Evening star., 1902-03-17
An thrush of Americans.

Some notion of what this thrush means
already is had by the people Of Havana. a
clearer conception of 1t was given one aft
ernoon in the cafe of the hotel by Sir Will
liam Van Horne, he watched a group of
newly arrived Americans.
''Do you know" he said. "that nineteen
out of twenty of these people are men who
have made their own money. and do you
know. too. what that means? They are here
for good time now nearly all of them /
see with their families: but you'll find a
good many of them. while they have come
on pleasure. have their eyes about them for
business. There will be more of that In a
year or so. and then there'li be an era or
American investment in Cuba"
Mr.. Van Horne. as the head of a great
enterprise. which did not wait for political
stability" before opening up and putting
money into Cuba, is probably as good
Judge as can be found Of what Americans
are apt to do when they know more about
the island. 1t is enough for the present that
so large number of the substantial ones
are here now, and are getting at the Cuban
side of the political and Industrial situation.
Their praises are hearty for what has been
done by the military administration Of Gen.
Wood. Havana clean and beautiful. Is like
a cameo; but solid business men are not
apt to go in raptures. and after they have
said 'how admirable it all is their talk
turns TO business prospects and what tariff
concessions on Cuban products mean.
Out of Patience With Congress.
From what they say most Of them are go-
ing back TO the United States out Of pa
thence with Congress for not seeing at
single sweeping glance what they have seen
so clearly since they came to Cuba. Yes
terday at the palace | ran across three of
them, holding an iGdgra ton meeting. 1t
happened that they We're from different sec
tions of the country. One was from New
England. and was member of a leading
commercial body there. Another was from
a middle western state, and is the presi-
dent Of the chamber Of commerce, in its
chief city. The third was from the north
west. where ne is engaged in large enter
prses. | think all Of them could be per-
suaded to submit to newspaper interviews,
but as that would take too much space it
may be left until their return home. Mean
while l seek to give III a paragraph their
composite conclusions
They had met some of the Havana bank
ers and tinanciers, and had been so i'm
pressed with the tension in business cir
cies that two of them at once sat down and
wrote cablegrams to their congressman,
urging quick action for Cuban reciprocity.
They had been to the custom house, where
Collector Bliss had explained all about the
markets for the United States products in
Cuba. what We are losing to Germany and
what trade We might control to the extent
Of the Cuban capacity for consumption.
Their thoughts were along the line that
the Cubans can only buy in proportion to
what they sell. and that the restriction of
the United States market for their products
means also the restricted sale of American
products in Cuba.
.They haven't been told about this at
home. have they" these business men had
asked Collector Bliss, and he had explained
wearily that over and over, again and
again. all of it had been set forth.
II guess some Of our people don't want to
know" said one of these business men,
That may be a matter OF opinion.
Wanted to Know About Pledges.
After they had talked about the Cuban
market and reciprocity, one of them. who
had asked to meet some OF the Cubans, who
will be part Of the new government, wanted
to know about the pledges said to have
been onade by President McIkinley's admin
istration. He had been given the Cuban
view of the moral side OF the question. and
had got 1t pretty strongly. One aggressive
Cuban politician had told him that they
were waiting to find out whether the United
States had lied to them.
l told him this was harsh and unjust. and
at his request explained the situation as it
was year ago. AT that time two ele-
ments were combined d to prevent the accept
ance of the Platt amendment by the consti-
tutional convention. One was composed Of
ultra-radical Cubans. revolutionists. who
wanted the island to refuse absolutely any
recognition that the influence Of the United
States was paramount to the rest of the
world. The other element was composed OF
Europeans Spanish residents of Cuba. and
some Americans. who wanted to force Inn
mediate annexation by raising revolt
against the United States authority
There was q middle faction, which looked
on the whole question as one of sugar and
tobacco. and wanted to withhold acceptance
Of the Platt amendment until the United
States Congress had met and agreed to the
tariff concession ON sugar and tobacco.
This class and the ultra-radicals both
claimed that no trust could be put In Con-