American telegraph. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1851-1851, 1851-04-28
WASHINGTON,


Jurisdictions civil, Juulclal, ecclesiastical, and
military. The civil jurisdiction consists of two
provinces, with two distinct governors, entirely
independent of each other; the supreme mill
tary chief of the whole island, with the title of
captain general, being the civil governor of the
one province only, called San Cristobal de la
Havana; while the other, Santiago de Cuba,
has separate governor, who, in affairs purely
political or civil, is not in any way subject to
the captain general. Besides, the island is di-
vided into three military divisions, whose chiefs
take their orders from the captain general. At
Matanzas Trinidad de Cuba Puerto Principe,
and Cienfuegos, there are also officers with the
title of governor named by the captain general,
whose Office is of judicial nature, extending
to disputed points of every Sort civil, criminal,
and military, Subordinate to these are eight
lieutenancies. The captain general has appel
late jurisdiction in military matters In the
cities and towns there are also municipal bodies,
called dyuntamaentos peypetuos, or, perpetual
unions; and in the rural districts, jueces peia-
neos or petty judges, who are named by the
local governors. These exercise both judicial
and ministerial functions. The captain gene
raj presides at the meetings of the Havana
Union, consisting of twelve members The
chief secular tribunals of Havana are first,
that of the captain general, who has, in mill
tary matters, an auditor of war, and in civil
disputes general assessors, who likewise exer-
else the duties of the civil magistracy. The
tribunal of the ordinary alcaldes has also cog
nizance in the first instance of civil and mill
tayy disputes The union has also certain
judicial jurisdiction. There is, besides, COM
mercial tribunal, whose jurisdiction extends
only to mercantile affairs. The judges of the
island are all paid by fees instead of salaries.
The judges fees depend on their rank, and the
number and length of their sittings; they are
therefore, remarkably sedentaryl Judicial pro-
ceedings, as on the continent of Europe, are
wholly conducted in writing; ViDa voce plead
ing and trial by jury being alike unknown.
The lawyer is paid according to the number of
pages he writes long pleas are, therefore, by
no means uncommon. The sutton in Cuban
court cannot move a step without paying fee
to judge, lawyer, clerk, interpreter or crier
Some attention has been paid to education
by the Government, but those under whose di-
rection it has been placed have not accomplished
much In 1910 there were SO, 500 free children
in the island, between the ages of five and ten,
of whom only one-tenth were sent to school.
There is no such thing as liberty of the press
in Cuba. Every thing is subjected to the strict
est censorship. In the year 1887 there were
eight newspapers published in Cuba, of which
four were daily During the constitutional cri-
=, han ha
time, suspended, a number of papers with the
most singular names, which are some index to
the opinions and wishes of the people, were
started at Havana such as The Constitutional
Tailor, The Roars of an African Lion, Brilliant
Strokes of Tyranny, The Mosquito, The Fly,
The Wasp, The Skiff, sc.
Authorities differ as to the population Of Gu
ba According to the census Of 1927, which
is, we believe, the last that has been taken, the
population was 730, 562. OF this number the
whites amounted to 81 ,051, the free negroes to
1854, and the free people of color not negroes
to 1880. The number of slaves was 286, 942,
of whom 183, 300 were males, and 103, $50 fe-
males. Since 1927 the population has greatly
increased, as is shown by the amount of imports
duction of the island. The population at pres
emit amounts, probably, to about 100000.
The trade of Cuba is excellent. Its situa-
ton, the fertility of its soil, and the short dis
tance-not more than thirty miles-from any
point in the interior to the seashore, all tend to
give it great commercial prosperity; and, if the
many injurious restraints now put upon its
trade were removed, it would soon become one
Of the richest spots on earth.
The island is very heavily taxed by the mother
country. The greater portion of the revenues
from customs is derived from duties on imports.
There is great difference made between goods
from Spain and those from other countries
The duty on -four, especially on that from the
United States, is very heavy. If from Spain
and in Spanish vessels, the duty is two dollars
per barrel but il the same be in foreign YES
sells, the duty is six dollars per barrel. If the
flour be foreign, but under the national fag
the duty is eight dollars and half per barrel;
but if it be foreign, and under foreign flag,
the duty is nine dollars and half per barrel.
The United States -four is, however, SO far SUI
perior to the Spanish, that, independently of
the difference in price caused by the discrimi-
mating duties laid, it always commands much
higher price, selling, very frequently, for three
dollars more per barrel The only effect Of this
high tariff on American -four has been, to in
crease smuggling; for the -four is more used
throughout the country than it was years ago,
and yet less passes through the custom-houses.
The trade of the United States with Cuba has
always been very large. In the five years end
ing with 1887, the relative proportion of goods
imported and exported under the flags of Spain,
England, and the United States, was as follows
Spain, 483 per cent; England, u per cent. ;
Irnitad States Dc nar cent