Evening star., 1901-02-11

1a2-14f 10th and + sts NV
He sees all the difficulties of prospective
! Cuban government and for them he has
! evolved only one remedy. That remedy is
| force. His plan is the coup detat the wip-
! ing out of the present municipal councils
and establishing centralized military bu-
! reaucracy. L have found it a frutless work
to seek to explain to him that whether
| Cuba be annexed or not the American idea
| of free institutions rests on local self-gov-
| ernment, and that however great the de-
! ficiencies of the Cubans may be in this
| respect, they must work out their own
salvation and by practice and experience
| learn the true principles of home rule
! This typical Spaniard cannot grasp that
! idea. He would destroy the identity of the
! provinces and for the municipalities would
! substitute something like the old Spanish
! system of military districts, and in spite of
! his intimate knowledge of the causes which
produced Cuban instructions, he believes
! that this is the program which should be
| followed.
A third instance is that of one of those
| rare individuals, a Cuban financer and man
! of business. He lives in one of the interior
| cities, and has the management OF i'm
| portant financial enterprises. During the
| holidays l renewed an acquaintanceship
! formed some years back. He was hopeful
| regarding the industrial recuperation of the
| country and spoke enthusiastically of what
| the Cuban country people had done in the
! face of overwhelming obstacles. With the
/
! concerning himself He had been educated
| in the United States, his boys had been
| educated there and all of them were an
nexationists. But this Cuban explained to
| me he was a business man and not a poll
| tician. So he had taken no part in electing
! delegates to the constitutional convention,
| and looked upon its proceedings as d farce.
Confident of Rejection.
| Whatever constitution the delegates
might draft he was sure the American
Congress would reject it. Then in a couple
| of years another convention might be call
| ed, its work reviewed in the same way, and
| in five six years the people would get
| tired of the farce and ask for annexation.
| In the meantime the military rule would be
| continued unchanged. With intelligent
| Cubans holding such views l do not know
| that army officers and American officials
! are to be blamed for getting q wrong idea
| of the prospect in the island.
l have given these three instances which
| could be multiplied indefinitely to show
! why the conservative element in Cuba has
| failed to make manifest its influence. 1t
| had figured out that certain policy would
| be followed by the American government
| and that the government would relieve 1t
| from all responsibility In shaping public
| vention was called Gen. Wood travelled
over the island and urged the planters and
| the business men to interest themselves IN
| securing representation. They turned their
| the United States government was going TO
| call a constitutional convention it must
| manage the affair without help from them.
! This has been the attitude up to the pres
| ent moment. The disappointment among
! the planters and commercial classes at the
| failure of the American authorities to pre-
! pare for a coup detat finds in expression
| in the complaint that they have been lSnor-
| ed, and that the revolutionary element has
been preferred over them. This is not
true The insurgent element has been rec
| ognized as was inevitable in the circum-
| stances in which the United States took
| control of Cuba. If it had not been recog-
| nized there would have been another IN
| surrection, passive rather than active,
which would have frustrated every effort
| to reha bilitate the island and establish or
| derly government.
BrOOke's and Woods Cabinets.
| Though the revolutionary element was
recognized in the beginning, this was not
the exclusion of the conservative and prop
erty owning classes. General Brooke
cabinet was known as 1.-The annexation cab
met OF its four members only one had
been in the field, and he was not an in
surgent military chief. One member of
Brookes cabinet was Spanish civil engi-
neer. who had the confidence of all classes.
When General Wood took hold he en-
larged the membership and took IN several
of the more pronounced revolutionary
leaders but at the same time he recognized
the old autonomists fully as they were
willing to assume responsibility. Three
members of General Woods present cabinet
were autonomists. In the municipal cleo
ton last June the conservatives were
given every encouragement to take part,
but they stood aside on the ground that
they could not afford TO risk their future
standing.
The complaint has been made that the
sugar planters and the business men gen.
orally and the Spanish classes especially
could not afford to take part in public
affairs for fear that their lives and prop
erty would suffer in the future. The fear OF
their lives is mythical one. In the coun-
try however, there is always the POSSIBLE
ity of destruction to the cane fields. And
it is possible that the sugar planters in
few localities would suffer if they took an
active part. Yet so far as my own obser-
walton goes in travelling around, even this
fear is exaggerated. 1t is a temporary con-
dition, and it never can be cured by moral
cowardice. In the cities there Is not even
this excuse, for the business men when
they want to do SO have no trouble in re-
straining the ultra radical Cuban element
Respect for Anti-RevOIutiOnists.
The Spaniards say that they do not want
to incur the rancor of the Cubans by SEEM
ing to interfere in political affairs, though
those of them who did not register as Span
ish subjects have the undoubted right to
take part in the government If they un
dertook to put SpaniardS forward for the
offices they might be in real danger of in
curing rancor, but it is possible for them
to exercise direct influence on all the
Cuban leaders and the factions, and this is
what they have failed to do.
Wherever any one has come forward with
the courage of his opinions to antagoniZe
the revolutionary tendencies, he has been
respected. Mr. Giberga, the one outspoken
annexation member of the constitutional
convention, has been quite plain in criti-
cising the radical policy, and he has not
spared individuals. 1t is true that he has
catered to Latin sentiment and has sought
to maintain the Latin identity against
American innovation, but in the purely po-
litical affairs of Cuba he has taken a dis
tinct ground which placed him in antago-
nism to all of the Cuban radicals. New
ertheless, he is on very good terms with
his associates in the convention. He speaks
his mind freely and he has had considera-
ton in framing the constitution. No re-
sentiment toward him has been shown by
the Cuban population. On the contrary his
views are received with respect, though
they are not fully accepted.
This shows what one man who Is not
afraid can do. The business community of
Havana could do infinitely more if it were
to take a definite stand and maintain 1t,
while the sugar planters also could make
their influence respected. But neither class
,,,;Ja opciI GO har