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Chemins de Fer in Haiti, government of Pierre Théoma Boisrond-Canal

Chemins de Fer in Haiti, government of Pierre Théoma Boisrond-Canal

This is a picture of Chemins de Fer in Haiti during the government of Pierre Théoma Boisrond-Canal

Much of the activity former President Pierre Théoma Boisrond-Canal had to perform when he took office in the mid 1870s was to undo the financial and constitutional damage done by the president before him. France was on the back of Haiti, demanding a repayment of the supposed 58 million francs borrowed by President Michel Domingue, who had, it seems, borrowed in ill-faith for himself and not for the country. While this was indeed no way to start a presidency, Boisrond-Canal had had the type of history to prepare him for such work.

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Central Railway in Port-au-Prince, Cincinnatus Leconte government

Central Railway in Port-au-Prince, Cincinnatus Leconte government

Here is a picture of the Central Railway in Port-au-Prince at Rue du Quai during the government of Cincinnatus Leconte

Jean-Jacques Dessalines Michel Cincinnatus Leconte (born September 29, 1854) was the Haitian President between (August 1911 until his death on 8 August 1912). He was the son of Cinna Leconte and Florelia Raphael and the great grandson of the Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the founding father of Haiti and the autocratic first ruler of an independent Haiti under the 1801 constitution. Cincinnatus Leconte was a lawyer by profession who served as the Minister of the Interior to the President Pierre Nord Alexis. In 1908, when a revolt deposed Alexis, he went into exile in Jamaica and C. Antoine Simon became the President. He came back from exile in 1911 and gathered a rebellion force that ousted President Simon and on August 7, 1911, Leconte unanimously became the President for a seven year term with a set salary of $24,000 a year. His presidency is often considered as one of the efficient and cleanest government that Haiti ever had. He took many positive steps and numerous reforms. He increased teachers' pay, paved the streets, installed telephone lines, reduced the size of the army, etc., and they are only a few to name. He introduced a controversial discriminatory policy targeting "Syrian" population (actually most of them were Lebanese Christians) to protect Haitians from disloyal competition of the Easterners with uncertain nationality.

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Antoine Simon and his National Railroad Project

Antoine Simon and his National Railroad Project

One of the major goals of President Antoine Simon was to build a railroad linking Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitian.

To make this possible, Antoine Simon contracted with American companies such as "MacDonald Contract" to build a railway line between Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien. Included in that contract was the cultivation and export of sugar and bananas by the Haitian American Sugar Company. That same contract led to the paving of streets and electrification of Port-au-Prince which facilitate car transportation in Haiti.

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