The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-03-29

every. important man IN the shops, accom-
panied by autograph letters of the President
himself. Well. we went down there. YOU
can catch even hardened business men with
buttered parsnips at times. The terms of
| our concession We're that we We're to pay no
| of every kind for the term of twenty years.
One article of this agreement they kept re-
,ba ,, They let the plant in free and
! weeks we understood very clearly the stu
alton. We We're not to make money out of
them; they We're going to make money out
OF us. and they have done it. They let the
| plant in free. because by SO doing they in
creased the oasis for blackmail of the ban
dit government by half million dollars.
For five years we haven't had the faintest
notion or the slightest hope of making
money Our only concern has been how to
have been clapped on in due legal shape as
well as by private Matchmaking operations
The private blackmail was paid to the per
power. who would come around and say:
our distinguished President is embarrassed
!! for want OF funds. Unless you pay five
something will happen to your plant that
VIII cost you more and when we didn't
Ply something always did happen. 1t was
cheaper TO chip in TO the war chest TO the
regularly authorized tax collector we
.showed our concession. but he would an
free,,o something 9t,i like this: Our promised
Years was simply pipe dream reduced to
paper He did not care to question the sim
iits VI Inv F-EeSluenI unQef whose regime
the concession was granted. though; as he
admitted. everybody knew what sort of a
man ne was, and how three months later
ne had been run out of the country by a
popular uprising so forcibly expressed and
so menacing that he was only able to TIE
az awa ag with him the paltry sum of oOoO,OOo
the minister's ans was: How could Won
pc SO foolish as to try. to do business in
sufar reports published under the auspices
OF the State Department setting forth in
growing terms the vast opportunities await
ing American capital and American enter
all gut, and he was dead right
ALL BUNCOMBE."
I'VE then pointed out to him that in COM
ing to Venezuela We were following tho sue
&estion Of Uncle Sam himself. who pays the
Red ID line subsidy of s2.O0O for every shin
it sends to Venezuelan ports He said this
was all buncombe, and again think he was
6 oe a. risat; though three months later one
OF the official reports was published by the
State Department. Boiled down, 1t said:
~ az You want to be millionaire in about
going to say anything about what the revo-
lutionists did to us, because It makes me
angry angry, and you haven't the time: but re-
every two or three years; they are not
periodic. but chronic. The revolutionists
have have to live. too. and you've got to pay
taem Just as much as you pay the other
bandits who are masquerading around as
the Government of the day. Sometimes I
Iediiy tndt the Government bandits
and the revolutionary brigands compare
notes and work the graft In common. Ger
tain 1t is, If you pay one collector $500 more
than the other. the collector of the gang
that has been Disseminated against will he
around in twenty-four hours and vou'il have
to square him. OF course, we did ali these
Things and many more-things that were dis
honorable and sickening-tryng to save our
plant. That has been our business for five
years. and can tell you it has kept our
hands full '' o"i
SUBJECT TO STAMP TAX.
Now | am going to tell you a little incl
dent. The amount of money concerned is
small. but it is the most graphic tilustra.
ton Of how American and other investors
are oppressed by the banditti of the MANY
that have come under my personal obserya-
ton In our charter. or concession. II was
specifically stated that we were to be ex-
empt from the stamp tax. The stamps are
used upon bills and receipts, and are
necessary to legalize all documents Not in
general terms, but with the greatest pre-
cisfon. 1t was set forth that our papers need
not De stamped. nevertheless not a month
has passed during the last five wears hut
that the stamp inspector has turned up ard
peked his nose in our business Whenever
we were foolish enough to refuse him money.
on the verJ next DAY our animals were
stolen or our fuel was coniscated Well
we found 1t cheaper to square him, Here
in our books you VIII see the entry every
month. Now come to the incident want /