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THE NEW

COISTITUTIOJAL LAWS

FOR CUBA.

TEXT OF THE RECENT MEASURES FOR THE
SELF-GOVERNMENT OF THE ISLAND,
WITH COMMENTS THEREON.

Also a Brief Review of the Evolution of Spanish Colonization,
and a Statistical Comparison of the Progress
of Cuba Under Spanish Rule with That of
Independent Spanish-American Countries.

NEW YORK :
Published by the Associated Spanish and Cuban Press,
i 1 1
Bowling Green Building, 11 Broadway.
1897.

i.

O. (i '."'"*!

1'!: >'?

TO HIS EXCELLENCY
DON ENRIQUE DUPUY de LOME,
SPANISH MINISTER IN WASHINGTON,
WHQ HAS WITH SUCH DIPLOMATIC SKILL PROMOTED THE FRIENDLY AND HONORABLE RELATIONS BETWEEN
SPAIN AND THE UNITED STATES, WHILE UPHOLDING WITH PATRIOTIC ZEAL
AND EFFICIENCY THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS OF
SPAIN IN AMERICA,
THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.

CONTENTS.

PART FIRST.
Methods of Early Spanish Colonization. — Evolution of the
Modern Colonial Polity of Spain. — The Latest Measure
of Home Rule Granted to Cuba and Porto Rico Compared
with the Political System in Other Foreign Colonies.
By ARTURO CUYAS.

PART SECOND.
Expository Preamble and Royal Decree Sanctioning the Plan
for the Extension' in Scope of the Abarzuza Reform Law
of 1895. - Commentary : Expressions of Opinion by Party
Leaders and the Press. — Text of the Abarzuza Law.
By ANTONIO CUYAS.

PART THIRD.
Political and Social Condition of the Island of Cuba. — Sta
tistics of Its Wealth and Commercial Movement. — Its
Progress Under Spanish Rule Compared with That of
Independent Spanish-American Countries.
By L. V ABAD DE LAS CASAS.

iPart J*irst,

I. 9fiethods of Oarly Spaniah Colonization.
11. Ovolution of the 9fyodern Colonial {Policy
of Spain.
111. (Jhe jCatest ftyeasure of Jtfome {Rule
Sranted to Cuba and {Porto ZPico Com
pared with the {Political System in
Other J'oreiyn Colonies.

fiy Jxrturo Cuyas.

riETHODS OF EARLY SPANISH COLONIZATION.
In the history of nations Spain stands foremost as the Spain i
'iscoverei Colonizer.

discoverer, conquerer and colonizer of new lands. loscoverei and

By the discovery of a new world, and the subjection of
numberless tribes the Crown of Castile found itself
toward the middle of the sixteenth century the undis
puted possessor of such a vast domain as never before nor
since came under the sway of a single nation.
Whatever may be said of the men who, moved princi
pally by the restless spirit of adventure which was the
dominant characteristic of that period, discovered and
conquered the New World, the paternal solicitude and
care of the Crown and its Councilors for the welfare of
the subjugated Indians were made evident by wise laws,
which stand as a monument of early civilization in
America. An eminent Cuban Autonomist, Senor Rafael M. Labra,
for many years a Representative from Cuba in the Spanish
Cortes, in his critical " History of Colonization," to which
I shall have occasion to refer again, frankly admits that
"by framing the famous Laws of the Indies, Spain justly
laid claim to an enduring civilization, and to the fore
most place among the great colonizing nations of modern
times."* English historians have never been willing to give Spain English His-
/. r-r • -i • torians Unjust
the credit due her for her early efforts m spreading to Spain.
Christianity and civilization among the savage tribes of
the New World. On the contrary, race prejudice and the
chagrin caused by Spain's achievements and her aggran-
* Labra, " La Colonizacion en la Historia," Vol. I., p. 47.
—11 —

dizement in that epoch, and possibly also the contrast of
the humane and paternal methods adopted by Spain with
the policy of extermination which characterized the
British treatment of the Indians, have made English
historians virulent and bitter and notoriously unjust in
their criticism of Spanish colonization.
A contributor to the Irish World has justly remarked in
a recent issue of that paper :
Calumnies "John Mitchell has said, in the preface to one of his
Handed Down. historical works, that the greatest conquest England ever
made was to gain the ear of the world. And so true is
this that even we, Irish and Irish- Americans, knowing as
we do her falseness and her craft, accept as gospel truth
the calumnies handed down from one generation to another
of English historians, and repeated by Anglo-American
historians, of England's hereditary enemy — Spain."*
To such calumnies must be ascribed the false views pre
vailing in the United States in regard to Spain, its history,
its laws, its customs and its manners.
The New Fortunately, a dispassionate observer, a scholar and
American His- historian, A. F. Bandelier, a pupil of the great Humboldt,
tory" has founded in this country a new school for the study of
American history and for historical research ; and one of
the results of the well directed labors of that school has
been the publication in Chicago of a most interesting,
fascinating and truthful book by Chas. F. Lummis, en
titled "The Spanish Pioneers."
In the preface of this book the following sentences occur :
" That we have not given justice to the Spanish pioneers
is simply because we have been misled. They made a
record unparalleled; but our text books have not recog
nized that fact, though they no longer dare dispute it.
Now, thanks to the new school of American history, we
are coming to the truth — a truth which every manly
* M. S. in the Irish World, March 13, 1897.
—12 —

American will be glad to know. We love manhood, and Manhood of
a ' the Spanish
the Spanish pioneering of the Americas was the largest Pioneers.
and longest and most marvelous feat of manhood in all
history. It was not possible for a Saxon boy to learn that
truth in my boyhood ; it is enormously difficult, if possible,
now." And so with the record of Spanish colonization and civ
ilization of the New World. To quote again from the
same author :
' ' When you know that the greatest of English text
books has not even the name of the man who first sailed
around the world (a Spaniard), nor of the man who dis
covered Brazil (a Spaniard), nor of him who discovered
California (a Spaniard), nor of those Spaniards who first
found and colonized in what is now the United States, and
that it has a hundred other omissions as glaring and a
hundred histories as untrue as the omissions are inexcus
able, you will understand that it is high time we should do
better justice than did our fathers to a subject which
should be of the first interest to all real Americans.
" The Spanish were not only the first conquerers of the Spaniards the
r ^ -l First Civil=
New World and its first colonizers, but also its first civil- izers.
izers. They built the first cities, opened the first churches,
schools and universities ; brought the first printing presses,
made the first books, wrote the first dictionaries, histories
and geographies, and brought the first missionaries; and
before New England had a real newspaper Mexico had a
seventeenth century attempt at one !
' ' One of the wonderful things about this Spanish pioneer
ing — almost as remarkable as the pioneering itself — was
the humane and progressive spirit which marked it from
first to last. Histories of the sort long Current speak of
that hero nation as cruel to the Indians ; but in truth the
record of Spain in that respect puts us to the blush. The
legislation of Spain in behalf of the Indians everywhere
was incomparably more extensive, more comprehensive,
—13—

Humane and more systematic and more humane than that of Great
Progressive
spirit of Span. Britain, the Colonies and the present United States all
ish Pioneers. , .
combined. Those first teachers gave the Spanish language
and Christian faith to a thousand aborigines where we
gave a new language and religion to one. There have
been Spanish schools for Indians in America since 1524.
By 1575 — nearly a century before there was a printing
press in English America — many books in twelve different
Indian languages had been printed in the City of Mexico,
whereas in our history John Eliot's Indian Bible stands
alone; and three Spanish universities in America were
nearly rounding out their century when Harvard was
founded. A surprisingly large proportion of the pioneers
of America were college men ; and intelligence went hand
in hand with heroism in the early settlement of the New
World."*
Spain Not No attempt shall be made here to excuse, palliate or
for 'Individual condone the heinous deeds of some of the men who first
misdeeds. sgt foQt ^n America. Taken by themselves they should be
strongly condemned ; but such individual misdeeds should
not be imputed to the whole Spanish nation, nor be made
the only salient feature of early Spanish colonization.
It should be remembered that ' ' it was in the very year
of the discovery of America that the Spaniards, in the
conquest of Granada, had finished their eight centuries
of continuous war for wresting their proud country from
the invading Moors. This war had made every Spaniard
a fighter and every infidel an enemy exempted from
all tolerance and mercy." **
As the well equipped historian Prescott says in his
preface to the ' ' History of the Conquest of Mexico " : " The
distance of the present age from the period of the narrative
might be presumed to secure the historian from undue
* " The Spanish Pioneers," p. 23.
** George Edward Ellis in ' ' Narrative and Critical History of
America," Vol. II., p. 301. —14—

prejudice or partiality. Yet, to American and English circumstances
readers, acknowledging so different a moral standard from should Be
that of the sixteenth century, I may possibly be thought Borne in """'•
too indulgent to the errors of the, conquerors. To such I
can only say that while, on the one hand, I have not hesi
tated to expose in their strongest colors the excesses of the
conquerors, on the other, I have given them the benefit of
such mitigating reflections as might be suggested by the
circumstances and the period in which they lived."
We must bear in mind that ' ' what are considered now
as self-evident truths about universal rights were far
enough from being self-evident in the sixteenth century.
On the contrary, they were extremely unfamiliar and ab
struse conceptions, toward which the most enlightened
minds could only grope their way by slow degrees."*
' ' We must take care not to identify too indiscriminately Perpetrators of Horrors
the Spaniards, as such, with the horrors perpetrated in Behaved as
Hispaniola. It was not in the character of Spaniards so a" Spaniards.
much as in the character of ruffians that the perpetrators
behaved, and there have been ruffians enough among
people who speak English."**
"A great deal of sentimental ink has been shed over
the wickedness of the Spaniards in crossing the ocean and
attacking people who had never done them any harm,
overturning and obliterating a ' splendid civilization, ' and
more to the same effect. * * * Yet, if we are to be
guided by strict logic, it would be difficult to condemn the
Spaniards for the mere act of conquering Mexico without
involving in the same condemnation our own forefathers,
who crossed the ocean and overran the territory of the
United States, with small regard for the proprietary rights
of Algonquins or Iroquois, or red men of any sort. Our
forefathers, if called upon to justify themselves, would have
replied that they were founding Christian States and dif-
* John Fiske, "The Discovery of America," Vol. II., p. 456.
**Ibid, Vol. II., p. 443. —15 —

fusing the blessings of a higher civilization. Now, if we
would not lose or distort the historical perspective, we
must bear in mind that the Spanish conquerors would
have returned exactly the same answer."*
Redeeming . It is precisely in ' ' founding Christian states and diffus-
Features of . . .
Spanish mg the blessings of a higher civilization among tne
colonization. Indians that we find the great redeeming features of Span
ish colonization. As Senor Labra points out, " the coloniz
ing efforts of Las Casas in Central America, of Irala in
Paraguay, and of Vasco Nunez in Darien were all inspired
by a profound sympathy for the Indians, by a marked
preference for peaceful means, the success of which was
fully demonstrated, as well as by the purpose of harmoniz
ing the existence of the Spaniards and the aborigines,
causing the latter to enter by degrees into the enjoyment
of the advantages and conveniences of the former."**
Sublime Work The contemplation of the lifelong and sublime work of
of Father , .
Las Casas. Father Las Casas draws from the historian and philosopher,
John Fiske, this glowing tribute: " In contemplating such
a life as that of Las Casas, all words of eulogy seem weak
and frivolous. The historian can only bow in reverent awe
before a figure which is in some respects the most beau
tiful and sublime in the annals of Christianity since the
apostolic age. When now and then, in the course of the
centuries, God's providence brings such a life into this
world, the memory of it must be cherished by mankind as
one of its most precious and sacred possessions. For the
thoughts, the words, the deeds of such a man there is no
death. The sphere of their influence goes on widening
forever. They bud, they blossom, they bear fruit from
age to age."***
Were it my purpose to contrast here the Spanish policy
of early colonization with the methods employed by Por-
* John Fiske, "The Discovery of America," Vol. II., p. 291.
** Labra, " La Colonizacion en la Historia," Vol. II., p. 9S.
*** John Fiske, "The Discovery of America." Vol. II., p. 482.
—16 —

tuguese, Dutch, French and British colonizers, abundant
material could be found in history to prove that ' ' Spain
cannot be denied the foremost place among colonizing na
tions."* While Spain's principal aim was to teach reli
gion and good morals to the subjugated Indians, raising
them to the level of the conquerors, Portugal, Holland
and Great Britain for a long time considered their colonies
only as profitable markets and treated the natives as
slaves. Senor Labra, the Cuban Autonomist, devotes two
entire chapters of the work above cited to a comparison
such as has been indicated, demonstrating with numerous
quotations the wise and humane spirit of the Laws of the
Indies, the compilation of which was begun in 1570 by
Philip II. and concluded in 1660; and this impartial
Cuban, who is an authority on the history and exposition
of law, indignantly refutes the opinions unfavorable to
Spanish colonization advanced by such historians as
Robertson and Roscher.**
Long after Spain, under Charles V., had decreed the
freedom of the Indians and made them subjects of Spain,
with the same rights as the Spanish born, the British in
troduced white slaves into America, who, as "indented"
and "convict" servants, were sold at ^40 or ^50 per
head. The Dutch were the first to introduce the African
slave trade into America (in 1620) — according to Bancroft
— a curse which the British extended later on to the West
Indies. And as for financial oppression, never were the subjects
of Spain in the New World so heavily and so unjustly
taxed as were the British colonists by the Navigation Acts,
the creation of the Oriental Companies, the bill of 1699
against woolens, and other oppressive measures. Nay,
the Declaration of Independence of the thirteen colonies

Contrast with
the Hethods
of Other
Colonizers.

British and
Dutch
Imported
White and
Colored Slaves
into America.

Financial
Oppression of
British
Colonists.

* Labra, " La Colonization en la Historia," Vol. II., p. 84.
**Ibid, Vol. II., Chap. 18, p. 83, and Chap. 14, p. 113.
— 17^

trasted.

of North America, with its list of grievances, stands an
everlasting monument to the grasping, deaf and blind
cupidity of Great Britain.
Moral and As regards progress, there is nothing on this continent
Plat crial
Progress of to show that Great Britain, up to the time of the Ameri-
^"an'ish"1 can Revolution, had done anything to ameliorate the con-
coionists con- dition of the colonists. On the other hand, Mexico and
the other Spanish- American republics can boast of numer
ous public works left by the Spanish; beautiful cities,*
magnificent churches and cathedrals, fine universities,
colleges and hospitals, several mints, various aqueducts
and viaducts, interesting museums, palatial residences,
artistic monuments and innumerable mines, all built and
equipped under Spanish rule centuries before the Ameri
can colonies revolted against the tyranny of the British
Government. While the policy of Great Britain toward the aboriginal
tribes of North America had been one of spoliation and
merciless extermination, the policy of Spain, as is clearly
stated in the ordinance issued by Charles V. in 1526,
consisted in ' ' teaching the Indians good morals, leading
them away from vice and cannibalism, preaching the
Gospel to them and instructing them in the doctrine of
our Catholic faith for the salvation of their souls, and
bringing them under our sovereignty, so that they may
be treated, favored and protected the same as all our other
subjects and vassals."**
Thus, while the aboriginal inhabitants of North America
have well nigh disappeared under the aggressive extension
of Anglo-Saxon occupation, the Indians of Spanish
America, under ' ' the most complete and comprehensive
scheme of Colonial Government which the world has ever
* Baron von Humboldt, speaking of the capital of Mexico, said
it was " the city of palaces, and the handsomest capital in America."
** " Recopilacidn de Indias," Book I., title 1, section 3.
— 18 —

known,"* have subsisted and become civilized: "They rioraiand Material
have been saved and educated to be citizens all, and among Progress of
them important scholars, great engineers and sometime Spanish
presidents of a republic."** colonists con-
r r trasied.
' ' The Spaniard never robbed the brown first Americans
of their homes, nor drove them on and on before him ; on1
the contrary, he protected and secured to them by special
laws the undisturbed possession of their lands for all time.
It is due to the generous and manly laws made by Spain
three hundred years ago, that our most interesting and
advanced Indians, the Pueblos, enjoy to-day full security
in their lands, while nearly all others (who never came
fully under Spanish dominion) have been time after time
ousted from lands our Government had solemnly given to
them."*** ' ' In the United States the aborigines are represented in
a very small measure, and the tribes which have not been
massacred live still in a semi-savage condition on reserva
tions, more or less respected. On the other hand, in
Spanish America the bulk of the population is composed
of Spaniolized Indians, who, while receiving the European
civilization and mixing with the races from the Old World,
are not the less representatives of the original American
race."**** Herein lies the contrast between the two systems of
colonization : while ' ' Neo-Saxons have destroyed or driven
out the native population, Neo-Latins have assimilated
them."***** The work of assimilation, regulated by wise
* S. T. Wallis, "Spain, Her Institutions and Public Men,"
p. 70.
**" The Awakening of a Nation," by Chas. F. Lummis, Har
per's Magazine. March, 1897.
***Chas. F. Lummis, "The Spanish Pioneers," p. 149.
**** Rectus, "Geographic Universelle," Vol. XVII., p. 14.
***** Antony Meray, "Aptitudes of Human Races," Revue Mo-
derne, September, 1857. — IS —

laws, began almost as soon as the rulers of Spain were made
aware of the vast discoveries and conquests in the New
World.
wisdom and ' ' Although no doubt greatly defective in many particu-
Humanity of , .,..,, . , , ,
Spanish Laws lars, and tinctured most prejudicially with the errors m
for the Indians. political economy which were peculiar to the times, the
Recopilacidn de Indias (Laws of the Indies) bears all about
it evidences of the most far-seeing wisdom, the most labo
rious and comprehensive investigation and management of
details, and a spirit of enlightened humanity not easily to
be exceeded." *
I will close these introductory remarks showing the
spirit of Spanish colonization with another quotation from
"The Spanish Pioneers." Speaking of Pizarro, Mr. Lum
mis says : ' ' Indeed, he was carrying out with great suc
cess that general Spanish principle that the chief wealth
of a country is not its gold or its timber or its lands, but
its people. It was everywhere the attempt of the Spanish
pioneers to uplift and Christianize and civilize the savage
inhabitants, so as to make them worthy citizens of the
new nation, instead of wiping them off the face of the
earth to make room for the newcomers, as has been the
general fashion of some European conquests. Now and
then there were mistakes and crimes by individuals ; but
the great principle of wisdom and humanity marks the
whole broad course of Spain — a course which challenges
the admiration of every manly man."**
* S. T. Wallis, " Spain," p. 70.
** Lummis, "The Spanish Pioneers," p. 276.

¦20 —

II.

EVOLUTION OF THE MODERN COLONIAL POLITY
OF SPAIN.
The object of the foregoing brief retrospective view is
to show what has been the traditional policy of Spain
toward her American colonies ever since the discovery of
the New World.
There may have been men — Viceroys and Governors —
who have abused the power given them by Spain to ad
minister her laws in what was called the Indies ; but to the
Spanish Monarchs and the men who ruled the destinies of
Spain the credit is due of having had lofty ideals and of
having been guided by wise counsel in framing the laws
which were to govern their subjects across the seas.
In this respect Cuba and Porto Rico have had little
cause to complain, for the Spanish Government has been
ever mindful of the interests of the two islands, and has
gradually — perhaps slowly at times— but surely, granted
nearly all the liberties, reforms and concessions demanded
by their inhabitants.
There are in all countries refractory people, impatient
grumblers and malcontents, who systematically attack
their own Government for not following the radical policy
which they themselves would dictate.
Of such men as these George Washington has said:
"Against the malignity of the discontented, the turbulent
and vicious, no abilities, no exertions, nor the most un
shaken integrity are a safeguard."
Such has been the case with the Cuban agitators. Had
they devoted their efforts and their energies to obtaining
from the mother country by peaceful and- legal means the
liberties they have sought through revolutionary methods,
— 21 —

Traditional
Policy of Spain
Toward
American Colonies.

SystematicAttacks of
Cuban
rialcontents.

they would not have hindered nor retarded the process of
evolution, nor brought that beautiful and once prosperous
Island to the verge of ruin and desolation.
Political The introduction of liberal reforms in the Spanish West
Cuba'and"1 Indies has not been as rapid as some people with radical
P°k° t p° "a8 v*ews raight wish, but these reforms certainly have kept
with That of pace with the political evolution of Spain.
Spain. The period of peace which has enabled Spain to make
rapid strides on the road of progress and attain a prosper
ity which is hardly known abroad, dates from the middle
of the present century. Until then the spirit of revolt
and brigandage was rampant in the Peninsula, due, in no
small measure, to the guerilla warfare which the people
had to adopt in order to get rid of the French invaders.
The country had hardly regained its independence, at the
beginning of this century, when the adoption of a more
liberal system of government, substituting the representa
tive form for an absolute monarchy, caused great strife
and internecine wars.
During that period of turmoil, when the institutions of
Spain were undergoing such a radical change, its Govern
ment could ill afford to implant in the far-away colonies
any political reforms which had not yet been tried in the
mother country. It was only after peace had been com
pletely restored at home that, one by one, all the political
innovations and democratic institutions of modern times
were gradually adopted in Spain, until it stands to-day,
as has been acknowledged even by such a staunch repub
lican as Seiior Castelar, among the freest nations of the
earth.
First And yet, in the midst of the upheaval which the ancient
Constitutional ,. . , . . .
Privileges political institutions ot bpam were undergoing m the first
Representa. half of tnis century, twice were the newly adopted Consti-
tion in the tutions of Spain and representation in the Spanish Cortes
Cortes
Extended to extended to the colonies; besides which reforms were
the Colonies. ,1,1 1 ...
granted to them that were considered very liberal at that
— 22 —

time, including the creation of Boards of Aldermen and
Provincial Assemblies.
Several liberal measures (such as the abolition of the
Royal monopoly of the manufacture of tobacco in 1817,
and the freedom of commercial intercourse at all ports of
Cuba in 1818) were grantedto the Island at the solicita
tion of the eminent Cuban patriot, Francisco Arango.
From that time on several other laws were passed tending
to improve the condition of the colonies, and owing to
these, to the stream of immigration from Spain, and to the
exemption from military service which permitted the in
habitants of Cuba to devote all their energies to agricul
tural and industrial pursuits, while a detachment of the
Spanish army garrisoned the ports to prevent a repetition
of any attacks from abroad, soon the Island of Cuba began
to develop wondrous wealth.
Two factors contributed principally to the enormous
growth of the production and commerce of the Island : the
slave trade, which had been introduced in Cuba by the
English during their occupation of Havana in 1762-63,
and the influx of Spanish merchants and agriculturists,
who left the Spanish possessions on the continent when
the latter rebelled against Spain and went to settle in
Cuba. To the combined efforts of those two elements,
negro hands in the fields and Spanish capital, brains and
activity, the Island owed its steady development, until its
revenue reached in 1861 a total of $26,423,228 against
$1,500,000 in 1782, and only $824,612 in 1791, after the
second war with England.
A great part of the land of Cuba belonging to the Crown
was parceled out, and free titles given to a number of set
tlers, a gift unparalleled in the history of monarchical coun
tries. From 1811 to 1814, and from 1820 to 1823, were two
periods of constitutional monarchy in Spain, and the pro
visions of both liberal Constitutions were extended to Cuba.
A dispassionate historian, Pezuela, writing on Cuba in
— 23 —

Other Liberal
Measures
Introduced.

Free Titles
to Land
Belonging to
the Crown
Given to
Settlers.

Special System
of Government
Enabled Cuba
to Develop
Resources and
Wealth.

First Steps
Toward
Abolishing Slavery.

1863, says: "In 1836 the Peninsula settled into a con
stitutional form of government, and the reason why its
Constitution was not immediately applied to Cuba is to be
found in the great evils which former experiments brought
to the Island, as is demonstrated and evidenced by many
facts. Since then the Island has been governed by a special
system which, although not devoid of defects, which time
and experience, however, will gradually correct, has
enabled the Island to develop its resources and wealth to
such a degree as to admit of a favorable comparison with
the progress attained in the same period by countries which
claim more liberal forms of government."*
This opinion is confirmed by Senor Labra, when he
says, comparing the methods of colonization of different
European countries in the far East, up to 1868, "The
least violent, the least oppressive, the most imbued with
a progressive spirit, were those pursued by Spain."**
During the war of secession in the United States there
was a period of expectancy, the abolition of slavery being
a problem in the solution of which Cuba was particularly
interested. No sooner had it been settled and peace re
stored in the United States than the Spanish Government
considered the time ripe for introducing some reforms in
Cuba, and with this end in view a consulting committee
composed of many prominent Cubans was called to Madrid
in 1867, to confer with the Government and present the
views of the Cuban people.
Unfortunately, before a plan could be agreed upon and
adopted, Spain was convulsed once more by a democratic
revolution, which drove the Queen from the throne and
brought about a series of radical changes in the institutions
of the country. Almost simultaneously with that revolu
tion, in 1868, the uprising of the secessionist party in

*" Diccionario Geografico, Estadistico, Historico de la Isla de
Cuba," by Jacobo de la Pezuela.
**" La Colonization en la Historia," Vol. II., p. 365.

— 24 —

Cuba took place, adding to Spain's local troubles a rebellion
in her distant colony, which lasted nearly ten years.
It was out of the question to establish political reforms
in Cuba while the insurrection was going on ; but as soon
as the Island was pacified a series of liberal measures were
gradually granted, which more than fulfilled all the con
ditions set forth in the articles of capitulation submitted
by the rebels in arms and accepted by Spain previous to
their surrender in 1878.
Notwithstanding all that has been said as to Spain not
keeping faith with the insurgents, it is a positive fact, well
sustained by undeniable evidence in the shape of laws
which now govern the Island of Cuba, that the Govern
ment of Spain has granted much more than the insur
gents' demanded in their covenant, called the Treaty of
Zanjdn. In the articles of capitulation nothing was said about
representation in the Cortes, nor about the total abolition
of slavery, nor about extending to Cuba the Constitu
tion of Spain; and yet all these concessions have been
granted. According to the articles of capitulation the insurgents
were satisfied to have for Cuba the same politic, organic
and administrative laws then in force in Porto Rico ; and
a comparison of the laws now governing Cuba with those
governing Porto Rico at that time will clearly demonstrate
that the Cubans have received more than the insurgents
asked for.
The articles of capitulation demanded free pardon and
amnesty to all rebels and deserters, and freedom for the
coolies and the slaves who were in the insurgent ranks.
Spain granted amnesty and free pardon to all offenders,
and by a very wise law, framed by Senor Moret, provided
for the total abolition of slavery in a gradual way, so as
not to conflict by a too sudden change with existing condi
tions. Thus slavery has been totally abolished in Cuba
— 25 —

First Insurrec
tion In Cuba
Retarded Lib
eral Progress.

Spain
Conceded to
Rebels More
Than They
Asked by
Treaty of
Zanjon.

without bloodshed and without injury to the interests of
planters or to agriculture.
Several other measures extending to Cubans the same
rights and liberties that Spaniards enjoy in Spain have
been adopted by the Cortes and the Government.
New In 1881 the Liberal Constitution of Spain of 1876 was
""Vpain0"0 proclaimed in Cuba. From that date the inhabitants of
Proclaimed in Cuba have enjoyed all the civil and political rights of
Cuba in 1881. J J r & /
Spanish subjects.
Under the Constitution no inhabitant of Cuba may be
arrested except in the cases and in the manner prescribed
by law. Within twenty-four hours of the arrest the pris
oner must be discharged or surrendered to the judicial
authorities; thereupon a judge having jurisdiction must,
within seventy-two hours, either order the discharge of the
prisoner or order his commitment to jail. Within the
same limit of time the prisoner must be informed of the
decision in his case. (Art. IV of the Constitution.)
No Spaniard, and consequently no Cuban, may be com
mitted except upon the warrant of a judge having juris
diction. Within seventy-two hours of the commitment
the prisoner must be granted a hearing. and the warrant
of commitment either sustained or quashed. (Art. V.)
Any person arrested or committed without the formali
ties required by law, unless his case fall within the excep
tions made by the Constitution and by the laws, shall be
discharged upon his own petition, or upon the petition of
any Spanish subject. (Art. V.)
'No one shall enter the dwelling of a Cuban without his
consent except in the cases and in the manner prescribed
bylaw. (Art. VI.)
His mail while in charge of the Post Office shall neither
be opened nor withheld. (Art. VII.)
He shall not be compelled to change his dwelling or
residence except upon the order of an authority competent
thereto and in the cases provided by law. (Art. IX.)
— 26—

The penalty of confiscation of property shall never be constitutional Rights and
imposed upon him ; nor may he be deprived of his private Guarantees.
property unless by due process of law, and, when the
expropriation be for public use, after a previous just com
pensation. If there be no previous just compensation the
courts shall protect his rights, and in the proper case
restore him to the possession of his property. (Art. X.)
The Roman Catholic and Apostolic religion is the
religion of the State. But no Cuban shall suffer molesta
tion on account of his religious opinions, nor be disturbed
in the practice of his faith, provided he duly respect Chris
tian morals. (Art. XL)
The learned professions are open to all Spanish subjects
and they may obtain their professional instruction in any
manner they deem fit. Any Spanish subject may estab
lish and conduct a school, in accordance with the laws.
(Art. XII.)
Every Cuban, like every Spaniard, has the right:
Freely to express his ideas and opinions, orally or in
writing, using the printing press or any similar device,
without censorship.
Peaceably to assemble.
To form associations.
To petition, by himself or in combination with others,
the King, the Cortes and the authorities.
The right to petition is denied only to armed forces.
(Art. XIII.)
All Cubans are eligible to public office, according to their
merit and capacity. (Art. XV.)
The constitutional rights conceded to Cubans are guaran
teed by the provisions of laws passed to enforce the Con
stitution. These laws provide remedies, civil and criminal,
for the infringement of constitutional rights by judges,
authorities and functionaries of all classes. (Art. XVI.)
All these constitutional rights of the inhabitants of
Cuba, which render their citizenship as valuable a protec-
— 27 —

Representa. t{on as faQ citizenship of any other state, no matter how
tion of Cuba *• J
and Porto Rico democratic, were secured by the organization of munici-
in the Spanish . . .
Cortes. parities and provincial assemblies, and above all by repre
sentation in the Cortes, as provided by the two following'
articles of the Constitution :
Art. 89. The colonial provinces shall be governed by
special laws ; but the Government is authorized to extend to>
these provinces the laws proclaimed or that may be pro
claimed for the Peninsula, with the modifications it may
deem proper, informing the Cortes thereof.
Cuba and Porto Rico shall be represented in the Cortes of
the Kingdom in the manner that shall be prescribed by a
special law, and this law may differ for each of the islands.
Provisional Article. The Government shall determine
when and in what manner the representatives of the Island
of Cuba to the Cortes shall be elected.
Cubans have therefore the following constitutional rights
firmly established by the organic law : Personal security
against arbitrary arrest; inviolability of the domicile;
security of the secrecy of correspondence; security against
confiscation of property; the suffrage; freedom of wor
ship ; freedom of education, and freedom of the study and
practice of professions ; freedom of speech ; freedom of the
press ; right of peaceable assembly ; right to form associa
tions; right to petition; eligibility to all public offices,
and a muncipal and provincial government.
Is it therefore reasonable to speak of the " despotism of
the mother country," or of the " irritating condition of the
Island of Cuba"?*
To the oft-repeated assertion that the Cubans are taxed
without having representation in the Cortes, the only reply
that need be made is that ever since 1878 Cuba has had
representation in the Spanish Cortes; that her representa
tives have a voice, not only as regards the affairs of Cuba,
but also in the shaping of all national affairs, a privilege
never enjoyed by any colonist of Great Britain; that in
1892 a new electoral law was passed extending the right
* " Spanish Rule in Cuba: Laws Governing the Island," p. 20.
— 28 —

•of suffrage to all persons paying taxes to the amovint of $5
or having a professional diploma or academic degree;
that Cuba, with a population of 1,600,000, sends thirteen
Senators and thirty Representatives to the Spanish Cortes,
while the State of New York, with 6,513,000 inhabitants,
sends only two Senators and thirty-four Representatives
to Congress. Thus it will be seen that Cubans are well
represented in the lawmaking bodies of the Spanish
Government. But liberal as were these concessions, the statesmen of New Reforms
Spain were intent upon enlarging their scope by introduc- Maura in 1893
ing new reforms in accordance with the spirit of the x^z^in
times. No later than 1893 Senor Maura, then Minister ,8«>5-
for the Colonies, framed a Reform Law which was much
discussed in the Cortes, and which would have estab
lished in Cuba a new regime little short of autonomy.
A change of ministry prevented that act from being
passed, but subsequently Senor Abarzuza, a Cuban by
birth, being appointed Minister for the Colonies, presented
the same bill with a few slight modifications, and it was
unanimously passed by both branches of the Cortes, the
men of all parties joining in approval of a law which would
have greatly benefited the inhabitants of Cuba.
But the Cuban agitators in the United States prevented Cuban seces=
sionists Revolt
its promulgation in the Island by inducing a few secession- to Prevent
ists there to join them in a revolt, which soon increased in promulgated?
magnitude, owing to the great number of negro laborers
who were idle on account of a monetary crisis due to
the low price of sugar. It has always been the purpose
of Cuban secessionists to prevent any liberal measure
being adopted in Cuba, as removing any just cause of com
plaint on which to base their rebellious attitude.
Though retarded by the insurrection which broke out in
February, 1895, ten days after its passage, said Reform
Law, with additional concessions which will amount prac
tically to home rule, is about to be put in force in Cuba.
— 29 —

Promises
Made by the
Crown and
Government Faithfully
Carried Out.

Liberal
Concessions of
1895
Considerably Broadened by
Senor Canovas
in 1897.

Cuban
Agitators
Responsible
for Calamities.

Thus the promises of autonomic administration solemnly
made by the Queen Regent in her last message to the
Cortes, and subsequently confirmed on July 14 by the Prime
Minister, Senor Canovas, in a memorable speech, when he
declared that "the sincerity both of Her Majesty and the
Government in promising more ample and liberal reforms
for Cuba was unquestionable," will have been faithfully
carried out.
The liberal concessions embodied in the Abarzuza law of
1895 have been considerably broadened and enlarged by
the Royal Decree of February 3, 1897, in the framing of
which Senor Canovas, the leader of the Conservative
party, has shown a progressive spirit that has brought him
unstinted praise, even from the leaders of the opposition.
It is fair to assume that Cuba, having fared so well at the
hands of the Conservative Government, has nothing to fear
from the advent of the Liberals to power.
And we must come to the conclusion that those Cubans
love their country best who, by dint of unceasing, albeit
peaceful, efforts in the political field, of patient though
persevering work in favor of autonomic ideals, have, stone
by stone, paved the way for progressive home rule. To
the blindness and folly of a few who have resorted to revo
lutionary methods and plunged the country into war the
Island owes nothing but ruin, devastation and misery; the
loss of prosperity and credit ; the heavy burden of a war
debt. And yet the Cuban agitators, who are responsible
for all these calamities, and who have done more harm to
Cuba in a few years than all the denounced misrule of
Spain in centuries, accuse the Spanish Government of bur
dening Cuba with a heavy debt. The blame should be
laid where it belongs. Cuba had no debt before the first
rebellion broke out. ' ' Porto Rico has never risen in
revolt. It has no debt."*

*" Spanish Rule in Cuba: Laws Governing the Island," p. 41.
— 30 —

III.
THE LATEST flEASURE OF HOME RULE GRANTED
TO CUBA AND PORTO RICO COflPARED WITH
THE POLITICAL SYSTEtt IN OTHER FOREIGN
COLONIES.

By the new reform measure framed by Senor Canovas,

Unlike British
Colonists,
Cubans and Cuba will enjoy a more liberal and advanced system of
Have a Repre- government than any other colony, except possibly a few
sentative British possessions favored with responsible government ;

Voice in the
Supreme
Government.

yet in the latter natives are debarred from representation
in the home Parliament, and from holding office in the
home Government, while ' ' the natives of Cuba and Porto
Rico have free access to all official careers. They hold
office, on equal terms with the natives of the Peninsula,
in the civil administration, the judiciary, the army, the
navy and the church. They have their share, without
restriction, in the national life in all its aspects. Cubans
and Porto Ricans, as representatives of their provinces in
the Senate and in the Chamber of Deputies, take part in
the legislation for the whole Spanish nation."*
This political privilege Great Britain has invariably de
nied to all her colonies. While the Latin countries, not
ably Spain, France and Portugal, have adopted a policy of
assimilation, forming with their dependencies "a sort of
confederation, whereby the colony has a representative
voice in the supreme government,"** "the inhabitants
of the United Kingdom have always been decidedly hostile
to the admission of colonial representatives into the Houses
of Parliament."*** In this respect "the Isle of Man and
*" Spanish Rule in Cuba: Laws Go verni'ng the Island, " pp. 41, 46.
** Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. XL, p. 20.
*** La Grande Encyclopsedie.

32

the Channel Islands are as completely separated from
England as New Zealand and Canada."*
This is a characteristic trait of polity which must not be Difference in
lost sight of in drawing a comparison between the respect- colonization
ive regimes in British and Spanish possessions. In fact DUcna°a<;^al
no comparison should be drawn without first taking into istics'
consideration the different — nay, opposite — traits of char
acter of the Latin and Anglo-Saxon races, to which must
principally be ascribed the difference in their methods of
colonization. Taking them at their origin we find that the Govern
ment of Spain bore the expense of the discovery and con
quest, sent fleets and men across the seas, directing the
efforts of pioneers, framed laws to regulate trade, adopted
a system of colonization by creating municipalities, estab
lishing parishes, endowing schools and hospitals, and took
a deep interest in the growth and development of her new
colonies, which was closely watched and directed from
home. England, on the other hand, took no particular pains to England Took
No Concern
encourage or uphold the efforts of British discoverers and in the Birth
colonizers. ' ' Englishmen were mustering on the Atlantic "»<-,. colonies!'
coast of North America, organizing natural and simple
Governments, and preparing for their march of 3,000 miles
westward, and yet the Government and people of England
were utterly ignorant that any such process was going on
at all. "** English colonists acted with entire independence
of the mother country, for England, as well as Holland,
simply protected individual enterprises by means of char
ters. Lechevalier, in his monumental work on colonial
affairs, says : ' ' While it is a fact that after the sixteenth
century, and particularly after the end of the last century,
England has seen her domain extend over all parts of the
* Encyclopaedia Britannica.
**Ibid, Vol. XXIII., p. 731. — 33 —

The Spanish
Paternal
nethod in
Colonial
Government.

The American
Revolution
Caused by
Unbearable Burdens.

world, she had not yet a well-defined colonial polity. It
is only the individual initiative of her subjects which
has pushed her toward distant settlements ; the instinct of
her own good fortune has done the rest. The following
line from Ovid can now be applied to her :
" Et quod nunc ratio est, impetus ante fuit."*
Thus in the Spanish paternal method of keeping the
colonies closely bound to the metropolis we find reflected
the racial characteristic of close family ties, whereas the
individual love of independence, which is a salient trait of
Anglo-Saxon peoples, has shaped after a different pattern
the formation, growth and development of English-speak
ing colonies.
It might truly be said that the latter were born free and
independent, as far as the administration of local affairs
was concerned, since the allegiance they owed to England
was spontaneously offered by the patriotic zeal of English
settlers without any effort or diligence on the part of the
home Government. The only care of the metropolis was
to secure, regulate and increase her commerce and trade
with her colonies, and all the bills and acts passed by Par
liament which had any bearing on the colonies had this
sole end in view. As for their interior organization and
administration, the home Government never gave them a
thought. But the burdens imposed upon the colonies by the parent
government became so unbearable that thirteen colonies in
North America revolted and threw off the yoke, and in
others the murmurs were so loud that it became imperative
to apply a remedy.
' ' Complaints of misgovernment were frequent and the
necessity for some reform in colonial administration was
obvious and unquestionable, though the sagacity of British

"Rapport sur les Questions Coloniales," by Jules Lechevalier,

10.

— 34 —

statesmen was severely tried to find an adequate solution
to this perplexing and difficult problem."*
When Canada assumed a threatening attitude, Sir Threatening Attitude of
Robert Peel, in an eloquent speech (January 16, 1838), Canada
said : "It has been alleged that the majority of the people 3 '
of Canada are disaffected to the British Government, and
that, therefore, they ought to be released from their
allegiance. Is this great country prepared to say, on the
first manifestation of any rebellious feeling, ' Separate
from us and establish a government for yourselves,' in
stead of recalling them to their duty? I think not. The
application of this principle is perfectly inadmissible. If
it applies to distant possessions, it applies also to those
which are nearest to this country, and even to integral
parts of the empire."
It was only after the insurrection of 1839 in Canada, introduction of
Responsible
which, by the way, "was put down in a terrible, a most Government in
terrible manner,"** that the British Government, under 1,1*1841!
Lord Melbourne, saw the necessity of modifying its
colonial policy at once, which it did by introducing a form
of responsible government into Canada in 1841 ; but for
several years ' ' the system itself was imperfectly under
stood and mistakes were made on all sides in the applica
tion of this hitherto untried experiment in colonial govern
ment to the practical administration of local affairs."***
After the lapse of seven years, when the new regime
had been thoroughly and successfully tried in Canada, it
was introduced (1848) into the maritime provinces, and
subsequently it was gradually extended, from 1855 to
1890, to the several Australian colonies and the Cape of
Good Hope. The confederation of the Canadian provinces
* "Parliamentary Government in the British Colonies," by Alpheus
Todd, p. 26.
** Labra, "La Colonizacidn en la Historia,'' Vol. II., p. 364.
***Grey, " History of Colonial Policy," Vol. I., p. 205.
— 35 —

was effected by the establishment of a Dominion under
the provisions of the British North America Act of 1867.
The Colonial It is only of late years, therefore, that the colonial policy
Policy of Great . .
Britain of Great Britain has shaped itself into a well-defined system,
Only"? Late an<^ accor(lmg to their government relations with the
Crown the colonies are arranged under three heads :
(1) Crown colonies, in which the Crown has the entire
control of legislation, while the administration is, carried
out by public officers under the control of the home Gov
ernment. (2) Colonies possessing representative institu
tions and irresponsible government, in which the Crown
has only a veto on legislation, but the home Government
retains the control of public officers. (3) Colonies pos
sessing representative institutions and responsible govern
ment, in which the Crown has only a veto on legislation
and the home Government has no control over any officer
except the Governor.
Responsible The form of responsible government has only been in-
introduced traduced into the most important possessions of Great
only where gj-j^in where the Anglo-Saxon population is in the ma-
Anglo-Saxon ' ° L L
Population jority, and it was " avowedly introduced into the colonies
Predominates. for the purpose of reproducing in them a system of local
self-government akin to that which prevails in the mother
country, and to relieve the colonies from imperial inter
ference in their domestic or internal concerns. The advo
cates of colonial reform had long striven to obtain such a
modification in the methods of colonial administration as
would confer upon British subjects in the colonies similar
rights of self-government to those enjoyed by their
fellow-citizens at home. This boon it was the expressed
desire of the Imperial Government to bestow, so far at
least as was compatible with the allegiance due to the
Crown. ' ' The new polity granted to the colonies was not in
tended, however, to effect a fundamental change in the
principles of government, by substituting democratic for
, —36 —

monarchical rule. It was designed to extend to distant
parts of the empire the practical benefits of a parliamentary
system similar to that which exists in the parent state, and
thus to render political institutions in the colonies, as far
as possible, ' the very image and transcript of those of
Great Britain.' "*
With the exception of the Dominion of Canada, ' ' the Right to inter=
fere Retained
mother country, however, still retains the right to inter- by England.
fere — either by advice, remonstrance, or, if need be, by
active measures of control — whenever the powers of self-
government are attempted to be exercised by any colony
in an unlawful, unconstitutional or oppressive man
ner." **
' ' The whole question of the relations of the imperial
authority to the representative colonies is one of great
difficulty and delicacy. It requires consummate prudence
and statesmanship to reconcile the metropolitan supremacy
with the worthy spirit of colonial independence. As a
matter of abstract right the mother country has never
parted with the claim of ultimate, supreme authority for
the imperial legislature. If it did so, it would dissolve
the imperial tie and convert the colonies into foreign and
independent states."***
In the Dominion of Canada the Governor General, ap- Provincial
. ., Legislation in
pointed by and representing the Crown, is vested with British
absolute responsibility as to the power of interfering with 'j^t'to Crown'
provincial legislation ; but, nevertheless, ' ' the acts of sub- control.
ordinate legislatures throughout the empire must be liable
to the constitutional supervision and control of the Crown
in the last resort. This is necessary, not only for the pur
pose of maintaining the ultimate authority of the supreme
* Alpheus Todd, " Parliamentary Government in the British Colo
nies," p. 625. .,
**Ibid, p. 29.
*** " Historicus " (Sir W. Vernon Harcourt), London Times,
June 1, 1879. — 37 —

power, but likewise for the purpose of insuring that no
colonial or provincial legislation shall be exercised
unlawfully, or to the prejudice of other parts of the
empire."*
Responsible It is a noticeable fact, and one that especially invites
Government a
Failure in attention in connection with the introduction of a new
British West , . .„, ,„ ^. , , . .
indies. regime m Cuba and Porto Rico, that the form of ' respon
sible government ' has not worked equally well in differ
ent colonies of Great Britain. In the British West Indies,
which have many geographical, topographical, climatic and
ethnographic points of similarity with the Spanish West
Indies, ' ' the attempt to establish local self-government
has proved to be a failure. After a fruitless endeavor to
work the system successfully it was abandoned, and a
simpler and more effective method of administration
resorted to. This was notably the case in regard to
Jamaica, which for nearly two centuries had possessed a
representative Constitution, and had been latterly intrusted
with a responsible government. In 1866 the local Legisla
ture, at the instance of Governor Eyre, unanimously agreed
to abrogate all the existing machinery of legislation and to
accept in lieu thereof any form of government that might
be approved by the Crown. Accordingly, by an Imperial
Act passed in the same year, a new Constitution was con
ferred upon the island, and subsequently declared, by
order in Council of May 19, 1884, to consist of a legislative
council composed of four ex-officio members, five members
appointed by the Crown and nine elective members.
Besides this chamber there is a privy council of eight
members appointed by the Crown, together with the
Colonial Secretary and the Attorney General."**
The example of Jamaica was afterward followed by
other colonies in the West Indies. British Honduras also
*Alpheus Todd, "Parliamentary Government in the British
Colonies," p. 30.
** " Colonial Year Book," 1891, p. 351.
— 38 —

in 1869 surrendered its representative government and
became a Crown colony.
The mference to be drawn from these events is that it Progressive
Measures for
is unwise to introduce a system of absolute self-govern- Political
ment into those colonies which are not entirely prepared should Pre-
to exercise it judiciously. It is incumbent upon trained ^tf-aovern!8
statesmen to bring about a modification of existing con- ment-
ditions in a gradual and cautious way, by means of pro
gressive measures, which may guide a people, step by
step, into new and untrodden avenues of political advance
ment. This Spanish statesmen have endeavored to do as re
gards Cuba and Porto Rico, where ' ' slavery has been
abolished almost as early as it was in this country, this
great revolution being accomplished after no terrible shed
ding of human blood, after no long and bitter warfare, but
peacefully, quietly, effectively,"* by means of a wise
law ; and in the same progressive spirit ' ' Cubans have
been granted the same rights as other Spaniards; they
are represented in the Spanish Cortes ; their provincial and
municipal administration is surrounded by guarantees ; the
civil and criminal laws of Spain, administered by tribunals
similar to those of the Peninsula, have been established in
Cuba ; public instruction has been organized upon the same
basis as in Spain ; the economic legislation for Cuba has
been regulated to facilitate the prosperity and wealth of
that magnificent portion of America;"** in a word, to
quote a phrase before cited, the institutions in Cuba have
been rendered, as far • as possible, ' ' the very image and
transcript" of those of Spain.
This has been frankly acknowledged by the Autonomist Acknowiedg.
^. .r , „ . ment of Cuban
party m Cuba m their manifesto, and one of the eminent Autonomists
leaders of that party, Senor Rafael Montoro, in an inter- En^oyment of
 ¦  Social and
* United States Financial and Mercantile Examiner, February Political
6, 1897. Rights-
** " Spanish Rule in Cuba: Laws Governing the Island," p. 10.
— 39 -

New Reforms
Will Establish
An Advanced
System of
Political
Autonomy.

The Colonial
System of
Holland.

view with an American journalist in 1895, declared that
" to-day all classes in Cuba enjoy the fullest measure of
social and political rights."
And yet this sweeping statement was made long before
Spain's Prime Minister, Senor Canovas, had drafted the
bases of a much more liberal regime for Cuba.
By the new reforms Spain will establish in her West
Indian possessions a political autonomy adapted to the
existing conditions in those islands, which will be greatly
in advance of the various systems adopted by other
European nations for the government of their respective
colonies. In none of the possessions of France, Portugal
or Holland is there any form of local administration that
can compare with the autonomic measure which the
Government of Spain has devised for Cuba and Porto
Rico. In his review of Dutch colonization, the Cuban his
torian, Senor Labra remarks that Holland until very re
cently has regarded her colonies as large farms and
plantations, establishing in them a system of oppressive
exploitation which included the bondage of the Indians,
the prohibition from holding lands, military dictatorship,
native despotism, the division of race and caste, and mer
cantile intolerance.* Her colonial system, even in the
nineteenth century, has been tyrannical, and tending
chiefly to make profit out of the cultivation of lands in
Java by means of obligatory cultivation, a system in
vented by General Van den Bosch with the aid of a trad
ing company. It was only in 1890 that lands, labor and
commerce became free to all. Before that time the
natives frequently committed suicide or emigrated to
escape the horrors of Dutch oppression. " Holland looks
upon her colonists as subjects who cannot enjoy the same
rights as the mother country, much less govern them-
*R. M. Labra, "La Colonization en la Historia," Vol. II.,
p. 366.

¦40-

selves. Following this doctrine her colonies are placed
beyond the Constitution of the Realm, they are not repre
sented in Parliament, and they are controlled by the
supreme authority of the home Government."*
Portugal, like Spain and France, has adopted the policy The colonial
of assimilation, giving to her colonial subjects representa- ^V
tion in the Parliament at Lisbon and the same civil and
political rights as are enjoyed by the Portuguese in the
mother country. But Portugal has not given to her col
onies any measure of local self-government. Their admin
istration is under direct control of the Parliament at Lisbon,
where all the laws for the colonies are framed, notably
those referring to civil, political and military organizations,
custom houses, banking, coining, &c. The direction of
colonial affairs is intrusted to the Minister of Marine, who
is also Minister for the Colonies. As an advisory board
there is also a Council for the Colonies.
France, whose colonial domain had acquired such vast The Colonial
proportions under the shrewd policy of Richelieu and Col
bert, only to be wasted away as a result of maladministra
tion and the Napoleonic wars, has of late extended her
ultramarine possessions, which are now scattered through
out the world, and can be classified under two heads:
Colonies, over which France exerts absolute sovereignty
and which she directly controls, and Protectorates, over
which France has only a suzerain right, exercising simply
a surveillance of their native administration.
French colonies admit of three divisions : (1) Algeria,
which rather than a colony is considered as an integral
part or prolongation of the territory of France, and is
therefore governed as one of the departments; (2) colonies
which are represented in Parliament and are assimilated
to the mother country, though not in the same degree as
Algeria, and (3) colonies in which the administration is in
* La Grande Encyclopaedic, Vol. XL, p. 1096.
— 41 —

System of
France.

a very crude and rudimentary state. Among the lat
ter are a number of colonies which have the character
of military posts and others which are simply penal
colonies.
How Guade- In the second group are included Guadeloupe and Mar-
Martinfq"^ tinique, which enjoy the highest degree of assimilation, and
Are Governed. whichj being iocated, like Cuba and Porto Rico, in the
archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, merit our special atten
tion as subjects for comparison.
Guadeloupe and the adjoining islands constitute a de
partment represented by thirty-six Councilors General.
The Council General elects from among its members a
Colonial Committee, composed of not less than four and
not more than seven members, and said committee dis
cusses the affairs of the Department with the Governor
appointed by the French Government, who is also advised
by a Privy Council. The Municipal Councils of the several
communes are constituted in the same manner as the Com
munal Councils in France. The island sends one Senator
and two Deputies to Parliament. *
The administration of Martinique is very similar to that
of Guadeloupe. The island is represented in Parliament
by one Senator and two Deputies, and in the Council Gen
eral of the island by thirty-six Councilors elected by a
very small number of voters, these very rarely taking any
interest in the elections. **
' ' The French Chambers, in accordance with parlia
mentary usage, are invested with a very extensive right of
control over the administration of the colonies, the more
so since all the important colonies are therein represented.
But Parliament has little occasion to intervene, as the
Government, by virtue of a prerogative which has, how-
* Reclus, "Geographie Universelle," Vol. XVIL, p. 874.
** Ibid. — 42 —

¦ever, been contested, frames all colonial legislation by
means of decrees."*
Neither in the Dutch, Portuguese or French colonies,
therefore, is there to be found a measure of local self
administration as broad as the one about to be applied to
Cuba and Porto Rico.
The most advanced and liberal system of home rule yet The British
devised for the government of a colony has been implanted Act of 1867.
in Canada by Great Britain under the provisions of the
British North America Act of 1867. But, as has already
been stated, this autonomic measure retains for the Crown
indirect, if not direct, control over general and provincial
legislation in the Dominion, not only by virtue of the veto,
but also through the complexion and composition of the
legislative power, one chamber being in a measure repre
sentative af the Crown.
According to the provisions of said act the Queen
-appoints the Governor General (Sec. 10), who in turn
appoints the Lieutenant Governors of the Provinces.
(Sec. 58. ) To aid and advise the Governor General there
is a privy council, the members of which are chosen,
summoned and removed by the Governor General.
(Sec. 11.)
The Parliament of the Dominion consists of the Queen,
an upper house styled the Senate, and the House of Com
mons. (Sec. 17.) The Senate consists of seventy-two
members, who are appointed for life by the Governor
General (Sees. 21, 24, 29), who also appoints and removes
the Speaker of the Senate. (Sec. 34.) The House of
¦Commons is summoned from time to time by the Governor
-General, and can also be dissolved by his authority.
(Sees. 38, 50.)
All bills passed by both houses are subject to Royal crown Control
Over General
•assent. (Sec. 55.) Bills assented to by the Governor Gen- Legislation.
* La Grande Encyclopsedie, Vol. XL, p. 1109.
— 43 —

eral may, within two years, be disallowed by the Queen
and consequently annulled . (Sec. 56.)
Provincial Quebec is the only province that has two houses in its
"au'o 'con- legislature ; they are styled the Legislative Council and the
''"crown the Legislative Assembly (Sec. 71). The legislature of Quebec
is a transcript of the Parliament of the Dominion. Coun
cilors are appointed by the Lieutenant Governor for life
(Sec. 72) ; the Speaker of the Council is appointed and may
be removed by the same authority (Sec. 77) ; the Assembly
is summoned from time to time, and may also be dissolved
by the Lieutenant Governor (Sees. 82, 85), and he assents
to or withholds assent from bills passed by the legislature,
in Her Majesty's name.*
As regards the Judicature, the Governor General ap
points the judges of the Superior, District and County
Courts in each province. (Sec. 96.)
It is evident, therefore, that, while allowing full play to
home legislation in the Dominion, the Crown still retains
supervision and supreme control over provincial legisla
tion, not only by the appointment of the executive officers
and, through them, of Privy Councilors, Senators and
Legislative Councilors, but also through the assent to or
dissent from all bills by executive officers, and lastly
through the Crown prerogative of disallowing bills as
sented to.
Provincial and Provincial and municipal legislation in Cuba and Porto
Asse^nm'ies in Rico> under the new reforms, will be decidedly more
Cuba and autonomic in character than that of the Dominion of
Porto Rico
nore Autono- Canada. Both provincial and municipal asse.mblies shall
mic Than in
Canada. be elective, by popular vote, and ' ' shall have full freedom
of action as regards the selection of their presiding officers,
as well as in all matters not contrary to law or to the re
spect due to the rights of private individuals." (Basis I.)
Inasmuch as Cuba is represented by Senators and Dep-
* A. Todd, " Parliamentary Government in the British Colonies,"
p. 440. — 44 —

uties in the Spanish Cortes, wherein general legislation is
made for the whole nation, no parliament need be estab
lished in the islands; but for matters pertaining to home
legislation a Council of Administration is created, composed Composition of
' ^ the Council of
of thirty-five members, of whom twenty-one shall be Administra=
elected by popular vote among the different provinces,
the others being designated in the Decree from among
men who are representative by virtue of their office, posi
tion or standing. Such are the Rector of the University
of Havana, the Presidents of the Chamber of Commerce,
the Economic Society of Friends of the Country, the
Sugar Planters' Association and the Tobacco Manufactur
ers' Union, who shall be Councilors ex-officio ; also the
five ex-Senators or ex-Deputies that have been elected to
the Cortes the greatest number of times. Finally, the
Chapters of the Cathedrals of Havana and Santiago de
Cuba shall elect one of the Councilors, the trades or
guilds of Havana another, and two more Councilors shall
be elected by and from among the two hundred largest
taxpayers in the Province of Havana.
The composition of such a Council, to which all matters
relating to taxation, budget of expenses, tariff, banking
and education are intrusted, will insure a better and fuller
representation of all the various interests in the Island
than would be the case if the Governor General were to
appoint the Councilors, as in Canada, or if the election of
the whole Council were left to the influences and intrigues
of electoral wire-pulling.
The policy of assimilation to the mother country, as Advantages of
New Regime
developed by Spain, France and Portugal, would seem to for the
be best adapted to the government of colonies of the Latin pa1^nes. '
race ; yet, in the new regime soon to be implanted in the
Spanish West Indies, while their representation and par
ticipation in the National Government is maintained, a
system of complete self-government is introduced into
local affairs by means of the Council of Administration,
— 45 —

More Liberal
and Progress
sive Reforms
to Be
Expected.

and the Provincial and Municipal Assemblies, such as will
gradually pave the way to a broader form of responsible
government. As Seiior Canovas points out in the pre
amble to his Decree, the Reform Law framed by Senor
Abarzuza, which the Cortes passed in 1895, "was never to
be considered a finality in an evolution initiated by the
metropolis with so much forethought and good faith."
Neither should the broader reforms now planned by
Seiior Canovas be considered a "finality"; for in the
ebb and flow of the political tide in Spain the Liberal
party is sure to succeed the Conservative government of
Canovas in due course of time, and then the regime now
adopted for Cuba and Porto Rico, which will amply
satisfy the present needs of the inhabitants of those
islands, will make way for reforms still more liberal and
progressive, until a complete system of autonomy is ob
tained. In implanting the new rule Spain may well say to the
Cubans, as Lord Carnarvon said to the Canadians in
1883: "In legislation, in self-government, you are free,
and may you ever remain so ; but in loyalty to the Crown,
in love to the mother country, may you ever be bound
in chains of adamant."

46 —

!Part Second,
Expository {Preamble and ffloyal decree
Sanctioniny the {Plan for the Oxtension in
Scope of the Jtbarzuza ZPeform <£aw of
1895.  Commentary : Expressions of
Opinion by {Party jCeadero and the {Press.
 TJext of the Jxbarzuza jCaiv.
{%y Jxntonio Cut/ as.

EXPOSITORY PREAnBLE.

^Sui

OUR MAJESTY: Ever since Your Majesty's con-
|g) fidence was reposed in the present Ministry the
war in Cuba has been the object of its constant anxiety,
which was later heightened by the rebellion in the Philip
pine Archipelago. To-day the end of the latter seems to
be near; and although no precise date can be predeter
mined for the ending of the Cuban insurrection, its
evident abatement suffices to warrant certain measures in
anticipation of and adequate to the probable course of
events. It is important, Your Majesty, that the facts anteceding
these events be borne in mind. It is daily becoming more
evident that the protracted conspiracy which preceded the
war was not entered into with the end in view of obtaining
any concessions compatible with Spanish sovereignty, as conspirators.
there exists ample documentary evidence to prove that the
promoters of said conspiracy never contemplated anything
but the independence of the Island. So manifestly was this
their aim that, as is well known, the Reform Law of March
15, 1895, which was supported in the Cortes with such
good faith by all political parties, Peninsular and Cuban, far
from restraining the revolutionary movement, hastened its
outbreak, it being the purpose of the conspirators to prevent
the beneficial effects of said law from exerting any direct
or indirect influence toward the maintenance of peace.
Thus, forcibly, the Spanish nation, which had long before
granted to its Antilles all the political rights unanimously

accepted by modern civilization, and which, at the very
time when its sovereignty began to be combatted, was
endeavoring to establish certain reform measures, indis
putably liberal and in the direction of self-government,
was obliged to take up arms in defence of the integrity of
its territory. Some persons were led by their generous
spirit to believe at first that by merely putting the reforms
into practical operation the plans of the conspirators
would be baffled; but the majority of Spaniards soon
became convinced that we had to deal with another
separatist war, the inefficiency of which would have to be
demonstrated before the concessions contained in the
Reform Law could give any useful results. To this con
viction and to the manifest impossibility — soon afterward
created by the war — of introducing a new regime in
Cuba, when the established one could barely be enforced,
Reasons for was due tne postponement in putting the reforms into
Postponement egeCf- . a postponement which was not voluntary, there
fore, but unavoidable. And since the settlement of the
matter was intrusted to the force of arms, not through
choice of the mother country, but much against her
wishes, it has been necessary for us to wait until arms
should determine the precise moment in which to employ
other means dictated by reason and justice.
Of course the Reform Law, which had been approved by
the Cortes (Congress), was never to be considered a finality
in an evolution initiated by the metropolis with so much
forethought and such sincerity. The doubt might have
been entertained at one time whether it would have been
advantageous even to the residents of the Antilles for
them to enter suddenly on an autonomic form of govern
ment, in view of the ill effects of precipitate action in such
matters.
Hasty'lction Without going further than Cuba, we see that such
in the natter ji[ effects had already been experienced in the matter
of Reforms. J r
of the sudden and unlimited freedom of the press, which
—50—

was so largely instrumental in bringing about the insur
rection. All this notwithstanding, what Spanish or foreign
statesman could suppose that where such liberal political
rights existed, the mother country would be niggardly in
granting administrative reforms to work in harmony with
the political laws ? No, it could not in good faith be
assumed that the Reform Law of March 15, 1895, was a The Reform
finality. It is evident, on the contrary, that the only Not a Finality.
limit not to be exceeded in the granting of concessions
could and should be no other than that pointed out to Your
Majesty's Government by the inexorable duty of pre
serving the nation's heritage.
But, as has been seen, to destroy the latter without any
regard whatsoever to Spain's historical rights in the prem
ises has been the chief intent of the rebels. They pur
posely ignored all peaceful means whereby they could,
while in the free exercise of political rights, establish
an administrative autonomy on solid bases. Instead of
that they pandered to the impatient longings of the youth
of the land; they excited the most anarchical passions;
they denied all value to the advantages already acquired;
they fostered the most unconquerable pessimism on the
one hand, while on the other they aroused the most chi
merical hopes. By such means they succeeded in having
the above-mentioned law, which had been so enthusiasti
cally passed by the Cortes, received both in Cuba and
Porto Rico with indifference, if not with disdain, and in
spreading the insurrectionary conflagration.
Some time has elapsed since those events. The war, Lessons of the
War.
with its manifold disasters, has been fruitful in severe les
sons to all the well-disposed inhabitants of the Island of
Cuba. Nor is it impossible that there should be a
reawakening of the fraternal feeling so long dormant, but
which among people of the same race can never be
entirely extinguished ; and certainly the persuasion that,
—51—

after all, a peaceful and steady progress, though not sat
isfying every aspiration, is preferable to the triumphs of
violence, no matter by whom obtained, is daily gaining
ground.
nistaken Coincident with this there is evidently vanishing the
Opinion as to
Spain's mistaken opinion that Spain would be unable to carry on
another war like the former one, an opinion held by
those who, basing their judgment on insufficient data,
attributed our magnanimity in Morocco to impotency, and
who therefore thought that the struggle with the metrop
olis would be easy and of brief duration. The documents
taken on various occasions from the insurgents provse con
clusively that at one time even they were led into the
same error, they who are our own brothers, and who
therefore should never for a moment have doubted the
firmness and virility of those of their race in the mother
country. In the meantime it is well known that, although Spain
has been compelled, on account of the circumstances
above recited, to postpone, and may be still obliged to
defer, the carrying into effect of the liberal administrative
regime that is essential to Cuba's future prosperity, she
has never given up the intention of applying in due time
the reforms approved by the Cortes, nor has she failed
to appreciate the necessity of broadening their scope in
such a manner as to satisfy both the Peninsulars and the
Cubans who are shedding their blood on our side in the
present struggle, as well as all the inabitants of the Island
of Cuba who have the common welfare at heart. And the
sincerity with which the new regime will be carried out
intentions of ^y t^le nome Government cannot, reasonably, even be
Applying the questioned. To be convinced of this, we have but to
Reforms. remember the speech pronounced by Your Majesty on
the occasion of the opening session of the present Cortes;
for no one will doubt the loyalty of Your Majesty's
Councilors, whosoever they may be, and, being loyal, it
—52—

would be folly to assume that, whatever their differences
of opinion on other matters, they would not all agree in
upholding every Royal promise. No ; such promises can
not ever be allowed to remain meaningless phrases, nor
therefore shall those most solemn ones remain such,
whereby Your Majesty offered to confer upon both the
Antilles, as soon as the state of war would warrant it,
' ' an administrative and economic personality of a purely
local character, but which would assure the unimpeded
intervention of all the people of the respective islands in
their own affairs, while leaving the rights of sovereignty
intact, and unimpaired the conditions necessary for their
maintenance." From that moment it was not to be questioned that any
Spanish Government would shape its course to that end.
In regard to the Ministry which is to-day favored with
Your Majesty's confidence, it may be said that not only
did its several members individually co-operate as effi
ciently as anyone else toward the approval of the afore
mentioned Reform Laws, but during the debate on the
answer to the last speech from the Crown the present
Cabinet, through its President (the Prime Minister), made
certain statements which met with the approval of the
most liberal of its political opponents, and which the
Ministry could not, without jeopardy to its honor, fail to
uphold. One of the statements, Your Majesty, was to the effect
that the Government would not wait until the last insur
gent had disappeared from Cuba, but that it would deem
the moment when the final victory should be assured and
the national honor satisfied as the proper time to meet the
real necessity felt in Cuba of testing what the English
term " self-government," i. e., a liberal decentralization of
such a nature as to allow the people of the Island to man
age their own interests, and to assume, at the same time,
the responsibility of their own acts, relieving the metrop-
—53—

Spain's
Pledges to Be
Fulfilled.

Any Spanish
Government Would Act
Loyally.

The Proper
noment in
Which to
Establish the
Reforms.

olis therefrom. Another of the statements made by the
Prime Minister on the same occasion was that, aside from
the serious motives hereinbefore mentioned, he was actu
ated to move, as he proposed moving, in regard to the
policy for the West Indies, by a due consideration for the
erroneous opinion prevailing in America and in Europe
to the effect that we, the Peninsulars, obstinately denied
to our brothers in Cuba and Porto Rico that which other
nations granted their trans-oceanic provinces, an opinion
which entailed upon us considerable injury. Such a notion
was and is really most unjust, as is made evident by
our colonial traditions and by our own conduct for
many years past with regard to the political govern
ment of the West Indies. Notwithstanding this, it was
not fitting that the Government should scorn this
a Due Regard erroneous opinion, but, on the contrary, it deemed it a
for Public r ' ' - '
Opinion. duty to dispel the causes thereof by practical measures. It
never has, in truth, been advantageous for any one coun
try to deviate in its political methods from the general
trend of those of other nations, and the history of Spain
amply bears out this assertion ; and much less can it be
advantageous at the present day, when the solidarity of
all civilized peoples is such that a mere variance from the
forms peculiar to the general system carried out by the
predominant nations is usually fruitful of trouble. It
is manifest that national dignity will always and in all
countries spurn any measure that is not the expression of
its own inmost conscience, spontaneously conceived, and
much more will it spurn foreign imposition of any sort.
But this does not imply that any power should systematic-.
ally disregard public opinion, which, when legitimately
expressed and generally held, is entitled to the same re
spect from the great human associations as from the
individuals constituting them. In a word, Your Majesty,
everything urges your Government to the fulfillment of
the promises made by Your Majesty before the Cortes,
—54—

and which by the Royal sanction, and with the consent
of his colleagues, were repeated and extended in scope,
also before the Cortes, by the Minister who has now the
honor of addressing Your Majesty.
There is nothing, either, in what he submits for the Sr- canovas
del Castillo's
Royal approval that is not in accord with his own politi- Record as a
cal record. Before anyone else he devoted himself with Reformer.
energy and efficiency to the work of suppressing the slave
trade ; over thirty years ago he convened an important and
illustrious assembly of delegates from the West Indies,
intrusted with the task of thoroughly reforming in their
respective provinces the then existing regime with r-egard
to the administration of local affairs and to the labor ques
tion. After the capitulation of Zanjdn he extended to
Cuba, with such slight modifications as were at the begin
ning necessary, the exercise of the same political rights as
were enjoyed in the Peninsula ; and, lastly, as before men
tioned, he contributed, together with all his political fol
lowers, without exception, toward the approval by the
Cortes of the Reform Law of March, 1895. Such is the
record to which the undersigned ventures to call the gra
cious attention of Your Majesty, not assuredly in a boastful
spirit, but in order to strengthen the certitude which the
natives of the West Indies should be possessed of that
whatever Spain offers she stands ready to fulfill with
inviolable good faith. For, if the present Prime Minister
speaks now, more particularly in his own name, he hastens
to acknowledge and proclaim that all other Councilors in
vested with Your Majesty's confidence will in the future
act in like manner, because Spanish statesmen can differ
in regard to this question only in their ability or in the
degree of success they may attain, but never in their
good faith or in their loyalty in redeeming the pledges
made in Your Majesty's name and on behalf of the nation.
With the issuance of this Decree Spain will have com
pleted all that it is incumbent upon her to do in order to
—55—

hasten the end of Cuba's misfortunes. The rest of the
task, i. e., the material and practical application of the
Spain win reforms, will not depend for its performance exclusively
Have Done Her Up0n the mother country in the future. It will also be
necessary that the insurgents, convinced as they must be
of the futility of their struggle, and moved to compassion
by the desolation and ruin of their native land, lay down
their arms soon and allow free play to the inexhaustible
generosity of the mother country, ever ready to take them
back into her fold. Although such hopes may be cherished
as to many of them, perhaps it would be presumptuous to
entertain them as to all. For reasons already set forth
by Your Majesty's Government, it may be deemed prob
able that there will not be wanting men who, blind to
their own as well as to their country's best interests, will
endeavor to prolong, for however brief a period, the de
plorable evils which now afflict the Island, imagining, per
chance, that Spain will tire of her sacrifices and raise the
flag of peace upon any terms, leaving that beautiful land,
together with the lives and property of its loyal inhabitants
enlisted in our cause, at the mercy of the irreconcilable
¦ wii advocates of separation from the mother country. As to
Never Aban- the present Government, it may here be said that no one
will ever obtain its co-operation in such a course.
But it is time, Your Majesty, to acknowledge that meas
ures of such scope as those herein proposed are not of the
kind that in free countries usually come within the
attributes of the Executive. Only the manifestly extraor
dinary nature of the present circumstances could have
persuaded Your Majesty's Government to adopt them in
the form of a Decree, upon which the Council of State is
to be heard, and which is to be duly laid before the
Cortes, in order that it may receive from them the utmost
legality that it may require. For less obvious reasons
other goveraments have considered themselves compelled
to act in like manner, asking afterward for what, bor-

donthe Island.

rowing the term from the English, is now called in Spain
a " Bill of Indemnity." To have made such a matter the
subject of a prolonged and critical discussion while the
war is waging would have invited troubles so self-evident
that it is needless to particularize them here. Our Con- why the
stitution itself recognizes in the Crown the right, in the ^con^ned
event of a foreign war, both of declaring it and of making t0 Pass Upon
" 6 the Reform
and ratifying peace, submitting afterward to the Cortes neasures.
a documentary report thereon. And although the insur
rection in Cuba is not in truth a foreign war, it may well
be compared with those of that nature that we have
sustained in the past, on account of the vast sacrifices in
men and money that it entails upon the nation. There
are not lacking, therefore, plausible reasons for proceed
ing in the same manner that the Constitution provides in
the case of a war with an independent state. But the
Government is not seeking at all to shirk its responsibility
in endeavoring by means of this Decree to facilitate the
ultimate accomplishment of peace. As the Cabinet is
ready to face its responsibility before the Cortes, the
respect in which the latter are held by the former simply
induces it to present here excuses the validity of which
it is incumbent exclusively on them to decide. In the
meantime, as the thirteenth paragraph, Section 45, of the
organic law of the Council of State requires that this
body be consulted in regard to "any innovation in the
laws, ordinances, rules and regulations applicable to our
trans-oceanic provinces," the present Ministry shall not
fail to meet this essential requirement in a matter of such
moment as the one under consideration, even if it be only
in order to strengthen its own judgment with that of the
supreme consultative body of the Realm.
Not all the problems involved in the government of the
West Indies will be solved, however, by means of the
Decree herewith submitted. Some of them give us time to
seek their solution from the Cortes — a course, moreover,
—57—

Other
Problems to
Be Solved.

Judicial
Organization.

The Electoral
Reform.

which their exceptional character demands. One of these
is in reference to the determination, in a precise and abso
lute manner, of the expenses necessary to the maintenance
of sovereignty, and of all other expenses, aside from those
purely local, that shall correspond to Cuba, as fixed
charges upon her Budget. This is a matter that must be
submitted to the Cortes, as it affects the Peninsular prov
inces equally with those of the Island.
Another of the problems referred to above is the one
relative to the judicial organization; for, though all judi
cial functionaries are already included in one civil list with
those of the Peninsula, and though some rules are laid
down in the present Decree for their appointment to fill
vacancies that correspond to the " turn of selection "* for
the West Indies, there remain some essential points to be
covered by legislative enactment, among others the pro
portionate share that the West Indies and the other Spanish
provinces shall have in the number of aspirants to the
national magistracy.
No reference is made, either, in the present Decree to
electoral reform, because certain reasons of a high order
bar the introduction by the Government of changes in the
existing system for the election of Representatives and
Senators, without the concurrence of the Cortes; and
* In almost every branch of the Spanish Government service the
officers and functionaries thereof are registered in the respective
civil list according to rank and to seniority in each rank ; and in fill
ing vacancies in any but the lowest rank, the appointing officer is not
only obliged to promote one of those registered in the rank immedi
ately inferior to the one in which the vacancy is to be filled, but he
is obliged to follow two alternate " turns," viz., to the first vacancy
occurring in any given class he is to promote the employee, officer or
functionary heading, as senior, the list of the class next inferior in
rank, this being termed the ' ' turn of seniority. " To the next vacancy
occurring in the same class he may promote, at his discretion, any
employee, officer or functionary included in the list of the class next
inferior in rank, provided that the person so selected is otherwise
legally entitled to promotion, there being certain requirements such
as a certain number of years of service in each rank. This is called
the "turn of discretionary selection."— {Translator's Note.)

— 58 —

because to the above system, which is the primary one,
all .others relative to Provincial Assemblies and Munici
palities have always been subordinate.
The Government is not yet in a position to determine when the
how brief or how long the period may be within which the shouw°Be Put
present reforms can be put into effect in Cuba and, conse- in Force'
quently, in Porto Rico, although from all the data at hand
at the moment of draughting the following Decree the out
look seems very satisfactory and there are many indications
that peace is not far off ; but, at any rate, the Government
feels that it must be prepared to put such reforms into
practical operation without delay as soon as may be pos
sible. To this end, therefore, the Council of State
shall be immediately consulted, although the Decree of
Reforms shall not be enforced until all necessary condi
tions are complied with. This done, and the intentions of
Spain being from this moment known, it is to be hoped
that a conciliatory spirit will prevail in the West Indies,
thus hastening by easy means that which the country
has always longed for ; that which the civilized world de
sires, and that which Your Majesty and the Government,
as much or more than anyone else, have striven for in
the past and will continue in the future to strive for — a
fruitful and lasting peace.
Your Majesty:
I have the honor to be Your Majesty's
Most humble servant,
ANTONIO CANOVAS DEL CASTILLO

— 59

ROYAL DECREE.

Council of
State.

Upon the proposition of my Prime Minister, and with
the concurrence of the Council of Ministers, in the name of
my august son, King Alfonso XIII., and as Queen
Regent of the Kingdom, I hereby decree, as follows :
The neasure Sole Section — The plan for extending the scope of
to Be 5ub=-
muted tothe the reforms for the Island of Cuba which were embodied
in the law of March 15, 1895, and which plan shall in due
time apply as well to the reforms already put in force in
Porto Rico, shall be submitted to the full Council of State,
for its prompt consideration and report, in accordance with
the provisions of Section 45, paragraph 13, of the organic
law of that Supreme National Advisory Body.
Given in the Palace on the fourth day of February, in
the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven.
MARIA CRISTINA.
The Prime Minister,
Antonio Canovas del Castillo.

60 —

PLAN FOR THE EXTENSION IN SCOPE
OF THE
REFORM LAW OF flARCH 15, 1895.

Article 1.
The Law of March 15, 1895, relative to Reforms in the
system of Government and Civil Administration in the
Island of Cuba, shall be extended and given a wider scope
in accordance with the following bases, which so far as
may be necessary shall be amplified and developed by
means of Rules and Regulations.
Basis I. — The Boards of Aldermen and the Provincial Powers of the
Assemblies of the Island of Cuba shall enjoy such liberty Provincial
of action as may be compatible with observance of law and^BoardTof
and with the rights of private individuals. Aldermen.
They shall be free to appoint and remove all their
employees. The Presidents of the Provincial Assemblies shall be
elected by said assemblies from among their own mem
bers. In each Provincial Assembly there shall be a Pro
vincial Executive Committee, consisting of Assemblymen
elected semi-annually by the Assembly. The Provincial
Executive Committee shall elect its chairman.
Mayors and Deputy Mayors shall be elected to the
J r j j Mayors: How
respective offices by the Board of Aldermen from among Elected.
their own members. The Mayors shall without limitation
exercise the executive functions of the municipal govern
ment, as the executive officers of the Boards of Aldermen.
A Provincial Assembly may stay the execution of reso
lutions adopted by any of the Boards of Aldermen under
its jurisdiction ; it may also censure, warn, fine or suspend
the members thereof, whenever said members shall exceed
— 61 —

the limits of their municipal jurisdiction ; in such case the
Assembly shall report such action to the Civil Governor
for his approval and for its execution.
Should the Civil Governor not approve the action of the
Provincial Assembly, either in whole or in part, said
Assembly may appeal to the full Supreme Court of the
corresponding territory, whose decision shall be final.
The Raising of For the purpose of raising the revenue necessary to meet
Revenue. their expenses and obligations, the Municipal Coun
cils and Provincial Assemblies shall be vested with all the
authority compatible with the system of taxation govern
ing the general and local Budgets of the Island ; it being
understood that the revenues for the provincial Budgets
shall be independent of those for the municipal Budgets.
Public The establishment of public educational institutions in
Education. the provinces shall devolve exclusively upon their respective
Provincial Assemblies, and of those in the cities and towns
upon the Boards of Aldermen.
The Governor General and the Civil Governors shall have
the right of intervention in these matters only to the extent
necessary to insure compliance with the general laws,
and to satisfy themselves that the new charges imposed
by the local Budgets are not in excess of the respective
provincial and municipal resources.
Financial The annual financial statements rendered by the Mayors,
Statements by
the Mayors, which shall include all receipts and expenditures, both
ordinary and special, shall be published in their respective
localities, and whatever may be their total amount
shall be audited, and objected to or approved, as the case
may be, by the Municipal Council, after hearing any pro
tests offered against them. From the action of the
Municipal Council appeal may be taken to the Provincial
Executive Committee, and in cases where the latter shall
declare the liability of any official or officials, an appeal
may be taken to the full Supreme Court of each respec
tive district, which shall decide, without further recourse,
— 62 —

in conformity with the administrative and penal laws that
may be applicable thereto.
Basis II. — The Council of Administration shall consist council of
of thirty-five Councilors. Of these, twenty-one shall be Administra-
J J tion : How
elected as follows by the same voters who are entitled to constituted.
suffrage at the elections for Assemblymen and Aldermen,
and according to the provisions of Article III. of the
Reform law of March 15, 1895, as follows: Five by the
Province of Havana, four each by the Provinces of Santa
Clara and Santiago de Cuba, three each by the Provinces
of Pinar del Rio and Matanzas, and two by the Province
of Puerto Principe. Nine other Councilors shall be the
following : The Rector of the University of Havana, the
President of the Havana Chamber of Commerce, the
President of the Economical Society of the Friends of the
Country, the President of the Sugar Planters' Association,
the President of the Tobacco Manufacturers' Union, a
member of the Chapters of the Cathedrals of Havana
and Santiago de Cuba, which Chapters, assembled as
electoral colleges, shall elect such member every four
years; a representative of all the trades associations of
Havana, to be chosen every fourth year by the presi
dents of such trade associations, and two Councilors
representing the principal taxpayers of the Province of
Havana, to be elected every four years, one by the
hundred citizens paying the highest taxes on real estate
and the other by the hundred paying the highest taxes
on industries, commerce, arts and professions. The re
maining five Councilors shall be the Senators or Repre
sentatives to the Cortes who shall have been elected the
greatest number of times at general elections, seniority of
age determining where other conditions are equal.
The Governor General shall be the Honorary President President ,
of the Council, and he shall preside, without vote, at any the Council,
session he may attend. The regular President shall be

The Office of
Councilor.

Appointmentand Removal
of the
Council's
Employees.

appointed by the Governor General from among its
members. The office of Councilor shall be without compensation,
shall carry personal liability, and, once accepted, cannot be
resigned except for cause. The office shall also be incom
patible with that of Representative to the Cortes or Sen
ator, and anyone eligible to the two shall elect between
them within two months.
Candidates having the qualifications necessary for elec
tion as Representatives to the Cortes, and having resided
two years on the Island, may be elected Councilors.
In no case shall those debarred from election as Repre
sentatives to the Cortes by Section 19 of the Provincial
Law, now in force, be elected Councilors.
The Council shall have a Secretary's office, with an ade
quate force for the transaction of the affairs hereby
assigned to it.
The power of appointment and removal of all employees
of the Secretary's office shall be solely and exclusively
vested in the Council.
The Council shall elect every six months a Committee
on Reports, whose duty shall be to report upon all matters
coming within the jurisdiction of the Council.
Said committee shall consist of five Councilors, each of
whom shall be entitled to such compensation as the Council
may determine, but which shall not exceed the sum of
$2,000 for each term of six months.

Expenses
Inherent to
Sovereignty.

Levying of
Taxes.

Basis III. — The Cortes shall determine the expenditures,
which shall necessarily be chargeable as expenses inherent
to sovereignty, and every three years shall fix the total
amount of revenue required therefor; this without preju
dice to the right of the Cortes to alter this provision.
The Council of Administration shall each year levy such
taxes and imposts as may be necessary to provide the total
amount of revenue required and to meet the expenditures
— 64 —

approved by the Cortes in the national Budget for the
Island ; this without prejudice to the constitutional right of
the Cortes to introduce such changes as it may deem
proper in the premises.
The Council of Administration may renounce the powers
conferred upon it by the last preceding paragraph; in
which case it shall be understood that it also renounces,
for the term covered by the Budget, the powers conferred
by Sections 1 and 2 of the first paragraph, Basis IV.
Should the Council of Administration surrender said
powers, or should it fail on the first day of June of any
year to levy the taxes and imposts for the revenue required
to meet the expenditures included in the national Budget
for the Island, the Governor General shall supply such
default, so far as it may exist, and either in part or in
whole, through the Chief of the Treasury.
The Council of Administration shall also prepare and
approve every year the local Budget for the Island of Cuba,
in order to make provision for such branches of the public
service as are intrusted to it. It shall also include in said
Budget the necessary appropriations for the personnel and
the supplies for the office of the Secretary of the General
Government of Cuba, for the Bureau of Local Administra
tion, for the Department of Finance, for the office of the
Auditor, and for the offices of the six Provincial Governors
of the Island, which expenses are hereby declared to be
obligatory charges upon said Budget.
In regard to the obligatory charges just mentioned, the
Governor General shall, should the case arise, become vested
with the powers mentioned in the fourth paragraph of
the present basis, relative to the national Budget for the
Island. Should any changes or modifications adopted by the
Council of Administration affecting services chargeable, as
fixed obligations, against the local Budget for the Island,
not be approved by the Governor General, they shall be
— 65 —

The Council to
Prepare
Budgets.

Revenues for
Local Budgets.

Educational
Institutions.

submitted to the Minister for the Colonies for final action,
to be taken by resolution of the Cabinet, after first
obtaining a report thereon from the Council of State.
In default of any action by the Minister within two
months, the action of the Council of Administration shall
stand. The Council of Administration shall approve the local
Budget for the Island before the first day of June in each
year. The revenues of the local Budget, besides those already
provided, shall consist of such taxes and imposts as the
Council of Administration may determine and as shall not
conflict with the sources of revenue applied to the national
Budget for the Island.
The establishment of new educational institutions pre
paratory for the various Government services*, the Army
and Navy excepted, shall devolve upon the Council of
Administration, whenever such institutions shall be of a
general character and for the benefit of the entire Island.
The Council of Administration may file with the Gov
ernor General claims or protests, should there be occa
sion for them, against any resolution or action taken by
the Chief of the Bureau of Local Administration.

Powers of the Basis IV. — The Council of Administration shall have
Council in . .
the natter of the f ollowmg powers m the matter of customs tariff :
Tariff"5 1- T° ma^e> upon the recommendation of the Chief of
the Treasury of the Island, the rules and regulations for
the administration of the customs revenue.
2. To take such action as it may deem advisable, with
the advice of the Chief of the Treasury, or upon his
recommendation, in regard to export duties.
3. To fix or change at its discretion, with the advice of
the Chief of the Treasury, or upon his recommendation,

• See notes on pages 58 and 71.

66 —

Products.

the fiscal duties to be levied upon imports through the
Custom Houses of the Island of Cuba.
4. To report upon and to recommend any changes
which experience may suggest in the general or supple
mentary dispositions of the tariff, or in the schedules,
notes or repertory thereof ; said report to necessarily pre
cede any action taken thereon.
These powers are granted subject to the following limi
tations :
1. A reasonable and necessary protection shall be main- Protection to
tamed in favor of national products and manufactures, National
provided they be directly of national origin, as regards
their importation into the Island of Cuba; such protec
tion to be accorded by means of differential duties to be
levied at the minimum rates, hereafter to be determined,
-equally upon all products of foreign origin.
2. The fiscal duties to be fixed by the Council of Ad
ministration shall not be differential, but must apply
equally upon all imports, those of national origin included.
3. Such export duties as may be established shall not
be differential, but shall be applied equally to the same class
•of products, whatever their destination. Exception may be
made, however, in favor of products exported directly for
national consumption, in which exclusive case the Council
of Administration may grant exemption from or a differ
ential reduction in the duties by it established.
4. The prohibition to export any product, should this
at any time be ordered, shall not apply to products
exported directly for national consumption.
5. The powers granted by virtue of Sections 1 and 2 of
the first paragraph of this present basis shall be exercised
by the Council of Administration or, in default thereof, by
the Governor General, in accordance with the obligations
imposed by the second paragraph, Basis III. The fiscal
import duties, and also the export duties, should such be
•established, shall remain unchanged during the term cov-
— 67 —

Export Duties.

Form
of Customs
Tariff.

Fiscal Duties.

riaximum of
Protection.

Differential Duties.

ered by the Budget which is based upon the revenues that.
those duties are estimated to provide.
The import tariff shall be embodied in the following
form : The duties shall be set forth in two columns, viz.,
the first shall contain the fiscal duties to be levied and col
lected on all importations of whatever origin, national
included ; the second shall contain the differential duties
to be levied equally upon all products of foreign origin;
these last mentioned duties to constitute the necessary
protection which is secured to national products and
manufactures. The fiscal duties comprised in the first or general column
may be freely altered by the addition of such extra rates
of duties and by such reductions or exemptions as the
Council of Administration may determine, in the exer
cise of the powers hereinbefore granted, subject to the
limitations also hereinbefore expressed.
The Cortes shall determine the maximum of protection
to be maintained in favor of national products and manu
factures. The maximum thus established shall not be
altered without the concurrence of the Cortes, and this
concurrence shall also be necessary for any changes in the
column of differential duties.
The initial duties to be levied upon all the articles com
prised in the various schedules of the tariff and which are
to constitute, for the first time, the differential column
before mentioned, shall be fixed by the Government.
These differential duties, which need not in general be
higher than 20 per cent, ad valorem, shall not exceed 35
per cent, ad valorem, even on such articles as may require
this exceptional and maximum rate. A special act of the
Cortes shall be required in order to .exceed the above limit
of 35 per cent, on any article. Such act may raise the
limit to 40 per cent, ad valorem.
The Government shall order a revision of the official
schedules of valuations of merchandise after a full hearing
— 68 —

of all interests. Whenever, as a result of the revision of said
schedule of valuations, and by reason of the limitations
established by the preceding rule, it shall appear that a
reduction should be made in the differential duty on any
specified article of the Tariff, the finding of said fact shall
of itself operate to effect such reduction. The official
schedules of valuation of merchandise, once revised, shall
remain unchanged for the term of ten years, unless other
wise provided by the Cortes.
It being impossible to carry immediately into effect all
the provisions that this basis establishes for the future,
and it being deemed inadvisable to further delay the
revision of the Tariff now in operation in Cuba, the Min
ister for the Colonies shall, by virtue of legal authority
now vested in him, and in accordance with the law of June
28, 1895, publishand put into effect a provisional Tariff,
the general lines and the schedules of which shall be
adjusted to the requirements of this present basis; and
the fiscal duties which may be thus fixed and which may
appear in their respective column, and also whatever may
relate to export duties or regulations, shall be provisionally
put into force.
Commercial treaties or conventions which shall affect
the customs tariff of the Island of Cuba must be of a special
character. The benefits of the clause of the ' ' most favored
nation," or any equivalent thereof, shall not be granted
therein. The Council of Administration shall be con
sulted as to the advisability of granting any special con
cessions which the Government may have in view, in nego
tiating any treaty, before the latter shall be completed
for submission to the Cortes.

Revision of
Schedules of
Valuation.

Provisional Tariff.

Commercial Treaties.

Basis V. — The Governor General shall have the power Power of
Appointment
to appoint and remove all the employees of the office of of Employees,
the Secretary of the General Government of the Island,
of the Bureau of Civil and Economic Administration and

— 69

of the Provincial Governments, as provided in Basis
VII. Basis VI. — The office of the Secretary of the General
Government shall be under the direction of a Superior
Chief of Administration.
chiefs of The Chief of the Treasury of the Island of Cuba, the
Bureaus to
Nominate Comptroller and the Chief of the Bureau of Local Admims-
'"'""" tration shall propose to the Governor General the appoint
ment of all the employees of their respective offices,
according to the provisions of Basis VII., and they may
likewise propose their removal.
Postal The Bureau of Posts and Telegraphs, under the direction
and Telegraph
service. of a Chief of Administration, shall have under its charge
the services relative to postal and telegraphic communi
cations, both land and maritime, for which the Council
of Administration may make provision; and it shall be
its duty to examine and render annually the accounts of
said services and to execute all the resolutions of the
Council concerning the Bureau.
Employees to Basis VII. — All the employees of the Civil and Economic
Be Natives
or Residents of Administration of the Island of Cuba, with the exception
of the Secretary of the General Government, the Chief of
the Treasury, the Comptroller, the Chiefs of the Bureaus
of Local Administration and of Posts and Telegraphs, and
the Civil Governors of the six Provinces, shall be appointed,
as vacancies occur, by the Governor General of the Island
of Cuba, in conformity with existing laws or with such as
may be hereafter enacted, from among the natives of said
Island or from among others residing or having resided
there during two consecutive years.
The Governor General shall submit to the Council of
Administration, for its cognizance, evidence of the legal
qualifications of all appointees.
In the appointment of all functionaries belonging to the
— 70 —

civil service professions* and to the postal and telegraph civil service
service, the legal dispositions and rules and regulations
relating thereto shall be complied with.
The employees of the office of the Secretary of the
General Government and of the offices of the Provincial
Governors shall be appointed and removed by the Gov
ernor General at his discretion. The employees of the
Bureau of Local Administration, of the Treasury and of
the Administration of Customs (except in case a corps of
experts be organized) and of the office of the Comptroller,
shall be appointed by the Governor General upon the
nomination of the respective chiefs of the above men
tioned branches of the service. They may be removed by
the Governor General upon the proposition of said chiefs,
or directly by the former whenever he shall deem it
necessary. The Governor General may appoint Supervisors of supervisors of
Public
Public Education; two each for the Provinces of Havana,
Santa Clara and Santiago de Cuba, and one each for the
Provinces of Pinar del Rio, Matanzas and Puerto Principe.
The Governor General may also appoint, upon the nomi
nation of the Provincial Governors, Deputies representing
the latter authorities in the municipal districts. Said
Deputies shall have gubernatorial authority in their
respective localities and shall have control of the police

Education.

Deputies to
Represent Civil
Governors in
Towns.

* Various branches of the Government service in Spain constitute
what are termed state or civil service professions. Admission thereto
can only be obtained through a special course of studies for each, and
after a rigid competitive examination for such vacancies in the lowest
rank as from time to time are to be filled. Once admitted, members
of said professions cannot be removed from office, except after trial
for cause, though they may be assigned to different posts pertaining
to their respective ranks ; and their advancement is regulated by a
system which, while securing to all equal justice in promotion by
seniority, still offers to all an incentive to zeal and efficiency. See
note on foot of page 58. At a certain age, and after a given number
of years' service, members of civil service professions may retire with
a pension, proportionate to their rank on retirement. — Translator's
Note.

— 71 —

force. In no case shall they interfere with the Mayors or
Boards of Aldermen in the exercise of their powers.
The Governor General, whenever he shall deem it advis
able, and acting upon the recommendation of the Pro
vincial Governors, may in the same manner deputize the
Mayor of any city or town.
Administra- Basis VIII. — Any vacancies which may hereafter occur in
tion of Justice. any of the offices under the Administration of Justice* and
the appointment to which may, according to turn, be dis
cretionary,** shall be filled by the Minister for the Colo
nies, either from natives of the Island of Cuba or from
those who reside or may have resided there. Applications
for appointment, accompanied by the records of the
respective applicants, shall be filed with the Presidents
of the Supreme Courts of the various districts, and shall
be forwarded to the Department through the Governor
General.
nunicipai The Municipal Judge of each judicial district shall be
appointed by the Governor General, who shall select for
that office one of three persons to be nominated by the
Aldermen of the respective municipalities and by the
voters entitled to vote for the electors of Senators, regard
being had to the provisions of the law relative to the ap
pointment of electors.
In municipalities where two or more Judges are to be
appointed separate ballots shall becast for each set of
nominees in the manner above provided.
The Municipal Judges who may be elected must possess
the qualifications prescribed by the existing laws in the
Island of Cuba.
Council to Basis IX. — The Council of Administration shall respect
Respect
Pending Con- pending contracts throughout the various branches of the
tracts. * This comprises Judges and Prosecuting Attorneys. — T N.
** See note foot of page 71. — 72 —

Government service and of the Treasury of the Island,
and upon their expiration may renew them or not at its
discretion. The Council of Administration is hereby empowered to council
, Empowered to
apply to the Island of Cuba the Law regulating the opera- contract for
tions of the Treasury which is now in force in the Penin- ° j*™". °
sula, and to enter into an agreement for that purpose with
the Spanish Bank of the Island of Cuba.
The Council is further empowered to intrust the above
mentioned Bank with the collection of revenues, or to con
tract with it with reference thereto, subject always to the
approval of the Minister for the Colonies.
Basis X.-^-A special Decree, which shall be reported Preservation of the
to the Cortes, shall contain such dispositions as may be public Peace.
deemed necessary for the preservation of the public peace
and for the suppression of any separatist movement which
"by any means whatever may be again set on foot.

Article 2.

The Government shall embody in a single instrument Previous and
the foregoing provisions and the provisions of the reform Reform rieas-
law of March 15, 1895, so as to harmonize the two; and u.r.f ? *° ^e
' ' ' Adjusted.
shall in due time report the same to the Cortes.
These united provisions shall be supplemented by rules
and regulations to be subsequently formulated, which,
however, shall in no manner change the intent or mean
ing thereof, and whose sole purpose shall be to adjust
the said provisions to other legislation now in force,
as provided in the before mentioned law of March 15,
1895. Upon the issuing of an order putting into effect in Cuba These Disposi-
the provisions of the law of March 15, 1895, and the pro- Havethe Force
"visions of this Royal Decree, said provisions shall, so far Law-
— 73 —

as may be possible, have all the force of law, without preju
dice to the rules and regulations subsequently to be made.
Article 3.
Reforms The provisions of the present Decree, as an extension in
Porto Rico, scope of the law of March 15, 1895, shall be applied to the
Island of Porto Rico wherever compatible with the differ
ent conditions prevailing in said Island and with the insti
tutions already established there.
The rules and regulations already issued for Porto Rico
shall be amended so far as may be necessary to bring them
into accord with those which shall be issued for the Island
of Cuba. Article 4. »
when the The date upon which the provisions of the reform law
Reforms Shall . _.,,.,
Be Put into of March 15, 1895, shall be put into effect m Cuba, and
upon which the provisions of this supplementary Decree
shall be applied to both Cuba and Porto Rico, shall be
determined by the Government as soon as the condition
of the war in Cuba shall permit. The Prime Minister,
Antonio Canovas del Castillo.
Madrid, February 4, 1897.

Effect.

to Be Referred
to in Connect

The Reform The dispositions of the foregoing Royal Decree being
Law of March -. .,, ., . ~ ., .. _,
is, 1895, directed to the modification and extension in scope of the
Reform Law of March 15, 1895, a proper understanding of
tion with the tne former requires that the latter be referred to, and for
Present /"leas-
ure. this purpose the text in English of that law is hereunto
appended. See page 87.

— 74 —

COMMENTARY.

I

N perusing the official text of the ' ' Expository Pre- Points to Bt
. Borne in Mind-
amble and ' Royal Decree embodying the reform in Reading th*
measures recently adopted by Spain for the govern- >•.'•>"•"••

Decree
ment of the Island of Cuba, which is herein rendered in as
faithful an English version as the difference in construction
of the two languages would permit of, the reader will un
doubtedly have a better comprehension of those measures
and a more adequate appreciation of their scope if he
will bear in mind : First — The political complexion of the
party whose leader, as Premier of the Kingdom, has pre
pared and obtained the sanction of the Crown for such a
radical measure of Spanish colonial policy. Second — The
purpose which has actuated Her Majesty's Government in
adopting such a course, and its intentions as to the devel
opment and application of the plan of reforms. Third —
The view taken in regard to this plan by the leaders of
other Spanish political parties. Fourth — The spirit in
which its announcement has been received in Cuba by
prominent natives and influential Peninsular-born resi
dents. Fifth — The trend of public opinion in foreign
countries on the reforms.
As an aid, therefore, to those not thoroughly acquainted
with the subject, the writer here presents, supplemented
by a few remarks of his own, various statements and ex
pressions of opinion covering the points above enumerated,
which he has culled, extracted and rendered into English,
where necessary, from such matter as he has at hand.

As to the first point, it is well to remember that while
the Conservative party, under the leadership of the present
— 75 —

Conservative eral party
Party Fore.

stalls the
Liberals in
Granting Re
forms.

Prime Minister, Seiior Canovas del Castillo, has always,
true to its name and creed, opposed radical legislation and
the adoption of political measures for which it did not
consider the time ripe nor the people of Spain prepared,
it has almost invariably, when called into power, respected
or "conserved" all successive political rights enacted into
the Laws of the Realm through the initiative of the Lib-
And in many instances, as in the present
Cuban question, the Conservatives have forestalled the
more advanced party in the granting of reforms, going
even beyond the limits predetermined by the latter's
declarations of principles as to certain issues.
Thus, not only did the Conservative party, then in the
opposition, heartily support and solidly vote in favor of
the Abarzuza Cuban Reform bill, draughted and submitted
to the Cortes by the Liberal Cabinet of Premier Sagasta
in 1895, but now, while under the tremendous responsibili
ties inherent to power in such critical circumstances as
Spain is going through, Seiior Canovas boldly steps far
beyond the boundaries pointed out by the promises of
other Spanish statesmen or even by the demands of the
several Cuban legal political parties, the Autonomist
party alone excepted.

Intentions of the
Government.

In regard to the second point, Seiior Canovas del Cas
tillo made the following statement on the day in which
the Royal Decree was published in the Gaceta de Madrid
(official organ of record). These utterances ' of the emi
nent Spanish statesman confirm and throw additional
light on that noble and remarkable official writing : the
" Expository Preamble" to the Royal Decree.
To a press representative Seiior Canovas said :

I have devoted much study and thought to the preparation
of the plan of reforms, and being inspired by the utmost

— 76 —

sincerity I have endeavored to imbue the measure with the
broadest spirit.
It has been my aim to make of the reforms a national
undertaking; I have worked on them, therefore, on behalf of
my country and for my country.
My idea, my determination, is to put them into effect
according to the most liberal interpretation and with abso
lute sincerity.
With entire good faith I am resolutely going toward the
establishment of autonomy in Cuba. On this line no radical
ism can check me. What I have been most careful of is not
to leave any loophole for independence. And in this I have
fulfilled my duty.

Sr. Canovas
del Castillo's
Statement.

It is not necessary to await the complete pacification of the Application of

Island of Cuba in order to put the reforms into practical
operation. As soon the rebellion is reduced to the Oriental Depart
ment all the pacified provinces shall immediately enter upon
the enjoyment of the advantages to be derived from the new
measures. Without further delay the Boards of Aldermen
and the Provincial Assemblies shall be elected in those prov
inces, and they shall have entire liberty of action without
any Government intervention. And thus the entire plan of
reforms shall be rapidly .developed, with a view of having it
in practical operation in as short a period as possible.
In connection with this same point, i. e. , the intentions
of the Spanish Government as to the development and
application of its plan of reforms, it will be proper to
transcribe here the statements made by the Spanish
Minister in Washington, Senor Dupuy de Lome, to a
representative of The United Associated Presses on the
7th of last February.
A close study of the course of the Cuban question could
not but convey to the least observing mind the conviction
that this most efficient and able diplomat enjoys to more
than an ordinary degree the confidence of his Government.
It is but fair to assume, therefore, especially if it be re
membered how discreet and cautious have been all Senor
Dupuy de Lome's utterances, that in the following state-
— 77 —

the Plan of
Reforms.

Sr, Dupuy de
Lome's
Statement.

ment the Spanish representative reflects the purpose of
his Government; or, in other words, that he gives, unoffi
cially, expression to certain knowledge, officially acquired,
bearing on the question under review.
His statement, in substance, as published is as follows :
Electoral The electoral reforms were not referred to at length in
Reforms. tjje decree of the Ministry, for the reasons stated in the pre
amble of Senor Canovas, that they will require the action of
the Cortes. I am informed, however, that the Government
will not oppose the extension of the basis of the suffrage, but
they desire to do it in such a way as to prevent undue
influence being acquired by the illiterate portion of the
population. The present law requires the payment of taxes amounting
in the aggregate to $5, except where the privilege of voting
is extended to the graduates of the universities and other
members of the learned professions. Any educational quali
fication which may be suggested by the Cubans, and which
seems reasonable and proper, will undoubtedly be adopted
by the Cortes. The subject must be regulated by that body.
It is the purpose of the Government to show the greatest
generosity toward the insurgents who lay down their arms.
The reforms cannot well be put into full effect until the sover
eignty of Spain is acknowledged. The Government will not
relax its military activity in any degree if the insurgents
show a disposition to continue the contest and fail to appre
ciate the great concessions made by the home Government.
Spain's Gen- Spain has gone to the utmost limit in her generosity to
erous Spirit m ^e Cuban people, and has established a system by which the
Cuba. Island will hereafter be governed in Cuba by residents of the
Island, instead of being governed from Madrid. The right
to hold office is given to Spaniards who have lived two years
in Cuba, because they have become in a large degree
identified with the interests of the Island.
In this respect the proposed policy is not unlike that which
has been pursued by the United States, where members of
both political parties have delighted to honor citizens born out
side of the country. Conspicuous examples are found in the
cases of Mr. Wilson, of Iowa, who is to be a member of the Cab
inet of your next President, and who was, I believe, born in
Scotland, and of Carl Schurz, who was born in Germany, but
was Secretary of the Interior under the administration of
President Hayes.
The tariff features of the new Decree are very comprehen-
— 78 —

sive in their scope", and mean a great deal for the United The Tari,f
States as well as for Cuba. The duties levied will be equal Features-
against all countries except Spain; and American manufac
turers and exporters, in view of their familiarity with
Cuban trade and their nearness to the Island, are likely to
appreciate the importance of these concessions.
The situation will be much more favorable to American More Favora-
trade than under the reciproaity treaty of 1890. There were b.le t0 the
in that treaty two schedules for American goods, one of 25 than the
per cent, and another of 50 per cent., but Spain had the right Reciprocity
to provide for the entry of her products free of duty, thus Treaty-
giving her a marked advantage over the United States. The
Spanish West Indies are the best consumers of United States
products that you have on this continent. It will be neces
sary for the home Government to consult the Cubans before
a reciprocity treaty is concluded. The new reforms dis
tinctly provide that such treaties may be suggested by the
new Council of Administration.
The Council of Administration shall not only contain
twenty-one members elected by the qualified voters of Cuba,
but will contain Cubans among the other members, if they
possess the qualifications to attain the position which entitles
them to seats. The members of the Council of Administra
tion, who shall sit by virtue of their office as Presidents of
the Chamber of Commerce, the Planters' Association and
other bodies, may just as well be Cubans as persons born in
Spain, if they show the qualities which naturally advance
them to those places. The places are entirely open to native
Cubans as well as Spaniards.
The Liberal party, upon returning to power, could or The Liberal
Party Indorses
would never attempt to take a step backward on such a the Plan of
vital national issue, either by reactionary legislation or by
a narrow interpretation of the measures enacted by the
Conservatives. That is not only self-evident, but it is assured beyond
peradventure by the fact that the leaders of the Liberal
party have approved of the new plan of reforms. In
effect, Seiior Maura, who in colonial matters can speak
with best authority on behalf of said party, he being the
author of the Reform bill of 1893, has said:
The Royal Decree issued by the Prime Minister unfolds
with vigorous frankness a system which differs much more
— 79 —

Reforms.

radically from that now established in the West Indies than
did the Law of 1895 * or the Bill of 1893.** It adopts principles
and lays down bases which should satisfy all aspirations,
that are not insatiable, of the liberal political parties in
Cuba. I spurn as absurd any insinuation to the effect that
the scope of the reforms may be impaired by the rules and
regulations and other means for their application, because
no statesman should be insulted by imputing such bad faith
to hirri, nor would any fail to perceive the dangers of so
acting.
The Repubn- The present reform measures also meet the favor of the
cans Also. Spanish Republicans, as is evidenced by the following
words from their leader, the great orator, Don Emilio
Castelar :
I, as a writer, can only applaud the tendencies of the
reform decrees. I approve them with all my heart, and sup
port them with all my power. I oppose any design of
reducing them, whatever be its origin.
With the projects of Maura, Abarzuza and Canovas, all
defended by me, we have dealt justice to Cuba, establishing
her self-government and developing her commercial rela
tions. From them good, nothing but good, can come. Therefore
I am satisfied, and thus you have my opinion.
As to how the reforms will be accepted by the political
parties in Cuba, by influential organizations of the Island
and by Cuban public opinion in general, the following
excerpts from statements thereon may give a fair idea.
The Cuban Those from the leaders of the Autonomist party, who are
Autonomists
Approve of the also Members of the Cortes, are of the utmost importance,
™es- " because the principles and ideals of this party undoubtedly
represent the aspirations of the majority of native resi
dents of the Island, and because it is more than likely

* In force in Porto Rico, but not yet applied to Cuba on account of
the insurrection.
** Of which Seiior Maura, then Minister for the Colonies, was
author, but which did not become law on account of his leaving the
portfolio. — 80 —

that to its banners shall rally the better class of those who
have participated in the present insurrection, as soon as
the latter is finally put down.
Here are the extracts above referred to :
From Seiior Rafael Montoro, a native of Cuba, one of statement of
the leaders of the Autonomist party and Member of the
Cortes for the Island :

It is difficult to make quite clear to the Anglo-Saxon
mind what will be the political relations in Cuba to the
mother country in the new era which is dawning. It is im
possible to reason by analogy and contrast with the British
colonies, because, to cite merely one cause of essential differ
ence, Spain has a written Constitution which is the palladium
and supreme guarantee of our liberties, and Great Britain is
ruled by a more flexible and an unwritten Constitution.
Our Constitution establishes a certain identity of civil and
political rights between all subjects of the Crown, and it pro
vides that we Cubans must have our" representatives in the
Cortes, as do all other provinces of the kingdom.
Our suffrage for the election of Deputies to the Cortes is
even now, in my opinion, sufficiently ample, but it will be even
more extensive under the new regime, so that the voice of
Cuba may be heard on all questions of finance and of foreign
affairs which interest and affect alike all portions of the
kingdom. In connection and in harmony with the Local Assembly of
Cuba there is no room for doubting that the national or im
perial Cortes will grant to us the fullest powers of self-
administration and self-government that are possible under
our Constitution and compatible with the unity of the
Kingdom. I think that the Spanish Government will have fully satis
fied every reasonable and practical demand of the Cuban
people. I expect that then the respectable but misguided
elements of the insurrection will withdraw from the field,
and that there will remain under- arms only lawless adven
turers and irreconcilable enemies of law and order.
The question of the adjustment of the indebtedness ensuing
out of the war is, I admit, a difficult one, perhaps the most
difficult one which the situation presents, but it is not an
insuperable obstacle to peace, as some especially ill-informed
publicists in foreign countries represent it to be.
I believe the subject can be reasonably and equitably set-

A New Era Is
Dawning.

Suffrage in
Cuba Is Suf
ficiently Ample.

The Reasona
ble Demands of
the Cubans
Fully Satisfied.

Adjustment of
the War Debt
Not an Insur
mountable Obstacle.

— 81 ¦

tied by an arrangement between the Spanish and Cuban
treasuries. Also from Senor Montoro, on another occasion, con
jointly with Seiior Jose A. del Cueto, likewise a promi
nent member of the Autonomist party:
In our opinion the reform measure is of the utmost im
portance, since the institutions based thereon are remarkably
liberal, and the changes introduced in the present system
are very radical. If understood and loyally appreciated
they reveal the noble fulfillment of the promises contained
in the Crown Speech and explained in the memorable sum
ming up of the debate in the Cortes on the 15th of July last
by Senor Canovas
ThcNewMeas- We believe that the above measure contains all the essen-
ure Contains tial elements of self-government, and that the amendments
Elements of an<^ extensions in scope that it may require in order to reach
Seif-aovern. all the development possible within the national Constitution
ment. may well be left to the action of time, of public opinion and
of local initiative, when, peace being restored, it will become
possible for them to manifest themselves authoritatively.
The Expository Preamble of the Royal Decree opens reason
able horizons to every loyal aspiration in that direction.
The effects of the reform measure upon the public spirit
cannot but be very favorable at the present moment, and
they shall be more so according as the intentions of the
Government become known.
sr Labra's From Senor Labra, a distinguished Cuban jurist,
statement. Autonomist Member of the Cortes for the Island:
Seiior Canovas' plan of reforms implies a laudable change
in the course of our colonial policy. It is necessary that we
work on that basis. We may now expect from the Liberal
Peninsular party a new determination and a more decided
spirit in its attitude and in its course, since the step in advance
taken by the Conservative party is really an exceptional one.
As for me personally, I may say that I have never been
Autonomy the pessimistic in politics, and that I have to-day additional
Best Guar- . _i .
antor of the reasons for reaffirming what I have always held, that colonial
Nation's in- autonomy is the best guarantor of the honor, the strength
egri y" and the integrity of the nation.
From Senor Rafael Fernandez de Castro, a Cuban
^ Castro's" Autonomist, ex-Member of the Cortes for the Island :
statement. The reforms represent a great progressive stride in Span
ish colonial policy. They are more liberal than those
— 83 —

embodied in the Reform Law of March 15, 1895, and of course
more of a fundamental nature than those prepared in his
bill by Mr. Maura in 1893. They are equivalent to a grand
and decisive entry into a regime that the wise nature of
things has been demanding here for some time ; that of
Autonomy.

A Great Pro
gressive Stride.

From Senor Arturo
for the Island of Cuba :

Amblard Member of the Cortes

Sr. Amblard'.
Statement.

I believe that the reforms will completely satisfy the long
felt wishes of the people of Cuba, and that although they
contain details of secondary importance that in practice will
be corrected, they may be the means of bringing together
many men hitherto of clashing opinions, and of gaining sup
porters to the national cause.
From Senor Rabell, leader of the Cuban Reformist
party, in a cable dispatch to Premier Canovas :
The executive committee of Reformist party, upon
learning of reform measures, has resolved to compliment
Your Excellency for the broad spirit that they reveal. By
such consistent action Your Excellency will satisfy the
legitimate aspirations of the people of this Island, who confi
dently expect the development of the plan of reforms, with
the sincere co-operation of all the loyal elements of Cuba,
in order to bring about peace, which everyone desires.
The general applause with which the reform measures
have been received is the best evidence of their merit.

Sr. Rabell'.'
Congratula tions.

From Marquis of Apezteguia, a native of Cuba and
leader of the Union Constitucional party (this, being the
"Tory" or Conservative party of the Island, has always
opposed reform measures for Cuba in the direction of self-
government) :
The Union Constitucional party cannot oppose the work
of the Government. I have come to the Peninsula for the
purpose of avoiding friction and in the interest of harmony.
As to the effects of the reforms in Cuba, I believe that they
will have none directly upon the insurgents in arms. But
the new measures will appeal to the reason of the pacific
native elements and to foreigners in general, and this moral

Statement of
the Cuban
Conservative Leader.

The Cuban
Conservative
Party Will Not
Oppose the
Reforms.

— 88

Voice of the
Havana Cham.
ber of Com
merce.

The Produce
Exchange in
Favor of the
Reforms.

Favorable
Opinion of the
Importers' League.

force on our side will undoubtedly weaken the direct or in
direct support that the insurrection has received in some
countries. From Seiior Rosendo Fernandez, President pro tern, of
the Havana Chamber of Commerce :
I am positive that this Chamber of Commerce will nobly
aid the Government in every measure tending to the attain
ment of peace and to the fostering of the moral and material
interests of the Island on the indisputable basis of Spain's
sovereignty. From Senor Marcelino Gonzales, President of the Havana
Produce Exchange:
The reforms having been studied out and prepared by so
eminent a statesman as Senor Canovas del Castillo, and em
bodying, as the press reports show, such liberal measures of
self-government, they cannot but be beneficial to commerce
in general, which shall have more within reach the means of
overcoming the obstacles it may encounter in the develop
ment of its foreign trade.
From Seiior Laureano Rodriguez, President of the Cuban
Importers' League:
It is my opinion that the reforms, after a revision of the
electoral census (enrolment), when put into operation in a
spirit of good faith, will satisfy the aspirations of the inhabi
tants of this Island.

The Cuban
Press.

The following comments are culled from Cuban and
foreign newspapers:
From El Pais, organ of the Autonomist party :
The reforms should be received with satisfaction and.
applause, and they should meet with our sincere co-opera
tion, for they go much further in the direction of self-govern
ment than the plans of either Seiior Abarzuza or Seiior
Maura. From the Diario de la Marina, organ of the Reformist
party :
Thanks to the reforms we can now confidently say that the.
misfortunes of the Island of Cuba are soon to end.

•84-

From La Liu ha, Republican organ :
The time has come for every honest man who has the wel
fare of Cuba at heart to exert all his influence and all his
endeavors toward convincing those who are at present in
arms that there exists no longer the reasons or the pretexts
with which they pretended to justify their rebellion.
From La Union Constitucional, organ of the party of
that name (Conservative) :
The Union Constitucional party will not set any obsta
cles in the way of the solutions which the home Govern
ment has prepared to the difficulties that beset out common
country. From El Diario del Ejercito, organ of the army :
Senor Canovas has once more shown the deep interest he
takes in Cuban affairs by granting the Island such reforms as
the spirit of the times and the public requirements demanded.

From Le Gaulois, of Paris :
As a whole the reforms planned by the Madrid Govern- The Foreign

ment are of a nature calculated to satisfy the aspirations of
Cubans. If the latter should not consider themselves satis
fied they would forfeit the sympathy of European nations,
who understand perfectly that the Spanish Government in
granting to Cuba such liberal laws has gone in one bound to
the limit which its dignity and its duty would allow.
From L 'Eclair, of Paris:
We must admit that in these circumstances Seiior Canovas
has not revealed himself a Conservative after the fashion of
Guizot, who remained unmoved even while he foresaw prog
ress. Seiior Canovas resembles rather the great British Con
servative Robert Peel, who in 1846 did not hesitate to split
his party in order to grant political liberties to the British
people. From Le Temps, of Paris:
If Senor Canovas del Castillo considers it necessary to
grant to Cuba ample concessions it is, in the first place,
because the urgency of establishing the reforms has appeared
perfectly clear to him, and, in the second place, because he is
perfectly satisfied that he can put them into effect without
prejudice to Spain's honor or Spain's interests.
— 85 —

Press.

REFORM LAW OF flARCH 15, 1895.

LAW FOR THE REORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERN
MENT AND CIVIL ADMINISTRATION OF
THE ISLAND OF CUBA.
Alfonso XIII. , by the Grace of God and the Constitution,
King of Spain, and, in his name and during his minority, the
Queen Regent of the Kingdom : To all whom these presents
shall come, know ye that the Cortes have decreed and we
have sanctioned the following :
ARTICLE I. The system of government and the civil ad
ministration of the Island of Cuba shall be readjusted on the
following bases :
BASIS I.
The laws of municipalities and of provinces now in force irf
the Island are hereby amended to the extent necessary for
the following ends :
The Council of Administration shall, upon the report of the
Provincial Assemblies, decide all questions relating to the
formation of municipalities, and to the determination of their
boundaries. The law of provinces is hereby amended as to the matters
placed by these bases within the powers of the Council of
Administration. The Provincial Assembly shall decide all questions pertain
ing to the organization of Boards of Aldermen, to their elec
tion, to the qualification of the members and other similar
questions. Each Board of Aldermen shall elect one of its members as
Mayor. The Governor General may remove a Mayor and
appoint a new Mayor, but the new Mayor must be a member
of the Board. In addition to their functions as executive
officers of the Boards of Aldermen, the Mayors shall be the
representatives and delegates of the Governor General.
Whenever the Governor General shall stay the resolutions
of a municipal corporation* the matter shall be laid before
the criminal courts, if the stay be due to misdemeanor com

provincial
Assemblies and
rtunicipalities.

* See note page 97

— 87-

Taxation.

mitted by the corporation in connection with the resolutions,
or laid before the Provincial Governor, upon the report of the
Provincial Assembly, if the resolutions were stayed because
they exceeded the powers of the Board, or because they in
fringed the law.
The Provincial Governors may stay the resolutions of the
municipal corporation, and censure, warn, fine or suspend the
members of the corporations when they exceed the limits of
their powers.
Previous to removing Mayors or Aldermen, in the cases
provided by law, the Governor General must give the Coun
cil of Administration a hearing upon the removal.
Every member of a municipal corporation who shall have
presented or voted in favor of a resolution injurious to the
rights of a citizen shall be under a liability, enforcible before
the court having jurisdiction, to indemnify or make restitu
tion to the injured party, the liability ceasing according to
the rules of the Statute of Limitations.
nunicipai Each Board of Aldermen shall, in matters defined as within
the exclusive municipal powers, have full freedom of action,
agreeably with the observance of the law, and with the
respect due to the rights of citizens. In order that the
Boards of Aldermen and the guilds* may fix the amount of
the taxes to cover the expenses of the municipality and may
determine their nature and their distribution, in accordance
with the preference of each municipality, the Boards of
Aldermen and the guilds shall have all the powers necessary
thereto, that is compatible with the system of taxation of the
State. The Provincial Assemblies may review the resolutions of
municipal corporations relating to the preparation or altera
tion of their estimates of revenues and expenditures, and,
while respecting their discretionary powers, shall see that no
appropriation which exceeds the assets be allowed, and that
arrears of previous years and payments ordered by courts
having jurisdiction have the preference. The Governor
General and the Provincial Governors shall in these matters
have only the intervention necessary to insure the observance
of the law and to prevent municipal taxation from impairing
the sources of revenue of the State.
The annual accounts of each Mayor, inclusive of revenues
* For purposes of taxation the various trades are formed into
guilds. Taxes on trades are apportioned among the guilds, whose
officers fix the tax to be paid by each member according to the valu
ation of his business. — 88 —

and expenditures, ordinary and extraordinary, shall be pub
lished in the municipality and audited and corrected by the
Provincial Assembly, after hearing protests, and approved by
the Provincial Governor if they do not exceed 100,000 pese
tas, and by the Council of Administration if they exceed that
sum. The Provincial Assemblies and the Council of Adminis
tration shall determine if any officials have incurred liabili
ties, except in the cases that come within the jurisdiction of
the ordinary courts.
Appeals to the Council of Administration may be taken
from the decisions of the Provincial Assemblies.

BASIS II.

Councilors
Appointed by
the Crown.

The Council of Administration shall be organized as follows : The Council.
The Governor General, or the acting Governor General,
•shall be President of the Council.
The Supreme Government shall appoint by Royal Decree
fifteen of the Councilors.
The Council shall have a staff of secretaries, with the per
sonnel necessary for the transaction of its affairs.
The office of Councilor shall be honorary and gratuitous.
For appointment as Councilor the appointee must have
resided in the Island during the four years previous to appoint
ment, and must have one of the following qualifications :
To be or to have been President of a Chamber of Com
merce, of the Economic Society of Friends of the Country,
or of the Sugar Planters' Association.
To be or to have been Rector of the University, or Dean of
the Corporation of Lawyers of a provincial capital for two
years. To have been for the four years previous to appointment
¦ one of the fifty principal taxpayers of the Island, paying
taxes on real estate, on manufactures, on trade, or on licenses
to practice a profession.
To have been a Senator of the Kingdom or a Representative
to the Cortes in two or more legislatures.
To have been two or more times President of a Provincial
Assembly of the Island ; to have served for two or more terms
<of two years as member of the Provincial Executive Com-
— 89 —

mittee ; * or to have been a Provincial Assemblyman eight
years. To have been for two or more terms of two years Mayor of
a provincial capital.
To have been, until the proclamation of this act, member
of the Administrative Council for two or more years.
The Council may, whenever it shall deem it expedient,
summon to its deliberations, through the Governor General,
any chief of department, but the latter shall not vote with
the Council.
Councilors • To form the Council fifteen additional Councilors shall be
Elected by the elected by voters having the qualifications requisite to vote
for Provincial Assemblymen.
The term of office shall be four years. The elections to fill
vacated seats shall take place every two years, the Provinces
of Havana, Pinar del Rio and Puerto Principe voting at one
election, and the Provinces of Matanzas, Santa Clara and
Santiago de Cuba voting at another.
The Province of Havana shall elect four Councilors ; the
Province of Santiago de Cuba shall elect three ; and each of
the other provinces shall elect two.
All the Councilors shall be elected at the same time : upon
the establishment of this act, and after a total removal of the
Council. Two years after the establishment of this act, or
after a total removal of the Council, the Councilors from the
first group of provinces above named shall vacate their seats,
and their successors shall be elected.**
In ordinary cases the election shall take place at the same
time as the elections for Provincial Assemblymen, the votes
for Councilor and for Assemblyman being cast together.
The Council shall be the judge of the elections, returns
and qualifications of the Councilors-elect and of the quali
fications of the Councilors appointed by the Crown, and shall
decide all questions concerning its own organization under
the law.
BASIS III.
The Council of Administration shall resolve whatever it
may deem proper for the management in the whole Island ;
* Each of the six provinces of Cuba — like every other Spanish
province — has a Provincial Assembly. The Assembly meets twice a.
year in sessions of about two weeks, and appoints from its members
a Provincial Executive Committee (comisidn provincial) to act dur
ing the intervals between the sessions.
** At the next election the Councilors elected for the second group of
provinces would vacate their seats. — 90 —

of public works, posts and telegraphs, railways and naviga- Powers of the
tion, agriculture, manufactures, trade, immigration and °"nai.
colonization, public instruction, charities and the health
department, without prejudice to the supervision and to the
powers inherent to the sovereignty of the nation, which are
reserved by law to the Supreme Government.
Each year it shall prepare and approve the estimates with
sufficient appropriations for all those departments. It shall
exercise the functions that the laws of provinces and of
municipalities and other special laws shall attribute to it. It
shall correct, and in the proper cases approve, the accounts
of its revenues and expenditures, which accounts shall be
rendered every year by the general management of the local
administration,* and shall determine the liabilities therein
incurred by officials.
The local revenues** shall consist of :
1. The proceeds of Crown lands and rents, and of the in- Revenues.
stitutions whose financial management pertains to the
Council. 2. The surcharges which, within the limits fixed by law,
the council may add to the taxes imposed by the State.
It shall be the duty of the Governor General, as superior
chief of the authorities of the Island, to carry out the resolu
tions of the Council.
For that purpose the general. management of the local ad
ministration, as delegate of the Governor General, shall at
tend to the departments included in the local estimates and
shall keep the books thereof and shall be responsible for the
non-fulfillment of the laws and of the legitimate resolutions of
the Council of Administration.
Whenever the Governor General may deem any resolution
of the Council contrary to the law or to the general interests
of the nation, he shall stay its execution, and shall of his
own motion take such measures as the public needs — which
would otherwise be neglected — may require, immediately
submitting the matter to the Minister of the Colonies.
If any resolution of the Council unduly injures the rights of
a citizen the Councilors who shall have contributed with their
votes to the passage of the resolution shall be liable, before

* An office in charge of a superior official that under the Governor
General act as the executive of the Council of Administration.
** Revenues of which the Council of Administration may dispose.
— 91 —

Suspension of
Members
of Council.

Advisory
Powers of
Council.

the courts having jurisdiction, to indemnify or make restitu
tion to the injured party.
The Governor General, after hearing the Council of Authori
ties, may suspend the Council of Administration, or, with
out hearing the Council of Authorities, may suspend
individual members of the Council of Administration as long
as a number of Councilors sufficient to form a quorum
remains :
1. When the Council or any one of its members transgresses
the limits of its legitimate powers, and impairs the authority
of the Governor General or the judicial authority, or threat
ens to disturb the public peace.
2. For a misdemeanor.
In the first case the Governor General shall immediately
inform the Supreme Government of the suspension, so that
the latter may either set it aside or, through a resolution
adopted by the Council of Ministers within two months,
decree the removal. If at the expiration of the two months
the suspension has not been acted upon, it shall, as a matter
of right, be deemed set aside.
In the second case, the matter shall come before the court
having jurisdiction, which shall be the full Supreme Court
of Havana, and its decision therein shall be final. In other
cases the accused may appeal.
The Council shall have a hearing:
1. Upon the general estimates of expenditures and revenues
of the Island, which estimates, prepared by the Finance
Department of the Island, shall be submitted yearly, to
gether with the changes suggested by the Council,
during the month of March, or earlier, to the Minister of the
Colonies. Although the Supreme Government may have varied the
estimates before submitting them to the Cortes for appro
priations to meet the expenses of the departments and the
general obligations of the state, it shall always submit with
them, for purposes of information, the' changes suggested by
the council.
2. Upon the general accounts, which the Finance Depart
ment of the Island must without fail submit annually within
the six months following the end of the fiscal year, and which
shall include the revenues collected and the expenditures
liquidated.

92-

3. Upon the matters pertaining to the patronage* of the
Indies. 4. Upon the decisions of Provincial Governors which shall
come on appeal before the Governor General.
5. Upon the removals or suspensions of Mayors and Alder
men. tl. Upon other matters of a general nature.
The Governor General may demand of the Council the
reports he may desire.
The Council shall meet in ordinary sessions at stated inter
vals, and in extraordinary session whenever the Governor
General may summon it.
BASIS IV.

The Governor General shall be the representative of the
National Government in the Island of Cuba. He shall as
vice-royal patron exercise the powers inherent to the patron
age of the Indies. He shall be the Commander-in-Chief of
the Army and Navy stationed on the Island. He shall be the
delegate of the Ministers of the Colonies, of State, of War
and of the Navy. All the other authorities of the Island shall
be his subordinates. He shall be appointed and removed by
the President of the Council of Ministers, with the assent of
the Council.
In addition to the other functions which pertain to him by
law or by special delegation of the Government it shall be
his duty :
To proclaim, execute and cause to be executed, on the
Island, the laws, decrees, treaties, international conventions
and other mandates that emanate from the legislature.
To proclaim, execute and cause to be executed the de
crees, Royal orders, and other mandates that emanate from

Powers and
Duties of
the Governor
General.

* In England when lords of manors first built and endowed
churches on their lands they had the right of nominating clergymen
(provided they were canonically qualified) to officiate in them. This
right is the "patronage" {jus patronatus). The Bulls of Alex
ander VI. in 1493 and of Julius II. in 1508 granted the Crown of
Spain the patronage of the Indies (New World). It includes not only
the right of presentation to the churches and monasteries built and
endowed by the Crown, but other rights so extensive that the author
speaks of the Kings of Spain as the "born delegates of the Holy See
and apostolic vicar-generals in the Indies." — Translator' s Note.

— 93-

the executive, and which the Ministers, whose delegate he is,
may communicate to him.
.To suspend the proclamation and execution of resolutions
of His Majesty's Government, when in his judgment such res
olutions might prove injurious to the general interests of the
nation or to the special interests of Island, informing the
Minister concerned of the suspension, and of the reason
therefor, in the speediest manner possible.
To superintend and inspect all the departments of the
public service.
To communicate directly upon foreign affairs with the
representatives, diplomatic agents and consuls of Spain in
the Americas.
To suspend, after consultation with the Council of Authori
ties, the execution of a sentence of death, whenever the
gravity of the circumstances may require it, and the urgency
of the case be such that there is no opportunity to apply to
His Majesty for pardon.
To suspend, after consultation with the same Council, and
on his own responsibility, whenever extraordinary circum
stances prevent previous communication with the Supreme
Government, the constitutional rights expressed in Articles
IV, V, VI. and IX., and Sections 1, 2 and 3 of Article XIII.
of the Constitution of the State, and to apply the Riot Act.
It shall also be the duty of the Governor General as head
of the civil administration :
To keep each department of the administration within the
limits of its powers.
To devise the general rules necessary for the execution of
the laws and regulations, submitting them to the Minister of
the Colonies.
To conform strictly to the regulations and orders devised
by the Supreme Government for the due execution of the
laws. To determine the penal institutions in which sentences are
to be served, to order the incarceration therein of convicts,
and to designate the jail liberties when the courts order con
finement therein.
To suspend any public official whose appointment pertains
to the Supreme Government, giving the Government imme
diate notice of the suspension, with the reasons therefor, and
to fill pro tempore the vacancy in accordance with the regu
lations now in force.
To act as intermediary between the Ministers, whose dele
gate he is, and all the authorities of the Island.
— 94 —

The Council of Authorities shall consist of the following
members : The Bishop of Havana or the Reverend the Arch
bishop of Santiago de Cuba, if the latter be present ; the
Commander of the Naval Station, the Military Governor, the
presiding justice of the Supreme Court of Havana, the
Attorney-General, the head of the Department of Finances,
and the director of local administration.
The resolutions of this Council shall be drawn up in dupli
cate and one of the copies shall be sent to the Minister of the
Colonies. They are not binding upon the Governor General.
All his acts must be upon his own responsibility.
The Governor General shall not surrender his office nor
absent himself from the Island without the express order of
the Supreme Government.
In case of vacancy, absence or inability the Military Gov
ernor shall be his substitute, and in default of the latter the
Commander of the Naval Station, until the Supreme Govern
ment appoints a pro tempore Governor General.
The criminal part of the Supreme Court at Madrid shall
have the sole jurisdiction over the Governor General for in
fractions of the Penal Code. Charges of maladministration
against the Governor General shall be brought before the
Council of Ministers.
The Governor General shall not amend nor revoke his own
decisions when they : have been confirmed by the Supreme
Government ; or have vested rights ; or have served as the
basis of a judgment of a court, or of the adjudication of a
mixed juridical administrative tribunal ; or when he bases his
decision upon the limitations of his powers.-

Council of
Authorities.

BASIS V.

The civil and financial administration of the Island, under
the supervision of the Governor General, shall be organized
in accordance with the following rules :
The Governor General with his staff of secretaries, which
shall be under the direction of a chief of department, shall
attend directly to matters of government, the patronage of
the Indies, conflicts of jurisdiction, public peace, foreign
affairs, jails, penitentiaries, statistics, personnel of the de
partments, communication between all the authorities of the
Island and the Supreme Government, and all the other mat
ters that are unassigned.
The Finance Department, which shall be under the charge
of a superior chief of department, shall attend to the whole

Civil and
Financial Ad=
ministration.

¦95-

management of the finances; it shall keep the books, and
audit and submit the accounts of the estimates of the State on
the Island.
The provincial administrative sections shall be under the
direct control of the Finance Department, without prejudice
to the supervision that the Governor General may delegate in
fixed cases to the Provincial Governor.
The general management of local administration, under
the charge of a superior chief of administration, shall attend
to the departments that shall be supported with the appro
priations made by the Council of Administration ; it shall keep
the books, and audit and submit the annual accounts of the
estimates of the Council and of the municipalities, and shall
enforce the resolutions of the Council of Administration.
The personnel of the offices and the methods for the trans
action of affairs shall be adapted to the object of obtaining
the greatest simplicity in the transaction of affairs and in fix
ing official responsibility.
The rules of law shall determine the cases in which aright
is vested through the decision of a superior official in a matter
that, in accordance with this basis, falls within his jurisdic
tion, so that an action before the mixed juridical-administra
tive tribunal may lie.
Nevertheless the injured party may at any time bring a
complaint before the Governor General in matters which ¦
concern the Finance Department and the general management
of local administration, and also before the Minister of the
Colonies in any matter that concerns the administration or
the government of the Island; but the complaint shall not
interrupt the administrative process, nor the legal procedure,
nor the course of the action before the mixed juridical-admin
istrative tribunal.
The Governor General and the Minister of the Colonies,
when using their powers of supervision, either on their own
initiative or owing to a complaint, shall refrain from inter
rupting the ordinary course of affairs, as long as there be no
necessity of taking measures to remedy or prevent irre
parable damage, before the final decision of the competent
authority.  •
ARTICLE II.*
Provincial ARTICLE III. The system of election and the division of
Elections. tjje provinces int0 districts for the provincial elections shall be

* Article II. of this act refers exclusively to Porto Rico. Article
III. refers both to Cuba and to Porto Rico.
— 96 —

modified by the Government, in order to enable minorities in
both Cuba and Porto Rico to have representation in the
municipalities and in the Provincial Assemblies, and in Cuba
in the Council of Administration of Cuba, and in order-
to apply to the election of Aldermen, Provincial Assem
blymen and Councilors of Administration — in so far as the
qualifications of voters and the annual formation and recti
fication of the registration lists are concerned — the provisions
of the Royal Decree of December 27, 1892, upon the reform of
the electoral law for the election of representatives to the
Cortes, Articles XIV., XV. and XVI. of the said Royal Decree
shall be extended to all classes of elections.
For all electoral purposes the taxes imposed by the Council
of Administration in Cuba, and by the Provincial Assembly in
Porto Rico, by virtue of the new powers granted to them by
this act, shall be computed as if imposed by the State.
ADDITIONAL ARTICLE.
The Government shall render to the Cortes an account of
the use it makes of the powers hereby granted to it.
TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS.
1. The Councilors of Administration elected in the Island
of Cuba upon the proclamation of this act shall stay in office
until the first election for Provincial Assemblymen that hap
pens after two years have passed since the first election of
the Council.
2. The rectification, according to the methods that shall be
established under Article III. of this act, of the registration lists
for the election of Aldermen and of Provincial Assemblymen
in both Cuba and Porto Rico, and of Councilors of Adminis
tration in Cuba, shall commence from the time of the
proclamation of this act.
The Minister for the Colonies shall ordain, by Royal Decree,
the necessary measures, and shall fix the time for the various
operations of the rectification, so that it may be finished
before any election take place to establish the Council of Ad
ministration in Cuba or to fill the seats of members of
municipal corporations whose terms have expired.
The election for the latter purpose shall under no circum
stances be postponed, except in the case of the Boards of
Aldermen,* which, in this present year, and if the Supreme
* Municipal corporations in Cuba, as in the Peninsula, have a
Board of Aldermen (ayuntamiento) and a Municipal Council (junta.
municipal). — 97 —

Government deem it necessary, may be postponed until the
first fortnight of next June.
In subsequent years the rectification shall take place in the
manner provided by the Royal Decree of December 27, 1892,
referred to in Article III. of this act.
Therefore :
We order all the courts, justices, chiefs, governors and
other authorities, civil, military and ecclesiastical, of whatso
ever class or dignity, to keep, and cause to be kept, fulfill
.and execute this act in all its parts.
Given in the Palace, March 15, 1895.
I, the Queen Regent.
The Minister for the Colonies.
Buenaventura Abarzuza.

Part Vhird.

{Political and Social Condition of the
Ssland of Cuba.  Statistics of its Wealth
and Commercial '77/ovement.  Sts {Proy~
ress 1/nder Spanish ZPule Compared with
TJhat of independent Spanish- J&merican
Countries.
&y jC. u. Jxbad de las Casas*

Note — The following paper was written by Seiior Abad de las Casas, a Cuban
Autonomist, in New York, in 1896, before Senor Canovas framed the new plan
of reforms which appears in Part II. of this volume, and it is now published as
written, the author's views having been confirmed by subsequent events and
strengthened by his experience and observations during his recent travels
through Span ish-Ameri can countries. — The PUBLISHERS.

I.

fN view of the determined efforts of certain of the
newspapers of this country to convert the insurrec
tion of a part of the Cuban people into an Ameri
can question;
Of the partisan campaign which is being carried on with
that object by certain penny journals, which seem to have
made it their aim to deprave public taste and discredit
journalism by their sensational articles on all subjects,
without previously investigating them, and by their illus
trations like circus posters, which are veritable crimes
against art ;
Of the campaign that, personally, in meetings or by
means of pamphlets written in English, the agents of the
insurrection are unceasingly carrying on for the purpose
of misleading and influencing public opinion by the circu
lation of Spanish and Cuban news, which, if not always
false, is at least exaggerated or partial in a sense favora
ble to their aims ;
And even of the efforts of certain politicians of this
country who, through party interest or personal ambition,
have made a trade of villifying Spain in their speeches
and writings, wilfully or ignorantly misrepresenting the
facts, with the same purpose of misleading public opinion,
thereby proving how little they care about involving the
country in international conflicts in which the people, who
do not live by politics, must always lose ;
In view, then, of this treacherous and malicious propa
ganda, I have resolved to write these papers, which I
— 101 —

trust the people of the United States will read with enough
attention to enable them to perceive that they are inspired
only by the desire of making known the truth, in order
that the question may be judged with a full knowledge of
the facts.
A Cuban by birth and an advocate of self-government
for the Spanish provinces of the Antilles and the Philippine
Islands since the time when I first took part in Cuban
politics, I can assure my readers that they will find in
these pages neither a panegyric of the Spanish Govern
ment, whose system of administration I have always corn-
batted, and which is the cause of many of the evils which
the Cubans suffer, nor a eulogy of my fellow country
men, who are themselves in no small degree to blame for
these evils.
In the majority of the articles published in English
which treat of Cuba the impression is sought to be con
veyed more or less plainly, according to the amount of
conscience the writer still has left, that the question of the
independence of Cuba from Spain is similar to that of
Greece from Turkey, at the beginning of the present cen
tury — an error which has the result of arousing in the
public mind, easily influenced and more or less romantic,
a feeling of sympathy toward the insurgents, thus con
verted into heroes of romance, and of prejudice against
Spain. It is true that, on the other hand, other writers, with
less feeling perhaps, but with more conscience and more
talent, have presented the question under another and
more impartial aspect ; but the articles of these writers,
not sensational enough for the readers of the cheap news
papers, have appeared m reviews, or in newspapers of a
serious character, whose readers have less need of exact
information, as their higher mental culture enables them
more easily to distinguish the true from the false.
Of course the first mentioned writers represent the
— 102 —

Spaniards as barbarians, incapable of comprehending a
word of political science or modern law, and the Spanish
soldiers as vandals.
In a pamphlet written, it is to be said, in very bad
English, I have read the following:
" During her rule of 400 years Spain has not taken a
single step tending to the development of the country or
to the well-being of the people."
This statement would be merely ridiculous if the author
(who was born in Cuba) did not show in making it that
his bad faith is even greater than his ignorance of Cuban
affairs, which is, however, great enough.
In fact, to suppose that the University of Havana, one
of the oldest universities in America ; the Economic So
ciety of Friends of the Country, established under the
protection of Governor Las Casas in 1793, and the posi
tion which Cuba holds, as the foremost among all the
Ibero-American countries in culture and material pros
perity, are not due to Spain, or to the children of Spaniards
born in Cuba, who are also Spaniards so long as Cuba
does not change her nationality, is the height of fanaticism,
for none but a fanatic could make such absurd allega
tions. But if the insurgent propagandists make charges so false
and ridiculous against Spanish civilization in America, it
shall be my pleasure to remind my readers that a distin
guished North American writer, Mr. Arthur R. Marshall, in
one of his works on anthology draws attention to the solici
tude of Spain for her American possessions, to which she
carried her culture, her political science, her literature, her
arts and sciences, in contrast to the species of indifference
with which England always regarded her North American
colonies ; so that while the golden age of English literature
scarcely found an echo in New England, the Spaniards
founded universities and colleges in Mexico, Peru, Ecua
dor, New Granada, Venezuela and Havana as early as the
— 103 —

sixteenth century, which produced men of letters whose
fame became universal.*
The Cubans are descendants of either Spaniards or
Indians or negroes, or they are of mixed blood; in this
case also they are the children of foreigners, who in gen
eral marry the daughters of Spaniards.
Those who deny their ancestors and ridicule them
abroad, in order to justify the ideal of freedom, which is
in itself lofty and noble, and requires no sophisms to de
fend it, may be shrewd business men, but they show
plainly that they are not good patriots, for he who dis
honors his ancestors cannot honor his country.
If the insurgent propagandists should say that they de
sire absolute independence from Spain because they
represent a majority of the population of the country,
which considers that it possesses the necessary conditions
to constitute itself an independent state, then the work of
the Cubans who have other political ideas would reduce
itself to ascertaining which of the political parties is in the
majority, and then giving their support either to their
rebellious countrymen or to the Spanish Government.
But in view of the campaign which the propagandists
are making those Cubans who, like myself, disown false
statements and misrepresentations of facts which are in
this case both illogical and base, should also disown the
calumnies propagated against the Spaniards, and state
facts as they really are.
To enter, then, upon our subject: Remaking history,
the insurgent propagandists represent our forefathers, the
conquerors of America, as utterly ferocious in their
instincts and cruel in their methods of government.
The chivalrous and disinterested, loyal and generous
character of the Spanish people, even in mediaeval times,
when the passions were intensified by the religious ideals
•Arthur Richmond Marshall; The Nation, New York, Janu
ary 3 and 10, 1896. — 104 —

of the age, is proverbial ; and although even the casual
reader may find in the history of Spain, as in that of
France and England, barbarous and sanguinary deeds, yet
in no nation — and this nothwithstanding the fact that
there existed in Spain for three centuries a religious tri
bunal which condemned many unhappy persons to the
stake or the torture — were so many capital sentences
executed, nor was the number of the victims of religious
fanaticism so great as in the northern nations of Europe.
In Spain there has never been any prison with a history
similar to that of the Tower of London or the Bastille.
Naturally the Spanish adventurers who exposed their
lives in open boats to go to unknown countries were not
savants who went to America to botanize, in the same way
as the men who landed in New England did not go there
to botanize.
To prevent the evils which emigration might bring with
it, laws were enacted for the protection of the Indians,
and that Spain did not employ a policy of extermination
toward them is evident from the fact that the region of
America which up to seventy years ago was governed by
Spanish laws has at the present time a population of
18,000,000 of Indians of unmixed blood.*
The American people, knowing as they do the charac
teristics of the American aborigines, and knowing also
that in all the vast territory of the Union, according to
the census of 1890, there remained only 249,000 Indians,
while there were still in 1870 350,000, cannot fail to per
ceive that if Spanish laws had tended to the extermi
nation of the Indians, the customs inherited by the Spanish-
* According to the official statistics of the following republics the
approximate number of Indians in each of them is as follows:
Mexico, 3,760,000; Guatemala, 850,000; Honduras, 250,000; Salvador,
300,000; Nicaragua, 200,000; Costa Rica, 50,000; Colombia, 700,000;
Venezuela, 1,000,000; Ecuador, 600,000; Brazil, 8,000,000; the
Argentine Republic, 1,000,000; Uruguay, 130,000; Paraguay, 70,000;
Bolivia, 1,750,000; Peru, 1,400,000, and Chili, 50,000.
— 105 —

Americans would not of themselves have sufficed to cause
the survival of this enormous contingent of the race which
scientists are agreed in saying tends to disappear from the
face of the earth.
The names of Commander Ovando and of one or two
other Governors are often cited, and history has con
demned them severely for their cruelty to the aborigines ;
but the repeated mention in histories and works of fiction
of the same rulers is the best proof that they were the
exception to the rule ; as in the modern history of Cuba
only two governors (Tacon and Lersundi, who by their
arbitrary acts greatly prejudiced the cause of Spain) are
thus mentioned.
It was precisely the philanthropic sentiments of an
eminent monk, Bartolome de las Casas, toward the Amer
ican aborigines that caused him to advocate the introduc
tion of negroes into America, as a means of exempting
the Indians from labor, which they performed only under
coercion, owing to their general refractoriness to adapt
themselves to European civilization. In the United
States, also, there has been given the opportunity to verify
this fact. The social evils which slavery brought to Cuba
were caused necessarily by the character of the Indians
themselves and of their civilization.
No serious historian has stated that there were 800,000
Indians in Cuba in the fifteenth century, as another pam
phleteer asserts, who employs his pen in favor of the
insurgent cause, and who represents that backward race
as a model of all the virtues, as the sole descendants of
Abel, and the inhabitants of an Eden without the serpent.
The Indians have disappeared from the Antilles be
cause they were few in number, for it is well known that
they lived in perpetual conflict with the ferocious Caribbee
Indians, who decimated their numbers; many of them
went to Yucatan and thence to the Mexican deserts, beyond
the pale of the civilization which they rejected; the rest
— 106 —

became gradually amalgamated with the invading white
and black races, and the descendants of these mixed races
are frequently to be met with in Cuba, Santo Domingo
and Porto Rico.
In a report presented to the King of Spain in 1522, the
number of Indians then in the Island was estimated at
5,000. As the number of negro slaves that had been in
troduced into the Island was. much larger than this (in 17*74
there were 40,000 African slaves in Cuba), the disappear
ance of the aboriginal race is not to be wondered at.
Senor Montoro, an eminent Cuban, a member of the
Autonomist party in Havana, and a Deputy to the Spanish
Cortes in various legislatures, defended his Autonomist
opinions in a lecture on Cuba, given in the Athenaeum in
Madrid, basing them precisely on the ancient Spanish laws,
called the Laws of the Indies, and declaring that at that
period the principle of self-government for America was
accepted in the mother country.
" By virtue of this condition," says Senor Montoro, " the
new kingdoms (of America) were organized like those of
the Peninsula, but with their own institutions, although
they were analogous to those of the mother country, and,
when the case admitted of it, identical, but separate or dis
tinct from them. I will mention, as an instance, the
system of government of the municipalities which, in the
first period' of colonization, had more attributes and
powers than those which the Peninsula enjoyed in the
Middle Ages, the period in which municipalities with self-
governing powers were organized. The ' Juntas de Pro-
curadores ' were very similar to what the Insular Chamber
to which we aspire to-day would be."
The laws enacted in 1530 and 1540, in the reign of
Charles L, ordained the assembling of Congresses — real
Congresses — in Mexico and Peru, conferring on the prin
cipal cities privileges analogous to those which Burgos, in
Castile, enjoyed. — 107 —

As another proof that the Spanish policy toward the colo
nies has not always been retrogressive, I will quote a pas
sage from a discourse pronounced in the Spanish Cortes
by Senor Labra, one of the leaders of the Autonomist
party. " See, if this be not so, how in the Island of Cuba, the
only country to which I need now refer, public spirit is
awakened in the eighteenth century, at the same time that
a humane, equitable and provident measure in commercial
legislation is initiated (the decree of Charles III., in 1765,
establishing free trade with the Colonies) ; the never-to-
be-forgotten General Las Casas, a man of exceptionally
advanced ideas of reform, is sent there ; and the Economic
Society of Friends of the Country is founded, with powers
and attributes so ample that it organizes and directs public
works and education, fosters agriculture, industry and
trade, and thus becomes a sort of Department of Public
Works, directing and administering, under the authority
of the Governor General, those important branches on
which the prosperity and civilization of new countries de
pend." It is true that these liberal institutions were afterward
lost, as they were lost by the mother country itself, in con
sequence of the various political crises through which it
passed, and which brought with them the decadence of
the kingdom.
Cuba being a part of the Spanish monarchy and peo
pled to-day by the Spanish race, the evil times in the na
tion's history should not be the only ones to be recalled.
Let also the good times be remembered, or none at all.
The invasion of Napoleon produced the first revolutions
of America, which, because of the failure of the Spanish
rulers to understand them, became converted into wars
of independence. The very independence of the United
States, accomplished thirty years before, had of necessity
a part in this change of ideals; but it must not be for-
— 108 —

gotten, as it is not forgotten by the American republics,
which are to-day the friends of Spain, that it was not
motives of dissatisfaction with the sovereignty of Spain
that produced this premature dismemberment of terri
tories that were not yet prepared to become independent
states; but, on the contrary, a sentiment of loyalty to the
Bourbon dynasty, as events demonstrated later.

II.

After this terrible struggle just referred to of the Span
ish people with the greatest captain of modern times, a
struggle which was for Napoleon the beginning of the
Odyssey that was to terminate in St. Helena, Spain awoke
to the revolution that had been effected in the social and
political order of the world, and took the part in it which
belonged to her.
A Congress was elected and Cuba was not forgotten by
the Government. Cuba had its representatives in the first
Spanish Cortes, and in this fact a principle of justice and
an eminently liberal spirit are to be recognized, which
were shown by no other nation.
The restrictive policy of 1836 deprived the Antilles of
this right and of the enjoyment of many other liberties,
producing in the Island the first feeling of dissatisfaction
with the mother country.
Then followed a period of difficulty in the development
of the social and political life of Spain, characterized, in
regard to her colonial policy, by an indecision in every act
that might change the manner of life of the colony, and
in her political conduct by a disregard of former codes and
laws, a policy which produced among the Cubans, as a
natural consequence, the discontent which engendered in
— 109 —

some of them, influenced by the recent examples of inde
pendence on the continent, selfish desires and ambitious
hopes. For this reason various attempts were made at revolu
tion at that period, but these were always isolated and
were suppressed in time, rather because the country in
general enjoyed a prosperity which was not enjoyed by
the continental republics, and did not sympathize with the
revolutionary movements, than because of the ability of
her Governors.
And in fact the population of the Island, which was
170,000 in 1774, had increased in 1860 — less than a century
—to 1,200,000.
The trade of the Island, from $15,000,000 in imports
and $13,000,000 in exports in 1826, had increased, the
former to $43,500,000, and the latter to $57,500,000; that
is to say, a commercial movement of $101,000,000, or $85
per capita annually.
In 1862 the total value of the plantations and stock of
the Island amounted to $380,554,527; thus the public ex
penses were covered with the greatest facility, the prin
cipal sources of revenue being the 2 per cent, tax on the
rents or net produce of rural real estate; 4 per cent, on
urban real estate, various small taxes and the customs,
subject to a tariff which was highly defective, but which
nevertheless produced to the public treasury from 16 to
35 per cent, ad valorem on imports.
At this time not only was there no public debt, but
there was a surplus fund of two or three millions in the
treasury, and for some few years Cuba contributed an
equal amount to the national revenue.
This latter fact, which the insurgent propagandists have
loudly proclaimed, and often with exaggeration, need
cause no surprise when we consider that Cuba, from 1493
to 1823, was a source of expense to the national treasury;
— 110 —

that is to say, that its budget of expenditures was greater
than that of its revenues, so that Spain had to supply the
deficiency. And finally, for public instruction there were eighteen
high schools and, between public and private, 468 lower
schools, with an attendance of. 20, 000 pupils.
At this time the Revolution of September, 1868, took
place in Spain, and with it a change in the institutions of
the country, and a very radical one in the principles of the
Government. At the same time another revolution broke out in Cuba,
with the cry of independence, which was as inopportune
as it was fatal to the destinies of Cuba.
This revolution, which a year before, when there were
as yet no hopes of reform, might have been justifiable, for
it would have been the outbreak of a people who could
endure no longer the unjustifiable and seemingly inter
minable state of tutelage in which it was kept, occurring at
this period of national evolution proves how lacking both
in political wisdom and in patriotism were its leaders.
Plunged at once into a civil war which lasted for ten
years, all hope of the reforms which the Island would have
had immediately, if the war had not broken out, was cut
off, and that war was at the same time highly prejudicial
to the development of a broad and liberal policy in Porto
Rico. In spite of this, however, when in 1869 the Cortes of that
year was elected on the basis of universal suffrage, this
right was granted to the people of Porto Rico, and, making
use of it, they sent their Deputies to the Spanish Cortes.
At the same time the Constitution of the State was ex
tended to that Island.
Provincial Assemblies were organized with powers to
make and vote the Budgets of the Island for the depart
ments of public instruction, public works (public improve
ments in general) and other departments, besides having
— 111 —

the inspection of the municipalities, which, according to
the municipal law, extending also to Porto Rico, were
organized on the basis of a popular vote and presided
over by Mayors elected by the people ; and slavery was
abolished. That is to say that Porto Rico entered, at the same
time with the Peninsular provinces, on the enjoyment of
the new political and civil life which was being developed
in Spain.
Thus, there is no reason to doubt that but for the war
of insurrection the Spanish Government would have ex
tended to Cuba the same liberties and guarantees which it
conferred on Porto Rico.
On the other hand, it is also certain that had it not been
for the Cuban insurrection Porto Rico would not, five
years later, have been deprived of those rights until the
Cuban war should terminate.
I think I have demonstrated that the leaders of that
movement either sought in it the gratification of personal
ambition, rather than the happiness of their country, or
else showed a lack of political wisdom which, had the in
surrection triumphed, would have been even more fatal to
the destinies of Cuba than the loss of the thousands of
lives and the millions of dollars which the war entailed.
The war lasted ten years and terminated with a capitu
lation in which amnesty for past offenses was proclaimed ;
and it was declared that there were neither victors nor
vanquished ; the Government promised a liberal rule, and
the country, as Seiior Cabrera, of Havana, well says in
one of his interesting works, wearied and impoverished,
sought consolation in hopes of the future.
In regard to the treaty, as it was signed, and to the
demands made by the rebels, many inexact statements
have been published.
One of these statements was made by an American
General, who desired to give it the weight or authority of
— 112 —

his name, because he had fulfilled a diplomatic mission
from the Government of the United States to that of
Spain twenty or twenty-five years ago.
The General referred to stated in a newspaper article
that peace was made on the basis of autonomy for Cuba,.
than which nothing could be more untrue, as the political
idea of this system of Government for Cuba had not been
conceived until after the pacification of the Island.
Senor Enrique Collazo, one of the insurgent leaders, in
his work " From Yara to Zanjdn," referring to the willing
ness of the insurgents to accept peace, speaks as follows:
' ' Consequently a meeting of the leaders and officers was
convoked, and the question being discussed it was resolved
to put it to a vote, for which purpose the forces and the
people in the encampment were assembled, and Brigadier
Rafael Rodriguez explained clearly to them the situation
and the object regarding which they were consulted. ' A
vote is to be taken to decide on the acceptance of peace
or the continuance of war,' he said. 'Let those who
desire the latter . leave the ranks and form in front ; let
those who desire peace remain in their places.' Not one
left his place. The votes of the officers were taken in
writing by the same Brigadier Rodriguez, and the Briga
dier Benitez and two other chiefs were the only ones who
voted for war."
The propositions presented to General Martinez Campos
by the committee appointed by the rebels to treat for peace
were the following:
First — Assimilation of the Spanish Provinces, with the
exception of conscription.
Second — General amnesty for political offenses committed
since 1868 up to the present time (1878) for those who are under
direct indictment or serving sentences within or without the
Island. A general pardon to deserters from the Spanish army,
without distinction of nationality ; this clause to be extended
to all who have taken part, directly or indirectly, in the revo
lutionary movement. — 113 —

Third — Freedom for the slaves and Asiatic coolies now in
the insurgent ranks.
Fourth — No individual who, by virtue of this capitulation,
shall submit to and remain under the authority of the Span
ish Government shall be compelled to render military ser
vice of any kind until peace be established throughout the
Island. Fifth — -Anyone who may desire to leave the Island shall
be allowed to do so and be furnished with the means there
for, without passing through any town, if he shall so desire.
Sixth — As a guarantee to our party we request that Gen
eral Martinez Campos shall hold the civil and political com
mand of the Island for at least one year after the conclusion
of peace and the establishment of the reforms consequent on
this agreement.
Seventh — The capitulation of each force shall take place
in an uninhabited spot, where the arms and other munitions
of war shall have been previously deposited.
Eighth — In order to further the acceptance of these con
ditions by the insurgents of the other departments, the Com
mander-in-chief of the Spanish Army shall furnish them free
transportation by land or sea, over all the lines within his
control, to the Central Department.
Ninth — The pact made with the Central Committee
shall be deemed to have been made with all the departments
of the Island which shall accept these conditions.
The text of the treaty, as it was accepted by the insur
gents and signed by the commissioners, is as follows :
Capitulation of Zanjon.
The people and the armed forces of the Central Depart
ment and the armed groups from other departments having
met in convention, as the only fit means of terminating in
one sense or another the pending negotiations, and having
considered the propositions submitted by the Commander-in-
chief of the Spanish Army, determined on their part to pro
pose amendments to said propositions by presenting the
following articles of capitulation :
Article I. — The political, organic and administrative laws
enjoyed by Porto Rico shall be established in Cuba.
Art. II. — Free pardon for all political offenses committed
from 1868 to date (1878) and freedom for those who are under
indictment or are serving sentences within or without the
Island. Amnesty to all deserters from the Spanish army,
— 114 —

regardless of nationality; this clause being extended to
include all those who have taken part, directly or indirectly,
in the revolutionary movement.
Art. III. — Freedom for the Asiatic coolies and for the
slaves who may be in the insurgent ranks.
Art. IV. — No individual, who by virtue of this capitulation
shall submit to and remain under the authority of the Spanish
Government, shall be compelled to render any military service
before peace be established over the whole territory.
Art. V. — Every individual, who by virtue of this capitula
tion may wish to depart from the Island, shall be permitted to
do so, and the Spanish Government shall provide him with
the means therefor, without passing through any town or
settlement, if he so desires.
Art. VI. — The capitulation of each force shall take place in
some uninhabited spot, where the arms and other munitions
of war shall be previously deposited.
Art. VII. — In order to further the acceptance by the insur
gents of the other departments of these articles of capitula
tion, the Commander-in-chief of the Spanish Army shall
furnish them free transportation by land or sea, over all the
lines within his control, to the Central Department.
Art. VIII. — This pact of the committee of the Central
Department shall be deemed to have been made with all the
departments of the Island which may accept its conditions.
Encampment of St. Augustin, February 10, 1878.
Rafael Rodriguez, Secretary. E. L. Luaces.
As the liberties enjoyed by Porto Rico were very
limited, the suffrage having been taken from it, and the
powers of the Provincial Assembly and of the municipal
ities having been restricted, the liberties on the enjoyment
of which Cuba could enter, in virtue of this treaty, were
very few.

— 115 —

III.
The war being terminated, in virtue of the pact referred
to, in 1878, political parties were organized.
The majority of the Peninsular Spaniards united to
form the " Union Constitucional " party, whose platform
was based on ' ' unification " as a form of government ; that
is to say, the same laws and administrative methods for the
Antilles as for Spain. In practice this party had been
retrogressive; opposed systematically to all political re
form, and always aiming at supremacy over the Spanish
authorities. But it has been seen that a policy of sus
picion and dislike toward the Cubans is not the one most
conducive to the maintenance of peace, and, in reality,
this policy has done more to prejudice the Spanish cause
than all the secessionists and anti-Spaniards ever known.
In opposition to this party the Autonomist party was
formed, composed of the Cubans who were opposed to
the revolution that had just terminated, or who had be
longed to it.
These parties were antagonistic, rather because of the
accumulated resentment and suspicion engendered by the
ten years' war than because of abstract principles, and
the Autonomists had to enter on a titanic struggle to
counteract the policy of the Conservative party and to
maintain a direct intervention in the politics of the
country. This struggle was a hard one, not only because of the
partiality almost invariably shown — up to three years ago
— by the Government in Madrid to the Conservative
party, but also because of the lack of civic qualities in the
generality of the Cuban people, who have neither the edu
cation nor the character necessary to obtain by diplomatic
means the liberties which they desire.
— 116 —

The separatists, who are unaware of their own defects,
and who forget those of their countrymen when they bring
charges against Spain, will be indignant with the Cuban
who says this, but it is nevertheless the exact truth.
Educated abroad, outside the atmosphere of Cuban poli
tics, when I returned to the Antilles I was able to study
the political and social life of the Cubans and Porto Ricans,
as well as the colonial policy of Spain, unbiased by preju
dice ; and I have invariably observed that for the evils of
which my countrymen complain, and for which they blame
the Government, they are themselves in a large measure
responsible. The Cuban people, like every other people that has not
been educated to use its rights and that is ignorant of its
duties, has always supposed that it was the mission of the
Government to confer upon the people the liberties which
they desire, without waiting even to be asked for them ;
and thus it has in general remained almost indifferent to
the most important acts of modern politics; often, through
a base self-interest, using its political rights in a manner
opposed to its own convictions.
The " Union Constitucional" party has sent many Depu
ties to Madrid to work against the concession to Cuba of
the liberties asked by her, supported by the suffrage of many
Cubans who gave their votes through mercenary consid
erations and against their own feelings. I do not say
opinions, because the nameless masses who vote for the
sake of voting, in Cuba the same as in the United States
and everywhere else, have no political convictions.
Owing to this lack of consistency the Autonomist party
had to struggle both against the opposition of the Govern
ment and the intrigues of the opposite party, while it was
at the same time badly seconded by the Cubans them
selves, who were most deeply interested in the spread of
the political doctrines of the party. The fact also that
the Autonomist party had taken no share in the national
— 117 —

party politics was highly prejudicial to it, for, as a result,
none of the political parties of Spain had any interest in
the triumph of the Autonomist Deputies.
An attitude of political unity with some one of the
liberal national parties would undoubtedly have been
highly favorable to the establishment of the reforms, and
even of autonomy, in the Island.
Notwithstanding all these difficulties and drawbacks in
the way of a really practical policy, since the conclusion
of the peace of Zanjdn (1878), which was obtained with
out compromising liberties already enjoyed (since Porto
Rico had lost them in 1874), down to 1895, the following
reforms were obtained :
Abolition of slavery.
Promulgation of the Constitution in force in Spain, by
which the people of Cuba enjoy the same rights, whatever
may have been the place of their birth, as those in the
Peninsular Provinces.
The insurgent propagandists and their North American
sympathizers have often asserted that the Cubans have
neither inviolability of the domicile nor freedom of loco
motion, nor of the press, nor of speech, and so on. All
this is absolutely untrue.
Until a year ago, when the insurrection broke out, the
country was occupied by a military force, as was natural
and is the case in every country; all the liberties enjoyed
in Spain were enjoyed there— the same liberties, social and
political, as are enjoyed by the French, the Belgians, the
Germans, &c.
By virtue of this Constitution no Cuban may be impris
oned except on the order of a judge, the accused being
either indicted or set at liberty within seventy-two hours
after his arrest.
Every Cuban has the right :
To express freely his views and opinions, orally or in
writing, without being subject to the official censorship
— 118 —

which existed up to the time of the promulgation of this
law. Thus in Cuba, as a proof that the exercise of this right
is enjoyed, separatist newspapers and reviews supporting
and defending the platform of Cuban independence have
been. published; as, for example, the separatist newspaper
La Protesta, of Havana; the review Hojas Liter arias,
which was published up to January, 1895, and which was
devoted to the separatist propaganda, and others.
Another equally false charge which has been made is that
concerning freedom of locomotion : ' ' No freedom of lo
comotion," and the pamphleteer adds: " No man, woman
or child can travel from home unless provided with a
license costing annually from 25 cents to $50 ; otherwise
he is arrested; even beggars are not exempt from this
tax. "
If it were not because there are many simple-minded
people who believe this sort of fairy tales I should not
have mentioned this absurd statement, with which it is
sought to influence the public mind, counting on the
ignorance and credulity of the majority.
In Spain, the same -as in other European countries, the
identification of the individual is facilitated by means of a
document signed by the Mayor or local authority, contain
ing the personal description or affiliation of the person con
cerned, together with his signature. This document was
presented in cases in which doubt might arise regarding
the identity of the individual ; as, for example, in collect
ing a debt, obtaining letters directed " poste restante," and
in all legal matters. This document became subject to
a tax, and then its presentation was required in all civil
and political acts; but the document is not extended to
minors, and the quota is so small (a workman pays 25
cents, a professional man, a physician, lawyer, &c, $2
annually) that it will be at once seen is no very great
pecuniary sacrifice. — 119 —

As for the assertion that no one can travel without this
document, it is absurd ; precisely because it is required only
on rare occasions no one carries it about with him. I have
traveled alone a great deal, both on horseback and in a car
riage, and no official has ever asked for this document,
nor could I have been arrested for not carrying it, as this
is specially provided against by a Royal Decree relating to
personal certificates, as they are called.
To continue the enumeration of the rights acquired since
1878: The right of association.
Of assembly and of holding political or other meetings.
The electoral right was also obtained, this privilege
having been extended to every taxpayer whose taxes
amount to $5 annually, the various sources from which
such taxes are derived being cumulative. *
Provincial Assemblies were organized for the inspection
of municipal accounts, charities and public works of a
secondary character. It is true that these assemblies have
given only a negative result, owing to their having been
established under the same conditions as exist in the Penin
sula ; but this failure has only shown how impracticable the
unification theory is in certain cases, and has fully justified
the advocates of decentralization, particularly for the Island
of Cuba.
A municipal law was also promulgated for the creation
of municipalities.
The tribunals of justice, classified as Inferior (municipal),
Superior and Supreme Courts, are sufficiently well dis
tributed for the satisfactory administration of justice.
The same Civil Law in force in the Peninsula was pro
claimed. The same Commercial Code and Law of Mortgages.
Registry and Civil Marriage.
* See page 78. — 120 -

The same Penal Laws as obtain in the Peninsula.
In regard to higher public education, liberty of instruc
tion was proclaimed, by virtue of which studies may be
conducted privately, it being sufficient to take the regular
college examinations to receive a Degree.
Here, briefly outlined, are the principal reforms ob
tained by Cuba, and which practically placed the Cuban
people in possession of all the rights attached to Spanish
citizenship. If it be true that the genuinely Cuban representation in
Congress has been but scant, and Cuban intervention in
the provincial and municipal administration only limited,
this is not owing alone to the partiality of the Government
for the Conservatives, but is also due to the little civic
spirit shown by the majority of the people in making use
of their rights. In those districts where the majority of
the people have manifested greater interest and enthusi
asm in using their political rights the Autonomists have
had a majority in the municipalities and in the Provincial
Assemblies, and have sent their Deputies to the Cortes.
For example :
The representation in the Cortes of the Province of
Puerto Principe has always been Autonomist since 1879.
Half of the representation of the Province of Santiago
•de Cuba, and also of Santa Clara, has been Autonomist.
The Provincial Assemblies of Santa Clara, Santiago de
Cuba and Puerto Principe have had a Liberal majority, and
many town councils (as that of Sancti Spiritus), have been
almost entirely Autonomist.
The following is the platform of the Cuban Liberal or
Autonomist party, organized August 9, 1878, six months
after the conclusion of the treaty of Zanjdn :
Social Question.
The exact fulfillment of Article 21 of the Moret Law,
in its first clause, which says : ' ' The Government shall lay
before the Cortes, as soon as the Cuban Deputies shall have
— 121 —

been admitted into it, the plan of a law of indemnified
emancipation of those who may remain in slavery after the
promulgation of this law." Simultaneous regulation of free
colored labor, and the moral and intellectual instruction of
the freedman.
White immigration exclusively, preference being given to
that of families, and the removal of all obstacles in the way
of Peninsular and foreign immigration; both to be under
taken privately. Political Question.
Necessary Liberties. — Extension of individual rights guar
anteed by Title 1 of the Constitution : to wit, freedom of the
press, of meeting and of association. Right of petition.
Also, freedom of religion and of instruction, orally and in
books. Admission of Cubans, equally with other Spaniards, to all
public offices and employments, in accordance with Article 15
of the Constitution,
Integral application of the municipal, electoral and other
organic laws of the Peninsula to the Islands of Cuba and
Porto Rico, without any other changes than those demanded
by local needs or interests, in accordance with the spirit of
the pact of Zanjon.
Fulfillment of Article 89 of the Constitution ; the particular
system of Spanish laws being understood, which shall favor
the greatest decentralization possible within the national
unity. Separation and independence of the civil and military
powers. Application to Cuba of the Penal Code, of the Law of
Criminal Procedure, of the Law of Mortgages, of that of the
Administration of Justice, of the most recent Commercial
Code, and other legislative reforms, with such modifications
as may be demanded by local interests.
Economic Question.
Abolishment of export duties on all the products of the
Island. Reformation of the Cuban tariff in the sense that import
duties shall be purely fiscal; those having the character
of differential duties, whether specific or of the flag , being
abolished. Reduction of the duties paid in the custom houses of the
Peninsula on Cuban sugar and molasses to the rate of fiscal
duties. — 122 —

Treaties of commerce between Spain and other countries,
particularly the United States, on the basis of the most com
plete reciprocity of the tariff between them and Cuba, the
same exemption from taxes and the same privileges being
conceded to the products of other countries in the custom
houses and ports of the Island as they concede to our prod
ucts in theirs.
Havana, August 1, 1878.
This important document was signed by Jose Maria
Galvez, Juan Esportuno, Carlos Saladrigas, Francisco P.
Gay, Miguel Bravo y Sentis, Ricardo del Monte, Juan
Bruno Zayas, Jose" Eugenio Bernal, Joaquin G. Lebredo,
Pedro Armenteros y del Castillo, Emilio I. Lucas, Anto
nio Govin and Manuel PeYez de Molina, editor of El
Triunfo. With this platform the Autonomist party began- a double
political campaign, in the mother country and in Cuba,
with the result that in 1893 a Minister of the Crown, Seiior
Maura, presented to the Cortes a plan of administrative
reforms which constituted a radical change in the manner
of governing the Antilles and which was the first important
step in political evolution toward colonial autonomy ; and
in Cuba the majority of the Peninsular Spaniards separated
from the uncompromising party called Conservative, and
formed another liberal party with the name of Reformist,
which presented the following platform :
PLATFORM OF THE REFORMIST PARTY.
Political Question.
Faithful and exact observance of the National Constitution,
which recognizes and guarantees individual rights and pro
claims the necessity of the transatlantic provinces being
governed by special laws, without prejudice to the authority
which it confers upon the Government to apply to the same
the laws promulgated for the Peninsula, with such modifica
tions as it may deem expedient, holding itself responsible to
the Cortes therefor.
Application to the Island of all the laws made, or which
may be made, in the Peninsula, to insure mutual respect for
the rights recognized by title of the Constitution, and of the
— 123 —

organic laws, without any other modification than those
which may be indispensably required by the genius or the
customs of the people, subject to the before-mentioned cri
terion of special legislation.
Extension of the right to elect Deputies to the Cortes, Pro
vincial Assemblymen and Councilors to all Spaniards born
and residing in Cuba, as the conditions of the Island may
counsel and demand, and in correspondence with the institu
tions which in this respect obtain in the Peninsula.
Approbation and immediate promulgation of the law laid
before the Chamber of Deputies on the 5th day of last June,
for the government and civil administration of this Island
and of Porto Rico.
Without prejudice to the reforms which the new provincial
organization may in the future demand, and which expe
rience may advise, the Assembly shall have, among other
powers, that of approving the accounts of the municipalities ;
the revision and interpretation of the resolutions of those
bodies which do not come within the exclusive jurisdiction of
the same, and other matters of local administration; the
right of appointing and removing all their functionaries and
clerks; jurisdiction in everything relating to the administra
tion and encouragement of the moral and material interests of
the Island, without prejudice to the powers of the Town
Councils, General Government or Supreme Government ; the
power of issuing decrees of a general and obligatory charac
ter for the whole of the Island in regard to public instruction,
public works, establishment of banks and partnerships, the
making of loans and other similar matters ; that of discussing
and proposing to the General Government and the Supreme
Government, when the case arises, whatever it may deem
expedient for the interests of the Island, and which is not
within their jurisdiction; that of reporting on the impo
sition of new taxes, changes in existing taxes and other
measures of a financial character ; and that of proposing to
the General Government the creation, change or abolishment
of any local impost.
Constitution of the General Council of Administration, with
the powers conceded to it by the plan of reforms of Senor
Maura, that part of it relating to the electoral right being
especially emphasized.
Law determining the powers of the Governor General of
the Island* his responsibilities, the rank and personal qualifi
cations necessary for his appointment, no class of the State
being excluded. — 124 —

Law relating to public employees, authorizing the entrance
into the civil professions only of those Spaniards settled in
Cuba, without distinction, of origin, who shall have the neces
sary qualifications therefor, reserving to the Supreme Govern
ment the appointment of chiefs of departments and chiefs of
the provincial officers, the remaining appointments being
made by the Governor General.
Examination and revision of the accounts pertaining to the
Budget of the Island in such manner as to expedite their set
tlement by the Bureau of Local Administration.
Economic Question.
Reorganization of the departments and of the administra
tion and reduction of the public expenditures.
Immediate abolition of the Law of Commercial Relations,
until such time as free trade shall be established with the
Peninsula. Reform of the tariff, until a purely fiscal tariff is reached,
without prejudice to the legitimate needs of the Treasury;
and reform also of the custom house laws and the tariff
commission. Abolition of the duty on exports.
Celebration of special commercial treaties which shall reg
ulate the relations of this Island with foreign countries.
Revision of existing treaties, especially of that made with
the United States, in order to obtain favorable conditions for
the exportation of tobacco and free it from the disadvantages
under which it labors.
Free sale of tobacco in the Peninsula after the correspond
ing duties have been paid.
Total abolishment of all taxes on manufactured tobacco.
Abolishment of the present industrial tax on sugar.
Law to organize agricultural credit on terms favorable to
the encouragement of agriculture, and reform of the Law of
Civil Procedure for the benefit of farms held in partnership,
in order to facilitate the speedy and economical division and
inscription of the same.
Definitive liquidation of the public debt and such readjust
ment thereof as shall diminish its interest and insure the re
duction to an annual amount compatible with the public
revenues and the needs of the country.
Creation of a well ordered monetary system.
Revision by a special court, and within a. limited period, of
the documents of classification of pensioners, and a new
method of payment of the same which, while respecting
— 125 —

acquired rights, shall at the same time permit of an alleviation
of this annual charge upon the Budget.
Havana, October 30, 1893.
The intrigues of the remainder of the uncompromising
Spanish party of Cuba, who combated in Congress the
plan of reforms, resulted in delaying the passage of the
Law of Reforms for the Antilles until February, 1895, and
then in introducing changes which, although unimportant,
caused dissatisfaction to both of the Liberal Cuban parties.
But the very fact of this plan of reforms having been
under discussion for two years proves that if the Auto
nomist party had united with the Liberal party of the
Peninsula, the latter would have taken a more active
interest in the adoption of the reforms, and they would
have become a law, in opposition to the wishes of the
Conservatives, long before they did, and probably without
the changes made in them posteriorly.
So that, to repeat what I have already said, in the same
way as the lack of public spirit of many of the Cuban
electors in neglecting to make an opportune use of their
political rights, or in using them to the prejudice of their
country for mercenary or selfish ends, prevented, on
many occasions, liberal Cubans from being elected Depu
ties to the Spanish Cortes, so did the lack of political
knowledge or judgment of some of the leaders of the
Autonomist party in desiring to be exclusively regionists
deprive them of the assured support of any of the national
parties.
IV.
Having reviewed the political movement of Cuba, I will
now describe briefly its state of culture, and then proceed
to show the stage of material progress to which it has at
tained, comparing this, for the better appreciation of the
facts, with that of the sister countries throughout the con
tinent which are to-day independent states.
— 126 —

The civilization of the Cuban people had its origin, as I
have already said — adducing in support of the statement
the authoritative testimony of a distinguished American
writer, Mr. A. R. Marshall — in the ancient Laws of the
Indies, which carried to America all the science, arts and
literature of Spain, establishing a current sympathy and
constant interchange in the sphere of intellectual specu
lation among all the Spanish speaking peoples.
For this reason it is that, as is constantly observed, all
the South Americans are familiar with the domestic habits
of the Spanish people ; that when they go to Spain,
whether they visit the great cities or the smallest villages
of the various provinces or districts, in each of which the
usages, customs and even the dialect of the people are
different, they always find themselves familiar with that
particular manner of life, because American civilization
is in reality a compound of the heterogeneous elements of
Iberian civilization characterized by the marks of its adap
tation to a different environment, and having also its
own proper characteristics, which are more or less dis
tinctly marked in American civilization, according to the
influence, that is to say the grade, of civilization of the
conquered peoples.
For this reason, while in Mexico and Peru European
civilization is strongly marked by the traits of Aztec and
Inca civilization, respectively, which were noteworthy, in
the Antilles, where the. aboriginal races had reached only
a very rudimentary stage of civilization, the typical char
acteristics of Indian life are now only observable in the
name of some place or in the origin or foundation of some
custom which is gradually dying out.
On the other hand, the Peninsular Spaniards who emi
grate to Spanish America find themselves in a social en
vironment so exactly resembling their own that, except for
the physical acclimatization, they scarcely feel the change ;
they adapt themselves insensibly to the new environment,
— 127 —

with the result that after a few years they become mem
bers of the Spanish- American family, a thing which takes
place with no other European emigrants.
In Cuba and Porto Rico the grade of general culture is
undoubtedly higher than in any other part of Spanish
America, because, in addition to the fact that contact with
exterior culture is facilitated by the extent of their coast
line relatively to the area of the country, it has also been
favored by the admirable qualifications of the greater part
of the people for the assimilation of progressive ideas.
The difference which I have noticed has also been
caused in part by the circumstance that while on the
continent occupations of a political character absorbed
from the beginning of the century the majority of the
able minds that might have employed themselves usefully
in other elevated intellectual pursuits, many men of ability
living on the continent, and disinclined for the disturbed
and dangerous existence on which those countries were
entering, emigrated to Cuba and Porto Rico.
In a short work like the present it would be impossible
even to mention the names of all the notable men who,
born m Cuba or outside of it, have contributed in the
present century to the progress of the Island, I will en
deavor, however, to notice briefly the most noteworthy,
in order to give an idea of this manifestation of the culture
of the country.
I will mention the reverend professor, Father Varela,
who introduced modern philosophy into the schools of
Cuba and who educated many Cubans who have done
honor to their country.
Prof. Jos6 de la Luz Caballero, of Havana, a professor
at the age of twenty-four, the translator of Volney and a
member of the Royal Economic Academy of Florence,
author of various works, vice-director of the Patriotic Soci
ety, admitted to the bar in 1836, a member of the Academy
of Letters of Barcelona, &c. — 128 —

Francisco Arango y Parreno, of Havana, admitted to
the bar at the age of twenty-five, he went to Spain as the
agent of the Municipality of Havana. He obtained the
administrative reforms of 1789-94. He was, commis
sioned by Count Montalvo to make a scientific journey
through France and England in 1793. He introduced into
Cuba the cultivation of sugar cane of Tahiti, and pub
lished various works on agriculture and commerce and
some books of travels. In 1815 he crowned his labors by ob
taining from the mother country, in spite of the opposition
of the monopolists, the right of free trade for the ports of
Cuba, which changed completely the manner of life of the
colony. Baron Humboldt mentions him with encomium
in his works. The Spanish Government rewarded his
labors for his country's welfare, conferring upon him the
title of Grandee of the Kingdom.
In all his patriotic enterprises he was supported by Gov
ernor General Luis de las Casas, whose name ought also
to figure among those of the men who have most con
tributed to the progress of the Island.
Jose Silverio Jorrin, of Havana, a lawyer by profession,
and a magistrate of the courts of Havana and of Burgos, in
Spain ; author of various works on history, mathematics,
political economy and pedagogy; translator of Tacitus;
Deputy to the Cortes and member of various scientific so
cieties, among others the Historical Society of New York.
Jose Antonio Saco, of Bayamo, a distinguished states
man, Deputy to the Cortes several times, and later on a
revolutionist, author of important works on history and
social science.
Ramon de la Sagra, Director of the Botanical Garden of
Havana, corresponding member of the Royal Institute of
France, and author of Monumental, Physical and Political
History of Cuba, which was translated into French in 1844.
General Francisco Albear y Lara, of Havana, a profes
sor in the School of Engineers of Guadalajara (Spain) in
— 129 —

1842 at twenty-six years of age, and sub-inspector of the
School of Engineers in his own country at twenty-eight. .
He died six years ago, after having superintended the con
struction of the aqueduct of Havana, for the plan of which
he received a prize at the Paris Exposition in 1878.
Felipe Poey, an eminent naturalist, who for his works
on the Cuban flora and fauna was elected corresponding
member of the Zoological Society of London and the
Entomological Society of France. It may be added that
the savants, Cuvier and Valenciennes, mention him in
their works as the naturalist who has contributed most to
the knowledge of the natural history of the Antilles. His
great work, " Cuban Icthyology, " was purchased by the
Spanish Government.
As it would be impossible to enumerate the merits of all
the Cubans who have distinguished themselves, I will
notice briefly a few others only.
As eminent statesmen and political economists, prior to
the revolution of 1868: The Count of Pozos Dulces;
F. T. Rodriguez, a lawyer by profession, and also a pro
fessor in the University of Havana; G. de Navarrete,
Rector of the Almshouse; F. T. Balmaceda, who emigrated
to New Granada, and who was appointed by that Govern
ment its Minister to Madrid ; Calixto Bernal, Portuondo,
Millet, Deputies to Cortes ; Jose Guell y Rent£, a
Senator of the Kingdom for the University of Havana,
who, while in Spain, married a Princess who was a
sister of the King, Don Francisco de Asis, and a cousin
of Queen Isabella II.; J. R. Betancourt, Deputy;
Thomas Gener, an illustrious Catalan, and Carlos
Rodriguez Batista, who was Civil Governor of Havana.
Among contemporaries I will mention the most note
worthy of those whose names occur to me: R. M. de
Labra, a lawyer by profession, a Senator of the Kingdom
and an eminent statistician and pedagogue ; Galvez, the
present President of the Autonomist party ; G. Saladrigas,
— 130 —

ex-President of the Provincial Assembly and an Autono
mist; A. Govin, also an Autonomist and a distinguished
lawyer; N. AzcaVate, an eminent statesman of the Spanish
Republican party; R. Fernandez de Castro, an Autono
mist Deputy and Commissioner in Madrid of the Planters'
Club ; E. Terry, Figueroa, Eliseo Giberga, R. Montoro, all
Deputies and distinguished orators ; Suarez Bruzon and
Conte, Peninsulars and both Autonomists. The Spanish
Generals, Serrano and Dulce, whose names, as her Gov
ernors, Cuba remembers with affection, have also con
tributed to the cultivation and propagation of modern
ideas. Among university professors and teachers: Escobedo,
Deputy to Cortes in 1836; A. Guiteras, the translator of
Virgil; J. Fornaris, Nicolas Guiteras, Rector of the Uni
versity of Havana, founder of the Academy of Sciences
of New Orleans, and Vice-President of the Medical Con
gress of Washington, and many others; for the majority
of the professors, past and present, of the university, were
born in Cuba, as was the present Rector of the University,
Dr. Joaquin Lastres.
Distinguished engineers, in addition to Albear, already
mentioned: Menocal, of the United States Navy, author
of a plan of a canal for Nicaragua ; and Portuondo, colonel
of engineers, professor of mathematics, author of a treat
ise on architecture which is used at the present time as a
text book in Spain, and Autonomist Deputy to Cortes.
Eminent naturalists : Jose' Velaro y Diaz and Carlos de
la Torre, the latter appointed a professor in the University
of Havana at the age of twenty-four, after passing a
competitive examination in Madrid.
Writers on agriculture : Antonio Bachiller y Morales;
J. F. Balmaceda, Alvaro Reinoso, Zayas, &c. Among
those who have most contributed to the encouragement of
Cuban agriculture may be mentioned the philanthropist,
the Count of Casa Mor6, of Colombia, who settled at an
— 131 —

early age in Cuba, and there amassed a fortune, which he
devoted to the establishment of a practical school of agri
culture, on which he expended over $200,000.
Among the philanthropists of Cuba I will mention the
Abreu family of Santa Clara. One member of this
family, Dona Marta Abreu de Estevez, married to a- pro
fessor of the University of Havana, Dr. Luis Estevez,
also a Cuban, maintains public schools, a dispensary and
an almshouse; she has constructed public lavatories for
the poor, a beautiful theatre and an electric plant for
lighting the city.
Terry, the father of the present Autonomist Deputy of
the same name, bequeathed to the city of Cienfuegos a
sum of money for the erection of a theatre, the construc
tion of which was undertaken by his son, and which is
now one of the most beautiful in Latin America. The
proceeds of the theatre are devoted to the support of pub
lic schools.
Among the poets and artists, of whom there have been
many, the following are most generally known : Gertrudis
Gomez de Avellaneda; Heredia, author of the famous Ode
to Niagara; Placido, Zenea, Luaces, Navarrete and others;
the violinists, Albertini and White, both of whom took
first prizes in the Paris Conservatoire; Espadero, pianist
and composer, who was the intimate friend of Gottschalk,
Cervantes, Brindis de Salas and others.
In conclusion, I will mention the names of some other
distinguished Cubans, who, although they have not de
voted themselves exclusively to the advancement of their
country, are yet brilliant ornaments to her, and prove how
easy it would have been for the Cubans to make them
selves prominent in the Peninsula : Seiior Abarzuza, Min
ister of the Colonies in the last Liberal Cabinet; Osma,
the present Under Secretary of that department ; Francisco
Lastres, Vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies and
a lawyer of distinction. The present Minister of War,
— 132 —

General Azcarraga, has already been mentioned, but this
illustrious soldier was born in the Philippine Islands.
General Arderius, however, who was Governor of Ha
vana in the time of General Martinez Campos, General
Gonzales Munoz, Lofio, Rodriguez, Barzon, Bosch, Gar-
rich, Godoy, Zarco del Valle, Genaro de Quesada, De Ez-
peleta, Ampudia, Felix Ferrer and Francisco Acosta are
all Cubans.
When a country with hardly a million and a half of in
habitants has produced in such abundance intellect of so
high an order and as varied as distinguished, it must be
acknowledged that the civilizing spirit of its colonizers has
been notable and beneficial; and that we may be justly
proud of being Spaniards, although we may have had
more or less difficulty in realizing our political ideals ; for,
after all, the mother country also has had her political
ideals, as all the peoples of the earth have had and will
always have theirs.

From the beginning to the middle of the present century
the population of Cuba increased but little, the increase
being estimated at 600,000 inhabitants, or an average of
4 per cent, annually. Of the total population in 1841
(1,007,684) 600,000 were colored, a third being free and
the remainder slaves.
Comparing the figures with those of the Census of 1846,
which showed a colored population of 473,000 souls (more
than half the population of the Island), of which 150,000
were free, it is noticeable that, while the population as a
whole increased, the colored population diminished, and the
proportion of the slave population to the free diminished also.
This increase in the white population, with a simultaneous
decrease in the colored, has continued, repeating itself in
each succeeding census, as a consequence of the process
which foreigners of every country must undergo, whose
— 133 —

constitution does not readily adapt itself to their new
environment. According to the Census of 1877, the Island had a popu
lation of 1,620,000. The increase in the sixteen years
which had elapsed from 1861 was barely an average of
1 per cent, annually, notwithstanding the long period of
civil war through which the Island had been passing since
1868. As for the colored population, it reached a total of
barely 538,000, or 33 per cent, of the total population.
Finally, the last census (1887), gives a total of 1,681,000
inhabitants, only 528,000 being colored, 30.6 percent, of
the whole population. So that for each 694 whites there
were only 306 of the colored race, between negroes and
mulattoes, the increase in the population during the de
cade being 1.65 per cent, annually.
Taking these figures as a basis, I think it may be safely
assumed that the population of the Island at the breaking
out of the present insurrection — eight years having passed
since the publication of the last census and taking the
average increase which the above numbers show — was not
more than 2,100,000, nor the colored population more than
520, 000, or 25 per cent, of that number ; that is to say, 750
whites to 250 negroes, mulattoes and Chinese. These
last, according to the Census of 1887, amounted only to
43,811 in the whole Island, and since that time the num
ber has decreased considerably.
Comparing these data with the same data in relation to
the Spanish-American republics we shall have the follow
ing proportion for the sixty years between 1825-85 :
Per Cent.
Pop. in
Country. 1825-30.
1. Argentine Republic, 720,000
2. Porto Rico, . 200,000
3. Uruguay, . 214,000
4. Cuba, . . 703,000
5. Bolivia, . 1,090,000
6. Central America, 1,700,000
7. Peru, . . 1,500,000
& Chili, . . . 1,650,000 — 134 —

Pop. in

of increase

1885-90.

in 60 years.

4,066,000

406

800,000

300

706,000

230

1,681,000

140

2,333,000

114

3,121,000

084

2,621,000

075

2,817,000

070

Per Cent.
COUNTRY. Pop. in Pop. in of increase
1885-80. 1885-90. in 60 years.
Colombia (to-day),  4,000,000
9. Ecuador  1,272,000 068
Venezuela  2,323,000
10. Mexico, . 7,200,000 11,630,000 067
11. Paraguay, . . . 200,000 329,000 060
Haytiand > mm 
Santo Domingo, j
Hayti, .  572,000
Santo Domingo, .  400,000 004
As will be seen, next to the Argentine Republic, whose
increase in population has been considered phenomenal,
ranks the Island of Porto Rico, which is relatively almost
as thickly populated as Germany, and more so than France.
Next comes Uruguay, in which the conditions are very
similar to those in the Argentine Republic, and then Cuba ;
none of the other republics have increased as much in
population as the Spanish Antilles; and in the Island of
Santo Domingo, in which the black race predominates, the
increase in sixty years has been only 4 per cent.
The following diagram shows the progressive increase of
the population of Cuba, with corresponding percentage as
to color:
POPULATION OF CUBA.
Total 898,752 inhabitants.
In 1846. | I— ^— —
46.5 white. 53.5 colored.
Total 1,396,470 inhabitants.
In 1861. I — ^^— i^—
57.2 white. 42.8 colored.
Total 1,620,000 inhabitants.
In 1S77. |  ^^^^^^M
67 white. 33 colored.
Total 1,681,000 inhabitants.
In 1887. I — ^W
69.4 white. 30.6 colored.
Total (estimated) 2,620,000 inhabitants.
In 1895. I I— W
75 white. 25 colored.
— 135 —

For the figures which follow we shall take as authority
the Census of 1887, which is the last official census pub
lished. The population of the six provinces into which Cuba is
now divided is as follows:

Inhabitants.

To Square Ril.

To Square Mile.

Havana,

481.928

56

20

Matanzas,

359,578

42

15

Pinar del Rio,

. 225,891

15

by2

Puerto Principe,
Santa Clara,

67,789
374,123

02.120.5

0.7 7.4

Santiago de Cuba,

273,379

7.8

2.8

As will be seen, the two most thickly populated prov
inces are Matanzas and Havana, the population of each
of which is relatively greater than that of some European
states. The province which has the largest colored population
is Matanzas, the proportion being forty-five blacks to fifty-
five whites; next comes Santiago de Cuba, with forty
blacks to sixty whites ; that which has the least being
Puerto Principe, with twenty blacks to eighty whites.
Of the white population of the Island more than a third
can read and write, while of the colored race only 12 per
cent, have attained this degree of intellectual culture. The
provinces in which the highest grade of education exists are
Havana and Puerto Principe, in which for every 100 inhabi
tants forty-seven and forty-four among the whites, and
fifteen and twenty-eight among the blacks, respectively, can
read and write. The most backward is Pinar del Rio, in
which only seventeen whites and three negroes in each 100
inhabitants can read and write. It is for this reason, and
not because the Ethiopian race abounds there more than
in other provinces, that this province is called in Cuba
" the black continent."
In none of the Spanish- American Republics does the
number of inhabitants who can read and write reach 35
per cent. — 136 —

Passing on to classify the population of the Island in
urban and rural, we shall have the following figures :

TOWNS OF MORE THAN 10,000 INHABITANTS.

Havana, .
Puerto Principe,
Santiago de Cuba,
Matanzas,Cienfuegos, Guanabacoa, .
Cardenas,
Santa Clara,

220,000
- 41,00040,000 38,000
25,00023,00020,700 16,000

Sancti-Spiritu,

15.000

Sagua la Grande,

12,000

Guines, .

11,000

Trinidad,

11,000

Regla, .

10,300

San Antonio de los Banos,

10,000

Remedios,

10,000

Manzanillo,

16,000

TOWNS OF FROn 2,000 TO 10,000 INHABITANTS.
Province of Havana.

Alquizar, .

2,000

Marianao, .

5,500

Bejucal,

. 5,300

Madruga, .

3,500

Cano,

2,000

San Jose de las Lajas,

. 3,100

Guira de Melena,

. 2,500

Santiago de las Vegas,

: 5,000

Jaruco,

2,500

Vereda Nueva,

. 2,000

Province oi

• Matanzas.

Bolondron,

. 2,100

Palmillas, .

. 2,800

Colon,

. 5,900

Roque,

. 2,000

•Corral Falso,

. 3,200

Sabanilla 

. 3,000

Jovellanos,

. 5,000

Union de Reyes,

. 4,100

Province ok F

INAR DEL Rio.

Consolation Sur,
2,000
Pinar del Rio, .
. 6,500
•Guanajay,
. 5,500
San Juan Martinez,
. 2,600
Province of
Santa Clara.
Abrens,
3,000
Placetas,
4,500
¦Caibarien,
. 4,000
Palmira, .
4,500
•Cartagena,
. 2,000
Santo Domingo,
. 2,800
Camajuani,
. 2,500
Santa Isabel, .
. 2,500
Esperanza,
4,000
San Juan Teras,
. 2,300
Province of Sa
ntiago de Cuba.
Alto del Songo,
. 2,500
Gibara,
. 8,600
Bayamo,
7,800
Guantanamo, .
7,300
Baracoa,
4,900
Holguin, .
7,500
Cobre,
. 5,000
Victoria Tunas,
. 4,555
Province of P
uerto Principe.
Ciego de Avila,
. 3,000
Nue vitas, .
. 4,900
Moron,
4,000
Taking the above figures with the total population of
each province, we can form the following diagram, by
— 137 —
means of which we can estimate at a glance the proportion
that exists between the urban and the rural population :
PROVINCE OF PORTO PRINCIPE.
Urban population. Rural population.

80. 20.
PROVINCE OF HAVANA.
68~8 31.2
PROVINCE OF MATANZAS.

38.5 61.5
PROVINCE OF SANTA CLARA.

36.3 63.7
PROVINCE OF SANTIAGO.

34.5 65.5
PROVINCE OF PINAR DEL RIO.

17.4 82.6
AVERAGE PERCENTAGE FOR THE ISLAND.

46.3

53.7

Calculating that in the towns of less than 10,000 inhab
itants half of the able-bodied male population is employed
in agricultural labors or in occupations connected with
agriculture, we shall have a rural population of 1,000,000
of inhabitants out of the total population of 1,680,000,
which signifies that over 250,000 men between the ages
of eighteen and sixty are employed in the labors of the
field. If primary instruction is not so widely diffused in Cuba
as could be desired, the causes for it may be found in the
prejudices of the authorities and the lack of good methods
of teaching, and also in the fact that the heads of families
among the rural working classes manifest in general but
little disposition to send their children to school, in some
— 138 —

Per
Cent. 8

Venezuela,

Per
Cent. 4.5

6

Chili,

4.1

5

Brazil,

2.1

4.7

cases through ignorance and in others from a selfish desire
to avail themselves of their children's assistance" in their
labors. Taking these circumstances into consideration the fact
that 35 percent, of the population can read and write is
very consoling.
There are at present in Cuba over 1,200 primary schools,
with a total attendance of 83,000 pupils ; comparing the
number of pupils who attend school with that of the fol
lowing countries we shall have for :
Uruguay,Argentine Republic,
Cuba,
Mexico, The University of Havana has enjoyed for many years
past so well merited a reputation, and her advanced
methods of instruction in the higher branches of learning
and in the professions are so generally known, that I deem
it unnecessary to bring forward facts concerning her.
In the field of journalism, which also serves to indicate
the degree of culture of a country, Cuba has no reason to
envy any Latin- American State.
In Cuba 170 periodicals were published last year;
Havana, with a population of 220,000, had twenty dailies,
almost all of them advocates of some political doctrine,
from the support of the old colonial rule to that of the
separatist propaganda, the discussion of the latter question
by word and pen having been authorized by a special De
cree of the Supreme Court of Madrid. The same city has
also forty-four semi-weekly and weekly and twenty-eight
fortnightly and monthly periodicals, being a total of ninety-
two publications, including political, technological and
literary. The City of Mexico, with a population of 340,000, has
almost the same number of periodicals as Havana (ninety-
six), twenty of which also are dailies.
— 139 —

1 '

" 11,000

1 •

" 24,000

1 '

" 28,000

1 •

'• 41,000

1 •

" 49,000

Buenos Ayres, with three times the population of
Havana, has only 161 periodicals.
Caracas has a greater number of periodicals than
Havana or than any other Spanish- American city, having
forty-four publications for a population of 80,000. But
Venezuela, taken as a whole, has fewer than Cuba.
Comparing Cuba with each of the principal South
American republics, in the number of inhabitants to each
publication issued in it, we have the following :
Cuba, ... , 1 per each 9,050
Uruguay, Venezuela, .
Mexico,Chili, .
Argentine Republic,
In concluding this sketch of the data, which indicates
the degree of a country's culture, I will mention briefly
the scientific and charitable corporations and establish
ments in Havana, omitting those which are under the
exclusive control of the State :
Academy of Medical Sciences.
Academy of Sciences and Letters.
Dental Academy.
Seven asylums for orphans, the aged and the poor.
Three public libraries, besides those of various societies,
which are open to the public.
Four banks — the Spanish Bank, the Spanish Colonial
Bank, the Bank of Commerce and the Agricultural Bank,
besides various savings banks.
The Spanish Club.
Consultative centres, called "colleges" of notaries,
dentists, notaries public and attorneys.
Three companies for supplying light to the city — two gas
companies and one electric light company.
A Conservatory of Music.
High Schools, a Male Normal School and a Female
Normal School, for the study of medicine ; a Professional
— 140 —

School of Painting and Sculpture and two of Arts and
Trades. An Alms House, an Insane Asylum, and a School for
Deaf Mutes.
Seven Hospitals, some of them constructed for the pur
pose according to the newest scientific methods.
Grammar schools in all the wards.
Institute of Vaccination.
Chemical and Histo-Bacteriological Laboratories, both
private and municipal.
Registry of Intellectual Property. (Copyright. )
Economic Society of Friends of the Country, Anthro
pological Society, Society for the Protection of Children,
Society for Clinical Studies, Odontological Society, and
others. Seven theatres, among them the well-known Tacon and
Payret Theatres.
An Institute for the Treatment of Hydrophobia and
seventy-one different societies for purposes of instruction,
entertainment, charity and mutual aid.
The above facts will, I think, suffice to give a clear idea
of the social and political condition of Cuba.
VI.
Cuba has at the present time a complete railroad system
in the Provinces of Matanzas and Havana; a well developed
system in those of Pinar del Rio and Santa Clara, and one
sufficiently developed to connect the centres of population
with the ports in those of Puerto Principe and Santiago de
Cuba. All the material employed by the railroad com
panies is American, the locomotives being generally those
manufactured by Baldwin, of Philadelphia, which make
an average speed of 30 miles an hour.
The first railroad was established in Cuba in 1836 —
earlier than in many European countries, and not latet
— 141 —

than in any other country except Belgium and the United
States. There are at present in operation, open to the
public, 3,200 kilometres, or about 2,000 miles, of railroad,
and an equal length devoted to private service connected
with the public roads for the use of the sugar plantations.
Among the Latin- American countries Cuba holds the first
place in extent of railroads, in proportion to extent of
territory, the third in their extent in proportion to popula
tion, and the fourth in actual extent.
The following table shows the length of the railroads in
operation in South America :

Miles.

Miles

Agentine Republic, .

7,676

Colombia,

218

Mexico,

5,812

Costa Rica,

161

Brazil.

. 5,582

Porto Rico,

153

Cuba,

. 2,000

Paraguay,

152

Chili,

. 1,682

Salvador,

120

Uruguay,

991

Nicaragua,

90

Peru,

883

Honduras,

69

Guatemala,

460

Ecuador,

56

Venezuela,

282

Santo Domingo,

50

Porto Rico holds the twelfth place in the extent of
her railroad system, but she holds a much higher place in
general means of communication, as she has first-class
highways, like those of Europe, which traverse the island
from north to south, crossing the mountains at an altitude
at some points of 2,200 feet above the level of the sea.
These highways reach a total length of 140 miles, and
were constructed by the Government. The Government
also constructed, between the years 1860 and 1868, about
250 miles of road along the shore of the island ; but when
the municipalities were formed in 1869 those roads passed
into the hands of the local corporations, which have
unfortunately so entirely neglected them that at the pres
ent time they are in very much the same condition as the
roads of Santo Domingo constructed by the Spanish,
which neither during the Haytian rule nor under the
republic received any care whatever.
— 142 —

In proportion to the density of the population there is
for each 10,000 inhabitants the following extent of rail
road:

Miles.

Miles.

Argentine Republic,

. 18.8

Guatemala,

. 3.1

Uruguay, .

. 14

Nicaragua,

. 2.8

Cuba 

ia#

Ecuador,

. 2.2

Costa Rica,

. 6.6

Porto Rico,

. 1.9

Chili, .

5.9

Honduras, .

. 1.6

Mexico,

. 5

Salvador,

. 1.5

Paraguay, .

. 4.6

Venezuela,

1.2

Peru, .

3.4

Colombia, .

. 0.5

And in regard to the most important particular, that is
the length of the roads in proportion to the area of the
country, which is what will give the clearest idea of its
facilities for transportation, the following table will show
the number of miles of surface :

Lineal Miles.
Lineal Miles.
United States of America
Chili,
5.8
(North),
55.5
Guatemala,
4.4
Cuba,
57.
Peru,
1.9
Porto Rico,
42.
Nicaragua,
1.9
Salvador,
17.1
Brazil,
1.7
Uruguay,
13.7
Honduras,
1.5
Mexico,
7.5
Venezuela,
.5
Costa Rica,
6.
Colombia,
.4
Argentine Rep
ublic,
6.8
Ecuador,
.2
I shall make no mention of the telegraphic lines, for I
suppose there is no country in the world in which a bird
could fly without danger of striking against telegraph
wires, but I will speak of the postal and telegraphic move
ment, for this is a determining factor of a country's
activity. According to the figures of the Almanack de Gotha, of
1887 (for in later editions they are omitted), and of the
official works published by the Bureau of American
Republics, of Washington, of 1891-94, Cuba occupies the
twenty-first and eighteenth places, respectively, in the use
of the telegraph and the mails among the countries of the
world, and the third place among the Latin-American
countries, as the following statistics will show.
— 143 —
Uruguay,

21.8

Guatemala

Chili,

12.3

Brazil,

Cuba,

11.4

Peru,

Mexico,

11.3

Ecuador, .

Costa Rica,

8.9

Venezuela,

Argentine Republic,

8.

Honduras,

Nicaragua,

6.5

Paraguay,

Porto Rico,

4.

Statistics of correspondence received and sent in one
year, per capita : 2.62.51.81.5 1.3
0.90.6
Number of telegraphic dispatches for each 100 inhabi
tants received and sent : 11
. 10

The wealth of the country has increased to such an ex
tent that its amount per capita will bear comparison with
that of the most prosperous countries of Europe, or with
that of the United States. Its total value last year
amounted to $850,000,000, or $531 per capita. In the
United States the total amount was, in 1890, $25,473,000,-
000, or $407.18 per capita.
Compared with some of the States of the Union, Cuba
would occupy twelfth place, as to the average capitation
of wealth, according to the following showing:

Costa Rica,

30

Porto Rico

Guatemala, . .

24

Colombia,

Cuba,

21

Venezuela,

Chili, .

21

Peru,

Argentine Republic,

19

Brazil,

Uruguay,

13

Per

Per
Capita.
Capita
Massachusetts,
$962
Utah,
. $510
Rhode Island,
. 931
Maryland,
. 507
California,
911
Pennsylvania,
. 505
Montana,
. 854
Vermont,
487
New Hampshire,
698
Ohio, .
. 484
District cf Columbia,
665
North Dakota,
. 482
New York, .
631
Connecticut,
. 480
Washington,
632
Arizona,
. 470
New Jersey,
618
Maine,
467
Nevada,
573
Minnesota,
452
Wyoming, .
535
Michigan,
. 428
Colorado,
535
South Dakota,
. 426
Oregon,
. 529
144-
In the remaining States the wealth per capita is less than
$400. (See the official statistics of the United States Gov
ernment.) '
The value of the rural real estate alone in Cuba, in 1887,
was $220,902,906 gold, giving a rental of 17,000,000 an
nually, which paid taxes to the amount of $1,365,000, or
8 per cent, on the rental
Thus, in Havana, a house valued at $10,000 will rent, it
is estimated, for $800, and will pay a tax of about $70 ; in
New York a property of the same value pays a tax two or
three times as great. Last year the tax was 1 9-10 per
cent. ; a property of a friend of mine, which was valued at
$10,000, was taxed at $191. This year the tax rate in
New York is 2.14 per cent., and the same property will
pay $214.
Another important factor in estimating the public
wealth is represented by the mortgage operations, as
these determine the territorial value which a country pos
sesses only when it has reached a very advanced stage of
progress. In the majority of the Latin-American
countries the urban and rural real estate, outside of the
capitals and principal ports, has hardly any value com
pared with the rent which it brings. In those countries
very often a property which rents for $10,000, and repre
sents a capital of from $100,000 to 150,000, if sold for
cash would bring hardly a fifth of its value, and some
times even less ; the price must be made payable in instal
ments, and in that way, perhaps $40,000 or $50,000 may be
obtained, to be paid in instalments of $10,000 yearly; that
is to say, the same sum as the property would produce in
rent in four or five years.
Cuba, owing to the present insurrection, is now in this
situation in regard to her credit, which will not become
stable again for many years to come. If the Island should
separate from Spain the present generation will assuredly
not see it so. — 145 —

The value of the real estate sold in Cuba during the year
1894 was $18,000,000 in round numbers; that is to say
that real estate was sold at an average of 91 per cent, on
its nominal value ; and if it be taken into account that in
1894, two years previously, the country had passed through
an economic crisis, the result chiefly of the universal
decline in the price of sugar, the basis of the wealth of the
Island, it will be readily understoood that this difference
was quite natural, and only shows that the value of prop
erty fluctuated then in Cuba in the same way as it would
have done in any country in Europe or North America.
In the same year mortgages were paid off to the value
of $3,677,000, distributed in 949 parcels; of these liquida
tions only forty-seven, or 5 per cent, of the total number,
were of a legal character; that is to say, obligatory. In
regard to the new loans made during the year, they
reached a total of $3,875,000, or less than 1 per cent, of
the full value of the property.
I think that the above data will suffice to give a correct
idea of the social condition and the material prosperity of
Cuba in 1895.
The only republic whose paper has been quoted at a
premium is Chili, which, according to the statistics here
given, shows a condition of credit and prosperity excep
tional on the American continent, and if the paper of Cuba
has also been at a premium I do not by any means imagine
that this was because it was called " Cuba," but because it
was a Spanish debt, for it must be borne in mind that all
the Spanish public debts converted into one, consolidated
in 1881, with coupons at 4 per cent, interest, payable
quarterly, bear 6 per cent, interest from the date of consol
idation and have never fluctuated more than three or four
points, and that only momentarily, owing to speculations
on the exchange. Just now, taking up the first Spanish
newspaper at hand, and looking for the quotation of the
debt Ifind: " Paris, 15 (of July), Foreign Spanish, 64.40."
— 146 —

In my opinion, if the Cuban insurrection had not oc
curred, Cuba would now owe $50,000,000 or $60,000,000,
which would have been employed on such works of public
utility — a central railroad, the irrigation of agricultural
zones and the canalization of rivers, &c. , as Spain has,
and which in Cuba would perhaps have doubled the value
of the public and private wealth.
The worst thing that could possibly befall Cuba would
be that she should not have a debt, for without loans the
development of her hitherto undeveloped resources would
not be possible. VII.
The Budget of the Island is no doubt exceedingly
defective, and especially so in the branch of expen
ditures; this, however, has not been ruinous, for the
country has been in a situation to pay its amount. In my
opinion it might be and ought to be greater, with the dif
ference that the expenses of the Department of Public
Works and Instruction be increased, and the manner of col
lecting the revenues altered. But the new Law of Reforms
passed in 1895 seeks to correct in part the faults of the
Budget, which was chiefly defective from the injudicious
manner of its distribution, for the Council of Administra
tion of the Island in Havana, where it will be easier to
attend to the wants of the country than from the Penin
sula, is to arrange and vote the Budget in all that relates
to the departments of public works, telegraphic and postal
communication and means of transport by land and sea,
to agriculture, industries and commerce, immigration,
colonization and public instruction, charities and health.
The Budget of 1892-93 was $23,074,000; that of 1893-94
and 1994-95 increased to $26,000,000, without any in
crease, however, in the appropriation for works of public
utility, to the decided discontent of the taxpayers.
With this last sum the amount per capita which the
country was taxed was $15, Cuba thus occupying the
— 147 —

seventh place among the Latin-American countries, for
Cuba is not, as is so frequently asserted, the country most
heavily taxed.
See the following table of taxation per capita :

Per

Per

Capita.

Capita.
Chili, .
. $23
Argentina,
$16
Brazil,
22
Hayti,
16
Uruguay,
20
Cuba,
15
Costa Rica,
19
Of these $15, $6.50 go to the payment of the interest on
the public debt, which amounts to $10,500,000 annually.
This sum does not benefit the country in any degree, as
it is sent abroad for the payment of the coupons of the
public debt.
Of the remainder, that is to say $15,500,000, more than
$14,000,000 remain in the Island; of this amount, unfortu
nately, only a small part is expended on public works or on
material ; the remainder is expended on the salaries of the
employees, but as living expenses in Cuba are greater than
in any other country in the world, with the exception of
the United States, and the employees, whether they be
Cubans or Spaniards, cannot live on air, very few of them
are able to save anything out of their salaries. Those who
send money to Europe, or take money with them when
they leave the Island, generally obtain it by speculations,
not always honorable, perhaps, in which the Spanish and
Cuban merchant alike take part, for neither is immaculate
and they both want to make money.
The Budget of Revenues is derived from direct taxation,
the revenues of the State and the customs ; these represent
45 per cent, of the Budget.
The tariff is one of the sources of the public revenues
which most requires a radical change. The duty on ex
ports (although not more than three-fourths per cent, of
the value of the products, according to the official appraise
ment, the articles being appraised on the basis of the mini
mum value, it affects them really only to the amount of
— 148 —
one-half per cent.), is irritating and ought to be abolished,
as it is abolished in the new tariff which is about to be laid
before the present Cortes.
The duties on imports also require a radical change, for,
while many superfluous or little used articles pay compara
tively little, others, which are necessaries of life for the
majority of the people, are excessively taxed. The tariff in
general is as defective as those of the republics, although
in these the system of taxation is more irregular and
primitive. In Uruguay, however, the tariff is more burdensome for
the consumer, for while the average duty on imports is 30
per cent, of their value (in Cuba it is 25) , many articles nec
essary for subsistence or for the development of the indus
tries of the country pay, the former 50 per cent, and the
latter 20 per cent, ad valorem. In Uruguay two-thirds of
the amount of the Budget are derived from the customs.
In Mexico, the majority of articles pay even more — 60
per cent. ; in Guatemala an average of 70 per cent., and so
on in the majority of the sister countries.
The public debt amounted in 1894 to $170,0.0,000, that
is, $100 per capita, being less than that of Uruguay, but
as much as that of the Argentine Republic.
But this figure cannot justly be compared with that of
other countries, since the Cuban debt was created alto
gether in consequence of the ten years' insurrection. The
Cuban people, who in general took no part in the insurrec
tion, and who now see that if its leaders had had more love
for their country than desire to gratify personal ambition
or personal animosities it would never have taken place,
very naturally complain of having to bear so heavy a bur
den; but those who were the cause of that evil, as they
are now of the new debt which is being created, should
have the courage of their acts and be willing to bear all
the consequences.
In any case, had the independence of the Island been
— 149 —

realized, in virtue of a treaty by which Cuba should recog
nize that debt, as was proposed, it would not be merely
$10,000,000, which we are paying now — at 6" per cent, in
terest—but $13,000,000 or $14,000,000 that we should
have to pay; and in case we did not pay it, which
would have been very probable, as the wealth of the
country would in all likelihood not have increased as it
did from the peace of Zanjdn down to 1895, the credit of
Cuba would have declined to the level of that of some of
the other countries which, through their failure to comply
punctually with their foreign obligations, are continually
engaged in conflicts with the governments of their cred
itors, and lead a mean and stationary existence, notwith
standing the great resources of their territories.
According to the ' ' Report of the Council of Foreign
Bondholders " of 1895, the amount of the debts of a
number of republics that were neither amortixed nor
gained interest, amounted to ^71,675,000 sterling:

Argentine Republic, ^39,416,000
Honduras, 15,622,000
Venezuela, . 7,498,000
Colombia, 3,910,000

Costa Rica,

. ^2,050,000

Guatemala,

1,956,000

Paraguay,

913,000

Nicaragua,

302,000

Compare with this the quotations of the principal Span
ish-American bonds on the Paris Bourse on February 2 of
last year :

Per Cent.

Per Cent.
Of Cuba,
102^
Of Guatemala,
28
Chili,
102
Ecuador,
25
Mexico, .
73^
Colombia,
15
Uruguay,
47
Paraguay,
12
Argentine
Repi
iblic,
41
Honduras,
10
Costa Rica
29
— 150-
VIII.
Owing to the increase in the cultivation of the agricul
tural products of Cuba, and especially of sugar and
tobacco, within the last ten years, her commerce had
attained proportions truly extraordinary. The country
which has profited most by this agricultural develop
ment is the United States, and this it is perhaps which
has awakened in a certain portion of the American
people, which, it is to be said, however, is neither the
largest nor the best, that desire to extend the territory of
the Union to the Antillian Sea, which is the principal
cause of the evils from which Cuba is to-day suffering.
From $90,000,000, to which the commercial movement
amounted in 1880, it had risen in 1892 to $170,458,553, as
follows :
Imports . . $69,444,287 | Exports . $101,014,266
The following table shows the increase as compared
with that of the republics of the continent:
INCREASE IN TRADE IN TWELVE YEARS.
1880-82. 1890-92. Increase.
Cuba, . $90,000,000 $170,000,000 $80,000,000
Argentine Republic, 100,000,000 163,800,000 63,000,000
Brazil, 268,000,000 317,000,000 49,000,000
Chili, . 99,000,000 131,100,000 32,100,000
Uruguay, 40,000,000 61,400,000 21,400,000
Mexico, . . 53,000,000 73,000,000 20,000,000
Porto Rico, . . 24,000,000 33,000,000 9,000,000
Guatemala, 8,100,000 14,400,000 6,300,000
Colombia, . 28,000,000 33,900,000 5,900,000
Costa Rica, . . 6,500,000 11,700,000 5,200,000
Bolivia, . 600,000 3,500,000 2,900,000
Santo Domingo, . . 3,400,000 6,300,000 2,900,000
Venezuela, 33,300,000 35,700,000 2,400,000
Paraguay, . 3,300,000 5,600,000 2,300,000
In the remaining countries either the increase has been
less, there has been none, or there has been a diminution.
— 151 —

Twelve years of peace sufficed to double the commercial
movement of Cuba.
The value of the imports and the amount of their
annual consumption per capita in the years of 1890-93
were as follows : Per
Imports. Capita.
Uruguay, . . $32,364,000 $45.6
Cuba, . 69,444,257 43.4
Chili, 65,090,000 26.6
Costa Rica, . . . 5,423,000 22.3
Argentine Republic, . . 67,165,000 16.8
Brazil, . . . 143,055,000 10.7
Paraguay, . 2,744,000 8.5
Venezuela, . . 16,274,000 7.
Ecuador, . . . 6,510,000 5.1
Colombia, . 13,445,000 3.4
Guatemala, . . 5,010,000 3.3
Mexico, . . 28,000,000 2.4
Peru, ... . 6,159,000 2.4
Total, $491,999,000, for a total population of 43,000,000,
from which it follows that, while the inhabitants of
the majority of the Spanish-American republics buy
imported articles to the value of $11 per capita,
in Cuba each inhabitant buys to the value of $43 an
nually. Of these imports the following were from the United
States: Per
Cent. 3211 9
. 7
63
or a total of $100,000,000 of which Cuba alone purchases
one-fifth. In the year 1894, in consequence of the treaty
of commerce concluded between Spain and the United
States, Cuba consumed American products to the value of
$33,617,000, or 52 per cent, of her imports.
The value of the exports in the principal South Ameri-
— 152 —

Per
Cent.

Mexico,

45

Peru, .

Argentine Republic,

41

Ecuador,

Cuba,

29

Colombia

Guatemala,

26

Brazil,

Venezuela,

25

Chili,

Costa Rica,

24

Uruguay,

can republics and the proportion
dollars, was as follows :
Cuba,Uruguay,Costa Rica,
Argentine Republic,
Chili,Brazil, .
Paraguay,
Venezuela, Guatemala, .
Colombia, Ecuador,
Mexico,Peru, .

per capita, estimated in

Value

Per

of Exports.

Capita.

$101,000,000

$63.1

29,000,000

41.

6,300,000

25.

96,700,000

24.2

66,000,000

23.5

174,000,000

12.5

2,900,000

9.

19,500,000

8.4

9,400,000

0.2

20,400,000

5.

6,400,000

5.

45,000,000

4.

6,600,000

3.

The following table shows the total amount of foreign
trade and the amount per capita in the several countries
in 1892:
CUBA.
$106 per inhabitant.
Population, 1,600,000. Foreign trade, 1170,000,000.
URUGUAY.
§83 per inhabitant.
Population, 700,000. Foreign trade, $61,000,000.
COSTA RICA.

|45 per inhabitant.
Population, 243,000. Foreign trade, §18,000,000.
CHILI.

y42 per inhabitant.
Population, 82,800,000. Foreign trade, $130,000,000.
BRAZIL.

$40 per inhabitant.
Population, 14,000,000. Foreign trade, $587,000,000.
HAYTI.

$35 per inhabitant.
Population, 572,000. Foreign trade, $20,000,000.
PORTO RICO.

$27 per inhabitant.
Population, 800,000. Foreign trade, $33,000,000.
— 153 —

VENEZUELA.

$19.50 per inhabitant.
Population, 2,300,000.. Foreign trade, $36,000,000.
ARGENTINE REPUBLIC.

Population, 4,000,000.

$15 per inhabitant. Foreign trade, $242,000,000.
(Paper money.)

It is generally supposed that the only products of Cuba
are sugar and tobacco. This is a serious mistake.
Some persons lay the blame for this deficiency of
products on the Government, while very many enlightened
people think that the spirit of indolence which prevails in
the country is responsible for it.
In Cuba the habits of routine established in other coun
tries have not yet become deeply rooted, because Cuba
came only yesterday, as one might say, into commercial
and political existence, and has no traditions, which, while
they are of great value to a people from a social point
of view, are often a hindrance to material progress.
Without counting cane sugar and tobacco, her exporta-
tions of other products would be sufficient to give Cuba a
place among exporting countries. The other fruits and
products exported by her represent a sum equal to, if not
greater than, that of the foreign trade of many inde
pendent countries.
We give below the official statement of the exportation
of different fruits, according to the annual record of the
Chamber of Commerce of Havana, of 1892 (January 1),
corresponding to the year 1891 :

Mineral products,

$1,700,000

Sweetmeats,

$130,000

Timber,

842,000

Sweet Potatoes, Onion:

Bananas,

700,000

&c,

110,000

Pineapples,

450,000

Cattle,

100,000

Coffee and Cacao,

450,000

Cocoanuts,

91,000

Hides,

310,000

Oranges, .

58,000

Wax and Honey,

287,000

Various other exports,

610,000

Sponges, .

150,000

Total,

$5,988,000

154 —

In addition to these, rum and brandy were exported to
the value of $1,000,000, and molasses to the value of
$1,500,000, neither of which I have included, as they are
products of the sugar cane.
These exports amount in value to $6,000,000, that is to
say, about the same as those of Ecuador, which has almost
the same population as Cuba, or as those of Bolivia and
Santo Domingo, which together have twice as many in
habitants as Cuba.
In addition there are in the Island many factories, which
manufacture goods not only for home consumption, but
also for exportation to the neighboring countries.

IX.

To complete the picture which I have attempted to
draw, comparing the condition, social and economic, of
the Spanish Antilles and the Spanish-American Republics,
it now remains to compare them in regard to their politi
cal condition and the liberities which they enjoy.
The policy pursued by Spain in Porto Rico and Cuba
from 1836 to 1868 was most disastrous; owing to it the
germ of independence brought from the continent and
developed in the heat caused by the uncompromising
policy of the Government, produced down to 1855, as
hybrid fruits, a few isolated attempts at revolution, insig
nificant in themselves, but of importance because they
alarmed the Spanish Government without, unfortunately,
making it modify its policy of repression, but on the con
trary causing it to carry out this policy still more strin
gently, thus increasing the causes for discontent which
the country already had.
The advance in modern ideas which was made in Spain
at that time also reached the Antilles, and when a radical
change in the policy of Spain was about to be made it was
— 155 —

also determined to modify the system of government in
Cuba and Porto Rico conformably with the aspirations and
the needs of the islands.
For this reason the thoughtful men of Cuba, the men of
political weight, were then, as they are now, opposed to
separation. The revolution known in the history of Spain as the
Revolution of September, which resulted in the exile of
Isabella II. and the formation of a regency, with the Duke
de la Torre at its head, under the guarantee for the peo
ple of an altogether democratic Constitution, with uni
versal suffrage and other entirely liberal laws which .gave
the Spanish people a direct intervention in the government
that it had not before had, would have given Cuba the
same rights, had it not been that three weeks after the
establishment of this government in Spain a revolution
broke out in the Island, on October 10, of a separatist
character, under the leadership, not of adventurers like
the majority of the leaders of the present insurrection,
but of ambitious and visionary young men, which, alarm
ing the Government, placed the Island on a war footing
and prevented for the time all change in the political
situation. The fact that when the Constitution was voted it was
extended, with universal suffrage and the other civil and
political laws of 1869, to the Island of Porto Rico, is the
best proof that Cuba would have obtained the same
liberties if the country had not been placed on a war
footing. Therefore it is that I have called that insurrection
untimely. To wait thirty-two years in order to rebel
against the mother country just at the moment when she
was changing radically her political organization, for the
purpose of obtaining liberties which up to that time Spain
herself had not enjoyed, and which she was only then be
ginning to enjoy, was altogether unjustifiable.
— 156 —

A few months more of waiting and Cuba, too, would
have had those liberties ; so many lives would not have
been uselessly sacrificed-, nor would a debt of so many
millions have been incurred.
This insurrection terminated, and I have already shown
the advance which was effected by it in political evolution
in Cuba, to the extent of causing the majority of the Pen
insulars to adopt a decentralizing policy and to form a
Liberal Reformist political party on the basis of adminis
trative self-government.
With all these perturbations, and with all the defects of
the system of government which it has had, I will now
proceed to show — and this is the object of the present
chapter — that in Cuba greater tranquillity and more politi
cal liberty have been enjoyed than are enjoyed in any of
her sister countries ruled by themselves.
In the first place, in the majority of those countries the
head of the State has been almost always a soldier, for it
is rare to find a Spanish- American citizen of standing who
does not possess a military title and who does not owe his
position rather to his personal influence, employed in favor
of or against the Government, than to his intellectual
worth. In Cuba also we have the misfortune to have a soldier
at the head of the Government, but he is aided by a Secre
tary-General, who directs the political and civil administra
tion of affairs, and who is generally a civilian ; it is true
that he is not a Cuban ; but, in exchange, the Cubans who
belong to the administrative professions have as a field for
the exercise of their abilities, in addition to our own coun
try, Spain, Porto Rico and the Philippines ; that is to say,
several countries having a total population of 24,000,000.
If we pay without any benefit to the country $7,000,-
000 or $8,000,000 annually for the Departments of War
and Marine, in those countries also large sums are an
nually spent (in the Argentine, $13,000,000 ; Venezuela,
— 157 —

$5,000,000, &c), with the difference in our favor that
while for us the army is only a costly European luxury,
for those countries, besides being costly, it is also prej
udicial, for it is the cause of the continual revolutions
and disturbances in the midst of which the people live,
and which are the principal, if not the sole reason, why
those countries in general do not progress more, for they
keep away capital, discredit them and produce distrust
abroad, and serve some few as a ladder to climb to
power or to obtain coveted positions.
We complain of our laws, although in reality they are in
substance the same as the laws of those countries; for,
except in questions of detail, they are all based on the
spirit of the Roman law ; and the later laws, which are
more like regulations, are modeled on the obtrusive and
parsimonious French law of Napoleon III., which we,
too, had the misfortune to copy.
As for the application of the laws, if this is bad it is
not because of the laws themselves, but because of
the character of our people ; and the only difference
which I have observed between Cuba and her sister
countries in this respect is that our authorities apply the
law according to their own interpretation, if the injured
party does not know how to assert his rights ; while in
those countries the authorities act according to their own
caprice, without taking any account whatever of the law.
Many of those who have emigrated from the countries
referred to for political reasons can testify to this fact, to
which I myself have on more than one occasion called the
attention of my American friends.
Both in Cuba and in Porto Rico, as a Cuban and a
Spanish citizen I have publicly denounced the judicial acts
of the authorities when I have thought them censurable ;
sometimes I have been prosecuted with the utmost rigor
of the law, but the law itself has served to protect me and
bring me out of the conflict victorious. In many of the
— 158 —

South American states, with popular institutions and other
nominal guarantees, the citizens do not enjoy half as much
liberty of speech and action as do those of Porto Rico and
Cuba. I will not cite examples, for by so doing I might wound
the susceptibilities of those who are our brothers by origin,
but I will point out some of the results of the political
backwardness of many of those countries, which any
observant person may perceive for himself.
The unbroken circle of civil wars, revolts and epochs
of repression, of real reaction, in which political life re
volves in those countries, has for its chief cause the inor
dinate desire for power of their public men, and the con
stant but never realized desire of the people to assert their
rights, which disposes them to follow any ambitious leader
who wishes to seize the supreme command or to attain
whatever other aims he may have, without waiting for
time or his own merits to justify his claims.
Thus those countries have for many years alternated
between a weak and unstable government and a des
potism. Mexico, for example, previous to the rule of General
Diaz, who, at the same time that he-is a soldier, has proved
himself an able statesman, had an infinity of military
revolutions and changes of the fundamental laws of the
state, although not so many as Ecuador, whose Consti
tution was altered in 1833, 1841, 1861, 1869, and 1883 suc
cessively. In Mexico, in the space of thirty-one years there were
thirty-six Presidents; between 1846 and 1847 not less than
eight, and from 1857 to 1858, four. On the other hand,
in a period of forty-one years only three men have held
the supreme power. At least half of the Presidents have
ruled provisionally.
In Venezuela the same thing has occurred ; Paez ruled
for twenty years, and Guzman Blanco seventeen ; it being
— 159 —

worthy of note that it was during these periods that the
progress of the country was greatest.
Guatemala similarly had in twenty-five years nineteen
Presidents, and three in a period of thirty-two years.
And if this has occurred in countries where the influence
of an exotic race, hostile to the white race for historic and
ethnic reasons, did not exist, let us consider for a moment
what might occur in a country where a quarter of the
population is irreconcilably hostile to the remainder,
which, on the other hand, has not ceased to hold certain
prejudices, justifiable to some extent, against the former.

X.

Of the present insurrection I shall say but little ; it was
brought about by the action of the separatist party in
New York, aided by some young men in Cuba, vision
aries whose convictions, neither very firm nor very pro
found, had no more solid foundation than a youthful spirit
of adventure, exaggerated by the national temperament
and the habit of judging the most serious questions, such
as social and political questions are, without a previous
study of them, considering results only without searching
for their causes. These were joined, as the insurgent con
tingent, by a portion of the agricultural laborers, those
who were by nature most inclined for the life required by
the jungle; men of very simple habits, unused to the com
forts of domestic life, and without attachment for the
home ; for neither in the Antilles nor on the South Amer
ican continent does there exist among the proletarian class
the ideal of the home as it is understood in Europe, or
in the United States, by the same class.
A thorough understanding of the manner of life of the
day laborer, and more especially of the mulatto and the
negro, in those countries is indispensable in order to be
— 160 —

able to estimate at its exact value an uprising of the char
acter of the present insurrection.
In no country does the day laborer earn comparatively
better wages than in Cuba — from $1 to $1.50 a day; and
as the majority of the agricultural labors are performed by
the job, if the laborer is industrious it is not unusual for
him to earn $2 or $3 a day. He is very frugal in his habits,
and with 40 cents a day he can provide for all his wants,
smoking included. For clothing he requires only a pair
of trousers, a shirt and a hat, which altogether cost per
haps $2, or even less. The rest of his earnings he spends
in superfluities ; but as he does not make himself the slave
of these, whenever he wishes he can dispense with them
without considering it a sacrifice ; and in his house, which
is constructed of wood and straw, and which consists of
two rooms, one in which the women and the father of the
family sleep, and another which serves as a parlor, dining
room and pantry, and in which the sons and the friends of
the family sleep, for the Cuban peasant's hospitality is such
that in every rancho there is always some visitor to spend
the night — some friend, old or new, who either lives in the
house or who is staying for the night, after having dined
with the family.
This custom of hospitality was not lost in Cuba even in
the ten years' war through which the country passed.
From the poorest hut to the richest mansion it is the gen
eral rule for the family to have some guest.
The hammock to sleep in, a table (which is not used for
meals, however, for everyone eats with his plate in his
hand, seated on a bench, on the floor, or in the hammock),
and a few wooden benches with leather backs and seats,
constitute the furniture ; a wooden chest serves as a press,
and in this everything they have — which is unhappily
very little — is kept; the men usually have two suits of
clothes, the one which they are wearing and another in
the wash ; two hats, one for every day, and a panama hat
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worth $16 or more — for this is his great luxury — for feast
days. These and a pair of shoes, a pair of spurs and a
good machete, in addition to the one used in his daily
work, constitute the outfit of the unmarried peasant, and
this apparel he carries tied up in a bandana handkerchief
when he roams from place to place.
This, together with the facility with which he can find
free lodgings everywhere, causes the " guafiro " insensibly
to become detached from the home and to habituate him
self to a semi-nomad life.
I have known in Matanzas, for instance, young men of
twenty, from the Orient, who had been away from their
homes for two or three years without having once visited
them, who had traveled through the greater part of the
Island and worked at every kind of agricultural occupation
and every industry followed in it.
With this way of life, the Cuban being in general rash
to temerity, and strong to bear the fatigues of traveling, and
there being in the Island more than five hundred thousand
houses, nearly 300,000 of them in the provinces of Santiago
de Cuba, Puerto Principe and Las Villas, the fact is indeed
in no way strange that the leaders of the insurrection should
soon have found themselves at the head of numerous fol
lowers. That the insurrection was not a spontaneous movement
of the Cuban people was evident from the fact that neither
the better portion of the population, the educated and
intelligent classes, nor those who had given proof of real
patriotism joined the insurrection ; nor did any large part
of the working classes join it when the insurgent bands
scoured the country in search of recruits ; not even those
who were out of work and who, it might have been sup
posed, would join it in order to obtain a means of sub
sistence, for nine-tenths of the sugar cane crop being
destroyed and the remaining crops abandoned, more than
150,000 men had been left without work.
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The news that comes to us from the separatist camp
clearly shows what kind of people they are who have
swelled the insurgent ranks.
Setting aside the partiality of the source of the news, we
see that those who have joined the insurgent camp are
Cuban young men of good families who have lived for
many years abroad ; naturalized foreigners and men who,
although not born in Cuba, call themselves Cubans and
consider that they have the right to intervene in the his
tory of the country because their families are of Cuban
origin ; men who, in reality, have very little knowledge of
the social or political condition of the Island, but who
cherish a peculiar affection for it founded on biased de
scriptions of its situation as it was thirty years ago.
Others are soldiers by profession ; that is to say, men
who, like the Scotch and Swiss in former times, hire their
swords and fight for any cause, whether it appeals to their
sympathies or not; others are actuated by even lower
motives than this ; individuals who have been obliged to
expatriate themselves and who wish to forget some epi
sode in their past lives in the fierce excitement of war ; or
men like those Italians who carry a hand-organ about the
streets from morning till night, fancying that they are
artists and are leading an independent existence without
having to work.
Besides these foreign elements, who are those that have
joined the insurrection ? Adventurers who abandon
civilization because they are obnoxious to it, like the so-
called Captain Wilson, who headed a small expedition
which landed last January on the eastern part of the
Island, and who, as the American newspapers stated after
ward, went to Cuba to avoid being compelled to appear
before the Federal courts to answer a charge of having
broken into and robbed a post office in Ohio.
Of the large number of men of weight and position who
are in the Island very few, perhaps not 5 per cent. , have
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gone over to the insurrection. Not one of all those whom
I mentioned in a previous chapter has joined the insurgent
ranks. The men who still remain at home after a year of fight
ing, after the rebel bands have scoured the country and
appeared in the neighborhood of every city — can they be
considered as separatists at heart ? I think not.
The Island has a rural population of more than 200,000
men who lived by agriculture or occupations connected
with it ; all these men possessed machetes and there were
horses enough in the Island for all of them. When Maximo
Gomez arrived in the Province of Havana in January last
and marched to Pinar del Rio with Maceo, after having
destroyed the crops of tobacco and sugar cane, what hope
had these laborers of being able to earn a living ? None.
Want spread through the Island; the wealth of the
country was destroyed for the time being — for it is as easy
to destroy as it is ridiculous to suppose that an army can
defend what cannot be defended. In the times of the
barbarian irruptions the people were pastoral ; agriculture
was not possible. In proportion as the peoples became
civilized the cultivation of the ground extended, assuring
the subsistence and the welfare of the people.
In spite of the method of warfare which the insurgents
have pursued in Cuba, destroying its actual prosperity and
well-being in the name of the prosperity and liberty of
Cuba, which is the plainest proof that the leaders of the
insurrection had nothing there to lose ; that is to say, that
they were foreigners in the country ; those who had lost
all or nearly all they had, and those who could lose
nothing, because they had nothing to lose, allowed the
wave to sweep over them and remained quiet; not ,even
then did they join in the insurrection.
The revolutionists claim that they have 40,000 men
under their flag; it is probable that the number is exag
gerated, for, eager as they are to exaggerate everything
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concerning the revolution, it is not to be supposed that
they would tell the truth in regard to a fact so important,
morally and materially; but in any case, do 40,000 men
(of whom only 8,000 or 10,000 are known to be engaged
in any regular kind of warfare) form the majority in a
country which has among its population 200,000 men of
like conditions with those of the 40,000 mentioned ?
And the few professional men and men of education
who have joined the insurgents, are they of more weight
than the numbers in the Island who for many years past
have been laboring for their country's welfare?
The truth of the matter is that in Cuba the majority of
the population, owing to the culture and enlightenment
of the higher classes, and the prosperous condition of the
lower, are opposed to war as a means of obtaining inde
pendence, for if the contrary were the case the insurgents
would have not merely 30,000 or 40,000 men, but three or
four times that number ; it would be a general conflagra
tion. The seat of government or capital of the republic
would not at the present time need to be Cubitas, a moun
tain hamlet in the most solitary part of the least populous
Province of Cuba.
The revolutionists who carry on the war from New
York, in their eagerness to gain sympathizers outside of
Cuba, constantly publish bulletins or fictitious telegrams
and letters relating inhuman acts of the Spanish soldiers.
" The inhuman manner in which the war is carried on in
Cuba." Which is folly, because war is human and peculiar
to humanity. Other creatures have fights with each other
at certain periods, but to kill one another at every period,
as men have done since the world began, is peculiar to the
human race.
War is barbarous, and as such it is natural that it should
be cruel ; to pretend that war shall be carried on and no
body shall be killed, or shall be killed carefully and witlwut
being hurt, is absurd. War is a terrible evil which can be
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terminated speedily only by heroic measures. And the
only good thing there can be about a war is that it should
terminate speedily.
In the Franco-Prussian war the Germans hunted the
French peasants with the pretext that they were or might
be sharpshooters. These, it is well known, did not wear
a uniform in order that they might not be distinguishable
from the peasants.
In the United States the Confederates treated their
prisoners cruelly in Andersonville, Salisbury and Rich
mond. They slaughtered the garrison at Fort Pillow after
it had surrendered. In the Southeast the butcheries of
the guerillas of Quantrell are still remembered.
The Federals, on their side, have been accused of refus
ing for a long time to exchange prisoners for those who
were subjected to the worst treatment in the Southern
prisons; they burned Columbia, the beautiful capital of
South Carolina, and also Atlanta. The march of General
Sherman through Georgia was marked by the destruction
of that region ; they burned Richmond, and in the valley
of the Shenandoah the devastation and destruction were
complete. No one can forget the iniquitous proclamation
of General Butler in New Orleans, ordering that the ladies
who either by act or word should offer any insult to the
Federal officers or soldiers should be treated as public
women. When men fight in war they become converted into wild
beasts ; the animal part dominates the intellectual, and it
has but one object — to destroy.
For this reason war is to be avoided, and the war in
Cuba was neither desired by the majority of the inhab
itants nor necessitated by the aspirations for liberty of the
Cuban people.
The majority of the people, in conjunction with the
Autonomist party, labored for reform, and in a large
measure successfully, as I have already shown.
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As for the termination of the war, I now believe that it
will not long be delayed, though, until very recently, I
had grave doubts on this point, arising from the convic
tion founded on my intimate knowledge of the country,
that the insurrection, like all other civil conflicts, could
not be terminated by force of arms alone, or that if it
could be so terminated it would be, for the time being,
to the injury of Cuba, and therefore of Spain as well.
To-day the attitude of the Spanish Liberal party in favor
of the reforms and the declarations of the Conservative
Government in Congress in regard to establishing them,
at the same time that military operations will go on, make
me cherish the hope that this strife between members of
the same family will soon come to an end.
Senor Canovas recognizes the necessity of granting Cuba
self-government, a decentralization so extreme as to give
the country a large part of the administration of her own
affairs, imposing on her the responsibility of the adminis
tration, and giving the public employments to native
Cubans; a resolution which it is to be regretted the Gov
ernment did not adopt last year while the illustrious Gen
eral Martinez Campos was still in Cuba, to whom, indeed,
much of the change which has taken place in Spain with
respect to the manner of terminating the insurrection is
undoubtedly due.
As a lover of my country, and of the honor of my ances
tors, which is for me symbolized by that of Spain, I have
labored for the cause of freedom in Cuba, rejecting, how
ever, revolutionary methods that would not bring liberty
to my country, but would, on the contrary, bring about a
period of ruin and desolation, of reaction and exhaustion of
the forces necessary to her progress, the end of which no
one could foretell.
A sovereign state, unless it be great enough to make it
self respected and to be able to maintain its rights abroad,
has no guarantee whatever of liberty or peace ; the latter,
— 1C7 —

especially, will depend upon the interest or the convenience
of the neighboring nations, if they are the stronger.
On the other hand, a colon)1-, with its own laws and with
self-government, but under the sovereignty of a strong
state, enjoys all the rights of a sovereign state and the
credit and respect abroad which the mother country enjoys,
and which in the colony becomes converted into a source
of constantly increasing progress and well-being for its
inhabitants.

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