The record-union., 1898-10-20
As is Prevailing at Cuban Capital at Pres
ent Time.
Barring Spaniards Who Will be
Cubans Who Expected Their
Flag to be Raised as Soon as the
Spanish Co1ors Came Down,
Everyone is Praying for Ameri-
can Military Occupation.

NEW YORK, Oct. 19-A dispatch to
the Tribune" from Havana says:
Havana has known dull times in the
past According to the merchants, how
ever there never has been a period Of
stagnation quite equal to the present.
The condition is a natural and inevita-
BILE one, but this knowledge does not
lessen their impatience. 1t is a literal
truth that, barring the Spanish officials
| who will be deprived of their offices and
a few-a very few-radical Cuban pa
triots who hoped that their own flag
would be run up as soon as the Spanish
ensign came down, everybody is pray
ing for the American military occupa-
ton. Until the custom house is in the
control of the Americans business will
continue stagnant On the heels of this
control will follow a period of activity
greater perhaps than the situation war
rants, but the normal basis will ulti-
mately be reached.
1t is a curious illustration of the
Spanish character that the coming of a
second military commission charged
with the minor duty of selecting camp
sites has had more effect in convincing
! all classes that the United States will
assume authority than does the pres
ence of the commission charged with
arranging for the evacuation of the ISL
| and by the Spanish troops. They can
see the engineer officers and the sani-
tary experts who arrived this week 60
ing about and taking observations. 1t
! should be said, also, that this work is
being done in a thoroughly methodical
and practical way. The results will
justify the care that has been taken.
The labors of the Evacuation Com
mission have not been carried on in
public. General Wade and his asso-
ciates, General Butler and Admiral
Sampson, have not been able to point
| to the transports departing with Span
| ish troops in large numbers. On this
account as much as for other reasons
| the people of Havana We're becoming
hopeless of seeing the Spaniards de-
! part for months to come. The idea
| that the evacuation would be delayed
until the verge of another yellow fever
season had gained possession Of them.
AS they could not be taken into the con Z
| fidence of the Washington Administra-
/ ton and our policy being disclosed, they
| formed their own opinions, and it was
| a mistaken one.
| The reasons which in the United
| States were conclusive against sending
soldiers to Western and Central Cuba
before November did not appeal to the
people here They have seen the Span
ish soldiers die like flies from the yell
| low fever 1t was not clear to them
why so much greater regard should be
shown for the Siyes of American SOL
diers. Recent events have convinced
Americans in Havana of the wisdom of
the policy that has been followed. The
sending of troops here at any time dur
| ing the last two months would have
been criminal unless an imperative ne
ceSsity had arisen for maintaining pub
lie order. Fortunately there has been
no such emergency. Lacking in many
respects, the authority of Captain Cen
] eral Blanco and of the autonomist Cab
| met, which is but the shadow of the
Captain General has been sufficient to
preserve the peace.
/ 1t is so we'll understood in the United
States that the Spanish Evacuation
| Commission is the puppet of Sagasta
that the different impression which had
| obtained in Havana would not be un-
derstood there without a word of ex-
Commission in Paris cavse little COM
ment here, because there is little inter-
est in the Philippines The most igno-
rant Spaniards, the Cubans among
them. know that Spanish rule is at an
end. They are Indifferent in other
parts of the world. But in what con-
Germs themselves they have seen delay
after delay interposed. The patience
which the American Military Commits
sion has shown has been interpreted
| and the notion was becoming prevalent
| that the Spanish Commission was in
some indefinite way gaining advan-
tages. The continued presence of the
Spanish troops was the supposed evil
dence of this advantage.
While the Spanish understanding is
dull. it is reached through the senses
For this reason the activity of the en-
( gineer and sanitary officers is the best
possible means that could be taken to
| dispel the delusion that Spanish occu-
pancy of the island and Spanish SOW
! ereignty were to continue until next
/ April Every step taken in preparing
| the camps for the American military
! garrison is a convincing argument that
/ the old order is coming to an end The
more openly these preparations are
made and the further they advance the
more cheerful will be the feeling of the
community. The fact of American
control is the needful thing. .As this
fact approaches the conditions will inn
prove Pending the change, business
| in Havana will be done on gradually
narrowing scale. For a few weeks
times will be even duller than at pres
ent. but it will be only for a few weeks
The outlook is not luminous with
hope. but it is better. The drawback to
agriculture, which was foreseen when
immediate possession of the island by
| American troops did not follow the
signing of the protocol, is real but it
was unavoidable. The tobacco firms
are not yielding as much as they will
under favorable circumstances, vet
they are yielding something.
/ The same will prove true of the sugar
plantations and there will be a GUAM
tity of cane to grind in December and
later. 1t is necessary to state these