Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-04-26

The point which was tard to answer was
their query whether sitter getting the
Of reciprocity the unitsd States was act.
ing square" In the way It has been treating
Cuba. That was question which had to
be passed on to Washington.
It is necessary to write Of Santiaxo's radi-
cal politics for the reason that there may
be an outcropping when the Cuban con-
gress meets and the new government Is or.
ganized. For the causes stated above do
not think that this radicalIsm Is more than
surface deep. Responsibility Of government
Is Its cure. The province voted for Estrada
Palma and will sustain his administration.
Its conservatism will be a check on the
tendencies to radicalfsm.
Cuba in this respect Is not different
from the United States The campaign
orator Is to be taken at q discount Bravo
Correoso. 'the tribune of the people," has
Both his friends and foes admit his infiu-
ence. He talks radical politics, but have
heard the prediction that within FIVE years
he will be making annexation speeches. He
suggested this. but he talked very patriot
ically and very intelligently about the ma
teriai interests of his province and the
necessity for their development. 80 it was
not all politics with him.
specter Of Black Domination.
The specter Of black domination has been
raised in Santiago. since here the negroes
outnumber the whites, and the percentage
Of black blood is far larger than in other
parts of the island. Black policemen stand
in the plaza, and black officials are seen in
the Offices. In the country the countryman
whom the traveller meets is apt to be q
black man. The family group around the
shack or palm hut Is also likely to be
black The negro predominance Is unmis-
taxable, and the negro has made his in
huence felt in Santiago politics but this
has not been exactly along the color line.
Juan Guaiberto Gomez of Havana, the
most eloquent orator and the most facile
writer In the island, was a candidate for
senator. AS he himself is of the race Of
color, 1t was assumed that he would be
chosen to represent the black province He
was defeated
1t may be thought that the blacks. under
demagOgic or INSCRIPTIONS leaders will
become more dangerous element than
under leaders of their own race The evil
dences here do not bear out this theory
Demagog1sm In Cuba, as in other parts, has
Its limitations. The white leaders who have
brought themselves into power through the
negro vote have a pretty strong sense Of
the possibility Of destroying themselves IL
they go too far
From my own observation I should saw
that all the negroes in Santiago need is to
be let alone. They appear to be more In
dustrious than the white Cubans They
nave furnished very good element In the
labor for the building of the new railway
Five out Of six construction superinte end
ents with whom 1 have talked had words
OF praise for their negro laborers. A few
persons In Santiago have taken me aside
and complained that the negroes were
crowd1ng them out of the plaza the nights
when the band concerts were given but
TINS does not seem to be very serious Of
Tense.
1t has to be said with regret that IN 40
far as the color line has been raised It Is
due to Americans, who taught white Cuba -
ana Spaniards a prejudice of which pre-
vlousiy they had been ignorant. This also
may be taken as an evidence Of American
lzatlon, but it is one of the evidences which
could be spared. sr
In Santiago it is Impossible not to write
or politics. because politics is so promi-
nent topic, yet there are other subjects
business. unfortunately. just now is very
DULL With Its mines in operation Santi-
ago Is not solely dependent on sugar. vet
IL 1eels keenly the depression in that in
oustry: A young American business man
who obligingly asked me into his cab TO
ride up the hill summed up the whole situa-
ton. The town." he said. sis dreadfully
quiz; Its purchasing power was never so
low as today. Sugar means everything to
TINS province, though we have only few
big Plantations. When they can't get good
prices we feel 1t here in the town as much
maps sugar will be in better condition NEXT
year. and then Santiago will be liveIier.
Developing the Mines.
mines before the insurrection and war have
been little slow in renewing their OPERA
lions, but now all of them are In the field
again. 1 don't know what quantity of iron
ore and of Manganese is being taken out, but
the amount must be considerable Ameri-
can capitalists interested in the existing
iron ore properties also have taken hold of
the great Cobre group, which, after paving
fabulous profits through q long sarjae of
years, We're abandoned during the ten wears
war and have been idle since then 1t is A
colossal undertaking. but it's promoters have
confidence In their investment and are sure
that within short time they will have a
large copper output. If their expectations
are realized the province will gain fresh
impetus in its industrial development
While Santiago has great mineral wealth.
It's most marked development must come
from its agricultural resources I went out
sixty miles into the country, through the
forests and savannahs along the upper
Cauto river. and within a few miles of the
northern coast, to see something Of this viz
gin territory. A book would be necessary
to tell about It, and 1 shall not attempt 1t
1t all here. What was impressed on me
was the need of people.
That means immigration and the imnf-
grafton problem is one that will face the
new government. 1t Is probable that the
railroad and the land development compa-
MES will succeed In bringing in immigrants
enough for their purposes, yet the general
tendency of immigration must be deter
mined by the policy of President Palma's
administration.
Cuba is for the Cubans, but vast stretches
of untouched land will not forever lie va
cant merely because there are not enough
Cubans to cultivate it. Thoughtful public
leaders in the island already see this. Here
in the great undeveloped province I have
heard half dozen of them discuss 1t, and
S''''s u ''e'' WITH ' cHAs n. PEPPER.