Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-09-22
CONCHA'S GOLD RING.
Black Friday Beaten all Hollow i'm
Cuba
New York Sun.

New York Sun.
Gen. Jose de Ia Conclla, the present
Captain General of Cuba, was appointed
for the sole purpose of RENTING money
from Cuba to Madrid, and he accepted the
psi with the sole intention Of making
money for himself SO far he has partly
fulfilled the purpose Of those who sent him,
and he is in fair way Of carving out his
own.
Shortly after his arrival in Cuba he de-
creed a draft of ten per cent. OF the YOlun-
un,eers of Havana and other cities OF the
island TO be chosen by lot for active service
in the field against the Cubans. Exemp-
ton from service was fixed at 5000 cur
rency, and the Government officers, who
were iutrIIsted with the DRAFT, carried out
their instructions SO admirably that COncha
was enabled to remit two and half mil
lions In gold, the proceeds Of exemptions
purchased by drafted members OF the vol
unteer corps at regulation price. Since
that time further sums, mainly derived
from customs receipts, have been RENTED
10 Spain. and the total drain Of the precious
metal from the island is estimated at up
ward of four million Of dollars. The draw
inc of this enormous amount from the very
limited quantity of gold in Cuba sent the
price of il up 10 800, or 200 per cent. pre-
MUM.
Concha saw that the only way to make
money for himself was to make it in cur
rency-in ct er words, to give market
value to the bills Of the Spanish Bank by
stopping the rise in gold. To carry out
this plan a ring was formed of similar
character. bat on a larger scale than was
Fisks and Grants gold ring in this eoun-
try. which eliminated in Black Friday.
The first step of Gen. COncha was to de-
clare bank bills receivable for customs at
fifty cents Sn the dollar. TIE banks were
admitted into the ring on the understand
inc that, until notified, they should not dis
count any paper; and, as the importers
could raise no money on the sales of their
goods. which in Cuba are always sold on
time, all demand for exchange ceased, and
sterling fell from 90 TO 60 per cent.
Only one house in Havana, that OF Play
Monoe-here Concha had the advantage or
Grant and COrbin-was allowed 10 deal
in gold, or rather 10 quote r. and OF course
the quotations were dictated BY the Ring.
OF course gold fell, that is nominally-
forno sales wer made at the fictitious
price fixed by the Ring, but what was
more impOrtant. the nominal value of all
produce fell witt. exchange and gold, and
sugars which had been worth p reals
DER arroba were quoted down to II reals.
This decline on the stock Of 100000 boxes
now in store in Havana and MatanZaS en-
tails upOn the holders a loss of over eight
and a half millions OF dollars. The IN
eyitable result has been the failure
last week of numerous old and hitherto
wealthy business firms in Havana, and
these failures are of so disastrous charac-
ter that further suspensions are looked for.
The currency is by this time almost Ell
tirely in the hands Of the ring. Bank bills
cannot be exported, and there is little or 10
gold to be got at any price. Ii is, there
fore. indispensable TO convert the currency
into some expOrtable commodity. In fact,
nothing is valuable TO Concha personally
unless he can ship it out of Cuba.
The sugar planters of Cuba always re-
ceiye at this time of the year cash adj
vances for the gathering and the manu-
facture of their crops, and as there IS no
0old in the country, ali who require imam
cial aid will be forced to contract for che
sale of their crops in currency, in which
they will receive the required advance.
Valueless bank bills will thus be converted
into AN exportable commodity, W lie this
very lock uD Of the currency of the country
has so depressed the values OF staple arti-
e.les that the contracts for future deliveries
of their crops by the planters will be made
at figures which must Leave large profits to
the purchasers