Not only the commercial prosperity of Cuba, but to a considerable extent that of the southern portion of the United States depends upon the possibility of destroying the foci of yellow fever which exist in the larger cities and towns--especially in Havana and Matanzas--and which have been the cause of the epidemics of this disease which have occurred in the United States during the present century. It is believed that to destroy these germs is possible, and from a mere industrial and commercial point of view it would be a paying investment to spend several millions of dollars, if necessary, to effect it. Until this has been accomplished, and the centres of industrial activity of Cuba made safe for the influx of skilled artisans, whose advent alone will make it possible for Cuba to diversify its industries and elevate the condition of its labour, it will be vain to hope for the establishment of new manufactures. The importance of sanitation is so great and the subject of so much general interest to all those looking towards Cuba with the idea of residence or investment there, that considerable space in this volume will hereafter be devoted to a consideration of the subject. The railway system of Cuba, consisting of seven companies, the aggregate length of whose lines is only 1,467 kilometres, or 917 miles, is entirely inadequate in bringing the extreme ends of the Island together; Santiago and Havana in point of time being as far apart as San Francisco and New York, though only separated by a distance of a few hundred miles. The facts gathered on this subject and the maps presented elsewhere point to the advisability of immediately constructing a trunk railway from end to end of the Island, with branches extending north and south to the important cities and ports. From whatever standpoint it may be viewed, no one enterprise could do so much to improve the situation on the Island. No revolution could have existed in Cuba if such a railroad had been completed by the former Government, and nothing will so rapidly tend to the revival of commercial and general business as the facility for quick passage from one end of the Island to the other, and from the trunk line over branches to the seaboard cities. All political turbulence will be quieted thereby and prevented in the future. The entire country will be open to commerce; lands now of practically no value, and unproductive, will be worked; the seaport towns will become active and commerce between the Island and the United States will soon be restored to the former figures of approximately one hundred millions of dollars per annum. Business enterprise, ever alert to conditions such as herein described, has already surveyed the route, and there are several projects on foot looking toward prompt action in this direction. After a careful study of the situation, it would seem extremely doubtful if such an enterprise could be made a commercial success for many years