamers in barges, costs from 35 to 40 cents per cwt.; for the delivery of heavy freight by horse team and wagon, $10 an hour is charged.

The ruling price for a slave is $1 and for a hair cut $1.50. A bath costs $2. Fifty cents is charged for laundering a flannel shirt, 75 cents for washing a colored linen shirt, and $1 for the rehabilitation of the rare and luxurious garment known as the white shirt. Cigars and drinks cost 50 cents each. Longshoremen have been paid $2 an hour for their labor. Carpenters receive $1.50 an hour.

The prevailing fare to Cape Nome just now from Seattle or Victoria is $100 for first-class and $80 for second-class passage; freight, $40 per ton. The earliest date at which any of the steamers are advertised to leave for Nome is May 1, 1900.

Abraham E. Smith,VICTORIA, December 21, 1899.Consul.