Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 October 1898 — WILL NOT FREE SPAIN. [ARTICLE]

WILL NOT FREE SPAIN.

America Recognizee Only Cuban Municipal Indebtedness. The American peace commissioners have been instructed to recognize and give standing to Cuban municipal indebtedness. This is not an important matter from a financial standpoint, as the amount cannot be large, but it is peculiarly significant in view of the stand taken by the commissipners in regard to the so-called “Cuban debt.” They rejected the Cuban debt proposition-largely on the theory that the money represented by the bonds was not expended for the benefit of the people of the island, and, therefore, should not be a burden on the new Government. Pursuing the same line of argument, it is held that money borrowed by the cities of Cuba was spent locally and directly for the benefit of the communities, and should therefore be continued as a lien upon the property upon which the loans were originally made. The logic which frees the island from obligation in connection with that portion of the Spanish bonded indebtedness labeled the “Cuban debt” clearly establishes the validity of the distinctly municipal debts as a continuing claim. There is no data at hand to show the aggregate amount of the Cuban city indebtedness, but it cannot be monumental, as investors would not make extravagant advances on that sort of security.