The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-12-04

ment, ends a short yet interesting
chapter of history, says a Havana cor
respondent of the Tribune. This cabi-
net represented Spain's tardy and de-
spairing effort to save her vanishing
sovereignty in the Antilles. Some of its
members will remain in the island and
accept the new conditions. Others, ii
is reported, will end their lives in Spain
though they are Cuban born. They
would not be in full sympathy with the
future government, whether it be an
independent one or whether annexation
to the United States follows: .
This autonomist cabinet was appoint
ed in December last, and took office
Jan. J. 1898. Its membership was as
follows: President, without portfolio,
Jose Maria Galzez; secretary of the
treasury, Rafael Montoro; secretary OF
justice and government, Antonio Gown;
secretary of public instruction, Fran
cisco Zayas; secretary OF public works,
Eduardo DALI; secretary of agriculture
and commerce, Laureano RodrigueS.
The events of eleven months need not
be told in detail to show that the last
three departments were not burdened
with functions. They were practically
non-existent.
This cabinet was made up of what
was known as historic and radical au-
Economists, with a ''reformista," or mod
crate supporter of Spanish sovereignty
sandwiched in between them The
hope was that the radical members
would be able to exercise a. persuasive
influence on the insurgents. 1t proved
a fallacious one. Gown was the lead
ing radical in the cabinet. He had been
an aggressive supporter of autonomy
from the beginning of that movement,
fs-l1
quently charged that he was separat-
ist. When the insurrection broke out
he did not join it, but his principles and
his SymDathieS were so we'll known
that he came under the ban of Weyler's
suspicion. Unable to identify himself
on the one hand with the insurrection
and, on the other hand, unwilling to
endorse the policy of the Spanish gov
eminent in suppressing it, he went into
voluntary exile in the United States.
He settled with his family at Atlanta,
Ca, and remained there until the regi-
me of autonomy was established under
Blanco. Then he accepted the place in
the autonomist cabinet, and eXerted
himself heroically to secure its accept
ance by the Cuban people. Gown is a
man of executive force, and, while his
positive character made enemies for
him, it also gave him strength. He
has been the most aggressive member
of the cabinet.
Rafael Montero was the leader Of the
historic autonomists. His friends
claimed for him the honors of founding
the party. He was better known in
Spain than any others of the Cuban
publicists. His writings had made for
him European reputation, and he
was not unknown in the United States.
In Cuba he was appreciated as man
of letters, a publicist and an orator
But he was not a bold leader. He fear
ed the consequences of the insurrection,
and said bitter things about it. He ac-
cepted the reforms of Canovas as a
step toward colonial home rule. His
talents were great, but he had lost the
confidence of his own people. Though
the ablest and most conspicuous MEM
ber of the cabinet, his influence has not
been marked He is a believer in the
Latin race, and it is said of him that
he prefers spending the remainder of
his life in Spain to watching its con-
tact and possible conflict with Anglo
Saxon civilization in Cuba.
Calvez' was also one of the historic
autonomists He was eminent as a
lawyer and as an orator He has been
credited with declaring that he would
rather see Cuba sink under the sea than
that it should be Americanized. But
his friends interpreted this as cam
paign talk" He was never a violent
supporter of Spanish sovereignty, and
would have been willing to watch its
gradual disappearance into Cuban in
He will probably remain
in the island.