The sun., 1896-02-25

tribute levied upon Cuba will amount tt
$40, 900, 900 or $40, 900, ,00O," should she
fail now:
During her most prosperous times the estimated
annual net revenue was Ss0,00O,00O How much viii
II probably be after the war Perhaps more thar
Si5pUo.U0 or $50 100000. Is that encouraging
prospccty Net revenue $50 900 COOS taxes paid int,
the treasury md stolen by of1'cnls s7o 100000. II
the amount is collected existing capital bc
conHscacd to the extent OF $40 O0O. 900 year
Such Is tho future awaiting American investments In
| the Island under Spanish rule"
But that is not nll Not one in ten, says
Mr.. PIERRA, of American merchants en-
gagged in the sugar trade with Cuba believed
that there would be no sugar crop this year,
and accordingly the usual advances were
made, amounting to at least $40, 100000,
and perhaps much more. But the insur.
gents have been destroying the crop in order
| to deprive Spain of the revenue derivable
from it, and accordingly "those advances
will remain unreimbursed,' and will be sub
| ject to the desperate chances of the $685.
| 0OO, 900 of American capital already spoken
Of Then we have the item Of several mil
lion dollars worth of American merchan-
disc sold to Cuba on credit and not yet paid
for; and, in short, Mr.. PIERRA believes there
| is not less than S45, ,OO0, 900 or $50 900, 900
| of American capital, the loss of which is
inevitable" il the war is greatly pro-
tracted, or if Spain prevails.
| But would it not also be lost II the island
should become independently Mr.. PIERRA
thinks not, and gives his reasons for that
view. In the first place. Cuba herself has
no debt; for she never had anything to do
with the issue of the 100000, 900 OF So
called Cuban bonds, and they are simply a
part of Spain's own national debt, the name
given to them simply denoting that the
revenues from Cuba would be devoted to
paying their interest and principal. Again,
with Spain out of the way army
and navy expenditures can be re-
duced nine-tenths, the civil administration
will also be reduced, and the Governments
budget will dwindle to s1O,OOO,OOO year,
or, with loans for internal improvements,
to Sl5,O0O,O0O. This sum could be carried
easily, because Cuba has been paying four
times as much under Spain, without re-
ceiving any advantage. She will develop
her riches by the internal improvements
spoken of, and "during the last twenty
five years the Government has neither con-
structed nor repaired single mile of road,
nor increased one yard the telegraph lines"
These now undcveloped resources are
prodigious. OF $4,000 600 acres in Cuba,
only about 3 100000 nre under cultivation.
There are over 1G,OOO.OOO acres OF I'M
cleared forests, aboundinG in hard and cab
met woods, some of them Of exquisite
beauty, the Cuban mahogany and cedar
being specially we'll known. A great part
of the province of Santiago is a field of rich
y,,nr tpt, Two, of
have been worked with great profit, while
there are great deposits Of manganese ore,
some of which yield an extraordinary
percentage of fine and pure metal. "It
makes the best sterl,' says Mr.. PIERRA,
land l understand that the Ameri-
can Government makes it condition
that Cuban manganese be used for
the manufacture of steel plates for the
navy" There are rich copper mines, too, at
Ell Cobre and elsewhere. There are 9.OOO,-
600 acres Of natural pasturage, though mis-
governed Cuba is actually importing cattle
fo- food. There are vast supplies of vegeta-
bles, including potatoes equal to those of
bermuda and Peru, and great winter
trade in them with the United States would
be possible, with n good system of roads and
proper laws. The island has scores of ports,
and its very shape is favorable to getting
the products of the interior, whether of gar
den, forest, or mine. to these ports.
Such are the grounds on which Mr..
PIERRA believes that the business interests
of America, apart from any question of
sympathy, are allied with the success of
Cuban Independence. Since, sooner or later,
Cuba must be free, Spain keeping her only
to p.under her, why should the series Of
revolutions continue, with a greater and
greater waste of resources Spain saws
that the Cubans cannot govern themselves;
but that is always the cry of dcspots, when
their subjects seel; TO be free: and certainly,
says Mr.. PIERRA, the Cubans could not
govern their island worse than Spain has
governed it. As to the plea that ONLY a
small fraction of the islanders are en-
gagged III the present revolution, he points
out one significant fact. as declared bv
MARTINEZ CAMPOS several times, that
Spain cannot get guides for the army nor
coast pilots for the war vessels" That
there are many negroes in the Cuban army is
trne; but why not, with 10000 colored
and 100000 white Cubans in the popula-
ton. apart from $50, 900 Spanish residents?
said to be not excessive being only about
onc-haif; while all the members of the Pro
visional Government are declared to be
whites "of the best Cuban families"
AS to the American property destroyed in
Cubn. Mr., PlERRA believes that claims for
indemnity on account of it would he reject
ed by Spain, should she triumph, on grounds
of international law, and in any case would
he hard to get satisfied, because she Is already
bankrupt. Cuba. however, can and will, he
says, pay just claims, if she achieves her
freedom. The present exodus of citizens
from the island will stop, industries will be
resumed and many of the cxpatriated Gu
bans now here might return to their native
land, witt tac knowledge and the resources
acquired here. Only with freedom can
Cuba have assured peace
Concerning joint Commissions