Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-02

Colombia is the most casual and topsy-
turvy country on the face of the earth in
most things, but its financial and business
dealings are conducted in real comic opera
style, as / discovered not altogether to my
profit during five years residence there.
If you go into a store in one of the in
terror towns and say that you want to buy
pair of blankets, you will be shown pair
worth, perhaps. s. in the United States.
How much?" you ask the indolent
mulatto proprietor. who sits rolling a brown
cigarette. apparently careless whether you
buy or not.
zone hundred dollars" he says. calmly,
glanCing at you from the corner of his eye
to see how much he will have to come down.
"One hundred dollars! Preposterous
They are not worth more than five. 1 could
buy them for S49S in any store in New
York
but this is not New York, senior. There
is the transportation of the goods and the
so heavy duty and the little presents to the
project and the alcalde. All these we must
add to price"
You are struck with the justice of this
view and as you want blankets badly and
don't like to haggle, you offer So for the
pair
'Carajo! Take them, senior, They are
cigarette and displaying eagerness for the
first time.
But why did you ask one hundred dol
lars? You knew that was altogether too
dear. You knew nobody would pay it,"
Yes, 1t was dear the merchant admits,
''but see how much l have knocked off my
price! Surely that ought to content you. 1t
is the rebajo.' Everybody here wants the
'rebajo'-the reduction on the price first
asked. If ! said Sl5 for the blankets any
Colombian would expect me to sell them
for $50"
Syrian Fiddler's Scheme.
To show how firmly ingrained is this Gus
to of the "rebajo" l will mention what
first happened to me when 1 started to do
business in the country.
i had store at Call, and among the stock
were several bales of cloth which l priced
at $50 a bale. They were good value for the
money, far better and cheaper than any
thing else of the kind in the town. But
week after week passed, and l did not sell
a single bale. People would come and look
at them frequently and ask the price Of
course with my American training l said
$50 and stuck to it. When they found
would not come down, they would leave the
store in amazement and anger.
AT last a humble competitor of mine a.
Syrian pedd!er, who was doing a dinky bust
ness, came into the store. examined the
cloth, heard my story, and said:
But it is good cloth! 1 can sell it. Give
me a dozen bales at $50 each and trust me
until this evening
/ agreed, as l knew he was man of good
business reputation. Sure enough, he re-
turned in the evening, paid me $50 and
ordered the rest of the bales.
Within few days he had sold them all
and paid me my money.
But how did you manage to do it?" I
asked him. And where does your profit
come in?"
1T Is the 'rebajo,'" he exclaimed. II
asked aDpCa ba tbeD
sold them at $40. Everybody wanted to
buy, thinking it was a splendid bargain
The fluctuations of the rate of exchange
in Colombia, as in some other Latin-Ameri-
can countries. give rise to curious financial
vagares. In 1899, the 10-cent postage
stamp used for European mails cost only
three cents gold. The government did not
alter its stamps to fit the rate of exchange,
which, indeed, fluctuated almost from day
to day during the five years revolution.