Evening star., 1901-02-16
Their Status in the Prospective Re-
public Outlined.
PATRIOTS WHO ARE NATURALIZED
Must Renounce Their American
Citizenship.
THE POTENTIAL ELEMENT
Copyright, 1901

Foreigners are beginning to understand
| their status in the prospective Cuban re-
| public. The provisions of the constitution
| are accepted as broad enough and the nat
uraliZation provisions are quite liberal yet
| 1t is undenia BILE that the majority of the
| foreigners in Cuba will look to the United
| States rather than to the future common
wealth to- guarantee their rights.
One very interesting phase of the subject
has developed 1t is the probability of a
certain proportion of native-born Cubans
being strangers in the land of their birth
in the legal sense Many of the Americans
who have felt quite at home under the mill
tary control. and who have not looked upon
themselves as foreigners in Cuba during the
interval, still refuse to believe that a con-
Gition is going to arise In which they may
be such in law and in fact. But their feel
ingS nothing compared with the
conflicting emotions of the CubanS who
were naturatized as American citizens and
who want to enjoy the benefits of dual
citizenship They do not want their Cuban
patriotism questioned, and some of them
hope to continue enjoying the emOluments
of office holding, yet they dread the notion
of placing themselves outside of the stars
and stripes in order to prove their patriot
ism and be eligible for the offices.
NaturaIized Cubans.
just now many tnOuSdnuS Ol
Cubans there it is not easy to state,
but the number is large After the Ameri-
can control they came pouring back into
the island. Many of them were large prop
erty owners who had sought American citi-
zenship as the only means of saving their
property from the rapacity of the Spanish
government.
Another class was not composed of prop
erty holders but was intensely anti-Span-
,rt t1,n Of rlnr NTn1n
tionary agitation in the United States. The
members OF this class all learned English
and also learned something of public ad-
ministration and of politics When the
American authorities took control they We're
of great value in filling the offices. Their
intelligence was quick and they could un-
derstand something of American admins
trative methods. They were not appointed
without certificates recommendations
from the Cuban insurgent leaders that they
We're satisfactory to this element. 1t
inevitable that these Cubans should obtain
the most responsible positions and the best
paying ones. for their services were of
greater value 1t was also inevitable that
they should incur the envy and the jealousy
of other Cubans in office who had not been
In the United States but who had made
real sacrifices and undergone real danger
in the insurrection. The latter could see
no reason why they should not be as well
paid and should not fill the responsible po-
sitions, in spite of the objections of the
American officials that they must develop
greater capacity.
Must RenOunce American Citizenship.
out of this condition has grown the feel
ing that when the republic is established
the Cuban patriots whose patriotism was
exercised chiefly in the United States must
give way to those who have better claims
The disposition is to crowd them, and while
under the prospective constitution the way
Is made easy for them to reEounce their
American naturalization and acquire Cuban
citizenship, many of them will not do so
for fear that they would lose their offices
anyhow.
OF the property owners who are natural
1Zed American citizens, it is difficult to de-
termine the proportion who will renounce
their rights and take their chances with the
Cuban commonwealth AT the first meet
ing of the convention a strong anti-Ameri-
can feeling was prevalent, yet some of the
most rabid of the delegates were expect
ing to form a Cuban constitution while
they themselves were American citizens
They were put to the test and had to yield.
Last year when the arrangements were
made by the American military authorities
for municipal elections q question was
raised regarding the electoral rights of the
naturaliZed Cuban-Americans. 1t was said
at the time that they numbered twenty
thousand. The question was settled on
grounds of common sense rather than of
legal bubbles. The American military au-
thorities said that as the municipal cleo
tionS were only the first step in forming
the future Cuban government, and as no
nationality was yet created, these Cuban
Americans should be permitted to exercise
the right of voting without discrimination
and without losing their American citizen
ship. All that was required of them was
to fulfill the necessary conditions as to
ownership of real estate or personal proper
ty, educational qualifications or military
service with the insurgent troops. But
everybody now recognizes that the same
nri ha In ha aala
tions to be held under the new Cuban con-
sttuton. Cubans must be Cubans and
Americans must be Americans.
Citizens of the United States to Be
Foreigners.
OF the citizens of the United States ac-
tually settled in Cuba at the present time
1t Is estimated that there are about ten
thousand. The census taken fifteen months
ago fixed the number at siXty-fiye hundred
but since then there has been visible in
crease. The status of citizens of the United
States in Cuba is important, not only with
reference to those who al this time are
settled on the island but with reference to
the larger number who expect to settle here
in the future. Under the provisions of the
constitution their standing will be that of
foreigners enjoying the same property and
personal rights other foreigners, and
nothing more. That is, they will be on the
same plane with the subjects of Great
Britain or any other European nation.
While the status or foreigners Is topic
of great Importance to all European ma
tions few of them have enough citizens
domiciled in Cuba to make it important in
a numerical sense.
China is likely to have greater number
of subjects than almost any other country.
At present the Chinese number between
1900 and $4,000. They are fairly good
plantation. workers, and they do most of
the truck gardening around Havana. Some
of them have very comfortable bank ac-
counts. Their international status under
the Cuban constitution does not seem to
be worrying them
1t is interesting to note that Cuba has
good many Africans who were declared not
to be Spanish subjects or Cuban citizens.
The census taken by the American Off
cials placed their number at $4,000. Many
were from the Congo country, and when
the American control was assumed one of
the diverting incidents was the appearance
of a negro who was pretty well known in
Cuba, and who claimed to represent the
Congo nation. He sought recognition from
the military authorities the same as the
consular representatives of other nations
but he did not receive it. There is a chap
ter of correspondence with reference to
this matter on file somewhere in Havana
or in Washington. Yet the Congo has a
real existence, for the dialect Is spoken to-
day by a small number of blacks, who
were slaves in the old Spanish times Pro-
vision for making citizens of the ConpoS