BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1904-06-15
A dark day

NATION the 1SCt tUaA inc ~ ai~oAANA
interests Of Puerto Rico requires every
possible kind Of assistance; the be-
ginning of a new and promising epoch
of labor. of honorable repatriation fSr
injuries sustained. The down of a
day of light, for. as we have repeated.
ly declared, the immediate relief OF
the agricultural interests meant not
only the recognition of The advantages
and need of the loan, but also as 10
perfectly evident. the promise OF gov
ernmental protection for our resources,
the frank admission, in fact, that the
conservative policy which has been SO
open to suspicious and proved so IN
furious. has at last been discarded.
We are forced to speak without re-
serve. The suspicious have been con-
frmed. Indeed, no man doubts, no
man even discusses the responsibility
of those in authority for our present
State of ruin.
We have offered remedies, "The
Sun will confirm this statement, for
all the problems that darken oar pre-
sent life; we were not, OF course,
compelled to act as mentor. because,
obviously, it is the function of Gov
ernment to settle ques ions of this
nature, duty which does not devolve
on those whose mission it is to warn
the actual officis Is in power when they
have made an error be ring fatal con-
sequences for the people whom they
are supposed to govern; we have given
our aid in finding these solutions, and
moreover we have repeatedly called
the attention of the administration to
the way in which we can be saved
from an economical crisis, which is so
baneful and moreover is affecting
directly, with irresistible influence, all
the other more perplexing problems
which emb.tter our life.
And notwithstanding this voluntary
service, an official of high standing
the head of department and conse-
quently one Of the Governors coun :
Sellors, designateS that as a Ozark
day, thet day on which it was pro-
claimed officially and solemnly that
before building roads and schools we
must provide food for the hungry that
nothing in the island requires such
constant and particular care as the
immediate restoration of one agricul
rural resources which must afterwards
be fostered on progre sSive lines.
That day when the Governor would
have proclaimed the evident truth
which all classes and individuals of
our population have recognized, can
not be called black day for Puerto
Rico nor for the United States; neither
for the sons of the colony, nor for
those born in the States.
A dark day indeed would it be for
the terrible spectre of misery whie b
piyes birth to crime and simulate
rice, that seems to be sinister foreE
cast of horels in which are mingled in
pools of blood and rags of misery
honor and life virtue and rice.
Or perhaps Mr.. Elliot referred to
the feeling of deep pain that the de-
parture of the Spanish residents from
the island. and for this reason holds
them or pretends to hold them by
main force, almost after the fashion
of the African kidnappers who detain
the missionaries and countrymen OF
the Commissioner of the Interior, liv
ing, we may say. entirely unmoved by
/ public opinion state of affairs that
will not permit the officials Of our
towns long base of power. unle S
they make use of force.
But Mr.. Elliot has some grounds
for satisfaction. At length after re
siding FIVE years in Puerto Rico he
has done something He has made a
phrase! He has called the day on
which the loan would be made day
of mourning.
But we cannot understand why this
official quality so harshly the day on
which restitution is to be made, and
ST seems to us that he has wished by
the offensive rudeness of his words to
conceal the legitimate and sovereign
RICH Of the Spanish residents to collect
the sums of money due them, even if
they then deemed il advisable to
throw the some into the MI u-h OF
MORO or even in greater depths.
AS we have said before, even II all
the holders Of mortgages on farming
properly were Spanisrds, though It
: were certain that once they had col
1ected theirs dues those some creditors
would leave the island, this is no re
-. L : - II, OLD bfS af1u DELAY