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. Hartmont & Co., a firm of London bankers, agreed to
issue bonds of the Republic to the amount of L757,700, though at a
ruinous rate, and actually paid over L38,095. The dream turned to a
nightmare, for when the government annulled the contract on the ground
of failure to comply with conditions, the bankers continued to issue
bonds and kept the proceeds themselves; and the bonds thus
fraudulently issued constituted the nucleus of the enormous debt which
later led to American intervention.
Though Baez had, for political reasons, protested against Cabral's
negotiations with the United States, he was too sagacious a statesman
to fail to recognize the value of American protection. It was now
Cabral's turn to indulge in tirades full of patriotic indignation, for
Baez actively pursued negotiations for the annexation of the country
to the United States. On November 29, 1869, two treaties were signed
in Santo Domingo City by representatives of the American and Dominican
governments: by one the Samana peninsula and Samana Bay were leased to
the United States for fifty years at an annual rental of $150,000, and
by the other the Dominican Republic was annexed to the United States.
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