The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-01-09

hacco plantations, while there are 500
penniless CIIbans In the city, enough 20
cultivate al the tobacco fields. Business
here is practically mon0poifzed BY Span
iaFds.
II has been persistently asserted In The
Post for more than two years past-and
the statement was based on actual expe-
rience and observaaon-that nine-tsnths
Of the Industrial enterprises conducted in
Cuba represented American Or European
capital and brains. while an even larger
proportion OF the labor was performed by
Spanish peassntry imported from the
peninsula Business here is practically
monopoized by the Spaniards," says the
Suns dispatch. No doubt Even after a
year OF absolute freedom from ''persecu-
ton" the monopoly continues. These con-
ditions are not the result Of anything
but the Cubans' inveterate unwillingness
to work, as will be seen:
"A vast majority of the 5000 immi-
grants who have arrived from Spain dur
ing the past year are ct work, but the
Cubaus who are not mechanics OF arti-
sans are going hungry The wealthy
Cubans uphold the middle classes in this
spirit. saying that white Cuban is bet
ter than the Spaniards or negroes and
should not have 10 DO mental work. They
want Gen. Wood to give not simply WORK,
but certain kinds Of work. which, with
out the widest pateTnalism. which would
be most burdens0me TO the island, IS i'm
possible Could ne do so he would be
hailed as a savior. Being unable n DO
as the white Cubans want, he must take
calmly the disaffection Of that class which
Is sure 10 follow. The clamor for work
in the custom house continues.
These are the men who propose to gov
ern Cuba, 10 make the laws, hold the Of
fetal places, collect and disburse the pub
lie moneys. and rule over those who in
vest the capital they themselves do not
possess and perform the honest labor they
themselves avoid and seorn. And TO show
how resolutely they are bent upon this con-
summation. how ready they are to plunge
Cuba anew into violence and ruin unless
they have their will, they took occasion
at a public dinner, given In Havana the
other night, to make their purpose un-
mistakable. The banquet was in honor Of
General" Maso. who. during the latter
months Of 1897. pretended to be president
Of the Cuban republic"-a President hid
ing like rabbit in the bush, with gov
eminent contained In a pair Of saddlebags
slung across a muleI-and the utterances
are thus described in the dispatch from
which we have been quoting:
Several Of the speakers touched upon
the question of suffrage qualification.
They We're unanimously in favor of uni
versal suffrage without any qualification
except age. Each leader became more
vehement as the banquet proceeded. They
declared THAT there would surely be trou-
bic If an effort was made to force voting
restrictions, because, they all said. as they
had fought to free all the people of Cuba
and not themselves alone. they would not
brook action curtailing the rights OF the
poor and uneducated-"
Verify. the task set before Gen. Wood
is fraught with difficult and dangerous
complications. He is in Cuba charged with
the duty of preparing the ground for an
enlightened stable, and civilized govern
ment, and he finds himself surrounded
by men who want a government by the
rabble and will be content with nothing
lessi