The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1899-01-19
" OOD TESTIsIES.
Cuban Commander Ih mas In,
Army None ten Large

Washington, Jan. lS-Gen Leonard
Wood, military commander Of the de.
partment Of Santiago was before the
senate committee on military AFFAIRS TO.
day He gave a detailed account Of his
operations In the province and in the city
Of Santiago and also save his estimate
of the military force necessary TO main
tain order in tho Islands on the latter
point he expressed the opinion that for
some time the 1900 men now in the prov
ince Of Santiago should be continued hut
that after a time 5000 would be suffio,snt
Tor the service. He considered. however.
that military force would be necessary
70 the maintenance Of order for some
years, and said that Il should be suf-
hcient effectually and quickly to check
any trouble before It could gain head
way This remark applied to the island
as whole and he thought asmanv ns
5000 troops should be stationed through
tact he did not anticipate trouble. and
he believed that the insurgent forces
would rapidly dislntergate IN all parts
of the island Santiago had been great
stronghold Of the Cuban insurgents un-
der Garcia but they had now
PRACTICALLY DIsBANDED.
Outlining his mode Of governing the
province. he said he had made no an
pointments to office. except upon the
recommendations OF the Cubans, and that
he had in al. cases put them upon their
honor rlFtlg such recommendation
He had shown absolute trust in them IN
all matters, going among them always
unarmed and leaving the books Of the ad-
always open to their inspec-
tion. Ho had Cubans iu all departments
and his private secretary had at one
tlme been a member OF Gomez stan.
TThus they always knew how their
money had been expended and knew just
what he was doing az their governor.
Gen. Wood said that his fret e ort had
been to encourage the people OF the towns
to establish self-government, and he had
been especially Jealous I'm having thm
select their local officers. open schools
and establish courts, build roads, etc,
and In cases where they did not have
the money for these purposes he had
aided them by making contributions
from the general fund. This system was
entirely different from the old one
When all the collections were forwarded
TO Havana and never came back, only
l6 per cent Of the revenue being devote
to local uses. lie had found the people
Jealous OF their rights in this
respect, and the recent public meetings
and protests against sending their rev
enues to Havana were due to this feel
ing.
Gen. Wood spoke especially Of the es-
tabllshment Of schools and the building
OF roads. He said he had 1000 men max
ing roads and that he was getting many
started. Replying to question.
he said the people were anxious Tor the
separation Of the church and state inI
educational matters. anu that they seem
ed TO want to be like Americans In this
as well as In other respects. Speaking
OF Santiago city he said the collections,
mainly from customs. have been suffi-
cient to pay all legitimate expenses. and
leave balance Of S2sO,OOo. which he
meant to devote to cleaning out the har-
Dor. This harbor he said, had an accum-
uiatlon of ten feet Of filth. and with this
he believed the city would be
as httlthy as any American city