During the last thirty years of Spanish sovereignty in Cuba the budget of the island remained almost stationary, at from 26,000,000 to 30,000.000 pesos. Although the entire reve nue was derived from the people of the island, only about 15 per cent. of the expenditures was incurred for local needs, while about 85 per cent. went to defray 'sovereignty expenses,' that is, the expenses Of the general government. The following tables serve to illustrate the budgets under the Spanish and American regimes: The chief sources of revenue under Spanish rule were (1) taxes and excise duties, yielding less than one-fourth of Alm total; (2) import and export ditties. which furnished about 55 per cent. of the entire revenue; (3) stamp taxes, 6 per cent. of the revenue; (4) lotteries, over 7 per cent.; (5) State property—rent and sale of public lands and rent from doeks—produeing about per cent. of the total revenue; (6) miscellaneous, over 5 per cent. Thus the great bulk of taxation fell upon the consumer, while the expenditures took little account of the needs of the people. As the above table shows, the army absorbed almost 30 per cent. of the entire expenditure; nearly 50 per cent, went to pay the debt incurred by the Spanish Government, while only about one-fourth of the total went for civil administration, of which the greater part was absorbed by salaries of Spanish officers.
It will he observed that under the new regime the customs duties furnish over 90 per cent. of the entire revenue of the island. On the other hand, on the side of expenditures a radical change may be noted. The expenses of the mili tary department have come down from nearly cne-half of the total expenditure to less than 10 per cent. The service of the debt naturally disappeared from the budget because it was not the business of the United States to pay the debts incurred by the Spanish Government, and the Cuban Convention, by repudiating that debt, by one stroke of the pen relieved the people of the island of a great burden. A detailed comparison of expenditures under the two regimes is im possible owing to the different method of classi fication: however, a comparison of the four lead ing items common to both budgets shows 'the following changes: The expense for State and Government de creased from '$3,634,439 to $1,756,689.53, or 52
per cent., although the latter sum includes the cost of the census, The expense for justice and instruction, on the other hand, increased from $902,449 to $1,605,488.30, or 78 per cent. The finance department shows also an increased ex penditure of 255 per cent., and that of public works increased from 8880,685 to $1,735.231.38, or 99 per cent. An unusually large item. $8,226, 748, almost one-half of the total budget, is formed by the supplementary grants to munici palities. These subsidies were occasioned by the poverty-stricken condition of the people, who were unable to raise neeessary local revenue, and the money was advanced largely to defray expenditures affecting the most vital interests of the people, such as instruction. sanitation, hos pitals and asylums, public buildings, etc.
As stated, the tariff has not been reduced materially, owing to the impossibility of pro viding other equally productive sources of reve nue. At the same time. some reductions were made, especially in the case of imported food stuffs. agricultural machinery, locomotives and rails, and the duties were made equal for all comitries, the United States not excepted. This change has done away with some of the worst features of Spanish tariff, the chief purpose of which was to stifle Cuban industries and to favor the Spanish producer and merchant at the expense of the Cuban consumer even when the former could not furnish the goods demanded. As an illustration the following may be taken from the official report of the 1-Ton. Robert P. Porter, Special Commissioner for the United States to Cuba and Porto Rico: "The Spanish eNporter was able, by a discriminating duty of more than 100 per cent. against other countries, to import from Alinnesota to Barcelona American flour and reship it to Cuba at a price just below the price of the American article shipped direct to Cuba, upon which a duty nearly three times as great as that exacted from Spain had to be paid.'