Evening star., 1900-12-12
POURING INTO CUBA
immigration From Spain Larger Than
During Spanish Rule.
DEMAND FOR LABOR THE CAUSE
A Number of Former Soldiers Re-
turn to the Island.
WELCOMED BY COUNTRYMEN
Copyright, 1900, by Charlie NJ. Pepper)
oi.l Of Eyauiup Star

| from Spain than came during Spanish rule
This is about the most significant thing
that has happened under American control.
1t makes the industrial future of the island
almost open book.
The other morning, coming into the har-
Dor, 1 saw the great transatlantic liner
| from Barcelona with her decks packed with
humanity. The ship was the Reina Maria
Crstina, one of the largest of these YES
sells 1 asked about her passengers and
was told nearly all of them were immi-
grants coming to seek work in Cuba, and
they numbered eleven hundred. few
would go to Mexico, but most Of them
were disembarked at the detention camp
which the authorities have established at
Triscornia, across the bay from Havana.
A day or two later the French steamer
Navarro came in with GOO immigrants, who
had embarked from the ports of Corunna
and Santander There are other lines which
are bringing passengers right along, but
these two carry the most of them The
Barcelona ship brings the immigrants from
Catalonia and some from Andalusia and
others of the provinces bordering on the
Mediterranean. The French ships are load
ed with the natives of northern Spain. All
the lines bring immigrants from the Ca
nary Islands, and some also from Teneriffe
and others of that group.
During the winter season the arrivals of
these Spanish immigrants varies from 1900
to $500 monthly. In November it was
5000. December and the following months
will probably show $500 until spring, when
there will be a slight return movement.
But the immigration itself will continue
tn, oughout the year.
In the two years of American control.
which will end on January /. between ~ 300
ard $1,000 Spanish immigrants will have
lar ded in Cuba. OF these it is probable
tlrat nearly 10000 can be counted on as Il
permanent addition TO the industrial popu-
lation of the island.
Demand for Labor.
These workers from Spain are coming in
res ronse to a natural demand. They have
no trouble in finding work upon their ar
rival. The sugar plantations and the to-
bacco fields within reasonable distance of
Havana, while complaining that labor is
scarce, yet are able to get men enough 20
meet their immediate needs. Further III
the interior there is still pronounced lack
of field laborers, and the effort is made 20
spread the new arrivals over the island as
equitably possible.
While just the Barcelona vessels
have brought the larger number of imnli
grants from the Mediterranean ports. this
does not hold good throughout the year.
The majority of those who are coming
month by month are from the northern
provinces Most of them are embarked at
the ports of Corunna and Santander, and
there is nothing to show which Of the
northern provinces they come from But al
the landing, where it was possible TO see
something of the immigrants at close range
and talk little with them, | learned that
all the northern provinces are well repre-
sented, The Asturias are sending fair
proportion AS these mostly towns
people, and not wanted for the fields,
the movement there has not been encour
aged. The Basque provinces have quite
sprinklinS, but the majority of immigrants
appear to be from Galicia. These GallegoS
work in the mines and in the coast towns
as stevedores and longshoremen. Most of
those who are now coming seem to prefer
TO work on the plantations.
1ne Canary Islanders are class by
themselves. They the best laborers in
the tobacco field that come to Cuba, and
most of them leave at once for Pinar del
FtIo, or for the Remedies tobacco district
in the central part of the island. The Ca
nary islanders for many years have been
coming 10 Cuba to work through the tobac-
co growing season and then return home.
A larger proportion of them return than of
the immigrants from the peninsula but Il
tobacco planter who employs many Canary
Islanders told me that this year he found
most of them wanted to stay in Cuba for
good.
The Spanish immigration has been en-
couraged by the Sugar Planters Associa-
tloh and by the tobacco growers. 1t Il so is
aided by the various societies formed among
the natives Of the different provinces If
SPAN who have been settled in Cuba for
years past. With these it is largely a mat
ter of helping friends and relatives. and
they are useful in looking after the new
corners when they arrive, and in finding
employment for them in advance The
planters have been concerned simply with
securing sturdy labor. Mr.. Lacoste the
secretary of agriculture who is himself a
sugar painter, had project of aiding 20
900 Immigrants from the island treasury
81 as To insure their coming, but there were
cincuities In the way of carrying out this
plan. Moreover, the individual exertions
of the planters and the efforts of the steam
ship company have made it unnecessary
so that government aid is no longer dis
cuSSed.
The majority of the immigrants are young
fellows, ranging in age from sixteen to
twenty-five. They are sturdy looking and
probably are good types of the Spanish
peasant. Being mostly young men, it fol-
lows that few of them are married but I
found that quite a number had families
whom they expected to bring over later
Some folks who are concerned more with
the educational than the industrial future
of Cuba have mildly suggested that the
coming of so many illiterate people from
Spain to be superimposed the mass of
ignorance already in the island opens up a
serious problem. These are fanciful theor-
les 1t Is probable that in time the Spanish
peasantry who come to Cuba will be bene-
fitted by the educational advantages which
VIII be afforded them, but for time yet
their labor is more important than their
letters. Moreover, the degree of illiterarv
Is far less pronounced than l had supposed.
Looking over the manifests of the steam
SIP companies, l was surprised to see how
many were set down as able to read and
write. Possibly the steamship agents would
stretch the point and not put the immi-
grants through civil service examination
to determine what constituted ability to
read and write. But the point itself is not
an important one.
Returning Spanish Soldiers.
1t Is question what proportion of these
immigrants soldiers who served in Cuba
under the Spanish flag. Two years ago.
when the troops of Spain We're evacuating
the island, it known that fair pro-
portion of them would like to stay in Cuba
II they could secure their discharges and
receive their back pay, but the Spanish
government was simply giving them its
abonos' or promiSsory notes for their paw
and these could not have been collected
without their returning to Spain. Probably
the collections were not made when they
did get back to Spain. Anyhow, the action
of the Spanish authorities compelled all the
SO diers to return to the peninsula few
of them began returning to Cuba within a
short time. and though they do not like to
be asked about it there are fair propor-
tion OF these former soldiers among the i'm
migrants now arriving. 1 have seen q state.
ment that 10 per cent of them have seen