Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-08-20
Spanish Property Holders Make Good
Citizens.
HONEST, PEACEhBLE AND THRIFTY
Big Factors in Peace Problems,
but Have Much to Learn.
Gu BAN RULE FE A r E D


They promise to be an element in estab-
fishing the stable government to which the
United States is pledged. OF their value
to any commonwealth there can be doubt.
They combine the qualities out of which
good citizens are formed. They are thrifty,
hsrdworking, honest and peaceable. These
are the positive virtues. Their vices are
the vices of ignorance and perhaps of av
arioe. tt cir horizon is narrow one. 1t
rarely extends beyond the borders of their
sugar and tobacco acres or the shelves of
their stores. This will be shown when the
work of political education begins. For the
present passing comment on it is enough.
The Spanish property owner in Cuba is
not simply the planter, the tobacco grower
and the merchant in the cities. He is also
found in the small towns and the villages.
Usually he came out from Spain with
small capital and an inherent capacity for
trace. Or he may have begun a chore
boy and advanced from the various stages
OF clerk1ng until he has become proprietor
and landowner. In that case it has been
an apprenticeship of hard labor beginning
at clock in the morning and lasting till
10 or II at night. But the end is always
attained, for in tine he has his own shop
and his own land. He has then become
'bodegero.' The 'bodega" was originally
wine cellar. Il came TO mean a general
country store where everything is sold or
With the advance in his own fortunes the
dignity OF the proprietor keeps pace. He
does not always know the price of his
goods and almost any matter of business
must be transacted with the head clerk.
Nevertheless, he loses none of his native
shrewdness. He gives credit to his Gus
toners in what seems to be loose way,
yet there is always margin of profit. He
invariably manages to collect the interest
on his mortgages while waiting for the de-
fault in principal which will insure the land
falling to him
The monopoly of retail trade by the Span
ish merchant is not SO complete as COM
monty supposed. In the interior the Gu
bans hold share of it, though not enough
to be rivals. As a rule they own the drug
stores, and the cafes, where a good cup Of
coffee can always be had, are kept by
them. The Spaniards, usually from the
province of Astura, are the innkeepers.
These inns or ''posadas' do not call them
selves by the pretentious name of hotels.
They are simply places of entertainment
for man and beast. Sometimes the enter
tainment is better for the beast than for
the man. but that is due to circumstances.
Sleeping over a stable and complaining of
the superior accommodation given the
horses below, l have been compensated by
clean sheets and fresh towels and a port
able bath, while a good meal was enhanced
by the choice of Spanish claret English ale
or Apollinaris water. This was in a poor
looking village, which from its appearance
held out no hope. These inns COM
monty far better than the hotels in Amer
lean towns of the same size, and prices are
not much higher. The Spaniard has found
there is profit in keeping a good inn. Like
the bodegero, out of his savings the inn
keeper becomes a property owner.
The Patriarchical Way.
In managing his business the Spanish
shopkecper or merchant is patriarchical.
His clerks and employees sit at the family
board, and they sleep in the store or shop.
1t is an economical arrangement on both
sides. The wages are smaller, but the
clerks can save more than If they had to
provide for their own keeping. The best
of feeling prevails between the employer
and his employees Though the hours of the
latter are long, they are privileged to rest
during the dull spells of the day. Both
master and men are uniformly civil to Gus
toners. There may be a tirge of servility
in it, as there is in most of the courtesy
shown in Latin-American countries, yet
this does not detract from the satisfaction
It gives. All are shrewd bargainers. They
will hGggle hours over a small difference
in price, and will wait for the prospective
buyer to return another day sooner than
yield the profit which they think lie
had by holding out. 1t is practical appli-
cation Of the "manana" habit. If the Gus
toner won't buy today, tomorrow will do.
However, offer once made is good.
l have so many occasions returned to a
shop to claim an article and never found an
attempt to take advantage of the failure
to purchase in the first instance. you
said / could nave this hat for ST." 1 once
said to a shopkeeper in village where
stop had been made three months previous
ly. Isl, senior" Eyes, sir), was the reply.
And it was handed over, though the tnsur-
rection had in the meantime caused the
price to be raised a dollar.
The Ways Are Primitive.
What the "bodegero'' is in the villages
and the small towns the merchant is in
the larger towns and the cities. His meth
DDS are the same. His employees form part
of his household. This is true of many of
the large mercantile establishments in Ha-
vana, which have dormtories for their
workmen. While trade is on broader
scale the system is the same everywhere.
The shrewdest merchants of Havana are
said to be Galatians. Here, as in other
parts of Cuba, much of the business is in
their hands, though the Asturians have
share. Many of the methods of business
are primitive. l have been told that some
of the leading houses of Havana get along
without any system of bookkeeping, while
there are successful tradesmen who's only
means of keeping accounts is by chalk
marks on the door. In the larger CONNER
cial- transactions much simplicity yet pre-
walls Checks and drafts are not extern
sively used, and many of the mercantile
and shipping firms do banking business
The standard of commercial integrity is
high A verbal contract is usually as good
as written one. I have heard former
Consul General Williams tell of his expert
ence when he was a merchant III Havana.
Transactions involving many thousand
dollars with complicated provisions which
might be made the ground for dispute.
would be carried without a scrap OF
writing and would be settled promptly.
1.-The money was always ready when 1t was
due" said the ex-consul general. Other
Americans who disliked the Spaniards have
borne similar testimony. =
While the honesty Of the merchant Is
praiseworthy he knows how to make the
best of his chances. The Santiago shop
keepers who charged the American soldiers
four prices for everything sold them ana
who refused to take American silver at
more than half its value were improving
what they thought was legitimate oppor-
tunity. Shopkeepers at home have been
known to charge two or three prices when
a scarcity prevailed and they had in stock
goods which people wanted badly. Those
Santiago merchants, like their class all
over the island. have pretty fair under
standing of human nature. When they
found ambitious American army officers,
dreaming of garrisoning Cuba for an in
definite period, the Spaniards raised a
chorus of lamentations. They were afraid
to remain If the government was turned
over to the CubanS. Their lives and prop
erty would not be safe. They would with
draw from the island, taking their capital
with them, and there being no one left to
(S,,lNa ~oF., -