The record-union., 1899-06-07
Calls Upon the Cubans to Assist
the American Authorities
To Complete the Honorable Mission They
Have Been Compelled to Assume.
Urges a Cessation of Superauous
Discussions and the Creation Of
Parties of All Kinds Which
Disturb the Country and Tend
to Cause Anarchy in the Isl-
ands.

ands.
| HAVANA, June 6.-General Maximo
Gomez, the former Commander-in-
Chief of the Cuban Army. issued his
farewell manifesto to-day. In substance
! it says:
The mission I have been entrusted
with is nearly completed. l have at
tempted to find solution of questions
concerning the army which l command
| ed during the bloodiest war known in
Cuba am now leaving, regretfully, to
attend to necessary private business.
"A parting word to the people for
whom l have sacrificed thirty years Of
my life and to my friends in the army
just disbanded, which action should
have been taken instantly after the re-
moval of the bloody weight of Spain's
merciless regime. We armed our
selves, and therefore, we now no longer
want soldiers, but men fer the mainten-
ance of peace and order, whichsare the.
basis of Cuba's future welfare.
1T is necessary to understand that
the nation in this epoch, the most diff
hcult in its history, should avail itself
OF the opportunity to show that it pos
sesseS virtues in spite of the vices
caused by colonial government and the
harshness of warlike life. We wanted
and depended upon foreign intervention
to terminate the war. This occurred at
the most terrible moment of our con-
test and resulted in Spain's defeat, but
none of us thought this extraordinary
event would be followed by a military
occupation of the country by our allies
who treat US as people incapable of
acting for ourselves, and who have re-
duced us to obedience to submission
and to the tutelage imposed by force
of circumstances. This cannot be our.
ultimate fate, after the years of strug-
gle, and we should aid by every pacific
method in finishing the work of organ-
izing, which the Americans accepted in
the protocol and which is as disagree
able for them as for ourselves This
aid will prove useless without concord
among all the islanders Therefore. it
is necessary to forget past disagree
rnents, to completely unite all elements.
and to organize a political party which
Is needed in any country
1T is always said that countries have
the government which they merit. and
Cuba will have that which her heroism
entitled her to. To-day she can have
only one party in Cuba, with one OBJ
ject, that of obtaining the aspiration Of
years.
We must devote ourselves to pacific.
labors. gain the respect of the worlds
and show that though our war wasf
honorable, our peace must be. more
so. We must make useless by our be-
havior the presence of strange power
in the island, and must assist the
Americans to complete the honorable
mission they have been compelled to
assume by force of circumstances.
This work was not sought by those
rich northerners, owners of a CONT
nent. I think doubts and suspicious
are unjust We must form Immediately
a committee or a club to be a nucleus
of government This will serve Cuba.
II, as one of the first Cubans. all,
though one of our last soldiers andl
not far from the grave, without pas
sions or ambition, call on you with the
sincerity of a father and urge a cessa-
ton of the superfiuous discussions and .
the creation of parties of all kinds
which disturb the country and tend ITO
cause anarchy. In this country there
should not be one man whom we con-
slider stranger To-day we no longer
have Autonomists or Conservatives,
but only Cubans.
MY mission having ended, 1 will abb
sent myself temporarily to embrace my
family, but I will return shortly to
Cuba, which 1 love as much as my
own land
My last words for my soldiers are
that, as always, where my tent is, the
Cubans have a friend
The farewell manifesto of General
Gomez is the principal topic of con-
versation among Americans and Gu
bans of all shades of politics. The
Americans, for the most part, con-
slider it an affecting address, expressing
the real view of the old patriot and
his sincere intention to retire from
public life. His Cuban admirers say
the address will rank among the most
famous in history His opponents.
especially the members of the former
Military Assembly, insist that he has
no intention to retire for more than a
few weeks, and that his real object
is to gain public sympathy They say
also that Colonel Carlos Cespedes vir-
tually writes the greater part of what
Gomez writes to the public, though, in
this instance, probably a third was
written by himself.