THE CUBA REVIEW 



On the ground that such ac- 

 Thc I'lihlic's tion would invite a recur- 

 Ilcaltli rence of fever, and endan- 

 hivoli'cd yer the southern part of the 

 United States, husiness men 

 of Havana are organizing an appeal to this 

 government to prevent the sale h}' the Cu- 

 ban government of the Havana waterworks 

 to a private corporation. 



The matter has already been laid before 

 the state and war departments at Washing- 

 ton. Officials of the latter department, as 

 well as the medical officers of the army, 

 says the New Orleans Times-Democrat, are 

 oiienly objecting to such disposal of the 

 keystone of the sanitary system the United 

 States put into operation there twelve years 

 ago and improved during the occupation of 

 1906. 



The scheme to sell the Havana water- 

 works to a corporation came up for con- 

 sideration while Charles E. Magoon was 

 provisional governor. He stopped it._ An 

 almost identical bill has again been intro- 

 duced in the Cuban Congress, and there ap- 

 pears to be so many chances of its passage 

 that the business element has become 

 alarmed. 



One thought of the American business 

 element in Havana is that if the water- 

 works plant is sold, the United States, 

 among the first acts after occupation, will 

 have to repurchase the works at a high 

 price. Another of their ideas is that no 

 matter what corporation gets control of the 

 waterworks, the first step will be the rais- 

 ing of rates to a figure the poorer people 

 cannot pay, thereby hastening a return of 

 the conditions that prevailed before the 

 American army medical corps cleansed 

 Cuba. 



In that view officers of the army concur. 



From information and data 

 Great Ouflavs kept on file at the Depart- 

 for ' ment of Public Works, it 

 -Public Works appears that during the 

 present administration 'pub- 

 lic works on roads and bridges have been 

 carried out in the six provinces of the 

 island, valued at $4,193,552.27, distributed 

 as f olloAvs : 



Pinar del Rio $1,972,755.10 



Havana 620,048.22 



^latanzas 148,951.11 



Santa Clara . 716,133.95 



Camaguey 716,133.95 



; ,'Oriente 630,678.79 



In civil and military constructions the De- 

 partment of Public Works has expended 

 $439 192.28, distributed as follows : 

 Pinar del Rio ........ $118,596.76 



Havana •• 117,811.11 



Matanzas ■ 115,897.79 



•^ Santa Clara 39,366.57 



Camaguev 8,105.55 



Oriente ' .•■ 39,354.50 



On December 21st the 



Td Hridye President affixed his signa- 

 llie ture to the bill which the 



Channel house had passed, authoriz- 

 ing the construction of the 

 bridge across tlie channel to Cabanas 

 Heights. 



The signing of this bill turns this valu- 

 able concession to Engineer Dworak, who 

 represents the Belgian syndicate which pro- 

 poses to build the bridge. 



The bill originated in the senate and calls 

 for a structure across the channel of Ha- 

 vana's harbor from the Caballeria wharf to 

 the heights of Cabaiias, where a model bor- 

 ough is proposed, a new residence section 

 which is to be constructed by private capi- 

 tal. 



The bill is really for the benefit of the 

 working population, who will be able to se- 

 cure comfortable and cheap homes in the 

 new suburb. After fifty years the entire 

 property reverts to the state, together with 

 such buildings as are required to be built, 

 consisting of a building for whatever use 

 the city council may determine, a building 

 for a public school, a building for a fire 

 and police station, and a building for es- 

 tablishing a hospital, according to plans and 

 under the conditions to be determined by 

 the executive. 



As a compensation to the concessionaire 

 of the works, during the first years, when 

 the scant traffic will not be sufficient to 

 compensate the efi^orts made, all material 

 imported from foreign countries for the 

 construction of the bridge and the preserva- 

 tion of the same will be admitted free of 

 duty during the life of this concession. 



The concessionaire binds himself to begin 

 work six months after the authorization 

 for the purpose has bet.-^ granted, and to 

 complete the construction within the period 

 of four years. A failure to begin work 

 after the lapse of six months will annul this 

 concession. 



The President signed a de- 

 To cree authorizing the calling 



Avoid for bids for the construc- 

 Inundations tion of the channel from 

 the caves in the vicinity of 

 Santa Rita Sugar Estate northward to Car- 

 denas Bay, in Matanzas Province, a dis- 

 tance of fifty kilometers and the improve- 

 ments of the channels tributary to the Co- 

 chino and Bermejo streams, by which the 

 inundations of the El Roque will be pre- 

 vented. The improvement wil cost about 

 $1,500,000. 



An amendment to the bill extending the 

 Malecon Promenade to the Chorrera fort, 

 introduced December 14th, provides for the 

 condemnation of lands on this promenade, 

 in order to increase its width by forty me- 

 tres. 



