New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-04-05
ICUBA'S ALIEN CHAMPION.
GENERAL. GOMEZ. THE ONLY REMAINING
LEADER. A SAN DOMINICAN.
HIS FIRM HOLD on THE PEOPLE AND HIS CON-
DUCT OF THE NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

nr--r OF THE NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
TO MAKE HIM PRESIDENT
Havana March 23-When the history OF the
crhor ,rsurrect,on Of 1895 '9S is written one Of
its paradoxes will be found to lie In the fact that
the chief role in a movement presumably insuiar
and patriotic has been played by an alien ana
it's political and military honors have oeen
ra-nered bv a leader who is Cuban nelther py
adont,on nor by birth. OF the four men VINO
NAV be considered the main props or the SEC
ond struggle against Spain-Marti 'oine%
Marco and Garcia-but one is left TO witness 'he
err erirent Of republican government soon u
crown that friendly American Intervention ioi
which the patient endurance OF the insuree"'
forces furnished the logical excuse Martl' 'he
organizing genius Of the revolt; GARCIA TIC
native guarantor OF its military staoiii'S' MAJ
the most popular and dashing OF its e"e'''"
chieftains-all have been cut on IN tne p'oO
Of liberation and the undivided manure VI i7"
ership has now fallen 10 Gomez, the penl anu
gray San DOMINICAN. whose boast has always
haen that he retains his citizenship In the IT,
public OF President Heureaux
Only as recently as March II In his reply u
the letter Of tie Military Assembly. announcing
his removal from the command OF the army
General Gomez laid especial stress on MS S'a'u'
as a foreigner who had offered his sword 10 '"e
people Of Cuba and who now desired ho'"i's
more than to return 70 his san pon''"e'-''
,,ar,otio, ~ mass his few remaining days IN
peace That his unquestioned growth ]" III.
affections Of the Cuban public and the evident
desire OF his supporters 10 reward MN " ~"
highest office in the gift Of the prospective ma
tive government may induce him 10 renouiI'e
his foreign citizenship is not improbable. let
and
no is every day enthusiastically hailed as the
ubarator Of the people and the President or the
annroaching republic. remains in fact an ahen
ard soldier Of fortune General Gomez mas
been STYLED by local versifiers both the kossu'h
and the Washington Of the Cuban struggle TOT
freedom. But such SMILES ignore the fact that
the American Revolution did not borro" d
Washington from Canada nor the Hungarian
Kossuth from Rumania or Servia-
HIS HOLD on THE PEOPLE FIRM.
Alien or no alien. however, GAeral Gomez
present hold on the people NJ Cuba cannot DE-
questioned The outcome Of his contest VII"
Tho Military Assembly was something Of sur
prise to the old chieftain himself. for no one
had imagined that all elements Of the popula-
ton would rally so vigorously 70 support the az
titude he had taken toward a body which what
nositorv Of the power supposed to have been
vested in the republic organized by Maru anu
Masso Instinct rather than calculation per
haps. guided Gomez in defyng the Military AS
sembly and exerting his influence with the
army, m secure IT'S disarmament on the terms
offered bv the United States. And though lot
a moment II seemed as II the intrigues OF the
Assembly leaders might undermine him with the
soldiery. the overwhelming outburst Of senu-
rnent in favor OF compliance with the conditions
Of disarmament laid down by President Mchih-
lev quickly carried him. though deprived or rank
and command to a higher pinnacle OF authority
than he had ever reached even in the exercise
Of his full powers as military commander-in-
chief
For two weeks the Havana newspapers nave
been filed with columns OF letters ana as
patches from ali parts OF the island announcing
the adhesion OF civil, and military leaders OF
municipal bodies and political clubs. TO the
cause OF the deposed general. The appearance
in the streets here Of his private carriage, drawn
BY four white horses. with an imposing FOOT
man in livery on the box is the signal tor
vociferous demonstrations from the native-0orn
OF all colors With the American authorities ne
is still the recognized head ~ the army. and the
official go-hetween in the disbursement 70 the
soldierv OF the 100000 in gold Cs391l2l9 in
Spanish silver sent here from Washington.
With the Spanish and utra-conservative groups
in the island he is the guarantor Of the pubic
treasury against the inroads upon II planned
bv the Military Assembly leaders. With the
populace generally he is the spectacular figure
OF the hour the Grand Old Man Of island poll
tics whose apotheosis is celebrated nightly at
one Of the local theatres in tabeaux-vivans'
which picture him as an end-of-the-century
Bolivar-the prospective ruler Of the last OF the
republics 10 be founded in this hemisphere on
the ruins ~ Spains crumbling empire
The Cuban revoution-if the movement when
resulted in American Intervention may be 50
called-scarcelv lends itself 10 measurement by
the standards ordinarily applied to political and
military explosions OF this sort. The Insured
ton was an organized one in neither political
nor military sense. Irregular. desuItorN'
guerilla warfare was the only method which held
ont the hope Of ultimate success. and the cam
pa;gns OF the insurgent leaders were thus snorn
from the start OF all that is stimulating ana
dramatic in the spectacle Of WAY. 1t has been
charged that Gomez. Ike certain other generals
who have campaigned in Cuba did most OF MS
fighting from the shelter OF a well-shaded nam
mock But in the rebel leaders case the sheer
habind the charge converts Itself into an actual
compliment Maceo was a far more dashing ana
omen fighter than his immediate superior ou'
Nsceo's tactics led 10 nothing. but his own
destruction. while Gomez's Fabian policy con-
trived eventually TO wear out the heart of the
Spanish attack
COMETS STYLE OF FIGHTING.
c;omezs record in the Ten Years War had
proved that he could exchange blows a. wen
as avoid them. and his professional military
,ra,ri,p lifted him above any reproaches for
sniritlessness OF methods. Educated IN the
cnanish Army and himself leader In many
oar,naigns in the tropics. he realized that the