14 



THE CUBA REVI E W 



THE PRESS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Cuban advices indicate that President 

 Gomez is confronted by conditions and ten- 

 dencies precisely similar to those which 

 proved fatal to the second administration 

 of his predecessor. Chief among these is 

 the inclination of the insular Congress to 

 neglect its legislative duties. Many laws 

 which were urgently needed were left un- 

 made, while others were passed at the last 

 moment under direct Presidential pressure. 

 The budget itself failed of enactment before 

 the original adjournment of the Congress, 

 and would have had to be put into force 

 by Executive decree had not the Congress 

 come together again in special session for 

 the express purpose of performing that 

 neglected duty. 



President Gomez happily shows himself 

 to be possessed of decision and vigor suf- 

 ficient to deal with such emergencies. 

 He practically forced the Congress to 

 enact some laws and would not have hesi- 

 tated to enforce the budget by decree. But, 

 of course, it is not desirable for the Presi- 

 dent to assume such an attitude toward the 

 legislative department of the government, 

 and there is danger that he will be cen- 

 sured by the very men who' have compelled 

 him to do so. That is precisely what hap- 

 pened to Estrada Palma. 



It is much to be regretted that Cuban 

 politicians persist in pursuing this course, 

 for it is certain to injure the country and 

 it is not unlikely to end in disaster. — New 

 York Tribune. 



It is plain from these events (the Page 

 matter and the European arms purchase) 

 that the administration proposes to main- 

 tain a vigilant guardianship over Cuban 

 affairs. It is eminently reasonable to sup- 

 pose that President Taft and Mr. Knox 

 have good ground for the course they have 

 taken. It would be absurd to imply that 

 either of them desire to treat Cuba with in- 

 justice or harshness. But this country, 

 which made heavy sacrifices to free the 

 island from Spanish domination, has a par- 

 amount interest in its welfare and the or- 

 derly management of its concerns. — Phila- 

 ■delphia (Pa.) Bulletin. 



It is well to observe that whereas Cuba 

 "has just settled the question of establish- 

 ing a national lottery by the passage of 

 a bill which gives President Gomez the au- 

 thority to appoint a manager, France has 

 reached the conclusion that the lotteries 

 ■existing within her jurisdiction should be 

 abolished, and steps will be taken to en- 

 act a law which will close all of them by 

 December, 1910. The action in Cuba and 

 that in France will indicate the higher 

 degree of civilization which has been 



reached by the people of the latter coun- 

 try, for it is quite well understood that 

 the lottery bill was passed by the Con- 

 gress of Cuba in order to satisfy the de- 

 sire of the Cubans to indulge in that kind 

 of gambling. On the other hand the lot- 

 teries in France will be closed because the 

 people have discovered that thrift is a 

 surer road to fortune than dependence on 

 chance. 



The French are among the most thrifty 

 people in the world, while the Cubans 

 have a very slight acquaintance with thrift, 

 and like all peoples poorly advanced in 

 civilization they have more faith in chance 

 or luck to provide them with a fortune 

 than in attention to the work which they 

 are often compelled to do because chance 

 did not come their way. — New Orleans 

 (La.) States. 



Taking the case at its worst possible as- 

 pect, however, it is only fair to give the 

 Cubans more of a chance than they have 

 had yet to prove their ability or inability 

 to govern themselves. Too many of the 

 errors urged against them could be urged 

 with equal justice against Americans. We 

 are likely to demand that they obey a 

 sterner code than we ourselves are willing 

 to follow. It must be remembered, too, 

 that the Cubans cannot justly be judged by 

 the same standards that hold sway here. 

 Their racial peculiarities must be taken into 

 full consideration. — Cleveland (O.) Plain 

 Dealer. 



At present the United States imports 

 less than 1,000,000 tons of iron ore a year, 

 of which more than half comes from Cuba. 

 These Cuban mines are owned by Ameri- 

 cans, employ American labor for their 

 skilled work and there is no more reason 

 for protecting the mines of Wisconsin from 

 their competition than for protecting the 

 mines of New York from the competition 

 of Alabama. At best the Cuban mines can- 

 not produce enough ore to affect prices 

 materially in the United States. — Buffalo 

 (N. Y.) Express. 



There would undoubtedly be trouble if 

 the Cuban game of chance should be start- 

 ed and attempts should be made to do busi- 

 ness in this country through the mails or 

 otherwise. Officially, it is probably none 

 of our business. It is a resort that will 

 prove obstructive to honest and steady in- 

 dustry, such as is requisite for the indus- 

 trial development of the island, and is, there- 

 fore, a method which all friends of the 

 second-time launched republic will deplore. 

 — Baltimore (Md.) American. 



