10 THE CUBA REV ILW 
EEE ee eee 
FrxancraL: In the face of many obstacles, which at times appeared to be unsur- 
mountable, the loan issue, which it will be recalled was the object of the commission to 
Washington some few weeks ago, appears at present about to be consummated, and as a 
result a more optimistic feeling may be noted in financial and industrial circles. 
Messrs. D. W. Morrow, Martin Egan and Norman H. Davis, representing the firm 
of J. P. Morgan and Company, have been in Havana during the past couple of weeks 
securing data and conferring with President Zayas and others with reference to the 
issuing of this loan by the Morgan interests. The sum involved is said to be between 
$50,000,000 and $60,000,000, which will take the form of a 30 to 40 year 6 or7% straight 
Cuban Government bond issue. This loan, it is understood, is being made with the 
approval of Congress of the Island of Cuba, and with the full permission of the State 
Department at Washington, two authorizations necessary for a loan by United States 
banking interests to Cuba. A preliminary advance in the sum of $5,000,000 is already 
said to be ready for payment when the proper legal documents are drawn up and the 
approval of the Cuban Congress is obtained. 
It is not known at this time just when final negotiations covering this loan issue will 
take place, but it is expected that it will be within the next month or so, and while it is 
somewhat early to predict what effect this loan will have on industry in general, we 
believe it is safe to say that a general return of confidence may be looked for. 
In a recent decision Judge Sola of Havana announced that hereafter it would be 
considered a criminal act to spread false rumors concerning banking institutions or com- 
mit any act which might be construed as prejudicial to the interests of the banks in Cuba. 
This decision, if enforced, will no doubt put a stop to the constant “runs” on the part of 
small depositors on the large banks here, the result of indiscreet or intentional malicious 
remarks made by ignorant persons. 
An Emergency Tariff Treaty between Cuba and the United States has been proposed 
by the administration, naming a 50% preferential in customs duties in place of the 20% 
preferential now in existence. Advocates of this measure point out that it would favor 
the United States in meeting German competition, which is beginning to show in several 
commodities already, and would greatly assist the sugar planters as well. A committee, 
consisting of the Cuban Minister to the United States, Secretary of Treasury Gelabert, 
and the Collector of Customs, Colonel Despaigne, has called at the White House to con- 
fer with President Harding relative to this proposed treaty. 
Another organization working along similar lines has been formed in New York and 
is headed by Horatio Rubens, together with other prominent American business men 
having interests in Cuba, their object being to induce Congress to reduce the tariff rates 
on sugar to those effective previous to the new Fordney Emergency Measure. 
PouiticaL: Every possible effort is being made by President Zayas, insofar as he is 
able to do so, to bring about the greatest possible economies in the budget. Notwith- 
standing this attitude of the Chief Executive, Congress has been reluctant to comply 
with his wishes, having recently appropriated some ten millions in excess of the amount 
asked for by the President for government operation during the next fiscal year. 
In an address made on ‘‘Grito de Yara” or Independence Day, October 10th, at 
Maceo Park, President Zayas, addressing members of the Rotary Club, fraternal organi- 
zations and commercial representatives of all branches of industry, deplored the past 
mistakes and declared that patriotism is the greatest guarantee the Cuban people can 
have for a successful future. The President spoke very optimistically of the future 
and expressed his belief that the economic situation already showed signs of improvement. 
Lapor: By a presidential decree issued October 6th, authorization was made to re- 
patriate all foreign laborers remaining on the Island without employment, the decree stipu- 
lating that laborers from Haiti, Jamaica and other islands of the Lesser Antilles con- 
tracted for labor in the agricultural districts should be sent to their homes at the expense 
of the Cuban Government, it being held that they constituted a menace to law and peace 
of the community by being allowed to remain here without any visible means of sup- 
port and that they were fast becoming a lawless mob. It was further provided that 
