Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-08-26
New York Merchants Can't Get ANY
Vacation.
TIE WEST is ALSO PROSPEROUS
Croker in Bad Humor Over Result
of His Interview.
REED WILL BE WELCOME
Special From a STAFF Correspondent.

special r rom a StdH correspondent.
NEW YORK CITY. August Is, 1899.
New York business men complain that
they have missed their summer vacations.
Business. one of them told me, was so good
early in the summer that he put off going
away in order to attend to it. Then it kept
getting better and. of course, he stayed.
Now the fall rush is coming and he has
no idea Of leaving The most he hopes for
is to get out of town over Sundays. His
case is typical of many others. 1t shows
that the country is really booming
A western buyer confirmed this view. l
had met him in Chicago in July when he
was Planning to take his deferred vacation.
Yesterday l saw him in one of the hotels,
and he explained that he had deferred 1t
till next year. He had been in Gotham for
month, when he only came expecting to
stay fortnight But business was good
in the west that he found it necessary to
remain indefinitely. According to his story,
there were about million buyers. more or
less who were keeping him company.
The railroads cannot recall a summer
when they have brought so many passen-
gers east The overwhelming majority
have been coming to the seashore and the
mountains The only fault the railway
managers find is that more eastern people
do not go west for their summer outing.
add materially to the already swollen Teve-
| nues of the trunk lines. But the eastern
folks do not like to get too far away from
home for fear they might be lost the
prairies or in the woods, where they think
the red Indians still skulk. So they travel
up and down the coast from Maine to New
Jersey Some also cross the ocean, but
the railway agent who told me about the
passenger traffic said that the steamship
lines this year were taking a very large
proportion of westerners abroad. He
thought this sure sign that the west is
prospecting even more than the east, for
when he is making money the western man
travels. The tide is now ebbng back from
Europe and every steamer is crowded, even
to the steerage. The overcrowded cabin
passengers can't be accommodated in the
Steerage, because of the rush of immi-
grants The common belief is that this re-
newed European immigration Is going to
keep up steadily for some years.
All of which helps to show not only that
the United States is a great country, but
that it Is known to be a great country
Even Wall street, l hear it said, has
reached this conviction, and is ready for
inflated values to reach a lower level with
out fearing that the bottom has dropped
cut. There is less uneasiness over the
trusts and less fear OF antitrust legisla-
ton than was noticeable a few weeks ago
But Wall street Is not good judge of
prospective legislation either by Congress
or by state legislatures.
The West Indian Trade.
The mercantile houses which are seeking
markets in the West Indian trade are
growing little about their failure to real
ize their expectations in Cuba and Porto
Rico. The houses which have for years
been engaged in this trade do not complain
so much the newer firms which thought
that business would hunt them instead of
their having to hunt business and to offer
it inducements. The machinery firms are
still complaining that the Cuban sugar
planters buy machinery in Glasgow and
Belgium. If that is true, it is because the
European manufacturers offer better terms
1t is hard to make many American mer-
chants understand that neither Spain nor
England nor Germany Is going to yield
The trade it has in Cuba without strug-
gle. The trouble is that most of the Amer
lean merchants think that political causes
ought to control commercial rivalry. But
they do not and will not. AS an offset to
these disappointments, it is likely that the
English capitalists who bought the Cuban
railways will place orders for part of their
rolling stock and rails, which must be used
In rebuilding the system in the United
States They will not do it because of SEN
timent, but because they can buy their
material cheaper here.
The distress in Porto Rico is by all ac-
counts genuine. Relief may be afforded
the sufferers from the hurricane, but that
IS the temporary condition. There is a
strong feeling that Porto Rico trade can
not be built up under the existing tariff.
Some or the commercial houses few
weeks ago had rumor that the insular
commission would recommend the removal
of the tariff entirely. They have been dis
appointed at the reports that the commits
sion has concerned itself chiefly with pre-
pairing a code OF laws. When Congress
meets there will be a strong pressure to
have the Porto Rico tariff wiped out and
the Island treated as a territory of the
United States. Probably there will also
be strong opposition to this course The
commercial interests which have West In
dla connections seem to be quite generally
in favor of wiping out the tariff.
SantO Domingo Revolution,
The Santo Domingo revolution is begin
ming to excite attention. Unlike Haiti
which is controlled by the German bank
ers, Santo Domingo is wholly in the hands
of American capitalists. They have made
some progress in developing the island. The
syndicate of which Smith NJ Weed is the
head, some years ago reorganized the
finances of Santo Domingo and placed them
on a gold basis. Naturally the outcome of
the present revolutionary movement is
watched with anxiety. The trade of the is
land is in the hands of few large firms
and is quite profitable to them. They are
apparently in sympathy with the follow
ers of General Jiminez. year and half
ago one of the shipping lines was Under
stood to be back of the movement attempt,
ed by JimineZ That was a comic opera
revolutionary descent on the coast, in
which he lost thirteen men. The old fei-
low, however, is persistent and seems able
to command the capital without which
revolution is sure to fail. He was at one
time the leading merchant of Santo Do
mingo, and it is suspected that his COM
mercial connections are of value in the
present movement.
The Mazet probing committee is to re-
sumo its sessions soon. That means the
uncovering of more police and similar
municipal scandals in which the commu-
nifty takes little interest. Mr.. Moss, the
chief counsel, it is limited. will try to get
jurisdiction of what is known as the
Ramapo water steal, but this will be re-
sisted by the officials, who think they can
dam 1T without the aid of a legislative COM
mittee. One man has made a political
future for himself out of the scandal. This
Is Controller Bird S. Color. whose efforts
blocked the scheme at a critical stage. The
proposition in substance was that greater
New York should contract with the water
company for a prospective supply of water
which might or might not be needed to the
extent of POSSIBLY S5 600 600 a wear for an