lans; its though condition
was, as hitherto suggested, decidedly unsatisfactory. He began by
insisting upon clearing away all buildings of any kind close to the
fort. This had been ordered nearly a score of years before but had never
been done. The purpose was, of course, to strengthen the fort by leaving
no shelter near its walls which might harbor or facilitate the approach
of a hostile force. Then he insisted upon building an additional story
on La Fuerza. This he declared was necessary, for barracks for the
garrison, and for a storage place for gunpowder, the fort proper being
flooded more than half the time. Doubtless these needs were real, and
Carreno intended to meet them with the new story. Yet it seems also to
have been his plan thus to secure for himself living quarters more
pleasant than the house which had been assigned to him for that purpose.
There was much opposition to his plans for enlarging La Fuerza, but he
persisted in them, and they were nearly completed at the time of his
death.

During the administration of Governor Carreno the question of the
distribution, proprietorship and use of land became of much social and
economic importance in Cuba. The population of the Island was still
small, and yet because of the immense size of the tracts which many
settlers had appropriated for cattle ranges nearly all the accessible
and available area had been taken up. In the eastern part of the Island
there was practically no unclaimed land left excepting that in the
mountains and some almost impenetrable swamps, and already many
controversies and not a few forcible conflicts had arisen over rival
claims. Thus far no private ownership of land was authorized outside of
building sites in the towns and cities. Cattle ranges and farms were
held under indefinite leases from the Crown, subject to forfeit if the
land were permitted to remain unoccupied and unused for the space of
three years. These grants were made by the municipal government in the
name of the Crown. At first the tracts thus taken were of unlimited
extent and indeed their boundaries were defined in only the vaguest
possible manner. The result naturally was that innumerable and
interminable conflicts arose over overlapping claims.

To correct such evils and to provide for a more equitable distribution
of land in future, Alfonso Caceres, who had been sent to investigate the
administration of Governor Menendez, was charged with a complete
revision of th