24 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



CUBA AND CUBAN FINANCES SOUND 



During the Spaiiisli limes llie banking 

 of Cuba was chiefly clone by banker mer- 

 chants in connection with their regular line 

 of business. The only banking institution 

 was the Spanish bank, the ohicial organ 

 of the Spanish government, but tiie general 

 circulation of checks, credit transfers and 

 savings bank and trust company facilities, 

 with modern banking conveniences and in- 

 ducements, were postponed to the period 

 of American intervention, when the Na- 

 tional Bank of Cuba, with a liberal charter 

 covering the entire tield, was organized. 



in dealing with the banking situation of 

 Cuba, attention is at once fixed on the va- 

 rious systems of money used^ in the or- 

 (liiiarv course of business. Spanish cur- 

 rencv', United States currency and French 

 gt)Ur are used in all but one of the prov- 

 inces. 



The situation is rendered somewhat com- 

 plex by the fact that Spanish gold and 

 silver coins circulate at their respective 

 values from day to day, and the relative 

 valuation of the different systems are sub- 

 ject to daily change. 



United States currency is the official 

 money of the Cuban government; freight 

 and transportation charges are fixed 

 therein. 



The general banking laws of Cuba are 

 contained in the code of commerce, which 

 deals besides with commercial law in its 

 many phases, including negotiable instru- 

 ments, the law of agency, loans on pul)lic 

 securities and mercantile transactions at 

 large. 



The reconcilement of the Spanish bank- 

 ing and commercial laws with those of the 

 United States and other countries with 

 which Cuba does business is a matter of 

 constant necessity. 



Cuba's credit condition is favorably re- 

 flected in the high prices of her govern- 

 ment, railroad and industrial securities. 



wliich are held throughout tlie world. The 

 Havana stock excliange does not base its 

 f|uotations solely on the local demands, but 

 on the prices ruling in New York, London 

 ;ind Paris. 



in Cuba to-day, as in the times past, the 

 fact stands out conspicuous that the wealth 

 and prosperity of the country are con- 

 stantly increasing. Cuba's ability to re- 

 cover from economic disturliances of every 

 character, coupled with tlie Piatt amend- 

 iiH-iit, tlie guaranties afforded by her con- 

 stitution and the declared policy of the 

 United States with reference to maintain 

 ing peace in the island, afford a rock of 

 safety to American and other foreign in- 

 terests in Cuba. 



All banking interests of Cuba to-day are 

 (;n a sound footing so far as is known. 

 The panic of 1907 did not reach us in 

 acute form, but we did ship $14,t)T.">,0()() of 

 coin abroad that year, as compared with an 

 average of $2,706,133 for the three years 

 ])revious, which demonstrates the vitality 

 of Cuba at a time when the world's 

 llnances were unsettled. 



Of the two methods under which the 

 finances of Cuba have been administered, 

 namely, that of accumulating the nation's 

 wealth in the vaults of the government and 

 the present system of circulating the cur- 

 rency of the country through public works 

 and improvements and other means, neither 

 ]ias proved financially disastrous, but, on 

 the contrary, the country flourished in a 

 manner which shows that Cuba has but 

 to maintain a reasonable assurance of 

 safety for investments in order to bring 

 aI)out the successful development of her 

 natural resources. — Synopsis of an address 

 In- W. H. Morales, Secretary of the Na- 

 tional Bank of Cuba, at the convention of 

 the American Institute of Banking, held 

 recently in Chattanooga, Tenn. 



Decision in Mining Claim 



In the litigation between McLoughlin 

 Brothers, New York, and the Juragua Iron 

 Company (Bethlehem Steel Company), the 

 Supreme Court of Cuba has recently given 

 a decision in favor of the former, affirming 

 their title to eleven mining claims of about 

 1,100 hectares in the Moa district of north- 

 ern Cuba, says the Chicago (111.) Court 

 Journai. The claims are adjacent to the 

 coast at the Bay of Moa, and the ore they 

 contain is said to be the characteristic iron 

 ore of the Moa district, low in phosphorus 

 and sulphur. The amount of ore involved 

 in this litigation is unknown, as there has 

 been no thorough exploration. The orig- 

 inal suit was begun by McLoughlin Broth- 



ers to enforce their "derecho de tanteo," 

 or the right given under the Spanish law 

 by which a partner has preference over an 

 outsider in the purchase of a partner's in- 

 terest. Under it a partner, within nine 

 days after a conveyance to an outsider of 

 any interest in the common property is filed 

 by another partner, may deposit in court 

 the purchase price, together with security 

 for evpenses of transfer, and may have the 

 ])ropeity deeded to him instead of to the 

 outside purchaser. The above-mentioned 

 case passed from the court of first in- 

 stance to the intermediate court and finally 

 to the Supreme Court, the decision being 

 uniformly in favor of the plaintiff. 



