HAITIAN MASSACRES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 306, 25 November 1937, Page 11

HAITIAN MASSACRES.

HIGH OFFICIAL INVOLVED

WASHINGTON, Nov. 24

New reports of tbe Haitian massacres from sources of unquestioned reliability have sceriously involved the Dominican President, General Trujillo. . . . From Dominica reports confirming the slaughter of 5000 persons declare that President Trujillo spent the night in the neighbourhood where the killings occurred. They were not border clashes, but part of a well-prepared plan. Complaints were made to President Trujillo that Haitians were stealing cattle from Dominican ranches, and he made a strong speech, declaring that drastic steps might have to be taken to end the depredations. The Dominican national police lierdHaitian men, women and children to the border ostensibly for tbe purpose of deporting them. One observer declared, “Apparently with the approval of President Trujillo a systematic campaign of extermination was conducted with ruthless efficiency by the national army and police.” Other observers declare that many of the areas where the killings , 1 7® re carried out resembled the battlefiields. In other places bodies were tossed into the sea for the sharks.

It was reported recently that at least 2700 Haitians, principally women and children, were killed in a series of attacks by soldiers and civilians from the Dominican Republic since Oct. 5, and that 3000 residents of Haiti were driven out as the result of resentment at the heavy influx of Haitians seeking work across the Dominican frontier An armed conflict between the two countries was prevented only by the intervention of American diplomatic officers. Letters received .from a neutral observer concerning the Haitian massacres aroused dismay m official quarters because of the un6peakable brutality depicted, and fears that the trouble was not over.