The Atlanta constitution., 1902-07-07

i
labOrers. This must make the president
feel many a pang-to know that tie
nimsy constructions Of light timbers and
painted cloth. erected in his honor. are
not paid for. and the men who did the
manual labor are driven to make their
claims known from pressing necessity.
There j. no denying the necessities. Peo-
pie from the country are fiocking To the
towns 10 hunt work. with the vain hope
that unskilled labor may find a market:
or in other Instances. feeling that in
the towns charitable associations are
more accessible than In the country. IL
j. pitiful at night. when the garbage
cans and barrels are put on the streets,
70. see human beings and dogs fighting Tor
cir contents. This Is an object lesson
n a. the poverty of cuba which can be
studied any night
Disturbing Race Question.
Another disturbing feature is the atti-
iude of ghe colored race. and their Ire
guent and insistcnt demands for poitlcdl
and social recognition cali Tor grave con-
Siieratfon. y mammoth meeting WAS
held on sunday 10y the colored veterans
presided over by Juan Gualberto Gomez
the oracle of his race. Various members
addressed the mceung. all claiming thal
they had not met TO stir up sediuon. but
treatment the colored race was receiving
at the hands ~ the whites and TO de-
maud that justice be done them Ihey
said. and Truly. too. that during the war
there VAS no question Of color. they were
not called colored or black soldiers, Out
like the whites. they were Cubans, thal
as much or more colorrd blood mad peen
shed for the independence OF cuba as
white. yet when Independence was won
a N inns Hf
blacks They with one accord decided
that this should nos be- and II Is likely
something decisive will he received from
them in "a short time. Last week, gum
tin Banieras n coiored man, former gem
egal Ia the Cuban army. pushed ms WAY
into the center Of the house ot repreSen-
tatfyes while Il was in session. and in
loud voice arraigned the members Tor
their conduct toward the colored CuDans.
lie declared that unless he and MS race
were given their rights he would gaiher
aa army and raise a revolt He used
ul,usive language and dared the members
% eject him or order his arrest. One
member who had been "a fellow soldIer.
succeeded in soothing him. while the pres
Iient was advised of rhe extraordinary
proceedings. The next day Banderas was
give na comfortable berth In the cu
house. His success Will inspire
with courage 20 follow his example. Tifee
are mot sufficient offices 10 go round even
for the whites. and the end can he fore
seen.
COMPLAINTS made by colored men Is 10
- Elimination against them in thn ~
police caused q notice 10 be printed IN
viting coiored men to make application
at a certain hour 20 the chief of police
II Havana. Eighty men presented them
selves. and 81 thc eighty only eleven were
up 10 the standard physically. or these
eleven oath was required that they mad
not l.een al any time convicted of crime.
All took the oath. Investigation resulted
that nine 10 the eleven had ~ served
time in she carcel and penitentiary. ana
these were thcn arrested for perjury. The
coIoreI race * making this the text Of
much violent talk and many threats.
Many Prisoners Pardoned.
II has been stated. even In the papers
os the United States. that trouble Is eX-
pected in cuba by reason of the whole
sale amnesty granted by the military gov
.rnur before leaving tho Island. The
statement has been made that something
over eight hundred were pardoned within
a Few days THIS Is not true. When Gen
.ral wo..d came 70 Havana. I'm Dccemhsr
~ ISee ne found the prisons Overlooking
with inmates. Justice and humanity de-
mavl.G that invest igation hc made of tile
charges and all else connected with the
imprisonment ~ these people. \ board
~ uardous was organized and every case
was thoroughly investigated In number
less instances persons had been arrested
anl imprisoned on charge made 10y some
trrezunnSiblc party. Many of these had
never had e trial. Many ~ them had
served much greater length II time
than rae penalty prescribed 10y law. others
,i..-er knew with what they We're charged.
r-a~ weeks and months that nardon!ng
'.,a-1 worked. going into noisomc. horri-
Nre prisons. spending hours in fcvcr-rid-
den atmosphere.
A. each case WIS Investigated tho his
tory YVES carefully written out and the
recommendation of the board of pardons
appended This then went 20 the secre-
ssrv ~ Justice. and upon his approval the
ra~dsn was signed by the military gov
,ruar Tge dld not issue pardons upon his
ryyr, responsibility Something over
fnsu-qud people have been pardoned since
ff... American occupation. but there has
hsar f, wholesale liberation Of prisoners
or criminals upon the community. The
facts which came 10 Hight through the
v,.rl, az this board would cause indigna-
tion aud pity TO the most hardened adv'-
cate II IAN eye for an eye and a tooth Tor
Fault of Cubans.
The military government Is not respon-
silIe for the falling of ia the revenues OF
the island The responsibility for this
should le placed whore IL rightfully be
longs. ard this IS 80 plain that he who
runs may read
The Cubans were demanding That the
Government be put into their hands.
'rhev were resiive. unreasonable. They
know the. condition Of the treasury. The
secretary Of the treasury WAS "A Cuban.
a very intelligent man. Tho customs re-
,.,.ints were published daily. Frequent
Figures were obtained from the custom
houses. The congress Of the United States
was ohdurate IN the matter Of granting
concessions TO cuba. The Cubans knew
this as we'll on the 10Th IF May as they
,lo now General Wood said more than
once thar II reciprocity We're not grant
n and cuba given a market the republic
would be "A failure. the United States
would again have to Intervene. the
trouble greatly enhanced. and IN addition
genera! bitter feeling would prevail
among the Cubans. making the work of
the Americans 4 doubly unacceptable
burden. Cubans were not to be reasoned
with They refused to count the cost,
and now all but the willfully blind see
that precipitancy has defeated the oD-
ject most dear to them.
Anti-American Feeling Spreads.
Meanwhile anti-American feeling IS