BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1905-04-18
EDITORIAL.


lllns;sa iur
weAAvo tteu .s'kirs fhvr 9aNs-
on shs sAsne suhivS3 and Is tron
cxhAuNtsrg n - siiA hANe a"hnA.
rcSouSccs. we,ghiy Assnmen,s AnS
s,eh motives fof continuing TIC re
ocS>sYs css,iessm. ( ID ~ cmp'cyecs
wlo arc scsviug ;h, pao.ie ini'fss
- eosf al 80 "a N wiis such an ahusC
az TOLERANCE and power and an txag
.era,ed complsccncy on The p n uf
The government.
Bu, things have reached stage
where tuihcT tolerance u impossible
We arc dealing with a subject very
grave vely erouS su grave and 50
serious that II appears strange that The
abuses a sulniei without justine tion
Of any kind have not slr, ady bcen
checked by some drastic remedy.
The department Of Customs Is scan
dalously infringing plair command
of the Foraker law.
II is not the official organism that
ought TO give such lam. niaoie exhi-
bition of open disobedieuce, stopping
resources Of the lnsular government.
impoverishing the income of the trea
sury and making more difficult the
life of government which is reaching
the point of becoming an insupportable
burden to the people.
The Foraker law provides, as one Of
the means of fixing resources and
which may help.to sustain the pubic
burdens that tn money paid into the
Custom House hall 90 IN its entirety
to the lnsular trea Sury.
Is this command be ng obeyed'
Is this imperative direction being
respee ted3
The employees of the Custom Hou
Sc are disobeying the law.
They are neither Compl ing with
II or lespectlug It,
By methods, cunning and indirect,
thew cause the tariff duties to be paid
into american ports, duties which
ought 10 be p,id on foreign merchan-
die upon it, entrance into Porto
Rico.
This requires no commentary.
1t is an abuse repeated to an extent
truly incredible.
Who aul horizes these men who re-
ceive salaries for complying with their
duties to woik against our interests
and decrease our revenues
Why why do they compel the mer-
chants to pay to the Nation money that
should be paid 10 the colony through
the custom houses of the island if IN
those custom houses facilities and con-
sidcratons are offered and shown
eoual TO th 1t of New York, for exam
ple2
Does tn Collector not see that this
is .scandalous2 Do not the little acoly-
tes who surround this "Mogreb,no
functionary realize that it Is no longer
possibly 10 permit or consent to this
enormous decrease in the revenues?
1t is not i question Of opinions nor
of APPEARANCES. neither of piouS appre-
citation or gerc.es. 1t is a question
of immortality. 1t is question of lega
lity.
The Nation does not require the
helping hand of the Collector or OF
his acolytes.
And even were it in need of the
money which is SO much required here,
the Organic law would prevent the
donation because it clearly states that
the money paid on importatlons into
Porto Rico shall be for the benefit OF
the Island aud not for the United Sta
trS. -
The merchants have proved many |
times th,t they have the right on their
side. Nearly II the appeals made to
Wa ashington sgainsl the abuses of the
Custom House mere have resulted IN |
favor Of the victims.
This demonstrates that in the ma
iority Of cases, the appellants without
a lawyer to fight their Claims, were
compelled to face the personnel of the
Custom House which is rude, incom-
petent and abusive which interprets
the laws as it sees fit. often imposing
6nes that are renitted by the superiors
of these despcable functionaries in
Washington, those officials Of exporta-
ton who are making laughing sto.
of such an important branch OF the
government service as the Custom
House of the county.
And they not only disobey the Fo
raker act but they also transgress the
treaty Of Paris, which must be respe-
cted, accor ding to the guarantee Ct
international law; in the case when
- ~,.chad m opy, % the tariff in for |