THE CUBA REVIEW 



11 



STATEMENT OF GENERAL MENOCAL 



General Mario Menocal, the Conservative 

 Party nominee for president of Cuba, dis- 

 cussed very recently his plans should he 

 be elected to the high office. He followed 

 closely the lines of his party's platform, 

 but vi^ith it were his own personal promises 

 as to improvements in which he is per- 

 sonally interested. His signed statement 

 is in part as follows : 



"As to our foreign relations, I will 

 strictly adhere to the obligations we have 

 acquired by international treaties and all 

 the duties imposed by the custom of na- 

 tions, and v.-ill try each day to draw closer 

 and closer the bonds of friendship which 

 unite us to the great republic of the north, 

 to which for many reasons we owe pro- 

 found gratitude, and to which we are 

 bound by special relations in the diverse 

 orders of life, as well as with all countries 

 with whom we are united by moral or 

 material interests and with whom we have 

 more or less traffic. Rut at the same time 

 we should be careful defenders of the 

 rights which are ours by the treaties and 

 those that are due us as an independent 

 nation, trying to fix by the soberness of our 

 acts, the exact fulfillment of our obliga- 

 tions, the firm determination to maintain 

 unharmed our personality and the credit 

 of the republic. 



"Our economic interests in their mercan- 

 tile, industrial and financial aspects must 

 merit equal attention and care, especially 

 as regards our agriculture and industry, 

 the greater development of which must be 

 stimulated by the increase of immigration 

 and other adequate means, and by obtain- 

 ing for our products the markets which 

 are most convenient, and earn an honor- 

 able place among producers and the com- 

 mercial world. 



''I will by means of a commission created 

 for the purpose make a careful study of 

 our tariffs which will permit us to formu- 

 late a general plan of commercial relations 

 with the United States so as to facilitate 

 a complete exchange of products, as fixed 

 as possible and with reciprocal advantages, 



with the least injury to the income of our 

 customs. 



"All initiatives for the reform of the 

 tariff have always been interfered with by 

 our expensive public administration. The 

 state has no other important income than 

 that of the customs. These amount to 

 $28,4.34,000, of a total income of $37,940,200, 

 with which to meet an ever-increasing ex- 

 penditure already reaching $33,975,147.02, 

 and even these last figures do not comprise 

 all the obligations of the state. 



"It is indispensable to reform the tariff 

 so as to cheapen the cost of living, which 

 is extremely high even for the most neces- 

 sary things of life, and attempt at the 

 same time a favorable amplification of the 

 commercial reciprocity treaty with the 

 United States which will contribute effi- 

 ciently to that end. But it is impossible 

 to try this work, which is indispensable for 

 many reasons, without making a consider- 

 able decrease in the public expenses, the 

 increase of which has been constant, and 

 at the same time reform our .system of 

 taxes so that other sources of income may 

 be found and thus distribute more equalljj 

 the pulilic expenses. 



"It will be the purpose of my adminis- 

 tration to try to normalize the economic 

 life of the state, endeavoring to see that 

 all of the public expenses are included in 

 the budget, for the formation of which we 

 will see that no service is left unprovided 

 for, but we will not under any circum- 

 stances consent that money shall be paid 

 for purposes that are not necessary and 

 are without effect to the nation. 



"Until these measures are adopted it is 

 useless to aspire — of which the country is; 

 painfully aware — to the economy and 

 justification of the expenses, to modera- 

 tion in the taxes, to order and exactness 

 of keeping the accounts, or to the public 

 services which should be severely reor- 

 ganized. 



"The public administration must be and 

 must appear honest and the standard of 

 government a strict fulfillment of dutv. 



A bill designed in favor of 

 Protecting the press was recently in- 

 tJie troduced into the House. 



Press It refers to an amendment 



of the law of criminal pro- 

 cedure, providing that no libel case shall 

 come within the jurisdiction of the correc- 

 tional courts, the same to be persecuted 

 before the Audiencia and Supreme Court. 

 The same bill provides that in all such 

 cases the evidence of police officers or of 

 another official receiving a salary or emolu- 

 ment from the government shall not be 



admitted when the suits shall be started for 

 alleged libel against government officials. 



Convict labor is suggested for public 

 works from economical reasons. It has 

 been tried before and with success in the 

 construction of government buildings. 



Sr. Antonio San i\Iiguel, editor and 

 proprietor of La Lucha, was married in 

 Xew York to Sra. Dolores Pardo of Ha- 

 vana. 



