Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-09-30

the Few times Heureaux got decidedly the
worst OF It, The engineer figured the origi-
hal construction work at what the COM
pany claimed, but added q similar amount
rs the value of the concession as shown by
the earnings. and taking into consideration
sae period TOT which 1t was granted. Heu-
aeauA was In rage. but there was no
escape, and first payment was made on
praiser. >e ~
Two or three days later a freshet of un
usual force brought from the mountains a
great quantity Of debris, which lodged
against the bridge, finally topping one-half
OF 1t into the river. where It still lies Heu-
reaux resisted all later payments and the
succeeding government had to assume the
Indebtedness and pay it. Half of the bridge
still stands and the concession Is still in
existence, but there are, of course no tolls
Possibly the purchase by the government
annulled the concession, in which case there
Is room for new grant and a new deal.
Railway Monopoly.
The two railroad concessions for the lines
now constructed are equally strong. One
prohibits the use of a navigable river which
parallels it, and the other does not permit
the use Of the mountain passes by foot
passengers or pack trains. These railroads
develop the country, 1t Is claimed. They do
to certain extent, but an absolute monop-
Oily Is created, and the foreigner, who buys
land because it Is near a railroad, must
first find under what terms the concession
Is granted to the railroad or he will discover
that the rates will be placed just high
enough to keep him at hard work farming
and not high enough to drive him out of
business. In other words, the railroad is
able to absorb all his surplus by freight
rates, which may fiuctuate to meet a
changing market. 1t Is true that the rail-
road company is interested in developing
farming land adjacent to its line, but it is
aIso interested in paying dividends to its
prove detrimental to the people
Heureauxs ingenuity in this respect had
no END. He was interested in developing
nome industries, and so discovered oil near
exclusive concession, prohibiting all other
Oil from being sold He undoubtedly owned
most OF the stock of the company organized
TO handle this monopoly, and great deal
be an immense bluff. Tanks were erected
and refinery constructed, pumps were
brought from the states and the machinery
put In motion. The use Of oil is general in
the towns and cities. 1t is used for lighting
purposes entirely, and some oil stoves are
to be seen. The total sales amounted to
many thousand dollars a year, and the
price was high No one saw any Oil come
out OF the ground 1t was thought that 1t
was brought in in the large tin cans in
which 1t was sold. 1t being necessary to
import these from the states. However it
was handled, the monopoly was created,
and 1t no doubt paid well at the expense of
the public.
Other Exclusive Concessions.
biscuit company was granted an exclu-
sive concession. The wording gave it the
power and authority to import biscuits and
the materials used in their manufacture,
and 1t was an exclusive privilege OF
course, flour is the principal material used,
and the company never manufactured any
To no nf
A match concession gave the market to
match company; which had most of the
work done in the United States, and en-
gagged two or three children to put some
labels on the boxes.
Wharf concessions permitted the charge
of cents for every package imported or
exported, whether it crossed the wharf or
not This added largely to the cost of
small and cheap articles almost doubling
the cost of small cans of American canned
goods. These charges were all independ-
ent of the custom duties and added greatly
to the burdens of foreign commerce. A
Norwegian bark loading in the bay at
Porto Plata, for instance, had as memo
randa items showing the payment Of 81 ,0o5
port and wharf duties, while the entire Gus
tom duties were $557 At Porto Plata there
are some port privileges, but in many in
stances the privilege of chatting with the
officer of the port is about all that is given
in return for the money.
In Restraint Of Trade.
All these concessions are in restraint Of
trade, tax on the consumer and producer.
Where no consideration is given in return
1t becomes a doubly irksome burden.
Among the heavier burdens that bring
some adequate return are the concessions
granted to steamship lines. While, as in
other instances, monopolies are created and
one line is given the control of the freight
and passenger business there are many in
stances where competition would drive out
the line originally building up the foreign
trade. Not going into the economic fea-
lures of these questions it must at least be
apparent that there is a serious side to the
thousands of concessions granted in per-
petuity or for a long term of years by the
Latin-American governments. And not the
least disturbing is the fact that the United
States and the European governments will
be kept in constant turmoil over the prop
erty interests of foreigners who have ac-
quired just and valuable title by conces-
sions which these governments may seek to
set aside after considerable money has been