The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-01-06
pANAMA'S DESPERATE
FINANCIAL DILEMMA.
"Monkey Money of Small Value. Urgent Need
of Revenues
BY MERRILL A. LEAGUE.
Special Correspondent of the Morning News

send a cable to the states. The "a
Bile toll was $10.S5 Colombian silver.
laid down an English sovereign. which
was accepted at $11 (ColombianO. so
that had 10 cents change due me.
and for this amount l got an Ameri-
can fVe-cent piece and a COPPER cent.
Several people have endeavored to tell
me how much the cable cost in Amer
lean money, but none has succeeded. I
leave it with the reader as an exam
pie of the intricacies of this monetary
system which, most commemorative
Panama hopes soon to abandon for the
gold basis.
Whether Panama will be able to
realize upon this expectation is an
other problem. There are absolutely
no statistics available showing the eX-
act or even approximately the amount
of this silver money in circulation on
the isthmus. Colombia never had any
interest in the matter, as the circula-
ton of this silver was confined to this
department; nor was the money itself
liked by Colombia, which always re-
GREETED the fact that the commercial
requirements of this particular state
prevented her from foisting upon it
her own worthless paper.
Scheme for Gold Basis.
She never made any effort. there
, fore, to keep statistics. and while it is
believed that there are something like
$1.500.000 of the silver in existence,
nothing definite is known on this point.
1t is. however. the purpose of the re-
public, as explained by Senior Manuel
E. Amador. minister of finance. and
Endorsed by the Junta. to retire all of
this as soon as possible. For this pur-
pose it is proposed to use as much of
the $10,000000 (gold) to be paid by the
United States for the canal concession
as may be required.
The plan as Ear as it has been out
| lined is to deposit the necessary gold
i'll the public treasury as a guarantee
| fund, and then issue a paper currency,
redeemable in gold, and by proper leg
islation fix a rate of exchange as be-
| tween gold or the gold-secured paper
and silver. Should this plan be adopt
ed the rate of exchange will probably
be fixed at 81 gold for 81 silver and
silver dollars and half-dollars once re-
ceived at the treasury will not be re-
| issued, except when received in the
form of an intrinsicallv valuable SUBJ
sidiary currency.
Much difficulty is. however, expected
before this plan can be put into opera
ton. All Panama avoids Colombian
paper as it would the plague. No
body on the isthmus will handle the
Worthless stuff. Silver has been SO
| long in use that no other money, ex-
cept gold, is known. the ignorance of
any other being so extensive that
| among the natives American nickels
| and coppers are refused when offered.
The officials all realize that it will be
! long and tedious task to educate the
| n fhar a M
| rency secured by a public deposit of
| gold is worth it's face value. To over
come this national prejudice against
paper will be the greatest difficulty III
the way of acceptance of the plan. for
| the Panamaians are counting with alb
sOlute confidence upon the ratification
of the canal treaty and the early pay
inent to them of the $10,OOO,000 in Amer
lean gold.
| 49, Revenues of the Republic.
This matter of converting the cur
rency system from a deprecated and
varying silver basis to the gold stand
ard is, however, the smaller horn of
the financial dilemma confronting
| Panama. Under the old regime the
revenues for this department are sup
posed to have aggregated about $780,
600 annually. This amount may not
be exact. as the statistics are very
faulty. Half a million is given, how
ever, as a safe estimate for purposes
of calculation.
These revenues were derived from
several sources, and were supposed to
be of two classes-one for the national
and the other for the departmental
| eXchequer. Colombia managed very
successfully to gobble all of it, but
| the dictionary division is still used in
| the bookkeeping. The national share
came from an import tax on alco-
holic liquors, from nominal tax on
real estate, and from the sale of GER
| tain of the concessions that have prov
| ed such a boon to the iSthmus. The de-
partmental revenues were variously
derived from tax on the production
of alcoholic liquors, from a nominal
license fee assessed against saloons,
and from the sale of certain other con-
cessions. The amount named and the
sources from which it was derived does
not include the sum of $250,000 (gold)
annually, paid by the canal company
! for its concession. OF this amount
! $25, 900 (gold) was supposed to go to
the Department of Panama, although
the whole sum was always taken by
the government at Bogota. Upon this
! amount it is useless to figure, as dur
ing one OIL nGT bankrupt IIOilclltSb
many years ago, Colombia went to
the usurers and discounted this con-
cession fee for q term of years which
will not expire until nine years hence;
so that until 1912 Panama cannot count
upon receiving any revenue from the
canal concession by way of rental pay
ments.
The Revenues Must Shrink.
This introduces the most serious diff
Guilty before the new republic. By the
terms of the treaty with Panama the
United States does not begin to pay
the $25O,O00 annual rental for the canal
zone until the year 1912. Under the
same agreement Colon and Panama,
the only ports at which there is any
customhouse business of consequence,
are made, to all intents and purposes,
free for the entry of merchandise of
all classes.
Now, Senior Amador, minister of
~ v Y " V