THE CUBA REVIEW 



CUBAN CITIZENS WILL BENEFIT 



Mr. Charles A. Conant, of New York, the 

 monetary speciahst, was recently invited to 

 Havana by Sefior Leopoldo Cancio, for con- 

 sultation regarding the conditions of the new 

 coinage and the best manner of introducing 

 it into circulation. He warmlj^ commends 

 the new monetary law of the Republic, and to 

 an Havana paper representative, expressed 

 himself as follows: 



"I was gratified to learn that Cuba has 

 decided to adopt her own monetary system. 

 She has certainly attained a sufficient decree 

 of economic independence to justify her in 

 taking for herseK the profit on her subsidiary 

 coinage, instead of letting it go into the treas- 

 ury of foreign governments, as she has been 

 doing during the past fifteen years. She has 

 permitted these foreign governments to draw 

 interest amounting to several hundred thous- 

 and dollars a year upon their currency which 

 Cuba has used. 



"The new law seems quite simple and well 

 adapted to giving the republic a currency 

 suited to local conditions and sound and safe, 

 if the law is carried out in a conservative 

 spirit. The mere aboUtion of interior ex- 

 change ought to mean a considerable benefit 

 to ever}- Cuban citizen who receives wages or 

 who has any deahngs with money. There 

 may be some uncertainties and confusion at 

 first in putting the new system in operation, 

 but experience has shovv'n that these are soon 

 overcome. In such an intelligent country as 

 Cuba, the period of transition from the old 

 system to the new, ought to be short and easy. 

 In order to carry out the system effectively, 

 however, I think it will be necessary for the 

 government to consult the best banking 

 opinion in the repubhc and to see that meas- 

 ures are taken to expel the old ciu-rency as 

 rapidly as can be done without reducing the 

 amount below legitimate requirements. If 

 proper arrangements are made on the subject 

 and intelligent support is given bj^ the banks 

 to the new system, there will be no difficulty 

 in keeping the old currency as long as it is 

 needed and getting rid of it when it ceases to 

 be needed. 



"It is important, in my opinion, that proper 

 steps should be taken from the beginning to 

 insure the equahty of the silver coins with 

 gold. Even if the government, in order to 

 accomplish this object, is compelled to set 

 aside a part of the profits on the silver coinage 

 as a reserve fund, it will gain in the end, es- 

 pecially if it has occasion to place new loans, 

 by the confidence which wiU be inspired in the 

 money markets of the world in the good faith 

 and strength of the finances of the repubhc. 



"Ultimatel}', moreover, if the new system 

 proves a success the reserve fund set aside can 

 probably be reduced from time to time and 

 substantially the whole of the profits derived 

 from the new coinage made available for 

 general expenditures for the benefit of the 

 Cuban people." 



The president has named the members of 

 the commission who are to control the work- 



ing of the law for the creation of a national! 

 coinage. These are Dr. Leopoldo Cadcio, 

 Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Charles A. 

 Conant of New York as ex-pert adviser to the 

 commission, Sr. Eduardo J. ]\Iontonheu and 

 Sr. Eugenio Estrada. 



Owing to the lack of work in 



Free Trans- certain parts of the island, 



portation especially in the province of 



Provided Pinar del Rio, the cabinet and 



President have decided to aid 



those who wish to move to another district 



in search of work. 



Thii'd class tickets to any other point in 

 the island will be given free of cost. 



There is no promise that work will be pro- 

 vided, or that any other financial aid will be 

 given 



President IMenocal has or- 

 Road Work ordered that .S112,000 be 

 for the taken from the appropriation 

 Needy of §500,000 voted by Cong- 

 ress in the National De- 

 fence Bill and immediately expended 

 in repair road work in Havana and Pinar 

 del Rio Provinces to give work to the 

 unemployed who have suffered because of the 

 paralization of various industries on account 

 of the European war. 



The whole amount must be used exclu- 

 sively in paying the workingmen's salaries. 



In the future the Department 

 of the Secretary of Government 

 will keep all the paj^ers and 

 dave full control of all re- 

 ferring to the Cuban na\'y. 

 It was previously under the control of the 

 Secretary of the Treasury. 



Navy 



Under New 



Control 



May Have 



Parcels 



Post 



The difficulty of arranging a 

 parcels post agreement be- 

 tween Cuba and Great 

 Britain has been that Eng- 

 land does not allow the im- 

 portation of tobacco and cigiirs in parcels, and 

 apart from that Cuba has not much to gain 

 as she exports nothing else that could be sent 

 bv parcel post. 



'The Hon. Stephen Leech, British Minister 

 to Cuba, has talcen up the matter with the 

 Cuban Secretarv of State, Dr. Pablo Desver- 



The Secretary of State on November loth, 

 made an official announcement to the various 

 foreign legations in the island, stating that the 

 bubonic plague which made its appearance in 

 Santiago de Cuba on the 22d of la^t June, hiis 

 now completely been stamped out and that 

 Cuba is quite free of the disease. 



