THL 

 CUBA RE.VILW 



"ALL ABOUT CUBA" 



Copyright, 1912, by the Munson Steamship Line 



Lf8 



eOTA 



Volume X 



JULY, 1912 



Number 8 



CUBAN GOVERNMENT MATTERS 



ZAPATA SWAMP CONCESSION OPPOSED BUBONIC PLAGUE IN HA- 

 VANA A NEW LOAN PROPOSED 



The Official Gazette has 



Reclaiming just made public the par- 

 Sivaiiip ticulars of the decree 

 signed by President Gomez 

 upon the recommendation of Secretary of 

 Public Works, Rafael de Carrera, granting 

 and giving over to the "Compania Agri- 

 cultura de Zapata" all the lands comprised 

 in what is known as the "Cienega de Za 

 pata" which stretches from the Punta de 

 Mangle to Cienfuegos and which comprises 

 all the south coast of the province of Ma- 

 tanzas and part of that of Santa Clara, 

 over 200 square leagues. 



The company which gets an acreage of 

 charcoal lands valued, says the Havana 

 Luclia, at many millions of dollars, obtains 

 this concession for nothing. The only 

 .obligation which it acquires is that it should 

 proceed within the term of eight years to 

 sanitate and reclaim these swamps, "which 

 then pass to the company perpetually." 



Ever since Cuba was freed from Spain 

 six different attempts have been made to 

 put a similar deal through without any 

 success. 



The National Board of Sanitation had 

 previously declared the swamps unhealthy, 

 but it is declared that hundreds of persons 

 reside within the swamps and they have 

 never been known to have suffered any 

 disease. 



Says La Luclia further : "The concession 

 interferes seriously with the rights of prop- 

 erty_ owners residing within the swamps. 

 Their rights are damaged by a provision 

 of the concession which declares that a 

 commission shall proceed to place a 

 valuation on the lands as they are now and 

 that the property owners whose lands are 

 reclaimed shall be forced to pay the over 

 valuation which is also to be fixed by the 

 commission. 



"The Cienega de Zapata includes one of 

 the largest rivers of Cuba, the Hatiguanico, 



and the Cochino harbor, which is the largest 

 on the south coast of Cuba." 



General Loynaz del Castillo is bitterly 

 opposed to the granting of the concession 

 and has appealed to Congress on the ground 

 that the president's decree granting the 

 concession violates the constitutional pro- 

 visions contained in Article 32 which says : 

 "No one shall be deprived of his property 

 except by the competent authorities and for 

 a just cause of public use and which pro- 

 vides just compensation." He says there 

 are immensely valuable groves of jucaro 

 and'.j-ana trees in the swamp. 



The 

 Foreign 

 Claims 



Discussion continues among 

 the foremost lawyers of 

 Cuba and cabinet officials of 

 the claims held against 

 Cuba by France, England 

 and Germany for damages alleged to have 

 been suffered by citizens of these countries 

 during the war with Spain. Another sub- 

 ject under discussion is to what extent 

 Cuba is responsible for damages to foreign 

 properties which were guarded by American 

 marines. 



In the Treaty of Paris, signed December 

 19, 1898, both the United States and Spain 

 waived all rights against each other to 

 claims for damages suffered by any of their 

 citizens, but no provision was made, says 

 La Luclia. for the claims of citizens of 

 other nations than the United States and 

 Spain and despite the waivers of both Spain 

 and the United States, such waivers could 

 not reach or affect the obligations con- 

 tracted by the rebels in arms or their repre- 

 sentatives, the revohitionary juntas. 



Some of these claims have a foundation 

 in our constitution, says La Lucha. 



Secretarj' Sanguily has called the lawyers 

 together so as to get their opinion regard- 

 ing the liability of Cuba. 



