22 



THE CUBA REVI EW 



of Spanish birth. The remainder fur- 

 nish numerically an inconsiderable por- 

 tion of the population. The commerce 

 and industries of the island are in the 

 hands of those not born in Cuba; and 

 the great bulk of the capital is foreign. 

 Probably one-third of the rental prop- 

 erty in the city of Havana is owned in 

 Spain, and the income from this prop- 

 erty is remitted monthly. The commercial 

 houses are almost without exception con- 

 ducted by Spaniards. The railways are 

 in the hands of English capitalists, and 

 the dividends go to England. The min- 

 ing and agricultural interests are fast 

 becoming absorbed by Americans. A 

 small minority of Cubans absorb the 

 professions, and others retain small in- 

 terests in sugar or tobacco lands. The 

 Cuban is, as a rule, a salaried man or a 

 wage-earner. He is, therefore, bound 

 hand and foot, so far as the policy and 

 development of his country is concerned' 

 by the foreign powers. This has been 

 his fate since the days of the Conquest, 

 and will continue to be so long as the 

 small farmer has no place in his indus- 

 trial scheme and there is no system of 

 direct taxation. There is scarcely an 

 appreciable middle class which forms 

 the great backbone of all progressive na- 

 tions. There have always been and are 

 even to-day under the Republic which 

 proclaims all men free and equal only 

 two classes. It is true many of the ar- 

 istrocrats of the old days are now broken 

 in fortune; but they hold their heads as 

 proudly as ever and scorn manual labor 

 of every kind. It is true the Republic 

 proclaims equality — politically and so- 

 cially: but the line of demarcation re- 

 mains; and it has been noticeable that in 

 spite of the asserted equality of the 

 races no negro has been invited to any 

 of the functions at the palace saving the 

 representative of the Haitian Republic. 

 The Cuban is a nervous, quick, impatient 

 person, not yet satisfied to wait for re- 

 sults. He has come into his political 

 freedom and he has been led to believe 

 that this can relieve all the ills of the 

 social fabric, and he finds things not 

 much better than they were. His rest- 

 less nature makes him dissatisfied to 

 remedv things in the regular way when 

 he looks around and sees so large a per- 

 centage of his own people without the 

 means of livelihood. He would enact 

 laws to prevent foreign ownership and 

 would deprive the immigrants of work 

 so long as any natives desire the job. In 

 this island of unlimited possibilities the 

 condition of the great mass of the peo- 

 ple is deplorable. T am quite sure that 

 I am well within bounds when I state 

 that at least 50 per cent, of the popula- 

 tion is not working half of the time. 

 Many say that it is because the Cuban 



is incompetent or lazy. This may be 

 true of many, but it cannot be of all, as 

 the products of the island go to show. 

 To correct the sad social condition, a 

 great reformation must be worked and, 

 like all reformations, it must begin from 

 the bottom. Those up at the top desire 

 no change. The masses have looked 

 to our government to give it to them, 

 and while we did much for the island 

 and the people we have failed in this 

 respect as perhaps any government would 

 have done. 



"The nation entered upon its work un- 

 selfishly and accomplished much but 

 withdrew before all that could have been 

 accomplished was done. This was due 

 to the sensitive nature of the democratic 

 character of our institutions. 



"Cuba is our neighbor and is to remain 

 our neighbor. Her history in the future 

 is destined to touch ours more closely 

 than it has in the four hundred years 

 that have passed. The island with its 

 unlimited resources can support a popu- 

 lation ten times as large as that she now 

 has. With the rapid increase the popu- 

 lation will soon double and treble. It 

 will be a hererogenous mass at first, 

 speaking many languages; but one can 

 expect to find a higher class of person 

 coming out of the composite people who 

 will occupy Cuba in the future. Shall 

 this people be loyal to God and home? 

 Shall they be a cause of joy and peace 

 to the United States? These are ques- 

 tions which only the school teacher and 

 missionary can determine. Amendments 

 to their Constitution, and reprisals, mili- 

 tary and provisional governments, after 

 all, are only temporary expedients, and 

 cannot bring about the result which a 

 nation with lofty and unselfish ideas 

 would wish for a people who have been 

 befriended." — The Churchman, X. Y. 



Pineapple Exportations in 1909. 



According to official figures just pro- 

 mulgated at Washington, during the fis- 

 cal year which ended June 30, 1909, 

 Cuba exported 1,263,466 crates of pine- 

 apples, the largest crop on record, ex- 

 ceeding that of the preceding year by 

 312,500 crates. New York took the 

 largest number, 62.844 crates; Mobile, 

 Ala., was second with 207.613; New Or- 

 leans third, with 14,807; Florida fourth, 

 with 78,202. New York has always ta- 

 ken the bulk of Cuba's pineapple crop 

 for distribution through the eastern 

 United States, but Mobile and New Or- 

 leans are capturing increasing quantities 

 of this fruit to supply the growing mar- 

 kets of the Middle and Western States. 

 — New Orleans Picayune. 



