The sun., 1896-08-03
SpAIN'S SPITE AGAINST US.
r,rsBEs AN AMERICAN FIRM
n THE PHILIPPINES.

r.-,,eu,,on Of Warner biodHe" az No' o.
-. siaee .nc Cuban Complications
nv, the Eventual Necessity of
u.,,,,a Down the Flag OF tho Un'ted
. a: .ooo 900 Business Wrecked.
rrom Hong Kong China, THE SUN learns
-, ,hrouch the dsheartcning foreign poiicy
- ,,o cleveland Administration ana as aui'
", ,ssult Of the apparent desire OF the nu-
na.,,ts. Mt Washington to aVoid uispIeasihR
~. sn.pish Government. the only American
a., IN tho Philippines and one OF tho largest IN
-. ,s,.,c trade went down on June ~ last.
=. iii, be succeeded by firm In which Ameri-
vr, have no share, frm under British
registry. , 6 ~, =, Au.r,c,r
a,r, In Manila. failed. On the next day two
s,.,ls NJ the defunct company organized the
a., AZ Warner, Blodgett X Co. f. II. Warner.
.,,houph he never has formally renounced his
p,,,ish citizenship. has always worked Tor
Americans and has been Yankee at heart.
r.rs ". Blodge,t was born In Now YORK In
,ss7 A graduate OF William snd Mary Col
,.cs in the class OF 1870, he went out to the Phil
,nnines in 1881 as polariscopist and sugar ana
,vs, c. l. Barnes. British subject. joined the
AVN later Warner, Blodgett u Co. went into
hr.,nes. under the American flag, to their pres
ant sorrow. They consistently refused British
reo,stry. Their business was prosperous. In
1905 their cash department handled S4.Ooo,ooO
and the profits we're 1894 900. Every firm in
these Spanish colonies gets into muddles with
che colonial Government. 1nasmuch as 75 per
c,pt. OF all fines imposed by customs officials
ara the peruuistes OF those officials, the men In
thu Custom House naturally lose no opportunity
N ipfict the full penalty Of the law. whole
anne fear OF the home Government, when 1t has
beep aroused by appeals from the Foreign Sec
r,,.rles OF the victims Governments Is the only
check.
Ifke other firms In the Philippine trade. War
ner. Blodsett & Co. had their squabbles with
the oficials. The case OF "the Vanishing
shsepr or II win or you lose" is stock incl
dent out here. Dead animals must be buried
within twen,y.tour hours Conslgnees Of ships
arriving without cargoes to the full amount OF
their invoices are subject to fines for attempting
10 defraud customs. This particular sheep died
after the vessel reached customs. 1t was buried
Immediately by Custom House officials, and q
ane was thus avoided. But the cargo was minus
one sheep; fine, 500. Protests availed nothing.
The sheep isn't here. is 1t ?" asked tho hun
gry spanlarda Nor Then pay the fine"
The firm appealed to the head of the Depart
ment Of Finance. The fine was confirmed.
They went to the Court Of Appeals. Before the
case could be heard there the 500 must be de-
posted In the Government chest. The fine was
confirmed. The firm appealed to Spain, and
the fine was ordered refunded. But It was not
refunded for three years. It had already been
divided among the hungry, and they wouldn't
give 1t up until they were scared into doing 1t.
With the breaking out OF Spanish animosity
toward the United States. at the beginning Of the
Cuban rebellion. the annoyances began to multi
ply. Old disputes were raked mp. Humiliatiug
and baseless accusations that Warner. Blodgett
Il Co.'S consignments OF American -four were
surreptltously loaded with contraband Mexican
money coined after 1877 10
prohibited in Spanish colonles-caused q
wasteful and damaging delay Of the goods.
An old dispute as to the duty on pork
was revived. and the firm was ordered to pay an
almost double duty for all shipments received
within rear. or be subject to fne Of 81 .s72.95
for fraud Finally the firm was subject to the
humiliation OF sending all its sugar boats TO tho
Custom House docks before putting their loads
aboard ship. This performance was of no use
IN assisting the detection of possible fraud, but
ucost Warner. Blodgett g. Co. about $500 per
shin Mr.. Blodgett was moved to send an angry
protest to Captain-General Marquis de Pima
Plata through United States Consul Isaac N.
Elliot. The complaint did not seem to worry
ne Marquis; at least, no reply has ever been
received. But a translation Of Mr.. Blodgett's
protest found its way TO the Custom House peo-
pIs and then the American had cause to wish
nat he had borne the persecution In meek ness.
In July. 1895. the Zafro came into port from
Annoy with sixty-fve sheep; four of them lied
ID quarantine, and the proper officials SO cert.
ned. Notwithstanding the royal order In the
iormer case, the Collector imposed a fine. In
hame cases the shippers of goods have entered
packages by the wrong marks. Say, for In
uahce, five barrels Of pork have been entered
"a, BIC, d, and E. The barrels actually loaded
nave been marked A. B, c. Y. and Y The wrongly
marked barrels have been exactly the same
capacity aad volume. But the Collector straight
way fined the importers 5000 because ID" and
were missing, and forced them to pay
u'pie duty on Y and Y assuming most offen-
HFeiy that there was clear case of An attempt
" defraud. fine OF SlOO each for cobble-
s'ohes short In a cargo OF several thousand was
imposed. such Incidents seem absurd, but to
we Collector and his assistants they are n bliss
!u' reality. In the first twenty-five months of
no pro't-sharng regime they divided $751;
s'''oo' Mr Elodgetts second protest, which
aas come Into the hands Of THE suns corre-
'ponaeht, comments upon this fact as follows:
we have repeatedly asked that there be sup.
p''eu U.s. in order to formulate our defence,
p.perS and receipts which are In the possession
VI tne collector. which payers have always here
Nt'' peeh accessible TO the defence and without
examination OF which documents IL is impossible
" make a defence. The Collector has. how
wi seen lit TO override the custom,
.Au we are now complaining on this
s'ore 10 the !ntendencia, but without
entertaining much confidence that our demand
" 'ee these documents will be granted. The
s""olS zeal OF this collector To gather in his
A'e' ~ only too evident, nasmuch as he almost
Invariably waits until vessels are we'll ont of
~ " seF"e us with notice of fine and the Pc
.'O1 u h'e and often of only three days, allows
~ =. II" oHh'rlnntyo oE "unlcrrng with the Can
s'ti '"m Or consulting Me discharge books which,
"e N"l.'-tor w"Il knows, ar" kept aboard"
a, NUS! ne remembered that II counsel do not
.'s the'r complete defence, on slammed manner
~" "'thIh the time allowed, the fine is forfeit.
:" 'Uh IN91, a q9au'ity OF imported goods
','l" 'h the suburbs Of Manila The nu-
A'''''eS saw III 10 assume HAT these Conds had
~" ~ "l t"r LNTn"olda, IA ship consigned to
"o'' h'"4R"ii d 60. The Esmcralda was
'"'n 49, - nuke ''To voyages without any
-Oi''c"l!"a of THIS assumption. After sh. wn,