8 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



The commission appointed 



I'Ulaniicva by President Gomez to de- 



aud Arsenal cide the relative values of 



rallies the land and buildings on 



the Villanueva and Arsenal 



properties, report as follows : 



Villanueva lands $2,196,710.00 



\'illanueva buildings 96,178.11 



Total $2,292,888.11 



Arsenal lands $2.7:]7,900.00 



Arsenal buildings 1,029,104.30 



Total $3,767,004.30 



A difference in favor of the Arsenal prop- 

 erty of $1,474,116.11. 



According to the act of Congress which 

 authorized the exchange, the United Rail- 

 ways are required to construct at the Ar- 

 senal front wharves and piers to the value 

 of $1,500,000. 



The 



Territorial 



Bank 



The commission appointed 

 by President Gomez, consist- 

 ing of Secretary of Agri- 

 culture Ortiz, Mr. J. H. Up- 

 mann of Upmann & Co., 

 and Mr. Edmund G. Vaughn, President of 

 the National Bank of Cuba, to examine 

 the fine bids for the exclusive privilege 

 to establish a mortgage or territorial bank, 

 made a report on September 14th. They 

 favored the proposition of the Banco 

 Espanol de la Havana. 



The purpose of the establishment of the 

 bank is to assist the planters by a low 

 rate of interest on loans on agricultural 

 property. 



Senor Marcelino Diez de Villegas, ex- 

 Secretary of the Cuban Treasury, will be 

 the president of the new institution. Pres- 

 ident Gomez signed a decree on Septem- 

 ber 7th, authorizing the concession. 



The regulations provide among other 

 things that 



(1) Fifty per cent of the active capital 

 be devoted to loans on real estate, urban 

 and rural. 



(2) Five per cent of the profits of 

 the bank shall be set aside annually as a 

 reserve fund, until 50 per cent is reached. 



(3) The bank publish a detailed state- 

 ment of its operations every six months. 



(4) The bank shall not become consoli- 

 dated with any other institution. 



(5) In case of serious violations of the 

 law, the government reserves the right to 

 rescind the concession. 



Concerning the operations of the bank 

 Sr. Diaz de Villegas said recently that it 

 would begin at once to make loans upon 

 urban and rural property at interest from 

 four and one-half to seven per cent, the 



latter being the maximum allowed by the 

 law, the interest varying according to the 

 condition of the property. 



Sr. \'illegas is reported to have stated 

 that Cuba is a country which has its lands 

 mortgaged for nearly $100,000,000 at an in- 

 terest that exceeds on an average 10 per 

 cent per annum. 



At the office of Speyer & Co. in New- 

 York it was admitted, says the New York 

 Tribune, that the firm will have a finan- 

 cial interest in the new bank. 



Senor Marcelino Diaz de Villegas, ex-secretary of 



the Cuban Treasury, now appointed president of 



the new territorial bank. 



The Conservative Party fa- 

 Nezi<spaper vors newspaper men for 

 Men representatives, for it has 



Chosen nominated a number of 

 prominent writers, such as 

 Wilfredo Fernandez, editor of El Comer- 

 cio, Alanuel Maria Coronado, of La Discit- 

 sion, Miguel Espinosa of Cuba, and also 

 editors of such important provincial news- 

 papers as El Cubaiio Libre and El Caiua- 

 guayano. 



The liberals on the other hand refused to 

 nominate Modesto Morales Diaz, editor-in- 

 chief of El Triunfo and Sr. Juan Gualberto 

 Gomez, a distinguished and able writer. 



