“There is us much politicaj right in Cuba
as there is in Georgia. We elect senators
to go to Spain, and representatives to at
tend the legislature. Everybody paying
taxes to the amount of five dollars is en
titled to vote. This tax of five dollars is
require*! in vi**w of the fact that with *nitp
ami a half millions of inhabitants-there
are .81)0,(XM) negroes in Cuba —if voting was
free they would elect their people; besides,
the blacks are very overbearing, knowing
that they outnumber the Cubans.
“There are two parties in Cuba —one is
the ‘autonomistas,’ which is composed
mainly of young men who are supposed to
be rather advanced in their political ideas
and the other is ‘conservadares,’ to which
party the business men ami manufactur
ers are the partisans. The ‘autonomistas’
■want a government like the Irish want for
Ireland, a home rule. But the other party
desires to have everything remain like it
is, with no radical changes,. In regard to
meetings a notice must be given the ‘gov
ernador civil,’ who corresponds to Mayor
Goodwin, by all those who desire to hold
a meeting unless it is one of the two
political parties This is done because
there might be some whose ideas ami whose
platforms are not known, ami th*' puJice
want to protect them like th*' third party
here when the people throw eggs at them.
“About the taxes in Cuba,” said Mr.
Cuesta, “I want to say first that there is
not paid one-half as much tax for the
money invested in Havana as there is in
Atlanta. Cuba, as you konw, supports a
standing army of from G,OOO to 8,000 sol
diers, and the Spanish consuls to Am<*rica
are paid out of the appropriation
SPECIALISTS.
