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customs receipts under the modus vivendi and the assurance of stability of the revenue made it possible to set aside a portion of same for the commencement of such laudable work. As is obvious, anything done in this direction will result in lasting benefit to all agricultural enterprises, inasmuch as the lack of transportation facilities from the interior points to coast ports for shipment is a most serious handicap to same, and naturally lessens the marketable value of the crops of the island, besides reducing the volume of exports.

It has been the endeavor herein to discuss briefly and explain the individual groups, eight in number, of all expenditures and dispositions, but it is suggested that a more comprehensive idea of the subject may be gained by reference to the separate tables of Exhibit F, compiled in a manner to afford complete information upon cursory examination.

STATISTICAL DATA OF COMMERCE.

Prior to the advent of the American receivership the compilation and preservation of reliable statistics of the country's commerce had never been effectively undertaken. Realizing the importance of such records, absolutely essential to the proper and intelligent furtherance of customs administration as recognized by all countries, and for the benefit of commercial interests, the receivership caused to be prepared tables and summaries at intervals covering the period between April 1, 1905, and June 30, 1907. This has been the first comprehensive and reliable work of the kind available for the use and guidance of those concerned in the foreign trade of the country, and this concrete fact was recognized and appreciated by the Dominican government to the extent of influencing it to establish an independent bureau of statistics. That department, in the beginning, based its work upon information gathered through the receivership, which has lent to the central government all possible aid in inaugurating such a worthy system.

Summaries of Dominican commerce for quarters, half years, and annual periods during the entire life of the modus vivendi, inclusive to June 30, 1907, have been published in printed form. They afford detailed data for all interested commercially. Through the courtesy of the Bureau of American Republics, such summaries from the beginning of 1906 have been published in the bulletins of that important medium, and thus became readily accessible to those who would most likely seek such information concerning this, as well as other Latin-American countries.

The grand total of foreign trade of the Republic for the twentyeight months was as shown in the table following:

DURING THE MODUS VIVENDI, APRIL 1, 1905, TO JULY 31, 1907.

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Invoiced value..

Exports from the Republic.

Duties collected..

Sold to the United States.

Percentage sold to the United States_
Amount carried in American bottoms..
Percentage carried in American bottoms.

Aggregate foreign trade.

$15, 996, 766. 14 $818,430.43 $8,692, 599.00 54.3

$5,043, 099. 49 31.5

1

Invoiced value__

Duties collected_

Trade with the United States.

Percentage of trade with the United States.
Amount carried in American bottoms_
Percentage carried in American bottoms_.

$25,096, 695. 69 $6, 493, 548. 10 $14, 417, 627.00 57.5

$10, 667, 725. 40 42.5

Of the total amount of revenue from all sources, payments of duties on imports reached $5,675,117.67 and on exports $818,430.43, or together $6,493,548.10. The percentages stated above show that to the United States went more than half of the exports, and that country supplied a still larger proportion of the imports. Vessels of American registry transported 42.5 per cent of the total foreign trade of the period, 61.8 per cent of the imports, and 31.5 per cent of the exports.

When some of the onerous concessions now in vogue, to the detriment of trade development, are removed, as contemplated by the terms of the treaty, increased and additional shipping facilities with the United States may be expected, that should have the effect of promoting Dominican commerce and, inferentially, expanding American trade.

SCOPE OF RECEIVERSHIP.

It is deemed proper to insert as a matter of record in this review that the receivership to which this final report relates was never in actual control of the Dominican customs service proper. The receivership has been a separate and distinct branch, the work of which was confined largely to the receipting for, safe-keeping, and honest disbursement of those funds collected by the Dominican officials designated as deputy receivers in charge at the several custom-houses. In a way, and for the general good of the service, the receivership attempted to act in an advisory capacity in order to accomplish certain reforms, establish uniformity in matters of classification, and stamp out, if possible, questionable practices, which naturally prevented an honest enforcement of the customs laws, but in some respects it was not entirely successful, owing to the lack of cooperation. Hence, it must be conceded that the achievement wrought is all the more remarkable and testifies in an unmistakable manner to the prestige gained; it should redound to the credit of the United States for the tangible accomplishment in this field, undertaken, as stated above, amidst trying circumstances.

RÉSUMÉ.

The undersigned is enabled to discuss this subject without hesitancy for the reason that he participated to no appreciable extent in the administration herein described, as he assumed charge of the re

ceivership by transfer of the office from his predecessor on June 6, 1907, which was less than two months before the modus vivendi terminated. To Col. George R. Colton, who inaugurated the system, saw it successfully carried through more than one crisis, and left only recently with the enviable satisfaction of one whose work was complete and well performed, is due the credit for the eminent results obtained by the American participation in the fiscal matters of the Dominican Republic. The receivership to continue by virtue of the provisions of the American-Dominican treaty will profit by the work done in the past, and the success which may hereafter be had will rest largely upon the businesslike foundation already laid. Commendation is not only due Colonel Colton, but to the small staff of American employees who accompanied him or came upon subsequent dates, commissioned by an alien Government to perform the diversified work in its several departments. These men made sacrifices and put up with many personal inconveniences, from the American viewpoint, laboring within and out of prescribed hours in a tropical climate, and accomplished results for the receivership which constitute a record made by American citizens serving a foreign country, under unique conditions, that merits, in my opinion, unstinted praise. W. E. PULLIAM, General Receiver of Dominican Customs.

Respectfully,

The CHIEF, BUREAU OF INSULAR AFFAIRS,

War Department,

Washington.

REVIEW OF THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE CUSTOMS RECEIVERSHIP OF SANTO DOMINGO DURING THE SECOND YEAR OF ITS OPERATION, APRIL 1, 1906-MARCH 31, 1907, WITH COLLATERAL EXHIBITS AND REMARKS.

OFFICE OF THE CONTROLLER AND GENERAL RECEIVER,

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, March 31, 1907. During the two years which elapse with this date since the modus vivendi became effective the Dominican Republic has been raised from financial chaos and political anarchy to a position of comparative ease and security, while its commerce has developed to a marked degree as business conditions have improved with the increasing assurance of peace.

Contrasting the present with past conditions, the minister of finance and commerce, Hon. Frederico Velasquez, in his annual report for 1906, extended extracts from which are annexed in Exhibit O, says, in part:

The items of revenue during the year 1905 and those of 1906 speak clearly, with renewed eloquence, of the fact that for some time past we have been living, in the public posts, a life of order and honesty, where but a few years ago life, with few exceptions within and without the national palace, was one of shamelessness, dilapidation, cupidity, and permanent disgrace for the Republic, being the principal cause, if not the only one, why our weak State has felt itself more

a Exhibits, excepting “N” and “O," not printed.

than once trembling on the brink of the abyss, and that for a long time we have found ourselves without economic autonomy, overweighed by debts, unjustifiable for the greater part, suffering insults and humiliation.

And further:

Thanks to the modus vivendi, we have lived two years with relative ease and accumulated a respectable amount of money destined to the payment of said debts.

GENERAL EFFECTS OF MODUS VIVENDI.

The immediate financial benefits to the Republic of that wise measure, adopted pursuant to the decree of March 31, 1905, can not be more clearly or briefly shown than by an examination and comparison of the data contained in the annual reports of the minister of finance and commerce for the calendar years 1905 and 1906.

From the first of these it is learned that upon the 1st of January, 1905, the national treasury was entirely destitute of funds, and that by April 1, following, the Government had run behind in meeting its current expenses approximately $100,000, which amount it then owed, upon demand accounts, to local firms. The same report shows that at the end of that year (1905), but nine months after the establishment of the modus vivendi, the Government, after paying all expenses and making good the shortage that existed April 1, had on hand $838,994.39, having collected revenues since January 1 amounting to $2,427,802.20, the largest receipts of any year up to that time in the history of the Republic. The total revenues collected during the succeeding year surpassed those of 1905 by $1,398,876.97, or 57.6 per cent, aggregating $3,826,679.17, and the unexpended balance on hand at the end of that period, December 31, 1906, including $2,317,607.40 set aside to apply upon the public debt, amounted to $2,607,977.76.

Thus, while the Dominican Government was unable to meet its current expenses, and running behind, prior to April 1, 1905, within twenty-one months after that date it had saved from its revenues, in round figures, $2,700,000, and had, at the same time, received from the 45 per cent of its customs revenues and properly expended more money than it had ever before actually received from the entire products of those revenues in the same length of time.

To these results the customs department, operated under inspectorial supervision by the receivership, contributed $5,415,241.20, or 86 per cent of the entire revenues collected.

PROPOSED LOAN.

In the meantime, based upon the demonstration that the Republic was entirely solvent and capable of meeting its obligations in such amounts and proportions as were, upon conference with creditors, deemed equitable or legal for adjustment, and upon the assumption that the general plan of the modus vivendi would be formally adopted and strengthened by a treaty with the United States, of which that temporary disposition was a forerunner, the Dominican Executive was able to negotiate the sale of $20.000.000 5 per cent, gold, fiftyyear sinking-fund bonds at the favorable rate of 0.96.

This transaction was of course conditioned primarily upon the ratification of the treaty alluded to, and, further, upon the agreement that the proceeds of the new loan should be devoted, first, to the ex

tinction of the old debt, which had been reduced by agreement with creditors, on account of cash settlements, from more than thirtythree to seventeen millions; second, to the cancellation of certain concessions held to be burdensome upon the country, and the remainder to public improvements. Exhibit O, annexed, contains the details of this proposed loan.

NEW TREATY NEGOTIATED.

The original treaty of February 7, 1905, which was intended to meet more complicated conditions, and was therefore unnecessarily extended, was withdrawn and a new one, much simpler in form but containing all of the provisions required as a basis for the proposed loan and handling of the customs revenues by American agents in amortization thereof, was negotiated and signed at Santo Domingo February 8, 1907.

This treaty, a copy of which is annexed as Exhibit L, was approved by the American Senate February 25, 1907, and is now awaiting action by the Dominican Congress, with every assurance of early ratification.

Upon its acceptance and the completion of the attendant financial arrangements, Santo Domingo will have been transformed in a little more than two years from a bankrupt State-without credit at home or abroad, consumed by revolutions within, and threatened by creditors without-into a solvent and peaceful country of some dignity and promise.

RECONSTRUCTION.

The patriotic work of bringing the Republic up to this point has been no easy task for those Dominicans possessed of the requisite intelligence, patience, and courage to successfully oppose the almost overwhelming odds that have beset them.

Substantial business people and property owners throughout the country have as a rule favored the plans for reformation, but they were too deeply discouraged by past events to entertain great hope of their realization, and have therefore been inclined to indifference. Political revolutionists, who saw their opportunities curtailed by the removal of the customs revenues from the possibility of exploitation, have been the bitterest enemies of the treaty, and have endeavored by misrepresentation to incite the ignorant classes to forcible resistance.

To this influence was added the opposition of practically all politicians out of office, who believed that any disposition tending to increase the strength of the Government would make its tenure, and their involuntary retirement, permanent. And many of those who were avowed supporters of reformation believed that, being so, they should be rewarded by exemption from any features which might interfere with their personal interests. Of these, Minister Velasquez, in his annual report for 1906, says:

So contrary to order are the customs, so inveterate in general has become the habit of disorder, that many of the men who theoretically express enthusiasm for the establishment of regular and systematic order, understanding that only in that way is the salvation of the country possible, when it comes to actual practice, when they find that such a state of affairs would be imposed upon them, subjecting their life to certain limitations not in accord with customs

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