During
the present military government and under the efficient direction of
the acting comptroller-general, J. H. Edwards, valuable work is being
done in revising the accounting system and generally placing the
country's finances in order.
All the accounts of the Republic are carried on in American money,
which is legal tender and is current in all parts of the country. For
about fifty years after the declaration of independence, coins of many
countries, principally Mexican silver and Spanish gold, were in
circulation, with the rate of exchange constantly fluctuating. In 1890
the Republic joined the Latin convention and in the following year
through the then existing Banque Nationale de Saint Domingue issued
silver and copper coin to the value of about $200,000. The fall in the
value of silver caused depreciation and a few of the silver coins of
this issue which are still in circulation are valued at forty cents
gold for five francs; the copper coins at a little less. In 1894 the
gold standard was adopted and though no actual coinage took place all
official financial transactions were thereafter based upon gold
values.
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