The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-05-20
HOW THE REPUBLIC OF
CUBA is PROGRESSING
CONTINUED from Yesterday

1 -
The unexpected continuance of the
insular revenues at their former point
has enabled the Government to increase
the number of the Rural Guard, to con-
tinue the force employed in sanitary
processes. TO maintain the former num-
Der Of teachers in public schools. and To
Iexpend various sums in labor employing
public improvements. such as the inn
provement of public parks and the
westward extension of the Malecon in
Havana. All these enterprises, public
and private, have played their part in
averting a general disaster.
The weak point in the last four years
of Cuban experience has been the fail
ure of the American authorities to fos-
ter and to further the industries of the
island, to establish the Cuban people
in that economic prosperity which is
the basis of all successful government.
The strong point of that experience has
been the commendable efforts of a
poverty-stricken people, inhabiting a
land devasted by the three years of
war, to reestablish their destroyed in
dustries, and, as we'll, their patience
under adversely, their pluck, their in
dustry, their charity toward each other
and their mutual heIpfulness. To them
and not to the United States there be-
longs the credit for the averting of the
predicted disaster. The special pity of
Iaoc Ha
United States a distinct loss to Cuban
confidence and respect. They turned to
their supposed friends and guardians
in their hours of trouble and encoun-
tered a closed door, from behind which
there came declarations Of friendly con-
Germ, but no dollars and no helping
hand.
Cuban administration has been, thus
far, chiefly notable for its mastery ia
activity. In that which some are dis
posed to condemn, lies, properly, the
key to their success. There has been
no plunging. In a most commendabie
fashion, the Cubans have cut their
garment according to their cloth.
Financially, their handling of their af-
fairs has been vastly better and wiser
than was that Of Gen. Wood. Their
revenues have not varied widely from
those of the American official. Their
necessary expenses have been greater
than his They have been obliged 10
maintain their executive and 1egisla-
tive departments, President, Cabinet
and Congress. Diplomatic and consular
services have been maintained These
did not exist under the Government or
intervention Notwithstanding all this,
a comparative statement shows strong
~ in favor of the Cuban Administra-
ton During his control of Cuban al
fairs, Gen. Wood overspent his revenues
by some 81, 400 600. This he drew from
a balance OF. some 81. 900. 900 left in the
treasury by his predecessor. Gen. john
r. Brooke. The sum which Gen. Wood
turned over to the new Government
(about s540. o0O) was what remained Of
the Brooke surplus after Gen. Wood
had drawn upon it to the extent above
stated. On April l. 1903, after the pay
ment of all current expenses, the Gu
ban treasury showed a surplus of a.
6Ss, 900.
Politically. the Cuban situation is
somewhat confused though not inju-
riously so. Political parties exist and
their names appear in political aetfvi-
ties. But there is little or nothing
which constitutes WelI-dennedf issue.
To some extent. the Platt Amendment
has figured as an issue. radical element
opposing its ratification and conser-
vatfve element advising or urging its
confirmation. though the division is not
made strictly along party lines. Other
questions. such as the national loan and
the payment Of the army, and the ap-
prevail or diea pprovaI of a reciprocity
treaty with the United states, stand In