by the building of the Panama Canal. It is now American territory. Why surrender it? Less expenditure than will be necessary to make Bahia Honda suitable as a coaling station will make Siguanea Bay, on the west coast of the Isle of Pines. available, and its location is much superior. If Bahia Honda is not suitable, why surrender Siguanea Bay?

15. The United States has established Cuba as an independent Government, has loaned her $3,000,000 without interest for an indefinite period, has assumed the payment of millions of dollars in the claims of American citizens against the Spanish Government when it is notorious that nine-tenths of these "citizens" are Cubans resident in Cuba and having no interests outside of that island. The United States has granted to Cuba reciprocity, and in every way shown friendship and consideration. Is it not time that our obligations to Cuba were considered as canceled?

Remember that Cuba has not yet ratified the general treaty carrying into effect the Platt amendment. Remember that before the reciprocity treaty was in effect the Cuban House of Representatives had formulated a measure raising the tariff on American products 25 per cent. Should not this whole question of the Isle of Pines be carefully investigated before hundreds of American citizens are expatriated and their property interests seriously jeopardized?

16. A suit is now pending in the Supreme Court which calls for a decision interpreting Article II of the treaty of Paris in respect of the sovereignty of the Isle of Pines. Should that decision reaffirm the sovereignty of the United States it is obvious that this treaty would be null and void, as the Constitution specifically declares

that

"Congress shall have power to dispose of the territory States."

DATA RELATIVE TO NAVAL AND MARITIME IMPORTANCE OF THE ISLE OF PINES.

While the coast line of the Isle of Pines, irrespective of its adjacent keys, is defined with reasonable accuracy in the latest charts of Cuba and the West Indies, the same can not be said of the soundings of its coastal waters and estuaries. To the north and west fairly accurate measurements are to be found on the latest edition of Cuba, issued by the Hydrographic Office, United States Department of the Navy, No. 2145. To the south and east no figures of value are given. The southern waters fortunately slope into the deep levels of the Caribbean Sea, where more than a thousand fathoms of water are found within gunshot of Cape Pepe and Playa Larga (Long Beach). To the east lie the long reaches of keys, which are considered as attached to the Isle of Pines, extending beyond Cayo Largo to the Jardanillos bank, a distance from Cape Pepe of slightly over two degrees of longitude, some 120 miles of coast, absolutely unprotected by light-house or buoy.

Vessels passing from Cienfuegos, in Cuba, Manzanillo, Trinidad, and the Caiman Islands pass along this coast, using Calete Grande, to the northwest of Cape Pepe, as a half-way house to the Gulf ports and as a harbor of refuge in case of severe storm. Several channels lead through these easterly keys, the most notable of which is Rosario, passing between Cantilles and Rosario keys, and given on the chart 24 fathoms of water. As a matter of fact, vessels drawing 17 feet of water can be taken through this channel into the deep waters of the Gulf of Batabano, where over a stretch 40 miles north and south and from 15 to 30 east and west from 25 to 30 feet of water are found, sheltered by the surrounding keys from storms of every character. West and south of Cantilles lies Calapatch Island, almost on the hundred-fathom line of the Caribbean, sheltered on the north and east by the range of the Aguadientes keys and on the east and south by Calapatch Mehagan reef.

The southwesterly side of Calapatch Island, under the shelter of this reef, forms one of the most admirable stretches of protected water in this whole region. The prevailing storms are from the north and east, while the rare but terrific West India hurricanes coming off the periphery of the Caribbean Sea strike this region from the southeast. Under the shelter of Calapatch Island lies a large stretch of water approachable from an arc of 120° deep enough for the largest vessels and extensive enough for the navies of the whole world. From this point channels deep enough for light-draft cruisers, torpedo boats, and torpedo-boat destroyers run to the eastward inside Calapatch Mehagan reef to Rosario channel. Channels deep enough for torpedo boats run northeasterly both to the east and west of Tablones keys into the Gulf of Batabano, and to the northwest by Campos, leacos, and Matias by Point Coral through channels in the Mangles to connect with the waters immediately north of the Isle of Pines. On Cantilles, Calapatch, Campos, and Icacos may be found ample supplies of fresh water for naval use, and at several points sufficiently abrupt shores for secondary coaling stations. When it is borne in mind that west of 75.10, the

longitude of Guantanamo, 9° of longitude and nearly 2 of latitude cover the stretch in which the United States will have neither naval station, coaling station, nor harbor of refuge from Guantanamo to Cape San Antonio, should the Isle of Pines and and its adjacent keys be ceded to Cuba, it is evident that careful consideration should be given to the naval and maritime importance of these waters.

With the waters sheltered by Calapatch Island as a base, with its three channels of retreat, connecting with the waters north of the Isle of Pines, with Rosario channel and the Gulf of Batabano, it is evident that here lies a point from which an American torpedo squadron could emerge to play havoc with an enemy or retreat when pursued by superior force. It could be coaled and watered in safe waters and could emerge either to the north of the Isle of Pines or through the Gulf of Cazones, far beyond reach of the enemy, ready for offensive operations.

Under Cuban control not a single light has been erected along these coasts, although over 200 vessels run out of the port of Batabano alone in the sponging and fishing industry, and the numerous wrecks which line the shores of Cayo Largo, Jack Taylor reef, Calapatch Mehagan reef, and the Playa Larga of the Isle of Pines testify to their need.

Caleta Grande deserves especial notice. Situated on the southwest coast of the Isle of Pines, its small but convenient harbor shows 23 feet of water inside the bar, which has an open channel leading into the deep water of the Caribbean. The harbor contains a square mile of good deep water anchorage, and on the south and west sides deep-water piers can be constructed at low cost. This harbor is already used as the halfway port between Jamaica, the Caiman Islands, and points on the south coast of Cuba for vessels of all characters bound for Gulf ports. Quite a little colony of Americans and Caiman islanders, who are English speaking people of pure English stock, has established itself at this port and is now actively engaged in lumbering and planting fruit-bananas, oranges, cocoanuts, and other tropical products. This port is the best harbor and natural halfway station for all vessels bound from lower Ĉentral America, Venezuela, Colombia, and Panama to the Gulf ports of the United States. It is bound to grow in importance with the development of the commerce of the Caribbean basin. Its future under American control will be assured. It would seem flying in the face of manifest destiny to transfer to an alien flag the port which of all others seems destined to receive so much of an enormous and almost exclusively American commerce.

Directly across the narrow arm of the Isle of Pines on which Caleta Grande is situated lies Siguanea Bay. This extensive sheet of water, 15 miles in width by over 20 in length, contains from 22 to 35 feet of water, and by the dredging of a short channel through the sand bar to the north of Point Frances will be available for vessels of deep draft, and contains several sites eminently suitable for coaling stations. Let it be borne in mind that owing to the shallow character of most of the Gulf and Carribbean ports the preponderating type of both naval and commercial vessels in these waters will be of less than 20 feet draft. Therefore harbors and stations which elsewhere should be, as is that at Guantanamo, of the deepest character, in these waters must of necessity conform in a greater degree to the physical characteristics of available harbors. And it should be constantly kept in mind that the navigation of the troubled and tempestuous waters and the difficult currents of the Yucatan passage make necessary harbors of refuge wherever they may be found.

CLIMATE OF THE ISLE OF PINES, PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS, ETC.

The climate of the Isle of Pines is traditionally the most salubrious of the Antilles. Yellow fever, which has repeatedly scourged Cuba, is there unknown. Even in the darkest days of Spanish control no epidemic has ever visited its shores. Save for the narrow swamp of Lanier, which nearly divides the southern third of the island into a separate body, the ground is high and dry, averaging 100 feet above sea level. Two series of mountains, which hardly rise to the dignity of ranges, are found, beginning with Mount Diablo and the Sierra Caballos, of 981 feet elevation on the north coast, and continuing with Sierra Casas, of 945 feet elevation, extending to the west and south and in a southerly direction from Nueva Gerona. On the west side are the mountains of San Jose and Canada, rising to an elevation of over 1,500 feet, and as the interior is approached the ground rolls upward in gentle slopes from the coastal regions. These mountains are composed of limestone and marble, one of them, near the town of Nueva Gerona, containing marble pronounced by experts to be equal to the finest Carrara. This property is owned by a wealthy American, who believes that the island will remain under American control and permit him to develop this very valuable property.

The temperature averages throughout the year a mean of 74° F. The extreme between the summer and winter months is barely 10° F. In July and August the

temperature averages 78 to 82, seldom rising above the latter figure, and in December and January rarely falls below 70 or exceeds 74. The climate may be said to resemble that of Jamaică rather more than that of Cuba. The rainfall ranges from 56 to 60 inches annually, not exceeding an average of 1 inch per month from November to May, the remainder falling from the latter part of May until October. It is characteristic of the island that continuous rainstorms, such as are known in the northern latitudes, are unknown, the rain falling in brisk showers of brief duration from which the sun emerges speedily into a clear sky.

The porous nature of the soil quickly absorbs the rainfall. In consequence of this, of the high and rolling character of the ground, the proximity of the sea, and the presence of extensive forests of pine, the island has always maintained a high reputation as a health resort. The climate possesses none of the enervating characteristics of the Tropics, and the existence near Nueva Gerona of very famous mineral springs adds to the sanitary value of this region. These springs are of magnesia water, and have almost international reputation for the cure of stomach and intestinal difficulties, and particularly for the cure of rheumatism of certain types, which yield as if by magic to its treatment.

Not alone in the pine regions around Nueva Gerona, but on the dry shores of Caleta Grande and the back lands of the Playa Larga do the most perfect conditions for the erection of sanatoriums prevail. Contrary to the description of the charts, the back country of Playa Larga is not low and swampy. On the contrary, it is dry, rocky, and salubrious, covered with high-ground vegetation of pine, mixed with large areas of mahogany and other hard woods. The trade winds of the upper Caribbean blow here with unfailing regularity. Malaria is unknown, yellow fever never had a foothold, and the pine areas are notable for their excellent effect on throat and lung diseases. With a view to the inevitable sicknesses which will attend the building of the Panama Canal and the prevalence of torrential rains and the consequent dampness of even the high grounds adjacent to Panama, it is absolutely imperative that the United States should own and control a suitable region at the nearest available point for the erection of sanatoriums for its working staff and forces. The Isle of Pines presents the opportunity which it would be worse than folly to throw away. Not merely in this aspect, but from many others, will the value of the Isle of Pines appear in connection with the building of the Panama Canal. Practically its whole area of a cultivatable character is admirably adapted for the raising of vegetables of a more or less perishable character, such as tomatoes, radishes, green pease, lettuce, eggplants, and the large variety which now are found in the best markets. These can be raised there in every month in the year, and will do their share in maintaining the health of the thousands of employees at work upon the canal. The conditions which have for hundreds of years prevailed in the Isle of Pines under Spanish rule can only be mitigated under American control. Americans alone show either willingness or capacity for developing its splendid resources, and they should be encouraged by the maintenance of American sovereignty rather than prostrated by expatriation and an alien flag.

It is a regretable fact that in the nearly two years which have passed since Cuba was given an independent government she has not placed upon her statute books one act of material importance to relieve the burden of obsolete Spanish laws which were her heritage. Real-estate transfers are still so costly and difficult that in small holdings the value of the property is more than cut in two by the expense of transfer. Under Cuban control the Isle of Pines is doomed to come nearly to a standstill, when its importance to the United States will become more and more manifest and imperative with each passing year.

Its seasons may be considered as three weeks in advance of those of Cuba, with a corresponding advantage in the raising of all the early vegetables and seasonable crops. Oranges come into bearing there in the short period of three years, as against five in Cuba, and through a careful study of market conditions the planters are bringing in varieties which will appear in the American market at a time when it is bare of this important fruit from other sources. In the region around Caleta Grande

and Playa Larga the banana attains a perfection found nowhere else outside of Colombia, Honduras, and Jamaica. Cocoanuts are pronounced equal to the best San Blas variety, and in a few years' time promise to supply a large part of the American demand. One farmer in the vicinity of Caleta Grande raised over $2,000 worth of honey and wax this last year.

All along the coast from Caleta Grande East abundant fresh water is obtainable from wells sunk within a few yards of the sea. It may brepeated that this is true of many of the keys adjoining the Isle of Pines and adjacent thereto. This fact, first given wide publicity by Baron von Humboldt, is borne out by present-day observations. At some points large springs of fresh water well up from the sea itself.

There are no poisonous snakes in either the Isle of Pines or its adjacent keys, but one variety of serpent—the maja-appearing, and that principally as a household pet, where its fondness for rats and mice marks its usefulness. In the low ground of the swamp of Lanier is found the American crocodile, and on land the tree-living iguana, a lizard the flesh of which Columbus pronounced to be the finest meat he found in America. On the Playa Larga and the adjoining keys are the best turtle beaches in the Caribbean, and through Siguanea Bay may be seen the few remaining specimens of the manatee or sea-cow, whose rapid extinction can be prevented only under American control and through the medium of prompt restrictive legislation.

FISHERIES.

Considering the Isle of Pines and its adjacent keys as a geographical entity in view of the language of the treaty of Paris, the dividing line between the territorial waters of the United States and those of Cuba would presumably be placed along the channels adjacent to the coast of Cuba from Cape Frances northwest to Hacha Channel, leading to Batabano, and thence by the channel west and south of Punta Gorda followed by the coasting steamers and traffic running between Batabano and Cienfuegos. Within the waters thus inclosed as appertaining to the Isle of Pines and its adjacent keys lie the most valuable sponging grounds in the world. Their annual product is worth in excess of three million dollars a year, and the other fisheries of the same waters are only less in value from the restricted market which Cuba affords. Over forty varieties of edible fish are caught. Nearly two hundred vessels and some two thousand fishermen are employed in these industries, making Batabano their principal port. These men are almost exclusively Spaniards who have refused to take out citizenship papers in Cuba, distrusting and disliking the Cuban Government. ever American control of these waters shall be asserted they will gladly come under the American flag, and from them can be recruited hundreds of men for the American Navy-good sailors, hardy, distinguished by the racial sobriety of the Spaniard, and thoroughly acclimated to tropical waters.

DISTANCE OF THE ISLE OF PINES FROM CUBA.

When

From Point Barcos to Point Carraguao, the two points of the Isle of Pines and Cuba most nearly approaching, lies a stretch of water over 30 miles in extent. This is as far as from the Florida coast across the Gulf Stream to the shores of the Great Bahamas. Twenty miles of this stretch is covered with water averaging 20 feet in depth. The nearest Cuban port, and the one from which the steamers ply between Cuba and the Isle of Pines, is Batabano, 70 miles distant. Channels characteristic of all these waters of sufficient draft for a considerable commerce lie to the north, east, and west of the Isle of Pines. Its geographical separation from Cuba is as distinct as that between the Lesser Antilles, where islands of four nationalities are separated from each other by narrower passages than those between the Isle of Pines and Cuba.

The statement, which is given credence in the report accompanying this treaty, to the effect that the Isle of Pines was abandoned by the Spanish as a penal colony because the convicts used to wade across to Cuba through the shallow waters is as absurd and apocryphal as the wild statements of early navigators in regard to lands of headless men and fountains of perpetual youth.

Nueva Gerona, the principal port on the north side of the island, is situated 2 miles up the Casas River, which is in reality an estuary of the sea, having from 20 to 30 feet of water in its channel. At its mouth is a bar carrying only 8 feet of water, but less than 150 yards of dredging will open this river to vessels of the largest size that can navigate the adjacent waters, say of 18 feet draft.

Additional statement.

The recent action of the American citizens, residents of the Isle of Pines, who have peacefully repudiated Cuban authority and started to set up a provisional goyernment for themselves as American citizens on American territory has been variously denounced by many American newspapers as everything from opera bouffe and farce comedy to secession, revolution, and treason. It is perfectly evident that such denunciations proceed from ignorance on the part of the writers of the real facts and questions involved, and that they are based on the assumption that the Isle of Pines is a recognized part of the territory of the Republic of Cuba and that the Americans who have settled in the island have voluntarily gone to foreign territory

and put themselves under Cuban sovereignty. If this were true, all the denunciation and ridicule so abundantly poured out on them would be well deserved, but so far is this from being a true representation of their attitude that they maintain that they are only attempting to throw off the yoke of an illegal government which has been permitted by the neglect or connivance of a single department of the Government of the United States to usurp and exercise authority over territory in which they have settled, relying on the official assurance of other departments of the same Government that they were on American soil and under the protection of their own flag. They declare that they are not attempting to wrest from the Republic of Cuba a portion of Cuban territory, but that they are deeply concerned to prevent the abandonment of a valuable American possession for no consideration and for no sufficient reason that has ever been publicly disclosed. In view of the widespread ignorance on the subject, which the comments of the American press have disclosed, it may be well to recapitulate some of the reasons which are urged by those who contend that the Isle of Pines is and should be American territory.

The treaty of Paris, signed December 10, 1898, reads: "Spain relinquishes all claim of sovereignty over and title to Cuba." (Art. 1) and (Art. II): “Spain cedes to the United States the island of Porto Rico and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies." It will be observed that the relinquishment of sovereignty is specific and is limited to “Cuba," while the cession to the United States is general and includes all Spanish possessions in the West Indies other than the single island which was not ceded. It seems reasonable, therefore, to conclude that the Isle of Pines was included in the territory ceded to the United States, and that upon the ratification of the treaty the island became American territory.

That this was the effect anticipated by the Spanish commissioners who signed the treaty is evident from a declaration made by them, contained in an annex to protocol No. 9, presented at the session of the commissioners on October 21, 1898, which is as follows:

"They (the United States) did claim sovereignty over the latter (Porto Rico) and over the other islands surrounding Cuba, which will render impossible the independence of the latter (Cuba) without the good will and gracious consent of the United States, which will always have it at their mercy through their control over the islands which inclose it as in a band of iron."

That such was also the opinion of the United States Government is proven by an official statement made by the War Department at Washington, dated August 14, 1899, in reply to an inquiry as to the status of the Isle of Pines, which reads: "This island was ceded by Spain to the United States, and is therefore a part of our territory, although it is attached at present to the division of Cuba for governmental * * * and * * purposes. * the disposition of public lands must await the action of Congress." It will be observed that this official statement was made more than six months after the ratification of the treaty of Paris by the United States Senate.

A further proof of the construction put by the American Government on the provisions of the treaty above referred to is furnished by the official maps issued by the Land Office at Washington, on which the Isle of Pines appears as American territory, exactly as Porto Rico, the Philippines, Hawaii, and the other insular possessions are represented.

Moreover, it is well known and can be proven by unimpeachable evidence that the late Secretary Hay declared openly that he entertained no doubt that the Isle of Pines became an American possession under the terms of the treaty with Spain. Acting on this view, the Navy Department caused a careful examination to be made of the island and of the adjacent water to determine its availability for the location of an American naval station.

Up to this point the actions of the United States Government with respect to the island were entirely consistent with the belief that it had become an American possession, and entirely inconsistent with any other theory of its relations with the United States. Many American citizens, entertaining no doubts as to the political status of the island, especially after the official assurance above referred to, purchased large tracts of undeveloped lands on the island, and many others went there as settlers to make their homes, as they supposed, under the protection of their own flag.

No serious question seems to have been raised as to the ownership of the small island until after the Cuban constitutional convention met at Habana in November, 1900. By that time the actions of American settlers and investors had given to the island a value which neither Cubans nor Spaniards had before assigned to it, and some of the Cubans began to protest against being deprived of what they claimed to have been always a part of Cuba, geographically and politically. Geographically