THE CUBA REVIEW 



21 



GENERAL NOTES. 



Cuban Land Titles. 



"The pesos de posesion is a species of 

 title which exists in the eastern and central 

 portions of Cuba," says the United States 

 Investor. "Briefly stated it is about as 

 follows : The crown of Spain issued a land 

 grant, say of 50.000 acres ; these grants 

 were generally in the shape of a circle. The 

 original warrant was recorded, but owing 

 to lack of perfected registering methods, 

 when the grantee died, or before, he esti- 

 mated the property worth at so much, say 

 $1,000, and he gave documents to his chil- 

 dren, dividing the $1,000 into as many pesos 

 de posesion between them, or it was ad- 

 judiciated in this manner after the death 

 of the grantee, and in time these pesos de 

 posesion became widely distributed and fre- 

 quently it has occurred that the owners do 

 not live on the property. 



"If the owners are widely scattered and 

 have not lived on the propert}^ it requires 

 twenty years after the legal division of the 

 property has been effected before a title 

 of dominion can be obtained. This is done 

 to' protect any heirs who may not be in 

 the jurisdiction of the court at the time of 

 the judicial division. There are many of 

 these estates in eastern Cuba which are 

 being held in possession, just like a large 

 family would hold an estate in the States 

 without having it divided or having a will 

 of their father probated. 



"When these estates are divided there is 

 a lot of red tape. Application is made to 

 the court by the holders of the pesos and 

 the court appoints a surveyor to run the 

 lines of the area, which survey must be 

 submitted to those who abut the area. After 

 this is made satisfactorily then the division 

 is made between the holders of the pesos 

 of that area and this in turn has to be 

 approved by all. Then after this the court 

 summons the parties of the legal represen- 

 tatives and makes a deed direct to each 

 party with a map attached showing his or 

 her particular piece, which is then put on 

 ■record and is the first record they severally 

 have. 



"If any heirs are missing or the proof of 

 any in anj' manner doubtful title of posses- 

 sion is given which is contestable at any 

 time witihin twenty years. It is not so in- 

 tricate as one may believe, but very simple 

 when one knows the procedure, and a good 

 title can be obtained to these estates if one 

 exercises care in selecting an area which 

 does not show any complications. Once a 

 good title is obtained it is ironclad." 



At a Cabinet meeting, held November 17, 

 it was decided at the recommendation of 

 Secretary of the Treasury Sr. Marcelino 

 Diaz de Villegas to have messages sent 



to Congress. One concerning the neces- 

 sity of an authorization to rent out rural 

 property owned by the Government and 

 another recommending the cancellation 

 of state mortgages upon private lands to 

 allow the owners to obtain clear titles. 



The step which the President now under- 

 takes is a move towards freeing property 

 from hundreds of incumbrances inherited 

 from the colonial days ; and it is claimed 

 that should Congress take action on the 

 matter, the value of real estate in Cuba will 

 be greatly advanced. 



United States Trade With Cuba. 



Imports and exports for the month of 

 September were as follows : 



IMPORTS FRO^I CUBA. 



1908. 1909. 



$4,073,956 $5,641,459 



For nine months ending Sept. 30 : 



1907 1908. 1909. 



$83,550,029 $70,645,969 _ $97,524,612 



The marked increase occurs in the sugar 

 importation, which rose from 1,989,381,557 

 dutiable lbs. in 1908, valued at $51,690,113, 

 to 3,163,675,595 dutiable lbs. in 1909, valued 

 at $75,742,490. Cocoa importations in- 

 creased from $56,358 in 1908 to $196,098 

 in 1909. Increases were also marked in 

 copper ore from $412,447 in 1908 to $602,- 

 778 in 1909, and in iron ore from $1,214,- 

 634 in 1908 to $1,828,404 in 1909. 



Exports to Cuba for September: 



1908. 1909. 



$3,298,668 $3,968,923 



For nine months ending Sept. 30: 

 1907. 1908. 1909. 



$39,627,673 $30,652,956 $34,425,734 



The exportation of cattle, horses and 

 mules fell off materially, as also structural 

 iron and steel manufactures, which de- 

 creased from $566,457 in 1908 to 271,256 in 

 1909. 



Electrical machinery likewise decreased 

 from $224,591 in 1908 to $117,279 in 1909. 

 Exportations of pork and hams decreased, 

 although bacon increased. Condensed milk 

 decreased from $643,b32 in 1908 to $397,606 

 in 1909. 



Investigation at Baracoa. 



The Treasury Department has ordered 

 officials of the sub-collectors' office of Bara- 

 coa to conduct an investigation concerning 

 a recent sale made by the municipality of 

 a farm known as "Unoa." 



It appears that the property in question 

 belongs to the state, and that the munici- 

 pality of Baracoa assuming its ownership 

 disposed of it to an American syndicate for 

 the sum of $27,000. 



