THE FRENCH MOVEMENT IN ST. DOMINGO. American, French, and Spanish Views of the Question. THE NEW CASUS BELLI.

I.

[From the New York Herald of April 21, 1852.]

OUR PORT-AU-PLAT CORRESPONDENCE.

PORT-AU-PLAT, Dominican Republic, February, 1852.

I have on former occasions addressed a word to you, to draw the attention of the public of the republic, respecting what it pleases our present administration to throw dust into the eyes of the United States citizens. I mean the false information which the President officially stated in his message, that the differences between the Dominican republic and the Haytian empire were arranged, while such a desirable event is as far off as ever—thanks to the intrigue of public agents.

I may as well advise; for if you will refer to the Revue des Deux Mondes, for May, 1851, its pages corporate more than a sentiment, since Mr. M. Barrot, a member of the Assembly, contains an article on the empire of Hayti and the Dominican republic, which, it is confidently reported, has the French Consul in Port au Prince for author. Now, for its author, and is so filled up with misstatements that it is impossible that the reviewer in Paris could assemble a print contained therein to insert similar stuff it is clumsily attempted, in these pages, to make it appear that the Dominican republic desires a French protectorate over St. Domingo, is the most ardent desire of the Dominican population, who would see with pleasure their President, Senor Baez, (who, to his shame be it said is more Frenchman than Dominican,) and a small clique of French partisans, surrender the republic, although the inhabitants utterly despise Johnny Crapaud with as deep a hatred as ever did their Haytian neighbors.

I am now resident here for some years, during which time I have studied the character of the Haytians, and remarkably; and I must confess that the steady exercise of French diplomatic agents in Hayti, for some years past, inspires me with a suspicion that those agents have only had one aim—namely, to get hold under some plausible appearance of the Dominican republic and to conquer afterwards the western part, under the black ribbon, with comparative facility, thereby restoring the 'Queen of the Antilles' to the dominion of France; or, if you will, since the Dictator has restored 'the eagles' of Napoleon to the French army, to the claws of the rapacious bird, which, although it may resemble ours in form, has no relationship with it in character.

The supposition of an intended protectorate in St. Domingo is further strengthened by the arrival of the Prince de Joinville and the Duke d'Aumale in Hayti, during the presidency of General Guerrier. The children of Louis Philippe, the late King of the French, came to Hayti under the pretext of paying the Montalais their legacy, which was left by the late King of Hayti to the widow of Prince de Joinville's brother, the late Prince of Joinville, and to her sister-in-law, the Duchess of Orleans; but the real object of their visit was to prepare the way for the French fleet to come and occupy Cuba and Porto Rico to her sister, bidding the young princes a very cool adieu, and telling them they had better turn back, as they would find nothing there to do, and to render it in time the stronghold of these seas, and to conquer the rest of Hayti.

The Emperor's downfall and the revolution interrupted the intrigue, but scarcely had Louis Napoleon reached the presidency than the old schemes of Louis Philippe's agent were recommendations, and found a warm supporter in a French agent, named Mr. Raybaud, who was sent to the Dominican republic, clever, educated and French in heart, although a Dominican citizen.

The Revue des Deux Mondes tells us that this patriotic citizen had proposed to Mr. M. Barrot, the French Consul in Port au Prince—'You have only to give us your support, or a company of 2,000 men, to convince France of our sincere desire to place ourselves under her protectorate.' But Mr. Raybaud, although a Dominican citizen, was so far from having the modesty to refuse the proposal, that he had even the face to ask for more—namely, that 5,000 French troops should be sent to occupy the republic of Dominica.

So far from having the modesty, or to make statements from the executive of the Dominican republic, will be still more surprised if they continue to deny them for a short distance. They will find that Mr. Senor Baez, the President of Dominica, actually sent Mr. Raybaud to induce the acceptance of the young republic, foot and arm, of the French flag, and to place it under the protectorate of France; and that, at this moment, Mr. Raybaud (Mr. Green)—sent to St. Domingo with full powers from President Baez, to treat on this subject; so that, as long as there is a spark of hope that France will accept my proposals, I will wait with resignation.'

The author of these precious state papers from St. Domingo sent to Paris, where he went to further the object of his mission to produce the annexation of St. Domingo to the French empire, was Mr. Raybaud, although it is well known that another agent, whose name was kept secret, while the English cabinet employed only intrigue, which altogether failed.

The objects of Mr. Green's mission are well-known to the public of Dominica, although it was stated by the president's partisans that he was merely sent to Paris to purchase arms, &c. But Mr. Raybaud (Green), whose real name was known, selected young Green, who by the situation he had formerly held in Mexico, seemed to be a proper person for the mission to Paris; and his brother, who is now in his cabinet, although he never affirmed his connection with it.

I need not tell you how Mr. Green succeeded in his cabinet at Aranjuez. I never heard of any; but I can tell you what he did in Paris, and also what Mr. Baez's Carminero, then Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican republic, did in London. Mr. Carminero was offered him the protectorate, promising that the British flag should be hoisted in St. Domingo; but Mr. Carminero refused it in the name of his government, and that the same Mr. Carminero, as soon as he found that Mr. Green was sent to London, sent the British Cabinet a diplomatic note, in which he declined to accept any such proposals.

The intention of Mr. Raybaud was not to produce an aggrandizement, but desired merely the prosperity of Dominica, and to avoid the trouble of getting a new prince to govern the republic. He added however, should France reject the offer, that if the Dominican republic can flag, it would be the sign to him to strike the British flag. Now, is it not surprising that after such facts, the city of a person who fabricates falsehoods in his message to Congress, in the manner of Mr. Fillmore, could assert such fables?

To show how far he abuses the Ministers of France and England, he says, 'We have offered to the United States to place ourselves under her protection, but no answer was given.' Now, no such proposal was ever made by Mr. Baez to the United States. He also says, 'We have offered to the Dominican flag to be hoisted in St. Domingo.' Now, this is another falsehood of Mr. Fillmore. Mr. Fillmore says, 'We have offered the Dominican flag to be hoisted in St. Domingo.' He says, 'We are forced by the French to consent.' This is another falsehood of Mr. Fillmore. Now, this is another falsehood of Mr. Fillmore, who says, 'We are forced by the French to consent.' Our lethargy, he says, 'has prevented us from accepting the offer, or the financial obstacles that might be given as an excuse to us for not having accepted it.' Now, no such excuse can be made, for no offer was ever made to us. We have not even the trouble to carry it there—it is all a invention of Mr. Fillmore; and we are sure that, if such a proposal had been made to the Dominican republic, the New World the future entrepot of the two hemispheres would not have been rejected. But Mr. Fillmore, it is openly, may be objected to us: 'Good God! because it is a secret.' If it is a secret, how does Mr. Fillmore and his friends know of it? because it such a legitimate and honorable mission that it must be kept secret. Yes, because others already dispute themselves publicly for the Dominican republic; and Mr. Fillmore, who has done so far for the eight years has answered to the gut vice of the cabinet of Paris.

Answer to Mr. Green: But if Mr. Green might succeed under such circumstances, the diplomatic tendency of the British cabinet, although it may seem so, is entirely different; how different with the Dictator, Louis Napoleon at the head of the French army, and the article of the Revue des Deux Mondes, written by Mr. Raybaud, is still more surprising. If we look at the article in the Revue des Deux Mondes, written by Mr. Raybaud, we find that the writer, after describing the state of Hayti, says that the French flag, hoisted in Dominica, would be a strong inducement for France to accept the proposal; and he adds that the French government ought to accept it, because it would give France the key of the Gulf of Mexico, and enable her to conquer Hayti, and to regain the control of the Queen of the Antilles. Now, it is well known that Mr. Raybaud was the principal agent of Louis Philippe in Hayti, and that he directed all the intrigue which led to the overthrow of General Guerrier; that he was the person who persuaded Prince de Joinville and the Duke d'Aumale to visit Hayti, and that he accompanied them when they returned to France. This is the man who has now been sent by Mr. Baez to Paris on the mission of annexation. On his arrival, he was received by Louis Napoleon, and received the cross of the Legion of Honor, and the rank of colonel. The article of the Revue des Deux Mondes, which was written by him, shows that he still continues to entertain the same views; and he has now been sent to Paris to finish what he commenced in Hayti.

[From Le Phare de New York Dec. 11, 1851.]

FRANCE AT ST. DOMINGO.

It is on the faith of a simple private letter that we take upon us to announce, the day before yesterday, the taking place possession by a French naval force of the Dominican republic difficulties of its own to contend with, to be able to offer a certain and efficacious support; England and the United States, known for their annexationist humor were, besides separated from the Dominican population by the profound distance of manners, religion, traditions and languages to permit the idea of applying to them until after having exhausted all other resources.

Dominica, therefore turned towards France, whose origin, religion and language are the same as hers, or at least in that part of the ancient colony of St. Domingo. The central position of St. Domingo, the extent of its coast, the magnetic sympathies...

The negotiations were long and difficult. The cabinet of the Tuileries hesitated to assume the responsibility which was offered to it, and the news of the expedition might have been prevented to it, that excess of timidity which formed the base of French diplomacy under the republic, until the 2d of December, 1843, a treaty was signed upon the following bases:—

First. France should send an effective support to the Dominican republic to protect it against Haiti, until peace should be firmly established.

Second. The Dominican republic should yield to France the peninsula of Samana, to found a permanent establishment there.

It was added that the Dominican republic, under these conditions should be the direct personification of the protectorate; that the governor of the island should be named by France and he should be invested with full powers to this effect.

This treaty, accepted by M. Ferdinand Barrot, was modified by M. de Trobriand, who, finding it contained an engagement which it had assumed, had causing the modified treaty to be signed by Mr. Baez and the Rear Admiral de Mogen, Commander of the West India squadron.

By this new arrangement, which is an amendment, France officially proclaimed the independence of St. Domingo and promised it her moral protection, reserving to the French government to install at Samana the effective force necessary for its defense; while the Dominican republic requests her prayers, nor even the threat of throwing herself into the arms of the United States. It was, besides, a question of a protectorate, an eclipse to a measure which might involve some diplomatic complications, but simply an intervention of humanity, which French diplomacy, with its usual dexterity, did not fail to reveal. The revolution of February, which overthrew the Orleans dynasty, came to produce an absolute change in this state of things, forcing the republic to seek an offset, and finding it in the peninsula of Samana, which her former government had found the means of possessing, and to which the present government appears attached.

We understand that the French government has gone so far as to establish a post in St. Domingo, that the island has fallen into the hands of France, and if the news of the 2d of December had been known, it would have changed the situation of affairs. The events of February were known, they were written to the French cabinet, to retain the position of Samana, and if the French government does not retain a mount ownership, or even the absolute sovereignty of St. Domingo, it will find itself involved in a provisional government and led to no more result than the threats which they have begun to prefer against.

the Dominican territory, and advanced to the gates of St. Domingo, the Haytians were forced by the French fleet to move, to concede the same to the republic which he had founded.

Under these circumstances, the French government did not hesitate to grant to the Dominican republic an army of 12,000 men to defend her, and to send a fleet to her assistance, so that she was able to act in her defense against Hayti. But new political changes took place, and the French government was forced to abandon her, and the Haytians were allowed to commit their ravages on the Dominican territory, and advanced to the gates of St. Domingo, the Haytians were forced by the French fleet to move, to concede the same to the republic which he had founded.

While the policy of Bonaparte was to promise to defend the republic, the French government was drawn away by an address to France, begging of her no longer to repel a population which had applied to her for protection, from an army which had just defeated the Haytians—Samana de Samana, to which the French government was bound by solemn obligations, which a mysterious enterprise seemed to prevent him accomplishing that decisive act.

Under these circumstances, an agreement was made between the English and American agents to urge her assistance at the moment when the protectorate of the French government appeared to have taken in reserving her rights without an excuse; and as the French government has maintained an active and efficacious part in all the negotiations between the two countries, it is not impossible that the Dominican republic and the republic of Hayti. But after, as before this result, France will have the right to maintain her position at Samana, and to insist on the full execution of the treaty of 1843.

It will be seen that the French journal does not hesitate to revive the vague accusations of invasion against the United States, which the French republic seem so anxious to charge against us. In referring to the peninsula of Samana, the French journal is not altogether correct; for France, so far from having had the modesty of infringing to logic of facts, is forced to own that her position at Samana was not so advantageous to her as to be of any real utility to her, and she will find herself forced to abandon it, or to seek for more; and she has already begun to realize that her position there was far from being of any real benefit; and she will find herself forced to abandon it altogether, or to seek to obtain the whole island, or a larger portion of it; and it is not impossible that she may do so. We have our doubts as to whether France will retain her position at Samana, which she has held for some time; and we think it far more probable that she will be forced to abandon it, or to seek to obtain the whole island, or a larger portion of it; and it is not impossible that she may do so.

(Extract from an editorial in La Cronica, of New York, a Spanish paper, of December 1, 1852.)

Expeditions are still the order of the day, and will continue to be so, as long as the question of Cuba remains unsettled. It is now St. Domingo that has become the subject of discussion, and Mr. Folk, with beautiful and mysterious conjurations, appears to have undertaken an expedition against St. Domingo. It is a question of an expedition against St. Domingo, which appears to have any tangible body, the programme is an invention of the writer in the Herald, who has treated it as a subject, the examination of which, in its consequences, is very important, and he promises to return to the subject at a future time.

We have no doubt that an expedition against St. Domingo is in contemplation, and that it will be attempted as soon as a favorable opportunity presents itself. It is a question of acquiring a position in the West Indies, and we have no doubt that it will be accomplished, if a favorable opportunity presents itself. We have no doubt that an expedition against St. Domingo is in contemplation, and that it will be attempted as soon as a favorable opportunity presents itself. It is a question of acquiring a position in the West Indies, and we have no doubt that it will be accomplished, if a favorable opportunity presents itself.