The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-07-10

CREAM of the SPECIALS

| These are the significant words uttered
| today by Brigadier General Fltzhugh Lee
| retired, to a Sun correspondent General
Lee is In Washington on private BUSH
| ness. He sees a discouragtng state OF
| affairs in the new republic, and the only
| inference to be drawn from what he says
is that the United States. Unless 1t grants
/ trade concessions, must sooner or later
| annex the island.
| From his experience as Consul General
| at Havana prior to the Spanish-American
| war and in subsequent army duty in the
island, together with information which
reaches him almost every day from per-
| sonal friends in Cuba, both Americans
| and Cubans, General Lee is thoroughly
| conversant with conditions upon the is
| land. What he says, therefore, carries
| unusual weight. In his talk with Sun
| CORE spondent this evening he said:
1T will require great skill to safely
| steer the independent republic ship of
Cuba because of the great many break
ers already rolling about her bow. but
the most dangerous obstacle in her course
to peace and progress Is the financial
rock.
There Is no direct taxation in Cuba.
The revenues of the island are almost
wholly derived from the customs receipts,
and the receipts from that source during
American occupation were large But
since our withdrawal 1t seems That mer-
chants in the United States are losing
their confidence in the ultimate success
of the experiment of Cuban seff-govern-
ment and are declining to ship merchan-
disc to Cuban ports on the ground that
| in case of domestic trouble mobs might
gather to destroy and plumber and their
property might be lost
II have observed, also" continued Gem
eral Lee. that the negroes of the lslana
are getting more or less dlscontented,
claiming that they have not had their
proper share of the fruits of the war. This
is significant. Their claim has some
merit, perhaps, because in the war against
-
effective service. Indeed Maceo, who was
a negro, was one OF the best or even the
best, Cuban officers developed during the
conflict. -
rection of the claims of the ex-soldiers
of the Cuban army for pay for services
during the war against Spain When
was Consul General there was Frequent
Iy obliged to make estimates of the num-
Der of Cubans engaged in the war, whlch
| submitted to the authorities in WASH
ington and | was under the impression at
that time that if all the Cubans could De
concentrated at one point instead of being
sea tered all over the island from Sanu-
ago province to iPnaf del Rio, their num-
Der would not exceed 5000 or 10000. am
informed there is nearly double that num-
Der now on the pay rolls impatlentiy
waiting for their money from the CUBAN
treasury, and as that treasury is becom-
ing smaller and smaller their chances OF
being paid are becoming less and less.
Then too, there seems to be deficit
in the municipal budget, making it more
difficult to compensate those who hold
office such as the school teachers, FOR m
stance. All this may result before long IN
the closing of the public schools ana the
charitable institutions of the lslano,
which were so greatly encouraged ana
nourished by the American military gov
eminent. All our good work in that d.
recticn may be undone.
again, IL the money is not forthcom-
ing, the sanitation of the cities must IN
evitahly be neglected and the great work
of the United States government in that
line NAV be lost entirely. l believe the
Cuban President is an honest, conscien-
tious and kind-hearted official, but ne
does not necessarily know much about
government not having had any expert
ence in that direction, and / notice he is
already charged with the exercise OF
power which would legitimately devolVe
but should not be exercised by the Presi-
dent of a free and independent republic.
eff Cuba fails to~find market for her
two greet products, sugar ana TOBACCO,
added General Lee, lit means tnat no
remunerative results will follow the safe
of the sugar now on hand ana VIII mean
also that many persons will be prevented
from plantfng another crop for another
YEAR AS under the Platt amendment we
have guided the destiny of the island thus
far ii seems to me that 1t ls talr ana
proper for us to grant reciprocity TO tne
Clthans for as is claimed, it Will enapls
the sugar producers to plant ana sell at
nrofitable figures In my humble opinion,
if we do not grant the Cubans reciprocity
the number of unemployed laboredS In
the island will be greatly Increased. mat
means discomfort among a class OF people
which can easily be moulded into MODS 10
create trouble"