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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 1903)
ityvwy' " yo w 'WT" T'","W 16 .'4fc-- The Commoner, VO& 3, No. L L -., ' Something About Venezuela. Vonezuola has boon so conspicuous ly boforo tho public recently that Commoner readers may bo interested in nn nrtlclo printed in tho Boston Transcript and written by Frederick W. Cobtirn. Tho article is ontitlcd "Venezuela and Its People," and is as follows: It is significant that tho capital, Caracas, eight' miles from La Guayra as tho bird llios, occupies tho crater of an old volcano. "WUti tho aciil ogotism goos solf-assortivenos's eas ily oxcltod, easily allayed. Tho Vene zuelan is just now "blowing his head of" or rather having it done for him. Occupation has boon found for the crowds of idle men and boys who loaf in Caracas streets, always well drossed, woll groomed and with no vlslblo susceptibility toward a job. A gay placo Caracas is, a miniature Paris, though Parisians make wrv faces at it a town of which Richard Harding Davis has told to tho world his love. A town it Is whoro every body wears diamonds, ovou if tho shirt is ragged; whoro champagne Is used "to put out fifes" and "bank notos to kindle thorn;" whoro debtors arc far wiser than tholr crodltors. CURIOUS IDEAS OP ' HONESTY. It Is contrary to Vonozuolan char acter to pay a bill which ho can re pudiate tomorrow. Present a claim for a small amount to a Caracas citizen and ho will ongago a high-priced law yer to discover a loopholo in your con tract Of courso tho lawyer's bill Is novor settlod olthor. Yot theso Vene zuelans pride thomselvos upon their scrupulous honesty. You may leavo a bag of nuggets In tho streets of Caracas and nobody will disturb it unless you May claim to it (or some othor foreigner docs). Sneak thieves, according to our formor minister, Mr. P. B. Loomis, ono almost novor en- cbunters anywhero in tno country. Thieving Is low, dishonor, unworthy a proud descendant of grandeos; but cheating ah, that is otherwise! that Is a game. The people are singularly alivo to the dramatic, v.he artisth. Tho towns toera with versifiors who fill half tho columns of provincial nowspapsra with classical effusions. Painters there aro, too, strong men in land scapo and roliglous art. Grand opera from Europo draws immense au diences; and by night, when nothing is on at tho opora house, ladles of high standing organize littlo street dances with guitar music. A gay thoughtless population it is. This of courso is tho urban Veno zuolan. in tho hinterland tho great mass of population llvos wiiimnt working, too easily, fed by bountiful nature. Most of them have inoro or less Indian blood; . in somo districts pure Indians may still bo found. Tho . aborigines are simple-minded foil, whoso needs do not make thorn good buyors of textiles, since a bluo loln oloth ordinarily serves for the whole rib. A HIGH BUT UNDEVELOPED LAND Tho Spanish-speaking population lias been in Venezuela a long time In fact about fo.ur hundred years long enough to have built up a great empire. But Burke's aphorism re garding MUe minds and great cm- - WE LEARN BY EXPERIENCE 7. .' .. r . ' ' "' A Foretaste ot the Power tor Evil of a Private Monopoly in a PuiJLc Necessity. pircs' holds good to an eminent degree in Venezuela. Not meanB but men have been wanting. Tho country has oxtent sufficient for an empire. It counts nearly (500,000 square miles more than Prance, Holland and Ger many combined. It is ten times the size of New York state. And In va riety of soil and climate it has marked advantages. Of tho twenty -three states every one is said to contain mountains. Back from the coast the mountain rango crops away to tho broad llanos of the Orinoco, a .plain, of incredltablo richness. Tho land of Venezuela, taken as a whole, may be classed as either agricultural, pastoral or sylvan, each division showing al most boundless and untouched possi bilities. In tho fertile mountain val loys grows every crop known to man. Vast forests of mahogany and cedar have scarcely been disturbed. Tho mineral wealth has long since excited tho cupidity of the Briton, giving riso to tho boundary dispute of a few years ago. Tho gold diggings in Yaruarri yielded 42,315 ounces in lb99. Silver is abundant in Bermudez, Lara and Les Anulos. Sulphur, coal, asphalt, lead kaolin and tin are found. Great iron mines havo been opened by an Amer ican company at Imatica on the lower Orinoco. Tho pearl fisheries at the island of Margarita employ four hun dred boats and still show no signs of exhaustion. Tho grazing country now supports ten million head of cattle and could easily support more. Of all theso treasures tho Venezue lans have proved unfaithful swnra jThoy have had wealth which they could not use from mere incapacity to secure and husband it The country stands in no better condition jcoday than under Spanish rule before 1811. Large tracts of territory remain unex plored. Not only have roads not been built, but no advantage has been tak en of the ten thousand miles of navi gable waterways. With a long coast and twenty harbors no considerable merchant marine has ever been launched. In all that concerns tho necessities of life the Venezuelans have shown themselves exceedingly lax. Prices in 'all the cities run highor than any where else in tho world outside of mining camps. The only cheap thing in Caracas is tho violet; jou qan buy an armful for 20 cents. American su gar costs 30 cents a pound, flour ?12 a sack,, eggs 50 cents a dozen, butter 75 cents a pound, coal $24 a ton. Everything else corresponds. No efficient street-car service in the cities; hence one must take a cab. Charges on tho railroads .are extraordinary. Pirst-class passongers pay from. 8 to 10 cents, second-class from 5 to 7 cents per mile. Merchants groan constant ly regarding freight charges. It 'gsts more to get a ton of coffee to tho ship's side from a town ten or fifteen miles back than to send it to England. It is less expensive ( to .ship freight from Chicago to New' York than from Caracas to La Guayra,sity miles by rail. The freight-rate online German Centra), railroad tho ddurce of pres ent dljlteulties is 30 cents a ton per mile, ja$ against 1 cend "ton per mile on many American roads. No manu facturing industries have been devel oped anywhero in the country. Even the .coarse sacking in hich agricul tural products are wrapped has to be imported. In such , conditions com merqp naturally languishes. The 530 miles" of railroad belong altogether'to the foreigner. LIKING FOR OUR COUNTRY." American capital has not yet been ' diverted to Venezuela in any copious' stream, perhaps fortunately. Yet. though North Americans havo never been profitabe accessions to Venezue la's population, they have always been, regarded as models for emulation... However we may or may not flatter ourselves while looking at tho imita tion, there can be no doubt of tho in tended flattery. G. Washington and G. Cleveland rank with S. Bolivar as patron saints of Venezuela. In all manner of ways we have been copied, though hardly followed. The very name Los Estados Unidos do Vene zuela tries to translate us. The Vene zuelan constitution has been modelled upon ours. The president is inaug urated on March 4 and lives in a Yellow House." Ho oninvR v.n cnft length of term as our president when he has the luck. The chief differonco appears to be that the office of ex-pre's-Ident Is more lucrative for the Vene zuelan than for the Yankee. Thetvpi- iCiLYen1fU,elan "fonr" President, lives in Paris upon an income derived Sm m .000,000. Where did he getTt? i hat; 4s .the mystery . surrounding every-apparently opulent native of Cas tro's J country. ' t 1 'I ' s tJ-MJ'.WW -vjHtjjiirv