THE CUBA REVIEW 



13 



the mainland. A long review of causes, 

 both physical and political, will show why 

 this is so. We see no reason to expect 

 an exception in this case. But let us keep 

 our skirts clear and our hands clean. 



In Mexico — a mainland extension of our 

 own territory — a billion dollars of Amer- 

 ican capital is invested. And there is in- 

 surrection there right now that is trou- 

 bling the government. Why do not we 

 talk of interference there? And why do 

 not we speculate or postulate what we 

 shall do when President Diaz dies? Let 

 us clear our minds of cant and our actions 

 of hypocrisy. Cuba will be on our hands 

 soon enough in any case. But she rep- 

 resents, or should represent, a duty, not 

 an opportunity, and we ought to conduct 

 ourselves so as to win the Cuban people, 

 not so as to ride them down and pin them 

 with bayonets. 



No Diplomatic Service Needed 



El Mundo of Havana is opposed to the 

 creation of additional legations, a bill for 

 that purpose having been introduced into 

 the Senate, and says : 



"Our diplomatic service is absolutely 

 lacking in material, lacking in essence and 

 lacking in DU-pose. A diminutive nation 

 like Cuba does not, and cannot, exercise 

 any international influence. It cannot make 

 itself felt in the world politics. Cuba is 

 known abroad only for the rich products 

 of her fertile soil ; diplomatically w^e have 

 no value, no significance. 



"When, for the first time, a republic was 

 established in Cuba, it was qualified by the 

 Piatt amendment, which is a law of the 

 United States and a law of Cuba, being 

 incorporated in our constitution ; a law 

 which cannot be touched by us. North 

 American statesmen then said, and all of 

 the newspapers and chancelleries of the 

 world took a view, that Cuba was inde- 

 pendent in her international afifairs, but 

 that she was not so in her external affairs. 

 Between Cuba and the rest of the world 

 is interposed the Colossus of the North." 



Municipal System Praised 



In an address before the American Civic 

 Association, which held a three-day session 

 in Washington, D. C, in December, Dr. F. 

 Carrera y Justiz, Cuban minister to the 

 United States, made the following remarks 

 on "The Sociological Aspect of Cuban Mu- 

 nicipalities" : 



"Our law contains a full declaration con- 

 cerning the judicial entity of the munici- 

 palities, and the Cuban municipal govern- 

 ment is vested with all of the necessary 

 powers in order to regulate all local condi- 

 tions. The mayor and alderman of each 

 municipality are elected by direct vote, so 

 that in Cuba the republican system of gov- 



ernment does not exist only in the com- 

 paratively abstract field of the extension of 

 the state and national powers, but it is also 

 extended to the municipalities. If we add 

 to this the fact t]iat the autonomy of the 

 Cuban municipalities emanates from the 

 constitution, from the state itself, it will 

 be seen that wc are placed in a legal situa- 

 tion which is eminently progressive. 



"It is evident, therefore, that the Cuban 

 municipalities are legally empowered to 

 carry out any necessary work for their em- 

 bellishment. We are seriously studying the 

 matter of developing a "greater Havana," 

 worthy of its splendid possibilities. Even 

 now it is a great city with more than 300,000 

 inhabitants and so clean that, according to 

 the latest vital statistics, our average mor- 

 tality has been lower than that of any other 

 great city in the world." 



A German Opinion 



Regarding the political situation in Cuba 

 the Berlin Evening Post says: "The object 

 behind the biased and highly colored des- 

 patches regarding Cuba is quite clear. The 

 Americans' land hunger is not satisfied 

 with the present dependent position of 

 Cuba, and they are striving for its com- 

 plete annexation as soon as possible." 



The Spaniard a Moneymaker 



All the retail, as well as the wholesale 

 trade over the island is in the hands of the 

 Spaniard — the Spaniard who will tell you 

 frankly : "I was not born here and I do 

 not expect to die here." 



Which is but another way of sajang that 

 he proposes to spend as little of anything 

 but time in Cuba that he can well avoid. 

 His object — and you must remember his 

 point of view — is to make money as 

 quickly as possible, and to return to Spain. 

 He is an excellent man of affairs, drives 

 a sharp bargain, is methodical, prudent, pa- 

 tient ; he studies and understands his mar- 

 ket, and attends strictly to business. 



He does not take any part in the present 

 politics of the countr}^, does not seek to 

 colonize, and regularly invests his savings 

 in Spain. 



When he needs assistance in the manage- 

 ment of store, warehouse, plantation or ho- 

 tel, he sends for a j^oung Spanish relative ; 

 this probationer receives no wages for two 

 years, lives with his employer, learns the 

 business, and becomes in time competent to 

 carry it on when his senior retires to Spain. 

 Hence we see the thrifty and acute Span- 

 iard in possession of the commerce of the 

 island, from the cigar and newspaper kiosk 

 at the corner to the great and wealthy 

 stores all down Obispo Street, in Havana, 

 as well as in possession of all the stores 

 throughout Cuba. — Fielding Provost in the 

 Pan-American. 



