Evening star., 1927-04-28

CuDa mas prOSpeTSu uIIueE tItc puCSii-
tial protection of the United States,
as provided for in the so-called "Platt
amendments now Cuba wants the
Platt amendment withdrawn.
Cuba has had peace within and with
out. since the second Intervention of
the American Army in 1906, made at
the request of the Cuban government,
to scotch a typical Latin American
'revolution"-the customary substi-
tute for defeat of a political faction
at the ballot box. That Intervention
was not taken ON the initiative Of the
United States, but was requested by
President Estrada Palma of Cuba, in
accordance with provisions in the
Cuban constitution, placed there be-
cause the "Platt amendment" stlpu-
lated that the Cuban constitution
should so provide, as a condition
precedent" to the withdrawal of the
American Army which had saved
Cuba from Spanish tyranny. And so
now the Cubans want the Platt amend
ment suppressed and their constitution
changed.
The Platt amendment and its treaty
in force since July ., 1904, provide
that Cuba must maintain sanitation,
in order that the pest conditions ex-
listing there through the four centuries
of Spanish rule should no longer
prove q menace of contagious and
infectious diseases-so-called filth
diseases" our own South
and indirectly all the United States.
BY reason of the American santa
ton methods, which astonished the
Cubans with our thoroughness of the
n hn M hapn a
case of yellow fever in Cuba since
1905. Previous to the Platt amend
ment, yellow fever was continuously
epidemic in Cuba. The entire island
was without sewers or street cleaning
service, aud it had the distinction of
suffering the highest death rate of any
civilized country in the World-29 per
1000 population.
Since the American sanitation clean
up. the average annual death rate per
900 population has been II in
stead of 20. AS this 12 per 1000
means a present mortality of about
45 900 per year, so 29 per 1000 would
mean zoe ,581. We save annually Co.,
5S1 Cuban lives by our teaching
modern sanitation through the com
pulsory Plat amendment provisions.
Does that account for the Cuban dis
son of that provision, Cuba now has
the lowest mortality rate of any coun-
try in the world, instead of the high
est. And 1t is all blamed on those
oppressive Americans" who exact no
, compensation whatever for their aid
X X X
The United States has commercial
treaties with all the countries OF the
world, and practically all such
| treaties include the safety clause
guaranteeing to both parties the
| treatment Of the most favored ma
ton" Yet that clause contains just
one proviso, stipulating that it shall
not apply to our terms with Cuba
for we grant to Cuban shipments OF
| sugar and other Cuban products a
| tariff 90 per cent lower than we per-
nit to any other nation. In reel
| procity. Cuba gives our shipments
into the island a similar special privi-
| lege-a special reduction of tariffs
| from 20 to 35 per cent-but Cuban
| shipments to us are so much greater
| than are our exports to Cuba that
| the advantage is pre- eminently in
favor of Cuba. And the trade now Is
double what it was in 1914.
Cuba is willing to increase her diff
| ferential on exports from the United
| States if we will increase our 20 per
cent special reduction OF tariff on her
sugar. The present special 20 per
cent has given Cuba an absolute
monopoly Of our imports of sugar
amounting to one-half of the 100000
| tons of sugar we consume. The
other 100000 tons are produced by
our own sugar mills, from cane ana
beets grown in the United States. In
creasing the differential 90 per cent
on sugar imported from Cuba would
not Increase her monopoly of our i'm
ports of foreign sugar. but it would
increase her competition with oui
own sugar production, for it would
stimulate Cuban sugar interests, al
/ the expense of United States sugar
production