In the fighting on the Monte Cristi plains the
Jimenistas would often attack, but retire as soon as their opponents
showed fight, and as such tactics reminded the Dominicans of the
habits of bob-tailed fighting cocks, the nicknames were imposed.
The men who attain prominence in politics range all the way from rude
ignorant military chiefs to polished members of the aristocracy. In
looking over the annals of Dominican history the same family names
constantly recur and it may be affirmed that the government of the
country has during the time of independence been in the hands of some
twenty families, the members of which have swayed its councils and led
its revolutions. They have tasted the sweets of power but also the
bitterness of defeat, alternately occupying high positions in the
government and pining in prison or exile. Almost all the chiefs of
state since 1899 would have done honor to any country, but all have
been obliged by the exigencies of politics to give places in their
entourage to men of low standing, whose deeds or misdeeds when in
power and whose unbridled ambition, have been a factor in the civil
wars.
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