The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-01-28
CUBAN WAR BONDS LOBBY
Already Organizing lis Campaign
for Prosecution Of Claims.
Four Hundred and Fifty Millions at
:DIds-r> Shut 0uf Thus
Fur hy the Recently Adopted Con
observation-disclosures to he Made for
Insertion of a Remedial Clause.

The preliminary skirmishing in a bat
tie for upward OF $3.50. 00o coo has already
begun in Washington. Holders of the
Cuban war bonds issued by Spain to raise
funds for the prosecution Of the wars in
Cuba are again moving 10 get their money
| back. lobby is already at work in
Washington, and it has had representa-
tives at the Cuban Constitutional Con
| vention seeking to shape the constitution
OF the island SO as TO admit OF a COM
| promise regarding this stupendous claim
| In Cuba the bondnoIders have so far
| met with defeat The draft Of the con
| stitution now being considered shuts out
| any possibility of a compromise on these
bonds bat has left the way open for the
payment Of the bonds of the Republic Of
/ Cuba issued by the junta. This provision
/ appears in the twenty-third section Of the
: draft:
The Republic of Cuba does not recog-
nize and will not recognize any debts or
. compromises contracted prior 10 the pro-
mitigation OF the constitution From the
said prohibition are expected the debts
/ and compromises legitimat@ly contracted
! for in behalf Of the revolution from and
| after April y. 1895 by corps commanders
I of the Hberating army until --. on
which date the constitution Of Jima-
guayi was promulgaJe ed. and those which
the revolutionary Governments contract
ed either by themselves or by their legl-
innate representatives in foreign coun-
tries. which debts and compromises shall
! be classified by Congress and which body
shall decide as to the payment Of those
which IN its Judgment are legitimate"
II is said here by men high IN the Gov
! eminent that an effort viii be made when
! thu Cuban constitution is submitted 10
! the Congress Of the United States for its
( approval 10 amend il so IS TO open the
door to a consideratin by the Cuban Gov
/ eminent, when formed of the claims IN
/ der the Cuban debt. The representatives
Of the bondhoIders will seek to have Con-
gress act quietly and these men are
spreading the talk in favor Of an extra
session Of Congress They believe that If
they can get the constitution amended
they can make ''arranzemcnts' with tns
/ Cuban Government whereby q cOmprC-
mise can be reached. With this end IN
view they viii seek to hurry the with
drdwal of the United States from Cuba
and the turning over 10 the Cubaas them
selves of all the affairs of the island
President Mckinley viii resoIuteiy op-
pose the scheme
The Cuban debt according to one esti-
mate amounts 10 1851 700 600. and accord
ing to another estimate amounts $3.50 700. >
COO At the conclusion OF the Ten Years
waC it was $4,000 eco. 4 portion of this
debt is understood to have been paid Of
and the rest of it refunded. and bonds fol
SlZ4 0J0 900 were issued.
While an effort was being made to pay
of these bonds out of the customs Of Cuba
a new issue Of S1T5. 600 coo was aut horned
with a view 10 refundIng all previous
debts Only a small portion Of these
bonds had been sold when the last insur-
rection broke out. when the bonds were
I issued for the purpose or raising waI
funds and $17I- 700 COO was issued for this
purpose Subsequently Cuban wal
emergency loan was iioatcd. amounting tC
$3.50 .O0G coo.
During the treaty negotiations at Paris
Spain endeavOred 70 have inserted in the
treaty a statement that she was justified
in repudiating these debts, so as TO place
/ their redemption on Cuba. This was re
jected by the American Peace Commits
Etoners-
Prof John B. Moore wrote an opinion II
which he said
From no point Of view can the debts
be considered as local debts of Cuba or as
debts incurred for The benefit OF Cuba. II
no sense are they OBJ cations properly
/ chargeabIe to that island
/ It IS stated here on excellent authority
that a veryIarge quantity Of these Spanish
bonds have been purchased as q specUla
ton and are now locked up IN this country
awaiting The result C. the effort now being
made The rest Of them are held il
/ France and Spain.