The Washington herald., 1906-10-11
PEOPLE ARE NOT PATRIOTIC
Gay and Light Hearted and Making
Money While American Protection
Lasts-There Is Little Hope for Per-
manent Peace After the American
Troops Leave the Country.

apt to result in revival of the produc
tion at a time when a big spectacular
show, now being put on by Uncle Sam
in Havana harbor, shall have concluded
its present engagement, which is still
OF an indefinite nature.
To-day there is peace in Cuba The
game Of war has been played, and for
the next few months to come politics
is to be the popular sport. OF course.
every one cannot play, but the number
of fans is unlimited. The situation close
" resembles the finish of the baseball
ana the opening Of the football season
H. the States The victorious rebels-for
they are generally regarded as the real
victors-reyurned TO Havana last week
and were accorded a reception that would
have done credit TO the Giants in their
pennant winning days.
Every dog has his day in Cuba as else
where. but the days are shorter To-day
the position OF Pine Guerra. the insur-
gent military leader in the Cuban spot
light. can be most fittingly compared
10 that Of Christy Matthewson in mid
December. or the position of Yale's eleven
during the swelteriug days of late July.
The Cubans bump of fOrgetfulness is de-
veloped TO the proportions Of a doorknob.
squawIS of the Eagle in Havana.
To repeat. peace reigns in Havana. It
almost pours. The war" has left no
sears or smell Of burnt powder Com
pared with a deadly American Fourth OF
July. Cuba's insurTection has been as
mild as an annual encampment Of the
State National Guard. a wag who de
clared that most of the fatalities We're
due 20 nervous prostrauons and sun
strokes, superinduced by the haste and
anxiety Of the belligerents to get out
Of each others reach. did not miss it
far. Havana is prosperous and gay The
latter condition results from the former,
and the former results from the tide Of
American money which has already hit
the island. IT has been proven in the
past that when the dove OF peace coos
most persistentIy in Cuba the American
eagle squawks the ioudest
Just now the big American bird is max
ing considerable fuss. Each steamer
into Havana from the United States is
crowded. Many of the new cOmers are
tourists attracted 10 the "theater of war
by the press agent stories of the fight
ing They VIII find the graves of more
horses ridden 10 death iE wild retreats
than Of heroes slain ia battle.
Others are representatives Of Interests
i'm Cuba temporarily tied up by the recent
unpleasantness, but scores Of others are
commercial men, of with the gun In the
big free-for-al race for business which
( is bound % De run as long as a guarantee
is furnished the commercial world that
the island is not 10 be at the mercy of
g0od-for-nOthing gang of malconJents
who prefer the title of brigand to that OF
laborer
on every street signs, painted during
the first American occupation, are pop
ping out English spoken here" greets
the eve at every turn. As a matter of
fact, IL is not spoken: it is simply man
gled But American money is eloquent
enough TO DO all the talking.
Havana resembles "a hustling American
city. with a world fair as an attraction.
/ Business is booming, and the city is en-
fete. Hotels are making additions, and
nets are being spread everywhere to
catch the school OF American suckers.
I Every one is happy, and the infant re-
/ public. which but a few days ago was
/ squalling its head off, to-day wears Il
/ cherubic smile, the only fault of which is
/ the fact that it viii come off-as history
/ shows.
Revolution True Comic Opera.
/ And as to the recent hostlities. no ap-
/ pelIation was ever more fitting than that
OF comic opera revolution. The pictur-
esque settings, the beautiful women, the
/ low comedy roles enacted by the pompous
/ little Cuban generalissimos. the war ships
/ in the harbor, and the gallant band of
! iackies dashing in during the last act, all
! lend themselves 10 the general effect.
The Cuban soldier takes himself so seri-
ously that he is bound TO be an eternal
I joke to an American. Sand and personal
/ bravery he undoubtedly has, and. cor
/ nered in a hand-tO-hand fight and armed
with his trusty machete, he is about as
/ dangerous as a can Of nitroglycerin on
/ a bump -the-bumps. But as a soldier he
will not do.
/ Organization and discipline, his disposi-
tiOu viii not assimilate. and his fOndness
for titles keeps the list OF fighting men
/ reduced to a corporaIs guard, and makes
/ commissioned officers as common as colo
nels Al a Kentucky election primary.
/ Out at Pine Guerra's camp. where the
rebels were disarming last week. WAS
found typical American cowboy. who
had joined the insUrrectiOn simply for the
sport Of the thing. Having seen no real
I fighting, ne was pretty well dsgusted
with the situation. Generals. colonies.
and majors stumbled over each other S
heels Organization was conspicuous for
its absence. hailed the COW puncher and
asked him who was in command He
grinned, shook his head in a manner in
dicating hopelessness. ana replied:
"D-d if 1 know, pardner I'm only a
common or garden lieutenant"
Cuban Not "a Patriot.
! Except those actually engaged. the Gu
bans have scarcely taken the matter OF
the revolution seriously. They are rejoic-
ing over its termination. not because of
any love Of country or thankfulness that
the nation-their nation-is no longer be
ing torn asnder. but because business
is TO be better and living easier II is a
bold statement to make and a hard one
for Americans to understand. but people
of the United States living in Cuba for a
number Of years VIII tell YOU with all
seriousness that the Cuban has no patriot
ism or love of country whatever; that pa
triotism in Cuba is synonymous with
I CRATER: that those who are not actively
interested I'm the politics of the country
care nothing about it, and that those whC
are actively interested are only so Tor
the purpose Of personal gain.
Whether this is So or not. it is certain
that Cuba today is drawing longer and
more satisfactory breaths than in many q
month. An election on an honest basis
has been promised at some future time by
the United States. That is sufficient foI
the time being Every man in Cuba real
izes that an election at this time is im-
possible, and that the American occupa-
ton is bound to last for some time-hence
that the prosperous era at present in