ach having the
same experience to relate. Dishonest debtors take advantage of the
general state of bankruptcy which exists, and plead utter inability to
meet their obligations, while others, who would gladly pay their
honest debts if it were possible, have not the means to do so.

There is considerable counterfeit paper money in circulation, and we
were told that the banks of the city of Havana actually paid it out
knowingly over their own counters, mixed in with genuine bills,--a
presumed perquisite of the bank officers! This unprecedented fraud
was not put a stop to until the merchants and private bankers
threatened to have the doors of the banks closed by popular force if
the outrage was longer continued. Could such a public fraud be carried
on under any other than a Spanish government? It is not pleasant to
record the fact, but it is nevertheless true that the Spaniards in
Cuba are artful, untruthful, unreliable even in small things, with no
apparent sense of honor, and seeking just now mainly how they can best
avoid their honest obligations. As evil communications are contagious,
the Cubans have become more or less impregnated with this spirit of
commercial dishonesty. It must be admitted that of true, conscientious
principles neither party has any to spare.

The writer has often been asked about Moro Castle. Much has been said
about its "impregnable" character, but modern military science will
not recognize any such theory. A thousand chances are liable to
happen, any one of which might give the place into the hands of an
invading force. Has it not already been twice taken? Though it may be
said that auxiliary forts have been added since those experiences,
nevertheless modern artillery would make but short work of the boasted
defenses of Havana, and would knock the metropolis itself all to
pieces in a few hours, while lying out of range from Moro Castle. No
invading force need attack from the seaward side, unless it should be
found particularly desirable to do so. The place could be easily
taken, as the French took Algiers, by landing a sufficient force in
the rear. With the exception of the fortresses in and about Havana,
the island, with its two thousand miles of coast line and nearly one
hundred accessible harbors, is certainly very poorly prepared to
resist an invading enemy. Cuba's boasted military or defensive
strength is chimerical.

That the island naturally belongs to this country is a fact so plain
a