Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-03-05
SAYS CUBA HAS
{" A MONEY PANIC
JULIUS FECHT TELLS OF CONDi-
TONS IN THE YOUNG ISLAND
REPUBLIC.
MANAGEMENT is POOR
Government Criticised For Method Of
Conducting Public Affairs-Cuhan
Lottery is Exposed by
OttumWan.

Julius Fecht, the we'll known ioca!
cisar nalufa turer and importer or
tobacco, writes from Cuba ana III an in.
lie. esting letter tells of many Things OF
inter in the baOy republic. His
criticisms are uns. 'aring but he has al
so louEd one or two things worthy Of
his tommenda,ion. That the Cubans
believe IN mulcting the tOurist is EN-
hasized, by Mr. Fecht who says that
they Viii eventually get the tourist S
money If he remains long enough. The
general cCndi ion Of The CEbln affairs
d lie to unbu mess like governmental
managemen. is alluded to by the writ
. er who has kept his eyes open to public
affairs while IN the is and on Lis pur.
chasing trip. Few things OF general
business and public interest have es-
capped the we'll known O.tumwan who
has often ' is ted the islaads. The let
ter follows:
Dear o.rier: We are back here in
Havana City. after five weeks travel
in Cuba. Reports from the republic of
! Cuba. are not all of a very enjoyable
nature There is somewhat Of com.
mcrcial money panic on here, and busi-
ness men are more or less depres sed.
The energy. that remains always is the
"mu ct Of the tourist. You have to
look little out hut they'll get your
money just the same.
The 6e:ree, just simply annulling the
conc essions to the ports company"
in he present Baby republic His
con- ess ols TO the ports company,
(imrroveme mt of all seaports of Cuba)
under the present administration, is
surely a calamity for Cuba, both in its
giving and taking away again, and will
hasten the downfall of the baby repub-
lie. to say nothing of the immense
material loss The public credit is SER
lousy impaired now It's all done in
obedience to public opinion in all
countries and at all times. very ques-
tionable asset which swings like pen
dulum and has shorter strokes in a
small country, than in large one.
Cuba is financially busted. They
lust contra cted and made in New York
a new loan of ten millions. That is not
drop in the bucket. A second mort
gage on the customs duties was neces-
sary to obtain this money from the
Morgans.
These people must go to work. We
in the states are used to a protective
tariff to foster and protect the home
industries. Here in Cuba that is empty
wind They will not produce their own
necessities, and with a deathly quiet
lassitude. submit to the exorbitant
payment of the necessaries Of life and
the absorption of four-fifths Of the pro-
ceeds by bureaucracy of Office hold
ers against which anything in America
or Europe appears small. Example;
Raw oil is imported here. about free.
Importation of refined coal oil or gaso-
line is about impossible. The Standard
Oil Co., started refinery in
Havana and very cody pockets the
proceeds, collects and absorbs the re-
spective customs. Coal oil Is 30 cents
gallon, gasoline ~ cents and most |
Of the groceries are about in proper
ton. Living is very high here in Cuba
for an American. They see you CON-
ing. Commissioners have to be paid
in my line, for buying or selling. A deal
without that is almost impossible. In
most business transactions, a Smear
has to be paid somebody. The "mooch-
ers" are not all Cubans, Americans are
just as bad.
Every industry is taxed to the limit.
And it is getting worse. What these |
people collect all that money cor. is !
hard to understand. They never had
war since they are a nation. Their |
own war of independence was fought |
for them by Uncle Sam. They are not |
in any danger Of invasion by any out !
side power They live in an easy, |
tropical climate, They have from
sugar and tobacco a good balance Of
trade in their favor. TO loan them any |
more money is wrong. The sooner that !
money leaning ends, the better for
Cuba.
There is an immense crop this year |
l was, for four days in the tobacco
fields, in the Vuelta Abojo district. |
New barns had to be built to house ,
the product, and it promises to be of !
the best quality. 1t is the same In the |
sugar cane districts. And still they are ,
hard-up and want more loans.
That Cuban lottery is graft of the ,
first water They now draw" every !
ten days. The government takes 80 |
per cent, the expenses 20 per cent and ,
cts. The winner gets what's left, more ,
often nothing Still the stupid lot will !
invest every cent they earn in lottery !
tickets. And the peddlers of such ,
tickets are nuisance. No matter |
where it is in Cuba, even In the distant I
provinces and islands. one is approach
ed fifty times day by some horrid old .
crone of a black woman, to invest |
twenty-five centavos in a ticket
bought some very bad cigars in Ha- !
vana. 1t is almost impossible to find !
a decent smoke. | brought some tobac =,
co from Paso Real and made our own !
cigars which were pronounced good. |
Most of the small cigar factories here
make their goods from Havana Pro- t
vince tobacco, material that is not /
near as good as our home Pennsylvania
or Three star tobacco.