Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-07-12


Turning aside from politics, 1 was told
confidentially by business man, who ex-
pected it to be repeated, that there is dis
appointment over the failure to realize
commercial expectations in Cuba. Accord
ing to his statement somebody is going to
suffer the consequences and by somebody
he meant the administration. 1t was not
much comfort to him to have the reply that
the best thing that could happen for Cuba
and for the United States would be the
continuance of this disappointment for a
while. However, it is only fair to note the
grievances. At one of the uptown hotels
the other evening a man who has some
thing to do with the manufacture and sale
of machinery gave me a long tale of woe.
He said that the Scotch and English manu-
facturers supply the Cuban sugar planta-
lions with 65 per cent of the machinery and
that the American manufacturers are not
succeeding in getting the trade He held
the administration and General Brooke re-
sponsibie, though in a vague way. When
asked him for the particulars he declared
that General Brooke favored the English
and Scotch manufacturers, giving them pro-
lection that was not afforded to the Amer
lean manufacturers. A newspaper CORE
spondent who had been for nine months in
Cuba and who had returned only the day
before was sitting at the table with US.
He showed the machinery man how ridicu-
lous the statement was, as the American
military authorities are simply enforcing
>,
discrimination.
Ultimately We got at the basis Of the ma
chinery mans grievance. The English and
Scotch manufacturers had made easier
terms than had the American manufactu-
rers. They may be too liberal and they
may lose money In the end, but that is their
own matter. The Cuban sugar planters are
all in desperate straits. They are going to
buy, or rather to borrow, machinery from
the firms which offer to them the best
terms, but some of me Americans think
that the United States should compel the
Cubans to take American goods at the
terms of the manufacturers. When this is
not done they raise an cutlery against Cen
eral Brooke and the American administra-
ton, and disclose a scheme to have him
recalled to Washington in an honorary po-
sition advisor to the President. General
Brooke has so far thwarted both the army
politicians and the political spectators who
are seeking to exploit Cuba for their own
benefit. I presume he will be sustained,
but New York just now has a large colony
rich out of Cuban schemes and they want
to hold somebody responsible. Most of
them are crying out for annexation and
they fool themselves on that subject as
easily as do some of the American officials
in the island, but at the bottom the griev-
ance of most of them is that the United
States is not creating artificial conditions
which will enable them to make money.
Looking for a ScapegOat.
Their own mistakes in Judgment are ig-
commanders or the Washington authorities
are set up as scapegoats. One crowd has a
chapter of sorrow in theater speculation.
Havana has twice as many theaters In pro-
portion to its population as has New York
city, but the spectators did not take that
into account and their project seems to
have gone amiss. So they blame it on
Brooke or Ludlow or on Washington. An
other crowd had a lot of bonds, very hand
someiy engraved bonds. too, printed and
ready to market. as soon as they got a GER
tain franchise, OF rather as soon as the
prospect of getting a franchise was made
clear. But the policy of the government in
not granting franchises during the military
occupancy kept this scheme in allegiance
and no opportunity has been given to sell
the bonds to the American public. So there
is a howl from this quarter. A few, very
few, legitimate enterprises are delayed by
the policy of Congress and of the admins
tration, but while these cases cause indi-
vidual hardship the American public is i'm
mensely the gamer. The complaints of the
disappointed promoters and spectators
will be heard right along now, but they can
be listened to with eQuanimity.
CHARLES M. PEPPER