BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1905-06-17
EDITORIAL

~sorse Il thag nxw &N@aCsAttnn. @hNh
has aYnanV i;x snenl<gs metshsn;s.
actieolfrs.s,s Ano business soen ~ e.
nerai. - eNtfa NNsen~ss. II ssf to!
i,e. ;. is title indiesfes . rocieiy 81
an economic character. 81 ecoacm'cl
aims ard Which works Scr the impso
xcyr~n, og the present situation.
Tac Razsd q Trade does at come
among us ~ new orgsnizstion oi an
unsried character. bot iis aims and
lsbofs IN seeking reforms already
asked for BY other organizations. end
iis original IDEAS Of prgress. prosi-
ded always that they are logical, must
be OF benefit 10 isc county since they
add new force To those which We
already have. and which are occupied
in those commendable labors.
We have Conscience in the aims oi
the Board Of Trade. which is compo-
sed OF elements hrmly banded to4et-
her for the economic development of
the country.
|. is a worthy organization. which
from the moment of Its inception, has
continued to engage public attention TO
a marked degree and has given birth to
the hope that II may have beneficial
results, Notwithstanding the fact that
the idea of such an organization ori2i-
mated with public official
The country has been turtored by
bitter experience to be chary of any (
thing where the functionarles are con
ccrned. but IN the present case there
are special circumstances which
lessen the skep,icisus justified on other
occasions.
We, who are free from prejudice.
who tsve not,ihe instincts of oppoGl-
ton. but who censure. or critic when
there are sufficient me4ives and rea
sons. welcome the creation of this
Board CT Trade. trusting that its
efforts, united to those which other
associations are making. all being or
ganizations of Porto Riean character
may contribute TO maintain in public
spirit an attitude of remncstrance so
needful for encouragement when on
the other haod we are encounterlng IN
official centres the hostile resistance OF
the bureaucracy.
Some one has thought he saw in this
new organization fonnt OF anspira
tion which the government needs In
its business affairs.
Would TO God it were that since
the principal initiative Of this Board
of Trade is due to high fuuctionary,
and thus we are led to suppose that IN
the regions of mysters, which insPire
such justified fears. there still can en-
ter some sane currents of opinion,
those invigorating forces which are
displayed in their advice and sugges-
tions by the men who devote their &C
tivities to industry and commerce and
who stand for those measures IN di-
rect relation between their interests
and those of the public.
Realizing the great esponsibiilties
which rest upon the men composing
the Boa rd Of Trade, they must provi
de 4 defence of the public interests
against those misdeeds which are
daily perpetrated by the functiona-
ries, and if among the projects of that
Board, there exists the one of making
a report to the President, since Mr.
Roosevelt expressed to our represen-
tatiye his wish to have one. the Board
of Trade, inspired by truth, free of all
contact with the bureaucracy, other
than that which may be indispensable,
unbiased by every influence which
has not its inspiration in the general
welfare and progress, ought to place
before the Chief Magistrate of the
Nation and his prominent followers
q report which would necessarily be
different from the reports heretofore
sent and which perhaps may again
be sent-by the functionaries of ex-
portation.
If it comes TO that, the Board OF
Trade has large and fertile field in
which to exercise its energies. because
many of the men who stand in the
of the organization must ha
We felt the claws and talons of the hos
tile situation produced by regimen
whose deficiencies and abnormal acts
have not as yet been sufficiently criti-
cized, and which has bcen m de woIse
by the functionaries which the crude
system of government has fixed, as an
immense and weighty incubus. upon
the colony.
1t is always pleasant to contemplate
the banding together of men who