The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1898-04-26
THE STORY OF CUBA.
r,,rou,h Dcnth and Blood, Ruined
Au Uutrhcrcd Men and WO-
men, win Come II Free and Happy
Nnffnn

Nation,
The Chicago Times-Herald.
Cnba vas discovered by CHRISTOPHER
Columbus on october 2S, 1892. Had it
not been for the episode Of Ferdinand
and Isabella in the life of the great
italian navigator the rule of Spain
had not perhaps cursed the whole :
southern American continent for cen.
turtles and Cuba had no, nov been |
lighting for freedom. Columbus be- |
lieved that he had discovered the
main land OF India, but was persuaded
oy the a6origtnals that he was on an
island. When he returned to Cuba he
again mad up his mind that it was
the oriental mainland, and it is said
he died in that belief. So firmly was
ne seated in this opinion that he com
mltted l. TO writing in order that pos.
terlty might know of his conviction.
But in this detail the immortal dis
c0verer was in error.
There Is something NOBLE, unyicld-
Ing n stubborn about Cuba. The
Spaniards have never beer able to
conquer even the name. Columbus
callel the island Ju3ha for the honor
OF the son and heir Of Ferdinand and
Isabella. This name was afterwards
changed into F~ernandina. When the
king died = was again changed, this
time to santiago. Some piOuS Span
lard later altered it to Ave Maria. IL
was known by other names. and Il
learned essay OF its proper nOmencla-
turc might be written. But Cuba"
t~riumphed, and Cuba is not Spanish.
The patriots will have at least that
unction when they arc free. They can
retain their namc unchanged in the
comfortable thought that there is not
even Il suggestion of Spanish about it.
When Columbus landed, as il Is be-
licvcd, near the River Maxine, Cuba,
so called by its native inhabitants, was
peopled by a gentle, docilc race Of
American Indians. They were part of
the great tribe called 1.-The good" and
they were good indeed. Children Of
the forest and the sun, they did not
know what sayages they had well
coined when they extended their
hospitality to the gay-bcdeckcd Span
iards.
The first Cuban wal occurred nine
teen ears after the discovery of til :
island by Columbus. That humaa
beast, NclasQueH, with an army Of 300
mon, started out in 1911 to "pacify"
the CtbOncyes, as the Cuban indians
were called. NolasQucz, by all &C.
counts, belonged to the genus Weyler.
The peaceful aud kind Indians were
as sheep under the cut-throst hands OF
their conquerors. They did not seek
to repel the invadars. But the motto
OF Spain, suggested by its national
%cOlors, is "Through blood and dcsth
to golden victory" Victory, unuc.
%companied by blood and death, was
not sweet to Nela quCH and when the
chief Of the Cubans was caught Che
was called Hatuey,) Vclasque2 tied
him to Il stake, started II fire about his
body and burned the life out Of the
poor creature. as q " warning" to hi,
people.
This noble conquest was fifty follow.
ed up by NclasquCH, who promptly un,
dertook to c@ivilize the island by divid.
ing the Indians among his friends
h Origina. Cublns we're made slaves
and Cuba began to blossom with plan,
tations. Within forty years tho island
was producing magnificent crops, but
these crops were fattoned by the lives
OF the slaves. Before half a century
had passed the original Cubans had
been beaten and worked to extinction
Negro slaves took the place of the
native slaves. ard in this fact 10y the
germ OF ultimate liberty, for from tina
stock sPrang the glorious family o.
Maceo and the liberty loving, Span,
iard-hating family Of MassO, one 0
whose sons is now the president of the
infant republic.
With the extinction Of the Ciboncye.
agriculture declined ard remained il
~desuetude for u long time, or at lcast
until the negro slave trade became
efficient. Nelasquoz built cities, i'm,
proved the harhOrs n aid the fOun,
dations Of the government. In lJ3,
the king Of Spain acquired the RICH,
to appoint the governor, and the first
captain general by royal decree
was fernando dc Soto. Santiago had
been the capital, but in l5j2 the seat
OF government was removed TO Havana
The population diminished, and the
island ianguishcd for more than L cen.
tury, owing to Spanish laws foroidding
anything but CastiliarS to settle in
Cuba under pain OF death.
There have been revolutions and dis
content and love Of liberty IN the very
air and breath Of Cuba from the first.
The tinality OF Spanish rule has never
been accepted there except By the
helpless Indians, and hey died. The
first revolution began IA III, and that
revolution kept Spain busy for Il cen
fury. 1t was not qucllcd its spirit
was never cru5hcd) until the beginning
OF the present century. In 1923 an.
other revolution broke out within the
hrst. In that revolt GuaZO, the cap
tain general, hanged men and starved
them and garroted them and stabbed
them in the back, as WCyler has done
in these days. This proves that Spain
has not advanced an inch in c~iviiiza-
ton for centuries. Give her untrnm-
meled power and she seems to be AS
heartlesS as cruel, as dead to sympathy
as the Papuan.
Meanwhile negro slaves, the trade
In whom was made free, were poured
into the island by the thousands. Early
IN the last century there we're nearly
100000 negro slaves in Cuba. And for
twenty-five years the Importation con-
tlnued with Il steady ilDw. Now, in
Cuba there was miscegenation. The
kaiiirs and the other negroes were i'm
proved by the mixture with Mcditcr.
ranean blood. When they became
free-in a narrow way-they longcd
for more liberty. The anti-Spanish
tradition began to take substance and
form. 1t waXed with the growth of
liberty all about it through the range
OF North and South America. The
Cuban half-broed sucked the milk of
bis hatred and liberty from the breasts
OF his dusky mother, and in his fathers
fierce eye he saw liberty and revenge I
In the future. The holy cause won,
by very strength OF sympathy, re-
enforced by Spanish cruelty, blood and
life. The tradition vas relentless.
Death Or liberty was the cry nearly
one hundred Years ago.
In the vpar 1913 tho ITpitod ct,toc