Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-18

fields are never plowed. but it is necessary
TO looSn the earth around the plants two
or three times during the year
w hen Il planter has no sugar mill OF his
own he sells his cane by weight to the pro-
prietor of the nearest mill, and receives
from four to SIX pounds of raw sugar for
every 100 pounds of cane. The cane is not
separated or classified. but it all runs to-
gether and the "colonO,' or planter, gets
the average price. which. of course, is
regulated by the market quotations from
London. Wien he gets his sugar he sells
it to some commission man. or often to the
mill owner, if the latter has the capital.
The mill owner the commission man, in
the course Of the year. makes advances to
the colOuo to support his family and gather
his crop. These advances will run as high
as $50 an acre. Almost every colOno lives
from hand to mouth. and always spends his
income before he gets it, used to be the
custom among cotton planters in the south
ern states. In good year the planter has
Surplus, which lie spends on a trip to
New York Paris; in a poor year he runs
behind and gets into debt Two or three
bad years will send him to the bankruptcy
court, and unless his creditors are gener-
Gus. he will lose his plantation.
Industry Safeguard of Republic.
"One man can work ten acres of cane"
continued Mr. Betancourt, land that is
about the ratio of employees the big
plantations. Chaparra, the biggest sugar
estate in the world, owned by the Cuban
American Sugar Company, has more than
1000 men on its payrolls at wages of 81 to
S1.5O per day. On other planta tons, as a
rule. the men are employed for seven
months only, and for five months are
obliged to seek work elsewhere remain
idle, and get into mischief. The idle cane
cutter is now revolutionary material. He
has been habtual insurrecto. If he had
work all the year around at living wages
he would settle down. instead of going to
the bosque, and become industrious,
WealtI-producing citizen. On some of the
plantations, like Chaparra. the men are
provided with work the year round to keep
them from becoming guerrillas, and they
behave themselves very well. They are
ignorant. but honest and loyal to their
friends but they are credulous and will
follow any leader who makes fair prom
ises to improve their condition. The plant
ers throughout the island are very largely
to blame for the instructions, because they
do not give permanent employment to their
men, but they are not educators or philan
thropsts and, like employers everywhere,
they try to get all the work they can for
the least amount Of money; ana when the
"zafra, or harvest is over, they turn the
men loose to take care of themselves. II
they would do differently, think it would
be to their interest. Every planter is con-
tinually exposed to the malice and spite Of
discharged workmen who can easily destroy
his property without detection.
Profitable Year for Cuba.
=
notwithstanding the political uncertainty
and apprehension. continued Mr.. Betan-
court I'VE are harvesting the largest crop
Of sugar ever known, although prices are
low. We have had a series of good years,
which has increased the acreage of cane,
and that naturally increased the supply
and caused a depression of prices. Plant
erS however, are in very good condition.
This years crop VITA exceed million and
a half tons and will be the biggest on rec
ord although there Is not so much sap in
the cane usual, because of the dry
weather. The harvest is going on all right.
There have been few disastrous fires and
no political disturbances of any account.
The people generally are well satisfied with
the provisional government, and everybody
except candidates for office would be glad
to have it continued indefinitely.
The tobacco crop is very good this year
also, and is selling for fair prices. The
cigarmakefs' strike in Havana Will have
no perceptible effect, 1t involves only the
factories belonging to the trust, and they
are only about half the entire number. AS
a rule, strikes in Cuba are due to political
manipulation or to spite. 1t has always
been So
Severe Drought.
The drought is so severe that the csterns
and wells throughout Cuba are practically
exhausted. and water is being sold in the
streets from house to house at 10 cents a
kerosene oil can, which holds five gallons
The Standard Oil Company has furnished
water buckets for the entire world The
square tin in which 1t ships its
product from the refinery are used as SUBJ
stitutes for earthen jars in every part of
the untverse-in India, Arabia. Turkey,
China and Japan, in the Philippines, Aus
tralia and the East and West Indies. The
Nazarenes go twice day, as they have
done for two thousand years or more, to a
fountain known as Mary's well to get the
supply OF water for each household. In