The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-09-21

brera, vet men are thrown into jail Oh
the slightest pretext and may pc kept
there without trial. A recent case
that was told me was OF a poor l'di-
ian who came through with an organ
and a monkey. This was new 20 tne
Nicaraguans so now he works IN the
p~enitentiary on suspicion OF wishing
to assas-inate the President. ana ne
will probably be there for the rest OF
his life. Cabrera and Zelaya hate
each other and are continually ar
resting strangers on the suspicion
tina their opponent has sent them
there for the urpos OF assasslna-
ton.
In Nicaragua there are some highly
educated people, that is, there are
some Who were educated and nave
travelled abroad. Many of the laugh
ters of the rich families were educated
at French or Spanish converts, but
from what I saw Of them they only
get their heads filled with tales about
saints and the Virgin Mary n
miracles and the authority Of the
priesthood and cannot say rightly
whether New York and the United
States are the same country or not.
The general attitude of the people
towards foreigners is a~ntagonlstlc and
especially tOwardS Americans, tor
since we had to withdraw our Legation
we are represented by a Warshlp at
COrlntO all the TIME. anu IL - "olh
that we are.
While at Managua I heard the
American flag Kissed for the first
time in my life. On the night Of the
4th of July I occupied a box at the
~so-called theatre with Consul Olivares
n his wife,. her father and mother,
and the British Consul. The presi-
dents wife sat in the second box from
ours. While called boxes they were
simply rallied off places on the back
porch Of a house. The stage was a
temporary wooden structure at right
angles to this while a wooden plat
form ran around the other two sides
and the chairs on this platform and
In the pit were rooted only by the
blue sky of heaven. Such is the
'theater' Of the capital of Nicara-
qua. During the performance stage
lights threw portraits and flags on to
a dancer. When the American flag
was thrown on her the audience Kissed
and from the fact that the police on
duty led the Kissing it seemed to be
prearranged. Those in our box were
the only ones who a~pplauded in the
face Of the hostile crowd. What dis
gusted me most was that two Ameri-
ans who hay interests in the
try and who sat next to the presi-
dents wife sat quietly under the hiss
ing Of the Stars and Stripes and then
joined in the tumultuous applause
when the Blue and White of Nicara-
III was thrown or the scene.
The Government of Nicaragua is
deSpOtiC and mercenary. The preSi-
dent runs it like a private farm and
has a finger IN every business and
levies forced oans' at will. Trusts
are forbidden by their Constitution
but the liquor monopoly. the wood
monopoly, the tobacco monopoly and
ment ard the President personally de-
rives great profit from each. His per-
sonal revenues in these and other
ways are said to equal those Of the
Government. The smartest money
making scheme that I nave ever heard
Of for legally" diverting revenues
from the Government to a private
party is that IN this country customs
dues are not allowed to be paid in
actual money, but one-fourth has to
be paid in special Importation bonds.
These bonds were issued by the Gov
eminent at the rate Of IS Nicaraguan.
equal to 81 gold, but the "%specula-
tors who bought up the whole lot
now hold them at the regular ex-
change rate Of 50 N~icaraguan to 81
gold. Figured out his means that
exactly one-ninth of all the customs
dues supposedly paid to the Govern
ment goes to the Spectators and just
VINO 1T is that finally gets this money
is we'll known but no one mentions
the fact in Nicaragua except under
tis breath for life and liberty are
sweet even at any price.
On my way dOWn to COrintO T
stopped OF a a at Leon to see a
friend there, an American, who has
some interests in a rubber plantation.
He said that the feeling against Amer
leans was SO intense that he thought
he would hav to leave in order to
protect his wife. Only the day before
a soldier had tried to spit in his face
on the street While his wife had twice
been followed by boys who had
shouted names at her. He drove me
out to see q Quaint church !. 49, -,