Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1899-09-30

copyrighted lht', ny hr"hN "
pentcr)
San Juan. Porto Rico. sept. 10, 1872
mi to tell you what Uncle Sam IL
so.nr In Porto Rico. when tho Span
,,ris gave US the island they gave MS
AZ. biggest Job Of reorganization We
-, ever had Everything here "
,ons,eombed with spanish corruption.
mn. tnxos have bcon collected TO sup
ugrt the officials and the island has
i.an run FOR them rather than Tor the
,..,ple. II 30 safe 10 say that there was
BADLY an honest ofnciai on the island
AT tbc time we conquered H. aud very
much doubt whether a class Of honest
native Porto Rlcan officials could be ne-
cured today. Every man who has an
once here expects TO make something
out Of lt.and FOR the present generation
at least. Il will be hard TO teach the
Porto Rlcan anything TO the contrary
The lnHuiar commission which was sent
down By the President last spring finds
that Il IN now costing more than $780,
w Ia salaries TO run Porto Rico. This
70 20 Notwithstanding the island ia not
Larger IMAM ANWNAfNA NNMAf anu AAlAA ~ AANAN
10000 people. aH pcaceublc as any clti-
gpua OF the United states. | don't boz
lleyc there " any more urimC here than
IN the United States, ANA there " no
reason why the government should be
expensive.
now THE OFFICIALS EAT UP
PORTO RICO.
The officials have been feeding on Of
Porto Rico Tor years IL 10 wonderful
that the natives have stood such OPP
preston and such steals. Every of
nCor worked his position for an II was
worth. u ho was Tailor De made
money on or feeding the priHouUrH II
a judge in many cases he sold uut 10 the
highest bidder. and u sheriff or tax
glihrrrr be was subject TO brlboH.
have before me AN estimate
which the rcorgunizcd officials
81 San Juan made for the
city expenses for the year end
iug June 90. 1893. san Juan ia u town
Of iO001 people, and the estimates pro-
vide Tor an expenditure of morv than
gllG0O0 Among the queer items ufy
those Tor writing materials for certain
officials. The city clerk Tor Instance.
gets a salary VI Si,2s3 and he asked Tor
$3.50 FOR writing materials. me OF tho
bookkeepcrs wanted $50 for writing ma
trrluls. ana the secretary NJ the nlcnlde
or mayor asked $500 Tor the same rcn.
nou, when you remember that pens
cost one cent each ana lead pencils can
be bought fur ten cents "a dozen, you
viii see that these officials expect 10
npend considerable on blank paper. Ia
the city hall expenses, I see that Il costs
tlsV a year to wind the clock. and that
500 ~ set aside Tor tools to clean the
building. Anyone who has noticed the
extraordinary cleanliness OF the aver
nge Porto iucan public building. will
UmUHHHluNa NNsa =
In the frc department $50 IN set aside
for volunteer frcmen In payment FOR
the time lost from work while at fires.
The salaries OF the common school
teachers are set down as $4,000 while
cleaning the schools cost $500. almost
half ~ much rs the tcachcrr' salaries.
Two thousand dollars u set down FOR
pensions 60 the widows and orphans of
government officials. and there arc
other expenses equally strange,
such Items make UP large part Of
thr government accounts All over Porto
lNoo Every town ~ any size has liz
tlu'krNlnder, ana this Notwithstanding
that In many OF the towns II ~ difficult
10 md the clock, I venture that more
money has been spent from time to
time for writing materials for govern
mont clerks than has been laid out upon
the roads
PORTO RIcAN COURTS.
President Mckinley expects TO rcor.
CaniEe the courts. There N no doubt
but that this should be done at once.
lutll II II done no foreigners life nor
property will DO safe In Porto Rico. Al
present any man can be arrested upon
we mere htntcincnt Of another without
warning, He can be thrown into pris-
on ana kept there while his case n be-
lhg Investigated by the iudgv. Hc may
not Know for what he " Imprisoned and
inc Judge viii carry on hia Investigation
without giving either the criminal or
hh attorney a chance to aid In or onset
mem. There n no REORGANIZATION
ul witnesses, and statements do not re-
qulre an oath to be- credited. 1'rinls
hfr AZ the option OF the Judge, and a
lah may remain In jail for months
"lthout knowing why he n kept there.
one OF the most efficient OF tho Amer
lgnns who have come down here IN the
yg,nploy ot the government II Mai. A. g.
ohhfpe, the judge advocate OF the gov-
rrhor generals stan lie has been In
N'fuEaung the prisons and tho courts.
much 10 the disgust OF the Porto Rlcan
yuukcs' He has already succeeded In re-
.eimlng many OF the iails. lie found
thht there We're 1900 prisoners In fan
awaiting trial, This was at the time
ne began his Investigations.
NhHy % these prisoners did not know
WY ihty had been imprisoned, and
1ne hnd been arrestt-i FOR the most
"'E'a' onenscs. one man. for Instance,
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