Evening star., 1908-01-20
THE FUTURE OF CUBA
American Withdrawal Not to
Be Unconditional.
ORIGINAL PACT TO STAND
tranquility Must Have Been Re-
stored to Island.
PRESIDENT MAY RECALL WORD
Insular Property Holders Apprehen-
sive Of Result Of Transfer Of
Governing Powers.
PRESIDENT MAY RECALL WOR.

sive Of Result Of a Transfer Of
Governing Powers.
BYl WILLIAM e. CURTIS.
Written for The Star and the Chicago Record
Herald.
Business men Of Cuba and the property
owners throughout that island have real
lied that the provisional government
must end sooner or later. and the admin
istration of Gov. Magoon and his asso-
ciates be relinquished to a native pres
ident and legislature: but they have been
In hopes that such an event. and the con-
sequences that may follow 1t. might be
postponed much longer. The President.
however, has written Secretary Taft one
of his positive and peremptory letters
commanding that 1.-The installation of the
president and congress OF Cuba. to De
elected next December. and the turning
over Of the island to them shall take
place not later than February !. 1909. II
1t can be turned over earlier, l shall be
glad" the President writes. but under
no circumstances and for no reason Will
the date be later than February l. 1909"
to regret and recall this rather peculiar
pronunciamento. Everybody, OF course.
will appreciate his desire to close up tne
provisional administration and the period
Of of.intervention in Cuba before the end OF
his term. He fixes the date thirty-two
days in advance of the inauguration OF
his successor. but declares that under no
circumstances and for no reason shall the
installation OF the Cuban president be de-
ferred. This means that wars ana ru-
nl,,t{ {onS nd
the failure of the Cuban people to elect
president and a congress, vii make no
difference. If his announcement be taken
literally. the government OF Cuba IS to be
turned over to the president ana the con-
gress of that island to be elected on De-
cember / whether there is an election or
not.
|. The pronunciamento Of President Roose-
welt Is in direct violation Of the agree
ment which Secretary Taft entered into
which received the Presidents approval
and formal Endorsement. That agree
ment provided distinctly that the relin-
Quishment Of authority by the UAlted
States at the time designated depended
entirely upon the tranquility OF the island
and upon the fair and honest election of
a president aof the Cuban republic. There
is considerable doubt In the mind OF Sec
retary Taft and Gov. Magoon, not 10 men
ton the business men and property own
lity can be preserved through the excite
ment Of political campaign: and Gov
Magoon in his report, which was received
only a few days ago, says:
Gov. Magoon's Advice.
Doubtless numerous election contests
which must be settled will develop. for
1t is essential that the municipal and pro-
vincial onicials be duly installed and be-
Cow xayith Tho d1IftoS of their
offices prior to proceeding with the second
presidential and congresionaD elections
/ do not think this will require six months.
but. Of course. cannot fix the limit with
out knowing the effects Of the prelmi-
nary elections. The present prospect is
that those elections will pass of quietly.
and will cause sufficient amalgamation of
the political groups to show the general
outline and outlook Of the national con-
test The proper thing to do-in fact. the
only thing that can be done-is to await
the results OF the provisional provincial
and municipal elections before taxing the
next STEP
That is the advice of the Presidents s
representative on the ground. who knows
the situation and can judge more accu-
rately than anybody else what IS pest Tor
the government at Washington to do. But
the President evidently has not read Gov
Magoon's report and issued his announce
ment without considering the situation or
any Of the interests involved
On page 20 Of the printed copy OF Gov.
Magoon's report he expresses grave
doubts as to the ability of the Cuban
people to choose their president. He says:
1.-The serious aspect of the present siLu-
alton is the lack Of unanfmity among the
people and the want OF a political issue
OF suffcient Importance to command the
efforts Of a ajonty Of the electors TOT
its promotion. The campaign involves no
other issue than the personal popularity
Of the several candidates now announced
or being considered. and its present stage
consists of efforts to secure the support
OF local leaders. 1t Is similar to the ante
convention campaign in the Un1teqa states.
At this time there exists general lack
Of confidence that any of the candidates
has a following suff1ff1ciently large and
united or possesses sufficient prestige ana
public confidence to make his adminstra-
ton stable II he were elected and In
stalled in Office. The partisans OF each
candidate are certain that their leader
has such a following and prestige, but
they are equally certain that all the otner
candidates have not. AS already stated,
/ hope and believe the preliminary cleo
tions will give the several parties more
form and substance and do away with this
uncertainty. II they do not the question
of the time for holding the presidential
election will be further complicated I'M
stead Of elucidated.
Property Owners Apprehensive.
The business community, the planters
OF Cuba and other large property inter-
ests. which are represented chiefly by
Observation-Disclosures Frenchmen. Span
iards, Germans and Americans-are very
much excited and apprehensive because
the President has refused to accept this
advice Of Gov. Magoon. and. without con-
sidering the facts contained In his report.
has withdrawn the only condition upon
which the promise OF the restoration OF
Cuban authority was based
The Taft agreement. to which everybody
in Cuba cheerfuIly assented last April.
was accepted because of that condition.
The only way in which the politicians
could recover control of the government
| was to behave themselves and preserve
cNp0Nlc cATARRH