The National tribune., 1908-05-14
CUBA TODAY.
Continued from page one. )

generally is built out of palm bark. set
up and interviewer with poles. The
roof is made from the leaves of palms,
probably a foot thick, without a win
dow, without floor and no fireplace.
A man can put up one of these homes
within a few days. There is no furni-
ture in the house and few cooking uten-
sils."
What do these people eat?"
THE people live on rice mixed with
such vegetables as they can raise. and
beef and salt pork. The beef and salt
pork come from the United States, and
are furnished from the commissaries on
the plantations, which furnish food to
the laborers, to be paid for when the
sugar and tobacco are sold"
Are they making any efforts to
Christianize and educate these people 2"
Missionary and Educational.
"a great deal. American churches are
sending missionaries there, who are es-
| tablishing churches and schools which
are being generally attended. The peo-
| pie show strong interest in education
and in having their children attend the
churches and schools. The Methodists,
Baptists and Congregationalists are the
leaders in this missionary work. They
have all built good churches in the last
three years in Havana. A great many
missionaries and ministers of the
churches are natives, and preach in
their native language. You will see the
announcement with the English services
and teaching at one hour and the Span
ish at another. There is a great dis
position among the natives to learn
| English, particularly among the rising
generation. In the public schools Eng
lish is not compulsory, but in every one
of them they spend an hour or two
studying English"
| How about the public school sys-
tenn"
THE system was founded by Mr.. Fry.
1t is supported by the Government, and
has been very successful. Every few
| miles there is a settlement where there
| is school, and in the cities the school
| houses are quite numerous. All the
private schools are attached to
churches, but there are schools main
tanned in the houses from the public
funds. which are secured by political
influence. The schools seem to an
American a perfect babble, because all
the pupils are studying out loud. This
will make a great change in Cuba with
in few years."
Are the people showing much enter
prise in developing the cultivation of
citrus fruits and bananas?
''The people are beginning to pay
4
the incoming Americans. They are
learning our systems of packing, grad
| ing and shipping, to which they have
formerly been perfectly Indifferent. They
are also making an effort to raise bet
ter quality of fruit. Formerly the fruits
grew wild, and they were accepted just
as they grew; that is if an orange tree
bore sour oranges it was neglected, and
| the fruit picked from those which bore
sweet oranges. Now, following the ex-
ample'of the Americans they are graft
| ing the best quality of fruit upon the
sour orange stocks, and cultivating them
Eregularly and systematically. 1t is the
same with lemons and lines"
L., American Occupation.
| do you consider that the American
occupation must be permanent 2"
/ Yes 1t has either to be annexation
/ or protectorate. The people of Cuba
cannot maintain a Government The
mass Of them are absolutely ignorant of
the principles of government and in
different to the responsibilities of citi-
zenship. 1t cannot help being other
wise, since they have been bred so for
centuries. There is no standard of pub
| lie duty and responsibility, and the peo-
pie will not trust one another. l think
| this is largely the result of having ali
| the Government expenditures taken out
of a general fund raised by import and
i export duties instead OF by land tax.
Where you have a land tax the people
! grumble and kick about the taxes and
.lthea watch their disbursement very
carefully, holding the officials TO strict
account. This is not the case in Cuba,
lWhere the money is gotten from some
| body else and nobody is particularly
| Interested in what is being done with it.
4 There lis no local taxation, except Ii
censes, and consequently the people
| have no interest in what becomes of the
! Impney---This general fund was a great
temptation to ambitious politicians, who
wanted to get their hands into the
money to grab what they could. The
habit has become so fixed that it seems
impossible for Cuban to honestly ad-
| minister the finances. and therefore
every department of the Government is
now under the charge of an American.
| The Americans have been taught that
the money is not theirs, but is only
intrusted to them to be expended for
the benefit of the people from whom
the taxes are drawn, and they are there
fore going ahead, honestly expendins
the revenues to the great Improvement
of the island. This is noticeable in
many ways, but particularly in the great
road system which the Americans are
putting into operation. About $4,000.-
building. One main road will run thru
each of the provinces, with crossroads
to the principal settlements. These are
built in the very best manner, with a
foundation of heavy stone, upon which
smaller stone is laid, and then 1t is all
covered with sand and fine gravel, sc
that il makes as permanent and smooth
a roadbed as can be found in the world
\ About year ago they had automobile
races over these roads for nearly sc
miles, and made some magnificent rec
ords. The road system will soon be in
such shape that they can have a cir
; cult of about 100 miles or more from
} Havana, and it is contemplated to have
a great automobile meet to run for the
Vanderbilt Cup. 1t is believed that this
will be one of the events during the
tourist season, and add much to the at
traction to tourists. The tourist season
lasts from after the holidays until about
April, and every year brings a greatly
increased number of people from the
United States, who desire to escape the
inclemency, the biting winds and other
Getriments of Spring weather.
-tr Fruits.
"I want to impress upon Americans
that the best fruits can be raised ir
) Cuba and are being raised there now by
Americans. The peaches are something
!, wonderful and the strawberries of i'm
mense size, but they lack the flavor Oi
the Northern Strawberries The bes
quality of Cuban oranges are equal tC
, the best raised in Florida. Lime grow.
;po, ie aIcc an In, p0rfapt industry Which