THE CUBA REVIEW 



11 



The claim of Hugh Reilly, 

 Reilly an American contractor, 



Claim against the government of 



Paid Cuba for $557,000, repre- 



senting the final settle- 

 ment of the Cienfuegos Water Works con- 

 tract, was paid August 27th at Havana 

 after an animated conference lasting four 

 hours between Hugh S. Gibson, Charge 

 d'Affaires of the American Legation, and 

 members of the Cuban Cabinet. 



The government secretaries presented 

 many objections to settling the claim, but 

 after lengthy arguments they finally receded 

 and the payment was made in the form of 

 a treasurer's check on the National Bank 

 of Cuba, which immediately converted the 

 note into United States currency and re- 

 turned the money to the Department of 

 State, where it formally was delivered to 

 Contractor Reilly's representatives. 



The government officials have stated that 

 there has been no effort made to evade the 

 Reilly claim and that the delay was due 

 entirely to a technicality. The arrangement 

 for its payment was provided out of the 

 $16,000,000 IMagoon loan, but the fund was 

 used up without a sufficient balance being 

 left to cover the work. 



The contract for the construction of a 

 water works system at Cienfuegos, to cost 

 $3,080,000, was warded by the Cuban gov- 

 ernment to Hugh Reilly four years ago. 

 Payments were made as the construction 

 progressed until the work was completed 

 ten months ago, w^hen the final installment 

 was allowed to lapse. 



After waiting several months ^Ir. Reilly 

 protested to Washington, and President 

 Taft is reported to have instructed the 

 American legation officials to inquire into 

 the delay and to endeavor to bring about 

 a settlement of the claim. 



In an effort to prevent fu- 

 To Bar ture diplomatic complica- 

 Forcign tions growing out of claims 

 Contracts against Cuba, five promi- 

 nent congressmen intro- 

 duced a bill in the House on September 2d 

 forbidding further state, provincial and 

 municipal contracts to be given to for- 

 eigners. 



The measure requires that contractors 

 must be Cubans, but foreigners will be 

 allowed to enter into sub-contracts, pro- 

 vided they sign, before a notary public, an 

 undertaking giving up for the future all 

 rights claimed against the government, ex- 

 cept those they could claim under Cuban 



laws. • 



Mario Garcia Kohly, Secretary of Public 

 Instruction, tendered his resignation on 

 September 2nd to President Gomez, giving 

 as his reason for so doing the failure of the 

 Liberal party to effect a consolidation. It 

 was not accepted. 



Dr. Felix Giralt, chief port 



Plague doctor, has been ordered by 



Precautions the Cuban government to 



go to Porto Rico, study the 



disease there and take such measures as 



he sees fit regarding the safety of Cuba. 



The duties of Dr. Giralt will be more or 

 less the same in Porto Rico as are those 

 of Dr. von Ezdorf for the United States 

 in Cuba. He will pass on all passengers 

 who wish to sail for Cuba and will care- 

 fully inspect all ships which sail from 

 Porto Rico for Cuba. No ship can leave 

 there without his certificate unless it is sub- 

 mitted to the strictest quarantine on arrival 

 at Havana. 



Cuba was officially declared free from 

 bubonic plague on August 23d by Dr. Va- 

 rona Suarez, secretary of sanitation. Rep- 

 resentatives of various nations in Cuba 

 were notified and also the Cuban consulates 

 throughout the world. 



The Cabinet on August 3d adopted a 

 resolution saying that Cuba would wel- 

 come an American commission for the 

 investigation of Cuba's sanitary condition 

 and declaring that Cuba would be found 

 to compare favorably with any country in 

 the world in the matter of health. 



The Cuban Secretary of Sanitation, Va- 

 rona Suarez, in requesting that all nations 

 having sanitary arrangements with Cuba be 

 notified of the complete extinction of the 

 plague focus in Havana, that they be in- 

 formed that Cuba has now established a 

 permanent bureau of deratization and that 

 the sanitary ordinances relative to the con- 

 struction of rat-proof buildings will be 

 most rigidly enforced. 



Cuba is now likely to establish quarantine 

 against Spanish vessels touching at Moroc- 

 can ports where bubonis plague is now 

 prevailing. 



On September 1st. six weeks had elapsed 

 since the confirmation of the last case of 

 the plague. 



The quarantine imposed by the United 

 States against passengers from Cuba, be- 

 cause of the plague, was lifted August 27th. 



Havana is to have a permanent rat kill- 

 ing bureau. Secretary Varona Suarez, of 

 the Department of Sanitation, has set 

 aside $1,000 a month for its maintenance. 



Several Cuban department 

 Investigate heads were recently ordered 

 Shortage at the end of the fiscal year 



to turn in to the treasury 

 surplus funds. The paymaster of the 

 Public Works Department replied that he 

 cannot turn in the $271,000 demanded from 

 him because the money has been diverted 

 to other purposes by orders of superior 

 authority. The secretary of the treasury 

 has now appointed a special judge to in- 

 vestigate the shortage of funds in this de- 

 partment. 



