BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1905-05-01
EDITORIAL

NAtketi0nx Aaa So - acNsss ~ ~
We le,acseA she wonderful aiusis1i-
aC.s (. AR E .i,s Ah.us;c4 sis'f a =
DESTROYING at ~ fdS The natives
iha, I'll his xncf-irs had ssccn oos-sa-
med "a that rencSs'as cn'erpfs~e ~haea
~ali be nssuscd ~ wish ~orlcf ana
~nrrrsSc sv Ia coming generations
I; wAs 4 hcrcic feat. ;hsi esplos; -
Mr.. Elliot.
To remove from their positions
suadeailv the Porto Rio@n eupipy wees
in has departments 10 strike blow AZ
all the natives. 10 abolish the road
Boards and pat them in The hands O:
other whose incomp, i.ncv and inef
fciency is proverbislly well known.
Nobody has been able 10 understand
The reason for that sudden attack Of
the great Commissioner OF The ln,e-
nor.
Il appears 10 De hidden as an inpe-
netrable mystery in the brain Of that
able ofhcial. lod ed in the hazy un-
derstanding Of ,hs, funciionary and Of
his acolyies. but i, is clearly evident
that Mr. Elliot did not re- ceive from
the sky the cowardly idea of depriving
the Porto Ricans of their means of Ii
velihood.
From another source much less
nigh, he received the inspiration. per
haps it was a strong and sinister order
and the worshipping Mr. Elliot obeyed
il is if he were an autom ton.
Now, the operator has wished to
make sport of hun.
He has ordered him to ask for a
loan of Ave hundred thousand dollars
to be employed on works of so called
public Improvement and utility, roads,
bridges ct cetera.
Who is to oppose a thing so useless2
Who2 We. We who represent stub
born opinion taught by experience,
full Of fears and mistrust; We who
have been demanding some more de
tails of the purchase Of steam rollers:
something more definite Of the expen
diture of those fabulous sums which
have not been sufficient to give Us
good caretera, a firm road, bridges
that can Withstand flood. At first
sight it appears as if the Commissio-
ner of the Interior had asked for no
thing. But it will be remem mbered
that the loan for coffee, for agricultu-
re, was totally defeated by those men
who now ask funds for roads and other
purposes Far more important is the
rehabilitation of the agriculture which
maintains our population and will
avoid a crisis. than the expenditure Of
money on useless and unnecessary
works.
We believed that the Insular Trea-
sury had an available balance Of
seven hundred thousand dollars, but
we now see we were uistak~n
Mr.. Elliot has made distribution
from which follows that if roads and
bridges are needed and repairs of
highways required, there is no other
remedy but to max loan, for there
is no more money in the treasury.
Melancholy and gloomy tidings.
There must a fund in case of
cyclone, or if there should occur sonc
unl oked for ca nifty, We are already
familiar with the functionarles and
we must be prepared any moment
for the crisis that will arrive when
the taxes CannCt DC collected.
Mr.. Elliot foressees that; it is well
understood between the departments
how the FIVE hundred thousand dollars
will be managed, SO that none of the
oriental salaries of the commissioners
will be compromised.
If two things can be done. if the
two Negotiations g through why should
the life of the department be more
liberal has Mr.. Elliot thought-than
it now is. converted into veritable
continental camp
But the things the super man Of the
department Of The Interior wishes will
not be realized.
The desired tempest which would
destroy that which the functionaries
have not destroyed. could never justi-
fy the expenditure, on roads and
steam rollers, of the money which the
people of the country need TO live upon
and as regards the loan which must
constitute by its importance Mr. Elltots
golden dream, will never be realized,
he need not be alarmed, his name
will be immortaljzsd as we'll as the
memory of his march through the CO.
lony and those works of so called per
manent improvement, or by any other
title that expresses fragility and in
consistency.
tn for. M Ell;ct cho,,1J 1ac;c+