New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-09-24
DISORDER IN CEBA.

II is e,rea+Iv m no regretted that after four
years of order and tranquility In Cuoa polt-
zeal dissensions should arise wnlch threaten
an appeal to the passions rather lhan 10 the
reason of the Cuban electorate. a PresldenuaI
campaign is on and partisan bitterness mas pre-
cipitated n situation which in the average
Iatin-Auerfcan republic might lead to a die
tatorship or a revolution. Distrust oy tne oppo-
sition of the fairness and good intentions OF
the administration has famed out, apparently
in preparations for hostile collision, and that
collision came on Friday in Cienfuegos, when
ENRIQUE Villuendas. a leader of the Liberal op-
position was killed after opening ire on some
policemen who were attempting TO arrest him.
According to first reports from Havana the
Liberal Congressman had collected arms and
bombs and was presumably ready to inaugu-
rate q political riot But, whatever may have
been his intentions or the extent of his prep
arations, it is hardly wise to initiate a street
brawl like that at Cienfuegos into an episode
of international Importance.
Cienfuegos is a city noted for political ex-
cesses and for fractional disorders. Other citi-
zens have been killed there in election fights
Wherever political passions run high there is
danger of bloodshed. Hundreds of men in this
country have been killed in disturbances at
the polls Hundreds have been assassinated
for political reasons We have seen thugs ter
rorize and maltreat qualified voters. We have
had a Ku-Klux Klan-with its thousands of po-
litical victims. Only last winter a Representa-
tive in Congress from the State Of Texas was
killed at a political meeting called at his home
to discuss the question Of local option. The
mere fact that the Cuban politician who met
his death last Friday was distinguished leader
of his party does not differentiate the Glen
fuegos incident from a thousanu other fatal col
liSions due to partisan passion or partisan ma
lightly. It does not diScredit the capacity Of
the Cuban for orderly lf-government any
more than our own record discredits the aver
age Americans self-control and readiness to
accept the honest verdict Of an honest ma
jority.
Such clash is TO be deplored, inasmuch as
it must embitter the relations between the two
parties in Cuba and may serve as an excuse
for further lawlessness. But it is hardly to
be accepted as an evidence Of the inability of
the Cuban government to maintain public order
or of its failure to discharge its obligations
under the constitution President Palma has
given Cuba an admirable administration. The
island has enjoyed exceptional prosperity and
order The political dissensons which have
arisen have been largely Of personal nature.
But outside the political class there is evidently
no observation-disclosures reason for dissatisfaction
with present conditions. The people of Cuba
have no grievances to complain of and no
grudges to wipe out. It does not seem likely
that they will be thrown off their balance by
a purely factional encounter like that at Glen
fuegos, or that further friction will occur
serious enough to embarrass the Palma admin
stration or to remind US Of our duty to guar
antee the island against wasteful and criminal
civil strife.