The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-11

concerned, in a manner that was a triumph
Of n~iggardliness. Not a soul in Havana
believes that he failed TO save every last
peso Of his 825 900 annual salary, and he
was in Office about four years and a half.
In addition to his salary the President OF
the CnbanRepublic hada ar allowance ofs7,OOO
for the annual maintenance Of the palace,
5000 for horses and carriages and 10000
for extraordinary and secret expenses.
this latter being supposed to include the
grand Official balls, receptions, DC. Other
allowances brought the total up to about
s62, 900 a year.
The palace was managed on the closest
possible scale, the number Of servants be-
ing reduced to a meagr minimum
every expense bein q scrutinized with cheese
pairing care. Official entertainments were
as scarce as real statesmen in Cuba. STU
perlative can go no further.
1t is declared with every evidence OF
authenticity that ono when the United
States Government had proposed to send
a feet to Havana for a gala visit President
Palma asked the State Department to rost-
pone the visit OF the feet on account OF the
death OF his mother-in-law This woman
had passed to her reward in Honduras
about a year before.
President Palma, in fact, was in a small
way the Russell Sage Of Cuba. He certainly
il in no danger Of requiring Senior Quesada's
~benevolence to prevent his starvation, and
he Ia certainly worth more than 500, 900.
Some persons put it az high as 1850 900.
This is not unbounded afluence, but 1t is
not penury either.
THE WORK or FREYRE DRA
Freyre Andrade has in a way. or at least
in the minds OF many close observers, been
the evil genius of the Palma Administration,
His connection with Cuban Affairs dates
back some time before the revolution.
Andrads was never a soldier of note, nevera
fighter. With the revolution Of 'eS his
connection was that of dviser and coun-
sellor. He was not a member Of the SON.
stitutional convention and was too young
to be a Senator. He was, however, a MEM
Der Of the Assembly and was once its presi-
dent. He held a position under Gen. Wood
in a legal capacity and finally got to be
Palma's Secretary Of Government.
This Office has some resemblance to that
of the Secretaryship Of the Interior in the
United States. Its powers, however, are
far wider than those of that office. As
Secretary Of Government Andrade in
1905 manipulated the brutal machinery
whose complete success resulted IN the
triumph of the Palma party, the political
defeat Of the Liberals, the uprising OF those
beaten chiefs and their clans and the re-
bellion which brought United States forces
here to prevent devastation OF Havana
and the ruin Of Cuba at large.
A Secretary Of Government Andrade
controlled the appointment and removal
OF almost every important ot1ceholder
throughout the length and breadth OF
Cuba. He controlled entirely the Rural
Guard, and with this and his other powers
he dominated absolutely the election ma
chinery. This little black man. with his
10 pounds of determined flesh and blood
his full black beard and his long mustache.
which the c~artoonists caricature, played
the game to it's last disgraceful limit. That
an American Governor to-day sits in the
chair OF Weyler, Wood and Palma ia due
70 Freyre Andrade more than TO any one
man.
cAPorE AND CONCESSIONS.
Mendez Capote, Palma's Vice-President,
| furnishes a different kim Of picture. He
has been prominent in Cuban politics for
MANY wears. Like Andrade, he was con-
nected entirely in an advisory capacity
with the revolution Of 1895 and saw little or
no fighting. At the time of American 90
~u,nation he was made a member OF what
was known as the Cuban Assembly. Later
he was selected by Gen. Brooke ss a mem
her of his Cabinet. which institution went
o,t In failure. When the constitutional
convention met it chose Capote az its presi-
dent and he was elected a member OF the
! first Cuban Senate and later became the
president Of this body.
Capote is a lawyer Of great parts. He is
n director or official or counsellor for many
commercial enterprises, many OF which
depend for their SUCCESS on governmental
concessions. II is said that President Palma
himself once stated that on investigating
MANY applications for concessions he found
his own Vioe-President to be Interested in
those companies either IA an official or as
counsellor. Capote has found politics as
profitable as have any Of the Cuban leaders.
His general reputation is that Of a high
class, shrewd, successful politician.
NJ A CANDIDATE.
Probably the best known man and most
admirable figure among the Liberals is
Jose Miguel Gomez, the defeated candidate