The sun., 1919-05-25
REVOLUTIONARY SCENE

| mercies Of zelaya, so the two countries
went to w..
But though one OF Zelaya's strik-
! ing characteristics was his ability az
a military leader-and there never
has been any question of his personal
bravery. for he always led his own
armies in person-he reached heights
| OF pure genius in his manipulation OF
the financial and commercial relations
Of his country. Concessions" was
the term which Zelaya made cover
every possible form OF what In vulgar
circles would have been termed plain
graft, and with his concessions he
wrung vast fortune from Nicaragua.
most of which he is said to have
taken with him when he abdcated
and fed the country.
Gen. Zclayas whole system of fnar-
cial and commercial exploitation was
based on laws which he promulgated
and had passed by his Legislature, and
which forbade the sale or purchase o;
any article except through or by COM
panles named BY Presidential DEGREES.
These companies were all placed under
the control OF Zelayas relatives or n
the hands OF his most trusted officials;
in other words. he made it impossible
for his people to buy or sell goods in
which he did not have an interest ard
get a share, and a large share, OF the
profits.
But with the larger commercial IN
terests Zelaya took no chances at all.
He kept them entirely in the hands OF
the Government, and created among
others Government monopolies OF a.
cohol, tobacco. cattle. petroleum. hides.
gambling, lumber and drugs. Soap, for
example. was placed under restricted
sale, and the proceeds from this con-
cession made a fortune for Zelayas
son-in-law.
a faithful political henchman was
given the monopoly Of the salt trade.
and the manager OF a Zelaya ranch
was the only person in the republic al
lowed 10 export Cocoanuts. This man
never shipped a cocoanut himself hut
every one who did ship any had TO pay
him for the privilege. And to another
friend he gave the laundry rights Of
the lake at Managua. on tho banks o.
which the poor people OF the city did
their washing. Thereafter every Mana
guam housewife who dipped her clothes
in the waters of the lake had to pay
the Nicaraguan political machine fo-
the privilege-and a percentage went
to Zelaya.
stu Higher Finance.
II was thus with virtually every IN
dustry in Nicaragua. Zelaya himself
or companies which he dominated. had
contracts and concessions from the
Government for doing everything that
could possibly be done by human
hands. And then he developed a turn
for high finance, underwriting all Gov
eminent bonds and taking them over
at a discount OF 40 per cent. TIC
possibilities OF this sort of transaction
appear when il Is realized that all ous-
toms duties were. by compulsiou. paw
able only in these bonds. And 20 cot
them Ncaraguans had 10 buy them
from Zelaya at a trifle over 50 PEI
cent. above par. Rather a neat little
profit. and naturally Zelaya did no,
long remain a poor man
Every month he made rCmittauceS
to Paris banking houses, these remit
tances sometimes going as high as
Tfv,VVO a lilOuNH. he WIS Stlu ~ i''
extensive property in Brussels, soy
cral millions on deposit in Antwerp
valuable real estate holdings IN Nnw
Orleans. and also in Barcelona he hai
tucked away comfortable little nest
egg
And it Is related OF him that he
made several millions OF dollars hv t-e
simple method OF selling the stat"
palace to the Government three ~
four times. About once every ~"
years some henchmen of Zelaya n
the Legislature would rise and turn
loose lot of oratory about What
shame il was that the noble dlctato'
did not have a house of his OWE, ~
Immediately the Legislature wol.d
make Zelaya a present OF the s,d''
palace. And then "A few months late
law would quietly be passed ay
which Zelaya sold to the Government
Of Nicaragua one state palace, in good
condition, for a little trihe Hike
million dollars. He is said 10 has
done this several times.