Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-09
BY CASTOR NERvAL,
Authority on Latin American Affairs.

can hardly decide what to adj
Il 4 mire most-that aspect of the
city which still bears the
impress of Spain. rich in history and
architectural beauty, or the side that
shows the marvellous process OF evolu-
ton that is bringing her into the van
guard of progress.
In Cuba we have before us an inter-
esting phenomenon, the meeting, the
mixing, the amalgamation, of the two
distinct civilizations, of two distinct
types of mind and spirit, seemingly
impossible of fusion-the Latin and the
Anglo-Saxon. Cuba is the laboratory
in which these two great forces OF
civilization are combining for the first
time as in a chemical process.
! This process is seen most plainly by
, a Latin American newly arrived IN
Cuba, and still more plainly if he hap
pens to have just come by way of the
United States, for then he is able to
understand better both aspects of this
j transition state. this intermediate
! ground, where Cuba stands between two
| different worlds-the Latin and the
| Saxon.
| To the citizen of the United States
who comes to Cuba for the first time
! the surprise doubtless is greater. The
| American usually expects to find the
streets of Havana full of "chulos" and
"manolas," gay embroidered shawls.
bull fighters in gala dress typical fig
ures of the old Spain that discovered
and conquered the island. Instead he
finds the same short skirts of the
American fiapper, the same tapping
| oxford bags of the American college
! boys. And instead of the tangos,
| "jotas," and Spanish songs, the Ameri-
can tourist hears everywhere the same
jazz, the same "blues," the same
Charlestons, as in Uncle Sans own
land. Havana Is Americanized!
American Commerce Methods.
| Commerce is carried on much &C
cording to American methods. The
shops are run on the same systems as
the stores of New York. Mercantile
| transactions are in American dollars.
The newspapers are set up just like the
big American dailieS, divided into the
same sections, their matter supplied by
| the great news agencies and Syndicates
of the United States, and they have
copied the advertising and publicity
systems of the American papers down
| to the last details. The social clubs
and places of amusement have all the
Latest features invented in the United
States. Havana sports are the last
word in base ball, tennis, foot ball,
swimming, polo, boxing, etc. One de-
! Gd1 SHOWS IlOW lar IldS
gone in Cuba; base ball Is practically
as much the national sport of Cuba as
/ it is of the United States.
| The traffic rules, the means of trans
! portation, the methods of work, all are
completely Americanized. The moving
| pictures are almost exclusively Ameri-
can films, and in the book stores and
news stands are found all the popular
American magazines and publications
must be when he is offered in Havana,
made in the U. S. A! And when,
right in the center of the commercial
| district of the city, he runs across
soda fountains, five and ten" stores,
and even hot dogs! There is no doubt
about 1t; Havana is Americanized
| To this AmericaniZation there have
contributed. not only the several hun
dred thousand tourists who come every
year from the United States to spend
the Winter on the beaches and in the
casinos of Havana, but also many
other factors, geographic, historical,
economic and commercial, which for
many years have been aiding to form
an influence that fosters this Saxon
side of life, which means, anywhere in
the world, prosperity and progress.
Spiritual Experiment.
Strategically placed between North
and South America, and between the
Americas and Europe, the Island of
J Cuba is the logical place for this great
! experiment in the spiritual fusion of
two races of differing origin. Geography
alone, however, does not make Cuba
this point of contact; her history was
deciding factor, for although it was
| Spain, the most powerful Latin nation
of the XIV century, that discovered and
conquered the island, it was the United
! States, the outstanding Saxon nation of
| our day that aided her to win liberty
and independence. Cuba is, therefore,
intimately linked to the one civiliza-
! ton as well as to the other.
| Although from the beginning of the
XIX century Cuba made some efforts to
| free herself from Spain. it was not
| until the United States began to take
an interest in her cause that Cuban
aspirations for independence assumed
importance. In 1895 a campaign for
freedom was begun on the island, in
which the moving spirit was Jose Marti
a Cuban lawyer who had long lived in
the United States. The military head
Of the instruction was Gen. Maxine
Gomez. Having no regular army, the
insurgents carried on a guerrilla war
fare against the forces of the Spanish
crown. To repreSS this movement Spain
sent Gen. Weyler. who followed a policy
of primitive cruelty, destroying the
rebels by starvation and killing the
innocent and defenseless. All this
aroused great indignation in the United
States, and movements in many places
favored demanding that the Federal
Government stop such atrocities. Just
then, when American sentiment in
favor of Cuban independence was very
strong, the American battleShip Maine
was sunk in Havana harbor This act
was sufficient in the agitated state of
public opinion then prevailing to make
the United States take sides openly
with the Cuban revolutionistS, proclaim
its independence from Spain and de-
mand the withdrawal Of the royal forces
from the island. From that time it
took but a short while to defeat the
Spanish fleet. and soon afterward the
island was in the possession of Ameri-
can troops.
u. S. Provides Independence.
BY the Treaty of Paris Spain coded
Cuba to the United States, but the
latter refused to accept sovereignty over
the island, and demanded that she be
given independence and guarantees Of
her existence as sovereign republic.
In order to pave the way for independ-
ence, and to establish the bases of
national organization, the American
troops remained three years in Cuba.
In this period much was done for the
sanitation of the country, the estab-
lishment of public schools, the regula-
ton of taxes. in short, the preparation
of the Cubans for self-government.
This mission having been completed,
the United States in 1902, to the aston
iShnneOt of noanv SkeDtical El1r0neanS