Evening star., 1898-05-17
BRIGHT FUTURE PROSPECT
Once Free From Spanish Rule Cuba Will Re-
cuperate.
She Has Wonderful Natural Re-
sources, but Has Been Badly
Crippled by War.
pecial Correspondence of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
NEW YORK. May 16 1895
| Business men who lcok beyond the era of
bullets and bloodshed in Cuba are already
speculating the commercial future of
the pearl of the Antilles. When the dons
have been eliminated. and balmy peace has
| settled over the island once more, 1t will
| require careful legislation the part OF
| the American government to bring the de-
| vastated land back to a condition of pros
perity. Charles Rabadan of the New York
| produce exchange has spent much of his
| time in Cuba during the past decade, and
| krows the Cuban and Spanish characters
| well
Concerning the past and future prospects
in the island. Mr.. Rabadan says: Prior to
the present troubles in Cuba our exports to
| the island amounted to from S20.0o0,00o to
So 100000 annually. In addition to pro-
| visions of all kinds and flour. the exports
| Included manufactured articles of almost
| every description as well as machinery
and locomotives. It the Gripping of
| this substantial trade with Cuba, according
| to Mr.. Rabadan, and the disgust excited
| among American exporters by Spain's in-
| ability to restore peace on the island that
| We're largely responsible for the present
war. When Cuba becomes an American
! possession the logical outcome will be the
| opening ol the CUBAN ports 10 the tTdutfS
who follow closely upon the heels of the
soldiers and sailors. With the entry of this
| peace army into Cuba will begin the dawn
o. prosperity for the emancipated ISLAND.
| But the dawn will become bright daylight
very slowly.
| Machinery is All Destroyed.
| Machinery on the island is thing ot
the past. What is not rusting in the fields
has been broken and shipped to America
as old metal Cuba must have an entirely
| new outfit of machinery, and this will mean
| an enormous business for the American
| houses that export machinery. But first
| Cuba must have the money to buy ma
| chimes, and to get the money she must first
| carry on nd-to-mouth trade WITH
| America, and practice until she can afford
| t. make purchases of expensive plants.
Cuba after The war may be likened - an
| ill-used individual who has just been res
| cUed by a powerful friend from persecution
| and poverty and told to go ahead and be-
| gin life anew, with the promise of every
| possible assistance from the benefactor.
| The rescued man must work and save, be-
ginning in small way, and patiently
mount the ladder.
| 1T may be stated at this point says
Mr.. Rabadan. that the prosecuted man is
not SO poVerty-Stricken as some may think.
Mich gold has been boarded by Cubans
during the days of insurrection, and this
will be brought out from its hiding place
when peace is declared. First, then,
with peace will be opened in CUBA big
n:arkel for the necessaries of life. The nu-
cleuS of the Cuban traders in the new days
will be the merchants who are ready 20
open shop again just as soon as sub
Stantial government is assured to the ISL
ard. This government must be an Amer
lean one. Most emphatically it cannot be
an nsurgent government. The Cuban mer-
chants will not settle down to business
der an independent Cuban administration.
Careful Legislative nursing will be required
to enable the Cuban merchants 10 work
| oIrf h4iT Cgl N-lf Ia n
Cuban porGs free exclusively to American
goods is of the many important ques-
tions that will be left for President Nc
klnley and the government to decide.
Have Hoarded Some Money.
Paying for the initial trading with the
money that they have boarded and with
some credit from America, which will be
given with confidence when this country
controls the island, there will be no reason
at all why Cuba should not advance to a
manufacturing trade and then TO a trade in
machinery and SO get the wheels going and
begin once more to export sugar and to-
bacco to this country in exchange for our
products. 1t may be many years before
capital will be attracted to Cuba. 1t was
only when the north had become fully as
sured of the restoration of law and order
in the south that capital was available
after the civil war. What northern capital
has done for the south northern and south |
ern capital will do for Cuba.
Continuing, Mr.. Rsbadan says: When |
once the barriers with which Spain has re- |
Stricted our commerce have been swept |
away by the abolition of discriminating du- |
ties, not an article of Spanish manufacture |
or of Spanish origin can be exported to |
Cuba at a cheaper price or of better |
quality than by direct Importation from the |
United States. Cuba under an American |
protectorate pending reconstruction. would |
throw open her markets for the importa- |
ton of American pork products, -four, corn, |
potatoes beans, fish. canned goods and all |
food products of which she will stand in |
sore need the moment our blockade of her |
ports is removed. Under a stable form of |
government. the enactment of wise and |
just laws and with the progressive spirit |
which will speedily infuse itself in a land |
within five hours steaming distance of our |
coasts, the future Of Cuba is full Of prom
fse and great possibilities.
Had 1. 900 Miles of Railroad.
prior to the present revolution there
were 1,OO0 miles of railroad in regular op-
GRAFTON throughout the island, while the |
telegraph lines aggregated = SO miles. The
completion Of a continuous trunk line from
San Antonio to Cape Maysi, about 100 miles
of track, with branches 10 the principal |
ports of the north and south coasts of
Cuba 800 miles additional, Will offer d
remunerative investment for American cap
ital and open up a country of mar elouS
fertility. capable of sustaining a pCpula-
ton more than quadruplc its present cen
sus. over 13,oW,0O acres abound in ma
hogany, cedar and an inhnity of woods |
suitable for the fine cabinet work, which,
for lack of means of transportation to the |
Seaboard, have escaped the woodmans ak
ard acquired a growth of centuries. Not
more than one-eighth of the land of Cuba |
is under cultivation. and. while heretofore
her great staple have been sugar and to-
bacco, under different conditions the coffee
industry would not only be revived, but
Cuba would rival Porto Rico in her exports
of finer grades of the berry III continental |
Europe. Bituminous coal Manganese, iron |
and copper ore are found in large and pay
ing quantities in the province of Santiago, |
but the blight of Spanish rule has driven
the foreign corporations, which had invest
ed millions in the developments of these in
dustries, to the wall"
PENSION FRAUDS DETECTED.
Conviction and Punishment of Those i