THE 

 CUBA RLVILW 



"ALL ABOUT CUBA" 



Copyright, 1915, hy the Munson Steamship Line 



Volume XIII 



OCTOBER, 1915 



Number 11 



CUBAN GOVERNMENT MATTERS 



CUBAN MONETARY SYSTEM 



A decree has been issued by President 

 Menocal which provides for the enforcement 

 of the new monetary system which was created 

 by the law of October 29, 1914, whereby the 

 new Cuban coinage was provided for and 

 its parity with United States currencj^ was 

 fixed. It is now stated that after the first 

 of December, 1915, the only money which is 

 to be legal tender in the Republic of Cuba 

 will be the official money of Cuba or Ignited 

 States ciu-rency. 



The decree makes provision for the ad- 

 justment of all laws, agreements and con- 

 tracts, or other obligations, where the form 

 of payment is other than United States money 

 or official Cuban money. The rate of ex- 

 change for foreign coins is fixed, and the 

 premium hitherto exacted for Spanish gold 

 is eliminated. 



There has been a large amount of Spanish 

 and French coinage in circulation throughout 

 Cuba, and this decree will have the effect of 

 driving such coins out of circulation. In 

 fact, large amounts of Spanish silver have 

 already been shippefl back to Spain. Fur- 

 thermore, this decree has caused a great 

 deal of dissatisfaction among banking and 

 commercial houses, for a shortage of cur- 

 rency for commercial use is feared. 



AVIATOR FOR ARMY 



Sr. Jaime Gonzales of Cienfuegos has been 

 appointed an aviator of the Cuban arm>'. 



GOVERNMENT LOAN ASSOCIATION 



According to press reports, the Cuban 

 Government will establish a Monte de Piedad 

 in Havana with branch offices in all of the 

 various cities of the republic. This organi- 

 zation will presumably be conducted in the 

 same way as they have been in continental 

 countries, and should relieve the poorer 

 population of Cuba from the necessity of 

 doing business with irresponsible money 

 lenders, by granting loans on personal pro- 

 perty or real property at a rate of interest 

 not to exceed 6% per annum. 



POLICE CENTRALIZATION 



The Government of Cuba is considering 

 a plan whereby all of the police of the Island 

 of Cuba will be under the supervision of one 

 official. It is thought that such a scheme 

 of centralization would greatly promote 

 efficiency throughout the ]io]ice esta1ilish- 

 ment of the island. 



SANITARY DEPARTMENT 



The Sanitary Department of the Repulihc 

 of Cuba will ask for a credit of $5,000,000 for 

 the ensuing twelve months. This amount is 

 $1,000,000 in excess of the expenses of last 

 year, and the increased expenditure will allow 

 for the needed expansion of the department, 

 and will include many improvements which 

 the lack of money prevented in the year gone 

 In-. 



