n paper money, equal to sixteen cents of our
currency; three times that sum is charged if engaged for the hour. The
streets are in a very bad condition and sadly need repairing. The
roads leading out to the suburbs in every direction are full of deep
holes, and are badly gullied by the heavy rains. The streets, even
about the paseos, are so impregnated with filth, here and there, as to
be sickening to the senses of the passer-by. Once in three or four
weeks somebody is awakened to the exigency of the situation, and a
gang of men is put to work to cleanse the principal thoroughfares, but
this serves only a temporary purpose. We were told that the reason for
this neglect was that no one was regularly paid for work; even the
police had not received any pay for seven months, and many refused to
serve longer. The soldiery had not been paid their small stipend for
nearly a year, but enlisted men sent out from Spain, forming the army,
are more easily kept together and more amenable to discipline than any
civil body of officials could be. "With everybody and everything so
enormously taxed," we ventured to suggest to our informants, "there
should be no lack of pecuniary means wherewith to carry on all
departments of the government. Pray what becomes of all this money?"
The reply was, "Who can say?" with a significant shrug of the
shoulders. With all the exactions of the officials, and with the
collection of nearly thirty millions of dollars annually, but a moiety
finds its way into the national treasury. Peculation is reduced to a
science, and is practiced from the highest to the lowest official sent
out by the home government. "Spain has squeezed the orange nearly
dry," said a distinguished Cuban to us in Matanzas, "and a collapse is
inevitable. We are anxiously waiting to see it come; any change would
be for the better. We were long threatened with a war of races, if we
did not sustain Spanish rule in the island. That is, if we were not
loyal to the Madrid authorities, the slaves should be freed to prey
upon us. Blood would flow like water. The incendiary torch would be
placed in the hands of the negroes, and they should be incited to
burn, steal, and ravish! Cuba should be Spanish or African. There was
a time when this threat had great force, and its execution was indeed
to be dreaded; but that time is past, and no such fear now exists. The
slaves are being gradually freed, and are amalgamating with the rest
of the populace. T