The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-03
LAST DAYS OF SPANISH RULE.
THE SITUATION IN CUBA-BUsINESs
AT A STANDsTILL.

On-Open Evasion of Customs Du-
tes-The Government selling Pro-
Visions-0ddities in Methods of
Commercial Transactions.
Havana, Oct. 27.-Business in Cuba Is in
a state of suspense. OF complete stagna-
ton. No progress in any Industrial branch
is to be expected until the political status
OF the island becomes fixed and stable.
Cubans Spanish and Americans. mer-
chants Of an nationanties are simply wait
ing for the Spanish troops to get out and
the American soldiers to come In. Mean
while the era of progress is being post
poned by the eternal manana Of the Span
ish evacuation commission The Amer
lean commissioner find little to do except
10 go fishing and shark hunting, while
the patriotic Spanish officers of all ranks
are trying to fill their pockets with the
loot that is to be carried off when the final
manana comes around
Robbing the people, cheating the govern
ment. stealing public funds, picking peck
cts, fleeing the lambs called strangers.
plucking the geese called promoters; these
are the occupations of the Spanish mill
tary officials, of the Spanish and civil au-
thorities and of Spanish and Cuban mcr-
chants at present.
Flour Passed as Charcoal.
Corruption is practced openly, even os-
tentatiously. like the charity of the hypo-
critical If one doubts this he has only
to walk down to the machina, the custom
house wharf, to find the proof Here he
nc "a he
other day, blacks at work unloading
sacks from the lighters. The sacks were
labeled charcoal" but the process of pill
ing them in heaps on the wharf scattered
a fine white dust This does not mean
that white charcoal has been invented, for
when the correspondent dipped his fingers
in the white dust and tasted It. he tasted
flour. The sacks were consigned TO a
Spanish importer in Manzanillo-a thous-
and sacks of flour marked as charcoal
The inference was clear that some one was
cheating the government out of import du-
ties, or that the custom house officials
were permitting the government to be
cheated.
Later, on presenting a letter of introduce
ton TO a well-known Cuban merchant IN
Havana. the correspondent mentioned the
flour which had come in as charcoal
Tut" said the merchant, that is a mere
item. That man in Manzanillo has been
charcoal for years. The thing Is easy.
You see my neighbor across the street. He
cables his buyer in New York to ship a
thousand tierces of lard. The buyer gets
the consignment on board ship and mails
20 Havana manifest calling for 900 bar
rels of potatoes. Here the customs house
Inspector allows the importers drays 20
haul away the supposed barrels of pota-
tees, a cargo upon which there has been
this difference in tariff prices: A fierce
Of lard weighs 500 pounds. and the duty
is cents a pound; a barrel Of potatoes
weighs only $50 pounds, and the duty is
only cents a pound. The duty on the
cargo of hard would have amounted to $25.
0GO, but the amount paid for the cargo
Of potatoes was only $1,000, a saving of
| so. 600. In consideration of this saving
| the customs house inspector, of course
receives his reward
Increased Port Duties.
Such is the way business has been con-
| Quoted in Havana for years. Robbery of
! the government has been so systematized
! that it has become a science. With a ter
! mination of this state of affairs I'm sight,
| the extent of bribery now is almost be-
yond belief. In a stay Of a week or so a
man who keeps his eyes open can see a
score of cases to be explained only on
| the hypothesis of bribery of officials The
| largest and most valuable cargoes dwindle
to almost nothing under the skiilfu hand
| ling Of the importers and the officers of
! the port. The approaching end of various
| snecures is causing the participants In
| benefits accruing from the present system
! to neglect no opportunity. 1t is a case of
steal quickly grab everything in sight.
| for soon we will have to cut and run"
| Meantime port duties have been trebled,
obsolete rules have been revived and new
| rules created. Importers who do not or
| will In Wit 10 hnp
inspectors have been obliged TO suspend
| business, For instance, the port duties
on ton of -four valued at $40 amount 20
| $3.50. A case of a dozen cans of beans
valued at so cents.is taxed $3.50.
These exorbitant duties have been inn
| posed with the object of excluding, as far
as possible, all shipments of which the
| world at large is ignorant, namely, the
| disposal of quantities of provisions in the
hands of the military government. The
| statement that, during the war. the Span
! iards in Cuba had no supplies was quite
! erroneous. As a matter of fact, the Span
| ish military government, forseeing the
war, made immense shipments of food to
| all parts of the island, stocking every
| store and eonsgning goods to all the inn
| porters and jobbers. And now, with the
| end of it's domination IN sight, the Span
| ish military government has still on hand
| about Is 900 sacks Of flour, 1900 barrels Of
beans, 10000 boxes Of Norwegian Goldfish
and 1000 cases condensed milk. These
goods are offered at prices below cost, are
sold, in fact, at any figure, with the Idea
of turning everything into cash before the
| time comes to give an accounting. At the
| same time the stock In The hands Of pri-
! yate dealers is spelling for want of pur-
| chasers at even reasonable prices. And
the government, as long as II has pound
Of food left, viii continue to undersell the
| Dealers
Thus the expulsion Of a rotten govern
ment is being marked by an epoch Of
shameful intrigue, Of undetermined deal
! Ing and of wholesale lying and cheating.
| Individuals are following the example SET
! by the government, and many a merchant
| in Havana, honest till now, viii never be
! honest again. No one asks questions, and
each simply pockets the money that comes
| his way.
Making Money From Starvation.
The feeding of the reconcentrados has
been source of gain to nearly all who
handled the money contributed for inc