THE CUBA REVIEW 



island had experienced marked develop- 

 ment; fifth, that these economic interests 

 focussed attention upon the inhuman treat- 

 ment being received by Cubans; and sixth, 

 that when intervention had brought about 

 control, that control was completely effec- 

 tive, in spite of limitations cast about it 

 by the very humanitarianism which had 

 been invoked to make intervention possi- 

 ble. Throughout these political ins and 

 outs, the physical environment was playing 

 its constant part. All the economic condi- 

 tions were derived directly from it. The 

 social interrelations, such as the rise of 

 humanitarianism, are less obviously based 

 on geography. And yet other nations as 

 powerful and as civilized as the United 

 States failed to be stirred to the point of 

 intervention by Spanish barbarities, and 

 the United States has at times withstood 

 the temptation to intervene in behalf of 

 equally abused but more remote peoples. 

 The relations of Cuba and the United 

 States prior to 1898 seem, therefore, to 

 have been dictated, in all their larger 

 aspects, by geography. The swiftness of the 

 conclusion of the war with Spain seems 

 clearly to have rested on environmental 

 conditions, although the immensely greater 

 force of the United States would hardly 

 have failed to bear Spain down in time, 

 under any circumstances. Since the war 

 the geographic relation has urged the 

 United States to set up and maintain a 

 standard of government below which Cuba 

 may not fall on penalty of subversion of 

 her autonomy. 



Finally, therefore, the writer concludes 

 that, since Cuba was a strategically and 

 economically important island, lying near 

 a powerful continental neighbor but under 

 the political control of a weak and remote 

 country, and since geographic factors have 

 been of basic importance in breaking those 

 political ties and in bringing and maintain- 

 ing Cuba under the suzerainty of the 

 United States, the "politico-geographical 

 law of gravity" stands in this instance as 

 valid. 



1. Notarial fees. — The duties of the no- 

 tary public in Habana differ from those in 

 the United States. The notary public per- 

 forms in Cuba much of the work under- 

 taken by an attorney in the United States 

 in connection with preparing the documents 

 of incorporation. The fees of the notary 

 depend on the length of the documents to 

 be prepared, on the amount of the capitali- 

 zation, and on the completeness of the draft 

 submitted to him as the basis for the prep- 

 aration of the required documents. Under 

 ordinary circumstances the notary's fees 

 for this service range from $100 to $500. 



2. Fiscal dues. — The dues payable to the 

 Treasury are one-fourth of 1 per cent of 

 the paid-up capital stock. If not all the 

 capital stock is issued at the time of organ- 

 izing the stock company, the fiscal dues 

 are payable as and when the stock issues 

 are effected. 



3. Mercantile registry fees. — The mer- 

 cantile registry has a tariff under which 

 the following amounts are payable; Where 

 the capital stock does not exceed $5,000, 

 the charge is $1.50; over $5,000 and not 

 exceeding $20,000, $2; over $20,000 and 

 not over $50,000, $5; over $50,000 and not 

 over $100,000, $10; above that, $10 for the 

 first $100,000, and $1 for each additional 

 $20,000. 



4. Municipal fees. — The company must 

 have its name entered in the tax office of 

 the proper municipality and pay a munici- 

 pal license tax that varies with the nature 

 of its business. 



Cost of Incorporating in Cuba 



The costs of organizing a stock company 

 in Cuba are composed of the following 

 items ; 



Construction of Roads in Cuba 



Because of the economic crisis the mar- 

 ket for road-building machinery and mate- 

 rials has remained at a low ebb during the 

 past year. Some of the contracts have 

 had to be modified, while others have been 

 cancelled, and actual construction of new 

 roadways has practically come to a stand- 

 still. 



It is planned to replace the dirt and 

 macadam roads, which are now character- 

 istic of the island, with granite-block pave- 

 ment as rapidly as public resources will 

 allow. It is found that such paving is best 

 able to support the heavy traffic to which 

 the roads are subjected. 



An additional cause of the present poor 



