THE CUBA REVIEW 



On April 17th, 2,000 la- 

 Cuban borers, organized by the 

 Labor Shoemakers' Union and 

 Troubles joined by delegates from 

 Havana, paraded the streets 

 of Matanzas, in agitation of legislation in 

 favor of protecting local shoe industries. 

 Their demand is for a prohibitive tariff 

 to be placed on foreign manufactured 

 shoes, and a lower tariff for the raw mate- 

 rial. A petition embodying these demands 

 was sent to President Gomez. 



The President wants the Cuban laborer 

 cared for in case of accident, sickness or 

 at the approach of old age. In a recent 

 message to Congress he takes up the matter 

 and discusses it as follows : 



"It is an urgent necessity to provide for 

 the laboring classes who suffer from ac- 

 cidents, etc., and that the example had been 

 set by all progressive cities of the United 

 States and Europe. 



"Four elements should contribute to the 

 accomplishment of this purpose, namely, 

 the laborers themselves contributing a nom- 

 inal sum from their earnings toward a sav- 

 ings fund, municipalities wherein are locat- 

 ed industries and manufactories, the em- 

 ployers, and the State. The workmen 

 should contribute 20 to 30 cents monthly, 

 as is done in Germany, Hungary, Switzer- 

 land, and other countries, which would 

 amount to more than $300,000 per year, 

 making a sum for the exclusive object of 

 taking care of workmen in their old age ; 

 the municipalities should give a contribution 

 taken from their budgets, say one or two 

 per cent; all employers of laborers should 

 contribute according to the extent of their 

 business ; the State, in the end, should 

 complete the reserve fund to the amount 

 demanded by the necessities of the work- 

 ing population. 



The work of the Spanish 

 Finishes Treaty Claims Commis- 

 Its sion, which body for more 



Work than nine years has been 



engaged in adjudicating the 

 claims of American citizens growing out 

 of the Spanish War, is now about com- 

 pleted. All the cases have been disposed 

 of and the Commissioners are engaged in 

 preparing their final report and writing 

 opinions in the most important cases. The 

 extent of their work is shown by the fact 

 that the claims filed before the Commis- 

 sion aggregated $61,612,077.78 and the 

 awards amounted to $1,330,877.74. 



The treaty between the United States 

 and Spain, dated December 10, 1898, or 

 sometimes called the Treaty of Paris, pro- 

 vided that Spain should relinquish all claim 

 of sovereignty over the title to Cuba. In 

 Article VII of the treaty the United States 

 and Spain mutually relinquish all claims 

 for indemnity, national and individual, of 



every kind, of their government or of its 

 citizens or subjects, against the other gov- 

 ernment, that might have arisen since the 

 beginning of the late insurrection in Cuba 

 and prior to the exchange of ratifications 

 of the present treaty, including all claims 

 for indemnity for the cost of the war. The 

 United States agreed to adjudicate and set- 

 tle the claims of its citizens against Spain, 

 relinquished in this article. 



Within one year after the organization 

 of the commission 542 claims for damages 

 were filed by parties who claimed Amer- 

 ican citizenship. 



Over 350 cases were for damages for 

 property losses, and the total amount 

 claimed for this class of cases was 

 $56,495,377.78. One hundred and fifty-two 

 cases of the 542 were for damages to the 

 sailors who were on the Battleship Maine 

 at the time of her destruction in Havana 

 Harbor. These were all dismissed, it be- 

 ing the opinion of the commission that the 

 cases were not within jurisdiction. 



Of greater interest to 

 General Wood the people of Cuba than 

 Visits any other event in the 



Cuba island in many months 



was the recent brief visit 

 of Major Gen. Leonard Wood. The ar- 

 rival of the ex-Governor General was hailed 

 with enthusiasm and during the three days 

 of his stay even politics were forgotten. 

 The General and Mrs. Wood were the re- 

 cipients of attentions on all sides and were 

 overwhelmed with invitations to banquets, 

 balls, and receptions. 



A few suspicious persons affected to per- 

 ceive a sinister significance in the Gen- 

 eral's visit, as possibly indicating a tend- 

 ency of the United States to interfere in 

 the aft'airs of Cuba, but almost unani- 

 mousl}' the visit was taken as a compliment 

 to Cuba. ^ 



Joseph W. Hawlings, 

 Consul manager of the export 

 for committee of the Chatta- 



Chattanooga nooga Manufacturers' As- 

 sociation, appointed honor- 

 ary consul of the Cuban government to 

 look after the export business from Chat- 

 tanooga and surrounding territory to Cuba. 

 This is the only interior city south of the 

 Ohio River that has a Cuban consul. The 

 appointment was made through the efforts 

 of the Chattanooga Manufacturers' Asso- 

 ciation to secure and build up a better ex- 

 oort market for Chattanooga products to 

 Cuba. 



Honorary consulships have been created 

 at Palermo, Italy, and Atlanta, Ga. The 

 president will send the nominations of G. 

 E. Mazarella for the former, and C. E. 

 Whitinton for the latter. 



