The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-08-24
ROMANCE OF WAR
Continued from Page Eleven)

malaria mosquito and the yellow feve:
mosquito are of two distinct species.
have seen very few mosquitoes since
| my arrival here, and those that have
| put in an appearance have had a dis
couraged air and scarcely spirit enough
to sing their siren song. In fact, they
look laIk and lean, as though they were
j.. on their last legs. They are "a vanishing
race" in Cuba, going out with the Span
iards, and all other scourges, thanks to
the Americans who made unrelenting war
upon the enemies of Cuba, both great and
small.
Americans have done a great work for
the infant republic, whatever evils they
may have also introduced and fostered
and the Cubans arraign them pretty Sc
verely in that respect, claiming that they
set a very bad example here, of political
dishonesty and corruption, or as one of
the local papers put it editorially. in sum
ming up the evils which we owe to the
intervening administration" which the
writer claims furnished an example that
Is sure to be followed Among these we
must cite. in the first place, the lowering
OF the standard of character (hear. oh
we shades of our Puritan forefathersD
the scanty respect for the laws and for
the sentences passed by the courts; cleo
toral corruption as a means to attain po-
litical ends; the handing oVer-with some
exceptions-of the public offices of the
country to incompetent persons whose
ability was unknow /; the creation Of
costly and useless positions, the abolish
ing of which will be the cause of annoy
ance to the government of the republic;
the SyStem-deSired by all military rulers
of collecting and spending the public
funds. without having made any previous
estimates: and, lastly, the scanty atten-
ton paid to the interests of the agricul-
tural part of the population, spread over
stretches of land utterly ruined by the
war"
Although they may have lined Their own
pockets in the course Of their admins
tration of public affairs. they admins
tered them, nevertheless, in a very thor-
ough manner. Cuba owes to them not
only the great sanitary improvements
which have been introduced. but also the
thorough organization of the public school
system throughout the island,
The people in general are eager for ed
ucation, and parents Of the middle and
lower classes, it is said. make great ef-
forts and sacrifices to keep their children
In school. There is not hamlet in the
island, I am told, which has not its free
public school, and Havana and the larger
towns and cities have a Well-organiZed
system established on the same lines as
the public schools of the United States,
and all in good working order, although
both principals and teachers are all ma
tives of Cuba. The school hours are too
long in Havana, for instance. both for
pupils and teachers alike, extending as
they do from II a. M to y. ma stretch |
of six hours without intermission. The
of the sexes, handed down |
from the converts, is also stlll main |
tanned
The largest school in Havana is housed |
in mammoth building formerly used rs
a yellow fever hospital The school rooms |
are furnished with modern desks and |
other conveniences, from the United |
States.
One innovation introduced in the schools |
OF the island. under the American regime, |
is the system of republican self govern |
ment. called school Cities" the idea |
Of Mr., Wilson l.. Gill, which has also |
been introduced, I understand in some |
Of the schools of Chicago and other cities |
Of the United States. He held the posi- |
ton of supervisor of moral and civic |
of Cuba" under General Wood, and in |
that capacity instructed the superintend-
ents of all the provinces in his system,
with all the usual officers, including those
of the courts and police. The pupils hold
their own courts and try and punish Of
largely in the training given the children,
In the conduct of public affairs and the
principles of free government, and in the
spirit of self-control engendered. 1t is an
object lesson in self government.
Schools are generally conducted as ao-
solute mouarchies, the pupils having no
voice at all in their own government
and, consequently. no training hitting them
for citizenship in a free republic. The
is that when they are grown
they Know little of the principles of their
own government, their entire training
having been in the opposite direction,
founded on respect for and obedience to
authority. set. over them by others than
in many instances resulting
either in a mad rush to the opposite cX-
treme of unbridled license, so soon as
the trammels are removed, or in perfect
apathy on their part IN regard to public