THL 

 CUBA RLVILW 



'ALL ABOUT CUBA" 



Copyright, 1911, by the Munson Steamship Line 



LIBRARY 

 NEW YORK 



BOTANICAL 



< ', * O r> r N 



Volume IX 



JANUARY, 1911 



Number 2 



CUBAN GOVERNMENT MATTERS 



ADMINISTRATION NOW SECURE — THE ARSENAL-VILLANUEVA EXCHANGE 

 COMPLETED A MAGNIFICENT TERMINAL STATION TO BE BUILT 



Havana despatches to the 



The Adi)iinis- northern newspapers are be- 



tration coming more friendly to 



Firmly Held President Gomez and his 



administration. His posi- 

 tion is strong, the correspondents say; he 

 has Cuba under his thumb ; there is no rev- 

 okition in sight, and the closing of the 

 second year of his administration finds his 

 enemies baffled, with General Guerra out 

 of the army and so far powerless, and the 

 grinding season, with ever3-body employed, 

 harvesting what promises to be a great 

 crop, the island is found to be unusually 

 tranquil. The administration is believed to 

 be on a more secure basis and will enter 

 on its third year under much better 

 auspices than those which attended his 

 inauguration, because this was followed al- 

 most immediately by a clash between the 

 President and Vice-President as well as 

 other disturbing incidents. 



The apparent stability of the government, 

 as at present indicated, does not harmonize 

 Aery well with recent quite alarming re- 

 ports of Cuban conditions sent broadcast, 

 which included an impending revolution, a 

 third and last intervention, and the order- 

 ing of battleships and troops to the island. 

 In reply to this, the War Department is- 

 sued a positive statement that no reports 

 have been received which would show any 

 unusual condition in Cuba, and that the de- 

 partment is not considering the possibility 

 of sending an expedition to the island. 



With the signing of a de- 

 The Arsenal cree authorizing the ex- 

 Exchange change, and the closing of 

 Completed the transfer deeds made be- 

 fore a notary, the final 

 exchange of the arsenal lands for those of 

 Villanueva, a transaction between the Re- 



pubhc of Cuba and the United Railways of 

 Havana, Limited, was completed December 

 23d; in the interchange of properties, the 

 additional considerations in favor of the 

 state amounted to about $1,500,000. 



The exchange of these properties was in 

 conforrnity with recommendations con- 

 tained in a presidential message sent to 

 congress in July, 1909, and embodied in the 

 act of congress of July 20, 1910. 



By the exchange, the United Railways of 

 Havana receive from the Republic of Cuba 

 all the lands of the arsenal (except that 

 occupied by the Havana Central Railroad), 

 and the Httoral, with the exception of the 

 coast surveillance easement, consisting of 

 a free general passage, six meters high, 

 adjoining the highest water line or that 

 reached by the surf. The property is 

 valued at $3,767,004.30, specified as $2,737,- 

 900 for the lands and $1,029,104.30 for the 

 buildings and improvements. The Repub- 

 Hc of Cuba gets, in exchange for this, all 

 the _ lands comprised by the Villanueva 

 station and yards, bounded by Prado San 

 Jose, Industra and Dragones streets, valued 

 at $2,292,888.11, or $2,196,710 for the lands 

 and $96,178.11 for the buildings and im- 

 provements. 



There is a difference of $1,774,116.19 in 

 favor of the state, which the LTnited Rail- 

 ways of Havana will pay to the Cuban 

 government by the construction of five 

 wharves to be located at Paula and 

 Tallapiedra, with a right to run their lines 

 alongside, and the construction of a 

 crematory on state property for the in- 

 cineration of the refuse from the cit}' of 

 Havana. 



President Gomez has signed a decree cut- 

 ting off the expense allowances of diplo- 

 mats whenever the latter are away from 

 tbeir posts on leave. 



