Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-04

Gen. Wood concerning any such immoral
ity.
Mr.. Frye claims in his affidavit that Gen
Wood saw the schools of Cuba only through
the eyes OF Mr.. Hanna, now military at
tache to the legation at Havana. In 1900
Mr. Hanna was aid to Gen. Wood. Mr.
hanna Is quoted as stating January 10
last:
Il have never seen a class of women who
conducted themselves with more circum-
spection than the Cuban teachers If there
was or had been an isolated case where a
teacher had been discharged for immoral
lily or as being the mistress of the MAYOR
OF town or because she could not write
her name. l do not know of it,
Says Root Was Misled.
In view of these statements Mr. FRYE
declares that Mr.. Root has been misIed
and suggests that the former Secretary give
the name of the man who led him to make
the charges
lie quotes j. A. Gonzales Lanuza. Juan
r. H. Barreiro, Enrique Jose Varona and
+. Borrero Echeverria, three of whom were
secretaries of public instruction and one
charges "a 'iieSe
ne says Mr.. Root cannot produce a nav
fou to verify his charge that there were
teachers who had to make their mark ;,
re nau never heard Gen. Wood refer to
'neSe teachers except in words of praise
since the day when / first set foot in
Cuba neither Gen. Wood nor anv of her liz; ~
ing soul has brought to nv notice tho
chg s LIS breath OF suspicion against the
ne other school officers have stated tbat
ho. even rumor ever reached them
echoois were being organized in China
:, 600 'niiiureh Were coming in at the rate of
z'oVo day, when Gen. Wood ordered tbo+
no more schools be organized he aa'
pealed IN vain to General Wood to recall
.,ils puma order He was then called to
tne ohited states to help arrange for the
TRIP OF Cuban teachers to this oonn+r,,
General Wood on his return said thai fro,Id
hau Deen discovered, and that hundreds Of
schools existed only On paper
II look about two minutes, he says ito
snow General Wood that while NV renortS
specified the number of school rooms the
military officers had simply counted buiId
lnss, some of which had half a dozen
rooms The cry of fraud was quickly
hushed, and the stringent order of MI
3 was relaxed a little -
nave no doubt that this is the bad
state OF affairs to which the Secretary re-
fers and for which l am blamed.
After you We're Informed of the .bad
state OF affairs, Mr.. Root, were you told of
the mistaken
Frye's Trouble With Wood.
Mr. Frye then declares his purpose of
showing the true cause of the trouble he
tween himself and General Wood. He
says the law provides that school bills
should be paid within thirty days of the
day they become due. They were not paid,
In many cases being sixty, ninety or 100
days overdue, and teachers were 'starv-
ing He 'meddled' to correct that condi-
ton. as he thought he had right to do
Now read patiently and / will reveal a
state of affairs that neither Mr.. Root nor
the Senate of the United States even
dreamed could exist in Cuba Mr. Frye
says.
fOyln lat&
That my trouble with General Wood
arose from his neglect to pay salaries due
to starving teachers under my care.
That his accounts were in state of
utter confusion
THAT 1 repeatedly called his attention to
conflict in his laws causing the confusion
THAT in my letters to him l spoke frank
ly, even bluntly-perhaps even discourteous-
ly-in trying to argue or shame him into
doing his duty by the schools.
THAT the letters themselves give perfect
proof of the confusion and state frankly
to General Wood that the fault was his
own.
THAT General Wood could not grappIe
with the situation, did not show ability to
correct his laws and orders, and did not
have the courage to resent the strong
terms in which tried to spur him on to do
his duty by the teachers
Let me repeat that in these letters. and
not in the testimony of Mr.. Root, the Sem
ate will find the true cause of the trouble
between General WOou ana myself.
Letters Written to Wood.
| Mr.. Frye submits numerous letters he
wrote to General Wood while he was SUI
perintendent of schools. The following is
sample of these letters:
'S.r: / have the honor to bring to your notice
| matter which for several weeks has caused mt
! the deepest concern and worry. Many times
have brought the matter to the attention Of head
quarters {cien Woods own ofice) but the sad con
| dtion still continues.
II have NO doubt that in the Island of Cubs
| there hundreds of teachers who have worked
| Faithfully in the schools during the past two
| months who actually starving because the,
| cannot receive the money which the government
| owes them.
II have the honor to second heartily the plea 81
| the writer of the following letter. which in tn,
| last paragraph says: For the sake of humanit,
and deeeney II Is indispensable ,o, that the payment
''CHere follows the Cuban letter.; my ther
continues): This Cuban writes a manly letter. j
brea'hes the spirit OF fonrase , and manhood wsel
! into the children. ! respectfully appeal to 70,
| from the bottom of my heart to give this mattel
distress of the faithful suffering toilers In III,
4 school rooms. Gross inefiiciency In some publ
department is responsible for this lamentable con
dition."
| Frye called General Woods attention t.
| the fact that law suits had been begar
against mayors because they were unable
| to pay for school furniture that was pur
| chased under proper authority.
mot one of these letters" he says
was written except as final plea, afte,
| always receiving his promise to pay the
| bills at once. The letters prove this By
such expressions as many times I have
| brought the matter to the attention Of
| headquarters and the sad condition still
| continues Does 1t stand to reason tina,