The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-08
The Cuban Autonomist Party.

The Cuban Autonomist Party.
IL seems to be acknowledged by all i'm
partial observers hat failure awaits the
attempt to pacify Cuba with the scheme of
autonomy which Governor-G General BLANco
is now trying to put in operation. The
project is repudiated by the revolutionists
in the field, and, on the other hand, it is
denounced by those Spaniards dwelling in
the island who are organized in the So
called Constitutional Union party. Why,
then, did Prime Minister SAGAsTA and
Senor MoRET, Minister for the Colonies,
regard the plan with approval and pledge
themselves to carry 1t out2 To answer
this question we should glance at the his
tory of the Autonomist party, only the
earlier chapters of which are familiar to
Madrid politicians. What they lose sight
of is the fact that the Autonomist party,
which was once powerful, and might lave
saved Cuba to Spain had It's requests been
complied with in due time, is now but a
shadow of its former self, and is entirely
impotent to check the drift toward indie
pendence.
Up to the time when the present insur.
rection broke out. namely, Feb. "a, 1895,
the Autonomist party, which had become a
factor in colonial politics soon after the
close Of the Ten Years Wa Qs7s), had
been growing steadily in Importance. This
growth was the more remarkable, because
the Autonomists not only were opposed by
the insular authorities and the ultra
Spanish party, but also were confronted by
q grave obstacle in a limitation of the
,A,a- Ia-s,al .-ooI- Co. kLn ~n-
pose of sitting the voice of native Cubans
at the polls. They succeeded, neverthe-
less, in getting some of their candidates
elected to the Cortes at Madrid during
the reign of ALpHoNso XII, and also
at the first general election held
under the regency of Queen CHRIS
TINA. In 1886, the Autonomist Deputies
from Cuba and Porto Rico mooted in the
Cortes for the first time their programme
In the. shape of an amendment to the reply
to the royal message. In the ensuing d.
vision only the Spanish Republican Depu-
ties supported the Autonomists, all the
other Spanish parties, including the Lib
erals, as we'll as the Conservatives and Car
lists, being arrayed on the negative side. In
successive Parliaments the Autonomists
not only renewed their petitions, but, when
these were rejected, became more and
more outspoken in the warnings ad-
dressed by them to the Government.
" Especially in 1898 and 1894. they
pointed out that disaffection in Cuba
was assuming proportions which could
be d~isregarded no longer. Their warnings,
however, were needed by but one Spanish
statesman, Seior MAURA, who was Minis
ter for the Colonies in the Sagasta Cabinet
Of 1893, and introduced the first West
Indian Home Rule bill, which was shelved,
andi after the withdrawal of its author
from the Cabinet, superseded by the delu-
sive Project which bears the name of Min
isterL ABARzUZA. The latter bill, which
embodied concessions of a derisory kind,
Justified the warnings given by the Auton.
omists, for two months after it was voted
the present insurrection began.
HOW, ut that time, February, 1895, the
Autonomists were, beyond question, pow
erful in Cuba, and constituted a compact
minority In Porto Rico. In the larger
bland their Juntas had been thorough
~ organized In all of the six prov
inces, and they had in Havana a man.
aging committee composed of Cubans who
either had held high office In the island
or represented the colony in the Parlia.
ment at Madrid. In the middle and lower
classes of the native whites the Au-
tonomists were numerous, and they had
gained recruits also among the upper
classes In the towns, and among the
planters In the rural districts. They even
had many supporters in the Volunteer
Corps, which, for many years, had been
conspicuous for loyalty to Spanish rule. In
the city of Havana the Autonomists pos
sessed so much influence that, even after
the present insurrection had broken out,
they carried the only two constituencies
which they contested at the general cleo
ton of 1898, returning by large majorities
Senator LUBRA and Senator GIBERGA, their
candidates for the University and for the
economic societies Of the capital. The civil
war, however, has well nigh ruined the
Autonomist party, Its more advanced
groups gradually went over to the revolu-
t~ionists, especially after WEYLER began to
apply his system of coercion to the "sus-
poets" The fear OF persecution. of confis-
cation, OF being transported without trial,
and OF being sentenced to death by courts
martial, drove a large number of the
A~utonomists into exile, some going to the
United States, and Others to Central Amer
ica, Santo Domingo, and Europe. Hun
dreds of them were arrested by WEYLER
and shipped of TO Spanish fortresses or to
penal settlements on the coast of Africa.
Under the. circumstances, such Autono-
mists q remained In the island were, nat
ubally, reduced to ailepce and their man