BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1905-06-14

act a misconduct "a he part Ct the
furctsn~Rrf-<
Alth I'D u hr1 sight l. may seem
;asirf iscssi. i is q nrCh greater
importance than appars. u - al is-
fraction "a the Constitution and an
outrage "a the citizens.
We refer 10 the denuncistions made
Yesterday by sone q the police against
those esis blishmeats unprovided with
cuspidors.
Withou, any previous notice Of the
existence 81 an ordinance whose orr
gin is unknown, the alleged offenders
were yesterday ordered TO appear on
Saturday before the Justice Of the
Peace.
We are awaiting with considerable
interest the action which the above
judicial official takes in the premises.
upon matter which involves the trea-
cherous and perhoious conduct of the
guardians of tae peace. who on this
occasion must know that the provision
of the Foraker Act which obliges the
Secretary of Porto Rico to publish all
the laws of the Assembly and the
government ordinances has not been
complied with.
Ii must be plain 10 the most ordina-
ry intelligence that the issuing Of re-
gulations of the Board of Health and
other instructive pamphlets which the
functioparies are SO foud of. are OF no
benefit and advantage to the public if
they remain in the public Offices for
the exclusive use and convenience OF
some functionaries and their favorite
acolytes.
1t has come to the point that it will
be necessary for the citizens to gather
before the door of the places in which
the functionaTieS have tablished
their encampment so that they may
know the moment, day or night, that
it occurs to any one Of those eminen,
colonizers to revive law which may
have passed into disuse.
This involves an inSupporta want
of consideration, it is a discourtesy
and indelicacy which no citizens in
any part of the world should be called
upon to suffer.
The functionaries are not the own :
ers of the country. they are not the
ndotSlS' AAS PSOPtS oAS hot SioSSS
dependent on the whlms and caprices
of the would be lords.
From the way things are going
here; with the pla que of the fuuctio-
naiies who disobey and ignore the
most elemental precepts of the Fora
ker Act; who have abolished the of
fetal Gazette SO Necessary for the
PRONUNCIATION of laws and ordir
ances; who devote their attention to
the development of artificial industries
prejudicial and dangerous to the to X
payers. the day is not far distant when
we will have the sad spectacle of
state of affairs such as we have prop
hesied.
The citizens, the taxpayers, all the
people, will be obliged TO remain nj
aht and day in front Of the depart
ments and public offices, awaiting
those deadly illuminatiols which the
providentisls of expansionism shed
over The island, who are ignorant Of
the laws. particularly The penal ones,
which ought to be published for gene
raj information, and because it is imp
ossible that a people can continue
moulding itself to the caprices and
wilful misdeeds Of an inconsiderate
bureaucracy up to the point of forese-
eing the moment in which some one of
the members of that mysterious sect
may consider it convenient 10 incre-
ase the number of the misdeeds of the
congregation with new regulation.
an ordinance, or simply with police
order.
The agents of order besides the
occupation of denouncers have pre-
ventive mission; and as they are not
good for anythig better, they ought to
announce to the taxpayers. who are
the ones who pay them, the latest
official act tion in order to avoid the
painful, the lamentable spectacle of
seeing in the Justices Courts class
as respectable as is that of the
merchants gathered there for the pay
ment Of fines imposed for no other of
fence than of not being able to foresee
the precise moment that new func-
tionary would wish TO re esta blish a
regulation which had been considered
imperative, even if some time it had
been published and put in force.
And this ridiculous severity forcibly |