THE CUBA R E \' 1 E \V 



WORK OF THE CUBAN CONGRESS 



A bill presented l)y Senator L'isn.-ros 

 Betancourt limits the pictorial uses of tlic 

 national Hag. It may not be used for ad- 

 vertising purposes, for curtains or for 

 similar purposes. Fines are provided for 

 those who continue offending in this re- 

 spect after having been warned. It was 

 referred. 



Secretary of State M. Sanguily appeared 

 before the Senate June 22d, to discuss in- 

 formally the treat}- with the United States 

 concerning the leasing to the latter country 

 of a tract of land measuring about So. 400 

 acres north, east and west of the present 

 naval station at Guantanamo for the 

 nominal period of 99 years. Xo resolu- 

 tion was taken. 



The House on June 20th approved the 

 bill granting an appropriation of $100,000 

 for the construction of a sewerage system 

 for Pinar del Rio. 



A bill providing for reciprocity between 

 the United States and Cuba in regard to 

 tobacco and cigars, passed a few weeks 

 ago by the House of Representatives, 

 provides for a reduction in duty on Cuban 

 cigars, as well as protection for the real 

 Cuban product bj' preventing" the false 

 labelling of the numerous "fakes'" now sold 

 as Cuban cigars, in return for free entr}' 

 for the United States of products neces- 

 sary here. 



A bill to provide for the creation of a 

 school for mining engineers in the Xa- 

 tional University was read and referred. 



A general public works bill appropriat- 

 ing $27,000 for improvements in the prov- 

 ince of Oriente which includes the sura 

 of $70,000 to finish the construction of 

 sewers in Santiago de Cuba ; $60,000 for a 

 new hospital in Guantanamo, $15,000 for 

 the establishment of a marine hospital 

 service at Xipe and other sanitary meas- 

 ures recommended in a recent message 

 was read and referred to the committee on 

 public works. 



A bill introduced June 2Sth provides for 

 an appropriation of $600,000 for an aque- 

 duct for Santiago. The bill was referred. 



A bill favorable to the appointment of 

 three officers to act as fencing instructors 

 in the rural guard was approved. 



The House on July 6th voted an appro- 

 priation to create 150 more school-rooms 

 in the island. The appropriation amounts 

 to $150,000, which will be the cost of in- 

 stallation of these new class-rooms, neces- 

 sary because of the increase in school 

 population. 



Other appropriations approved on the 

 the same day were $2,600 for two new 

 trunk telegraph lines between Santiago de 

 Cuba to Caney and Cobre ; $40,000 for the 

 construction of a road between San An- 

 tonio de las Vueltas and Juan Francisco; 

 $;{3,6:?2 for the construction of two lengths 

 of the proposed road between Abrcus and 

 Yaguaramas : $.S,000 to purchase a lire en- 

 gine for the municipality of Aguacate ; 

 $5,001) for a park at Victoria de las Tunas. 



By a vote of 32 to 13, the bill author- 

 izing a subsidy under the act of July 5, 

 1906, for a line between \^alle and Sancti 

 Spiritus was approved. 



The Senate on July 16th made possible 

 the postal money-order treaty between 

 Cuba and Germany, when it granted the 

 appropriation of $15,000 which had been 

 passed by the House to cover the installa- 

 tion expenses. 



The Senate on June 30, resolved to ap- 

 point a committee of four members to in- 

 vestigate the proposed purchase of lands 

 about the Guantanamo naval station, which 

 Cuba is to purchase to turn over to the 

 United States in exchange for the aban- 

 donment of Bahia Honda. 



The department of state is buying 1,200 

 caballerias of land, which is about the pro- 

 posed extension, and the owners of the 

 lands are said to have placed an exhorbi- 

 tant price on the land and this is what 

 the Senate wants to investigate. 



A bill creating a national auditing board 

 was read in the Senate. The purposes of 

 this board will be to avoid the approval 

 of accounts and other government ex- 

 penses contrary to the purposes for which 

 the money was appropriated and will look 

 into the cost of services done by contrac- 

 tors. The bill requires that the members 

 of this board shall be ex-cabinet officers, 

 ex-members of the supreme court and other 

 high qualifications. 



The bill providing that no laborers em- 

 ployed by the state shall receive less than 

 $1.25 per day was approved bj- the Senate 

 June 30th. Hereafter all governmental 

 contracts to be made must agree to this 

 amount. 



The Bustamante bill which provides that 

 all Cuban vessels carr^ang passengers and 

 all vessels plying Cuban waters shall be 

 provided with wireless telegraph apparatus 

 was likewise approved by the Senate, as 

 was the bill increasing the salaries of 

 teachers. 



^lembers seem determined not to approve 

 the bill subsidizing the road to be built 

 from the sugar estate recently acquired by 

 President Gomez to Port X'uevitas. 



