Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-25

with a demand that he is after the facts
and proposes to have them straight and
unadorned But in spite of his efforts to
extract a straightforward story from the
various factions of the actual conditions in
Cuba, he has found much In all OF the rep
reservations which will not hold water
The sitting of all these statements Will
take long time but fortunately the mis-
sion is not wholly dependent for trust
worthy informa ton upon the promiscuous
characters who appear before 1t. Conf
Dental agents Of Secretary Taft, army and
navy officers, Americans who were ofnclals
under the administration of Gen. Wood
have quietly been sent to Cuba in the last
few weeks and are each day bringing to
Mr.. Taft evidence of conditions of which
he would have known nothing had he de-
pended upon the representations OF the
Cubans and the foreign investors here.
The Solution Of the Problem.
What is to be the solution of this grave
and tangled problem? Not even Secretary
Taft can answer that now. He has plan
which he hopes to be able to carry out. but
even its success will necessitate the re-
tention for time by the United States
of firm grip upon the administration Of
the Cuban government If such a thing be
possible President Palma will be retained
in power. The feeling among the rebels is
directed against certain of his advisers
rather than the president himself, who is
apparently honest as the day is long
administration. President Palma has made
mistake in the selection of some of his
advisers. These must be got rid of. If an
honest man can be found among the rebels
who has some idea of the principles of
government he will doubtless be given a
place in the cabinet. Within the next few
days the American mission hopes to find
out the real character of the revolutionary
forces. From present advices it would ap-
pear that eighty per cent of the rebels are
negroes who have taken to the woods at
the instance of a few leaders and who
would not return to work even if their
demands were granted.
1t is not an easy task that confronts Mr..
Taft and Mr.. Bacon. Neither of them real
lied the gravity of the condition into which
Cuba had fallen. Each day has brought ex-
posture of rottenness and rascality, the
telling of which each night by cable to the
President at Oyster Bay must have been a
sad revelation to him. To those on the
ground it is not surprising to be aroused
each morning by the booming of saluting
guns in the harbor, and looking up the
palm-lined prado to see entering the harbor
another American man-of-war. This morn
ing the masts of nine men-of-war. three
battleshipS and six cruisers rise in the har-
Dor above the Sow-lying buildings along
the prado. Nine miles away, with all the
earneStness of a man whose heart is sick
ened by the revelations of rascaity which
have come to him in the last five
days with all the determination of
man who has firmly believed
that the art of self-government can in time
taught even to such race as the Cubans.
Secretary Taft is advising the rebel lead
ers to submit their case to arbitration and
thus save Cuba Libre." No political con-
siderations a home affecting the report
to President Roosevelt of the conditions
here. If the rebels will not lay down their
arms and accept the arbitration of the
United States the immediate occupation Of
the entire island by force sufficient to pre-
vent the destruction of property may be
expected. The War Department has been
warned to be ready for such an emergency.
The mission is hoping against hope that this
step will not be necessary, but Secretary
Taft has recommended that if Intervention
is required it should be effective interven-
tion-nterventon with both feet.