T H E C U B A R E V I E W 



clause with regard to the powers of the 

 president, which has been copied into the 

 Constitution of Cuba : 



" 'He may, on extraordinary occasions, 

 convene both Houses or either of them ; 

 and, in case of disagreement between them, 

 with respect to the time of adjournment, 

 he may adjourn them to such time as he 

 shall think proper.' 



"This clause appears with some modi- 

 fications in every one of the Constitutions 

 of American States. It was thus e.xplained 

 and justified by Thomas Jefferson fourteen 

 years after he had advised Virginia to deny 

 any such power to her executive : 



" 'As it might happen that obstinacy or 

 a difference of object might prevent this 

 occurrence (of the two Houses) it CArt. 

 n. Section 3) goes on to take from them, 

 in that instance, the right of adjournment 

 altogether, and to transfer it to another. 

 It was necessary to keep them together, 

 by restraining their natural right of de- 

 ciding on separate times and places, and 

 by requiring a concurrence of w-ill.' 



"Most students regard this clause as a 

 needful feature of any bicameral legislative 

 system. In Cuba the point is raised that 

 the two Houses had not reported a dis- 

 agreement, and had not actually disagreed 

 because the Lower House had not acted 

 on the Senate's resolution ; hence that 

 President Gomez exceeded his powers in 

 the action he took. The point seems to 

 be well taken. If the fact is as stated, 

 then the president of Cuba cannot take the 

 back track too soon." 



President Gomez hopes that when Con- 

 gress reconvenes the problems now dis- 

 turbing the Liberal Party will have been 

 solved. 



Mr. Beaupre, the United 

 Objects States minister to Cuba, 

 to acting presumably on in- 



Railroad structions from Washing- 

 ton, says the Neiv York 

 Sun, notified President Gomez on March 

 7th that the United States would be dis- 

 pleased with the approval of the subsidv 

 of $1,800,000 voted by the House to build 

 a railroad from Caibarien to Nuevitas. It 

 has been common gossip that the subsidy 

 is intended for President Gomez and his 

 friends. 



One of the plans of the 

 Wants "Veteranos," according to 

 State Manuel Aranda, in an in- 



Lands terview with a representa- 

 tive of the Havana Lucha, 

 is to obtain a distribution of the state 

 lands. "To this end," he says, "we shall 

 employ all our means so that those lands 

 may be distributed among Cuban families 

 whether they be veterans or not. In that 

 way we shall prevent lands from being 



sold to foreign companies which take ad- 

 vantage of the acts of conscienceless Cu- 

 bans." 



"In order to obtain that," continued 

 Colonel Aranda, "we have the purpose of 

 employing every means, and violence even 

 in the case should such become necessary. 

 By this we mean that we would lynch the 

 justices and the judges who may oppose 

 our plan, just the same as we would a 

 common 'guerrillero.' 



Claims 



to be 



Settled 



According to the Post of 

 Havana Cuba is understood 

 to have promised thie French 

 government that it will pay 

 the claims which P"rench 

 citizens hold against the republic for sums 

 advanced to revolutionary chiefs during the 

 rebellion against Spain. The other claims 

 for damages to their property will be dis- 

 cussed later. 



It is understood that more or less the 

 same note will be submitted to the English 

 and German ministers regarding their 

 claims against Cuba. 



Cuba y los Productes Franceses 



Refnblica: \Au revoir mon ami! Por hoy no 



qniero nada. — La Luclia. 



French trade with Cuba jeopardized. 



On February 26th Minister Le Clerq, 

 French minister to Cul)a, following a con- 

 ference with Secretary of State Sanguily, 

 authorized the publication of a letter in 

 which an apology is given Cuba for the 

 insulting remarks made against the credit 

 of Cuba in the French chamber of deputies. 



