Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-01-23

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/ account of excessive taxation H. not proved
! But that this taxation Was 50 distributed
and administered as 20 seriously interfere
! with the small. and especially with IA. ua-
| tive merchants or planters. cannot he
doubted.
surplus borrowed by Spain.
The total amount raised Toy national tax
alton has been of late years rather more
| than four and one-half million of pesos. A
sum equal to little over four and ane-half
pesos per head of inhabitants. To Amcri-
cans. who are accustomed to "A national
taxation of some s. per capita. the Porto
Rican figures seem exceedingly small. Con
lrary To the belief which has been strpnu-
ously enSendercd the fact is that out Of
TINS four ana one-half million pesos buu
three hundred and fifty thousand 10 di-
rectiN to Spain in the form of pensions As
IN all governments. the expenses are largely
for salaries. and the Indignation of Tie
! Porto Ricans is vast that these salaries are
Tor the most part paid To citizens of Span
ism birth.
1t has been customary for the island bud
get to show an excess Of about 3n1Um
pesos annually Of receipts over eNpendi-
lures. And this has gone on year after
year accruing TO the credit of the island
until balance Of 3,pi0.0UU pesos is said TO
have been accumulated. This sum has FOR
the most part been borrowed by Spain for
the expenses Of the Cuban war although
undoubtedly large part of il has been
stolen. The balance of the money raised
has been administered with varying de
grees OF dishonesty to the expenses Of the
island, including its army and navy. rrliE-
ion, judiciary and public works. But not
one cent has ever been paid 10y way of trio
ute to the mother country. although. Of
course. certain benefits have been reaped
by her citizens to the detriment Of the
islanders from differentials In custom house
charges, salaries of officials, etc.
The budget for 1886 and 81. which is
chosen a sample in preference to the
budget for 1897 ana ISIS, owing to the fact
that -he aforementioned budget did not
show in its total of receipts from national
taxation a sum OF 115Uoo pesos " ich were
actually raised. but were paid over to the
Diputaciou Provincial under the first au-
Economical law. shows that the expenses for
those two years were, in round numbers
4,44s l21.1l pesos; receipts. 4.1l0.oy9 pesos;
surplus. 26l ,sI2.29 pesos.
Appropriation for Education.
The contributions of the state toward Cd
ucation amount to about 5000 pesos an
nually, with which the institute at san
Juan, two normal schools and manual
training school supported. subsi lies
being paid to two or three other schools.
The STATE pays for the construction and
maintenance of certain state roads. but the
repair, care and construction of the ordi-
harry roads are i'm the name Of the munich
palities. With regard to receipts, state
tax of per cent is imposed on the esti-
mated income derived or derivable from all
real estate, whether occupied or not. As
might be expected, the administration OF
this tax is most unfair: the large land
holders pay but small tax. As is the case
all over the world, the small and needy
property holder bears the brunt Of taxa
ton.
Tax on business.
Besides the territorial tax, there is a cor
responding tax on business. according to a
fixed schedule. This schedule is an exceed
ingly complicated document. and would re-
quire very elaborate study before any one
could famiiiarize himself with its details.
The various kinds OF business are all spec
ined and all taxed specified amounts. GER
tain kinds of occupations being subdiyided
according TO the amount of business done
annually, taxes being assessed accordingly.
In 1856 the custom house receipts
amounted to 3,6.s5.24J. 45 pesos, a sum con-
siderably in excess of the amount csii-
mated i'm the budget. OF this amount bout
100000 pesos were raised by duties Oh i'm
ports alone, including an extra tax OF Ia
per cent. about 100000 pesos being raised
by export duties The requirement Of The
use of stamped paper for all documents Of
an official nature was a tax which evidently
caused great irritation to the people Of the
island. 1t seems to have been a fair sue
cess as revenue producer. The city
budget for Ponce for 1896 and 1897. which
city has jurisdiction over $1,000 people was
=67. 13i.l4 pesos.
The cities are Obliged to use the same
tariff as the state does. But the amounts
raised are increased reduced proportion
ately, according TO the amount of money
which ii is necessary for the city to raise.
The reorganization of all these various
clements in the Porto Rican social system
is an undertaking of enormous difficulty,
the extent of which cannot be appreciated
by any one who has net seen the difficulties
attendant on establishing even a Tempo
rary modus Vivendi. The task OF simply
making laws which wi conform to Amer
lean methods is simple. That can be doEe
in Washington. The task of making laws
which will conform to those of the United
States and yet will work in practice is an
Undertaking for the greatest minds. the
knowledge requisite for which can only he
gained on the spot. Taking il all IN an if
the best men are not put TO this undertake
ing, but allow the island to become a polit-
ical plaything, the Porto Rican will be
worse of than he was under Spain