Evening star., 1933-08-11

pOrtlOIS, MaCQaQO llSCeneQ TO much bad
advice and was led to measures which
he originally would not have con-
Sidered.'
About Welles' Office there were q
row of chairs. There were at least 20
of them. 1t is there that the repre-
sentatives of the warning factions have
met each day for month. working
out constitutional amendments.
Il The opposition sits there" said
Welles. pointing to his left. "The gov
eminent sits there" pointing to his
right. When We first began they
glared at each other: They would not
one Of the opposition went out with
his arm around the shoulder of q gov
eminent man. Thus he said, turn
ing to me, we can get together when
our country is at stake
so you see," said Welles, I'VE are
getting somewhere. But there Is still
much to do
Would Be Worst Move.
| I asked him about Intervention and
he unhesitatingly said. ut would be
the worst move possible from the stand
! point of the United States. It is time
we bettered our standing in Latin coun-
| tries
Welles has seen the results of in
tervention in other Latin countries.
What if all mediation fails? Does
1t mean intervention?" I asked.
Il am not permitting myself to think
about it falling" he said. IT am think
ing about completing it."
And so left him, preparing to meet
| his mediation group And as I left I
| silently lifted my hat. There is a man.
| There Is nothing of the politician about
him, nothing that smacks of bigotry,
nothing of condescension toward a
small nation. nothing which an intelli-
gent American need regret. His han
ding of the situation thus far has
stamped him one of the United States
| great diplomats
leaders of the university students. None
can deny them sincerity, earnestness
and devotion. They have been willing
to die for their cause. Some of them
| have.
One of them TOOK off his shirt and
showed scars on his back, mementos
| OF 20 months in prison. He charged
| that at one time at the prison on the
Isle Of Pines the criminals had been
armed with clubs and set on the politi-
cal prisoners. His wound he said had
been caused by dagger
These two young men, both % years
Of age. told casually but earnestly of
bombs being made when some Of their
members were shot in cold blood by
police. They told of the LEY de fuga"
killings. In one of them boy had
| been shot while his feet were tied In
another student had been shot while
he prayed for his life. The 'ley de
fuga" which means law of flight"
had been claimed by the police.
But I am convinced that the STU
| rrfy frN
sideration. Their university is politi-
/ cally controlled, it could have opened.
but its faculty. in awe Of the students,
refused.
In Mediation Meetings.
1t was only last week that the fac
ulty at last showed some initiative and
entered the mediation meetings despite
protests from the students.
| Il regard the opening Of the schools
as paramount" Sumner Welles told
them
Cubas university system is to be
changed.
1 was taken to see several business
men. In one office. housed in large
| building. one of the finest In Cuba,
and one which compares favorably with
who directs a business which crosses
several million each year.
| We talked. I mentioned Machado
He took down an English dictionary
! f1ipped through the pages, put a fin
ger on the word monster"
| He said never a word about Ma
chado. This was no man to be inf1u-
enced by hearsay. He was a college
graduate, a successful manager of
great business.
He told me, in speaking of the cor
ruption in government, that he at
times was ashamed of being a Cuban
The magnificent capitol in Cuba, cost
ing about Is millions of dollars: the
Central highway, were ALL they say
let at f1fty-f1fty agreement between
contractors and the government OFF,
cials. Responsible men say this.
Government officials Indignantly deny
it. claiming that the Machado govern
ment actually gave Cuba something
where other governments had appro-
priated money and never produced
anything
The national lottery comes frequent
ly into the conversation. THE lottery
must CO." said one of the business
men. Not that it is wrong per Sc.
But it is too powerful a weapon. It
brings on graft and misuse of funds" :"
| The lottery is controlled by the gov
ernment And thousands of the tick
cts are given to congressman as a con-
cession. The congressman then option
out the tickets. They get them free
The ticket seller disposes of them for
Is cents the piece" and there are so
pieces to each ticket. He gets cut
The congressman gets bigger cut.
The lottery isn't essentially an evil
But it is as handled. The congress-
man with lottery tickets controls thou
sands of votes And much of the
money paid for the tickets is not re-
paid in prizes. But aside from that
there Is no fraud in the lottery. The
winning ticket gets more than $4,000
each Sunday The second ticket gets
more than $1,000. And so on.
The A. B. c., I would say, is the
finest influence in Cuba. with its in
sistence on a parliamentary form Of
government for its volatile people The
A. B. c., with its insistence that Cuba
be governed by one who has mo COM
plicity with the past" is the real hope
Of Cuba. It and Sumner Welles may
bring the nation through.