THE CUBA REVIEW. 



13 



Arroyo Salado; $15,000; 2.266 klms. ; proj- 

 ect approved by general directory. 



Highway from Guantanamo to Yateras ; 

 $30,000 appropriation ; 2,294 klms ; the 

 building of eight small woden bridges 

 and 3 culverts nearing completion. 



Repair of the road to Palma Soariano 

 from Santiago; $50,000 appropriation; 3.120 

 klms. ; 75 men ; 60% of the masonry work 

 as well as the Telford macadam work 

 done. 



Highway from Baracoa to Sabanillas and 

 road to Maisi ; $100,000; 132 men engaged. 



Highway from Holguin to Bayamo ; $40,- 



000; 2.640 klms.; 46 men; work much de- 

 layed by rains. 



Highway to La Maya; $18,800; 2.280 

 klms. ; completed. 



Road from Holguin to Uiias ; $20,000 

 appropriation ; under consideration. 



Road from San Manuel to Puerto Padre; 

 under consideration. 



Repair of the road from Chaparra to 

 San Manuel ; under consideration. 



Road from Bijaru to Banes; under con- 

 sideration. 



Road from Banes to Arroyo Flores ; un- 

 der construction. 



THE LABOR SITUATION IN CUBA. 



No 



January 17. At this date 

 the situation appeared satis- 

 factory to the striking cigar- 

 Permitted. makers. Some union factor- 

 ies were working with a full force, indi- 

 cating a weakness toward the strikers. The 

 manufacturers' union immediately notified 

 the offending factories that expulsion would 

 follow a continuation of these tactics. 



The strike of the operatives 

 Railway of the Western Railway end- 

 Strike ed January 18, the employees 

 Ended. voting to accept the terms of 

 the railway. 

 As a matter of fact, the strike ended 

 some time ago, the men returning to work. 

 The formal announcement, however, of 

 the ending of the strike will have the ef- 

 fect of improving the efficiency of the ser- 

 vice. 



The press of Havana is un- 

 Loss failing in its efforts to in- 



Through duce workingmen to look 

 "la Fuma." sensibly and reasonably at the 

 differences between them- 

 selves and their employers. The cigar- 

 makers' strike, for example, seems to have 

 had its initiative in the attempted restriction 

 by the manufacturers of the "la fuma" priv- 

 ilege among the workmen. This "fuma" is 

 a custom long established of permitting each 

 cigarmaker to make for his own use 10 

 cigars daily, and the Diario de la Marina 

 says we all know what kind of tobacco the 

 workmen take for their own use. The loss 

 through this practice to a manufacturer em- 

 ploying 500 hands is $75,000 annually, repre- 

 sentii^g the market price at 5 cents of 1,500,- 

 000 cigars taken by the help. The employ- 

 ers naturally desire to stop this leak if 

 possible. 



La Union Espanola advises 



An the workmen that "impru- 



Industry dences give no good results. 



Endangered, that continuing as they are 



going they will destroy the 



cigar manufacturing industry and that 



threats often made of removing some of the 



factories may one day be carried out." The 



Havana Post advises them to apply the 



funds now devoted to maintaining a strike 



to the support of the unfortunate unem- 

 ployed, who by force of circumstance, and 

 not through any act of their own, remain 

 unemployed. 



Ori January 16 twelve pub- 

 The Appeal lications of Havana united in 

 of Twelve a signed appeal to the strik- 

 Publications. ing workmen of the city, es- 

 pecially to the 4,000 cigar- 

 makers, taking them s'harply to task for dic- 

 tating "unprecedented and ridiculous terms 

 to employers," and warning them that such 

 conduct would bring about confusion and 

 complete downfall of their associations and 

 lose them the confidence and esteem of the 

 public. The message of the press advises 

 the return of reason and common sense 

 before it should be too late and urges the 

 workmen to "amend their resolutions to 

 conform to practical business conditions." 



The masons lost their de- 

 Result of the mand for more wages, but 

 Masons' secured a reduction in hours 

 Strike. of work from 10 to' 9 hours. 

 They are going back to work 

 wherever they can find any, but the con- 

 tractors and builders who formed an or- 

 ganization among themselves during the 

 progress of the strike, are retaining all of 

 the men whom they could secure to work 

 for them during the strike and employing 

 as few of the strikers as possible, also giv- 

 ing them very little work, as they feel very 

 hard, and justly so, against the striking 

 m.asons. 



Laborers are scarce on 

 More some of the sugar planta- 



Laborers tions and the Agrarian 

 Wanted. League is urging the expen- 

 diture of the money amount- 

 ing to $1,000,000, appropriated by the Cuban 

 Congress to encourage immigration. The 

 matter will be brought to Governor Ma- 

 gon's attention when he returns to Cuba. 



The immigration from Spain in the last 

 few years has been very large — 22,178 in 

 1907 and 44,672 in 1906— and most of the 

 immigrants readily found employment. The 

 work on Cuban roads has kept labor busy 

 all over the island and created a scarcity 

 in the fields. 



