Evening star., 1901-11-27

recent severe Illness Of the military gov
ernor, the manifestation of esteem and
affection for him ~ere ESPECIALLY crafty
Mckinley was followed BY general ex-
pressions of sympathy and sorrow through
out the island.
''The chief apparent obstacle to the fu-
ture prosperity OF the islapd Is to be found
in its commercial relations with the Unit
ed States, and the necessity of securing
some reciprocal arrangement under which
a concession shall be made from the tariff
duties now imposed by the United States
upon the principal Cuban products.
The prosperity of Cuba depends upon
finding market for her principal prod
profit Under existing conditions, or any
conditions which are to be anticipated,
she can find such a market for her sugar,
and to great degree for her tobacco, only
In the United States. Under the existing
provisions of the United States tariff law
the prices which be realized for Gu
ban sugar and large part of Cuban to-
bacco in this market are not sufficient to
pay the duties, cost of transportation and
production, and yield living profit to the
producer.
Efforts to Revive Their Industries.
In reliance upon fair and generous treat
ment by the United States, the Cuban
planters have made strenuous efforts to re-
vive their great industry and have raised
their product of sugar from 3OS, 900 tons in
1899 to 6lo,0OO tons in 1900, while the out
put for the present year is estimated at
something over 5000 TONS Incited by our
precept and trusting to our friendship, they
nave struggled to retrieve the disasters
under which their country had suffered.
All the capital they had or could borrow
has been invested in the rebuilding of their
mills and the replanting of their land.
More than half of the people of the island
are depending directly or indirectly upon
the success Of that industry. If it succeeds
we may expect peace plenty, domestic
order and the happiness of a free and con-
tented people to reward the sacrifice of
American lives and treasure through which
Cuba was set free If it fails may ex-
pect that the fields will again become waste, |
the mills will again be dismantled the
great body Of laborers will be thrown out
OF employment, and that poverty and STAR
vatlon disorder and anarchy will ensue;
tnat the charities and the schools which we
have been building up will find no money
for their support and will be discontinued;
that the sanitary precautions which have
made Cuba no longer a dreaded source Of
pest1lence, but one Of the most healthy
Islands in the world, will of necessity be
abandoned, and our Atlantic seaboard must
again suffer from the injury to commerce
and the maintenance of guarantees al an
annual cost of many millions.
Cuba has acquiesced in our right to say
that she shall not put herself in the hands
OF any other power, whatever her necessi-
ties, and in our right to insist upon the
maintenance of free and orderly govern
ment throughout her limits, however i'm
poverished and desperate may be her peo-
pie. Correlative to this right is a duty of
the highest obligation to treat her not as
an enemy, not at arms length as an ag-
gressive commercial rival, but with a gen.
erosity which toward her will be but JUS
tice; to shape our laws SO that they shall
contribute to her welfare well as our
own.
Our present duty to Cuba can be per-
formed by the making of such a reciprocal
n o~if o-ro ,ar,f 1, l.
Mckinley urged in his last words to his
countrymen at Buffalo on the 9TH of Sep
tember. A reasonable reduction in our du-
ties upon Cuban sugar and tobacco, in ex-
change for fairly compensatory reductions
of Cuban duties upon American products,
will answer the purpose. and 1 strongly
urge that such an arrangement be promptly
made. 1t would involve no sacrifice, but
would be as advantageous to us as 1t would
be to Cuba. The market for American prod
ucts In country with such a population,
such wealth and purchasing power, Cuba
with prosperity would speedily acquire,
made certain by the advantage of prefer
entail duties would contribute far more to
our prosperity than the portion of our pres
ent duties which we would be required to
concede.
Reciprocal Arrangements.
A large part of the s37, 900 900 Of mer-
chandise which Cuba now imports from
countries other than the United States, and
import If prosperous, should come and with
a proper reciprocal arrangement inevitably
would come from the United States.
Aside from the moral obligation to which
we committed ourselves when we drove
Spain out of Cuba, and aside from the or
dinary considerations of commercial advan-
tage involved in reciprocity treaty. there
are the Weightiest reasons of American
public policy pointing in the same direc-
tion; for the peace of Cuba is necessary
to the peace of the United States; the health |
of Cuba is necessary to the health of the
United States; the independence of Cuba is
necessary to the safety of the United
States. The same consideration which led
to the war with Spain now require that a
commercial arrangement be made under
sugar and tobacco industries in Cuba is
already such that the earliest possible ac-
ton by Congress upon this subject is desir-
able"
Two purely local matters are referred to
In the report, as follows:
Buildings and Grounds.
The many duties of the War Depart
ment in relation to the public buildings and
grounds Of Washington, and to the statues
and memorials authorized proposed by
Congress, have brought the department into
frequent conference with the commission
selected by the Senate committee on the
District of Columbia to prepare plans for
the development of the park system of the
District, consisting of Messrs. Daniel H.
Burnham, Charles F. McKim and Frederick
Law Olmsted, jr., who have now associated
with them Mr.. Augustus st. Gaudens. In
admirable spirit that commission seeks to
restore and develop the original designs
of President Washington and L'Enfant; and
the plans which they are about to present
for the work to be done hereafter in max
ing the capital city more beautiful, have
the hearty approval and sympathy Of the
War Department, and will If they shall
happily be adopted. have that departments
cordial cooperation.
Need of a Building for Records.
Attention is again asked to the insult
ficient space in the War Department build |
ing for the preservation of records and the
transaction Of business and to the con-
stantly increasing necessity for the con-
struction of a f1reproof building to pre-
serve the great mass Of invaluable records
which, If destroyed, could never be sup
piled. The annual increase of these rec
ords Is steadily crowding the officers and
clerks of the department out Of the room
which is necessary for the transaction Of
their business. 1e