Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1898-07-07
READY TO GO TO CUBA
THE SOUTH PREPARING TO SHARE
IN THE ISLANDS REGENERATION.


Flock There When the Bars Are Down.
The Figure Galveston Expects to Cut.
The counting Of poultry before the in
cubator has turned loose its product is
not ordinarily deemed safe system Of
calculation, but that does not deter the
energetic hustlers of south Texas from
planning what part they will play in
the regeneration of Cuba, and already
there are indications of an invasion OF
the Gem of the Antilles far more impos
ing than that of the armed host that
will sweep Blanco and his men from
Cuban soil and displace the flag Of Spain
with the stars and stripes.
The gulf ports have been in closer
touch with Havana than have been the
cities along the Atlantic shore, and it is
expected that the new era soon to dawn
in Cuba will play a mighty part in the
commerce Of the gulf Cuba is supposed
to have population of approximately
2, 900, 900 persons Men who know the
island and it's capabilities predict that
within ten years after the expulsion Of
the Spanish the population will be
5000, 900. That Cuba can, in any even
tuality, remain under the rule Of native
Cubans they consider impossible. They
declare that within two years after the
departure of the Spanish the Cubans in
Cuba will be outnumbered and outvoted
by the people Of the United States seek
ing residence and fortune in Cuba.
Galveston has for many years had
considerable trade with Cuba and the
other islands Of the West Indies. Two Of
the big transatlantic steamship lines of
Spain, the principal of which is the
Sierra company of Bilbao, have had their
fleets constantly in the Galveston trade,
and as the Spanish merchantmen called
at San Juan de Puerto Rico, Havana,
Matanzas, Cardenas, Santiago de Cuba,
or other ports in the Spanish West In
dies, going from or coming to Calves
ton, this city has had we'll defined
commercial relationship with the Gu
ban and Puerto Rican merchants. Not
only that, but Galveston has for a long
time been supplying the Havana market
with cattle and -four For flour, one
steamer, the Norwegian Gyller, has been
in commission for four or five years to
the Texas Star -four mills of Galveston
and thousands upon thousands of tons of
Tidal Wave -four, made in Calves
ton, has gone to feed the people of Cuba
and Puerto Rico In return, good
share Of the products of the Spanish
West Indies has como to the United
States through this port.
The idea prevails that the Klondike
Of the south is in that lizard shaped
island Of Cuba, and that a field for
American pluck, American brains and
American enterprise is going to be
thrown open there that will settle for a
decade the spirit of dissatisfaction and
unrest that was being manifested in the
United States previous to the war. If
you listen to the men who talk Cuba
and Cuban possibilities, you are likely
to be carried away by the glowing pic
tases they will draw. They will tell
you the Spaniards have not scraped the
surface il Cuba, and that the agricul-
tural possibilities of the island are al
most incredible. They say the most
vicious, grasping and intolerant system
Of governmental oppression and unjust
exaction has not succeeded in choking
the industrial development of Cuba,
and that once the island has the stimu-
lus Of American enterprise its revivii-
cation will surprise the world. 1t is in
talking of reviviscent Cuba that they
are most glowing. They talk of the
ploWs, of the hardware, of the lumber,
Of the breadstuffs, Of the mill machinery,
of the railroad supplies, Of the boots
and the shoes, of the clothing and the
furniture, the cattle and the horses that
Cuba will want in illimitable quanti-
ties, in addition to thousands upon
thousands Of hustling Americans, in the
good times that are coming.
While it may take longer for Cuba
to recover from the desolation and dew
astation Of war than these enthusiasts
believe, they are in the main correct in
the propositions they advance. Cuba,
in the minds Of the vast majority Of
our people, offers most attractive field
for commercial and agricultural en-
deavor, and that combination of Ameri-
can shrewdness, courage, pertinacity
and, alas, mendacity-the promoter
will be largely il evidence when the
gate is opened at Havana.
In this freight and passenger traffic
to Cuba Galveston expects to cut quite
figure. 1t is pointed out that hereafter
the coastwise vessels that ply between
Galveston and New York will in all
probability call at Havana instead of
Key West, as heretofore 1t is also sug-
gested that Havana will be a stop off
station for the transatlantic liners and
tramps that come to the gulf ports
While the United States will undoubt-
edly be the great supply station for
Cuba it is but in the ordinary nature of
things to expect that Europe will get
share OF the business. The great cargo
ships that now come empty across the
Atlantic to take cotton or grain from
the gulf ports to Europe can, when Cuba
is free, carry merchandise from abroad
to Cuba, and after discharging at Havana
proceed to Mobile, to New Orleans or
to Galveston to fill their charter engage
ments. Spain has been jealous guard
ian Of her colonies, and few opportuni-
ties were offered in the past for English
Or German or American craft 80 partici-
pate in Cuban commerce Hereafter,
while America is sure to have whatever
favorable conditions are necessary to ad-
vance American industries, there will
probably be so much of an improvement
IN the customs and business system as
will enable the English, the Germans,
the Dutch, the Italians and Europeans
generally, excepting the Spanish, to
largely increase their West Indian
trade.-Richard Spillane in st. Louiz
Globe-Democrat.
One of the Mean Ones.
A worthy old Gentleman in the Coun-
Try, having employed an Attorney, of
whom he had pretty good Opinion, to
do some Law Business for him in Lon
don. he Was greatly SURPRISED on his