Omaha daily bee., 1897-12-01
THE PLAN OF AuToNomr.

The explanation given by the Spanish
minister to the United States Of the plan
OF autonomy for Cuba leaves no doubt
that IL Is a much more liberal scheme
than any previously proposed by Spain,
but 1t will hardly hh admitted that 1t Is
superior TO the system of government es-
tabished for Canada by the British
North America act, uniting the provinces
of the Dominion, which went into effect
July T. 1867. SO far as the legislative
feature of the Cuban plan of autonomy
Is concerned 1t is, indeed, fair claim
that 1t is better than the Canadian sys-
tenn, since the people of Cuba would be
given greater opportunity than those of
the Dominion to choose their rep
resentativcs in parliament As the
Spanish minister says, all the mem
bers of the upper house of the
Canadian parliament are appointed for
life by the crown, whereas 1t is proposed
that half the members of the upper house
Of the Cuban parliament shall be elected
by the people every five years But it
Is probable that the Cubans would de-
rive no very great advantage from this,
because there is no doubt that the i'm
perial government would be always able
to control the upper house, the proposed
powers of which are broader than those
of the upper house of the Dominion
parliament. There is no question, how
ever, that in the matter of electing the
lower house OF parliament the Cuban
plan Is more liberal than that of Canada,
since there is no property qualification
required by the former as there is by
the latter.
Where the authority of the Madrid
government would be most distinctly
exercised in the affairs of Cuba under
the plan of autonomy is through the
powers lodged in the governor general,
which are more extensive than the pow
ers given the governor general of Can
ada. For instance, the decree of auton-
omy empowers the governor general to
at any time convoke, suspend or dis
solve parliament, his authority in this
respect being practically autocratic. The
governor general of Canada can take no
step except for a dissolution, without
the countcrsign of the colonial ministry.
In other directions the powers given to
the representative in Cuba of the Span
ish sovereign are of greater scope than
the authority which can be exercised by
the representative of the British crown
in Canada.
In regard to the concessions made to
the CubanS in the matter of customs, it
is true that they mark an advance, but
certainly Cuba is not given control of
this matter when Spain requires prefer
ential duties for its products. This is a
very vital matter to the Cubans. They
want the privilege of absolutely con-
trolling the fiscal policy of the island
and while it is easy to understand the
indiSpoSitiOn of Spain to grant this it is
obviously prerequisite to the accept
ance of autonomy. In this respect Spain
is certainly less liberal toward Cuba
than Great Britain has been toward
Canada and it's other colonies. The
Cubans have been so oppressed by the
Spanish tariffs that they want to be
rid of them and to enjoy the right to
make a policy for themselves that will
relieve them from the heavy burdens to
which they have been subjected and
enable them to advance.
General Blanco recently sent out a re-
port that the new policy is being well
received in Cuba, but there is no other
testimony to this and representative
Cubans in this country assert that there
is no possibility of the scheme of au-
tonomy, which they characterize as
farce, being accepted by the insurgents.