THE 

 CUBA RLVILW 



"ALL ABOUT CUBA" 



Copyright, 1914, hy the Munson Steamship Line 



Volume XIII 



DECEMBER, 1914 



Number 1 



CUBAN GOVERNMENT MATTERS 





NEW MEASURES BEFORE CONGRESS— CUBA WILL COIN HER OWN MONEY- 

 AMNESTY TO GENERAL ASBERT 



■^i>e. 



American Minister Gonzales 



Asbert has assured President Meno- 



will be cal that the United States 



Freed Government has no objection 



to the granting of amnesty by 



the Cuban Congress to Gen. Ernesto Asbert, 



who was convicted of having a hand in the 



assassination of Gen. Armando Riva, the 



Chief of the Havana police, and was sentenced 



to imprisonment for fourteen years. 



But the envoy said that the pardoning of 

 Congressman Arias, who was with Gen. As- 

 bert at the time of the shooting, is another 

 matter, because ..Vi'ias has confessed that he 

 killed Riva and that Asbert fired no shot. 



On December 10th, the Senate approved 

 the bill {previously passed by the House grant- 

 ing amnesty to General Asbert. 



The story of the shooting is as follows : 



On July 12, 1913, in Jaroad daylight on the 

 Prado in Havana, Asbert, Senator Vidal Mor- 

 ales and Representative Eugenio Arias went 

 up to Riva, and according to the accusation, 

 shot him to death. The conviction of Asbert, 

 and the purpose of the Senate and House to 

 pardon him, have even stii'red diplomatic 

 relations between Cuba and the L^nited States. 



Advices from Madrid under 

 Bringing date of November 8th, were 

 Spain to the effect that while the 

 To Time Spanish government is willing 

 and even anxious to sign a new 

 commercial treaty, it is impossible under the 

 conditions imposed by the Cuban govern- 

 ment. The Spanish Minister of State, Sr. 

 de Loma, said that the present terms offered 

 them were inadmissable, and that "until the 

 Cuban government, reconsidered and modi- 

 fied these conditions, it will be impossible for 

 us to sign a modus vivendi with that nation. 

 Havana newspapers say there is one effi- 

 cient way for Cuba to bring Spain to time. 



and that is ''to put a prohibitive duty on 

 everything from that countr}-. Even the 

 passing of a law that all Spanish wines shall 

 pay a prohibitive duty and the protest that 

 would be put up by the wine merchants and 

 gi'owers in Spain would bring that govern- 

 ment to quickly see that it can well afford to 

 make a suitable treaty with Cuba rather than 

 lose her trade." 



New 



Measures 



Submitted 



tions of the 



A bill in the House of Repre- 

 sentatives is intended to assist 

 the government pawnshop 

 known as Monte de Piedad 

 and also to curb the opera- 

 private pawnshop. The bill 

 would make it a criminal offence for private 

 pawnshops to charge more interest than 12% 

 per annum instead of 12% per month which 

 many of them charge now. 



The House bill on absolute divorce reached 

 the Senate December 3d and was immediately 

 referred to the committee on codes and social 

 reform, which will delay debate for some time. 

 Another bill reduces the taxes on rural 

 property in the municipahty of Havana from 

 12 to 8%. It was debated at some length on 

 being introduced owing to an amendment 

 declaring that the measure should apply gen- 

 erally. 



A bill to create the Department of Posts 

 and Telegraphs as an independent institution 

 with a cabinet officer at its head was intro- 

 duced and referred to the committee on bud- 

 gets. The Department of Posts and Tele- 

 graphs at present is attached to the Depart- 

 ment of the Interior. 



Monej^ order offices have been opened at 

 Palmarito de Canto, and at Firmeza Post 

 Office. Both places are in Oriente Province. 



