The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-06-15
THE NEW CUBA.
American settlement N the Island.


worthy basis for statements concerning the
! number of Americans who have settled IN
the island or for estimates of the land which
has been bought by American citizens DUR
ing the last six years, yet both form no.
ticeable element in the Cuba of to-day 1t is
certain that the settlers are to be estimated
in thousands rather than in hundreds, and
it is possible and even probable, that some
where between per cent. and 10 per cent.
OF the entire area of the island ia owned
outright by Americans.
The acquisition Of land has followed
variety Of channels The Cuba Railway
Company, organized under a New Jersey
charter. purchased the land for its line. $50
miles in length. and has bought various
tracts along its route. The so-called tobacco
trust has purchased large number Of scat
tered tracts in the tobacco areas. few
companies have bought sugar lands with
a very considerable total acreage, Other
tracts, large and small have been bought for
purposes of cultivation, for cattle raising,
for timber operations. mining operations
or for speculation pure and simple, A few
tracts have been taken with a view to the
erection Of winter residences, and one costly
building of this kind is already well under
OF Havana.
Another channel appears in the form OF
speculative Investment in large tracts for
subdivision and sale to small holders Some
Of these have been little If anything better
than deliberate swindles Others have been
started in mixture of good faith and gen.
eral ignorance 1t is impossible to say how
many buyers have been victimzed by such
the tracts which they have bought solely
on the basis Of lurid descriptions Of glorious
climate and wonderful soil, spread before
them in pamphlets prepared for such as
they by the promoters of the enterprise.
Many have gone home again Disguised with
their experience and embittered by their
losses. Some have stayed to fight it out be-
cause no other course was open to them, and
a few have been fairly successful.
There is really very little reason for any
American emigration to Cuba. Probably
95 per cent. Of those who come do so with
the idea that the natural richness OF the
island is so great that wealth will come to
them without obliging them to contribute
any Of that unnatural aid known as hard
work. Disappointment will surely be one
OF the principal crops secured by any who
come with that idea in their heads. Amy
man who believes that Cuba is an exception
to the fundamental law that the cost of bread
is the sweat of the brow should at once revise
his opinion. Cuban opportunities furnish
ground for arguments and inducements
whose soundness Ia apparent rather than
actual. On basis of modest capital backed
by intelligent industry the average Ameri-
can will do quite well in his own land as
he will in Cuba or Porto Rico or the Philip
pines Most Americans viii do even better
at home.
Naturally. there are special opportunities
here of which advantage may be taken
by those who are able to take 1t. Cane
sugar and certain grades and qualities OF
tobacco cannot be grown in the United
States in competition with the Cuban
product. Frost comes to Florida to Kill
the pineapple crop, but it does not cross
the straits Fruits and garden truck may
be grown for the winter market. But sue
cess in some OF these lines demands more
capital than the American emigrant can
command and in operations on a small
scale the American is, for time at least,
heavily handicapped Such are prone either
to ridcule or to despise the Cuban peasant
for the way he works and for the imple
ments and accessories with which he does
his work. This lasts until the American
realizes that he is beaten at game in which
American ideas and methods do not always
fit Cuban conditions. As a broad PROPOSE
ton it may be said that Americans having
only small amount OF money for their
operations will make as much money and
will live more comfortably in the United
States than they can here for an equal ex-
penditure Of money, time and energy.
To one matter American attention should
be called, and widely called, The American
exploiter is here and his mellihuous horn
rings out in the rural areas of the United
States. Some of the tunes played by these
entcrprsing gentlemen for the purpose OF
alluring their possible customers are either
amusing or ridiculous to those who know.
A considerable number of colonies have
been planted in Cuba during the last six
years. Some are dead already, some drag
on and few give signs of fair measure Of
vitality. Large tracts are bought and sub
divided. The hopeful buy the tracts, some
times after what they believe to be an in
vestgation. and sometimes solely on the
strength Of the lurid and extravagant adj
vertsement with it's array of figures prov
ing just how rich each investor will surely
he at the end of every year of the next
decade. Only rarely do the promoters of
such schemes in Cuba or anywhere else,
buy the best land. Too often their areas
are of the poorest, bought because they are
cheap; or the land may be good hut trans
portation facilities be lacking. Out of all
the many sc emes of this kind which have
been inaugurated few if any have found
Cubans jumping eagerly at the glorious
opportunities presented by them. and
Cubans know far better than Americans do
what can be done in their land.
There are Cubans who are apprehensive
of an american peril" fearing that
Americans will come in numbers to over
whel n them and with money which w II
dominate through ownership of the larger
part of the island, This seems entirely
groundless. Americans will come and
American money will come. but neither
will bring danger to Cuban interests 40 long
as they are kept within their proper bounda-
ries. American settlers and American CAPT.
tai for legitimate investment offer no peril
to Cuba or Cuban interests. If settlers and
investors will heed a warning to keep away
from the island unless they are as fully and