New-York tribune., 1902-08-09
DANGER IN CUBAN LOAN
ruoJ-GHT TO NEA.N RUIN FOR
THE ISLAND.
.rr THE INFLUENCE OF THE ADMINS
TRATIoN LIKELY TO BE ARRAfED
AGAINST THE SCHEME OF LOOT
rRv TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUNE.

- +o nrevail both in Washington and
TJorana as to the method by which the pro-
-ored ~uban loan Of S350o0,oe0 can be placed
I,,.irlv. however the Cuban Congress in pro-
56ine for the loan proceeded on the under
.+rdi,p that by the terms Of the Platt amend
r,ent which is an integral part of the organic
law of Cuba. the United States has reserved TO
...slf q supervisory power-a modified form Of
z.-air irtv-over Cuba's debt making power.
,-,era seems to be no doubt at Havana that be
.-e the loan can be negotiated the sanction Of
this government must first be obtained The
clause of the Platt amendment reserving this
mower to the United States is as follows:
THAT said government (of Cuba) shall not
assume or contract any debt to pay the inter
esr upon which. and to make reasonable SINK
ing fund provision for 'he ultimate olseharse IIs
of which the ordinary revenues Of the fsano'
after defraying the current expenses OF govern
nnent shall be inadequate.
RIGHT RESERVED BY CONGRESS.
The right CT supervision having thus been
carefully reserved by Congress and conceded by
+be constitution OF Cuba. the question naturally
arises where this right of supervision lies. On
this point there appears TO be some doubt here
as well as in Cuba although the fact that the
Congress at Havana cautiously provided in its
bord issue act that President Palma was not
evnected 70 place the loan before the expiration
of six months seems clearly TO indicate that
the weight Of opinion among the Cuban law
makers leans strongly to the conviction that
this reserved power OF supervision abi6es wholly
in the Congress of the United States with, OF
course the Presidents veto power as an essen
rial factor AT the same time. some members OF
the Cabinet, notably Secretary Shaw. obviously
are Of the opinion that the only authority in
this country which can question the right OF
Cuba to borrow money under the provisions OF
the Platt amendment rests in the Executive.
and that therefore, the proposed loan viii De
q subject Of Cabinet discussion and decision
How this opinion can be held however, can
not be understood in the face Of the fact tna1
under the organic law of the United States
Congress reserves to itself all power not spe-
cifcally delegated TO other departments OF the
government. If. in enacting the Platt amend
rnent Congress had inserted provision direct
ing the President to control the debt making
power Of Cuba. the Executive unquestionably
would be rern.ss in duty if he neglected to eX-
srcise this power But since Congress has re-
served this power to itself, the lawmakers would
be guilty Of gross negligence if they should faIi
to exercise it
It is clear, therefore, that one OF the nrst acts
of Congress when Il reassembles In December
will be to look into the ability Of Cuba to con-
tract so heavy a debt that proposed 1t is
+rue that the act Of the Cuban Congress provides
creation of sinking fund for the ultimate dis
charge" Of the debt. but it is extremely doubtful
whether or not the Cuban taxpayers can meet
+l,a obligation In order TO produce more rev.
erue with which TO meet the proposed interest
pavments and create a sinking fund II Is pro-
pided that President Palma shall increase the
duty on imports all the way from 90 to lUO per
cent and also that a stamp or internal revenue
tax shall be imposed A single item of increased
.1,.-x- En~r
per cent, a tariff which obviously would prohibit
all iraportation Of the product. and put the cost
of corn bevond the reach Of the mass Of Cubans
The prices of all meats and breadstufs In Cuoa
would be raised in a smaller degree by the ne"
taxes and iTnposts. until the cost OF living WoaIo
be increased so to 100 per cent To carry this
heavy burden. the productive capacity OF the
island would have to be stimulated wonderIuIly
in order to meet the new conditions
CUBAS ABILITY TO PAY DOUBTED
A cor7nrehensive report on labor conditions
in Cuba recently compiled by Victor b CIafk
for the United States Department OF Labor 1ur-
nishes an interesting sidelght on the aolilty Oh
the island to contract debts. 1t is shown In
this report that Of the total area Of forty-four
thousand square miles only about per cent
was under cultivation two years ago. Although
fbis amount has since been increased, the new
ploughings" the report goes on to say, are
not more than one-third the previous total SO
that al a conservative estimate not more than
four acres out Of every one hundred are tliIed
in Cuba at the present day. In 1889 nearly one
half the cultivated land was in cane According
20 testimony before the Ways and Means Com
rnittee in January, 1902. there about five
hundred square miles of cane land productive
this year. This is the actual crop acreage, with
out allowing for lands occupied by buildings,
roads. etc, all of which are probably included
in the census statistics. Adding 90 per cent to
the productive cane area, to make up for this
margin and for land planting. but not produc-
ing-for the estimate of acreage in the testimony
mentioned is based on the sugar crop of the
island for the present campaign-the nominal
cane area is about 80 square miles. Assuming
this TO - e 47.3 per cent of the total cultivated
land OF Cuba, the same proportion as in 1899.
slightly over 100 square miles. less than
49, Per cent Of the entire area OF the island. is
used directly for agricultural purposes"
TO EXPOSE THE SCHEME OF LOOT.
With such showing as this as to the pres
ent productive capacity Of Cuba. it is gravely
feared by men here competent to speak intelli-
gently on the subject that the island would not
be able TO carry heavy debt as that pro-
posed, and, therefore il is believed by them that
1t is the plain duty Of this country TO disapproVe
the proposition Whether or not this will be
done is, Of course an entirely different question
There are known to be powerful influences oper-
ating in New-York TO have the loan approved
by the United States Government. and when
congress meets il will be possible to expose the
Whole shameful scheme by which reciprocity was
defeated the last session. with the view of
permitting certain selfish but far sighted, fnan-
cal interests in this country TO profit by the loot
ana misery Of Cuba II is known that one OF the