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Baez then had Santana arrested and exiled, feeling uncomfortable while his former chief remained in the country. But he was not destined to have peace. An ill-considered issue of more paper money, when the rate of exchange with gold was already fifty to one, created indignation in the tobacco region of the Cibao and on July 7, 1857, Santiago declared itself in revolution.
For several years Santana had become jealous of the extension of Baez' influence and wrathful at the independent spirit displayed by his former protege. It soon became apparent that the retirement of Baez was equivalent to a fall from power. In July, 1853, Santana issued a proclamation in which he accused Baez of treason and of playing into the hands of the Haitians, and ordered his banishment.
Baez then began to rule with a firm hand, and though occasionally bothered by small uprisings on the Haitian border, promoted by Cabral, Luperon and other unruly spirits, managed to sustain himself in power for almost his full term of six years. He was able to realize what had been the golden dream of administrations since the birth of the Republic, the contracting of a foreign loan.
Civil war had been recently raging throughout the republic, and in one of the interior towns I was one day notified that a well-known guerrilla general, who had shown great bravery in behalf of the Baez government, wished a public interview. The meeting took place in the large room of the house which had been assigned me.
The partisans of Baez, or Baecistas, adopted red for the color of the cockades and ribbons which distinguished them in the civil wars, and came to be known as the "Reds," while the followers of Santana, or Santanistas, adopted blue and were known as the "Blues."
Discussions with President Grant; his charge to me. Enlistment of scientific experts. Direction of them. Our residence at Santo Domingo city. President Baez; his conversations. Condition of the Republic; its denudation. Anxiety of the clergy for connection with the United States. My negotiation with the Papal Nuncio and Vicar Apostolic; his earnest desire for annexation. Reasons for this.
The designation of a presidential term of office in the various constitutions has thus far been something of an irony, for of the 43 executives who have come to the fore in the 70 years of national life, but three presidents have completed terms of office for which they were elected: Baez one term, Merino one and Heureaux four, nor was the distinction of these three due to ought but their success in suppressing revolutionary movements.
When Baez was overthrown in 1858 there was an exception to the rule, his properties being seized by the Santana government on the ground that he was a traitor ready to deliver the country over to the Haitians and was guilty of other high crimes and misdemeanors. But when the wheel of fortune again brought Baez to the top he promptly reentered upon his lands.
"Friar Roque Cocchia, of the Order of Capuchins, Bishop of Orope, Apostolic Delegate to Santo Domingo, Haiti and Venezuela, Apostolic Vicar in Santo Domingo Friar Bernardino d'Emilia, Capuchin, Secretary of His Excellency the Apostolic Delegate and Vicar Francisco X. Billini Eliseo J'Andoli, assistant curate of the cathedral Marcos A. Cabral, Minister of the Interior and Police Felipe Davila Fernandez de Castro, Minister of Foreign Relations Joaquin Montolio, Minister of Justice and Public Instruction M. A. Caceres, Minister of Finance and Commerce Valentin Ramirez Baez, Minister of War and the Navy Braulio Alvarez, Governor of the Province Pedro Ma.
And here I may again cite the case of President Baez a man to whom it probably never occurred that he was not the equal socially of the best men he met, and who in any European country would be at once regarded as a man of mark, and welcomed at any gathering of notables. Among our excursions, while in Jamaica, was one to Spanish Town, the residence of the British governor.
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