The sun., 1903-04-27

ssceArIew m cuaA
30 much strsss has hssn laid upon The
sduoatiopal work Of ~ AnsrieaA 0ovarpr
ment In Cuha during the years 1900 and
1901 that IN Incorrect impression has been
left upon ths mind Of The public. A school
systsm sxistsd under ~ GpAnish 0svsrn,
nent. A. Q syueem, b Was - unaAy ways
szcsllsot, u not sdmirsbls In ~ epsrs-
tion IL vas. Aks ths lseal sysesm a ths isl-
and. lsmeptably imperfect. IL was corrupt
and insfatient. But tho Island IVES not %
benightsd a. to be destitute Of such IN in-
stttution. Naturally, v not nscsssarily.
school organization IN Onba followed the
lines laid down in ths mosheS country. and
Spain weighs public eduoatApn h other
scales than those used In the United States.
Education and educational inStitutions In
Cuba. a. In Spain. we're st al times under
The indusnos, u not under the direct con-
trel. Of the dominant Church
A. fer back - tho ysax 1871 there are
recorded gifts and lssacss for thA sstah-
lshDsut end maintenance Of educetionl
bull Of Pop Adrian VI, In April. ls11, the
Soholatria was established In Santiago.
then the capital city. In 1871 Capt. Fran
cisoo de ParadAs lsft . considsrable sum
for the foundation of school In Raysmo.
In 1907 the Tridentins Seminary was
founded In 1850 The College Of San Am
brosio was established In Havana, but was
not long continued. In iss the City Council
Of Havana applied for tAs establishment
Of university in that city. and the institu-
ton was opened In i72s 7his u stir In
existeAos and In active oreration. In
Its the college and seminary Of san Carlos
and San Ambrosio was instituteS m Ha-
vana. The building u still standing. and
It's upper floor is used a. public schod.
But the school history Of Cuba propsrly
begins with the closing years Of the eish-
teenth century, during the time Of that
broadest and most able Of Cuba's Cover
nors, Don Luis de las Casaa- At that time
the entire population OF the Island In given
a., approximately. 10000. though the oen-
sus returns are 90 unrelieh,s that they
cannot be accepted as accurate. This was
divided. according to Pezuela. into 1850
whites and 11e,741 blacks. and. according
to Benin and Wagner. into 1855 whites
and lee, ,See blacks. The conditions OF the
island were Of the orudest. and about one
quarter Of the population was in . state
Of slavery.
During the rule Of Las Casas. there was
founded the Sociedad Economics. which has
ever since remained an active and potent
force in insular affairs. It raised funds
and established schools. and effected .
rude system Of educational institutions.
In 1870 there were i40 schools In the island.
Of which 10 were called free schools. The
remainder were private schools or schools
maintained by subscriptions and tuition
fees. A marked advance had been made,
but the census of 1888 showed only e.Oe2
pupils registered in the schools Of the entire
island. In 1872. under Governor-Generd
valdes. a system Of public instruction was
definitely organized. Graded schools were
established. and primary schools were
maintained by the locality In which they
were instituted. The secondary schools,
Of q semi-aosdsmio, character. were main
tanned at the expense Of the province in
schools were divided into the elementary
and the superior. At the top Of the system
stood the University Of Havana. While
this organization effected Q material adj
vance, 1t was only indifferently efficient.
During the succeeding decade, Captain
General Concha introduced further changes
and made school establishment and mainten-
ance obligatory upon the Municipal Coun-
ellis. As tho entire Island. rural a. we'll -
urban, 10 divided into municipal districts.
the whole area was included by this NV.
In 1855 the public school laws Of Spain
were extended to Cuba. and school teaching
became profession.
Compared with the American systsrn.
Cuba's school laws and customs were . BE-
nighted outfit. Schoolhouses. "a distinct
edifices erected for school purposes. were
unknown. Sessions were usually held at the
residence Of the teacher. Even at this time
there was nothing which corresponded IN
any way to our free school system. A tut
ton fee was required from all pupils until
the passage OF . law In December. 1880.
under which provision was made for those
whose parents were financially unable to
pay q fee. The benefit Of this Law was ex-
tended only upon the presentation Of q
oartiAcats issued by the parish priest and
indorsed BY the local administration au-
thority. By the same law. school attend
ance was made practically obligatory. and
boards OF public instruction were insti-
tuted. The records Of 1889 show the exist
epoe Of SIS public schools and is4 private
schools, for q population of. approximately,
100000 In isos, with Q probable increase
Of little more than 10 per cent. in the popu-
lation, the Department Of Public Instruc-
ton reported as follows:
PUBIC scnoOD..''s. s.''...s.'''.''.s ~
Pnvate Schools, .-'''''..s''..''.' ~
COueCc8
Institutes .....'.'''.''..'.'.''''''
pnys'ii,,y pSpi. n pubic schools. sos
Pupis In private schools ls....,..,......,... 3SSsA
Pupls in colleges ....................... 13es
students In Institutes ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. il00
Students In university. ty.........,...,......... Ui
In addition to thess. there were profess
sional schools, with professors and 90 stu
dents; art schools, with Z professors and
SIS students, and normal schools, with 10
professors and 2s2 students. The Govern
ment appropriations for the maintenance
Of these schools is given a. follows:
MUNICIPAL ecnoOS Vlo1tI -