Cuba and Her People of To-day / An account of the history and progress of the island previous to its independence; a description of its physical features; a study of its people; and, in particular, an examination of its present political conditions, its industries, natural resources, and prospects; together with information and suggestions designed to aid the prospective investor or settler

by C. H. Forbes-Lindsay

And whereas the said Convention of December 11, 1902, as amended by the Senate of the United States, and the said Supplementary Convention of January 26, 1903, have been duly ratified on both parts and the ratifications of the two Governments were exchanged in the City of Washington on the thirty-first day of March, 1903;

And whereas by its resolution of March 19, 1903, the Senate of the United States added at the end of Article XI of the said Convention of December 11, 1902, the following amendment:

“This Convention shall not take effect until the same shall have been approved by the Congress”;

And whereas the Congress gave its approval to the said Convention by an Act approved December 17, 1903, entitled “An Act To carry into effect a convention between the United States and the Republic of Cuba, signed on the eleventh day of December, in the year nineteen hundred and two,” which Act is word for word as follows:

“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever the President of the United States shall receive satisfactory evidence that the Republic of Cuba has made provision to give full effect to the Articles of the convention between the United States and the Republic of Cuba, signed on the eleventh day of December, in the year nineteen hundred and two, he is hereby authorized to issue his proclamation declaring that he has received such evidence, and thereupon on the tenth day after exchange of ratifications of such convention between the United States and the Republic of Cuba, and so long as the said convention shall remain in force, all articles of merchandise being the product of the soil or industry of the Republic of Cuba, which are now imported into the United States free of duty, shall continue to be so admitted free of duty, and all other articles of merchandise being the product of the soil or industry of the Republic of Cuba imported into the United States shall be admitted at a reduction of twenty per centum of the rates of duty thereon, as provided by the tariff Act of the United States, approved July twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, or as may be provided by any tariff law of the United States subsequently enacted. The rates of duty herein granted by the United States to the Republic of Cuba are and shall continue during the term of said convention preferential in respect to all like imports from other countries: Provided, That while said convention is in force no sugar imported from the Republic of Cuba, and being the product of the soil or industry of the Republic of Cuba, shall be admitted into the United States at a reduction of duty greater than twenty per centum of the rates of duty thereon, as provided by the tariff Act of the United States, approved July twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, and no sugar the product of any other foreign country shall be admitted by treaty or convention into the United States while this convention is in force at a lower rate of duty than that provided by the tariff Act of the United States approved July twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven: And provided further, That nothing herein contained shall be held or construed as an admission on the part of the House of Representatives that customs duties can be charged otherwise than by an Act of Congress, originating in said House.

“Sec. 2. That so long as said convention shall remain in force, the laws and regulations adopted, or that may be adopted by the United States to protect the revenues and prevent fraud in the declarations and proofs, that the articles of merchandise to which said convention may apply are the product or manufacture of the Republic of Cuba, shall not impose any additional charge or fees therefor on the articles imported, excepting the consular fees established, or which may be established, by the United States for issuing shipping documents, which fees shall not be higher than those charged on the shipments of similar merchandise from any other nation whatsoever; that articles of the Republic of Cuba shall receive, on their importation into the ports of the United States, treatment equal to that which similar articles of the United States shall receive on their importation into the ports of the Republic of Cuba; that any tax or charge that may be imposed by the national or local authorities of the United States upon the articles of merchandise of the Republic of Cuba, embraced in the provisions of said convention, subsequent to importation and prior to their entering into consumption into the United States, shall be imposed and collected without discrimination upon like articles whencesoever imported.”

And whereas satisfactory evidence has been received by the President of the United States that the Republic of Cuba has made provision to give full effect to the articles of the said convention; Now, therefore, be it known that I, Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, in conformity with the said Act of Congress, do hereby declare and proclaim the said Convention, as amended by the Senate of the United States, to be in effect on the tenth day from the date of this my proclamation.

Wherefore I have caused the said Convention, as amended by the Senate of the United States, to be made public to the end that the same and every clause thereof, as amended, may be observed and fulfilled with good faith by the United States and the citizens thereof.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

[SEAL]