THE CUBA REVIEW 15 



I 



Cuban Debt Commission 



One of the conditions considered necessary to a complete rehabilitation of Cuban 

 ^public finances after the collapse of 1920-21 was that the fiscal year ended July 1, 1923. 

 should find the Republic paying its current expenditures out of ordinary receipts. In 

 order to wipe the slate and start the past fiscal year afresh, it was thought desirable to 

 make special provisions for the floating debt of the Republic as it existed on July 1, 

 1922. This was one of the principal purposes of the $50,000,000 loan, which was issued 

 in January, 1923. As it appeared to be impossible to ascertain the exact amount of 

 the floating debt from the existing records, and as it was felt that a very considerable 

 j portion of the debt would be found to be based on e.xcessive prices which prevailed in 

 j 1919 and 1920, a special commission was constituted in November, 1922, for the purpose 

 I of verifying the claims which existed on July 1, 1922. This body was called the Com- 

 j mission for the Examination and Audit of the Cuban Debt. Its functions included the 

 verification of unpaid claims for wages and salaries and subsistence expenses of govern- 

 mental employees; pensions; and departmental obligations. With the exception of the 

 last-mentioned category of claims, the work of the commission is virtually completed. 

 The examination of the departmental obligations, however, is only about half finished, 

 and it is estimated that several months still will be required. 



All Claims Must Be Approved by Commission 



According to the law of September 15, 1922, which created the Commission for the 

 Examination and Audit of the Public Debt, no claims over which the commission had 

 supervision could be paid without first having been approved by the commission. The 

 time within which claims had to be filed in order to be considered by the commission 

 expired on March 15, 1923. The total number of claims so filed, chargeable as depart- 

 mental obligations, was 25,471; the aggregate amount claimed being $45,150,673.57. 

 Up to July 5, 1923, 6,930 of these claims representing an aggregate of $20,714,516.12, 

 had been examined. Of this total, $8,227,104.66 had beeii rejected on one ground or 

 another, and $12,487,411.46 had been approved. 



Immediate Partial Payment Provided for Approved Claims 



As it became apparent that the work of the commission was so complicated that it 

 could hardly be completed for several months and that the amount appropriated for the 

 purpose of paying these approved departmental claims would not be sufficient, a decree 

 was issued on May 29, 1923, providing for the immediate partial payment of those 

 claims which are approved. The total amount of the proceeds of the $50,000,000 loan, 

 appropriated for the settlement of these departmental claims, was limited to $18,000,000. 

 From this sum, however, there had to be deducted the expenses of collecting the 1 per 

 cent tax up to July 1, 1923, which turned out to be about $186,000, and the expenses 

 of the commission itself to that date — about $28,000. The discount on the loan, which 

 was sold to J. P. Morgan & Co. at 96.77, also had to be charged in part to this appro- 

 priation, thus leaving the net amount of a little less than $17,000,000 available to pay 

 departmental obligations. Two-thirds of this was specifically appropriated for the pay- 

 ment of obligations of the Department of Public Works, the balance being appropriated 

 for the other departments of the Government. 



Of the total of $45,150,673.57 of claims filed, $19,660,229 were against the Depart- 

 ment of Public Works, and the balance ($25,490,444.57) were against the other depart- 

 ments. Therefore, in order to proceed with the immediate payment of fi-xed percentages 

 of approved claims, on a basis which would keep the payments within the limits of the 

 appropriation and yet probably pay the fixed percentages on all of the claims eventually 

 approved, the Decree of May 29 provided for the payment of 60 per cent of the 

 approved claims of the Department of Public Works, and 30 per cent of the approved 

 claims of the other departments. These payments are now actually being made, the 



