Santo Domingo: A Country with a Future Part 22

Department of War and the Navy......................... 593,815.26 Including office of secretary; 12 military posts (the commanders receiving from $60 to $150 per month); 10 armories $4,980; military instructors $4,380; president's staff $12,380; one infantry regiment of about 470 officers and men (the colonel receiving $95 monthly, the men $l5); a band of 33 men; a police force, called "republican guard" of about 800 officers and men (salaries ranging from $200 for the brigadier general and $140 for the colonel, to $18 for the private); 2 military hospitals $31,867; a machine shop $4,440; port captains at $50-$90 per month, and doctors at $25-$50; and the gunboat $26,444.

Department of Justice and Public Instruction........... 318,208.00 Including office of secretary; University of Santo Domingo $23,700; Santiago professional inst.i.tute $8,820; 2 jail schools; subventions to many munic.i.p.al schools, private and special schools, about $180,000; 33 scholarships, $23,870; pensions $23,988.

Department of Agriculture and Immigration.............. 18,740.00 Including office of secretary; experiment fields in Santiago $3,000; weather bureau $3,980.

Department of Development and Public Works............. 332,596.00 Including office of secretary; lighthouses $13,282; postal service; telegraph, telephone and wireless service; upkeep of dredge "Ozama."

Chamber of Accounts.................................... 7,980.00

Miscellaneous.......................................... 61,872.00

Contingent expenses.................................... 25,000.00

Const.i.tutional a.s.sembly................................ 10,000.00

Total estimated disburs.e.m.e.nts, besides debt service ... $2,651,119.30

The figures in the budgets were not, absolute but were subject to modification by transfer of appropriation through presidential decree.

The contingent expense fund and the military appropriations were thus frequently swelled at the expense of other services.

The budget above shown was the last one enacted under the old conditions. It was never applied, but is given as a sample, because, while differing only slightly from the old budget which continued in force, it better ill.u.s.trates conditions at the beginning of American occupation. The military government made numerous changes in the budget and rendered the appropriations for salaries of the president and cabinet secretaries available for other purposes, as the American naval and marine officers now performing the duties of these positions receive no compensation from the Dominican treasury. A comprehensive new budget, the first one of the period of transition and providing for some of the innovations recently introduced, was expected to become effective early in 1918.

For the purpose of bringing order and efficiency into the collection and disburs.e.m.e.nt of the public revenues of Santo Domingo, the American government in 1913 urged that it be permitted to designate an American comptroller and financial adviser and the Bordas administration at length consented, but as there was no legal authority for such action and as the appointee was not characterized by unusual ability, the Jimenez administration declined to continue the arrangement. During the present military government and under the efficient direction of the acting comptroller-general, J. H. Edwards, valuable work is being done in revising the accounting system and generally placing the country's finances in order.

All the accounts of the Republic are carried on in American money, which is legal tender and is current in all parts of the country. For about fifty years after the declaration of independence, coins of many countries, princ.i.p.ally Mexican silver and Spanish gold, were in circulation, with the rate of exchange constantly fluctuating. In 1890 the Republic joined the Latin convention and in the following year through the then existing Banque Nationale de Saint Domingue issued silver and copper coin to the value of about $200,000. The fall in the value of silver caused depreciation and a few of the silver coins of this issue which are still in circulation are valued at forty cents gold for five francs; the copper coins at a little less. In 1894 the gold standard was adopted and though no actual coinage took place all official financial transactions were thereafter based upon gold values. In 1895 and 1897 President Heureaux issued more silver coins or, rather, coins washed over with silver, to the nominal amount of $2,250,000, but the seigniorage was so enormous that the issue was a case of a government counterfeiting its own money. The rate of exchange fell to five pesos for one dollar gold and this is the rate legalized by the law of June 19, 1905, which made the American gold dollar the standard of the Dominican Republic.

For a while the ordinary smaller business transactions continued to be based on silver values. On a trip to Santo Domingo in 1904 a friend and myself were driven from the wharf to the hotel and the coachman asked for two dollars. It seemed an outrageous charge, but we considered ourselves in the hands of the Philistines, and handed over an American two-dollar bill. "Excuse me until I can get change," said the coachman to our surprise, and ran into the hotel; in a moment he reappeared with a double handful of coins: "Here is your change," he said, "eight dollars." The charge had been only forty cents in gold.

At the present time American money is the basis and Dominican silver and copper is regarded merely as fractional currency, one peso Dominican being equivalent to twenty cents American.

At various times the Dominican Republic has had disastrous experiences with paper money issued without sufficient guarantees. One service rendered by the Spaniards during their occupation in the sixties was the retirement of large amounts of such paper. The troubles accompanying unsecured paper money had been forgotten when Heureaux in his attempts to raise funds floated an issue of a nominal amount of $3,600,000 in notes, of the Banque Nationale, in addition to a small amount already emitted by the bank. Such demoralization resulted that at one time it took twenty dollars in paper money to purchase one dollar in gold. The national bank notes having been demonetized, various amounts were purchased at auction by the administrations succeeding Heureaux and destroyed, and almost all the remainder has been redeemed at five to one under the 1907 debt settlement. The only paper now seen is American paper money, which circulates at a par with American silver and gold.

MUNIc.i.p.aL FINANCES

Like the national government, the munic.i.p.alities or communes depend almost entirely upon indirect taxation for their revenues. One of the princ.i.p.al sources of income is the tax on the slaughter of cattle and sale of meat. The communes may further, with the authority of Congress, levy a "consumo" tax, a small duty on the imports and exports of merchants within their jurisdiction, which tax has given rise to much confusion and controversy. Business licenses also form an important fount of revenue. By a law of Congress (soon to be superseded by a decree of the military government) the munic.i.p.alities are divided into several cla.s.ses, according to their importance, and the licenses payable by the various kinds of business in the several cla.s.ses are designated. The national government turns over to the various munic.i.p.alities a portion of the impost on spirits and grants educational subventions to several munic.i.p.alities for their primary schools. Minor sources of revenue are taxes on lotteries and raffles, vehicle licenses, amus.e.m.e.nt permits, c.o.c.kpits, etc. Two towns, Santo Domingo and Santiago, have munic.i.p.al lotteries. Under all these taxes a man might own scores of houses and great expanses of land without paying towards the maintenance of the state and munic.i.p.ality more than the poorest peon on his property.

The sums collected for munic.i.p.al purposes in all the communes of the Republic may be calculated at about $600,000 per annum, derived from the following sources:

MUNIc.i.p.aL RECEIPTS

Approximate percentage of entire income

Munic.i.p.al charges on imports and exports.............. 17.7 Business licenses..................................... 15.3 Markets............................................... 10.8 Lottery tax........................................... 10.5 Slaughter houses and meat transportation.............. 9.2 Alcohols.............................................. 7.3 Excises (alcabala).................................... 5.

Amus.e.m.e.nt permits..................................... 3.5 Public register....................................... 3.5 Lotteries............................................. 2.5 Lighting in private houses............................ 2.3 Ferryboats and bridges................................ 3.1 Munic.i.p.al property and rentals........................ 1.8 Miscellaneous......................................... 8.5 ----- 100.

The largest budget is that of the capital city, with Santiago second.

According to the latest figures available, in round numbers the income of the thirteen more important cities and towns is annually about as follows:

Santo Domingo........................ $160,000 Santiago de los Caballeros............. 90,000 San Pedro de Macoris................... 50,000 Puerto Plata........................... 40,000 La Vega................................ 30,000 Moca................................... 21,000 Azua................................... 20,000 San Francisco de Macoris............... 19,000 Samana................................. 10,000 Monte Cristi........................... 10,000 Sanchez................................ 10,000 Bani................................... 9,000 San Cristobal.......................... 8,000

In almost every town the largest item of expenditure is for education, the maintenance of public primary schools. The more important cities, especially the capital, make fair appropriations for street repair and other munic.i.p.al public works, but in the lesser communes such appropriations are negligible. Very little, practically nothing, is appropriated for roads. Some communes pay a small subvention to the church and a.s.sist in the repair of church buildings. On the whole, munic.i.p.al services are only scantily looked after, but the fault is due more to lack of revenue than to improper distribution.

Occasionally the national government renders a.s.sistance in the construction of some work pertaining to a munic.i.p.ality.

The average distribution of munic.i.p.al disburs.e.m.e.nts may be estimated about as follows:

MUNIc.i.p.aL EXPENDITURES

Approximate percentage of whole expenditure Education.......................................... 27.1 Public works, street cleaning, etc................. 27.

Police............................................. 8.4 Administrative expenses (salaries of munic.i.p.al officials and cost of tax collection).............. 7.5 Public lighting.................................... 7.

Sanitation......................................... 4.

Charity............................................ 2.2 Munic.i.p.al debts.................................... 1.9 Miscellaneous...................................... 14.2 ------ 100.

In view of the lack of resources or interest on the part of munic.i.p.alities and the central government, services of a public nature have frequently been a.s.sumed by private initiative. Many clubs and lodges maintain schools. Firemen's corps, where there are any, are volunteer organizations. For charity work, hospitals, educational work, etc., local committees are formed which raise funds by private subscription or by lottery, and in a number of towns the embellishment of the plazas is in charge of a "junta de ornato."

CHAPTER XXIII

THE FUTURE OF SANTO DOMINGO

Attraction by the United States.--Political future of Santo Domingo.--Economic future of Santo Domingo.

The history of the Dominican Republic affords a striking ill.u.s.tration of the rule that large bodies attract nearby smaller or weaker bodies whether in the world of physics or in international politics. The United States of America had scarcely become a nation when it began to absorb contiguous territory and exert a strong attraction on Cuba.

With respect to Santo Domingo also, there was such attraction, as became evident in proposals for annexation or the establishment of a naval station. At times it appeared that the process was definitely checked, as when Spain annexed Santo Domingo in 1861, and when the United States Senate refused to annex the country in 1871, and when the Dominican Government cancelled the Samana Bay Concession in 1874, but these acts merely set back the clock of time which they could not stop.

When Porto Rico and Cuba were occupied by the United States the attraction exerted on Santo Domingo was powerfully increased. From that time on the Dominican Republic was in fact a protectorate of the United States, though neither American nor Dominican statesmen would have admitted it. The modus vivendi of 1905 and the fiscal convention of 1907 gave expression, in part, to relations actually existing.

A peculiar feature of the matter is that, except for a few very brief intervals, neither the United States nor the Dominican Republic has desired closer political relations and each country has done everything in its power to avoid them. The 1907 convention was approved in the United States Senate with only one vote to spare, and many of its supporters favored it princ.i.p.ally because it was expected to obviate the necessity of further American intervention in Dominican affairs. It was believed that with the custom-houses removed from the political game the receipts and prosperity of the country would grow, revolutionists would no longer be able to finance uprisings, and civil wars would cease. The convention did indeed augment the country's revenues and prosperity, but it could not prevent uprisings entirely nor remove their causes. On the other hand it strengthened the bonds between the United States and Santo Domingo and led to the military occupation of 1916.

What will the future bring? There is every reason to believe that the same attraction of Santo Domingo by the United States will continue with greater strength than ever, despite all that may be said or done, on either side, to oppose it. It is a force which cannot be overcome, and had best, be recognized and reckoned with. It is unnecessary to consider the sentimental objections to closer political relations between the two countries. Conditions in Santo Domingo, in the United States, and in the world at large are the causes of this force of attraction, for which the government of neither country is responsible.

What then will the future relations between Santo Domingo and the United States be? It appears that at the present moment a plan similar to that tried in Haiti is under advis.e.m.e.nt, namely, to restore the Dominican government, but to leave the custom-houses under American administration, place the finances under American control, appoint an American supervisor of public works, and secure the peace by a police force under American officers. The real relations between the two countries would thus find further expression in the creation of a disguised protectorate.

As a permanent solution it is not probable that this plan will prove satisfactory. It tends to create two independent governments in the same country; on the one side the Dominican government which will consider itself supreme and sooner or later resent dictation or lack of sympathy on the part of the American officials, and on the other hand the police heads and other American officers who will brook no interference with what they deem their duty. Friction is bound to develop; it is impossible for two independent governments to work side by side in the same territory; one authority must be paramount. At first the plan may appear to operate successfully because the desires of the American officials will be respected, but later when the new Dominican government has outgrown the novelty of the situation there are certain to be reciprocal demands which may lead to opposition.

Another possible source of difficulty is that even among the proposed American officials there is no recognized superior and that here also differences may arise. Rather than go so far and no further, it were better to attempt less.

The ultimate expression, more or less deferred, of the relations between the two countries, will most probably be a clearly defined protectorate with an amply authorized resident, or outright annexation. Which of these two courses is preferable? From a standpoint of the interests of the Dominican people annexation would appear better. A protected state has many obligations and few rights.

It must defer to the wishes of the protector, but the protector is under no absolute duty to further its development or the happiness of its inhabitants. On the other hand, when annexed to the stronger state, it may expect and demand that interest be shown in its progress and well-being. While annexation would probably entail a temporary government by officials foreign to the country, American traditions would not permit such a condition to continue for any length of time and autonomy would eventually come.