The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-06-19

CAUSE OF CUBAN ROW. .

(Bostnn IIerald.)
70 understand the present situation
IN cub a little history has to be 20
viewed. The negroes who arc at nres.
'il' i!sh'lhS the government are doing
so with all The bitterness of hone do,
ceivcd. Slavery was not otficiaiIv
abolished in Cuba until 1884. bur the
leNolutioniSts in 1869 at the beginning
OF the Ten Years War had dccreod its
"A ABOLITION in their constitution. This
vas n OF the great reasons why the
co!ofed men "f the island threw them
selves With such fervor into the fight
against Spain. If the whites wera
as,r.ins aor freedom so. in a much
more personal sense, We're the blacks.
during the Ten Years War, as dur
ing the last and successful
'he blacks and the whites have been
united by a common hatred of the on
prcSsor. Since the establishment of
inc republic other questions have
come mp which divided the brothers
III arms, hrst along the line of ideas
ana thon according Il color. About
"n"-third Of the Cuban population is
colnred. 10
Today three parties divide tho ISL
and-the liberals. under the present
president. General Miguel Gomez; the
r"N"l''fi"nlSt* or negro party, under
General ENhrist" ~IIstcnoz. and the
N''i>e9. WHO m'lN nave the man
~ tho hour in their leader and prosi-
drntial candidate. General Mario Men
ochi. Nil three are men of ability in
different WAYS.
The least known is Estcnoz. He
Was born in Santiago de Cuba, where
many a revolutionary plot has seen
the Ii2ht. lie is a man of means and
OF considerable intellectual ability,
ana ne made an excellent record in
tn" Cuban war.
lie and another colorcd man, Rafael
Sierra, made a tour of the United
states some years ago and studied he
rnhdltlon of the negro in this country.
holr pufp"s was especially to find
nut what executive offices were hold
ny colored people and how we'll they
We're organized. and they discovered
that although socially they were AZ :.
n~lSadVhnthg" compared with their
CUBAN ~br3thers, they We're better or
ganized and had more rccocnition
from the federal government and the
northern states in the matter of Of
fees.
The two went back to Cuba with
'ie ldea "1 spreading this information
among IN" colored people Of Cuba and
urging them to demand tina more at
tcnll"n he paid to them. No one de-
MES that they fought as bravelv AS
inc White man i'm tho war with Cuba.
Not only that, but several of the race.
notably .Antonio and San Jose Maceo,
mad risen high in the military coun-
CHS. Their claim was that if they
were good enough to depend on in
time of war they We're good enough
to depend ON in time IF peace.
f.sf"noz and Sierra formed the indie
endth F"lored Party. EStenoz to at
fcnd I" organization n Sierra to tho
work Of putting their cause before
IN" fuhahs in literature of various
Kinds. Sierra died before the orgapi-
Zatfon was completed, II since then
f.sten"z has been the leading spirit of
tn" party. The colorcd people all over
Cuba rallied to its support. Within a
Year there We're so. 900 colored voters
enrolled and a weekly newspaper edit.
ed by f.st"noz had grown to an cnor-
NOUS circulation.
II was apparent enough to the GOV
e,fh'nent mat this organization was
Incoming much too powerful. One of
tn" moving spirits of the liberal marty
WAS senator Morua Delgado. himself
a chl"red man. 1t was he who intro
duce'i the amendment now known AS
the Morua law. which forbils the for
nation of political parties along racial
lines.
a storm of protest from all the
negroes of Clha when this law was
passed. MuruA. was made secretary of
war in The Gomez ca binet, hut rumor
mas it that he never from
tn" effects Of the denuncintion his
angry fellow negroes had hurled AT
MIN. He hroodcd over the situation
10 such an extent that when he died
his end is said to have been due as
much to his mental condition as TO
his disease.
However, there stood the law. and
on the eve of the election many lead
erS OF the independent colorcd marty
We're thrown into prison for conSiir-
acN. The colored people of Cuba
claim that they have been deprived of
thrlr rights. spied upon by the white
poHtlrlanS II rli&rcprcsented i'm the
press. TO the pronounccment OF the
liperal party that patriotism forbids
the formation of a political orsaniza-
tl"n on the basis Of skin color rather
than on h good of all the island.
they reply that if the people are on
pressed because they are dark skin
ned 1T is rs dark skinned men that
they must organize.
Thc!' say. too, thai the tonne, of
III" white Cubans has changed abso-
luteIy since the freedom Of the island
Nhtn Spain was pressing them all,
black and white. a common cause
Bound them together. but since the
establishment of the republic. the
whites have determined to use for
their own benefit the freedom the
negroes so largely helped to win.