THE CUBA REVIEW 



25 



GENERAL NOTES. 



Canadian Settlers in Trouble. 



Canadian colonists at Ucean Beach are 

 being harassed by the municipalities of 

 Mantua and Guane, in Pmar del Rio, 

 both claiming Ocean Beach to be within 

 their districts, and both endeavoring to 

 collect taxes from the residents. Mr. E. 

 A. Kummel, of Ocean Beach, plainly de- 

 picts the unfortunate situation of his 

 fellow colonists in a letter to La Lucha, 

 of Havana, in which he says: 



"Guane and Mantua both claim Ocean 

 Beach as oeing in their territory, and 

 Mantua is collecting taxes by force, while 

 Guane tells us not to pay and if we do 

 pay we will have to pay over again to 

 Guane. Mantua informs us that on and 

 after November 1 our farms will be em- 

 bargoed if we do not pay the land taxes. 

 Guane sends us official documents and 

 notifications, while Mantua sends them 

 and policemen, and inspectors, and ar- 

 rests us. Both mayors show us maps 

 which both claim are official, and both 

 make dogmatic assertions directly antag- 

 onistic to each other. We are willing to 

 pay proper taxes, but we wish to do so 

 legally and correctly. The writer has 

 filed his tax statements in the munici- 

 pality of Guane, where they were ac- 

 cepted, and the Mantua authorities in- 

 form me officially my lands will be em- 

 bargoed by them Noveml^er 1 for non- 

 payment of taxes." 



Despite the fact that the Revista 

 Municipal of Jan. 15, 1909, expressly 

 permits settlers to use exempted farm 

 wagons for hauling fertilizer, provisions, 

 implements, etc., trom store or station 

 to the farm, the authorities of Mantua 

 rule that the law only permits settlers 

 to take stufiE off of the farms, and that 

 not even a pound of rice can be hauled 

 to the farms without paying the full 

 tax of $7.80 charged public carriers. Set- 

 lers who had paid the exemption were 

 arrested when hauling purchases from 

 the Ocean Beach shore to their farms 

 by the Mantua police and fined. 



It is understood that Provincial Gov- 

 ernor Sobrado will also take up the mat- 

 ter so as to relieve the settlers from the 

 great annoyance which the municipal 

 bickering has placed upon them. 



Production and Consumption of Cocoa. 



Cuba's cocoa production in the years 

 1906 to 1908, according to the "Gordian,"' 

 the German paper dealing with the cocoa 

 trade, are as follows. 



Kilogs. 



1906.. .. .. 3,271,000 



1907 1.713,000 



1908 862,000 



Pecan culture should not be attempted 

 below 28 degrees latitude, says the 

 Florida Agricultural Department. 



The Canto River in Oriente Province. The largest river in Cuba. 



