Evening star., 1901-10-02
CANNOT GET LABoRERs
COFFEE CROP REMAINING IN COLON
BIAN FIELDS.
Immense Cost of Sending 1t to the
Coast-CannOt Compete with
Brazilian Products.

The State Department has received, under
date of August II, long report from one
of its representatives in Colombia which
brings out in detail the crippled commercial
situation in that country resulting from
revolutionary movements within and with
out The report says:
THE commercial situation here is more
depressed and more difficult for all kinds.
of legitimate transa ctions than 1t has been
since the beginning of the civil war low
in progress. From the gathering Of the
crops to the shipping thereof great difficui-
ties. in many cases insurmountabls, are
encountered. The majority of the coffee
crop has remained ,Ingathered bec:lus, la
borers could not be secured. OF the crops
gathered great deal remains on the .,issn-
tatiOn or deposited elsewhere because
beasts cannot be secured to ship 1t to the
Magdalena river. Other large quantities of
coffee remain at river ports awaiting SHIP
ment- The coffee in hand, which for Tari-
Gus reasons cannot be forwarded for eX-
port Is roughly spoken of as hundreds of
thousands of bags. A great deal of this
coffee was bought by foreigners or taken
by them in payment for debts before the
imposition of the present duty of 60 cents
gold per 100 Kilograms (22O.46 pounds and
before the heavy Increase in freight rates
from the interior to the coast had .aAcE
place. All this coffee today represents
heavy loss. 1t is insisted by those familiar
with the business that coffee from the ii-
terror of Colombia cannot withstand tine
present charges against 1t. For example,
an itemized statement of the charges en- a
ton of coffee in the husk (pergamino) from
Bogota to New York foots up $S0.50 gold
before the coffee is taken out of the sh p
at New York dock. 1t is stated, by way
OF comparison, that the cost of shipping
the same amount of Brazilian coffee from
the interior of Brazil to New York Is $40
gold, leaving the ton Of Colombian coffee
at disadvantage Of 5000 gold IS COM
pared with the Brazilian product. Adding
to the sum of SS0.59 gold. representing The
shipping charges from Bogota to New
York, the sum of $50 gold per ton, present
value of the coffee in this market the ton
of coffee cost the shipper S130j9 gold the
hold of the steamer alongside the dock In
New York. The ton of coffee when ciean-
ed Grillado) is reduced to about 1,GOO
pounds, so that the coffee when it arrives
in New York and before it is unloaded rep
resents a cost of SIC cents gold per pound.
To this must be added commission ard all
costs of handling in New York
Hides are held in large quantities ard
cannot be shipped for the reasons that pre-
vent the shipping of coffee Quantities Of
hides, representing large values, nave SO
deteriorated as to become worthless. In
some instances this has resulted from the
impossibility of obtaining poison for their
preservation. and in others because th"y
had already been so heavily poisoned that
they would stand no more. The inability to
ship hides is particularly vexatious to hold
ers because Of the present high prices Of
this article of export in the New York mar
ket. Hides, unlike coffee, would easily
stand the present heavy freight and other
charges against them If they could be got
to New York. Many American houses are
heavily interested in the present large hold
ing Of Colombian hides and coffee, some
of them directly owners, others as cred
itors Of Colombian holders and some In
both respects.
There is no means Of foretelling how
soon the present strained situation may be
relieved. Those most interested are not
basing their calculations on early relief"