THE 

 CUBA REVIEW 



"ALL ABOUT CUBA" 



Copyright, 1914, hy the Munson Steamship Line 



Volume XII 



OCTOBER, 1914 



Number 11 



CUBAN GOVERNMENT MATTERS 



AGRARIAN LEAGUE PROTESTS AGAINST SUGAR TAX- 

 SOME FOREIGN LEGATIONS 



IL. .,^; --; , _ • ;■ ■ 



NEW YOK 

 CUBA CLOSES ^^AKOfci/M 



Sugar Tax 

 Objections 



tax on sugar. 



The meml)ers of the Agrarian 

 League of Havana have sent 

 President Menocal a strong 

 protest against the jn'oposed 

 Their objection is that the 

 new measure makes the sugar industiy bear 

 the brunt of the tax when for two years it 

 has had only a bare struggle for existence. 



The members suggest that the financial 

 crisis of Cuba could better be met h\ a reduc- 

 tion of Government exjjenses or by a pro rata 

 increase in the regular municipal taxes, which 

 the League considers would distribute the 

 weight of the additional taxation more 

 equally. 



The House and Senate conference commit- 

 tee does not approve of this tax which amounts 

 to 25 cents on each bag of sugar of 325 pounds, 

 when the price of sugar exceeds 455 cents per 

 arroba (25 pounds). 



A compromise measure introduced into 

 Congress by Dr. Ferrara provides that the 

 tax shall be 15 cents, per bag on mills making 

 from 50,000 to 100,000 bags, 25 cents on each 

 bag on mills making from 100,000 to 200,000 

 bags, and -40 cents on each bag on mills mak- 

 ing from 200,000 to 300,000 and 50 cents a 

 bag on mills making more than 300,000 bags. 



Menocal would not sign the l:)ill, that he had 

 agreed not to veto it, says the New York 

 Times, thereby letting it become a law auto- 

 matically. For this service the Asbertistas 

 are said to have promised their support to 

 Government measures pending in Congress, 

 which had been held up by a lack of quorums. 



The President would not discuss the note, 

 which was similar to previous notes sent to 

 Cuba by the United States whenever amnesty 

 has been attempted. 



The bill granted amnesty to all veterans 

 guilty of committing homicide or attempting 

 homicide, and various other crimes. The law 

 forbids an amnesty in favor of any one man ; 

 so the house, in order to free General Asl;)ert, 

 tries to turn loose again upon society any mur- 

 derer confined in the various prisons of the 

 country, provided that he happens to be a 

 "veteran." 



Hence the objections of the American Gov- 

 ernment . 



The Cuban House of Repre- 

 Objects to sentatives passed the general 

 Amnesty amnestj' bill by a large major- 

 ity on October 1st. This 

 measure is especially designed to cover the 

 cases of General Ernesto Asbert, former gov- 

 ernor of Havana Province, and Eugenio x\rias, 

 former member of the House of Representa- 

 tives, who were sentenced in June of this year 

 to serve long terms of imprisonment for the 

 killing of General Armando Riva, chief of the 

 national police. 



On October 4th, there came objections to 



this bill from the United States Government 



which delayed any further legislative action. 



It had been stated that, while President 



It is declared by the Havana papers that 

 the text of the United States Government 

 note delivered to the Cuban secretary of 

 State by Secretary Gustave Scholl, the Amer- 

 ican charge d'affaires, was as follows' 



"I have the honor to inform your excellency 

 that the Government of the United States 

 fully understands the spirit of comradeship 

 and those of humanity which has led to the 

 approval on the part of the House of Repre- 

 sentatives of a law of amnesty, but that it is 

 able to observe at the same time that the 

 attitude of the said body greatly weakens the 

 concept and respect due the law and courts of 

 justice, a circumstance which my government 

 is bound to sustain in Cuba imder the terms 

 of the Treaty of Paris and the Piatt Amend- 

 ment, for the defense of the interests and life 

 of its inhabitants, guarantees which, I repeat 

 are weakened by resolutions of that kind." 



It is said that the Asbertistas have com- 

 municated with the cabinet at Washington, 



