Henry M. Flagler, Esquire, WHOSE INDOMITABLE ENERGY AND SPLENDID ENTERPRISE WILL SHORTLY BRING CUBA INTO RAILROAD COMMUNICATION WITH THE UNITED STATES, THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, AS A SLIGHT TOKEN OF THE ADMIRATION OF THE AUTHOR. PREFACE So many volumes have been devoted to accounts of the history and descriptions of the physical features of Cuba, that an adequate excuse could hardly be found for an addition to them. On the other hand, the more important considerations of the Island’s natural resources, industrial development and present condition of its people, have had but scanty attention at the hands of writers. During the past decade there has been a great increase in American emigration to Cuba and in the investment of American money there, with the result that the interest of our people in the country, which was formerly of an abstract character, has become practical and specific. There exists in the United States a wide-spread desire for information regarding the progress, prospects and present-day conditions of Cuba, which it has been my chief design to supply. In the following pages the history and geography of the country have been sketched with special reference to their essential influence upon its development. Aside from this necessary introduction to an understanding of Cuban affairs, I have given my attention mainly to the established and prospective industries of the Island and to the fields offered by them to American capital and American settlers. FORBES LINDSAY. SANTIAGO DE CUBA, _August, 1911_. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE PREFACE vii I. THE ISLAND OF CUBA 1 II. THE HISTORY OF CUBA 22 III. THE HISTORY OF CUBA (_Continued_) 43 IV. CUBA IN TRANSITION 63 V. THE PEOPLE OF THE COUNTRY 83 VI. THE PEOPLE OF THE COUNTRY (_Continued_) 102 VII. THE CONDITION OF CUBA 120 VIII. THE FUTURE OF CUBA 147 IX. CUBA’S SUGAR INDUSTRY 166 X. CUBA’S TOBACCO INDUSTRY 185 XI. CUBA’S MINERAL RESOURCES 200 XII. LATENT AGRICULTURAL WEALTH 216 XIII. FUTURE FARMING IN CUBA 231 XIV. THE CAPITAL OF CUBA 249