Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1888-06-30

consists OF two deputies 1oE the G0fteS, eleot-
ed every two years, and ene senator, elected
every six years, from each province. When
the fact is stated that these are absolutely
the only elective effices in all Cuba, and that
but one or two OF the Cuban provinces are
permitted to return deputies sympathizing to
any degree with Cubans, the abject political
hopeIessness and degradation Of Cuba are
sufficiently shown. Every one of the army
of plundering officials in Cuba is an individ-
ual appointee by the colonial minister at
Madrid. The Governor General at Havana,
himself a creature of the colonial minister,
with salary of fifty thousand dollars in
gold, horde of petty titled slaves, and q
standing army of twenty thousand regular
and forty five thousand volunteer" soldiers
at his back, is infinitely more an absolute
dictator in all civil and military affairs than
the Gear of Russia. His word ie law and
execution of law in point Of fact over the
property, person and the most infnitesin1al
affairs of every soul in Cuba. He is a1aena-
BILE to no law or power on earth save the will
of his political creator and partner in crime
and the material rewards of crime, the CO.
1enial secretary. His sole and only mission
to Cuba is to give it such regime as shall
enable him and his master, by common and
uncommon robbery, by blackmail, extortion,
1egalized bandolerism.in dungeons of politi-
cal suspects" !" confseation of estates, exile
of citizens, persecution of business and COM
mercial interests, colossal hrigandage and ac-
tual murder, when necessary, to wiring the
last dollar in gold from the island, not even
for Spain, but for themselves; and it is an
infamous fact that no Spanish colonial secre-
tary has gone out of Office during the present
century, and no Captain General of Cuba
has ever been recalled, until, whatever the
poverty of either upon assumption of power,
he has possessed himself of millions of dol
lars secured by the blacklist robbery from
the bravely patient people of Cuba.
The tentacles of this monstrous govern
mental devil fish are constituted and operate
as follows: Each of the six provinces has a
civil governor (gobernador civil who, al
though another Madrid appointee, is simply
q creature of the Governor General at Hava
ms, a sort of brigand sub-chief. He Is pro
vidsd (also from Madrid) with a provincial
secretary, Secretary of Finance, etc., and
there are also attached to his robber-court
three other creatures, Officials Primero, Sc
aundo and Tereero, who are sort of per-
sonal executors of personal edicts-for it ia
ridiculous to suppose that ary sort of law,
or justice under form of law, exists in the
unfortunate island. These provincial gover-
nors and their followers are vested with, that
is assume and put in force, unlimited civil
and military powers for their own benefit in
all small and general goadings of the people,
and in the same way and manner collect the
infamous taxes and customs duties, and exe-
cute all the personal commands of the nef-
ciless dictator in Havana. Aside from these
central military groups of assassins and rob-
bers at the provincial capitals or intendan-
.cies, each of the capitals are further persecu-
ted by distinct and similarly organized mu-
nicipal governing authorities. Each of these
consist of mayor, treasurer, sheriff, corpo-
ration secretary and horde of lesser agents
of misrule; while the unineorpOrated towns
and the villages and pueblos are kept in q
condition of inquisitorial suffering by sher-
ifs, deputies and alca1des, or burgomasters.
Without occupying space with hundreds of
authenticated instances could relate, I as
sert as fact, notorious through Cuba, that
from the Captain.General at Havana down
to the most insignificant alcalde of the hum
blest pueblo, through these ten to fifteen
thousand Spanish officials-every one of
whom has come from Spain with a commits
sion in his pocket known in the colonial seq
retary's Office at Madrid to mean FROM the
first nothing better than license to rob and
kill-there is not from one end of the year
to another single order emanating from
this authority backed by sword and musket
which ia on the line of justice to Cubans, OF
even within the meager confines of damna.
BILE Spanish law. The entire regime in Cuba
is one of personal will by bad men. From
the Captain General to his meanest slaye,
the official or the brutal soldier is his OWL
lawmaker and executioner. ALI law within
this island to-day is merely the rugged disci-
pline of the knife and bullet existing among
men banded together to enslave, rob and
murder helpless and hopeless other men
s'in the name of the crown" "You are ar
rested in the name OF the crown. "Your
property is confscated in the name of the
crown" You are torn from your home and
incarcerated in the Cabana or Megp dungeons
without charge against you, in the name Of
the crown" You are tortured with thumb
screws, beaten with clubs, starved with YER
min (all this is proven to have occurred with
in the past month"; Sin the name of thu
crown" And you are shot by the Spanish
soldiery upon the highway, in your home, in
the street or upon the plaza red with Spain's
butcheries for an hundred years, Sin tht
name of the crowni" In the name of Goo
and humanity how long will the United
States stand idly by and permit these ineon.
ceivably inhumau atrocities, and these incon
to continue in the name of the Spanish
crown?
THE MOUNTAIN OF DEBT.
Outside of plunder of citizens and bust
ness interests by Spanish officials, the noun
tain of debt piled upon the island is start
lingly stupendous.. No means of ascertain.
ing the truth can be found. The officials
will not give such information It is &c
tremendous they have doubtless long since
ceased to compute it. Fifty years age
when Cuba was the richest spot on ths
globe, for its area, six millions of dollars
was sufficient for an annual budget provi
ding both-for Spanish profigacy and grea
public improvements. She has been forced
for the last twenty years, through the mos
scandalous taxation, to provide an annua
budget of fully thirty-fve million dollars
When the irredeemable paper money of he
"Spanish Bank of Havana" forced upon tn,
people at the point of the bayonet (thougl
all taxes are in the same way forced from
them in gold), which must reach two hun
dred million dollars, be taken into account
her actual debt, according to most conserva
| tive estimates, must reach five hundred mil
lion dollars. More than one-half of thi
enormous sum has simply been stolen an
pocketed by these military brigands fror
| Spain's colonial Office.
THE UNsENTfMENrAL QUESTION.
It is but fair to answer the unsentiment,
question: Should we end this injustice an
wrong by buying or taking Cuba, in Whs
| would We profit? In these respects the brie
est and truest facts that can be penned: ]
| possessing the very key to the richest DO
| tions of the American continent; in gainir
a winter sanitarium for the ailing of our al,
| ty millions of people, whose beauty and va
ne not even the mighty powers of Hur
| boldt could ftly describe; in owning an en-,
less supply garden Of fruit, vegetables Al
1 fora for the mighty cities of our coast a.
interior; in adding million and o half !
ready loyal people TO our population; in !
curing forty-three Thousand souare n,iIas
the richest soil on the globe: in acanir,,
boundless forests of valuable eom1narci