THE CUBA R E \' 1 E W 



15 



TAX LANDS FOR HIGHWAYS 



Sidne\' Brooks, of the London Times, 

 who recently spent some time in Cuba, 

 writes in this instructive manner : 



"Cuba needs some mctliod of inducing 

 or of forcing the owners of vast estates 

 that at present lie derelict, impassable, and 

 unimproved, and that are of no present 

 benefit either to the proprietors or to the 

 community, to bring their land into the 

 market or to develop it themselves. 



"The obvious method that suggests itself 

 is to put a tax on undeveloped land and 

 to devote its proceeds under the supervision 

 of the central government to the construc- 

 tion of highways. 



"If it is objected that such a policy would 

 hit the small holder and that to encourage 

 the sale of big properties in the present 

 stage of Cuba's development is to put a 

 premium on dispossession of Cubans by 

 Americans and British capitalists, the an- 

 swer is, first, that small holders can and 

 should be exempted from th° tax ; secondly, 

 that the percentage of property owned by 

 native Cubans is very small, and thirdlj', 

 that the development of the country by 

 American and British energj- and capital, 

 though it has its undoubted disadvantages, 

 is far preferable to the present state of af- 

 fairs which, so far as I can see, benefits 

 nobody. 



"I have found something like a consensus 

 of opinion — the lawyers and estate agents 

 constituting the minority — that the govern- 

 ment should organize the collections of all 

 the judicial surveys as a preliminary^ step 

 to clearing up the tangle. At present, with 

 no tax on undeveloped land, with titles in a 

 state of extreme haziness, and with cheap 

 credit all but unattainable — the rate of in- 

 terest in Cuba makes m^- mouth water — 

 the whole island is heavily and. so far as 

 avoidable, unnecessarily handicapped." 



HAVANA-PHILADELPHIA RACES 



News was received April 24th by the 

 Havana Yacht Club which will result in 

 the suspension of the regatta between 

 Philadelphia and Havana in which Cu- 

 ban. American and European yachts were 

 to participate. 



Other racing engagements will prevent 

 the American yachts from figuring in the 

 regatta on the date planned by the Havana 

 Yacht Club, the first two weeks in June. 



The American yachtsmen say they will 

 not be able to race until August. This 

 date is unsatisfactory to the Havana 

 yachtsmen who consider weather condi- 

 tions in August unfavorable and risky for 

 small boats in an ocean race. 



ADVANCEMENT OF CUBAN WOMEN 



"I found during my last visit to Havana 

 that woman has come unto her own with 

 full honors of war,' said Sefiora de 

 Rivero, wife of the recently appointed Cu- 

 ban minister to the United States. "The 

 Latin woman is rather conservative and 

 not inclined to let alien interests interfere 

 with what the generations of traditions 

 have led to believe is the best and truest 

 mission of her sex. But I found that Cu- 

 ban women were not behind in progres- 

 sion and that the new aspect of the coun- 

 try has brought forth new duties. 



"There are scores of women teaching 

 throughout Cuba — something that is en- 

 tirely an innovation. Thev have taken 

 courses in the best pedagogical institutes 

 and are doing a noble share in the de- 

 veloping and upbuilding of the country. 

 ^^'omen seem to have established them- 

 selves to every kind of profession in Ha- 

 vana, and are not only prospering, but 

 getting famous. There are female doc- 

 tors, surgeons, specialists of all kinds, 

 even lawyers and learned counsel. \\'rit- 

 ers seem to increase. The women of Cuba 

 have always been brilliant intellectually 

 and the opportunity for good has now 

 appealed to large numbers. There are 

 some woman printers and bookbinders 

 and thev do the most exquisite work. I 

 have a pretty little book sent by my 

 daughter which was written, printed and 

 bound by a woman acquaintance, a modest 

 little lady whom you would never suspect 

 of having such varied talents. Our con- 

 stitution in Cuba is fair to women and 

 they have ample opportunity to use their 

 natural endowments and they are doing so 

 to their own comfort and for the improve- 

 ment of their kind." — Margaret b. Doivn- 

 iiig in the Washington Star. 



ELECTRICITY FOR GAS 



A recent number of El Liberal, of 

 Santiago de Cuba, announces that the 

 mayor of that city and the president of 

 the gas and electric company are busy on 

 plans to furnish the homes of the poor 

 with electric light in place of the danger- 

 ous kerosene lamp, at oresent all but uni- 

 versally used. It is planned that the 

 city shall assume the expense of the in- 

 stallation, which the company will make 

 as cheap as possible, and the householder 

 will have to pay only for the fluid con- 

 sumed, which, it is calculated, will amount 

 to less than the present amount of kero- 

 sene. 



The Camague}- chief of sanitation has 

 issued a circular advising against the kiss- 

 ing of the crucifix in the churches. 



The old custom of firing a gun at nine 

 o'clock in the evening in Havana has been 

 abandoned, and henceforth the gun on Ca- 

 bana fortress will be fired at svmrise and 

 at sunset. 



