253 



CUBA AND PUERTO RICO. 



CUBA ANI) PUERTO RICO, two islands of 

 the West Indies, colonies of Spain. 



Cuba. This colony is administered by a Gov- 

 ernor-General under the direction of the Spanish 

 Minister of the Colonies, assisted by a Council of 

 Government, the members of which are nomi- 

 nated by the Crown, and which has only advisory 

 powers. The Governor-General may suspend at 

 his discretion the operation of any law or decree 

 of the home Government. Each of the 6 prov- 

 inces sends 2, and the University of Havana and 

 the Society of Friends of the Country each 1 

 Senator to the Cortes, and the provinces elect 

 Deputies, 30 altogether, in proportion to their 

 population. There is a governor in each prov- 

 ince, and he is assisted by an elective provincial 

 assembly, which has a slight control over local 

 affairs. The area of Cuba is 34,233 square 

 miles, exclusive of the Isle of Pines, which has 



810 square miles, and other keys aggregating 

 970 square miles. The population in 1890, as 

 officially estimated for electoral apportionment, 

 was 1,631,687. The whites constitute 65 per 

 cent, of the population, the remaining 35 per 

 cent, including negroes and colored people of 

 all kinds, with the Chinese, who numbered 43,- 



811 in 1877. Negro slavery was abolished in 

 1886. Of the white population 35 per cent., and 

 of the colored 12 per cent., can read and write. 

 Havana, the capital, had at the census of 1887 a 

 population of 198.271 : Matanzas, 87,760 : Santi- 

 ago de Cuba, 71,307; Cienfuegos, 65,067. The 

 army is limited in time of peace to 20,414 men. 

 The militia, including a black battalion, num- 

 bered 63,115 men in 1892. The Governor-Gen- 

 eral, who is captain-general of the troops, is Ale- 

 jandro Rodriguez Arias. 



Finances. The budget for 1892-'93 estimates 

 the revenue at 21,946,356 pesos (1 peso = about 93 

 cents), of which 10,554,500 pesos are derived from 

 customs, 5,936,456 pesos from direct and indirect 

 taxes, 3,500,000 pesos from the lottery, 1,662,500 

 pesos from stamps, 250,000 pesos from Govern- 

 ment property, and 42,900 pesos from various 

 sources. The expenditure is estimated at 21,- 

 588,842 pesos, of which 10,304,367 pesos are for 

 the general debt, 5,302,488 pesos for the army, 

 3,139,018 pesos for the interior, 1,089,525 pesos 

 for marine purposes, 715,341 pesos for justice 

 and worship, 568,236 pesos for financial purposes, 

 and 469,867 pesos for construction and mainte- 

 nance of public works. The public debt is esti- 

 mated to amount to $180,000,000. 



Commerce and Production. The largest 

 commercial product of the island is sugar, of 

 which 823,096 long tons were produced in 1891, 

 against 675,233 tons (over 28 per cent, of the 

 world's production of cane sugar) in 1890. The 

 production of molasses was 67,000 tons in 1890, 

 and 103,000 tons in 1891. About 300,000 bales 

 of tobacco are produced annually. The island 

 is rich in forests, and also in mineral products, 

 of which iron, manganese, gold, and copper are 

 mined. Asphalt abounds, and on the Isle of 

 Pines fine variegated marble is quarried. The 

 United States imports sugar, tobacco, fruit, and 

 nuts from Cuba, and exports thither lard, flour, 

 dairy products, iron and steel manufactures, 

 wood manufactures and timber, and coal. The 

 largest imports into Cuba are rice, lard, flour, 

 and jerked beef. 



Communications. There are about 1,000 

 miles of railroads, and in 1885 a loan of about' 

 $40.000,000 was authorized for the completion 

 of the network. There are 2,810 miles of tele- 

 graphs. 



Puerto Rico. The island has an area of 

 3,550 square miles, and a population of 806,708, 

 of which more than 300,000 are negroes. The 

 Captain-General is assisted by a junta of mili- 

 tary officers. There are 3,566 regular troops 

 garrisoned in the island, and a man-of-war is 

 maintained there. The budget for 1892-'93 es- 

 timates the revenue at 3,725,597 pesos, of which 

 2,430,000 pesos are derived from customs, 835,- 

 697 pesos from taxes, 285,900 pesos from stamps, 

 34,000 pesos from Government property, and 

 140,000 pesos from various sources. The expen- 

 diture is estimated at 3,850,135 pesos, of which 

 '1,093,174 pesos are for the general debt, 945,910 

 pesos for the army, 719,950 pesos for the in- 

 terior, 461,416 pesos for public works, 309,524 

 pesos for justice and worship, 208,515 pesos for 

 financial and 111,646 pesos for marine pur- 

 poses. In 1890, 1,294 vessels, of 1,257,174 tons, 

 entered, and 1,274 vessels, of 1,231,189 tons, 

 cleared Puerto Rico. 



Commerce. The principal articles of export 

 in 1889 were : Coffee to the amount of 8,212,- 

 886 pesos; sugars, 3,730,586 pesos; tobacco, 

 1,292,030 pesos. The total imports in 1890 

 amounted to 18,230,385 pesos, and the exports 

 to 10,710,519 pesos. The colony has about 470 

 miles of railroads. 



Insurrectionary Outbreak. The Cuban 

 clubs in Central America, New York, Florida, 

 and other parts of America were observed to be 

 unusually active in the early part of 1893. The 

 enrollment of these clubs, of about 60 members 

 each, is over 5,000 in the United States alone. 

 In April, 1892, the Cuban Revolutionary party 

 was regularly organized by Jose Marti and 

 other Cuban exiles, with a council of direction 

 composed of Marti and other resolute men of 

 the younger generation, having Gonzales de Que- 

 sada, of New York, for secretary, and Benjamin 

 J. Guerra for treasurer. Behind the organiza- 

 tion were all the surviving civil and military 

 leaders of the Cuban revolution, ready to take 

 an active part in another struggle for Cuban in- 

 dependence. There were 61 clubs in Key West, 

 15 in Tampa, 10 in New York city, 2 in Phila- 

 delphia, 2 in Ocala, and New Orleans, Jackson- 

 ville, Brooklyn, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, and 

 St. Augustine had each 1 club : while in Jamaica 

 there were 6, in Mexico 2, in Hayti 1, and others 

 in various parts of Spanish America. The 

 Spanish Government, in the beginning of 1893, 

 as a concession to the Autonomist demand for 

 universal suffrage, carried a law through the 

 Cortes granting the franchise to every male 

 adult Cuban who pays a poll tax of 5 pesos. 

 The Autonomists refused at first to accept the 

 concession, but the leaders yielded under pres- 

 sure, and resolved to have their party take part 

 in the elections. The result was disappointing, 

 and was attributed by them to official intimida- 

 tion, corruption, and falsification of returns. 

 From that time the Spanish agents in Central 

 America and in the United States took note of 

 certain signs of extraordinary activity in the 

 circles of Cuban patriots. The Spanish Govern- 



