The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1898-04-01
rHE FUTURE OF CUBA
PsospEoT BYoARL soHURz IN Hsspres


pointment, saying that the people o.
United States were still anzioUsly look
ing for the realization Of their hop,
that with the independence Of tho
South American republics free institu
tions would be established, 'insurina
all the blessings Of liberty Hemight
say the same thing now
The question whether the population
of Cuba, consisting Of spaniards, white
Creoles and one-third Of negroes and
mulattoes, is in any essential respect
superior to that Of the American repub-
| lies south Of US, and whether better
things may be expected Of it, is certain
ly one Of far reaching importance.
The question is by no means answered
by the statement upon which an es.
teemed contemporary lays greatstress
that the insurgents in Cuba have ex.
hibited splended fighting qualities, and
that they may therefore be trusted with
equal capacities for self government.
The fighting in the Spanish South
American colonies was in it's time quite
as respectable as the fighting now is in
Cuba; and considering that the national
origin Of the two insurgent forces as to
the white source is the same there be-
ing an Indian admixture in South
America and a strong negro element in
Cuba-and considering further that the
two populations have grown up under
similar tropical conditions Of climate
and under similar traditional infuences,
religious, social and political, it is not
unreasonable to apprehend that their
conduct after the achievement Of indie
pendence will be similar also In other
words, it is very probable, if not Ger.
tain, that in Cuba, as in South America,
when the war against the Spaniards
ends, wars Of factions will begin
And inasmuch as in Cuba a large part
Of the revolutionary forces consists of
negroes and mullattoes, high places Of
command being held by men Of color,
who, having done their share Of fight
ing will claim their share in running
the government, those wars Of factions
are likely to become anbittered by race
antagonisms of peculiar acrimony
Those of us who by warlika intergen-
tion that is, by shedding the blood Of
our own people and by sacrificing the
treasure of our own country for the
purpose Of "liberating7 Cuba expect
to stop bloodshed and destructive dis
order, and to establish civil liberty,
peace, and prosperity there may thus
meet with q disappointment as keen
as that Of Henry Clay was To accom-
plish their humanitarian end entirely,
more intervention By force will prob
ably be required against the fachous
distnrbers The same men whom our
first Intervention had liberated would
then hate and fight their friends and
liberators Of yesterday as their enemies
and oppressors Of today. Whoever 70
gards this as an overdrawn picture
need only read the history Of the Amer
lean republics south Of us, and imagine
that the United States had helped them
against the Spaniard by warlike inter
vention, and then attempted to estab
lish and maintain peace and orderly
government within their border Such
study viii convince every candid
mind Of the complexities Of the task.
And nobody can foretell how far, after
we had once embarked in such a task,
our sense Of responsibility not to
speak Of the growth Of a reckless spirit
Of adventure would drive us on
Would not then the annexation Of
Cuba to the United States appear as
the only remaining shift2 Probably it
would This would mean the inoor
poration in our political system Of a
country, with a populationrof over
!, 500, 600 souls, which is essentially mn
eongenial, If not positively hostile, to
our political and social principles, ways
Of thinking, and habitsga country the
climatic conditions Of which are such
that its principle laboring force that
is, thebulk Of itscitizenship- -cannever
consist Of people Of Anglo-Saxon, or more
broadly speaking, Of Genmanie blood
a country that is SURG to breed inter
minable race antagonisms AN evil Of
which we are already have more than
enough; a country in every way unfit
ted for the builping up Of d wel.order
ed democracy as.Be understand it The