The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-01-07
sY MERRILL A. TEAGUE.S (

Panama, R. P, Dec. 22.-Rosy- -hued as are her ultimate financial prospects. the present condition of Panama approxi- mates. desperation. Her immediate future holds out little hope of improvement. Things will come all right financially In the end, but just now Panama faces direst loan, J. P. Morgan & O.. New York, being the lenders From this loan Mor- gan Is realizing S per cent. interest, ana by reason of making it his firm procured appointment as fiscal agents for the new republic at New York.
 The initiatory demands upon this gov- ernment have been so heavy, however, and the revenues have been so small that bonuss was completed there has been It. tie left with which to defray current ex- penses, To add to the difficulty, the 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 untli after the first president shall have been elected and the government chosen by the people shall have been inducted into ot- Colombia and of the State of Panama were entirely separate and distinct. This refers to the systems only, for Colom- bia succeeded in capturing nearly every, department Tn Colombia the only cur rency Is an issue of worthless paper. This money has been printed in endless quan- titles Oyer $500 ooo 00o are now m .so circu cco lation, and an additional issue of $so,VVO.. 900 has been ordered for population or only 100000 Being unredeemabie represents no real value, and excnange has fallen so low that $1 in American gold will buy something more than $20oo0 in the paper money of Colomoia. II IS lfteraf truth that over in Colombia the man who changes a s1o gold piece needs a mule to carry away the paper money that ia given him.
 Purse of worthless Paper.
 Nobody ever stops to count this money. 1t is tossed about in bales supposed to at' a restauraut in any of the Colombian cities costs about $500. while ordinary pur- chases, like shoes or hats, have to pc paid for at the rate of thousands of dol lars each. The expenses of the trip am making through Panama would. if com puted in Colombian currency, already amounts to more than $14,000,OOO. Nor IS Colombia. All sorts of tricks are played with 1t. The printing and engraving IS of so inferior quality that counterfeit ing is made easy, and counterfeit twen- ty-doliar note having recently appeared the government at Bogota has Issued decree Fepudiating all notes of that de- nomination in circulation, It Is impossi- ble to distinguish between the genulne and spurious, so the entire issue is repu- 1t is this currency which has brought Colombia to the lowest level of financial despair absolutely destroying her credit, Eliminating the possibility of her paying her. indebtedness and prompting the en- actment of a law requiring all customs dues to be gd ,dIv m gGG bS 51e coo1 bia in rejecting the canal treaty, which would have given her $io,oO0, 900 in gold and afforded her an opportunity to retire the worthless paper and establish some thing like a decent monetary system, is realized when these facts are known,
 ssNonkey Money" of Panama
 But, interesting as they are, these facts only slightly concern Panama: They - ex- always so assiduous In attacking the public moneys in the Department of Pan anna: but, otherwise, the isthmus never the paper money of Colombia The reason Is that Panama years ago demanded (and her commercial requirements. due to Cclornbia had to grant the demand) the issuance of a silver currency for local use.
 This silver now constitutes the money of the new republic Locally it Is known as tin or monkey money" Why? Be- cause 1t Is a mixture of cheap alloy with very little silver, the portion of silver being so small that the rate of exchange for American gold fiuctuates b tween $2.S6 and S2.7O for one That means that for one dollar of American gold one receives an amount in Colombian silver somewhere between the sums named Here. again,
 
 there Is no fixed rate of exchange. and the two banking houses on the isthmus- Brandon's and Ehrmann's-vary the Tass msss tr0% oomfortsble aa S Sum 'f sy ras snS lng or dpressing he exchange. The unit of value in this coinage Is the 5O-cent American money, and mo e unsatisfa C. tory currency 1t would be difficult to 'dis-
 A Badly Mixed Currency.
 .r.. gets several pounds of silver in return, each piece varying with the date md place of the minting In this respect ther9 IS little uniformity; for the money is coin, Philadelphia. and at other times In r.u' ropean cities, just as the holders of the money-coinin,g , concession find t advsn ]. Is milled and some has the Colombian motto. "Dtos$s Lei$Libertad" Lift ~ aud Liberty-sunk in small letters abou derous pieces-the dollars of Peru. Mica ragua. Guatemala and Costa Rlea, al of which are current here and again on, gets the regular Colombian 5O-cent pi ce defaced with small stamp, showing that at sometime or other that particua piece found its way into Costa Rica an, was stamped with the obverse and reye-s of the Costa Rican coat-of-arms, a pro cess by which Colombian silver is mad current in that country.
 As may be ina gined, this currency lead to endless complications. It is, in fac; almost necessary for d man to keep a se of books on himself If he would know :. where he, stands. He-e is a case in point Need for a Fixed Basis,
 Just before sailing from New York
 changed a sum of money into Englis gold (sovereigns), as I was-advised tha English gold only was accepted on tn isthmus. It was a foolish thing to do as American gold and American banI notes are most valuable here and bette liked than is the money of England, bu In my ignorance 1 did the foolish thine paying SASS for each English soveign,
 Upon arrival at Colon I wished fS sem Gcable to the States. The cable toll wa
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