Show SPANISH VIEW OF CUBAS PROGRESS A spanish view of cubas recent progress Is given in the hispania acono mica y Finan clera published in madrid a copy of which publication has just been received by the department of commerce and labor through its bureau of statistics the article discusses the progress made by cuba in her industries commerce public works administration finance system of public schools railways and sanitation and contrasts the present im proved situation with that prevailing under the old spanish regime A translation of the article in part follows the progress that has been made will e best shown by a comparison of the state of the island before the proclamation odthe f republic I 1 and thai has prevailed since from 1888 to the average budget of cuba was the budget for 1605 6 Is the dlf terence Is small but it roust be remembered that in colonial days C millions were expended on the army 1 for the navy 1 tor sinecures sine cures about one halt million for ecclesiastical obligations gat ions and 11 for the interest on tha debt the projected increases in expenditures for this budget are caused primarily by the demand for improvements in what may be called the national mechanism ou tillage and are justified by the expectation that the taxes will yield the amounts asked for in the estimates submitted to congress then in fiscal year 1902 3 the total revenue was in 1903 4 it had risen to thus from ona budget to another there was an increase of more than 6 12 1 2 million dol lara the larger part of which came from an increase of in the when a country has natural resources with which to meet all the requirements quire ments of civilized life when high taxes are regarded as a transient condition incident to the process of reconstruction st when they do not interfere with material prosperity and when their employment Is in large part reproductive the increase in public expenditure Is justifiable instead of being a sign of an unhealthy state it is a sign of vitality and eo long as th administration la honest the taxpayers bear their burdens willingly like all peoples intent on their intellectual tel progress the basis of all public activity cuba has paid special attention sace Its birth as a republican nation to its educational system in 1894 under the colonial regime cherer were in the island public schools and private schools according to the recent message of president palma there were in the republic in 1903 4 primary schools and 72 special schools a total of this number subsequently rose to in other words independence has quadrupled the number of primary public schools the increase having been particularly marked in the rural dis tracts in 1895 under colonial regime the number of pupils wag in 1904 under republican regime number of pupils in attendance was wagon roads had to be constructed on the island to make connection between points of production and points of shipment for this purpose the republican budget appropriates the spanish administration left that work to the producers machete for a quarter of a century the span ish administration kept planning a railway between santa clara and santiago de cuba under republican government a private company com rany the cuba railroad company has established connection between the east fand tho west of the island in two years and a halt without independence the 53 miles of the railway the sure vanguard of a period of prosperity would not exist during the last insurrection the number of taxpayers was in 1901 at the time ot the american intervention tion the number had risen to there has been an increase in the exports of mining products principally iron asphalt and manganese as well as in the sugar production which has once more passed the mil lion ton mark which was exceeded only in 1894 there s room in cuba for ten times its population and with the present prosperity it can not fall to develop rapidly the yellow fever was a chronic reproach to our colonial administration A few months of hygiene and sanitation during the american intervention did more for the island than the power 0 spain had done in tour centuries these comparisons are tar efrom flattering to dur colonizing methora metho aa and to our public men in order that cuba might liken herself to the great modern nations in hygiene instruction st governmental mechanism industrial development etc she had to escape from our sway had she continued subject to spain she would still be afflicted with the troubles from which she suffered before the republic was declared this Is indeed a tribute to the bani incent influence always exerted by the united states |