THE CUBA REVIEW 



maker; even the colored "wash lady" de- 

 livers your week's laundry in a coach. Why 

 not? It costs but a peseta, 20 cents. 



Another thing that struck me forcibly 

 was the universal good nature and willing- 

 ness to oblige on the part of officials. It 

 is the same from the policeman on the cor- 

 ner to the President in the palace. Polite- 

 ness seems to be universally prevalent. The 

 car conductor will wait for you to go back 

 and get your hat and the niglitwatchman 

 will tell you where you live, find the house 

 and open the door for you. Of course, he 

 may expect a tip, but it's worth it — if you 

 are tipsy. 



Cuba, although sometimes referred to as 

 a "troublesome little island just across from 

 Key West," is nearly eight hundred miles 

 long; that if lifted from its place across 

 the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico and 

 laid upon the United States, it would ex- 

 tend from Xew York City to Indianapolis 

 with a width equivalent to that of the State 

 of Xew Jersey. Some space, what? 



Another thing I learned was, that the 

 executive arm of the Cuban government, 

 at least, is to-day composed of a body of 

 first-class, efficient and really patriotic men 

 who are endeavoring to bring the republic 

 up to the standard of modern civilized 

 nations. — J. R. Hinson in the Tainf^a (Fla.) 

 Tivies. 



BUSINESS MEN DISSATISFIED 



"Business men with interests in Cuba are 

 beginning to take a pessimistic view of 

 conditions in that island, present and to 

 come, and one of them made the prediction 

 that the time is not far off when it will be 

 necessary to establish there a government 

 similar to that of Egypt, with a President 

 in nominal charge, but with an American 

 commissioner in actual charge," says the 

 Washington Star. 



CUBAN NOTARY S POWERS 



In Cuba a notary's powers are greater 

 than they are in the United States. If a 

 person makes a false statement to a notary 

 in Cuba and that statement is embodied in 

 the document which the person signs be- 

 fore the notary the contents of the docu- 

 ment are held to be a forgery. — -Jose An- 

 tonio Frias. ex-senator of Cuba. 



MEXICAN VERSUS CUBAN BONDS 



Mexico's bonds go begging. There is 

 lively bidding for Cuba's new loan. The 

 "tutelage" of the United States is of real 

 value to credit in the money markets of 

 the world. 



There will be no difficulty in floating the 

 new loan. 



READJUSTING RATES 



Cuba is going to tackle the problem of 

 readjustment of railroad rates. The gov- 

 ernment declares the rates charged are ex- 

 cessive ; the railroads deny the impeach- 

 ment. President Menocal will put an 

 American expert at work on the books to 

 discover a way to adjustment of the con- 

 troversy. The Cuban railroads have been 

 developed into a system since the Spanish 

 war. They have an extent of 1,700 miles, 

 and connect Havana with Santiago and 

 with most of the other important ports. 

 They have been financed by British and 

 American capitalists, a circumstance that 

 may account for a portion of the Cuban 

 criticism of tlieir methods. — Boston Tran- 

 script. 



THE ENGLISH MANUFACTURER S 

 POSITION 



"If the United States get their fingers on 

 to Mexico the same thing will happen 

 which happened before with Cuba. The 

 English manufacturer will find his trade 

 dwindle to nothing. You know he once 

 had all the Cuban trade, witli regular 

 steamship services. Now we do nothing 

 there ; it is all in the hands of the United 

 States."- — Interview in the Journal of Com- 

 merce with Mr. J. H. Livandais, Mexicm 

 merchant in Li\erpool. 



NO LIMITS TO SUGAR INDUSTRY 



(Report of British Vice-Consul Cowan at Havana) 



It would seem as if the sugar industry in 

 Cuba has almost no limits of extension ex- 

 cept as imposed by the size of the island, as 

 a very large proportion of the soil is suit- 

 able for cane culture. But a very serious ob- 

 stacle of progress is beginning to make itself 

 felt in the shortage of labor, indeed, this 

 year it is probable that a large amount of 

 cane will remain uncut for this reason. 

 Once this obstacle is overcome, and it is 

 the subject of very serious consideration on 

 the part of the government, there would 

 seem to be an endless era of prosperity be- 

 fore the industry, in spite of the fact that 

 Cuba already produces more than one-fifth 

 of the total cane sugar of the world. It is 

 too early yet to estimate the probable effect 

 of the new American tariff on the Cuban 

 sugar industry, and great difference of opin- 

 ion exists amongst tlie Cuban growers them- 

 selves. But the general opinion is, perhaps, 

 rather to the effect that free sugar will be 

 beneficial, although it is generally felt that 

 a reduction of the tariff, leaving the present 

 preference in favor of Cuban sugar, will be 

 more advantageous to Cuba. 



