c—Navigation between Cuban ports.
The most delicate problem connected with merchant shipping in Cuba during the military administration of the affairs of the Island by the United States, has been the regulation of the coasting trade. Under Spanish administration, transportation by sea from one port in the Island to any other Cuban port was restricted to vessels under the Spanish flag and of Spanish register. Some modification of this regulation became necessary immediately upon American occupation, for, after Spanish evacuation of the Island, the obligatory display of the Spanish flag in Cuban ports would have been obviously intolerable to the residents. Three courses were open to the authorities of the United States: first, the coasting trade of the Island could have been thrown open to the vessels of all nations without reserve; second, the coasting trade of the Island could have been restricted to vessels of the United States; and third, a temporary expedient could have been employed which would reserve the adoption of a navigation policy for Cuban decision, when an independent government shall have been established and its flag and sovereignty recognised.
The first course involved the most radical departure from both the policy which always has obtained in Cuban ports and the policy which has always obtained in the United States, which had undertaken to restore stable government on the Island. Had the coasting trade of the Island been thrown open temporarily to vessels of all nations, a reversal of that policy in the future could be effected only with difficulty and would certainly provoke complaint from commercial nations, eager to insist that a temporary privilege, be it enjoyed for never so short a time, becomes a vested right. An independent Cuban government will undoubtedly decree that the coasting trade of the Island shall be confined to vessels of the Cuban flag. Such a measure is the easiest and quickest method to begin the creation of a national merchant marine, which will be a necessity to the insular republic. It is equally certain that in the event of the ultimate annexation of Cuba to the United States, the coasting trade of the Island will be confined to vessels of American register, in pursuit of the traditional policy of this country. The first course open was accordingly rejected.
The proposition to confine the coasting trade of the Island to vessels of American register was entirely out of consonance with the declared purposes of the United States in going to war with Spain. That proposition would, not unnaturally, have been construed as notice to the world and to the Cubans themselves that it was our purpose to exploit the Island for the benefit of our own trade, a purpose entirely opposite to the views which have inspired the Administration and the great mass of the American people throughout all the stages of discussion and action upon the Cuban situation. Military exigencies made it necessary to provide that American vessels should engage in carrying, from one port in Cuba to another, in order to move men, supplies, and mails. In the restoration of trade to its ordinary channels, the employment of some shipping to fill the place vacated by Spanish shipping withdrawn was a necessity; and the shipping of the nation which had liberated and assumed tutelage of the Cubans was properly drawn upon for this purpose. More than this the authorities of the United States have not asked of the Island in the way of navigation privileges; less than this could not have been taken consistently with the purpose to restore order and normal trade conditions, necessarily preliminary to the establishment of an independent government.
The regulation actually adopted and in force since the 1st of January contains the germs of a Cuban merchant marine. It is provided that any resident of Cuba, who owns a vessel, no matter where built, or under what flag, upon renouncing his allegiance to the King of Spain or any other foreign prince, state, or sovereignty whatever, may obtain from the military authorities of the United States in Cuba a permit entitling the vessel to engage in the coasting trade of the Island. It is thus within the power of any resident of the Island, who purposes to become a citizen of the future republic, to own as many ships as he has the money and inclination to buy. For the time being these ship-owners occupy the anomalous position of being men not without a country, but without an established form of government to which they can take allegiance. How long this anomalous condition shall continue rests to a very great extent with the Cubans themselves. Their shipping, too, is virtually without a flag. Yet in the designation of a distinctive signal—the blue flag with a white union—the authorities of the United States have more closely consulted historic and heraldic proprieties than did the Cubans themselves. The colours chosen are those adopted in different forms by Argentina, Uruguay, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, the former Spanish colonies on the Atlantic which won and have maintained independence. The cynical student of history cannot point to a lone star, and croak that we have imposed it on Cuba as a sign that the history of Texas is to be repeated.
The same just policy, the same desire to consult the probable wishes of a future independent government, the same willingness to forego selfish advantages, have characterised the formulation of navigation regulations for the foreign trade as for the coasting trade of Cuba. Under the war power, as construed by the courts, the President could, without doubt, have so framed regulations as to divert forcibly to the United States, and to vessels of the United States, a large share of the commerce of the Island which now seeks other channels. Direct taxation is not the only form in which commerce can be made to pay its contributions toward the expenses of war. Disregarding narrow advice to create opportunities for American profit out of the Cuban situation, the President and his advisers have so framed the navigation regulations for foreign trade that not only is there no discrimination among nations in trade with Cuba, but also the opportunities for trade between the Island and Spain are greater even than they were under Spain’s own rule; and the navigation and port charges imposed on ships and their cargoes have been materially reduced.
These are the general features of the navigation policy which has been in force in Cuba since the 1st of January. It is believed that the history of colonies and dependencies furnishes no other instance where the governing power has asked less for itself, has sought more carefully to furnish every opportunity for the development of an independent mercantile marine and the extension of an independent foreign trade. The people of Cuba have it easily within their power to have within a year a national shipping as great as that of Argentina after ninety years of independence.
Many ships, foreign and coastwise, ply between the ports of Cuba and every port of the world, especially American ports, and a number of lines have been long established, the most prominent of these being the New York and Cuba Mail Steamship Company, better known as the “Ward Line,” from its founder, James E. Ward. This company, which is incorporated under the laws of the State of New York, was organised in July, 1881. Its authorised capital stock is $2,500,000, of which $2,200,000 has been issued and paid in. At the time of organisation, the following steamers were bought of James E. Ward & Co., and operated:
| Newport | 2735 | tons | Niagara | 2265 | tons |
| Saratoga | 2820 | “ | Santiago | 2359 | “ |