New-York tribune., 1910-12-25
The SPANISH MAIN
A Sober, Historic Study Of q Ro-
mantio Subject.

THE BUCCANEERs BUCCAE IN THD WEE4M.
ndbs nabs .na BY ,nstls,,an. e H. MarlnE e. With ten
298. z. P. Dutton & Co.
This work was presented a Q thesis
to the Board Of Modern History Of OK
ford University for the degree Of Bach
elor Of Letters. Its aim is to supple.
ment the familiar sources Of our knowl-
edge of the history Of tho buccaneers Of
the Spanish Main-Esquemeling tho
French Jesuit historian Of tho Antilles,
Danpier. Wafer, and few others-w1th
the contents Of new documents hitherto
almost entirely neglected. These are tho
Spanish papers in tho British Pub
lie Record Office, several manuscripts in
the British Museum and tho Bodleian.
the archives Of the French ministries Of
the colonies and of foreign affairs, docu-
ments in the Bibliotheque Nationale, tho
vast Spanish collection Of documents re-
lating to the discovery, conquest and
settlement Of the possessions of the
Spanish Crown. published in forty-two
volumes during the years 1S64-'S3. and a
number OF minor French and English
narratives. Mr.. Haring also tests by the
light of these new sources the measure
Of reliability Of the moro familiar ones,
which have hitherto been accepted at
their face value by the historians Of buc-
caneering, and shows the connection
between the buccaneers and the history
Of tho English West Indian colonies, the
policy pursued toward them by the Eng
lish and French governments, and, final
ly, the nature Of their influence upon the
development and prosperity Of the inter-
national trade and the prosperity Of the
colonies Of the countries under whose
flag they sailed forth to plunder, burn
and kill. Their exploits were economi-
cally disastrous to friend and enemy
alike, conclusion, by the way, reached
by other historians before Mr.. Haring.
His purpose Is, then, a strictly historical
one, which, however, Of necessity IN
wolves the retelling Of much romance.
And In the case Of the sack Of Panama
he is forced to quote Esquemeling IN er-
tense.
The Introduction is a sound piece OF
work, an able presentation Of the we'll
known fundamental mistake in SPANS
economic policy and of her real weak
ness beneath her apparent strength, but
also a fair presentation of the country S
principles CT colonial government, which,
whatever their results in practice, were
far higher and far better organized than
those Of England and France:
exaggerated the virtues of their old colo
nal system, yet that system had excel
lences which we cannot afford to despise.
If the Spanish kings had not choked their
government with procrastination and rou-
tine; if they had only taken their task a
little less seriously and had not tried to
apply too strictly to an empty continent the
paternal administration of an older country,
we might have been privileged to witness
the development and operation OF as COM
pete and benign a system of colonial gov
ernment as has been devised in modern
times. . The code Of laws which the
Spaniards gradually evolved for their trans
marine provinces was, in spite of detects
which are visible only to the larger expert
ence of the present day, one of the wisest.
most humane and best co-ordinated of any
to this day unpublished for any colony.
The reaction upon English and French
and Dutch commercial interests Of the
exploits Of the buccaneers is clearly set
forth by Mr.. Haring. Owing to Spain's
economic policy, it was they who profit
ed most by the Spanish American trade.
1t was their merchandise that chiefly
was sent across the ocean from the ports
Of industrial, stagnant Spain. 1t
was consequently the payment for their
own goods in bullion, silver and precious
products that the buccaneers. sailing
under their flags and with the conni-
vance or open encouragement Of their
government, took from the Spanish fleets
freighted at Porto Bello and Vera Cruz.