THE 

 CUBA REVIEW 



"ALL ABOUT CUBA" 



Copyright, 1912, by the Munson Steamship Line 



LIBRARY 

 NEW YORi 

 BOTANICa 



Volume X 



MARCH, 1912 



Number 4 



CUBAN GOVERNMENT MATTERS 



President Taft has assured 



Taft the Cuban minister. Dr. An- 



Reassures tonio Martin-Rivero, in em- 



Ciiba phatic terms that the United 



States has no intention of 



intervening in Cuban atifairs. 



The Cuban minister had an interview 

 with "the president on March 12th and in- 

 formed him that persistent rumors that 

 the United States was preparing for an- 

 other intervention in Cuba were coming 

 from Havana. Mr. Taft's reply was ca- 

 bled immediately to Havana, but was not 

 made public until the minister received 

 authority from his government the follow- 

 ing day. 



"The United States cannot be expected 

 to take the trouble to deny all the foolish 

 gossin which is, unfortunately, spread 

 about its foreign relations. It should be 

 understood in Havana that whenever the 

 United States has anything to say about 

 her relations with Cuba it will be said by 

 the president or the secretary of state. 

 Then, and only then, will it be authentic. 



"I am astonished to learn from you of 

 the stupid and fantastic stories wdiich are 

 being circulated in some circles in Havana 

 to the - effect that intervention is being 

 planned. These stories are pure inventions, 

 and absolutely without foundation. 



"I am disposed, at your request, to take 

 the trouble to deny them on this occasion, 

 but truly, Mr. Minister, I cannot establish 

 the custom of denying one by one these 

 foolish stories, especially for the reason 

 that it is a deplorable fact that there are 

 certain circles in Havana which are cir- 

 culating rumors of this class to forward 

 their ulterior ends. 



"This pernicious custom is all the more 

 surprising and reprehensible in view of 

 the transparent politics of the United 

 States. The government of the United 

 States, as an act of friendship, has indi- 

 cated where dangers are and has adopted 

 what has been well called a 'preventive 



policy,' that is, a policy which consists in 

 doing all within its power to induce Cuba 

 to avoid every reason that would make 

 intervention possible at any time. 



"Finally, I repeat it, the subject of in- 

 tervention is not considered." 



On March Gth President 



Cuba's Gomez issued a decree ad- 



Congressioiial journing the Cuban Con- 



Crisis gress. That body insists 



that it has not adjourned, 



the conservative members asserting that 



the decree is unconstitutional. 



The only precedent for such action by 

 the president since the beginning of the 

 Cuban republic was in 1904 when President 

 Palma, on receiving a message from both 

 Houses stating that they were unable to 

 agree on date, sent a message announcing 

 a decree adjourning Congress because they 

 had informed him that they could not 

 agree. 



In the present case the Senate voted to 

 adjourn on February 28th, since which 

 time the House has held no session at 

 which there was a quorum, and conse- 

 quently there was no opportunity to con- 

 sider the Senate resolution. President 

 Gomez without receiving any communica- 

 tion from Congress, without any action by 

 the House on the Senate resolution and 

 without sending any message to Congress 

 issued a decree adjourning that body. 



The House has not had a quorum since 

 February 22d, and the Senate had voted to 

 end its legislative work on March 28th. 



The Brooklyn Eagle of March 10th, com- 

 ments editorially on this new phase of the 

 Cuban situation as follows : 



"Cuba faces a genuine constitutional 

 crisis, the significance of which, consider- 

 ing the generally disturbed condition of 

 things on the island, must be apparent to 

 exerybody. 



"Article II, Section 3, of the Constitu- 

 tion of the United States contains this 



