Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-12-26
YOUNG MEN IN CUBA
Best Openings to Be Found in the
Country.
TRADE CONTROLLED BY THE SPANISH
The Field Well Occupied in the
Cities.
SOME INSTANCES OF SUCCESS
,ecial Correspondence of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence OF The Evening star
HAVANA, December %, 1900.
What is the young mans chance in Gu
ba? The inquiries come with increasing
volume. Some are accented and some are
emphatic, and some show doubts whether
there is a chance The answers may be
punched. The opportunity Is coming, but
1t is slow and gradual. No dazzling young
financier yet has appeared to upset the
steadygoing Spanish business methods. He
may appear in time, but the business meth
DDS will follow the groove they have been
following. Something more than two years
results merely confirm an observation made
at the beginning of the American occupa-
ton that despite it's marvellous natural re-
sources Cuba is not going to be a land of
quickly made fortunes.
The young man entirely without money
or the backing which is equivalent to
money would better remain at home for a
few years yet. There is comparatively
small chance Of securing employment until
the reconstruction and development Of the
island have progressed stage or two fur
Their But for whoever has enough to keep
him going for a time or can command cap
ita1 in small amounts the prospects are
growing better
When 10000 or $4,000 American troops,
mostly volunteers, came to Cuba two years
ago as a temporary army OF occupation, a
large number both Of officers and men ex-
pected to remain after their time was UP.
They had the advantage Of being on the
ground and of familiariZing themselves
with the conditions There was also con-
siderable number of civilian employees con-
nected with the quartermaster's and other
departments of the army, while tho post
office and the custom house made openings
for a fair proportion of those who could
command political support at home. The
withdrawal of the troops and the enforce
ment of the policy of turning the offices
over to the Cubans as rapidly as possible
have lessened this number. Some of them
who had set purpose of saving their
money and looking for opportunities have
managed to do fairly well. and are in
places which give them promise for the
future. This class took pains to learn the
language and get in touch with the people
among whom they expected to live. A
larger proportion simply had good time
and when the day came that the American
government had no use for their services
they We're helpless. Most of them have
drifted back to the United States.
Others who are still in the government
service will be apportioned in about the
same ratio. Some are improving every OPP
portunty, learning Spanish, studying the
industrial resources of the country and
looking forward without fear to the time
when they will not be able to draw gov
eminent salaries. But the larger number
nave followed the usual course and taken
no thought of the morrow. From time to
Tune these will be back in the states pes
ter1ng their congressman for political jobs.
IN the Philippines or elsewhere. They will
have the old story to tell of expenses of
living which made it impossible for them
to save anything. The cost of living in
CUBA for an American is perhaps % per
cent more than 1t would be in Washington
or other cities of the United States This
allowance may be made and there would
still be a large number of clerks and other
employees who could have paid it and saved
foj~ pHa~
majority have not done so or are not doing
SO is their own affair. Ten or fifteen years
hence the young men who did save and
who established themselves in Cuba will
be heard from as among the successful
American financiers
In the Interior.
One Of the Americans who has had wide
experience in Cuba told me that a simple
rule would hold for those who are coming
to the island. This was to go out into the
country and get hold of a piece of land
The opportunities in mercantile life in Ha-
Vana and in the other cities, he said were
very limited and were apt to continue lin
tied Heretofore seventy or eighty firms,
mostly in New York have handled the
trade of Cuba, and it's commerce has been
managed on the commission basis. This
commission business is not going to be
changed rapidly. Retail shops have been
set up catering largely to American Gus
tablished branches in Havana. But the
general trend of business follows the old
currents and the Spanish firms continue to
control it.
Some of the packing houses and flour
mills Of the west have appointed local rep
resentatives, and 1T is quite common now
to see the signs Of welI-known American
concerns. These are simply for the pur-
pose OF bringing them into a little closer
relation with the Cuban trade and do not
add materially to the number of Americans
who may find employment. Some firms are
sending commercial travellers, where for
merly they depended entirely on CORE
spondence. The banking houses of the
United States and Canada which have set
up branches give employment to a few
score clerks, and the substitution Of the
trolley for the old horse car system and
tramways has given chance to a few
more civil engineers and higher-grade en-
ployes. There are also few doctors and
lawyers, but neither Spaniards nor
oupans employ them, their practice, neces-
sarlly, is limited to American patients or
American clients. So, all told, census of
the Americans who thus far have found
business openings in Havana or elsewhere
In the island would not exceed a few hun
bred.
Trade Controlled by the Spanish.
another cause of this lack of commercial
opportunities Is due to the keenness OF the
Spaniards. who control completely the trade
| learning Spanish, good many young Span
| iards We're learning English. All the So
| cleties Of Spanish provincials in Havana
| nave English classes. The largest Of these
| are the Central de Asturianos or Asturiar
| Club, and the Association of Dependencies
| or clerks. These have beneficial articles
! which provide for the care of members dur
ing sickness, or their burial when they die
! They admitted Americans to a limited mem
| bershp This membership was valuable In
one respect at least, because the American
| VINO took advantage Of 1t and paid his dues
| was certain of decent burial in case ne
should be so unfortunate as to take SICK
| and die, and burial in Cuba is most expen
| sive luxury.
| ON their part the Spanish mercantile
| classes of the younger generation seem te
| nave appreciated the value of the American
association in helping them learn English
! The other evening, calling at the Clerks
| Association and the Asturian Club noticed
| In both places blackboards filled with Eng
| lish phrases, and was told that their Eng
| lish classes kept up much better than the
| American classes in Spanish They are very
| persevering, if not very quick in their in
| tellectual processes, and while English as