Evening star., 1898-11-16
The Currency.

The Currency.
The next most important subject reached
in the report is that in relation to the cur
rercy. Says the report:
Although Cuba is afflicted with many
kinds of deprecated currency, the estah-
lished basis is strlotly soid, and in any
commercial engag gement the value is under
stood to be in gold unless specified to be
contrary. Indeed. there is something al
most pathetic in the manner in with
Cuba, though pundered and depleted Of
h2r resources and wealth, has never ~l-
vered from a gold basis. The testimony
taken and statements made on This subject
have been unanimously in favor of a con-
tinuous gold basis, for the Cubans have
suffered much from SPANS various at
tempts to force depreciate1 currency upon
the people, both in the form of silver and
bank bills, that they want no further eX-
pertinent with the currency. The Spanish
silver money current in ihe Islam is only
taken at the daily value, which is fixed
partly by the larger or smaller demand FOR
wages and necessities of the government
to pay troops, but principally by the co.,
tfnually fiuctuatfng value of the Spanish
money in the European market. AS this
Spanish silver is legal tender in Spain for
its face value, it is able to maintain
fictitious value for purpose of shipment to
Europe. At the present moment, there
fore, this dollar fluctuates in value with
the fitful changes IN Spain's cradit, ami it
is probable should the United States es,ab-
lSh American currency sole legal tender
for the Island of Cuba, that the Spanish
silver dollars will all be shipped 10 Spain.
There was, when your commissioner was
in Spain, in September, margin of 30 per
cent on the silver dollars, and the financial
and business men of Havana do not think
these dollars would go down to 4 point
where il would not pay to ship the Spanish
silver to Spain and utilize the American
dollar i'll Cuba. In this event it will be
necessary fof the United States govern
ment to ship as many silver dollars to Cuha
as possible one prominent banking firm
suggesting five or six millions. which. with
the subsidiary coins, would be required Tor
small payments. At Santiago the immedi-
ate disappearance of Spanish dollars and
minor coins has made small transactions
extremely difficult. Some think that the
present stock Of Spanish silver in the is
land exceeds the necessities. but this is
evidently not the case in Santiago. Besides
the silver there is bank note circulation.
but that has no actual bearing on the
question of currency, as The trade and bus
mess of the island has refused to accept it,
and the present quoted value is less than
ten cents on the dollar The greater part
of this emission. which was war issue
was made by the Spanish government at
Madrid to the Banco Espanol de la Isle de
Cuba mot by that bank). and your commits
sioner finds it Is largely in the hands of
speculators and government contractors.
The only public application is for the pay
ment in the custom house of the so-called
10 ner cent ad valcrem duty assessed on
the official value of imported merchandise.
in addition to the regular specific rates of
duty exacted. The abolition of this duty,
when the remaining Cuban ports come into
possession of the United States. will be the
end of the bank bills. There still remains
question as to whether the Spanish Bank of
Cuba was in any way responsible for these
bills, and the question will come up for fu-
ture adjustment. The bank will probably
deny responsibility and refer those who
hold this deprecated currency to the Span
ish government at Madrid. AS an interest
ing fact in this connection, the credit of the
Spanish Bank in Cuba is of higher order
than the Spanish government, for the bank
has never failed to redeem its own paper
during nearly half a century of it's exist
ence the Bank Of Spain of Havana and
subsequently under its present name 1t
has at times suffered embarrassment but
ultimately its bank bills have all been re-
deemed.
The Gold Coins Current
1.-The gold coins current in Cuba are the
Spanish and French coins, the bulk OF
which consists of % Spanish pesetos pieces.
so-called .Alfonsos.'' which have been in
f1ated by royal decree to $3.50. and the
French 20-franc pieces. so-called Napo-
Icons, which have also been given a legal
tender value of s4.24, and decreed since the
end OF 1888 as legal money. While the
principal banking concerns are unanimous