(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