The evening times., 1900-03-01

Samuel Gompers, President of the Amer
lean Federation of Labor. has returned to
Washington after a two weeks visit to Gu
| ba. He has written detailed account of
his experience in the island. He says in
part:
There were about 14OO0 cigarmakers
and about ,200 bakers on strike when ! ar
rived in Havana. l was asked to aid the
/ cigarmakers. The bakers made no re-
quest of that kind, and / felt that an Of
fer Of assistance to them might carry with
/ it the appearance of gratuitous interfer
ence. Every day and almost every evening
of that first week in Havana, where 1 had
gone to seek rest and renewed health, was
taken up in meetings and conferences. The
cigarmakers strike originated from a very
peculiar cause.
Before the Ten Years revolution for
Cuba Libre' the cigar trade was nearly all
in the hands of the Cubans During that
revolution the cigar factories belonging. TO
Cubans were confscated by the Spanish
authorities. After the failure of the revo-
luton TO accomplish Cuban independence,
the then Spanish employers placed every
position of responsibility in the hands of
Spanards These in turn gave every en-
couragement TO Spanish boys to learn the
preferred branches of the trade Qeaf Sc
lecting and cigar packing) At the time of
the strike there was not a Cuban holding
the position of superintendent or foreman
in any cigar factory and but about two out
of every 100 leaf selecters and cigar pack
~ o..
thirty Spaniards at cigarmaking 1t is
claimed that with equal ability. Cubans
were the last TO be given employment and
the first to be discharged. There are about
SEQ orphans in Havana children of the re
concentrates; Ice of these are in the fam
lilies of sympathetic Cubans and Americans
1U0 in the orphan asyim. AS a matter OF
right as well as sympathy and justice ii
was held that these boys should have an
equal chance to learn the trade. Though
there are different versions as to the origin
of the strike, il developed into a demand
on the part of the Cubans for an equal op-
Portunity for their boys TO learn every
branch of the trade. without discrimination
as to nationality. They did not want to
Oust the Spaniards, but insisted upon
square deal
Cubans Were Suspicious.
out Of this strike with its attending
causes, more especially without offending
anyone, was by no means an easy task.
Before my coming some Cubans thought
that l. like many other Americans had
changed from being an advocate of Cuban
independence 10 Cuban annexation: and
the Spaniards regarded me as opposed to
I them.
'On my arrival learned that General
( Ludlow Military Governor of Havana.
/ during his recent visit to Washington. in
! dulged in an attack upon me, and a crti-
| CiSm Of my course while in Cuba He is
I credited with saying that | had fomented
strife among the workingmen of Cuba;
that my actions were entirely premature
and hurtful TO the people there etc This
statement of General Ludlow is in entire
keeping with his course while in Havana.
Il was under the impression that the
men connected with the general strike for
the enforcement of an eight-hour work day
last September were threatened with ar
rest [ learned that they were not only
threatened. but really were arrested, and
this. too without warrant and without any
shadow of a cause or excuse. ! have il
upon most reliable authority that there
was no disorder. no semblance. or even the !
suspicion OF. disorder. connected with the
Havana eight-hour strike; that the en-
ployers who would have been compelled to
yield to the just demands of the men. sue
Cessfully induced General Ludlow to arrest
the leaders of the strike. The names of /
the eight imprisoned men are:
Paudilio Mades, Francisco Armas Le- |
pez Serafn Busto, Jaun Aver Evaristo |
EstenOr. Domingo Pinta, Gonzalez Pinta- |
do, and Juan Fenorio.
The Arrest Of Roca.