The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-12-20
no. haven Of refuge.
5FEHtr,hYny,T,Y ~ q IN Az Nv TyTNToG "

totliavcn of refuge IL
MCNOpOLt1ts or MANY KINDS.
Besides these two processes for filling
the, treasury and strengthening the army
raising revenue. BY d dcc.Sa lssued nts
15ogon the sale or isaltSwas created into
~ government monopoly. Every mcr-
chant In the entire domain was forbid
den by law To deal In this commodity,
which was vended by agents Of the gov-
eminent and exchanged for exorbltaht
prices, The Department of Panama was
compelled o5aivert her revenues from
the ordinary uses and turn them over to
ttln Federal government, BY which they
we're used TO pay the soldiers. The gov
ernmcnt tn1onopollzcd tho sale Of matches,
just as It did Of salt. and IN IL land
wf crc the smoking of cigarettes Is unl-
,ersal among those Of either sex and Of
all ages tho revenues derived from this
source were not inconsldcrablc In
similar manner Il monopoly was created
On the sale OF cigars, cigarettes and TO-
bncco, one firth IN this city having been
granted the exclusive right for tho ems
tire department to deal In these articles
ln&return for the payment of 100000 Sill
ser annually into the treasury at Bo-
eotu.a leo too. was d Stnuponoly. the right
10 manufacture and sell that luxury OF
tie tropics being let atRn handsome fig-
sure 10 conccssionairc. who used his OPP
portunity 10 such Eooh advantage that,
uuhlIc, the normal price paid In Panama
Tor Ice WIS IL 1-2 cents Colombian silver
n pound, equivalent To 5-4 cents Anlcri-
cai, currency. One Of the WORST outrages.
however, was that perpetrated In regard
tc the Strengthening OF beef. Under de-
cree Issued at I3ogota u monopoly for the
slaughtcring OF beef was created and let
out TO a conccssionaire. BY the terms
OF this decree It was unlawful even for
the owner Of steer to kill the animal
AID dress II for private consumption. He
Ind to send word to the concessionuirc,
who d'spa tched an agent to superlntcnd
The killing. collect All fee and take pos 4
sesslon OF the hide. Every hide became,
a, the moment OF the killing. the prop
rrty nf the Colombian government, and
they were carefully collected. shipped to
New York and sold Tor the account Of
the Federal treasury. The government at
Eogota realized. also, $4,000 Colon bian
silver annually In return for the gamb-
ling concessor, which was openly sold to
a firm known as Pratt & Seymour. by
this concession the firm named is given
the exclusive right FOR the entire de-
partment to o1aintain and operate gamo--
ling devices In return for this conces-,
sion tho firm has been paying Bogota
$1,000 annually for THE Pacific side OF
tho jsthmus ana $4,000 annually for tho
Caribbean slde where Its operations are
restricted to the city of Colon. In addt-
ton to the various forms of gambling
conducted by this firm, It leases to sa-
loon and other proprietors Of establish
ments the right to maintain poker games.
roulette wheels, crap tables. etc.
OTHER FORMS OF EXTORTIoN.
The assertion Is made upon authority
and fully substantiated. that the govern
ment at Bogota let slip mo opportunity
to secure possession of the money IN tho
list hmIan Golfers. whether It was public
or private In character There are fami-
\ lies In Panama that can SHOW proof OF
the fact thu t. within tile last five years
they have paid to the Colombian gov
tcrnment, under one form Of extortlon and
unc Their. not less than .0O0 while every
man VI vested means has been compelled
hy9 some process to surrender q portion
10! his wealth. III, addition to this scheme
or niulcting individuals and creating
.r,onopolies In the commodities Of life the
Bogota government borrowed virtually
every cent Of the revenues Of the Depart
raent Of Panama, amounting to about
$sOO,OOO (silver) a year,Tif;SSTo insure the sue
cess Of these proje ctssf for relieving the
Federal government Of the expense of
surpressing the revolution nFthe isthmusi
Rogota has. maintained !, q, consistent at
titude in permitting none dave foreigners
tr administer ! the government on 1.-THE
lsth1nus. Senor@ J ose Domingo dc Obal-
dla, who was Governor Of the department