Daily Kennebec journal., 1898-09-23
Revenue Of Santiago Will Pay
Provinces Expenses.
In Course Of Time Cuba viii Be a
Source Of Great Profit.


was. today. afforded an opportunity
10 peruse the report issued by Custom
Collector Donaldson, covering the
transaction OF the custom house at
Santiago during THE period between
July 16 and Sept. 1. The report, which
vas forwarded to Washington. today,
icals voluminously with the work Of
gradually reorganizing this important
department Of the capltulated terri
tory.
Summarized, the report states that
IS steamers with an aggregate tonnage
IF 53.535 tons, and 25 sailing vessels OF
an aggregate tonnage of 1889. entered
that " steamer and IS sailing vessels
cleared. The discrepancy between the
number of entries and clearances Is
accounted for by the fact that many
government transports did not report
:or clearance at the custom house.
The sum of $1O7.7S3 was collected
from various souces. and payments
we're made Of $13. .10l for sanitary and
and similar purposes. city police and
municipal salaries, salaries of custom
house officials and miscellaneous ex-
penSeS.
In the absence Of the bonded ware
house system, no entries for ware
houses We're made. This matter could
not be dealt with until after the de-
parture of the Spanish troops. but rec
concentrations for it's adequate treat
nlent viii he presented as soon as
practical after the present report Is
submitted and a warehouse will be
established at Santiago, entirely under
:he customs control.
Collector Donaldson estimates the
annual income Of the province of San
tiago at $2.15O.0OO. He makes strong
plea for the assignment of a revenue
cutter for continuous employment IN
these waters.
The question of definite stable cur
rency of Cuba is dealt with. Duties
at present are paid in gold coin of the
United States, rendering necessary
daily estimates and compulsions Of
comparative values. there be no abso-
lutte standard of a circulating medium
and confusion has arisen particularly
in the matter of the interclha ngeable
value of silver coins of the two coun-
tries.
AS a preliminary step to the dis
posing of ithe matter, it will be recon-
mended as soon as practical that au-
thoIjtative instructions be issued that
duties be collected entirely in American
gold. ts. ,.i.
The revenue collected has been found
sufficient to cover all the administra-
tive expenses of Santiago thus far au-
thorized. Other resources disclosed IN
the archives of the office are available
for the increased and unexpected ex-
.raordinary expenses. These resources
are estimatedf.at $l6500O yearly for
Santiago city,sand for other towns an
the province at $1S.156.
The sums authoritatively collected
would more than suffice to support all
the expenses of administering the
province. even if the rates of assess
merits were reduced in view of the i'm
povfshed condition of this portion of
the island. The lower rates of duty
prescribed have resulted in increased
revenue receipts. The fact that the
revenues collected have been primarily
devoted to the prompt payment of ap-
proved salaries and to authorized dis
bursements incident to local admins
tration instead of being devoted 10
other purposes, has produced excellent
results.
Two hundred miles west Of Santiag go
is the desolate fishing village of Santa
Cruz, surrounded by vast swamps
Here the Cuban government has estab-
,ished headquarters and during the
past month has held sessions for the
conduct of affairs of the several towns
| IN complete charge of the Cubans.
When The Associated Press CORE:
spomdent arrived at Santa Cruz, two
nights ago. he was conducted into the
office OF Vice President Capote, where
around table lighted only by a can
die stuck in a bottle, the officials of the
embryo government were writing or
ders and other legislative documents
With reference to Cuban affairs, Vice
President Capote said:
| when war between the United
States and Spain was declared the Gu
ban government unanimously decided
to cooperate with the Apericans t.
secure the independence of Cuba. de-
signati me to act as a special envoS
to see President Mckinley with regart
to the best methods to make the opera
ton most effective.
Though / was not received officall,
with sthe Presidents consent
saw several members Of hi.
cabinet and my efforts for thu
establishment of friendly relation.
anl regular communication with
the United States resulted favora!Dly.
i Although formal recognition of th'
Cuban government was not given me
nevertheless the President and othe
officials in Washington realized tina
the body of men which represents:
was the real official voice of Thousand
of men then under arms and of prac
tically all those who were in sympath.
with the revolution.
"The result of this conference wa
that 1 was assuresd that the Unites
States would cooperate directly witt
those at the head, of affairs in Cub
for the attainment OF the objects of tn
war. felt assured that the Cuban
would receive all necessary assistanc
from the Americans to establish a per
4 maLent and stable government.
when l returned to Cuba I foun
THAT my compatriOtS were DerfectI,