i6 



THE CUBA REVIEW. 



Mr. Vaughan, the presi- 

 Cuba at dent of the National Bank 

 the American of Cuba, attended the nieet- 

 Baiikers ing of the American Bankers 

 Association Association at Atlantic City 

 Meeting. and was surprised to find 

 very much interest manifest- 

 ed in Cuba and its affairs. He said it 

 seems to me that they are awakening more 

 tlian ever before to the resources of Cuba. 

 It is a strange thing, however, how much 

 accurate information is lacking among the 

 banking men in the United States, and how 

 eager they are to acquire information 

 from a reliable source. They express them- 

 selves, in many cases, anxious to learn 

 more of the possibilities of Cuba from 

 every financial standpoint. Cuba was the 

 topic this year more than it has ever been 

 before, and it is now recognized as an im- 

 portant factor in the West Indies trade. 



An American hospital was 

 An opened in Havana Novem- 



American ber lo. Governor Magoon 



Hospital. and other prominent citizens 

 being present. The new 

 hospital is in the Vedado, and English- 

 speaking people will be cared for by phy- 

 sicians and nurses speaking their own 

 tongue. 



Halsey B. Leavitt, until recently editor 

 of the Havana Post, was acquitted on De- 

 cember 6 by the Audiencia of the charge 

 of criminal libel made against him by Frank 

 Sreinhart, formerly American Consul-Gen- 

 eral. 



Sr. Manuel Zabala, of the town of Pal- 

 mira in the Santa Clara Province, has 

 been granted permission by the provisional 

 government to install an electric light and 

 power plant. Work will be commenced at 

 once on the plant. 



A COUXTRY STOKE IN CUBA. 



TRADE GUILDS IN CUBA. 



EVERY person exercising any profes- 

 sion, art, craft, trade or business of 

 any kind must pay an industrial tax, 

 says United States Consul M. J. Baehr, 

 .Cienfuegos. The law goes back to 1839, 

 when it was approved by the Queen Re- 

 gent of Spain. It was modified by mili- 

 tary orders during the first intervention 

 and later by Cuban government officials. 

 The island is divided into numerous sec- 

 tions, according to population, and the vari- 

 ous occupations of the residents are classi- 

 fied and each one taxed according to fixed 

 tariffs. There are exceptions and among 

 those who do not pay these industrial taxes 

 are seamstresses, nurses, fishermen, actors 

 and clerks. 



To facilitate the equal distribution of 

 the tax, guilds were formed in Cuba. Some 

 businesses were not given this privilege, 

 but those who came under the guild regu- 

 lations were permitted if engaged in the 

 same business to unite in one body having 



at least ten taxpayers. 



Taking shoemakers, for example, who are 

 taxed $20 per annum, there may be in one 

 city twenty shoemakers and these form a 

 guild and the charges, $400, are against the 

 society. The guild has its syndic and 

 classifiers elected from among the members 

 and these determine how much each mem- 

 ber must pay, which is rated according to 

 his business standing, but no man is called 

 upon to contribute more than four times or 

 less than one-fourth of $20. In this way 

 the total amount demanded of their organi- 

 zation is collected. Appeals from the de- 

 cision of the guild's officers are always 

 possible, and if the members tire of it it 

 is easily dissolved. But co-operation which 

 they find valuable in the one instance of in- 

 dustrial taxation, they find of service in 

 various other business interests, and mem- 

 bers acquire a lasting identity and social 

 and economic significance, and for these 

 reasons trade guilds flourish in Cuba. 



