The Assistant Colonial Secretary of Spain concludes a voluminous
defense of the policy of his government in Cuba as follows:
There is thus no reason in Cuba to complain of the illiberality of
the laws. If there has been any shortcoming in respect to morals,
the nation is not to blame; none but the colonial provinces are to
blame for this; if we proposed to seek comfort in comparisons, it
would not be necessary to look for them in South America, in the
countries that have emancipated themselves from the Spanish
mother-country, because examples (some of them very recent) of
acts of violence, anarchy and scandalous outbreaks could be found
in the States of the Union itself.
In respect to another matter, a great deal of foolish talk is
indulged in. From the statements of some people it would appear
that Cuba does nothing but contribute, by the taxes which it pays,
to alleviate the burdens of the peninsular treasury, whereas, in
reality, just the contrary is the truth. The nation has, of late,
guaranteed the conversion of Spanish debts in Cuba, which took
place in 1886 and 1890.
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