New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-12-05
HAVANA CUSTOMS FRAUDS.
THE OLD SYSTEM OF SPANISH COR
RUPTION SOON TO BE ENDED.
EXPECTEp-oRDERs FOR AMERI-


CAN GOODS.
Havana. November 30.
Commercial readjustment In Cuba promises to
nroceed more smoothly than anticipated.
The stagnation in trade pending American con-
fro, was inevitable. 1t was no measure Of fut-
ure business The stagnation has now reacned
breadstuns and other articles Of daily consump-
tion This Is the best evidence that the end OF
snanish authority in the custom houses Is now
only a. matter of days. Havana merchants Will
.; dov Of thanksgiving from the first
dav Of American administration OF the customs.
~ .ouoor tr,hute TO the United States could
80 no,d than the tacit acceptance Of the fact
that the old system OF corruption ana bribery
dies The importing houses which have jusu-
a., ..o,r rractice on the ground that they
could not do business unless they conformed 10
.,.s,ar, realize that they will no longer be
.,o 70 urge this plea. They have taken ad-
,.ooo ~ II 70 the limit. Their warehouses are
euod with goods which they guessed might be
,,nortod under the drawback in rates that was
od hv a Capitalization" to the customs au-
.hor,t,es The theory was that the actual rate
.,h ,bav mid would be lower than the du-
it, evod nv the Treasury Department. Wnat-
o,,or here6ts they may have gained by this pro-
oodure will be temporary. and in snort time
,r,nort atoms will reach the normal basis.
Tho Havana Custom House. which Is the Key
. ,or,,a In the entire system OF spanish al
,,,r,o,ration has two hundred employees OF Vari-
~ dacrees OF these II may be advisable 10
,,oo, ,uentv-fve or thirty. There Is collector
Il. 4, Tho supreme chief two inspectors WIZ
.o,.o o,wavs been credited with inspecting the
80. ~, tber subordinates with closed eyes eieh'
"vstos" one hundred and sixty preferences anu
. fsuy ennloyes of indefinite grade Inc prefer
,o,,os watch the imported goods on the "har'eS
. o .ro, they are not carried away 10 the
u.orohouses without proper formalities' look u
tho loading and unloading of SHIPS ana peru III
o variety Of other functions. They nave no Up
,or,ur,tv 70 share in the benefits whicn come
from, undervaluations, yet they 90 nave "e
chance 10 connve at small frauds
rha "yis,as" are the officials whose resisna-
lions Will probably be accepted the hfs' 'aS
that the custom house Is in American "a''''
In the United States they wouid o' '''' '
nraisers They combine the duties OF appraisers
and inspectors They fix the Valua''"i vi III
80. ,rho,, COO that the manifest corresponds
With the cargo. They knock IN the hea" -
o,,orv tenth barrel OF potatoes 70 see mat 'he
sb,nn,ent Is really potatoes and not noui'
which under the Spanish tariff pays hu'"
higber dutv Some Of the exporting houses nave
been in the habit of putting in one parre' u
notatoes or something of the sort WIN nine
barrels Of -four, and marking II 50 that '"e
"vista" could make no mistake In MS inspec-
tion Others have simply trusted TO MS ohho-
ness Coffee has frequently been importer DIS
puano at a low rate. Here, TOO, the NlS'd'
had one bag marked for them, but II the "in'
,.ora lacking they were conveniently blind But
had IN ma a
During these last weeks Of plumber the ORDINARY
nrecautions have not been taken and the trauuS
have been fragrant Unusually large QUANTITIES
of iewelry have been shrugged ,
These fraudulent anticipatory importatlons
have not worried tie American conirei 20, t
traveers-there is TO WORD IN opdrlsn lor
drummer-who have been in Cuba soliclung
orders since the blockade was raised. / ey lie'
ted at first because Of the delay OF tne MIL s
States in taking control OF the custom u u1usu
and establishing the new tarl1 rates. "hei
this SMELL of fretting passed they began 10
drum up business They secured mucn larger
amount Of orders than was commonly known
These were mostly for goods or nght manu-
facture The importations will begin reaching
the port within a week after the new rates go
into effect.
The fact that the United States is in the mar
ket for various things which will be needed for
the troops forming the army of occupation has
been used TO create an artificial CONDITION Whch
would interfere with trade II IT were not 50
we'll understood. The sawmills on the CUR VIII
be busy supplying the lumber which Is needen
for the barracks and other purposes They VIII
not be so busy that they cannot supply the de-
mand for private use. which is already consid-
cradle For the first time since there was a
chance to speculate. American spectators got
ahead Of the Spanish and foreign houses which
are in the cattle trade. Though the importation
Of cattle is free. the need Of beef 10 supply the
American troops made the basis of an arti-
fetal rise in price. All these speculative vent
ures are too artificial to last more than a day
or two They do not affect the general business
situation. which is good.