"2nd. Seizure of cattle. Cattle, which are the most important factor in agriculture, have been reduced to such small numbers that in some tobacco districts there are absolutely none, and in the few places where there are any left, they are entirely insufficient for the most urgent requirements. Cattle in this Island are of the first necessity. Without exaggerating the expression, oxen constitute the right hand of the farmer during the crop. Their work commences with the plough and continues without rest until the crop is gathered and taken to the seaboard. They cannot be replaced by any other animal, as has been proved by experience; practice having shown that horses and mules are unavailable in this service, in view of the special topography of the Vuelta Abajo district and the climate of the Island of Cuba. One of the chief reasons of this scarcity is the constant seizure of the cattle by the Government troops, carried on unmercifully. It is not necessary to prove that this state of affairs will bring about the complete annihilation of cattle, leaving the poor labourer and the majority of the inhabitants of the Vuelta Abajo in the most precarious circumstances. The consequence of this unjustifiable measure will affect not only those employed in the fields of that province, but also those who depend exclusively on the tobacco industry in the towns and in Havana. Without a crop, without raw material, the factories will have to close their doors, and the misery with all its horrors, brought about by the system of reconcentration, will only be renewed. "3rd. Loss of capital and credit. The disappearance of capital, and the consequent absence of credit, are due essentially to the above mentioned causes. It is unnecessary to prove this statement; it has been the inevitable. These are, I repeat, the principal causes which have brought about the disastrous condition of the tobacco industry. "That the reconstruction be permanent, it is necessary to give ample protection to the farmer, and for this we need: [Illustration: WETTING THE TOBACCO LEAF.] "1st. The promotion of immigration. All obstacles to the return of the white man to his labour in the fields should be removed. As the existing number of white labourers is entirely insufficient for the needs of the cultivation of tobacco, it is necessary to favour as much as possible the immigration of Canary Islanders, who constituted before the war the majority of the tobacco growers. Their knowledge and condition make them suitable for the working of these fields in preference to others.