Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Capital city courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1885-1893 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 25, 1890)
(pital (fiTY Courier. Holiday Number. Lincoln, Nobmakn, Deoombor 2Gth 1800. Ton ContH O17 tle Spapisl? Taii?. -O-sX-s BY iCICTOR UIPQUniNi --- f4M m. i mi ,wi r ATURE has done much for Colombia, but the clvtliutlon of thla cen tury has ob yot dono uo thlug. This region was visited for tho llrst tlmo by Atnericu Vespuce In 1400, and Christopher Colombus In his fourth trip across tho Atlantic In 1502 reached the Istb- mis of Panama, anil established tho 11 ret Spanish settlement on the American contin ent. It wa called the duchy of Vernguas. To day there Is ft province (county) of Vern guas In tho stato of Panama. At first the Spaniards were resisted most bitterly In the establishment of settlements by tho aborigines who belonged to tho ho roic Caribbean raco. But tho energy, tho bravery, and in many Instances the cruelty of inch Spanish leaders as Hal boa, Pizarro, Cortex, A lmnodo ami Quosada overcame tho daring devotion of the native Ravaged and the conquest of tho Spanish Main by the Spaniards was accomplished between 1IK58 aiid 1550. Tho oldest city Is Panama, foun ded in 1518; next h Cartagena, established in 1533; and last !iut not least Bogota, cre ated in 1538. Tees are essentially Spanish cities to this iiay,and la a political and social sense, t'no most important of the country. INDEPENDENCE. For over 000 years the Spaniards held full sway; it was In 1830 when the cruelty and tyranny of the Spanish rulers had become unbearable, that it was overthrown, under tho leadership of Simon Bolivar, the most re markable and grandest character that South America has given birth to, and whose mem' ory is heM in veneration there, aa that of Gtorge Wasldngtoa is with us; and yet this Simon Bolivar, whose feata of arms aro un qualed; this Liberator of Venezuela.Coloin bla, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru; the first president of Colombia, who for a score of years, rich with millions which ho expendod for the support of his troops, died poor and ferlorn at the age of 47, not far from Bar ranquilla, without even a change of clothes to be put into his cofiln with. I have seen the man who gavo the dead hero a suit of clothes to lay him in his bier, ami when ho told me the Bid story my heart folt sod in deed, I was also informed by tho Bamo gen tleman that in tho very room where Bolivar died,hung the portrait of George Washington presented to the Liberator by General Lafay ette, and of priceless value. Republics aro indeed ungrateful, and no greater example of it Is on record than that of General Simon Bolivar) During th occupation of Colombia by the Spaniards, great works wero constructed by them. Among othors, ttio fortifications ot Cartagena and the monumental churches in that place; the water batteries at Puerto Bello and tho fortified Castle at the mouth of the Chagres river near Colon. Thoy nro Indeed worthy of the old and best masters; and it is a fact thnt to this day, nearly threo centuries after they wero built, they are still almost as good as new. The Inquisition building is yet to bo seen in Cartagena; with in its walls can yot bo boon traces of tho abominable deeds of cruelty to which patriot or felon, gentlomau or menial, Lwvcnme mar tyrs or victims. Tho one greut surpriso, when I looked over this, wns,tlmt the present civilization has not blown that building to atoms, so that even the sight of it should not remain to bo seen as a reminder of the great est infamy over perpetrated in the name of Christianity. DECADENCE. Since the Spanish rulo has been superceded no new monuments have been erected; all traces of great engineering skill seem to liavo dlsapeared. Even the greut publio high ways paved to perfection are disappearing, and it Is only now and then thnt the remnants of thesA can be discovered, hidden by a fifty years' growth of tropical vegetation. I havo sameUmea Inquired in my own mind; Why Is It thin? I explain it as follows: The Span (aids used the Indians and peons as slaves, and tbey were the most unmerciful of task masters, as evidenced by history and tradU tlon. Today tho Indian, as well as the peon, Is f re to work or not to work, as ho sera fit, nnd ho deems it fitter not to work. It is hard to say it, but slavery in that country, In such a climate, seems to have had an apology. Since Its abolition, time has certainly been at a standstill, aye, even gono backwards, so far opened, while tho do Loatepa, father nnd son, have amassed wealth to tho amount of one hundred millions. I have seen much of this caaal and hava travelod 011 Its watars for tho distanco of twelve miles from IU Atlantic mouth. I believe in the feasibility of this great Inter-oceanic water-way, and it Is 1h yond any question the vory placo on this con tinent and tho only place whore n tide water level canal ran bo constructed. Its length Is forty-five miles. The length of the Nicara gua canal h 100 miles, and it can never I mi made a tide water level water-way. One third of the Panama canal Is certainly fin ished, whllo the work on tho Nicaragua ca nal, short ot some on the break naUr nt Grey town, Is not as yet commenced. Besides, there are somo international reasons strongly In favor of tho Panama, as for instance; The Clayton-Bulwer treaty makes tho Nicaragua canal an International affair between tho United States and Great Britain; 011 the other hand, tho treaty of 1810 between the United Kh jirrmm1''1' ,,.jHB EM2- liWlh 'kBo..1-.frjmffu , Mf) as modern public improvements are con cerned. However the American, the Anglo-Saxon is finding his way over there, and stubs of railroads here and there begin to Inaugurate a now era. Not only the Anglo-Saxon is taking a hand in the regeneration of Colom bia, and the Spanish republics generally, but oven tho Gaul Is at work on the Isthmus of Panama, where ha has undertaken to cleavo this continent by a work that will forever be to his imperishable fame and glory. True, for the time being this work has ceased, not becauso of any engineering difficulties, but simply for the wunt of money. This has been brought about by the recklessness of that greatest of superanuated Intellects, Perdl uand de Lcsseps, once honorul by the world at large Irrespective of race or croed, and to day held In contempt by his own country men, becauso of the unmitigated falsehoods which were propagated by him, and in his nanio to the credulous Frenchmen, who heaiwd their treasure in his keeping only to And that the canal company was bankrupt, at about Uie tlmo he said the canal would be States and Colombia, and still in force at this day, gives tho United States, and the United States alone, a semi-protectorate over the Isthmus of Panama. CO LOU UI A AND THE UNITED STATES. A glance at tho map shows at once tho geo graphical Importance of Panama. This stato Is one ot the nlno comprising tho republic of Colombia. It Is, to all Intents and purposes, isolated from the mother country by tho In surmountable difficulties for land communi cations. In fact, it Is to Colombia as If H were an island, and Colombia has no navy nor merchant marine. Moreover, the spirit of secession is innate among the native Pana maens, as It was in the South Carellnan; and this spirit will sooner or later give rlso to a bloody civil war. Nevertheless, Colombia Is secured In ber sovereignty over the state of Panama, Inasmuch as Uie treaty ot 18441 just above referred to, makes It incumbent upon the United Stats "to maintain the sover eignty of Colombia over the Isthmus of Pan ana." This clause of the treaty has already caused the Umti d fi'utes much trouble, and will at an early day cause n great drat morn. It Im) causes the Pausmnt-n to look with lit tle friendship on the United States; he knows that if he were enabled by some means to whip the Colombian, ho can never whip us. Wo are, so to sM-nk, Colombia' watch dog on Uis Isthmus, nnd I havo ns yet fulled to see what Colombia gives the United States in return. FINANCKH AND COMMKHCE. Financially Colombia like all her lter re public In South and Central America, Is not ill the very Inwt of standing, Tint moil who have had charge of her finances have been either incapablo or dishonest, and the, iuvo nuos of the eople have leen Hiiandered or stolen. Her customs duties amount to about 8,000,000 per annum, tho fall onelmlf of which is plcdgod In payment for former contracts to capitalists In Eu rope, far years to ceinn. I euco reciprocity, if it were otherwlso xmilMt, Is a material Impossibility with Colombia, unless tho United States assumed her debt. Tho duties on imports nro very high, mid the lit tle wo send thero comparatively pays Us full sharo; however Engluud, Franco nnd Germany havo by all odd, the lion's share of Colombia's trade. Even if it wus not Unit the United States allows all the pioduct of Col mbla entrance free, the United Hlates would have no trade at all over thero; they trad with us just sufficiently to balance ac counts, and our wholesalers are vory happy when they do that well. And In this res pect what Is Hue for Colombia Is true for nil republics in South Ameilcn. Thu IhmhIs of those countries nro all below par; some very far bolow par Colombia's bonds ate worth only forty por cent and It is quest tollable whether any ot these republics can float a loan without making various sacrlthcs and jeopardizing their sovereignty, ns in the case of Peru lately with the Gruco contract. This being tho case it is not surprising at nil to sen all of those republics Jump at tho chance of n commercial Zolverieu with the United Status; they have all to gain by it; but what has the United States to gain! TIiIb Is another ques tion. It Is a fact that coffee, hides, rublor,nud nil other South American products, excepting wool and sugar, enter the United Status free of duty, nnd have been doing ho for winy years. Wo all remember wliu colTee piil.l an Import duty; but when it was abolihcd what did Brazil dol Brnzil monopolized thu coffee trade then, so to speak, and does so to n great extent to-day, but will not do so much longer. Well, Brazil put an exiort tax nil thecoffoo; wo lost tho duty, nnd Binzl' gained it. What hus Costa Hica done lately She has also put an export duty on rollVo, ostensibly on the ground that thu mo ley so raised wculd bo used fur tho construction ot a theatre at Ban Joho; but thu duty will re inaln long after the theutro is built and paid for. I lielleve thero has been so'r.t compromise or other, made lately, on ulnar, but not on wool;uow then there Is very little sugar com ing to tho United Stales from South Amer ica, none from Colombia; nearly all tho sugar comes from the West Indies, prlncl ixilly Cuba, which belongs to Spain; so that if there is reciprocity at all in sugar the re ciprocity is with Spain, not with South or Central America. And what Is true for Spain in that respoct Is truo for Great Brit ain, through her woll fixed possessions of Ja maica and San Lucy, and her Souih Ameri can possession of Demerara, all three, great sugar countries I do not Intend to criticise anyone, I only give tho crude facta, such as they are. I hare road many criticisms against Mr. lllame's reciprocity plans, and I havo been surprised at his critics fulling to sti ike at tho bottom facta of tho cose. They seem to forget that the Wtst Indus uro Eurnpeuu dependencies, instead of South American sovereignties; nlove all they seem to forget that all tho sugar impoi ted fiom the West Indies comes to us crude, and that it has to bo refined in New York or Philadelphia, and that these refineries will Ihi tho only groat bvnellclarles of tho reciprocity on sugar. Wool is the thing that calls for reciprocity; it is the one, and I may say tho only genuine South American product on which recipro city might benefit tho cop!o of the United States, since all the rest of South American products aro on the free list. An honest recip rocity with South Atnorba must Include wool, and to his credit bo It said, I buliuve Mr. Blaine favors It. THE HACKS. In Colombia nlnuo there wero when the Spaniards first came eight million of native Indians; so at leait I read in n work b) Las
