2(» 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



THE VILLANUEVA-ARSENAL EXCHANGE. 



Havana Corresi)on(lciiee of THIi CLl: A R i:\' 1 i;W. 



Kor many reasons much interest 

 continues to attach to the proposed 

 exchange of the Villanueva Passenger 

 station and freight yards of the Unit- 

 ed Railways of Havana, which for 

 more than half a century has occupied 

 one of the finest sites on the Prado. f<»r 

 the lands within what remains of the 

 enclosure of the old Spanish Xavy Yard, 

 or Arsenal, as it is called, on the south- 

 ern side of the city. As matters stand, 

 there appears to he some grave doul)t 

 whether the deal will ever be consum- 

 mated, or at least within the next few 

 years, in consequence of the opposition 

 of the Washington Government to cer- 

 tain details of the plan which rendered 

 it particularly attractive in the eyes of 

 President Gomez and his advisers. One 

 of President Gomez' first acts on assum- 

 ing power was to send to the Congress 

 a special message in which he very 

 earnestly advocated the exchange of 

 these lands. Under the terms of a pro- 

 visional agreement between the United 

 Railways of Havana and the Havana 

 Central, the latter, of which obtained the 

 cession of a portion of the arsenal lands 

 several years ago, were to take posses- 

 sion of the remaining arsenal lands, and 

 in return the government was to receive 

 the ground covered by the passenger and 

 freight station on the Prado. By waj^ of 

 compensation for the greatly superior 

 area of the Arsenal lands the railroads 

 agreed to build certain steel piers within 

 that enclosure for the use of the gov- 

 ernment, and in addition to loan the gov- 

 ernment at a low rate of interest two 

 millions and a half of dollars with which 

 to erect a new presidential palace and 

 a group of other buildings on the Villa- 

 nueva site. 



It was this last feature of the plan 

 which apparently was most alluring to 

 to President Gomez, and in his special 

 message he directed attention to the ad- 

 vantage to the city and the nation of a 

 new palace, merely to see which would 

 be sure to attract tourists from all parts 

 of the world. He also pointed out. which 

 was not disputed, that the railroad yards 

 had for many years been an eyesore in 

 the finest section of the city and that the 

 constant passage of locomotive-drawn 

 trains through the narrow streets was a 

 menace to life and a detriment to ad- 

 jacent property which should be done 

 away with as soon as possible. It was 

 also urged that an enormous advantage 



would accrue to the commerce of the 

 nation l)j- making possil)le the rapid dis- 

 charge and shipment of freights by dock- 

 ing steamers alongside the railroad piers. 

 The message made a favorable im- 

 pression in both houses of Congress and 

 was referred to committees who would 

 probably long since have made favorable 

 reports had it not been for an unex- 

 l)ected opposition on the part of the 

 United States Government, as practically 

 laid down at the termination of Governor 

 agoon's administration, to keep hands off 

 Cuba in every sense, even to the extent 

 began -agojp 



of neither tendering any friendly advice, 

 nor of giving it if asked. The plan was 

 to let General Gomez work out the des- 

 tiny of his own administration without 

 risking any of the responsibility for fail- 

 ure which might accrue from American 

 interference in any form. This policy 

 was, however, reevrsed within a short 

 time after President Taft came into 

 office ana it was made clear that in cer- 

 tain matters, notably in those pertaining 

 to sanitation, to public works affecting 

 sanitation in any way, and to matters 

 affecting the financial credit of the new 

 republic, the United States would take 

 an interest, and whenever necessary 

 would extend a guiding hand. As one 

 of the results of this change of policy 

 Minister E. V. Morgan notified President 

 Gomez that Washington objected to two 

 of the principal conditions of the 

 .\rsenal-Villanueva deal. One of these 

 was the Government increasing its in- 

 debtedness by borrowing money from 

 the railroads for the erection of a pal- 

 ace and other buildings and the other 

 that the invaluable waterfront concession 

 in the Arsenal should pass under the 

 control of one or more foreign railroad 

 companies. The United Railways of Ha- 

 vana is an English corporation, while 

 the Central is American. This action of 

 the Washington Government is specially 

 interesting as illustrating the extent to 

 which it was committed to interference 

 in certain affairs of Cuba. 



Apparent!}' this action resulted in no 

 unpleasant friction and after negotiations 

 extending over seevral months Minister 

 Morgan, immediately before relinquish- 

 ing his post, notified President Gomez 

 that al opposition to the plan was with- 

 drawn with the understanding that the 

 condition of a loan was eliminated and 

 that the control of the proposed union 

 terminal of the Arsenal be vested in an 



