The second and third debts have been almost entirely converted into mortgage notes.
The fourth debt: by a royal decree of May 10, 1886, 1,240,000 notes of 500 pesetas each (about $124,000,000) were issued, redeemable by quarterly drawings and paying six per cent. per annum interest.
The fifth debt: by a royal decree of the 27th of September, 1890, 1,750,000 mortgage notes of 500 pesetas each (about $175,000,000), were issued, redeemable at par by quarterly drawings, and paying five percent. per annum interest.
The notes of these last two emissions are placed in Paris and London, and the redemption and interest thereon are payable in gold or its equivalent. They are guaranteed by the customs, post-office, and stamp revenue of the Island of Cuba, and the direct and indirect taxes, and besides by the Spanish nation. Besides, during the last war, the Spanish Government made an internal loan against the Cuban Treasury of 400,000,000 pesetas ($80,000,000) and another one of 200,000,000 pesetas more ($40,000,000), guaranteed by the Spanish customs. The floating debt, caused by the war expenditure and payments of current appropriations in Cuba, was not less than $100,000,000. These are not exactly official statements, and yet they were obtained personally by the author from official sources, and come close to the mark. Tabulated, we have this:
| STATEMENT OF CUBAN DEBT, OCTOBER, 1898 | |
| Spain’s debt to the United States | $600,000 |
| Notes by royal decree of May 10, 1886 | 124,000,000 |
| “ “ “ “ September 27, 1890 | 175,000,000 |
| Internal loan against Cuban Treasury | 80,000,000 |
| “ “ “ “ Spanish customs | 40,000,000 |
| Floating debt, war expenses, etc. | 100,000,000 |
| $519,600,000 | |
Paul Leroy Beaulieu gives the bonded debt of Cuba as 2,032,000,000 pesetas, or $406,400,000. This evidently does not include the large floating debt included in the above estimate. So far as Cuba is concerned, this debt has been liquidated. It will, therefore, in the language of the French economist, be “absolutely necessary for Spain to meet the expenditure.” Why not? Spain lost the game, therefore she must pay the cost.
The largest expenditure, next to interest on debt, was for purposes of war, $5,896,740.73. The expenses of the navy aggregate $1,055,136.13, and of the executive department, $2,645,149.98. Under the last section will be noted the salary of the Cuban Governor-General, $40,000, and the expenses of his office, $46,450, aggregating $86,450. In this division, it appears, the Civil Guards were paid; this body of men received, in all, $2,095,221.12. The second largest item in this total is the subsidy to the Compañia Transatlántica, which amounts to $471,836.68. A study of these several items will at once show that the principal expenditures for the Island of Cuba are those which have, directly or indirectly, to do with the control of the Island by Spain. Ten and a half millions, annual charge for the debt; nearly $7,000,000, the combined cost of the army and navy; while upward of $2,000,000 of the total amount expended under the classification of executive went to the Civil Guards, who have been used for patrolling the various parts of the Island. Here, then, we have a total of $19,500,000 for extraordinary expenditures, the larger portion of which will be abolished now the public debt is wiped out and peace restored to Cuba.
The second grand division of expenditure is the smallest, and represents the amount of money which was spent strictly for local affairs, and not in the defence of the sovereignty, in its possession of Cuba, and the payment of an unjust debt. One of the first items of expenditure under this latter head is the result of the concession last year by Spain of autonomy for the Island, and the round sum of $133,830 is paid under the head of “Colonial Legislature.” The second section is for the church, justice, and executive; also for the courts of justice, expenses for prisons and charitable institutions. It aggregates $1,612,859.44. The next most expensive department of the Government seems to be that of the Treasury, the salaries of the secretary, sub-secretaries, and other officers aggregating $218,725. This does not include general expenses, which make another item of this department, aggregating $33,500. Under the head of contingent expenses may be found the various provincial administrations of the Treasury; the cost of administration of custom-houses and revenue marine, amounting to $472,370, giving a total for the department of $708,978.51.
Public instruction fares badly in Cuba. Under this head, it appears, $247,033.02 were expended. The largest item in these expenditures seems to be for the University of Havana and its educational adjuncts, aggregating $172,840.80. The next largest item is the salary of the Secretary of Education and the inspectors of primary instruction, etc., aggregating $58,300. None of the total amount seems to go for common-school education, as it is understood in the United States. Under the head of “Public Works and Communications,” $1,036,582.10 was expended. The proportion of this money which goes for salaries is very large indeed. The largest single item of expenditure is given under the rather dubious heading of “Communication,” and aggregates $417,640. Repairs and care of public buildings, including rent of buildings, aggregates $79,500; postal communication, $114,514. Marine navigation, including docks and sheds, lighthouses and buoys, aggregates $98,058; and the construction of the San Cristobal bridge, $49,000. The care and repair of public roads cost $100,000; in all making the above-mentioned total.
