THE CUBA REVIEW 



Protection against bulsonic 

 To plague from Cuban ports 



Investigate was the purpose of a reso- 

 CiibxX lution introduced in the 



United House of Repre- 

 sentatives on August 2d by Representative 

 Foss, of Illinois, which asks that the Secre- 

 tar\- of State be directed to report to Con- 

 gress at its next session if the Cuban re- 

 public is living up to the provisions of the 

 Cuban treaty of May 22, 1903, which re- 

 quires that government to keep its cities 

 in a clean and sanitary condition. 



The resolution recites that reports state 

 the unclean conditions of Cuban cities is 

 responsible for bubonic plague, which is a 

 menace to American ports. It also pro- 

 vides for a Congress committee of five to 

 investigate the sanitary condition of Cuba. 



Owing to the fear of the plague, the De- 

 partment of Sanitation will enforce certain 

 rules regarding the storing of merchandise 

 upon all merchants. The goods must be 

 kept out of reach of the rats and to this 

 end the construction of all floors must be 

 of cement or hydraulic brick, at least four 

 inches in thickness. 



There must be a space between the mer- 

 chandise and the wall sufficient for a man 

 to pass in order that it be swept and 

 cleaned out every day, and the walls must 

 be covered with cement to a height of 40 

 inches. 



All stands for jerked beef should be 

 made perefctly rat proof and the meat sus- 

 pended from the ceilings so that rats could 

 not reach it. 



The floors must be washed daily, dis- 

 infecting solutions freely used and no 

 stables will be permitted near the ware- 

 houses. 



Xo bubonic infection was found in 3,015 

 rats killed in Cuba. There have been no 

 new cases and it is now August 5th, 

 twenty-one days since the appearance of 

 the last confirmed case. 



Dr. Pedro Herrera Soto- 



Ports longo is unceasing in his 



IinproTeincnt endeavors to obtain a ju- 



Act dicial declaration against 



the Ports Improvement Act 

 of February, 1911, although the Supreme 

 Court has several times handed down ad- 

 verse decisions against his petitions. It is 

 stated that the matter has not yet been 

 decided upon its merits, but has been 

 thrown out because of technicalities or ir- 

 regularities in drawing up the appeals to 

 the Supreme Court. 



The points at law which are made in the 

 new appeal are related to articles one, five 

 and six of the law which are declared to 

 be unconstitutional, and he moves that the 

 contract made with the Ports Improvement 

 Company be annulled to return to the state 

 the amounts received from port taxes. 



It is said that a note was 



The given to the Cuban govern- 



Zapata ment in reference to the 



Szi.'aiiip Zapata land concession. 



aliout July 27th, and that 



the communication was discussed later at 



a cabinet meeting. 



It is understood that the ^\'ashington 

 government is doubtful about the wisdom 

 of the deal by which the Cuban Depart- 

 ment of Public Works plans to lease the 

 Zapata swamp to a company for a long- 

 term of years. 



It is held that the proposed transaction 

 is not all that it should be in a legal sense, 

 that it was made by the application of the 

 old Spanish law governing water rights 

 which is in violation of the present consti- 

 tution of the republic of Cuba, and that it 

 threatens the welfare of the Cuban gov- 

 ernment. 



The Cuban government is said to take 

 the stand that the Zapata deal is of im- 

 mense benefit to the country, inasnutch as 

 it means the reclamation of thousands of 

 acres of land which are now unproductive.' 



It is also said that the cabinet maintains- 

 that the United States has nothing to do 

 in the matter and that it is outside of the 

 treaty relation with the American govern- 

 ment. It is understood that diplomatic 

 representations will be made to Washing- 

 ton to ascertain detinitely the scope of the 

 Piatt amendment. 



The Cuban Senate is considering a bill 

 to prevent the further giving aw-ay of state 

 lands such as swamps, lakes and other 

 common property. Such a bill has been 

 filed and referred to the Committee on 

 Codes for report. 



Under its provisions when lakes, swamps 

 and other property, whether of the property 

 of the state or private individuals should 

 be declared to be dangerous to public 

 health by the Department of Sanitation, 

 that work should be carried out by the 

 state, the cost to be assessed against the 

 property, but that in no case grants of such 

 lands be made to any person or corpora- 

 tions except by authority of Congress. 



A subscription headed by Mrs. Jose 

 Jkliguel Gomez with the sum of $2,000 has 

 been started to put into execution her 

 plans of erecting in the city of Havana a 

 church in honor of Our Lady of Cobre, 

 the Virgin patroness of Cuba, to cost 

 $45,000. 



Dr. Miguel Mariano Gomez, President 

 Gomez's son, who was graduated a lawyer 

 but a few weeks ago, was appointed an 

 attorney for the Havana Electric Railway 

 Company, forming the scaff of the com- 

 pany's legal advisers with Sr. Carlos Fonts 

 and Dr. Nestor Tremols. 



