THE 

 CUBA REVIEW :s^z 



"ALL ABOUT CUBA." 



Copxrisht, 1908, by the Munson Steamship Line. 



YORK 

 liOTANICAL 



Volume VII. 



JULY, 1909. 



NUMBER 8. 



CUBAN GOVERNMENT MATTERS. 





The Budget Passed— The Spanish Claims Against Cuba — Spain's Trade With the 

 Island — An American Protest — The National Lottery. 



During the closing days 

 Cuban of June there was much ap- 

 Budget prehension in Havana over 

 Passed. the apparent improbability 

 of the acceptance of the na- 

 tional budget by Congress for lack of 

 time, although the Cuban constitution 

 made it imperative that it pass not later 

 than July 1, and this did not seem likely. 

 Another complication was that the con- 

 stitution also provides for the submission 

 of the budget to Congress in November, 

 but this was impossible by reason of the 

 continuance of the Government of inter- 

 vention. 



On June 29 the House approved the 

 budget in its entirety and it was ex- 

 pected that the Senate would also ap- 

 prove it. The latter body, however, on 

 June 30, after devoting much time to a 

 bill legalizing cock-fighting, which was 

 passed, made sundry minor modifications 

 in the budget, sending it again to the 

 House, in the apparent expectation that 

 the modifications would be accepted by 

 the House, which in the meantime had 

 adjourned. The adjournment of the 

 House was not known until the Senate 

 had also adjourned. This was the final 

 day of the regular session of Congress, 

 with no definite action taken on the all- 

 important question of the approval of 

 the budget. In default of an agreement 

 at an extraordinary session of the Sen- 

 ate, on June 30, which was called before 

 midnight, the only recourse open to the 

 President was to declare operative on 

 July 1 the budget of 1908-09, in accord- 

 ance with a provision in the law of ex- 

 ecutive power, which, however, conflict- 

 ed with an article of the constitution, de- 



claring that the budget is only applicable 

 in the year for which it was designed. 

 Gov. Magoon's budget of 1908-09 

 amounted to $24,285,000, while that of 

 President Gomez was $33,800,000. On 

 the evening of the same day, at an ex- 

 traordinary session of the House con- 

 voked by Speaker Ferrara, the budget 

 was passed as amended by the Senate. 



The amendments consisted of cutting 

 out an item of $348,305 for the payment 

 of lands at Vedado, on which batteries 

 were erected under Spanish rule, and 

 $58,840 for the establishment of a corps 

 of police in connection with the Depart- 

 ment of Justice. 



The budget thus reduced amounts to 

 $33,418,302, and the income is estimated 

 at $33,825,448.53. This received the ap- 

 proval of President Gomez, the decree 

 which was issued July 1 being canceled. 

 The President appointed a commission 

 of three Senators, three Representatives 

 and the Secretary of the Treasury, who, 

 beginning July 2, will confer with him 

 relative to possible economies in the 

 schedules of the budget. 



On July 9 the Cuban Congress ad- 

 journed to reconvene in November. The 

 President's last act was to annul the 

 contract for the purchase of artillery and 

 rifles for use in the Cuban army, made 

 with France and Germany by Lopez 

 Rodriguez, agent of the Cuban Govern- 

 ment accredited for that purpose, and 

 appointing Gen. Pino Guerra comman- 

 der of the army, and two other officers, 

 as a commission to visit the arms fac- 

 tories in the United States and Europe 

 to decide upon the best types and to 

 make new contracts. 



