The Cuba correspondent of the Times gives a melancholy picture
of the condition of the island. The sugar trade, by which the planters used to make fortunes, is now so unprofit- able that estates are being abandoned to the wilderness, and the export of cigars has sunk from two hundred and fifty million to one hundred and thirty-four million,—a fact due in part to their increased price, and in part to fresh sources of supply. The accounts of the island show a deficit of £1,000,000 a year, and the whole revenue—£1,000,000—is absorbed in paying the soldiers and the interest on the Debt. All the Colonists are discontented to the last degree, though the Antonomistas, who are the most powerful party, deprecate separation, and ask only for liberty as in Canada. The in- surgents in arms number only seven thousand, and the- troops are thirty thousand ; but the soldiers cannot catch the guerillas, and die of malaria with terrible rapidity. Marshal Martinez Campos thinks he can put down the rebellion by Christmas, but he cannot extract from the home authorities permission to cure the deep-seated grievances, which will be increased by the heavy taxation rendered necessary by this
new movement.
Previous page
