NEW YORK 



botanical 

 qardbn. 



THE 

 CUBA REVIEW 



"ALL ABOUT CUBA." 



Copyright, 1908, by the Munson Steamship Line. 



Volume VIL MARCH, 1909. NUMBER 4. 



WORK OF THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT. 



Confidence in President Gomez Increasing — Real Fusion Between the Wines of the 



Liberal Party — Measures Before the House and Senate — Government 



Appointments and Messages — The Reciprocity Treaty. 



Confidence in President Gomez as a safe ruler of the Republic of Cuba appears 

 to be strengthening, and there is a growing feeling that it is now safe to begin 

 work on various important enterprises which have been awaiting assurances of 

 government stability. His grasp of trying situations, many of which threatened 

 to be hurtful if unchecked, is very noticeable. His control over the legislators 

 brought about the defeat on March 8th of the bill prohibiting foreigners from 

 acquiring real estate in Cuba, a bill which might have worked great havoc to the 

 young republic. 



Friction developed early in the month between the Miguelistas and the Zayistas, 

 as the two branches of the Liberal party are called, over the division of the offices, 

 and dissension and rupture were predicted, but at several conferences the leaders 

 discussed all complaints amicably, and on March 9th real fusion seems to have 

 been accomplished, both factions agreeing to unite. 



Government Appointments, Measures, Etc. 

 On February 16th President Gomez signed a bill depriving mayors of their 

 appointing and veto powers and giving the power of appointment to the aldermen. 



On February 18th the Cuban cabinet resolved to punish all persons publishing 

 unfounded stories calculated to cause alarm, injure the country's credit and impair 

 its business development. Criminal proceedings will be instituted against alarmists. 

 All cable news would also be closely scrutinized. 



On February 18th Mr. Grant Duff presented President Gomez with his creden- 

 tials as British Minister, in spite of the fact that he had previously presented his 

 credentials to Governor Magoon March 4th, 1907. According to La Lucha, this 

 means that Great Britain has decided the interesting point whether diplomats 

 accredited to the provisional government should renew their credentials with Presi- 

 dent Gomez. 



On February 24th President Gomez signed the appointment of Carlos Garcia 

 Velez as Minister to the United States. The government at Washington will leave 

 the Taft administration to answer any inquiries that may be made by the Cuban 

 government as to his acceptability. General Velez is the elder son of General 

 Calixto Garcia, who commanded the Cuban army at Santiago. He is a personal 

 friend of Major-General Leonard Wood and Governor Magoon. 



On February 26th President Gomez sent a message to Congress asking for the 

 O^ passage of a measure providing for the immediate reorganization of the new 

 C) regular army which Mr. Magoon authorized when he was Provisional Governor. 

 2i Such an army, he said, was the best guarantee of peace. He also wants new 

 uniforms, guns and horses. The total cost is estimated at $1,000,000. This was 

 Z^ reported upon favorably by a Senate committee on ]\Iarch 5th. 



On March 2d Francisco Carrera Justiz was appointed Cuban Minister to Spain. 

 DC The post has been vacant since 1906. The new appointee is one of the most promi- 

 se nent attorneys in Havana. This nomination was bitterly opposed March 3d by the 

 ^ anti-Spanish element in the Senate. 



