The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-02-19

Total sho o5o nj
Ono bar gold. s7o ano weight aa1o
grammes, and ono bar gold, 300 nne.
weight ala grammes, all OF tho est.
mated value OF. $500 Os
-
Total, se2.s5e os
FUNDS OF THE
Note. p,roo r.,.so, .ry,r,Do ,o,,,.r
and silv.r coin sseoa a,
.u. .
49,
FUNDS OF THE PHILIPPINE LANCERs' THIRTY
FIRST REGIMENT CAVALRY.
Copper coin. $3.50 90
--
making the grand total MS indicated
above $500 ,0oi 80
There is to be added first S2GO4o82 which
was found on deuosit I'm the Banco Fsna5ol-
FiIinino and which una left tbera Alec tboro
are some securities which may be good and
, may not. depending In large measure on the
fate OF the islands. For instance. there was
an iron contrivance in the Treasury building
which was known as a reserve safe" In this
safe was a box Of provisional bonds. issued by
the Philippine Government to meet certain
provisional expenses. Probably these ex-
penses were connected with tho '96 revclu-
ton. though there was nothing to show def
nitely what they were for. Neither was there
anything to show whether they were valid.
There was $4,000 900 worth OF them. and to
all appearances they were perfectly good.
There Was nothing to show whether they had
been issued or not. In another reserve safe
there were 81 900 in bank notes. a certified
check that had never been cashed. 500, 600
In bonds apparently good. and some Treasury
notes. worthless or not. according as we de-
termine. In still another place the Americans
found this list of things:
Silver coin and hank notes. 40 pro a,
One certified check. All 90
Two drafts on a Barcelona bank, nom
negotiable. 24,243 u
10 packages Treasury bills .."""...... 7o.oos 90
l package bonds Banco EsRholf Filipino. 1880 90
DEPOSIT warrants not indorsed, and so
worthless 1879 OIL
9to'A nanco Espa"olfiipiho apparent
y lS'Soo 90
All these things are specified in detail in the
treasury manifest. if it may be called that. OF
the seized fund, and receipts for them have
been given to the Spanish officials. Also the
Americans receipted for one box OF Fire De-
partment medals. one carriage. two horses.
one set Of harness. two halters. one stable
bucket, one currycomb and one brush.
In all this there Is a frst-class opportunity
for some persons to make trouble for some
American officials by and by and to cause n
lot OF worriment and perplexity. Everything
the Americans seized from the Spaniards is
sealed up all right and ready to be returned
exactly as it was when seized-except. per-
haps. the horses. carriage and currycomb and
brush-in case that is the decision. But SUP
pose we keep the islands. Are we going to
take over the treasury responsibilities along
with them? If we do we are in for some fun.
The Spanish records, as far as the Americans
have been able to discover in a search Of sew
eral months. were all Of one kind. They kept
track OF receipts in fine shape. Apparently
no detail was too small to be recorded when it
concerned money coming in to the Govern
ment. although there is nothing to show that
the numerous entries of receipts are accurate
or Trustworthy. and there are many facts which
tend to throw suspicion on them. And so far
not a single record Of disbursements Of any
sort has come to light. There are books and
books Of deposits. but not a scrap or leaf TO
show what became OF a cent. Also there are
records which show that the general treasury
received trust deposits.
There are records OF many such deposits.
but nothing to show that the funds or securi-
ties 80 deposited have ever been withdrawn. By
and by, when we have set up business for good
in this old treasury. some chap may come
along and demand a million or two, alleging
that he had deposited 1t with the Government
for safe keeping. Some fellow will want some
of those bonds or treasury bills or other things
whose value depends sim ply on whether they
had been issued or not. There isn't a record
30 far found that will solve this problem, and
the search has been very thorough.
1t seems impossible to credit a Spanish OFF,
cial with any sort Of honesty. Our own men
down here always seem surprised when they
find that one has told the truth, even though IL
concerns only a minor matter. Similarly. or IA
It dissimilarly. they are not surprised at any
sort of deception or dishonesty. II will be no.
ticed that the list Of seized funds shows about
2.1OO boxes and sacks Of copper coin. contain
ing about 100000. This was all In one and
two cent pieces. The sacks and boxes made
a huge pile in one end OF one OF the largest
rooms in the treasury building. 1t puzzled
the Americans for a long time. the finding OF
this relatively enormous amount OF copper.
with so little silver and paper. There Is n
scarcity OF copper in the CITY and surrounding
country. The needs of business demand a
p,,ob arrar .tnnL thar .L..S p--,