El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-05-10

Of the house in which Christopher Co
lumbus lived. he finds the customs
administration under the dlrecIlon o.
American citizens. This IS explained
nv the fact that some years ago the
republic OF SantO Domingo became IL
nancialIv emba rrassed to such degree
that heroic remedies had TO De resoIleo
to in order to save the ndIon from
absolute bankruptcy 1t was at this
iuncture that the United states stepped
in and declared its Willingness 70 ASSIST
the Dominican republic TO get on II
financial feet by taking charge OF It's
customs revenues ana administering
them for the joint benefit Of the repuD-
&c and its creditors
There had been a long series OF rev o
buttons during which debts and claims
were created, some by revolutionary
governments. many Of them or dOuDlIut
validity in whole or In part anu
amounting in al 10 over soV,OOO,Oyo'
nominal or face value The govern
ment had no way Of meeting IheSe
claims. The continued political as
turbances prevented the continuous
collection and appIca JlOh oLLn 5 nc q
tfonaI revenues for the payment OL
principal and interest OF such DEBTS OF
FOR the liquidation and settlement OF
such claims. These obligations were
continuously being increased by accre-
lions OF interest and proved great
burden upon the people
Appeal TO nited states.
At this juncture the Domlnicans
HODedLeQ TO the l-AAAAEAA e'Le--Co ~ 41'--
10 their rescue, Their foreign cred
itOrs had announced Willingness
TO scale down their debts and claims
from $21.184, 600 to SlZ4OttVUU. "nIls
certain internal creditors had agreeG 10
scale their debts and claims from 81
OPS 25S 10 S645. S21- The government
also had fixed 81. 100000 as the amount
II was willing TO pay 10 such otner Out-
standing claimants as had refused 70
agree 10 the terms Of the oIter- On
this basis il was calculated that me
S30.0OO,00O owed by the dominican
republic could be Iquidated for 81
600 900 OF ready money New YORK
banking houses agreed TO lend $z0,-
600 600 TO the Dominican government
bearing interest at five percent, paya-
BILE in so years. and redeemable after 10
States would agree to take charge OF
the Dominican customs house ana al
minister the finances until the entire
debt should be eXtinguished
The proposition OF the bankers also
provided that there should be pay
ment of at least one percent per annum
for amortization, and that the surplus
Of the $50. 900 000 loan, after the pay
ment OF the cOuntry's debts, should De
used for the retirement and extinction
OF concessions and harbOr mcnopolies-
which were burden and hindrance TO
the country. and whatever remained
was TO be used for the construction or
certain railroads and bridges, and 9TH
er public Improvements necessary 10
the Industrial Development OF the
country
il was agreed thaC the president OF the
United States should appoint general
receiver of the Dominican customs
who in turn. should appoint his own
assistants He was entitled 10 eN-
pend not 90 exceed five percent OF the
revenues Tor the administration Of the
receiVerSlip- ON the first day OF each
calendar month he was TO turn over 10
he mt 10 Nrnn O. grrrr or
500. 000 the remainder OF the customs
collections to go to the Dominican gov
eminent, except that in the case when
the customs revenues collected should
exceed 100000 year One-Ealf of the
excess should be applied TO the sinking
fund for the redemption Of the bonds
1t was agreed that the customs laws OF
the republic should not be changed eN-
cept with the assent OF the United
States. and also. that the public debt
Of the country could not be increased
until this entire debt was wiped out
The American control Of the Domini-
can custom house practically began in
1905, when a mOdus vivendi. sort OF
experimental trial Of the plan. was put
IN force To continued until the ratifi-
cStlon Of the treaty. and the permanent
Plan Works Well.
How well the plan has worked for
SantO Domingo is made evident by a
comparison Of conditions before il
the plan went into effect Santo Do
mingo had a tariff law which levied
heavy duties on all impOrtatiOnS OF
necessities, while admitting luxuries Of
life almost duty free. Rice. consumed
by the masses in large quantities. was
made 10 pay duty OF nearly double its
value; while champagne. used only by
the well TO do, was admitted with a
nominal duty. Cotton goods, necessi-
y OF the masses, was heavily taxed
while silks and linens. used only by the
well TO do, bore only light burdens.
since the American administration OF
the customs laws went into effect, a
new tariff law has been enacted. This
law has been framed with a view to
lifting as much as possible the bur-
dens from the submerged nine tenths Z
of the inhabitants OF the island, and I
placing them upon the shoulders Of !
those most able 10 bear them. In this /
tariff revision. the duties on exports Z
have been cut down so percent, while 7.
those on imports have been reduced Il /
percent In spite Of this reduction, and /
In spite Of the fact that nearly 40 per {
cent Of the customs receipts are used /
Tor the interest and amortization fund I
of the national debt the receivership /
is able to turn over each month to the /
government for its own uses moro |
money than il received from 100 per I
cent of the old tariff before il was re- Z
duced. In other words. after paying /
$1,000 a year on its debt. the gov (
eminent has more money for its opera I
lions than il had without paying any
thing on its debts before the cOnven- /
ton went into effect, and this in spite /
of the fact that IL has reduced the I
tariff on imports by Il percent and /
those on exports by so percent. Wheth- /
er this is to be taken as a favorable /
commentary on the business ability OF I
the American receivership, or as an un- I
favorable one upon the honesty of the I
Dominican customs officials in years 4
gone by, IL is still remarkable show |
ing.
Under the convention IL was agreed (
that as much as five percent OF the I
collections might be used for the ex- I
penses Of reCeiveTship. Yet such an ef- /
ficient administration has been given /
by general receiver PUlliam that he I
has been able to turn into the Domin- I
lean treasury over 100000 out Of the I
five percent he was entitled TO use for 4
the expenses OF collection. It has cost
only slightly more than 4 percent TO /
make these collections. Prior to the /
adoption of the convention, the nation
al debt was continually increasing. be-
cause of the exOrbitant rates of inter- !
est demanded and gladly bargained for. |
Not only was no thought given to the |
matter of reducing the principal. but /
the interest payments could not be met ]