New-York tribune., 1900-04-21
THE CUBAN CENSTS.

The first and most obvious comment upon the
report of the Cuban census is one of surprise
that the island has so numerous n population.
The total is 1,5I2.19 Before the last it
was 1851 ,6S7. The apparent loss in five years is
therefore only 5S.e90, which does not at ali
agree with the tales of desolation and death
with which we were burdened during the war.
We were told that in the greater part of the
island the birth rate had been reduced almost to
zero. that thousands We're being killed in battle
and that under Weyers policy of concentration
the death roll was swelled to some hundreds Of
thousands. There was actually among serious
minded men an idea that the population of Cuba
had been reduced by one-third or more, and an
expectation that the new census would show not
more than 100000 or 11O0000 inhabitants.
The discrepancy between what was thought and
what Is known is, however, readily eX-
planned without mpugnng the accuracy Of
either the war tales or the census The last
census before the one which has Just been made
taken long ago 1887, eight years
before the outbreak of the war In those eight
years the rqtural increase of population, accord
ing to tho ratio that had hitherto prevailed in
the island, was probably 10000 That would
make the loss between 1895 and 1900 more than
100000. Bnt in those five years there must have
been n considerable increase through births,
which may reasonably be estimated at $4,000,
thus swelling the total loss to 2J0OOO. Finally.
we may assume that the census of 1887, like all
taken under Spanish rule was not at all COM
plete Had 1t been taken with the thoroughness
that has marked the present one. 1t would prob
ably have shown total larger by tens of thou
sands. The statements Of a far worse than deci-
nation of the population Of Cuba by war and
starvation are therefore substantially confirmed.
The analysis of the population according to
races will also be surprising 10 some. especially
TO those who have been talking of Cuba as
second Hayti" and dilnting upon the threatened
horrors of another "black republic" 1t will not
be surprising TO those who have accepted the
authoritative information which has been re-
peatedly set forth In the columns of The Trib
une We have all along estimated the negro
and mulattO population at not more than one
third of the whole, and the pure white, including
both Creole and Spanish at fully twothirds.
The new census exactly yerites those estimates,
showing the white population to be 1862, $40
and the negro and mixed only 505.4i3, with
something less than 15000 Chinese. That shows
a trihe less than nethird black and mixed-tO
be exact, 81 A per cent That indicates not only
that the black race is in q helpless minority. but
that II Is decreasing in proportional strength. 1t
is true the census of 1887 showed only 30 "a per
cent of black and mixed, that on the face of
It there has been n proportionate increase OF
that element. 1t is, however, we'll known that
the white people suffered vastly more than the
blacks from losses in the and in Weylers
determination campaign. and to that fact the
apparent gain of blacks is to be attributed. In
1877 the blacks were just SO per cent, in 1861
they were 44.91 per cent, in 1854 they We're 53
per cent and in 1927 they were o6 per cent We
may safely conclude. therefore, that Cuba is not
II negro State, and Is in no danger of becoming
one.
The figures of ilteracy and school attendance
are noteworthy, largely confirming former
ports of Spanish neglect of public education.
We have as yet no analysis of the population
according TO age. We are. however. informed
that only 49414 children ten or more years old
have attended school. 1t is safe to estimate
that those figures represent little If any more
than One-tenth of the children Of school age in
the island. 1t would not do. however, TO con-
clude therefore that nine -tenths of the people
are illiterate. The is not so bad as that
though 1t is pretty bad. Only % per cent can
read and write, leaving - per cent ilterate
That fact Is significant both OF neglect in past
years and OF present unfitneSs for the exercise of
sovereignty. There Is something worse than the
"black republic which has been held up as a
bOgie. 1t is an ilterate republic and that with
a vengeance. is what Cuba would be to-dayif II
were made Independent and endowed with uni
Versal suffrage. The marriage returns. too are
worthy Of attention. OF the men and women
living together in marital relations less than
two-thirds are actually married Nearly 80 per
cent are living together merely by mutual con
sent. without any legitimate tie or contract
That is circumstance even more discreditable
III morals than the school statistics are in edu-
cational affairs. The two together form an i'm
presSiye indication of the necessity there was
for throwing off the Spanish yoke. which meant
ignorance and immortality and the substitution
OF some sort of guardianship that should direct
the people Of Cuba into better ways