THE CUBA REVIEW 



13 



FOREIGN TALK OF ANNEXATION 



The revolt now apparently ending in Cuba has aroused a good deal of attention in 

 the European press, who expect the United States eventually to annex the island. Most 

 of the leading papers favor annexation and report that many native Cubans and Spanish 

 extraction advocate such a union as the sole solution that will put a stop to the inter- 

 minable struggles that are likely to follow one after the other. This condition of mind 

 means that the Spaniards of America acknowledge their inferiority to the Anglo-Saxons, 

 infers the Paris Croix, an organ of monarchism. It proceeds : 



"Will the United States follow out these suggestions? We don't believe it will, for the present 

 moment at least. This would be to reawaken international jealousies. If it sends troops to Cuba, it 

 is only to protect the lives and property of American residents. It is asked whether small nations can 

 possibly exist side by side with vast empires. It was the opinion of the French philosopher Montesquieu 

 that they could not, but since his day we have seen the development of the Swiss republic and the 

 revival of many small monarchies lying in proximity to Russia, Germany and the British Empire. 

 Aristotle asserted that certain nations were born to be slaves, to do the work and be dependent on the 

 benevolence of more powerful races. Since that time we have seen a negro republic flourish in wealth 

 and civilization in the West Indies." 



Yet the Croix thinks that Montesquieu is right, and says : 



"These little states have not in our age any means to escape from the humble sphere in which they 

 have been placed by Providence, for not only are they unable to extricate themselves from their 

 lowliness, but every colossus at whose feet they have been laid little by little will annex them." 



It believes that Cubans are certainly unable to govern themselves. Unless they go 

 through some severe discipline and training they must be annexed by a tnore powerful 

 nation. Self-restraint, steadiness of purpose, self-sacrifice and the spirit of unselfish 

 patriotism can alone save the pearl of the Antilles from this fate. 



"In the long run we believe annexation to be the fate of Cuba, unless Cuba suddenly becomes more 

 diligent, well-behaved and strong, and this is very improbable. The intrigues of the lobby are really 

 less dangerous to a state than the want of discipline, and it is deeply regrettable, to put it mildly, that 

 we should be called upon to see the Cubans shooting each other without intermission for half a century. 

 It is certainly time to find a remedy for this. — Translation made for The Literary Digest. 



leneral 



Notes 



The Centro Gallego of Cuba has be- 

 stowed a signal honor on Dr. Enrique B. 

 Barnet, former executive officer of the De- 

 partment of Sanitation, and at present 

 chief of the division of Library and Pub- 

 lications of the National Department of 

 Health and editor-in-chief of Saiiidad y 

 Beiieficeiicia, by granting him a certificate 

 of honorarj^ membership of the club. 



The society recently approved the plans 

 for the construction of a hospital building 

 for the branch offices of the club in San- 

 tiago dc Cuba. 



The marriage of ]\Iiss Clarissa Prescott, 

 an artist of Xew York, daughter of J. H. 

 Prescott of Shreveport, La., to J. J. Warren 

 of Havana, took place August 1st. 



Mr. Warren, aside from his sugar inter- 

 ests, is connected with the largest banking 

 concerns in Cuba, says the A'cw York 

 Times. He is descended from the old 

 family of Gen. Warren of revolutionary 

 days. 



The Cuban Senate recently voted to ac- 

 cept the favorable report of the Committee 

 on Laws on the bill to grant the president 

 authority to treat with the United States 

 for the emplification of the reciprocity 

 treatv. 



A report of the Committee on Petitions 

 favors the granting of a concession for 

 thirty years to the Cuban Sporting Club 

 to establish a hippodrome and to erect a 

 Jai Alai building in the province of Ha- 

 vana. 



Lender the terms of the bill the conces- 

 sion is not exclusive to Havana ; the state 

 will receive 2 per cent of the profits and 

 the hippodrome and buildings pass to the 

 city of Havana at the end of the term. 



The provincial council of Oriente has 

 conceded a credit of $4,475 for the repair 

 of the road between Caney and San Juan. 

 The same council voted $6,700 for the 

 dredging of the Jique River in Holguin 

 and the construction of a bridge over the 

 said river. Some road repair work is in- 

 cluded in the appropriation. 



The Cuban postal authorities have been 

 officially notified by the I^Iexican Postal 

 Department that it will proceed to disinfect 

 all mail coming from Cuba, owing to the 

 presence of bubonic plague in this country. 



Lieutenant-Colonel Gabriel Jose Diaz 

 Quibus, commander of the cruiser "Cuba," 

 and the oldest ranking officer of the Cuban 

 navy, died July 29th at Mercedes Hospital 

 in Havana from typhoid fever. 



