Omaha daily bee., 1917-04-03
Uncle Sam In the Caribbean
17--The Forbidden Treasure
Ru Frederic ]. Raskin

Santo Domingo City, S. D., March 23.-This
island is a storehouse of natural wealth success
fully guarded from the enterprise and greed OF all
the world by its lack of stable government and
intelligent laws.
There are, for example, excellent oil fields
in Santo Domingo. A man from Boston some
years ago bored well in the Azuera district
which yielded him $50 barrels day. He made a
contract for the sale OF his oil in Boston and took
out a large quantity. Then he found that the
export duty combined with the freight was more
than the price Of the OIL His barrels are rotting
on the beach today.
The wonderful fertility of the Dominican soil
has been alluded to in a former letter This
quality seems to be due to a mixture OF the
coral which constitutes large part OF the island,
with leaf mold washed down by the rivers from
the mountain forests. In this way humus and
lime are combined to form soil OF the greatest
fertility.
The most famous of Dominican resources and
the one about which the American consul receives
the most inquiries, is its gold In the Ciboa range
and in the San Cristobal region there are placers
which have been known and worked for centuries
In the days OF the Spanish occupation it is said
that the invaders gathered great stories of this
treasure by trading with the Indians little silver
hawkbells for their fill of gold. Nowadays the
peon women wash gold out Of these same streams
with wooden bowls, making few dollars week,
and by law of the land the common people are
protected in their right to work these placers.
The forest resources are another example OF
unusued wealth. One of the largest Dominican
imports Is lumber, and yet there are extensive
forests of pine, oak and chestnut, as we'll as ma
hogany satinwood, lgnum vitae and rosewood.
The most serious lack in Santo Domingo is
coal which will probably limit the future indus
trial development OF the island more than any
thing else. There is an abundance of iron ore
and also lead and copper, but no mineral fuel
has so far been discovered except Ignite.
hers etriki nd s0 uudeyel0Ded e.
source is two mountains OF rock salt, said to be
remarkably pure They are in Barahona province.
Even though revolutionists and bandits are
suppressed, this land of treasure is effectively
guarded by its unique and astonishing laws. The
peso system of land titles, for example makes
it nearly impossible to acquire valid title to any
land in the republic. This system derives from
the days Of the Spanish conquest, when the king
of Spain made great land grants to his favorites.
For example, he might grant to Juan Fernandez
5000 pesos worth OF land lying between two
rivers. Juan settles in the general region indi-.
Gated and has ten sons and daughters, to each OF
whom he bequeathes 500 pesos worth of land.
They all squat in various parts OF the domain,
each cutivating what he cares to, no division OF
the land being made
Gradually these peso titles" become divided
among innumerable heirs and purchasers The
original 5000 pesos no longer has anything to
do with the value OF the land but each "peso
title" represents right to one hve-thousandth of
an area which has never been surveyed. Some
one has said that this system might we'll have
been devised by the devil working In co-opera-
ton with all the lawyers in his internal domain.
It has been further complicated by the rise OF
thriving local industry in the manufacture OF
counterfeit peso titles. One Dominican is we'll
known to have made fortune by manufacturing
titles carefully aged with coffee stains. These
counterfeiters, make their money out of the
American sugar and coffee interests, some OF
Of claimants to their lands Naturally their will
ingness to settle in this way has been great
stimulus to the fake title business.
The only way to trace one OF these titles and
test its validity is by the records of the provin
cal clerks, in which every transfer is supposed
to have been set down. By accident or design,
nearly all OF these records have been burned
Equally intelligent are the mining laws. Any
one may take up mining claim anywhere, no
matter whose land it is on. He stakes it out by
mentioning in his claim papers four well-known
points on the landscape. Thus a man wishing
to claim small vein of silver may be forced to
stake half 1.-The island, using mountain peak,
city and bay as his corners. The mineral rights
to this entire area are now his in perpetuity and
he is under no obligation to work them.
Business is paralyzed just as effectively as agri-
culture and mining The customs duties average
about SO per cent that the ordinary necessities
of life cost almost twice as much as anywhere
else. In addition to this every merchant must
buy license to do business and pay percentage
tax on all the business he does.
All of these absurd laws must be revised by
a strong and honest government before the Do
minican treasure house can be unlocked.