The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-26

Il
 be inaugurated as President of the
 Republic of Cuba, and the American
 provisional Government, after a ca-
 reer lasting more than two years. will cease to exist. The American admin listratfve officers will leave the island, | the American soldiers will so home,
 and Cuba will once again be governed by Cubans. Yet there will be no change of flag as a feature of the cere-
 mony. The Cuban flag has been flying | all the time. and the American Govern ment in Cuba has derived It's powers from the Cuban Constitution. omcially | the Government has been known as the provisional administration" Un-
 officialiy. and by popular consent. the Government is always referred to as the second intervention Now that
 the intervention Is coming to close | 1t is worth while to review its brtef.
 but unique. history.
 l Upon the withdrawal of Spanish | sovereignty from Cuba on Jan. l. 1883, the result of, the Cuban War for ln- dependence and the Spanish American l War. the United States established a
 military Government in Cuba. The
 American nation had given it's pledge that Cuba was to be free, and 1t was
 understood that the military govern | ment was to continue only so long as was deemed necessary to prepare Tor the launching of the Cuban ship of State. One of the necessary things was to secure recognition from the other nations of the Independent sovereignty | of the new republic.
 To accomplish this 1t was practically necessary for the United States to guar antee the preservation of Cuban in- dependence, the maintenance of Gov ernment in the island adequate for the protection of life, property and indi-
 vidusl liberty and the discharge Of l treaty obligation. This matter, incor- porated in the "Platt Amendment" was
 presented to the Cuban Constitutional Convention, and was made a part of | the Constitution of the new republic. This peculiar relation between the United States and Cuba iR described In diplomatic language as the buttress by which the sovereignty and inde- | pendence of the Cuban Republic are protected and sustained. not h hmita- | ton upon that sovereignty and inde- pendence.
 In 1909 the American military gov
 ernment was withdrawn. the Cuban l flag was raised for the first time over | & recognized State, and Tomas Estrada Palma was lnaugurated as President. Palma was patriot who had fought
 in the Ten Years War and who held SuDau HDeEty " b0 0GAACt kheh AAAS itself. Like the first President of the American Republic, he feared the strife
 of political parties and for a long time refused to identify himself with either | of the three parties which had been formed. He attempted to divide the offices between the Moderates, the Ma tionala and the Independent Radicals.
 The contest for political Supremacy.
 especially in Congress. became in-
 tense. The constitution required
 quorum of two-thirds of the members
 at the opening of daily sessions. there was no provision to compel the attend ance Of members, and. therefore, 1t was
 an easy matter to prevent congression-
 al action by breaking a quorum. Leg islation was at "a standstill and the
 affairs of the Republic were drifting
 toward certain disaster.
 l In the hope of remedying this evil.
 President Palma determined to affiliate
 with the Moderates, hoping to secure two thirds of the members of Congress and, thereby. make his Government effective. When the President took
 this step. the Nationals tmmediateiy
 coalesced with dIaaffected Moderates and formed the new Liberal party. President Palma then adopted the policy of displacing Liberals from of- flee, national. provisional and munich pal. throughout the island, and filling their places with members of the Mod
 crate party. The time for the quad
 renniai elections approached, and all the machinery of the G0vernment-all
 the officeholders, every power of the
 executive--was exerted to bring about
 Moderate victory. Laws were vio-
 lated by the oficern and the elections were nothing more than farces.
 Thereupon the defeated and cha grined Liberals took to the bushes"
 Under the leadership of General Faus-
 tino Guerra a revolution was organ ized and within a very few weeks there
 were 30,000 men under arms against the authority of the Palma Govern
 ment. President Palma realized his
 inability to cope with the situation, and being unwilling to deluge the isl- and with blood and devote it's industries
 to the torch, he called upon the United
 States for aid. The act was cOnstitu-
 tional and patriotic, and saved his be- loved Cuba great woe, although 1t brought his own career to a sorrowful close.
 President Roosevelt appointed
 peace commission, composed of Secre-
 tary of War Taft and Assistant Secre-
 tary of State Bacon. That commission
 went to Cuba to investigate and to attempt to restore order and peace.
 President Palma immediately commu-
 nicated his intention to resign from his office. Every effort was made to
 induce the Cuban Congress to eject
 successor, but a quorum could not be
 obtained. The Congress dissolved. and the country was entirely without government. President Roosevelt, thereupon. appointed William H. Taft Provisional Governor of the Republic of Cuba. by virtue of the Platt amend. ment, incorporated in the Cuban con- stitution, and in the treaty between the United States and Cuba.
 MT. Taft issued a proclamation on Sept. 2S, 1906, declaring himself the Provisional Governor of the island. and promising that the United States would soon as possible. The Cuban flag was not taken down and the Cban forms of government were continued. Gu bans were appointed to the cabinet po- sitions, but each was given an Ameri- can in the capacity of adviser" The American advisers have been the real heads of departments.
 A Liberal Party general committee was created and with It's assistance of hcers were apportioned and the Liber- aIs generally recognized, especially in places where they were greatly in the majority. The revolutionists were permitted to retain the horses they had taken during the one months war and the former owners were obliged to come before a commission to obtain re- from the government This one matter of permitting the rev to retain horses they had taken was the only act of the provis- IonAl government in restoring peace which met with severe criticism. e.. haF