The times., 1898-05-09
DRIVEN OUT BY THE D0Ns
American Commercial Houses
Expelled From Manila.
MORE HIGH-HANDED OUTRAGES
Characteristics Action of Spanish Of
acials Alarmed at the Growth of
American Trade In the Islands
Enormous Fines Levied and Petty
RoDberies IndulGed In.

New York, May S.-Two years ago, just
before the outbreak of the last insurrec-
ton against Spanish rule in the Philip
pines, the American consul at Manila,
Isaac NJ. Elliott of New York, was re-
called by the Cleveland Administration
and a few months later he was made
consul at La Guayra, the port Of Caracas.
Venezuela. Elliott's aggressive attitude
on matters affecting American CONNER
cfal interests in the Philippines
| sponsible for his recall.
Spanish officials in the Philippines capi-
! tai. alarmed at the growth of American
trade in the islands, and determined 10
stamp it out. were angered by Elliotts
| vigorous defense of American rights.
| Spain asked for Elliott's recall, trumping
up the charge that he was aiding the in
surgents. The Cleveland Administration.
unwilling to offend the Madrid foreign
office. transferred Consul Elliott from
Manila TO La Guayra.
Two months after Consul Elliott set sail
from the Philippine capital the colonial
officials had driven from the islands the
last of the American commercial houses.
This was the house of Warner. Blodget
G. Company. Earl w. Blodgett is a Will
| liams College man, and his home Is in
! New York. c. /. Barnes and II. ii. War
ner are British subjects, but Americans
at heart The company was formed IN
! 1887 by clerks of the defunet house of
! Peal. Hubbell e Company, which had
/ been driven to the wall by Spanish dis
elimination.
Heavy Taxes Levied.
Heavy taxes had to be paid by the last
American company into the overfowing
private purse of the corrupt Spanish Of
ficials and these taxes increased as Amer
ican sympathy with the Cuban insurgents
increased Spanish hatred of Americans
/ Extraordinary fines were levied The law
provides that an importer must pay
! fine of 500 for every article listed in an in
voice and not found in the ships cargo,
| and the same fine must be paid for every
article not listed in the invoice found in
! the cargo. Once the American company
paid a 500 fine because one cobblestone
! out of a thousand was missing in cargo.
The most high handed attempt at rob
| berry was made the Summer before Con-
/ sui Elliott left the Philippines. One Sat
| urday afternoon in June a customs Off
| cial called at the company's office and
| handed a bill for $50, 3S5. IS to Blodgett.
| saying that ii must be paid within twen-
! ty-four hours. Some smuggled goods had
! been found in the suburbs of Manila and
| the customs collector concluded he could
! not make S25, 600 in an easier way than
! by charging the smuggled goods against
| the American ship Esmeralda Even had
! the company been disposed to pay this
! fine the money could not have been had
| within twenty-four hours, for the follow
| ing day was Sunday. The order, which
was from the supreme court. gave notice
he in nc
| ny's property would be confiscated. Span
| ish colonial officials had used this method
| of destroying the business of foreigners
on more than one occasion.
Wired for Assistance.
Blodgent went to Consul Ellott's resi-
| dence and when he had related the story
the two went to the cable office Admi-
raj Carpenter was then at Yokohama
with the Asiatic squadron. The consul
wrote short message to the admiral and
was in cipher.
| Send assistance 1T read; American
| interests in peril. Elliott
Send in English. Carpenter was the
reply received.
Elliott could not understand why the
admiral wished the message sent in En-
glish, for he knew that the admiral must
| understand the cipher. bu5 the consul
| hastened back to the cable office and
wrote out a second message in plain En-
| glish. An hour later Governor General
| Bianco's secretary called at the consulate
and said that Blanco wished to see the
consul at once Elliott went over. BIan-
co handed him the second message he
had left at the cable office. II am aston
| ished,, sir" exclaimed Elliott that a
consulate message has been held
ConsuI's Message Held
az am sorry it had to be done" replied
Blanco, "but you see we could not let
| that go. 1t might cause some unpleas-
antness between your country and
| mine"
But no government has a right to hold
back consuls message, and if this mes
sage is not sent at once I will report the
fact to my government"
The consul then produced the bill pre-
sented to the American company by the
customs official and asked by what right
an officer of the government could trump
| up such a charge.
Blanco said he was sorry that there was
any misunderstanding between the COM
pany and the officials, but the embargo
| was according to law, having come from
| the supreme court, and he could do moth
| ing about it.
Then l shall take the first steamer
for Hong Kong" replied Elliott land re-
| turn with the American squadron to pro-
| tect American interests
II will look into the matter more
| thoroughly, said Blanco. See me again
| before you do anything"
The Embargo Raised.
That evening BIaneo sent again for the
consul to tell him that the law had been
| looked up and 1t had been found that the
| embargo could be raised. Warner, Blod-
| gett & Company never paid the bill and
Admiral Carpenter hint about plain
English saved a tangle with Spain But
the petty robberies continued and the Off
| cials found new ways of injuring the com
| pany's business. The persecution grew SO
| great and the hope of any help from
| the Cleveland administration became so
| small after Elliotts recall that the COM
| pany reluctantly decided to seek the pro-
| tecdon of the British flag and the Ameri-
| can house became the British house of
| Warner, Barnes & Company.
Spanish rule in the Philippines is thor
| oughly corrupt" says Mr.. Elliott THE
| system of government nominally in
| operation is bad enough for the CLOSING
| years of the nineteenth century, but fl
is made many times worse by the officials
| from Spain who go TO the Philippines for
no other purpose than to make a for
| tune.
| Thriving Spanish Ofi;cfaIs.
The salary of the governor general is
| forty thousand dollars a year nearly as
| large as the Presidents, but the salary
is insignificant in comparison with the
amount the officials steal Weyler on his