The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-12-17
Special Correspondence 10 The suS.

HAVANA. Dec. $50 tremendous has
been the impetus to Cuba's sugar pro-
duction by war prices that experts nov
calculate this years grinding, which will
be well under way within a fortnight. at
from 5000. 900 to 3.260.0 900 tons. At the
ruling prices this will he exchanged for
A. less than a quarter OF a billion dollars,
800 for every man, and child
for each family Of ive persons.
But this by no means tells the golden
story. for not only sugar Ia bringing a
great price. but its b~y-product. alcohol.
has almost quadrupled In value, from
IL to 40 cents. SO that molasses n
other waste. heretofore all but worthless.
now are being turned into alcohol at a
fabulous proht. the supply still falling
short Of the demand. Every ship leaving
Havana for European ports carries great
quantities Of alcohol and rum. At the
same time the islands great iron and
copper mines are producing wealth as
before. n the railroads are profit
ing commensurately. Cuba's prospects.
thus viewed. indeed look golden. but the
shield has another side. me the other
side is that turned to the Cubans.
Foreigners seisins Wealth.
More than three-quarters OF the sugar
mills Of the country belong to for
eigners, mostly Americans. and several
Of the big estates still in the hands Of
Cubans are owned by families who spend
most Of their time abroad. The railroads
OF the island are owned by foreign
capital. chiefly English. whose holdings
aggregate SEAS, oo0. 900. OF the country's
commerce 90 per cent. IL In the hands
OF Spaniards, and the same approxi-
mately IL true Of manufactures. which,
aside from and tobacco, are in
significant. Street railways and other
urban transportation companies are
owned by foreigners, and foreign capital
enjoys q monopoly OF the telephone SER
vice over the whole island. The great
iron and copper mines are owned chiefly
by American capital and American COM
panies are Ming mining claims wherever
they car ind q trace OF copper.
Just now the newspapers are express
Ing great alarm over the activities OF
IN American company which. with n
capital Of $50. 900. 900. has all but COM
pleted negotiations for the purchase OF
several large estates at an aggregate
price Of s36. 900. 700.
voicfng the general alarm. La Noche,
In a leading editorial. says:
American companies hat are &C.
u III NIS oAiu vi NIV ptoNi
Of Orente: American companies that
with all possible speed are making
themselves owners of the heretofore un-
improved lands of Camaguey Amer!-
can companies that are devotinE them
selves to purchasing the greatest possi-
BILE number Of sugar estates In the rich
province Of Matanxas. furnish the sur
est indication that the and is slipping
from our hands and that with the lane
Is going from us u country. for the
owner Of the soil always Is the one
to control. according to his own inter
ests. the Of the public admin
istration.
SWAPPING Their Heritage.
"Our great proprietors dispossessing
themselves of their rich heritage. the
numerous smaller proprietors abandon
ing agricultural pursuits TO play ridicu-
lous roles in u politicf struggles or
TO swell the legion of parasites who
aspire TO live on the national budget
the small farmers who are leaving the
hoe and the plough for the musket and
sabre, abandoning the productive work
Of the farmer to misspend their cner-
Gies and lives, curled and pcrfumed,
i'm the barracks-all OF these are has
ten,ng the ~denationalizing process that
Is at work in the fields of Cuba
"Foreign planters, landlords. manufac-
turers and merchants will be the owners
Of our riches, the arbiters of our liberty.
| when dispossessed OF our lands and
pauperized We shall become the servants
Of the foreign capitalists. slaves. in
sensate prodigals unfit and unable to
conserve our liberty.
"Our country is going from IN
That Cubans would not he able 10
hold their own in competition with for
eign enterprise was forcseen even IN the
first days of the republic when Senator
Manuel SanGuily. later Secretary Of
state In the ONT Cabinet. introduced
q bill barring the acquisition OF land by
foreigners. Al each succeeding session
Senator Sanguily tried earnestly TO pro-
cure the passage Of the measure, his las,
effort being made in 1906. when In a
hurst OF eloquence he besought the
Senate to turn It's gaze TO the eastern
end OF the island ana contemplate the
frightfui ravages wrought by the foreign
invader. where the virgin forest had been
laid waste by the axe. and fair haired
A~nglo-Saxon children were 70 he heard
laughing at play in clearings where
erstwhile there had been perfectly good
Cuban silence.
New nil to Same End.
Freshly alarmed by the prcsen. &C.
tivtty Of American capital certain mem
bcrs Of tho Congress have market bach
to Senator Sanguily's ideas and a bill
was introduced In the House a few days
ago providing that ito be n and owner
in Cuba 1t shall he an indispensable
regulate to possess Cuban citizenship
There In little likelihood that the bill
will pass.
One car but feel sympathy. not UNI
tineed with pity. for the distress with
which old men like Manuel Sanguily
survivors OF the whilom aristocracy OF
Cuba, see the land for which they Of
fered their lives and sacrificed their al
becoming the possession OF foreigners
allen In language, amer and customs
and infinitely moro alien In sentiment
and thought han their old masters, the
Spaniards. II is symptomatic OF tn,
gravest ailment Of the Cuban body poll
tic. lack OF thrift and constancy of pur.
pose.
In Spanish times we'll to do Cubans
scorncd the trades and mercantile pur.
suits. leaving them to the shrewd alta
LAM and Gallegos. and devoted theii
efforts to tho production of sugar and
tobacco, with slave labor until the abo.
litiOn Of slavery in 1880. when Chinese
coolies were imported TO work IN the
ugar mills. The IONS OF the planters
were educated for the learned profess
sions, which comparatively few OF then
seriously pursued save when forced
thereto by reverse of fortune.
Every country store In every little
tnur, ~ tbo iuIo nd 10 Au,nAl Ia, q, s,an