New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-05
HONEST ADMINISTRATION IN CUBA.


Our Havana correspondent reports hand-
coma 60 ~ custom house receipts at that
mort The total for the year promises to DE not
Les than s1oOoOOOO TO this sum the other
norris will add two or three millions, making III
all a decidedly handsome revenue LOT al i9'an -,
~ Cuba's size and present condition. The ISL
and is, of course, still suffering 'errio'! iio,.'
tho effects of the war. Its industries are only
herinning to revive Its commerce ID OIL! w
Ginning 10 be restored. The tarin is OH! aoou'
balf as high rs 1t was. The population Is proo'
ably 25 per cent less than 1t was Deiore "e9iei
nnrsued his campaign OF exterminauon' ana 'he
wealth and purchasing ability OF those VINO are
loft are reduced to a minimum. Ana yet the
custom.house revenues are to-day ABOUT "s
large as they were before the war, when the III
dustries and commerce Of the island were Ut
their height.
The exclamation of this Is simple. Ii is OF
fered by our Havana correspondent III the IT,
mnder that while in Spanish hands the customs
service was flagrantly corrupt, in American
hands It Is efficient and honest. 1t is not agree
mile 70 recall and to dwell upon the evil feat
ures Of the old Spanish regime. Yet they are
facts of historic record, and 1t becomes now anu
tben necessary TO take them into account III
order properly to understand the present STATE
of affairs If is remembered that dozen years
aco the management of the havana custom
house became so bad that the spanish "oV
crnor-General had to take possession Oh IL WIN
n military force and dismiss summary ever!
civil employe. Eight years ago ooo persons
we're indicted for frauds but not one WIS ever
nrn,shed The Cortcs in 1890 investigated the
crhon treasury administration and discovered
that Sc. 100000 had been "abstracted outright
from safe, and that by means OF 1alse Vouch-
crs frauds amounting to nearly $23oOo'ooo hau
becn perpetrated. General Pando at that ume
further declared that the Board OF the fuDhc
Debt had committed robberies OF more IMAM
S12 100000.
To 90 no further into the catalogue OF crime,
these items sufficiently remind us how heavily
the island was taxed by It's Spanish masters
and how little good It got therefrom. To-Day
under An honest administration, 1t is paying far
less than II did but is getting fully as large
revenue. and it is itself enjoying the entire Dene
fiji of that revenue instead Of merely 1.-THE OF
II os of old As commerce revives ana III
creoses the income from customs VIII increase,
and II will not. as cur correspondent says, be
surprising to find this source of revenue suff1-
Giant for nj, the needs OF the island treasury.
Al any rate. the Cubans will find, as they are
already finding. that American administration
means at once lighter burdens Of taxation, n
lorrer revenue and far greater expenditures for
the benefit of the island and its people. That Is
a change which all can appreciate ana WHICH Is
chiefly 10 be appreciated by the most suoslan-
tal and Industrious of the CUBAN people 1t is
an advantage which was to be gained only by
oh Whether
have been gained by establishing an indepen-
dent Cuban government is extremely problem
otic. and those who are enjoying its benefits
will do wisely TO consider with great care
whether any immediate departure from the
present system would give assurance OF us en-
hancement or even of its maintenance