10 



THE CUBA REVIEW. 



The commission appoint- 

 Drastic ed by President Gomez, of 

 Budget three Senators, three Repre- 

 Reductions. sentatives and the Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury, to 

 consider possible economies in the bud- 

 get schedules, recommends some drastic 

 reductions, which are printed in the 

 "Gaceta," July 16, reduces the budget 

 from $33,710,648 to $30,955,612. The re- 

 ductions, aggregating $2,755,036.90, are 

 apportioned among the departments as 

 follows: 



Executive uses $1,480.00 



Public works $376,060.00 



Agriculture 423,080.00 



Interior (includes Army and 



Rural Guard) 956,188.43 



Public Instruction 158,258.00 



Treasury Dept 173,790.00 



Judiciary Dept 53,670.00 



Sanitation and Charities . . . . 415,850.47 



Loans 51,440.00 



Legislative power (no change) 



Dept. of Justice 78,100.00 



State Dept 67,120.00 



Total $2,755,036.90 



July 9, President Gomez 

 The South signed the bill commission- 

 Amcrican ing General Loynaz del Cas- 

 Commission. tillo to conduct a diplomatic 

 mission to the South and 

 Central American republics. President 

 Gomez's son Mariano is a member of 

 the commission, whose work will occupy 

 two years. The sum of $40,000 has been 

 appropriated for its expenses. The date 

 for the departure of the commission has 

 not yet been fixed. Our State Depart- 

 ment, from newspaper talk, has been 

 somewhat concerned over this trip of 

 Gen. Castillo, fearing that he will talk to 

 South Americans in a manner damaging 

 to this country, as he is charged with 

 being anti-American. 



On July 29 the Cabinet 



Cuban crisis, which for some time 



Cabinet has been impending, reached 

 Resignations, a climax when all the seven 

 ministers, Miguelistas and 

 Zayistas, as well as the President's pri- 

 vate secretary, Senor Castellanos, sent 

 in their resignations. 



On August 1 the President made some 

 changes and the cabinet now stands as 

 follows: 



Secretary of State, Justo Garcia Velez. 



Secretary of Justice, Luis Octavio 

 Diviiio. 



Secretary of the Interior, Francisco 

 Lopez Leiva. 



Secretary of the Treasury, Marcelino 

 Dia7 de Villegas. 



Secretary of Public Works, Arturo 

 Chalons. 



Secretary of Agriculture, Commerce 

 and Labor, Ortelio Foyo. 



Secretary of Public Instruction, Ra- 

 mon IMeza. 



Secretary of Sanitation and Char- 

 ities, Matias Duque. 



Secretary to the President, Damaso 

 Pasalodos. 



The outgoing Secretary of the Inte- 

 rior, Dr. Nicholas Alberdi, was ap- 

 pointed August 2 delegate from Cuba to 

 the International Congress for the Pre- 

 vention of Cruelty to Children, to be 

 held at Budapest on the 28th inst. 



Dr. Jose Lorenzo Castellanos will 

 study a project for reforming the pres- 

 ent prison system. Salary $6,000 a year. 



El Comercio, of Havana, 

 Nezi' commented on July 9 on the 



Reprisals conference held between Pres- 

 Threatened. ident Gomez and Minister 

 Morgan, affirming that Mr. 

 Morgan discussed the disagreeable effect 

 produced in Washington by the bill Seiior 

 Ferrara presented in the Cuban Congress 

 some time ago proposing a reduction in 

 duties on machinery imported into Cuba 

 which would certainly affect American 

 manufacturers, who are unable to compete 

 with French and Belgian exporters. 



Mr. Morgan, it is said, has indicated the 

 advisability of avoiding reprisals which may 

 be made by the American Congress, as in 

 the affair of raising the duty on Cuban 

 pineapples. 



Commenting on this matter General 

 Garcia Velez, the Cuban Minister at Wash- 

 ington, pointed out that almost at the same 

 time S'ehor Ferrara presented a bill to the 

 Cuban Congress framed in such a manner 

 as to be greatly beneficial to American in- 

 terests because intended to favor nations 

 buying most from Cuba. The measure 

 reads : 



"Article i. — The National Executive is author- 

 ized to increase up to thirty per cent, over and 

 above the present tariff the custom duties upon 

 articles imported from nations whose exportation 

 is greater than their importation, in respect to 

 our own. 



"Article 2. — This law shall take effect from the 

 date of its publication in the official gazette of 

 the republic." 



Dr. John Guiteras, the yellow fever_ ex- 

 pert, on July 29 resigned as Chief Sanitary 

 Officer at Havana. He states his depart- 

 ment has been crippled by unwise reduc- 

 tions in expenses and declines further re- 

 sponsibility for holding yellow fever in 

 check. 



