One of the oldest public buildings, and the largest used for purposes of Government, known as La Hacienda, is located on the water front between Obrapia Street and the Plaza de Armas. During the many years of Spanish rule, not only the Custom House, but nearly all the more important branches of Government, were located within its walls. With the inauguration of the Republic, the National Treasury was installed in the southwest corner of the building, under the direction of Fernando Figuerdo, who has retained this position of trust during all changes of administration. The remainder of the ground floor is occupied by the National Lottery and offices connected with that Institution, which extend into the entresuelo, or half-story, just above. The second floor is occupied by the Hacienda, or Treasury Department, whose offices surround the central patio on all four sides. The third and fourth floors are devoted to the central offices of the Department of Agriculture, including the headquarters of its Secretary, General Sanchez Agramonte. The upper floor, or azotea, is used by the Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture. The Hacienda is rather an imposing building from the Bay, on which it faces, and plays a very important part in the Government work of the Island. To the outside world the best known building is probably the old Governor-General’s palace, fronting on the Plaza de Armas and occupying the square of ground between Tacon and Mercaderes Streets and between Obispo and O’Reilly Streets. The palace is two stories in height and belongs to what may be termed the modern colonial style of Cuban architecture, with very high ceilings, enormous doors and tall iron-barred windows that descend to the floor. The interior of the Palace is occupied by a very pretty palm court with a statue of Christopher Columbus posing in the center, facing the wide deep entrance that opens from the Plaza. This building was erected in 1834, as a residence and headquarters for the Governors General sent out from Spain, many of whom have occupied the Palace between that date and the year 1899, when the last Governor General took his departure. It was here that General Martinez Campos, in the winter of 1896, penned his cablegram to the Spanish sovereign, stating that Generals Maximo Gomez and Antonio Maceo, with their insurgent forces, had crossed the Trocha into Pinar del Rio, for which reason he tendered his resignation, acknowledging his failure to arrest the tide of Cuba’s War of Independence. Within this same palace General Weyler planned his scheme of reconcentration, or herding of the pacificos, non-combatants, old men, women and children, into barbed wire stockades, where a quarter of a million of them died of exposure, disease and hunger. It is said that when informed of their condition and the fearful death rate, he remarked, “Excellent! Let these renegade mothers die. We will replace