Cuba and her people of to-day : an account of the history and progress of the island previous to its independence; a description of its physical features; a study of its people; and, in particular, an examination of its present political conditions, its industries, natural resources, and prospects; together with information and suggestions designed to aid the prospective investor or settler . a blight uponeverything else. The sugar industry has exer-cised a detrimental influence upon the materialwelfare, morals, and health, and the independ-ence of the people in general. But for it, blackswoul
Cuba and her people of to-day : an account of the history and progress of the island previous to its independence; a description of its physical features; a study of its people; and, in particular, an examination of its present political conditions, its industries, natural resources, and prospects; together with information and suggestions designed to aid the prospective investor or settler . a blight uponeverything else. The sugar industry has exer-cised a detrimental influence upon the materialwelfare, morals, and health, and the independ-ence of the people in general. But for it, blackswould never have been introduced into theIsland in numbers sufficient to affect seriouslythe general population. But for it, the largerestates, growing out of the system of reparti-miento, would long since have been carved intosmall holdings, the homesteads of peasant pro-prietors with some ambition and some oppor-tunity to lead a life of manly self-support. TheIsland might not have been so wealthy, it mightnot have afforded such rich pasture for theprofessional politician to browse in, nor haveyielded such comfortable profits to Americanand British stock-holders, but its people wouldhave been happier and in the way of enjoyinggreater and more stable prosperity than thepresent prospect holds for them. But this is an idle speculation. Foreignersown ninety per cent, of all the land in Cuba. The Condition of Cuba 123 that is worth working, and, since this is thecase, the more foreign capital that comes in,the better for the country. In other words, theonly outlook for the Cuban is to serve as a hiredman. If he had any bent toward the mechan-ical industries and could command a little cap-ital, he might make innumerable openings innew directions for independent enterprises ona small scale. Cuba should support a variety of manufac-turing industries. It has the necessary mate-rials,— wood, fibres, metal, hides, etc. It im-ports many commodities that are made fromraw material exported by
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidcubaherpeopleoft00forb
