Evening star., 1902-05-24

good promise for the Cuban government.
| As working body 1t differs little from the
! cabinet which General Wood has had
military governor. Some change has been
I made in the sphere Of the different d. part
! ments. as was necessary for an independent
I gOvernme mt.
/ that Of the secretary of gohernaCion, or
/ government. This portfolio corresponds to
! the position OF secretary of state in most
( of the states OF the American Union. except
/ that 1t has greater authority. The munich
/ palities all come within its control. II is
! the basis OF The political machine of the fu-
! ture. So far as politics may be manipulate
ed it will be done through this office. Doc
tor Diego Tamayo the secretary Of govern
ment. is the only member OF General
! Woods cabinet who was kept by President
/ Palma. He has developed into what would
! be called In the states "a pretty smooth
| politician. However. he also has deyel-
| oped executive qualities Of a high order
! The two most important offices under
President Palma those Of state and
/ justice and of hacienda or treasury. The
combination of the department OF justice
with that of foreign relations would not be
| understood clearly in the United States.
! In Cuba, growing out of the Latin system
| of Jurisprudence, it is not Inappropriate.
! Carlos Zaldo, the new secretary. belongs
to a wealthy and well-known Cuban FAM
/ lily, which up to this time has not taken
part in public affairs He has been some
what radical i'm his individual opinions. but
is surrounded by conservative influences.
Man of the Future.
The man Of the future in Cuba is the one
who proves his ability to grapple with the
| treasury department. Garcia Montes, the
| secre nary of the treasury, to start with,
| commands confidence and respect. Whether
he is an Alexander Hamilton or an Albert
Gallatn time must show. The department.
| of treasury is so closely associated with the
whole structure Of Cuban administration
| that President Palma himself will have 10
| give il much of HIS time.
| Comment has been made that Cuba has
| no postmaster general This does not mean
| that the people do not write letters, for
| they do And since the schools began TO
| flourish the work OF the post office depart
ment has been increasing. Nevertheless.
| under the republic 1t is branch Of the
| treasury, having jurisdiction of the tele-
| graph well as of the ordinary mail. The
| telegraph lines belong to the Cuban gov
| ernment. Under the American authority
they were managed by the Signal Service
| Corps of the army. Under Cuban they
| will be part of the post office The expert
ment will be interesting to determine how
far government telegraph works in a Latin
| republic.
Former American officials, for it is now
| necessary to speak of all of them as for
mer'' 'eXs," are little concerned to
4 know what is to become Of the United
| States mail boxes which are placed all over
| the island. They also want to know whether
| the signs which are seen everywhere in the
| country, Post Office" or "Correos. VIII
| disappear. The signs are cheap, but they
| may be kept since they have the Spanish
| Language as well as the English recognized.
About the mail boxes l do not know.
| The first thing the Americans did was 10
| displace the mail boxes used by the Span
/ iards Now. il happens that Cuba is not
| the United States, and the sign, United
| States Mali has no place in the island
| That is of the things which remind
| those of US who are here that the United
| States is no longer in control The mail
| boxes are very good boxes. and 1t may he
| that the ~. S" can be- chiseled off them
! and no further change made.
One Of President Palma's Discoveries.
One of the discoveries of President Palma
| IS that there are some useless spGkes in
| the wheels of Cuban government, or even
| useless wheels themselves. He has just
| learned of the existence of the provincial
| councils Everybody else had forgotten
| them until the president of the Havana
| provincial council put in appearance and
| sought recognition for the body over which.
| he presides.
| These provincial councils are the success
| sOrs of the old provincial deputations which
| existed under the Spanish rule. They were
| revived in the Cuban constitution, because,
| when it framed. the spirit Of the prov
| inces in favor of maintaining their identity
| was too strong to be overlooked or ignored.
They We're given some part in the electoral
| machinery. and that is about their only
real function. But they exist nd they want
| recognition, and the provincial councillors
| want salaries.
President Palma's declared policy is that
| of economy, even to the point of parsimony.
| Therefore, Il is embarrassing to have a new
set of officials come up and insist that they
| have functions in the new government, and
| salared functions at that. Palma is advised
| Il let the provincial councils rest quietly in
| the tomb. and probably that is his hope. But
| he wants to be very courteous and consid-
| crate in doing il.
| Something of the personalities Of Gu
ban politics is beginning to be seen. In
! Cuba personality does not mean Pickwlck-
| ian talk 10y politicians genuine abuse Of
| one another. Here the personality is an
individual.
One of the leading personalities" is sena-
ator Salvador Cisneros Betancourt. In spite
| Of the republic and of everything else. his
| friends will cali him by his old title of
| MARQUIS Santa Lucia. l asked the way tor
| his home in Puerto Principe one day, and
| was told that THE marquis lived on a
| certain street. When he went to call on
President Palma the latter greeted him as
| MARQUIS 1t is of passing moment now
| that while this call was a friendly per-
| sonal one. the marquis since making it. has
| announced that he is not fully in accord
! with the presidents policy. because. as he
| says the Cubans have not obtained their
| absolute independence.
| Another personality is that of Juan
! Gualberto Gomez. This eminent Cuban has
| had little to say and has given no encour-
| agement to the effort to stir up race feel
| ing or TO array the race of color, TO which
| he belongs, against the whites. But he is
| waiting developments and admittedly is in
| a critical mood. He has had his confiden-
| tial talk with President Palma and sus-
| pends judgment the policy Of the ad-
| ministration until this is more clearly de-
| veloped. At the same time the newspapers
| report conferences between certain leaders
| of the nationals and certain leaders of one
| wing of the republicans, who are trying to
| form a coalition in which Juan Gualberto
| Gomez will have part
| Other personalities" are just beginning
| to be heard from. A little time is
| necessary in order to judge of their pur-
| poses and of their influence.
CHARLES NJ PEPPER.