The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-01-13
Her Money So Worthless That
No One Stops to
Count IT..
BRIGHT FUTURE I'l7' PROSPECT 70 81 :('
Bit at Present the New Republic
Faces the Direct Ne
ccssity.

q d III 4. j \ r
PANAMA. r. r., Dec. 2o.-Rosy-hned
as are her ultimate financial prospects,
tfo present condition Of Panama mp
prcxlmntcg desperation. Her Immediate
future holds out little hope OF Improve
r,cnt. Things will como all right fInan-
cialy in the end. but just now Panama
faces dlrcst nccnsslty. She has made
one temporary loan j. 7. Morgan 8:
CO. New York, being the lenders From
tfll: loan Morgan Is realizing 6 per cent.
interest, and by reason OF making his
firm procured appointment as fiscal
agents for the new republic at New York.
The initatory demands upon this gov
eminent have been SO heavy however.
ami the revenues have been so small
that since the work of paying the sep
nratist bonuses was completed there has
been little left with which to defray cur
rent expenses. TO add to the difficulty.
the sort OF government now holding
sway here does not invite much financial
confidence. SO that the establishment OF
a national credit under which an issue
of bonds might be possible. had to be
deferred until after the first president
shall have been elected and the gov
errment chosen by the people shall have
been indicted into Office
Under the old regime the finances OF
Colombia and Of the State of Panama
were entirely separate and distinct. This
refers to the systems only, for Colombia
succeeded In capturing nearly every cent
Of the actual cash income OF this depart
ment In Colombia the only currency
Is an issue Of worthless paper. This
money has been printed In endless guam
titles Over 6G0,D00.02O are now in circu-
'ltion, and an additional issue OF $780,
100000 has been ordered for a population
OF only 100000. Being unredeemabe,
It represent no real value. and exchange
has fallen so low that 81 In American
gold will buy something more than
$4,000 in the paper money OF Colombia.
II Is a literal truth that over in Colon
biz the man who changes $40 gold piece
needs a mule to carry away the paper
money that is given him.
PURSE OF WORTHLESS PAPER.
4 Nobody ever stops to count this money;
1t Is tossed about in bales supposed to
contain $1,000 each. In 1t a simple lunch
at "a restaurant In any Of the Colombian
cities costs about $500. while ordinary
purchases, like shoes or hats, have TO be
paid for at the rate of thousands of
cellars each. The expenses OF the trip
I am making through Panama would, If
computed in Colombian currency az.
ready amount to more than s14,o0o,0OO.
MOI Is this the worst feature Of the
money OF Colombia. All sorts of tricks
arc played with It. The PRINTING, and en-
craving is Of so interior a quality thai
counterfeitlng Is ruate easy, and a coun-
tc:feit twenty dollar note having re-
Gently appeared the government at Bo-
gotta has issued a decree regulating all /
0rctes of that denomination IN circula- |
tor. 1t Is impossible to distinguish |
between the genuine and spurious, so the |
eLtire issue Is repudlated
u is this currency which has brought |
Colombia. to the lowest level OF financial |
tr 0l -Ntt tr1,, =
eliminating the possibility of her paying |
her Indebtedness, and prompting the en- |
actment Of law requiring ali customs
dues to be paid in gold after the first of |
January. The folly displayed by Colom- !
ba in rejecting the canal treaty. which |
would have given her 100000 In gold |
and afforded her an opportunity to re-
something like a decent monetary sys-
ten, Is realized when these facts are
known.
MONKEY. MONEY" OF PANAMA.
But interesting as they are, these facts
only slightly concern Panama. They OK
plain in a measure why Colombia was
always so assiduous in attacking the |
public moneys in.the Department of Pan
ANA; but otherwise the Isthmus never
suffered because of the wort hlessness OF
the paper money Of Colombia. Tho rea-
son is that Panama years ago demanded
NdHu Ilci'H rCOlIllIlSTCHI requirements, que
to strans-Isthmian traffic. we're such tina t |
Colombia had to grant the demand) the |
Issuance of a silver currency for local |
use.
This silver now constitutes tho money
OF the new republic. Locally 1t is known
as Tin" or "monkey money" Why? Be
cause 1t Isl mixture Of cheap alloy with |
n very little silver, the portion of silver
being SO small that the rate of exchange
for American gold nuctuates between |
s2.26 and $40 for one That means that |
for ono dollar of American gold one re-
ceives an amount In Colombian silver
somewhere between the sums named, |
Here. again, tricks are played with the
money, for there Is no fixed rate of OK
change. and the two banking houses on
the Isthmus-Brandon's and Ehrmann' s.
vary the rate from day to day and make
comfortable sum by raising or depress-
ing the exchange, Tho unit of lvalua In
this coinage Is tho bO-cent piece, worth
ordinarily about sixteen cents In Ameri-
can money. and a more unsatisfactory |
currency 1t would be difficult to discover. |
BADLY MIXED CURRENCY.
When changing small gold piece ono
gets severa pounds OF silver in return,
place OF the mnting. In this respect |
there is little uniformity, for the money
Is coined sometimes In New York, some-
times In Philadelphia and at other times
In European cities. Just as the holders
of the money-colning concession find 1t !
advantageous to place the contract, Some
of 1t is milled, and some has the Colon
hlan motto "Dost I4c+ Libertad'-God. |
Life and Liberty--srnk in small letters
about Its edges. Occasionally one receives
ponderous pieces-the dollars Of Peru,
Nicaragua, Guatemala and Costa Rica-
all OF which are current here. AMI again
one gets the regular Colombian 50ccnt |
pieces. iefaced with n small stamp, show
Ing thar at some time or other that par |
ticnlar piece found It's way into Costa
Rica, and was stamped with the diverse
aud reverse Of the Costa Rican coat-of-
arms, process by which Colombian ST.
yer is made current inlthat country,
AS may he imagined. this currency |
leads to endless complications. II Is. In
fact, almost necessary for a man to keep
q set of hooks on himself if he would !
know where he stands, Here is q case In
point:
NEED FOR A FIXED BASIS,
Just before sailing from New York |
changed a sum Of money into English
gold (sovere!gns), as 4 was advised that