THE CUBA REVIEW 



The lullowing appropria- 

 Busiiiess tions for public improve- 

 Before ments received the approval 

 the Senate of the Senate on Maj' Sth 

 without debate: $15,000 for 

 the repairs of the market place of Gua- 

 najay: $50,000 for the construction of a 

 road from San Antonio de las \'ueltas to 

 San Francisco ; $3,500 for the repairs ne- 

 cessary to the market place of Camajuani. 

 and $5,000 to repair the baths and electric 

 street lights in Madruga. 



The senate on Ma\- 15th passed the Perez 

 bill providing the legal retirement at 60 

 years of age of members of the judiciary, 

 which include justices of the supreme 

 court down to the clerks in the minor 

 courts. It also provides that a discount 

 be made of the salaries of the members 

 of the judiciary in a pro rata proportion 

 to provide a retirement fund. 



The bill which fixes the proceedings in 

 all extradition cases in conformity with 

 all the treaties in force was also passed. 



The La Guardia bill granting exemption 

 from duties to all machinery imported in 

 Cuba for the next two years to be used in 

 manufacturing yute fibre was passed I\Iav 

 23d. 



The bill went through with an amend- 

 ment of Senator Aleman providing that 

 the exemption should be extended to all 

 classes of machiner}- used in textile manu- 

 facturing. 



On Alay 24th, a bill was approved to 

 authorize the President to contract for 

 the construction of a railroad line between 

 Guantanamo and Baracoa under the pro- 

 visions of the general railroad subsidy act 

 of July 5, 1906. 



This road has been under consideration 

 for some time. It means direct rail con- 

 nection between the southern portion of 

 Oriente province with the north, and capi- 

 talists are said to be ready to proceed with 

 the construction of this line if govern- 

 ment aid is given them. 



On r^Iay 29th, the Senate approved a bill 

 granting custom exemption to all the ma- 

 terial and plants for the construction of 

 the new lines of the Cienfuegos. Palmira 

 and Cruces Railway. 



Objections were made to the bill by the 

 Cuban Central Railway and other lines 

 competing with the proposed railroad ; but 

 the municipality of Rodas petitioned the 

 senate to take favorable action on this 

 bill. 



A petition is to be presented to the Bu- 

 reau of Lighthouses, of the Department of 

 Public Works, signed by all the coastwise 

 steamship companies for the establishment 

 of a lighthouse at Punta de ^loas, in 

 Oriente Province, because of dangerous 

 navigation on the Maisi Strait, near that 

 point. 



The Ferrara bill kiUing the 

 Bills "Ley de Imprenta," of 



Before the 1SS6, was passed by the 

 House House Maj' 9th. 



Speaker Ferrara in a 

 speech said : 



• "T want absolute liberty for the press, 

 even to the point of permitting libel, but 

 those who run afoul of the code will be 

 punished because under the constitution 

 the right of free speech is guaranteed, but 

 there are laws which punish the offenses, 

 but not in the way this obsolete measure 

 does." 



A bill providing for the establishment 

 of a life saving service in Cuba was read 

 and referred to the committee on finances. 



The Conservatives will support the Fer- 

 rara bill to aboHsh the lottery in 1913. 

 The minority in the House will vote in 

 favor of the bill, according to instructions 

 received from the Xational Committee of 

 the party. 



Speaker Ferrara on ^lay 29th had a bill 

 read providing that the government shall 

 distribute its lands in Oriente Province 

 among immigrants giving preference to 

 Cubans who are now out of the country, 

 who wish to return. Under the general 

 terms of the bill each head of a familj- 

 will get thirty-three and one-third acres. 

 The A-eterans of the revolution are asked 

 to support the bill. 



The bill of the abolition of the death 

 penalty in Cuba Avas called up in the House 

 for a reading on May 15th. 



In substitution of capital punishment 

 provision is made in the bill for the impo- 

 sition of the sentence known under the old 

 Spanish code of criminal procedure as 

 "cadena perpetua" (literally, life imprison- 

 ment) : but recent legislation issued dur- 

 ing the first intervention has modified the 

 force of this sentence, and changed the 

 life imprisonment to 30 A-ears, A\-hich thus 

 becomes the limit of punishment for capi- 

 tal crimes. 



During the same session Senator Cis- 

 neros Betancourt asked for information 

 regarding changes in the Cuban national 

 flag, for Avhich a petition had been made. 



A bill for an appropriation of $18,000 

 to purchase threshing machines for rice 

 to be distributed among the municipalities 

 of Pinar del Rio Avas referred to the com- 

 mittee on appropriations on ^lay 26th, also 

 the Garcia bill amending the school laAV, 

 increasing the salaries of teachers. 



On June 2d the house approA'ed of gen- 

 eral amnesty for all electoral crimes in the 

 elections of 1910 by a A-ote of 46 to 4. 

 Ferrara opposed the matter. 



Representative Betancourt, supporting 

 the measure, said that those accused AA-ere 

 merely the tools of others higher up, and 

 amnesty Avas promised them at the time 

 that thev committed the crimes. 



