The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-27

! Havana. Jan. 26-If the American politician in his happy slumber dreams ! of pie so surely does the Cuban poll ! itician smile with joy at the vision of | a goat. The goat is the national em- | biem of political success in Cuba "Chevo" is the Spanish word for goat, | It Is also the Spanish word foy graft | The goats of Spain no lessl than tho goats of Harlem. are omnivorous. | That "a goat will eat anything. from lace handkerchiefs and embalmed beef cans to armor plate and lyddite shells, has been depicted by Spanish comic artists as faithfully and truth iessly as by American. comic artists. What was more natural than that politician office holders omnivorous appetite for rak e-offs should suggest the goat? Whereupon "chevo" took on it's new meaning and the goat was i put into the Cuban slang vocabulary | to do duty as noun, verb or adjective as the case might require.
 Thus 1t may be said that the politi- cal parties in Cuba are divided as the sheep and the goats. with the va riation from the sacred parable that every sheep is consumed with ambi- | ton to turn into goat Great IS 'chevo" and the Cuban politician is It's prophet,
 It may be suggested. by some crass American who has old-fashioned no- tlons about extracting the beam from ones own eye before applying a high power magnet to draw the mote from the other fellows optic orb. that | American politics Is not altogether | free from the influence of "chevo" | That may be true. but 1t Is alsoefrus that American politics has gfeat deal else Involved In its mazes. The vast majority of Americans adhere either to the Republican or the Demo- cratic Party because of conviction up- on matters of principles. because Of sentiment of association. "because fa- ther voted that way or for some req son which cannot be charged to direct some of the graft.
 | The Cuban does not adhere to his political party. be It Liberal or Con- seryative, because of convictions up- on matters of principle for the very simple reason that neither party pro- fesses to hold to any distinctive prln- cIples whatever. They both profess and the life of the republic. and such glittering generallties but each pro- fesses as much as the other and no more. Nor does the Cuban cling to his party allegiance because of senti- mental association or because of an- cestrai training.
 Party robes are loosely worn in Gu ba. man changes his party over night and there Is not one particle of the stigma which attaches to a turn goat" or a ''boiter" in America or England. Not only do the members Of the party change at will and often. but the parties themselves change their names and organizations when- ever they feel like it. It is less than seven years since the Cuban Republic set up in business. and in that time the Republican Party changed its name to Moderate" and then to Con servatiYe."
 The ease with which a man may change parties does not afrect the vir- ulence of party strife nor the voclf. erousness of party fealty. Lib. eral Is Liberal because he is @ Lib. eral and needs the job He yeIls about Liberal principles and promises that the cock fights will be opened up the minute the Americans get out Aeon servative fs Conservative because he Is Conservative and he is just as strong for cock fights as his opponent.
 In the recent elections In. Cuba ther was not one difference of opin- ion betwen the parties which could possibly be raised to the dignity of | same things. both declared the sama things. and both were convinced that the election of the opposition meant ruin for the nation.
 There Is a real difference between 1 the two parties, however. It Is a dlf- Ference of personnel In the ranks. ra- ther than of principle or leadership. The principles are interchangeable, 1 the leaders go from one camp to the af ants EI~ of one party Is different from that of the other. The Liberals are about Ave shades darker as to skin than are the Conservatives.
 l IL would be unfair to say that the Liberal party is strictly a negro par ty. but 1t cannot be denied that it owes It's present power to the brother In ebony. Considerably more than half the people of Cuba have negro blood in their veins. If the propor- ton of African blood is less than a hatf. or a fourth. 1t Is vigorously de. nied, The census enumerators took the peoples word as to ancestry and the census shows that 70.3 per cent Of the Cubans are white and only 2S.7 are negroes But the census can not be relied upon In politics, and the Cubans nave awakened to the re- alizatton that the party with, the negro votes wlll get the "chevo."
 The Palma administration recogniz. cd the negro. but 1t did not elevate him to high place in the govern ment. The negro resented the dis crimination. He had fought and bled and starved for Cuba Llbre." One of his race. Maceo, was the military genius of he great revolution. He be- lived he was entitled to the fruits of victory. Therefore he gave a willing ear to the Liberal leaders who sought to overthrow the Palma regime by revolution. Nobody charged Palma with dishonesty. but he was surround ed by weak advisers and when the ad- ministration stole the elections the Liberals raised the standard of revolt. The negroes took their machetes and | rallied to the revolution
 | When the American provisional gov. ernment had torn the choice bits of 'chevo" from the grasp of Palma offi- cers. and had distributed them among the famished Liberals. the leaders of that party were certain that they could win any elections that might be held So there were the aspirants for the Presidential nomination. General Jose Miguel Gomez and Senator A;fer- do zayas, Instantly the Liberal Party was split In twain. The Mig ueiists and the Zayistas were at each others throats and the grand old Liberal Party was ia a pickle. The municipal elections came on and. 10 [ the consternat!on of the office holders. i the Conservatives swept the country.
 The Liberals were frightened and