Omaha daily bee., 1910-01-10

eelled out. There were features connected
with them from the start that nobody was
anxious to make public. But briefly stated.
the system was something like this: II
zelaya or some OF his henchman saw any
body making money In any line Of business.
one Of the latter applied to the government
for a grant of a monopoly In that line.
The franchise would then be sold. either TO
the hapiess merchants, whose success was
responsible for the soheme, or to some
body else who would set aside a consider
able share. say % per cent OF the profits.
for zelaya.
Not all Of the concessions were out-ana-
out mouopolles, but practically all had
monopolistic features. = Eventually there
came to be franchises for the exclusive use
OF certain kinds of vessels on Lake
Nicaragua, on the San Juan river and on
the Escondido river. When 2elaya came
into power the concession on the San Juan
was held by a Frenchman, who had mar
Fied the daughter Of President zavala. A
It then stood the concession was not a
monopoly. Zelaya took II away from the
Frenchman, made it a monopoly. ana
granted II to a new concessionaire with the
usual stipulations for the benefit Of the
presidential pocket-bOok. Thefe were mono
polistic concession on nails, kerosene.
cattle, dynamite tobacco, whiskey. gro
cerles and shoes. Sometimes the conces-
sion would apply only to a certain district
beyond the limits or which similar CON
cessions would be made to other persons,
This was done with regard to shoes. the
sale Of which was conducted exclusively
by one firm on the Atlantic coast. and was
equally the exclusive function Of another
company on the Pacific coast.
One Of the most important OF the con-
tensions granted by zelaya was made about
five years ago to an American named
Deitrick. Mr.. Deitrick is said to represent
a group OF Pittsburg capitalists. lie en-
Joyed the exclusive right to exploit every
kind of mineral deposit, whether new mines
or abandoned ones, in a region comprising
some l0,O0O square miles, excepting. of
course, mines actually being operated by
other persons. Along with this right went
others almost equally valuable. In return
Deitrick undertook to pay the Nicaraguan
government a fixed sum per anhum, i'm
prove the navigation Of the Wanks river
and create a town at Cape Gracias. This
franchise, in spite of the temporary set
back sustained by the company as a re-
suit Of the adjustment Of the boundary be-
tween Nicaragua and Honduras, by which
Its operations were restricted to the south
bank OF the Wanks river, Is still a going
concern" 1t is worth noting that the
whisky concession in the Bluefields district
was originally granted to Juan Estrada,
the leader OF the rebel forces,
An incident which explains Zelaya's
methods may be appropriately related here.
1t is the comlc-operA story of the wharf
concession at Blueflelds. A wharf was un-
duestlonably needed, but not the kind of
two-by-four affair that was erected. For
his trouble the promoter was to receive
a large sum, and to get 1t by collecting a
small fee on every package landed at the
wharf. OF course this arrangement was
by no means satisfa Glory to the Bluefields
merchants, and they protested so vigorously
that zelaya was at length compelled to
cancel the concession. But az the promoter
had done the work, and was legally entitled
to his pay, something had to be found for
him. So zelaya issued a decree raising the
already heavy customs duties at Blueflelds
and assigned a part OF the proceeds to the
builder OF the wharf. The result was to
put the price of living In Nicaragua up to
an altitudlnous level, especially In Blue
fields. Before Estrada took up arms
against zelaya, butter sold in Bluefields
for $40 a pound and tobacco for S.
Estrada abolished the CONCESSIONS on both
articles. The price Of butter has dropped
to 40 cents per pound and tobacco has
cheapened proportionately.
The concessions weighed heavily upon ali
The people of Nicaragua-upon Leon as upon
Granada-but zelaya was not content there
with. Arbitrary arrest Of his enemies still
further tended TO unite the mass Of the
people against him. For the first time in
N~icaraguan history the two rival cities
found themselves driven into alliance
against the common enemy. AT last even
Zelaya's cleverness was unavailing to keep
liberal and conservative apart. Here is the
fact which insured the success of Estrada's
Campaign. But that neither city has per-
manently buried the hatchet is a safe as
sertion. What they will do in the future,
once the present emergency has passed,
IL is difficult to foreteil.
BY FREDERIc J.. HAsKRH.
Tomorrow - TURSULENT CENrRAH
Neutrality-suspicious. In Nicaragua.