The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-05-04
SANTIAGO DE CUBA
THE MOST AMERICAN CITY on
 THE ISLAND.
A New School House Common Eco pie Learning to Speak English-- Politics the Chief Topis-Dus- ,iness is Dull-Developing
 the Mines.

the Mines.
 Santiago de Cuba letter in Washington l santiaro' with It's Spanish traditions and its radical Cuban politics. is the mos. l American city in the island. There n ho | contradiction In this statepaent. ie itse | asphalt pavements. the clean streets, tne eraI Wood was in command, the splen- did new school house on the niii, MHcn was partly built by gift from Boston, are all characteristic O. an AmerlcAn | town.
 The Spanish colony. which Is very strong and very intense In Its motner country patriotism, does not ike so many signs of Americanism. neither do the Cu- bans, who thought that by keeping UP they would have Cuba of their own, | without what they call ''the mark of an | alien race" But Spaniard or Cuban, whatever his sentiments. Is forced to ad- | Americanism in the eastern end of the island has taken root too deeply to ne destroyed, though on the surface the soil may seem unfruitful. These patent signs should make Americans more patient l with the radical politics of Santiago Prov ince and with Santiago politicians. who, in fact. are not nearly so hostile as they l make themselves out to be.
 |
 have had the Americanisation of Sam dago impressed upon me in dozen | ways. It came first in paying bills of
 hackmen, barbers. bootblacks ana the other petty expenses which make such l a hole in the travellers pocketbook. l had come into town with a pocketful of l Spanish silver, careless as to what the circulating medium might be.
 l Nobody would have 1t. Everybody was l surprised that an old resident of Cuba should be trying to pass off Spanish sil- | yer. It was forgetfulness on my own part, for I knew that one of the first re- suits of the American military occupa- ton had been to establish a single cir cuiating medium. Thirty thousand troops who were here after the surrender put the American money into circulation and kept 1t going. The result was to drive out the Spanish gold and silver in busi- me that 1t was very rare. indeed, for the old Spanish basis of gold and silver to be used in the larger transactions. The evidences of the senses showed that in all the small transactions it is not used at all. It is a pity that Santiago's ex- ample could not have been followed throughout the island. If that had hap pened one of the gravest tasks of Pres-
 ident Palma's Go ogernment would nave been made easy. This Is to remedy the evils caused by, the existence of two or
 three circulating mediums.
 Learning to Speak English
 Another proof of Americanization is in
 the language. The cab drivers all know l some English. They can take you to San Juan Hill or Fl Clancy and tell the main points of the battles. They can ais, , argue their overcharges in very clear ! English.
 , With the barbers and bootbiaeks it is ! the same. The lad who blacks my boots on the hotel portfco assures me that F gives the best shine in Santiago" He does not talk slang. but in very precise e language tells me that he goes to the pub. I lic school and has a lesson in English , every morning. In most of the cigar
 shops and the retail stores the clerks re-
 sent the effort to talk to them in Span ish. They want to practice their English
 Out in the country the other day a fine
 looking young fellow came trotting up on
 a. Cuban pony and saluted my companion
 noon. hope you find yourselves well
 this morning." It was not bad try, anc
 we encouraged him. T learned some
 English he said. in Santiago. When , l get back there go to school and learn
 some more English" He was a Jewelry f | peddler rand had been over fin the French
 muiatto settlement in the coffee noun | tains. They talked French there," he explained, but I prefer to talk English, ''
 Several times he dropped behind and Vt thought he had disappeared. but he wo.lld
 come trotting up again and give Us a , fresh greeting His disappearances were sentence In English.
 These are a few instances among n- ; numerable ones. They are petty and
 would not be worth mentioning except
 that they Illustrate a broad general fact. They are a corollary to the handsome
 new school house on the hill. Spanish
 VIII be the language in that school and
 m other schools. as 1t should be, but Eng
 fish will be taught because there is a strong demand to know the language
 of the North Americans" How strong
 It Is begun to appreciate when radical
 Cuban editor. after arguing that he was
 glad the Americans were going, tried to say good bye, but compromised on well come.'
 Knowledge of Politics.
 Another sign of Americanizatlon is in
 the knowledge shown here of politics in
 the United States: It is more intelligent
 and more thorough than in Havana. San-
 tiago has accepted the benefits of military rule while protesting against military au- thority. from it's inherently arbitrary na-
 ture. At the same time it's politicians have shown enough understanding of the American people to know why the mili- tary authority would command popular support in the United States so long as It was achieving results in Cuba.
 On this subject I heard fine tribute, from ono of the leaders of the Radical Cubans. man of intellectual force and of eminence in his profession. We have not complained" he said. of the Amer lean military officers, because there has been nothing about them of which we could complain. They have been Amer | lean gentlemen. What we have objected to is the military authority in essence, because it is essentially despotic and with | out responsibility to the people over whom | 1t was set up." He also praised Gem | eral Whitside. who has been In command 1 in the province.
 Santiago. while it understands politics | In the United States. bubbles with it's 1 own politics. More turmoil has been ex- | perienced here than in any part of the island The fight of the factions has been | fiercer and the line of division has been mere clearly drawn. They have had cleo ton riots and the sharp practices in the nominating conventions and the tricks | with the ballot have caused scandal l It may be that these things also should | be set down as evidences of the Ameri- l canization that has been going on. Hear. | ing them all retold. I could easily imag- | inc myself back in the States reviewing | the incidents of a local State campaign. But while Santiago has all this fac 1 tional politics. the situation has clarified and the province knows which party is in control. The elections for Governor and members of Congress settled that. In | spite of charges of one faction against | another faction they elected some pretty good men, who appear to have a fair con ception of the responsibilities that are before them.
 The Platt Amendment.