10 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



CUBAN GOVERNMENT MATTERS 



OLD ISSUES OF CUBAN STAMPS 



President Menocal issued a decree orderiiifr 

 that all unused stamps which still remain in 

 the post office and its branches, and which 

 were of the old model, which has now been 

 replaced, be destroyed. This decree also ap- 

 plied to postal cards and inland revenue 

 stamps. The reason for this action was to 

 have uniformity in all the stamps in use, and 

 the latest issue of Cuban stamps was con- 

 sidered to be the best. The estimated face 

 value of the stamps to be destroyed was re- 

 ported to be $1,200,000. Before this decree 

 was carried into effect, it was necessary that 

 all the old unused stamps, etc., be carefully 

 counted before being- burned. The work of 

 counting proceeded, and it was proposed as 

 soon as the counting was completed to place 

 all the stamps in metal tanks, which were to 

 be heated imtil they were red hot, and the old 

 issues thus destroyed. 



The whole matter, however, has been recon- 

 sidered, and the stamps will not be Isurned 

 until the matter has been definitely decided. 



Aside from any ciuestion of their face value, 

 it is thought that the stamps might have an 

 actual value of several thousand dollars to 

 stamp collectors. In tliis connection it may 

 be interesting to stamp collectors to know that 

 some of the old issues are very valuable. 

 There was one issue of 1873, made by the 

 Revolutionists, and the stamps consisted of 

 only one denomination, 10 centavos. This 

 particular stamp is extremely rare. In 1896, 

 the Cuban Junta in New York issued a series 

 of stamps similar in design to the issue of 

 1873. The denominations were 2, 5, 10 and 

 25 centavos. This particular issue has never 

 been recognized as having the backing of an 

 established government. It will be interesting 

 to know just what issues were included in the 

 lot of stamps that it is proposed to destroy. 

 Doubtless the matter will have the thorough 

 investigation of the Cuban Government. 



SPARROWS NEEDED IN PORTO RICO 



The Mayor of Ponce, Porto Rico, has sent 

 a request to the Mayor of Havana asking that 

 one hundred paii s of sparrows be sent to Porto 

 Rico. The sparrows are wanted in Porto Rico 

 to act as insect-destroyers. The Mayor of 

 Havana handed the request to the Inspector- 

 General of Wild Birds and Animals with a 

 view to granting the request if ])ossible. 



EXPERT FOR ISLE OF PINES 



It is reported that H. A. Van Herman of 

 Santiago de las Vegas, who is an expert horti- 

 culturist, has been appointed to direct horti- 

 cultural work on the Isle of Pines, and that he 

 will enter upon his duties shortly. 



PAN AMERICAN CONFERENCE 



On May 24th, delegates from eighteen 

 Latin-American countries will meet in Wash- 

 ton, D. C, at the invitation of Secretary 

 McAdoo of the Treasury Department. This 

 conference is of great importance, as it will be 

 one of the most representative gatherings of 

 American financiers which has ever assembled 

 on the Western Hemisphere. The Repuljlic 

 of Cuba will be represented by Dr. Pat)lo Des- 

 vernine, the Secretary of State of Cuba, Por- 

 firio Franco, Director, National Bank of 

 Cuba, and Octavio Zayas. 



DRY FARMING 



United States Alinister Cionzales of Havana, 

 has presented an invitation to the Secretary 

 of State of Cuba to be officially represented at 

 the International Dry Farming Congress, 

 which will l)e held in Denver, Colorado, on 

 September 27th. 



FUND FOR CUBAN INVENTIONS 



The President of Cuba has been asked to use 

 his influence to have a credit of $20,000 voted 

 by Cuban Congress, this sum to be used to aid 

 Cuban inventors, so that when a patent is 

 taken out by a Cuban, if he has not sufficient 

 capital, he may be able to secure the required 

 sum, provided the invention is considered of 

 sufficient value. 



ROAD REPAIRS 



The sum of $4,000 has been requested for 

 the repairs on the main road between Sagua 

 and Quemados de Guines. The road is in very 

 bad condition. 



THE ISLE OF PINES 



The American settlers of the Isle of Pines 

 have again revived the question of annexa- 

 tion. A new petition has been forwarded to 

 the Government of the United States asking 

 that the Isle be annexed. At the same time 

 the petitioners sent a copy of their request to 

 the Secretary of State of Cuba, who promptly 

 made the matter public. This agitation has 

 been made from time to time since 1905, but 

 the United States has never shown any dispo- 

 sition to encourage the project. 



RETRENCHMENT 



It is being considered as a means of effect- 

 ing economies to discontinue the Cuban 

 Legations in Holland, Belgium, Chile, Brazil, 

 and Columbia. A saving of $100,000 would 

 result, and it is believed Cuban interests 

 would not suffer. 



