Uncle Sam, trustee

UNCLE SAM
TRUSTEE

JOHN KENDRICK BANGS

Uncle Sam Trustee

Uncle Sam
Trustee

By
JOHN KENDRICK BANGS

Peace hath her Victories no less renowned than War."

— Milton to Cromwell.

gorft
RIGGS PUBLISHING COMPANY

MCMIl

COPYRIGHT, IQO2 , BY
JOHN KENDRICK BANGS

f

Ttiis

"\ToVame is "Dedicated
Witlo. Sentiments ol Rtleotionate "Esteem

to

Brig.-Gcen. Leonard Wood

. William ^ZL Blao^L M.a^. ^Tilliam G. Gorgas
. "61. St. Joliii Gre\)le "Liie-at. M.S. ^anna
l_LO\xis Y. Ga^iaro Col. Taster %. Bliss

"Uievit. Y'ran'k. B.

PREFACE

THE time has come when the people of the United
States are to relinquish to the people of Cuba
the control of their own affairs. Believing
that the incidents of the past four years in so far as they
have to do with the relations of the United States to
Cuba form a page in history which reflects high honor
upon the American people, and noting in some quarters
a disposition to exalt one branch of the public service at
the expense of another, it has seemed proper to me to
present in this form some of the results of my observa-
tions of the efforts of the United States Army in Cuba,
in no wise attempting to minimize the value of the
achievements of the Navy. In order to make the presen-
tation of the subject as comprehensive as possible I have
ventured a brief sketch of the history of Cuba, some
consideration of the relations which for a century or
more have existed between the people of that island and
our own, a statement of the results of the Spanish-
American War in so far as it involved Cuba alone, and
a general statement of conditions prevailing at the begin-
ning of the American occupation. I acknowledge my
indebtedness in the preparation of this book to the officers
of the United States Army in Cuba who have placed

vii

PREFACE

such information as I have required at my disposal; to
Mr. Franklin Matthews and Mr. Charles M. Pepper for
valuable material gleaned from their books, The New
Born Cuba, and To-morrow in Cuba, to Messrs.
Houghton, Mifflin and Company of Boston for their cour-
tesy in permitting me to quote at some length from the
pages of The Discovery of America, by the late John
Fiske; to the War Department at Washington for much
valuable material placed at my disposal; to the Hon.
Henry Cabot Lodge for his acquiescence in my request
to quote liberally from his work on The Spanish
War; and to Messrs. Harper & Bros., N. Y., for their
kind permission to include in these pages pictorial and
other matter originally contributed by myself to the
columns of Harper's Weekly. My only claim for the
story which follows is that it is as clear and comprehen-
sive a statement of conditions in Cuba as they exist at
the moment of the transfer as it is possible to provide at
this early period. When I have found a portion of the
story better told by other pens, as in the quotations from
Lodge, Fiske, Packard, Sanger and others, I have not-
hesitated to quote with liberality. The main point has
been to have the story told, and I trust that I have not
failed.

My special acknowledgments for material assistance
viii

PREFACE

rendered are due to Maj. Wm. Murray Black, U. S. A.,
from whom I have received a vivid statement of the con-
ditions prevailing in the last year of Spanish control and
the first of American; to Lieut. Frank Ross McCoy,
U. S. A., of the personal staff of Gen. Wood, for in-
teresting and illuminating notes upon subjects of
importance, and to Mr. T. E. Tomlinson, who accom-
panied me on my trip to Cuba, and whose memoranda of
things seen have been of great value.

JOHN KENDRICK BANGS.

YONKERS, N. Y., April 15, 1902.

IX

CONTENTS

CUBA IN HISTORY PAGE

I. Discovery, Natives and Early Settlement I

II. Further Settlement, The Spanish Colonial Theory 19

III. Slavery and Piracy 38

IV. Insurrections in Cuba 60

V. Relations of United States and Cuba until 1898. . 79

VI. The Year of 1898 and Its Results 105

THE TRUST

I. Brig.-Gen. Leonard Wood at Santiago 123

II. A General Survey of Cuba at Close of War 142

III. The Department of Public Works 161

IV. The Department of Charities and Correction, I.. 203
V. The Department of Charities and Correction, II.. 217

VI. The Department of Public Instruction, 1 231

VII. The Department of Public Instruction, II 251

VIII. The Custom House and the Post Office 268

IX. The Police and Administration of Justice 287

X. The Department of Sanitation 312

XL Conclusion . 338

ILLUSTRATIONS

LEONARD WOOD Frontispiece

THE PALACE, HAVANA Facing p. 6

MAJOR GENERAL JOHN R. BROOKE, U. S. A 14

MAJOR EUGENE F. LADD, U. S. V 22

BRIG. GEN. ADNA R. CHAFFEE, U. S. A 30

LIEUT. FRANK ROSS MCCOY, U. S. A 42

OFFICERS' QUARTERS, CAMP COLUMBIA 52

MILITARY ROAD OF AMERICAN CONSTRUCTION ... 52

SCHOOL ROOM FOR BOYS 62

A SMALL CUBAN FAMILY 62

BRIG. GEN. WILLIAM LUDLOW, U. S. A 74

CAPTAIN HUGH L. SCOTT, U. S. A IOO

BENEFICENTIA AT HAVANA 124

MATERNITY ROOM AT BENEFICENTIA ....... 124

THE BENEFICENTIA LAUNDRY, IQOO " 128

THE BENEFICENTIA LAUNDRY, IOjO2 " 128

THE KITCHEN, BENEFICENTIA, IQOO " 132

THE KITCHEN, BENEFICENTIA, IQO2 " 132

THE SHOE SHOP, BENEFICENTIA " 136

THE TAILOR SHOP, BENEFICENTIA 136

MAJOR WILLIAM MURRAY BLACK, U. S. A " 142

VAPOR STREET, HAVANA, IN JANUARY, IQOO .... " ISO

VAPOR STREET, HAVANA, IN JUNE, IQOO ISO

LUDLOW PLACE, 1898 " 156

LUDLOW PLACE, IQOI " 156

CALZADA DE JESUS DEL MONTE, 1899 164

CALZADA DE JESUS DEL MONTE, IQOI 164

AGUILA STREET, HAVANA, IQOO "• 172

AGUILA STREET, HAVANA, IQOI 172

xiii

ILLUSTRATIONS

ESCOBAR STREET, 1899 Facing p. 17%

ESCOBAR STREET, IQOI 178

PALATINO ROAD, iSpQ l86

PALATINO ROAD, IQOI l86

THE SEA WALL OF LA PUNTA IQ2

LA PUNTA, 1902 IQ2

COLON PARK, 1899 198

COLON PARK, 1901 198

MAJOR E. ST. JOHN GREBLE, U. S. A 2O4

SOME RAW MATERIAL FOR THE SCHOOLS 208

THE SCHOOL ROOM AT GUANAJAY 2O8

CALISTHENICS AT THE GUANAJAY SCHOOL .... 2IO

GYMNASIUM AT THE GUANAJAY SCHOOL 210

THE SHOE SHOP AT GUANAJAY 212

SOME OF THE WORK OF THE BOYS AT GUANAJAY . . 212

SCHOOL ROOM 214

FIELD DAY AT GUANAJAY 214

THE BLACKSMITH SHOP " 2l6

THE CARPENTER SHOP 2l6

THE GARDEN AT ALDECOA 2l8

AT ALDECOA " 22O

THE CHAPEL AT ALDECOA " 220

SEWING CLASS AT ALDECOA " 222

AT MAZURRA " 222

INSPECTION AT THE LEPER HOSPITAL

TRAINING CUBAN NURSES

SCENE AT HOSPITAL NO. I, HAVANA
LIEUT. MATTHEW E. HANNA .

224

IN THE LEPER HOSPITAL OF SAN LAZARO 226

THE DINING HALL AT MAZURRA " 226

A VIOLENTLY INSANE PATIENT AT MAZURRA ... " 228

230
230
232

XIV

ILLUSTRATIONS

COMPOSTELLA BARRACKS, HAVANA, IN 1898 .... Facing p. 238

COMPOSTELLA BARRACKS, HAVANA, IN IQOI .... " 238

THE COMPOSTELLA SCHOOL CHILDREN 242

DAILY DRILL AT THE COMPOSTELLA SCHOOL .... 242

A GROUP OF CUBAN NURSES 25O

THE COOKING CLASS, COMPOSTELLA SCHOOL .... 2SO

PARADE OF SCHOOL CHILDREN 256

RECESS " 256

A GROUP OF CUBAN TEACHERS 264

CLASS ROOM FOR GIRLS 264

COLONEL TASKER H. BLISS, U. S. A 27O

THE HAVANA CUSTOM HOUSE /' 278

DRILLING RAW RECRUITS, HAVANA POLICE " 278

THE V1VAC, HAVANA 2Q2

MAJOR LOUIS V. CAZIARC, U. S. A 2Q4

A SERGEANT OF POLICE, HAVANA 30O

A MOUNTED POLICE OFFICER, HAVANA 306

AFTER A SHOWER IN HAVANA 316

A TYPICAL HAVANA RESIDENCE BLOCK FROM TWO

POINTS OF VIEW " 3l6

MAJOR W. C. GORGAS " 332

XV

PART I

CUBA IN HISTORY

CUBA IN HISTORY

Chapter I

DISCOVERY— ITS NATIVE POPULATION— THEIR CHAR-
ACTER, RELIGION AND HABITS— EARLY SETTLE-
MENT BY SPANIARDS— OVANDO— VELASQUEZ.

~M ^%Y virtue of the divine right of Christopher Colum-
f~^ bus to annex to Spain all new lands discov-
* ered by himself in the Western Ocean, conferred

upon that worthy explorer by proxy, through the
bull of May 3, 1493, issued by Pope Alexander VI,
which invested with certain active and retroactive juris-
dictional powers their sovereign Majesties Ferdinand and
Isabella of Spain, Cuba became at the moment of her dis-
covery the territorial possession of the Spaniard. The
island was discovered on Sunday, October 28, 1492, a
fortnight after the first notable achievement of Columbus
as an explorer of western waters, and while he was cruis-
ing about in search of more convincing evidences of the
existence of a westerly passage to the fabled fields of
Asia than he had yet secured. The point at which he is
supposed to have made his landing is in the section now
known as the Bay of Nuevitas, on the North coast of the
Province of Puerto Principe, lying a trifle to the east of
the centre of the island, but the precise spot is unknown.
The waters of this portion of the coast are filled with

I

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

countless small islands and lines of reef of coral formation,
making navigation difficult, and identification of any par-
ticular point of historic interest in uncharted times impos-
sible. What is definitely known, however, is that the
discovery of the Island of Cuba followed close upon the
heels of Columbus's first achievement, in the locality of
Nuevitas, now a city of 4,228 inhabitants, and that some-
where hereabouts Columbus raised the standard of Spain
and took possession " in the name of Christ, Our Lady
and the reigning sovereigns of Spain," christening the
island Juana in honor of the well beloved Prince John of
pleasant memory. " As he approached the island/' says
Irving, " he was struck with its magnitude and the
grandeur of its features: its airy mountains, which re-
minded him of Sicily; its fertile valleys and long sweep-
ing plains, watered by noble rivers ; its stately forests ; its
bold promontories and stretching headlands, which melted
away into remotest distance."

At the time of its christening Cuba was enjoying that
which it lost with the entrance of Spain into its territory,
and for the restoration of which it has been struggling
ever since: a form of government which was its own,
which sufficed for its needs and was dependent for its
powers upon no forces outside of its own borders. The
natives, variously estimated in number at between 200,000
and 1,000.000 were red-men, for the sake of convenience
called Indians, in disposition gentle and friendly, simple in

NATIVE POPULATION

their methods of life and having a religion of their own,
" devoid of rites and ceremonies, but inculcating the
existence of a great and beneficent Being and in the im-
mortality of the soul." It is said as evidence of the latter
that during the second visit of Columbus to Cuba he was
approached by one of the venerable native chiefs who,
after greeting him warmly and presenting him with a
basket of fruit, said to the visitor : " Whether you are
divinities or mortal men, we know not. You have come
into these countries with a force, against which, were we
inclined to resist, it would be folly. We are all therefore
at your mercy; but if you are men, subject to mortality
like ourselves, you cannot be unapprised that after this
life there is another, wherein a very different portion is
allotted to good and bad men. If therefore you expect to
die, and believe with us, that every one is to be rewarded
in a future state according to his conduct in the present,
you will do no hurt to those who do none to you." This
according to report was duly interpreted to Columbus
by a native whom he had taken to Spain, and who had
there acquired the Spanish language. The truth of this
version is attested by Herrera and other historians whose
credibility we may accept or reject according to our choice.
The natives were singularly free from the abhorred
vices of their neighbors of the adjacent islands. They
expressed themselves with a certain modesty and respect,
and v/ere hospitable to the last degree. Reading between

3 ,

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

the lines of the records of history, it is manifest that after
their own rules and estimates, their lives were chaste and
proper, though it was admissible for kings to have sev-
eral wives. Moreover, though living in a state of nudity,
they religiously observed the decencies of life, and were
more outraged by Spanish lasciviousness than can be
clearly expressed.* They were governed by nine inde-
pendent chiefs, Caciques, ruling as many independent
principalities, whose word was law; and, in those prime-
val days, were living in peace and amity with each other
and with their neighbors, contentedly and happy. The
cannibalism of the other islanders was not practised by
the Cubans of those first known days and the testimony
of those who lived and worked among them is that they
were industrious and orderly to an almost Utopian degree.
They lived mainly upon fish, fruit and Indian corn. They
built huts for themselves of enduring construction, and of
a type still preserved by the poorer Cubans of to-day,
using the materials that lay to the hand, bark, leaves and
palm. Their fields, such as they had under cultivation,
produced cotton, corn, potatoes, tobacco, pineapples and
manioc; and in the fashioning of articles with the hand
they had produced a certain kind of rude pottery, and
stone weapons for possible use against the chance enemy
that came their way. Of domestic animals they had none
save the dog. Others such as the horse, the mule, the ox
* Due South, by M. M. Ballou.
4

ENTER COLUMBUS

and the cow were imported later by their Spanish con-
querors, with, singularly enough, the orange, the lemon
and the sugar cane. Everything they had was of their
own make. Everything they ate was of their own raising
or catching. Their fish nets and hooks were of their own
devising. Their religion was the outgrowth of their own
spiritual needs, and their contented prosperity was due
wholly to their own industry and simple faith in the
efficacy of their own hands under the guidance of their
chiefs, and protection of their Great Spirit.

To them then entered Columbus with the civilizing in-
fluences of the old world in his train, and the woes of
Cuba began with the " pacification " of these happy
islanders under Spanish rulers, using Spanish methods to
teach them the error of their ways. The great admiral's
first contact with these simple folk at their best, was
through two envoys whom he despatched, shortly after
his landing, under the impression that he had reached the
continent of Asia, to the interior in search of a king said
by coast natives — or so understood by Columbus — to be at
war with the great Khan. !< These envoys found pleasant
villages with large houses surrounded with fields of such
unknown vegetables as maize, potatoes and tobacco;"
and. upon the authority of Columbus's diary, " they met
on the road a great many people going to their villages,
men and women with brands in their hands, made of
herbs for taking their customary smoke," but such con-

5

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

vincing evidences of Asiatic splendor as cities and kings,
as rich stuffs and the gold and spices of their desires in
abundance were not divulged, and shortly after, per-
plexed and disappointed, the admiral continued on his way.
Barely more than the easterly north coast of the new
territory occupied the attention of Columbus upon this
voyage, but in subsequent venturings it is recorded that
he familiarized himself with the greater part of the
southern coast line from Cape Maisi on the east — named
Alpha and Omega by Columbus as being the extremity
of Asia* — as far as Batabano and the Isle of Pines to
the West, but that Cuba was an island and not a part
of the Asiatic mainland never dawned upon his mind.
There is no reason to believe that those portions of
Cuba lying beyond the westerly boundary of the pres-
ent Province of Matanzas, and comprising the rich
and fertile fields of the provinces now known as
Havana and Pinar Del Rio were ever explored by
him. That the new land was rich and promised well
for the pockets of his king and the king's men who would
venture here, however, was soon sufficiently obvious, for
even the most cursory examination of its products dis-
closed the existence of pearls, mastic, aloes, a soil fertile
beyond the ordinary, and in its rivers indications of gold.
Surely here was a tempting morsel for the Spanish maw
and the admiral lost no time in returning to Spain with
* " The Discovery of America." Vol I. p. 436 —John Fiske

6

E 5

FORT NATIVITY

the evidences of his glorious treasure-trove, leaving be-
hind him a small band of his followers at a convenient
point on the Island of Hispaniola, later known as San
Domingo and to-day as Haiti. This body of men, forty
in number, remained of their own volition, not alone be-
cause there was not room for all upon the one ship which
the desertion of Pinzon and the wreck of the Santa Maria
on Christmas Day had left the admiral, but for the further
reason that they found the " life upon the island lazy, and
the natives, especially the women, seemed well disposed
toward them. A blockhouse was built of the wrecked
ship's timbers and armed with her guns and in commemo-
ration of that eventful Christmas it was called Fort Na-
tivity (La Navidad)."' This was the first white settle-
ment of the new world, and in its immediate influence
upon the situation it was of so baneful a nature that it
seems almost a pity that its members could not have gone
to the bottom of those unknown waters with the wreck
of the Santa Maria. Theirs would have been a happier
and a more glorious ending had this been the case.

Three times after its discovery Columbus returned to
Cuba, but until 1511, when its permanent occupation
began, it appears to have been avoided by other con-
spicuous explorers. It was not until 1508 that its definite
classification as an island was made upon the report of
one Sebastian Ocampo, who, at the instance of Nicolas
* " The Discovery of America." — Fiske.

7

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

de Ovando, Governor of San Domingo, undertook the
thorough exploration of the rich waters of the neighbor-
ing seas.*

In 1511, five years after the death of the discoverer,

* There is much interesting discussion as to this point none of
which appears to be conclusive. One Juan de la Cosa who ac-
companied Columbus upon his voyage of 1494 and who subscribed
under oath, on penalty of having his tongue slit if this was vio-
lated in later statements, to the belief that Cuba was part of the
continent of Asia, in 1500 made himself responsible for a map
upon which Cuba is represented as an island. There is no evidence
however that La Cosa's change of mind was based upon observa-
tion or upon any real conviction. Another map made two years
later by Alberto Cantino indicates the detection of the insularity
of Cuba in 1502, but as to the certainty of its conclusions there
seems to have been much confusion. The cartographers of those
days worked as often upon hearsay and rumor as upon conviction
and observation. "Because Florida (yet without a name) pur-
ported to be a piece of the Continent and because until after 1508
most people believed Cuba to be a piece of the Continent, the old
maps used to mix them together without rhyme or reason; and
the perplexity was increased by the fact that the true Cuba was
often called Isabella. Sometimes the island appeared under the
latter designation, while the name Cuba was placed, upon the
Florida peninsular: sometimes the two were fused in one, be-
cause while geographers found both countries mentioned or drawn
upon maps they knew only of the one as being actually visited,
and hence tried to correct the apparent error." (Fiske.) It is
quite clear that from the first Cuba has been an inspiration to the
imagination, and that it was as easy to write mendaciously of it
then as now, when so much that is palpably false has been sent
from that unfortunate island for the " information " of the cur-
ious, is sufficiently obvious.

8

DIEGO COLUMBUS

Cuba's permanent troubles began with the arrival of an
expedition fitted out by Diego Columbus, son of the
admiral, for the purpose of colonization. This expe-
dition consisting of about 300 men was under the control
of Diego Velasquez, who became lieutenant-governor
of the Island of Cuba, by virtue of his command, and
subject to the orders of Don Diego Columbus, now
Admiral of the Indies, and since 1509, when he suc-
ceeded Nicolas de Ovando, Governor of San Domingo.
These colonists and their leader took their cue for the
treatment of the native population from the notorious
predecessor of Diego Columbus, the suave but unscru-
pulous Nicolas de Ovando, of whose problems, adminis-
tration, character and methods a word or two may not
come amiss in showing the precise nature of the woes
which now beset the unhappy red-men of Cuba.

Upon his second voyage to these waters in 1493 Colum-
bus brought with him a fleet of seventeen ships and 1,50x3
men ready to try their fortunes in these rich islands of
the West. In the night of the 27th of November, 1493,
this imposing force reached the harbor of La Navidad,
where a year before the settlement of the original forty
had been left behind. A salute was fired to apprise the
settlers of its arrival but there was no response and the
following morning the admiral landed. His welcome
is best described in the words of John Fiske in his- in-
comparable work on " The Discovery of America " as

9

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

follows : * " On going ashore next morning and explor-
ing the neighborhood, the Spaniards came upon sights of
dismal significance. The fortress was pulled to pieces and
partly burnt, the chests of provisions were broken open
and emptied; tools and fragments of European clothing
were found in the houses of the natives, and finally
eleven corpses, identifiable as those of white men were
found buried near the fort. Not one of the forty men
who had been left behind in that place ever turned up
to tell the tale. The little colony of La Navidad had
been wiped out of existence. From the Indians, how-
ever, Columbus gathered bits of information that made
a sufficiently probable story. It was a typical instance
of the beginnings of colonization in wild countries. In
such instances human nature has shown considerable
uniformity. Insubordination and deadly feuds among
themselves had combined with reckless outrages upon
the natives to imperil the existence of this little party of
rough sailors. The cause to which Horace ascribes so
many direful wars, both before and since the days of
fairest Helen, seems to have been the principal cause on
this occasion. At length a fierce chieftain named Caon-
abo, from the region of Xaragua, had attacked the Span-
iards in overwhelming force, knocked their blockhouse
about their heads, and butchered all that were left of them.

"The Discovery of America."— Copyright 1892, by John
Fiske. Houghton, Mifflin & Company, Boston, Mass.

10

A GLOOMY WELCOME

" This was a gloomy welcome to the land of promise.
There was nothing to be done but to build new fortifica-
tions and found a town. The site chosen for this new
settlement, which was named Isabella, was at a good
harbor about thirty miles east of Monte Christi. It was
chosen because Columbus understood from the natives
that it was not far from there to the goldbearing moun-
tains of Cibao, a name which still seemed to signify Ci-
pango. Quite a neat little town was presently built, with
church, market-place, public granary, and dwelling-
houses, the whole encompassed with a stone wall. An
exploring party led by Ojeda into the mountains of Cibao
found gold dust and pieces of gold ore in the beds of
the brooks, and returned elated with this discovery.
Twelve of the ships were now sent back to Spain for
further supplies and reinforcements, and specimens of
the gold were sent as an earnest of what was likely to be
found."

The hostility between the red-man and the settler as
thus indicated forced Columbus to expedients. Landing
on shores that he had expected to find friendly and find-
ing only a condition of warfare confronting him, forag-
ing expeditions for food had to be undertaken which
served only to make matters worse. " This state of
things," Mr. Fiske continues, " led Columbus to devise
a notable expedient yet one which was attended by de-
plorable results. In some of the neighboring islands lived

II

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

the voracious Caribs. In fleets of canoes they would
swoop upon the coasts of Hispaniola, capture men and
women by the score, and carry them off to be cooked
and eaten. Now Columbus wished to win the friendship
of the Indians about him by defending them against these
enemies, and so he made raids against the Caribs, took
some of them captive, and sent them as slaves to Spain,
to be taught Spanish and converted to Christianity, so
that they might come back to the islands as interpreters,
and thus be useful aids in missionary work. It was really,
said Columbus, a kindness to these cannibals to enslave
them, and send them where they could be baptized and
rescued from everlasting perdition; and then again they
could be received in payment for the cargoes of cattle,
seeds, wine, and other provisions which must be sent
from Spain for the support of the colony. Thus quaintly
did the great discoverer, like so many other good men
before and since, mingle considerations of religion with
those of domestic economv. It is apt to prove an un-
wholesome mixture. Columbus proposed such an ar-
rangement to Ferdinand and Isabella, and it is to their
credit that, straitened as they were for money, they for
some time refused to accept it. Slavery, however, sprang
up in Hispaniola before anyone could have fully realized
the meaning of what was going on. As the Indians were
unfriendly and food must be had, while foraging expedi-
tions were apt to end in plunder and bloodshed, Columbus

12

THE BEGINNINGS OF TAXATION

tried to regulate matters by prohibiting such expeditions
and in lieu thereof imposing a light tribute or tax upon
the entire population of Hispaniola above fourteen years
of age. As this population was dense, a little from each
person meant a good deal in the lump. The tribute might
be a small piece of gold or of cotton, and was to be paid
four times a year. Every time that an Indian paid this
tax, a small brass token duly stamped was to be given
him to hang about his neck as a voucher. If there were
Indians who felt unable to pay the tribute, they might as
an alternative render a certain amount of personal service
in helping to plant seeds or tend cattle for the Spaniards.
" No doubt these regulations were well meant, and if
the two races had been more evenly matched, perhaps
they might not so speedily have developed into tyranny.
As it was, they were like rules for regulating the depre-
dations of wolves upon sheep. Two years had not elapsed
before the alternative of personal service was demanded
from whole villages of Indians at once. By 1499 the is-
land had begun to be divided into repartimientos, or
shares. One or more villages would be ordered, under
the direction of their native chiefs, to till the soil for the
benefit of some specified Spaniard or partnership of Span-
iards; and such a village or villages constituted the re-
partimiento of the person or persons to whom it was
assigned. This arrangement put the Indians into a- state
somewhat resembling that of feudal villenage; and this

13

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

was as far as things had gone when the administration
of Columbus came abruptly to an end. . . . In 1502
the Spanish sovereigns sent to Hispaniola a governor
selected with especial care, a knight of the religious order
of Alcantara, named Nicolas de Ovando. He was a
small, fairhaired man of mild and courteous manners, and
had an excellent reputation for ability and integrity. We
are assured on the most unimpeachable authority that
he was a good governor for white men. As to what was
most needed in that turbulent colony, he was a strict dis-
ciplinarian, and had his own summary way of dealing
with insubordinate characters. When he wished to dis-
pose of some such incipient Roldan he would choose a
time to invite him to dinner, and then, after some polite
and interesting talk, whereby the guest was apt to feel
highly flattered, Ovando would all at once point down
to the harbor and blandly inquire, ' In which of those
ships, now ready to weigh anchor, would you like to go
back to Spain ? ' Then the dumbf oundered man would
stammer, ' My Lord, my Lord/ and would perhaps plead
that he had not money to pay his passage. ' Pray do not
let that trouble you/ said this well-bred little governor,
' it shall be my care to provide for that/ And so without
further ceremony the guest was escorted straight from
dinner-table to ship.

" But this mild-spoken Ovando was capable of strange
deeds, and the seven years of his administration in His-

H

MAJOR GENERAL JOHN R. BROOKE, U. S. A.

OVANDO

paniola were full of horror. . . . His methods with
Indians may be illustrated by his treatment of Anacaona,
wife of the chieftain Caonabo who had been sent to
Spain. Ovando heard that the tribe, in which this woman
exercised great authority, was meditating another attack
upon the Spaniards, and he believed that an ounce of
prevention was worth a pound of cure. His seat of gov-
ernment was at the town of San Domingo, and Ana-
caona's territory at Xaragua was 200 miles distant.
Ovando started at once with 300 foot soldiers and sev-
enty horse. On reaching Xaragua he was received in a
friendly manner by the Indians, who probably had no
wish to offend so strong a force. Games were played,
and Ovando proposed to show the Indians a tournament,
at which they were much pleased, as their intense fear
of the horse* was beginning to wear off. All the chief-
tains of the neighborhood were invited to assemble in a
large wooden house, while Ovando explained to them the
nature of the tournament that was about to take place.
Meanwhile the Spanish soldiers surrounded the house.
Ovando wore upon his breast the badge of his order, a
small image of God the Father, and as he stood talking
with the chiefs, when he knew the preparations to be
complete, he raised his hand and touched the image. At

* Horses had but recently been imported by the Spanish into the
Indies and were at first regarded with great manifestations of fear
by the natives, who looked upon them as a species of wild beast.

'5

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

this concerted signal the soldiers rushed in and seized
the chiefs, and bound them hand and foot. Then they
went out and set fire to the house, and the chiefs were
all burnt alive. Anacaona was hanged to a tree, several
hundred Indians were put to the sword, and their country
was laid waste. Ovando then founded a town in Xara-
gua, and called it the City of Peace, and gave it a seal
on which was a dove with an olive-branch." . . . Con-
tinuing in a later paragraph Mr. Fiske says : " We have
seen how by the year 1499 communities of Indians were
assigned in repartimiento to sundry Spaniards, and were
thus reduced to a kind of villenage. Queen Isabella had
disapproved of this, but she was persuaded to sanction
it, and presently in 1503 she and Ferdinand issued a
most disastrous order. They gave discretionary power
to Ovando to compel Indians to work, but it must be for
wages. They ordered him, moreover, to see that Indians
were duly instructed in the Christian faith, provided that
they must come to mass, ' as free persons, for so they
are.' It was further allowed that the cannibal Caribs, if
taken in actual warfare, might be sold into slavery.
Little did the sovereigns know what a legion of devils
they were letting loose. Of course the doings in His-
paniola always went the full length of the authority
granted from Spain, and generally went far beyond.
Of course the Indians were compelled to work, and it was
not for wages ; and of course, so long as there was no

16

ENSLAVEMENT OF THE NATIVES

legal machinery for protecting the natives, any Indian
might be called a cannibal and sold into slavery. The
way in which Ovando carried out the order about mis-
sionary work was characteristic. As a member of a re-
ligious order of Knights, he was familiar with the prac-
tice of encomienda, by which groups of novices were as-
signed to certain preceptors to be disciplined and in-
structed in the mysteries of the order. The word encomi-
enda means ' commandery ' or ' preceptory/ and so it
came to be a nice euphemism for a hateful thing. Ovando
distributed Indians among the Spaniards in lots of 50
or 100 or 500, with a deed worded thus : ' To you, such
a one, is given an encomienda of so many Indians, and
you are to teach them the things of our holy Catholic
Faith.' In practice the last clause was disregarded as a
mere formality, and the effect of the deed was simply to
consign a parcel of Indians to the tender mercies of some
Spaniard to do as he pleased with them. If the system
of repartimientos was in effect serfdom or villenage, the
system of encomiendas was unmitigated slavery.

" Such a cruel and destructive slavery has seldom if
ever, been known."

With so strenuous and effective an example as that of
Ovando before his eyes Lieut.-Gov. Velasquez began his
work in Cuba. The policies of Ovando had become the
recognized policies for the Indies of the home govern-
ment, and it was hardly to be expected that the more

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

humane ideas of the subordinate should prevail against
those of his superiors even granting that he had any
such, which is not at all clear. The enslavement of the
peaceful native soon became a fact. The systems of
repartimiento and encomienda accomplished this wher-
ever the inevitable combat between opposing forces and
wanton massacre of the weaker was not sufficient. The
compulsion of the native to follow unaccustomed occupa-
tion, privations and disease, completed the work of ruin.
The administration of Ovando in San Domingo reduced
the number of natives from about a million and a half in
1492 [estimated] to 40,000 in 1509, and in 1537 the Con-
tador of the Island of Cuba reported to the Queen of
Spain that in twenty farms visited by him only 130 In-
dians were to be found, including those which had been
imported !

Thus was the civilization of Spain introduced into these
" Fortunate Islands."

18

Chapter II

THE VELASQUEZ EXPEDITION— FURTHER SETTLEMENTS
—HAVANA FOUNDED— VARIETY OF NAMES FOR CUBA
—SPANISH COLONIAL THEORY— THE POWERS OF
VELASQUEZ THROUGH GOVERNOR OF SAN DOMINGO
WORK A DOUBLE VASSALAGE— VELASQUEZ'S DEATH
—HIS SUCCESSORS— THE WORKINGS OF THE SPANISH
THEORY OF COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION— PLUNDER
AND PROSPERITY THE OBJECT— THE ISLAND A PREY
TO THE UNSCRUPULOUS.

rHE Velasquez expedition landed near Cape
Maisi and its first permanent settlement was
made in 1512 at the point now known as
Baracoa, about one hundred miles to the north-
east of Santiago, which thus enjoys the distinction
of being the oldest city of Cuba. The first cathedral in
Cuba was erected at Baracoa by Pope Leo X, in 1518.
The avowed object of the expedition was that of coloniza-
tion and subjugation. It was sufficiently successful from
the Spanish point of view in this first effort at Baracoa,
for two years later Velasquez was able to move further
without endangering his base. The settlements of Trini-
dad and Santiago de Cuba the latter for a while being
designated the capital, followed that of Baracoa in 1514,
together with the establishment of points of communica-
tion with the Spanish Colonists at Jamaica, and the main-
land, at Sancti Spiritus, Bayamo, Puerto Principe, and

19

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

San Cristobal de la Habana, now known as Batabano.
Here, several centuries later, a conference having some-
thing to do with the relations of the Republic of Cuba
after many years of strife and suffering beyond belief a
tangible reality, and Cuba's Trustee, Uncle Sam, repre-
sented by Gen. Leonard Wood, took place. The name
of the then Batabano. was in 1519 transferred to a settle-
ment on the site of the present city of Havana, which in
1552 became the capital of the Island. From the first in
spite of her vicissitudes Cuba has managed to retain her
original name, that by which it was known to its aborig-
inal owners and pronounced Koo-bah, although various
attempts to change it were made from time to time. As
we have seen, on some of the early and unveracious maps
it was known as Isabella and Columbus had chosen to call
it Juana. On the death of Ferdinand in 1516, Velasquez
renamed it Fernandina. In later years its name was twice
changed, once to Santiago after the patron Saint of Spain,
St. Jago; and once Ave Maria in honor of the Virgin.
Cuba seems however to have been destined to remain
the fixed designation of this down-trodden region until
a happier time should come.

The Government of all Spanish Colonies at this period
was conducted upon the theory that all newly discovered
territory belonged to the crown and the Viceroy, Gov-
ernor, or Captain-General was the personal representative
of the throne. He was clothed with despotic power, met-

20

VELASQUEZ

ing out punishment at his own sovereign will, and holding
the lives of all beneath him completely in his hands. At
the time of Velasquez's appointment his powers came to
him through the medium of the servants of the crown at
San Domingo, so that technically the Island was at once
placed in a condition of double vassalage, and what the
consequent drain upon her resources became it is not
difficult to surmise. Velasquez continued to rule as
Lieut. -Governor, or as Adelantado, under the eye of the
Governor and Audiencia of San Domingo until 1524,
when he died. Of his rule it has been said that it was
energetic and efficient, characterized by vigor and intelli-
gence. That he was harsh and cruel to the natives ap-
pears to be beyond all question, and it is recorded that
one of the native chiefs, burned at the stake, by order of
Velasquez, while undergoing his ordeal observed that he
preferred " hell to heaven if there are Spaniards in
heaven." Since the death of Velasquez in 1524, Cuba
has had 135 rulers, of whom history records that, with
few exceptions, " they did nothing toward the develop-
ment of the Island or the welfare of the people," al-
though clothed with despotic power almost from the
beginning.

In judging them perhaps we should remember that like
masters breed like servants, and an official whose mission
it is to enrich the pockets of his King through the ma-
nipulation of powers granted to him as a prize, is not

21

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

expected to be overnice in the methods he employs to
extract revenue from the people beneath his sway. In
some peculiar fashion which history does not explain at
least two honest men appear to have obtained the Cuban
appointment, Don Luis de Las Casas, and Don Francisco
de Arrange, a native of Havana. The former attempted
to break up the institution of slavery, while the latter
as a native born Cuban was possessed of constructive
ideas of Statesmanship which for a time bade fair to
relieve the oppressive conditions by which his people were
kept in grinding poverty. " Arguing before his home
government in behalf of certain reforms Arrange told
them that serious dissent permeated every class of the
community, and was bid in return to employ a still more
stringent system of rule. To this Arrange replied that
force was not remedy, and that to effectually reform the
rebellious they must first reform the laws. His earnest
reason carried conviction, and finally won concession. By
his exertions the staple productions of the island were so
much increased that the revenue, in place of falling short
of the expenses of the government as his enemies had pre-
dicted, soon yielded a large surplus. He early raised his
voice against the iniquitous slave trade, and suggested
the introduction of white labor, though he admitted that
the immediate and wholesale abolition of slavery was im-
practicable. This was the rock on which he split, as it
regarded his influence with the Spaniards in Cuba, that

22

MAJOR EUGENE F. LADD, U. S. V,

Treasurer of the Island

AN HONEST GOVERNOR

is, with the planters and rich property holders. Slavery
with them was a sine qua non. Many of them owned
a thousand Africans each, and the institution, as an
arbitrary power as well as the means of wealth, was
ever dear to the Spanish heart. Former and subsequent
Captains-General not only secretly encouraged the clan-
destine importation of slaves, after issuing an edict pro-
hibiting it, but profited pecuniarily by the business. It
was owing to his exertions that the duty on coffee, spirits,
and cotton was remitted for a period of ten years, and
that machinery for the sugar plantations was allowed to
be imported into Cuba from the United States free of
all duty." *

It was this rare person among the Governors of Cuba
who upon being offered a patent of nobility declined it,
saying that " the King could make noblemen, but God
only could make gentlemen." It is a vast pity that
Arrange appears to have been the only exception in this
connection to prove the rule.

In the interesting report of the United States Census
Bureau accompanying the results of the Cuban Census of
1899, made under the direction of Lieut. -Col. J. P. Sanger,
U. S. A., is a comprehensive statement of the workings of
the Spanish theory of Colonial Administration as it af-
fected Cuba, from which I quote. I quote at some length
for the reason that in no better way can I hope to

* Due South.— Ballou
23

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

convey to the minds of those who read this story an ade-
quate idea of how persistently and wickedly this strug-
gling island has been oppressed by those who should have
been most mindful of her interests. The economic sins of
Spain are by no means the least with which she stands
indicted.

"That, in the administration of her colonies, Spain
was a bad exception to a general rule of liberal and
generous government on the part of other countries to-
ward their colonial dependencies is by no means the case.
In fact, much the same ideas appear to have influenced
all of them at the outset, although the results were
different, as might be expected of governments having
different origins, forms, and theories. The prevailing
idea appears to have been that the political and economic
interests of colonies were always to be subordinated to
those of the home country, no matter how injurious the
consequences, and, while in some instances this course
was modified with most beneficial results, it was fol-
lowed unremittingly by Spain to the end of her suprem-
acy over Cuba. Aside from the fact that during the early
history of Cuba Spain had little surplus population to
dispose of, and that through the expulsion of the Jews
and Moors she lost a large and valuable part of it, her
trade restrictions, established at the beginning of the co-
lonial period in her history and continued without essen-
tial modification for nearly three hundred years, would

24

TRADE RESTRICTIONS

account, in some measure, for the slow increase in the
population and industries of Cuba. These restrictions
appear to have originated in the royal cedula of May
6, 1497, granting to the port of Seville the exclusive
privilege of trade with the colonies. At the same time
the Casa de Contratacion, or Council of Trade, was
established, upon which was conferred the exclusive regu-
lation of trade and commerce, although later the Council
exercised its functions under the general control of the
Council of the Indies. San Domingo, and later Vera
Cruz, were the only colonial ports authorized to trade
with Seville. In 1717 the trade monopoly of Seville was
transferred, by royal order, to the port of Cadiz, in Spain.
While Santiago was the capital of Cuba, trade be-
tween the island and the home ports mentioned was re-
stricted to that place, and when, in 1552, the capital was
transferred to Havana, that city became the sole port
of entry until 1778, except during the English occupation
of the island, 1762-63, when Havana was opened to free
trade. By the royal decree of October 12, 1778, trade
between Santiago, Trinidad, Batabano, and other Spanish
ports was authorized. This privilege was extended to
Nuevitas in 1784, to Matanzas 1793, Caibarien 1794,
and Manzanillo and Baracoa in 1803. Prior to this,
Cuban ports were practically under an embargo of the
strictest kind. Even between the ports of Havana and
Seville or Cadiz, there was no free communication, but

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

all trading vessels were gathered into fleets, or flotas,
from time to time, and made the voyage accompanied by
Spanish war ships, partly for protection against free-
booters and pirates, but chiefly to prevent trade with
other ports. In 1765 this restriction was removed. The
maritime laws regulating trade and commerce forbade
trade even between the colonies, and as early as 1592
trade with foreigners was only permitted by special
authority, and in 1614 and 1680 trade with foreigners
was prohibited under pain of death and confiscation of
the property concerned. The treaties of the period ap-
pear to have recognized these prohibitions as entirely
justifiable under the rules of international intercourse as
they existed at that time. Thus by the treaties of 1648
and 1714 between Spain and the Dutch provinces it was
agreed by the contracting parties to abstain from trading
in the ports and along the coast of the Indies belonging
to each of the treaty nations. Again, by the treaty of
Madrid between England and Spain, similar engagements
were made, although article 10 provided that in case
vessels arrived at the prohibited ports under stress or
shipwreck they should be kindly received and permitted
to purchase provisions and repair damages. This privilege
was subsequently withdrawn by royal orders of January
20 and April 15, 1784, which prescribed that no vessel
belonging to a foreign nation should be permitted to enter,
even under the pretext of seeking shelter. The severity

16

FURTHER TROUBLES

of these restrictions was modified later on and, by a
royal order of January 8, 1801, Cuban ports were thrown
open to the commerce of friendly and neutral nations.
Other commercial privileges were granted in 1805,
1809, 1810, and 1812, due, in great measure, if not
entirely, to the French invasion of the Peninsular and its
effect on Spanish possessions in the West Indies and
America. But these concessions to trade with Spanish
colonies were but temporary, as by royal orders of
January 10, November 17, and July 10, 1809, foreign
commerce with Spanish-American ports was prohibited.
Against these last restrictions of trade the various Span-
ish colonial Governors, and especially the Captain-Gen-
eral of Cuba, protested on the ground of the necessities
of the colonies and the inability of Spain to meet them.
These objections having been favorably considered by
the Council for the Indies, foreign trade with Havana
was extended for six months. Many other decrees and
royal orders affecting trade with Cuba and the other
Spanish colonies were promulgated during the period
between 1775 and 1812, but they throw no additional
light on this subject. It is plain that Spain was al-
ways averse to granting trade facilities . to her colonies,
and only did so for a time when forced by her neces-
sities; but having once opened Cuban ports and to that
extent established the privilege of foreign trade, which
it was difficult to recall, the next step was to restrict

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

it as far as possible by duties, tonnage, and port dues,
and arbitrary tariffs imposed from time to time in such
a way as to render foreign commerce unprofitable. With-
out going into details it may be said that up to 1824
duties on foreign commerce were much greater than
on Spanish merchandise, and while from that year they
were generally less restrictive, still they were always high
enough to compel Cubans to purchase from Spanish mer-
chants, who, as Spain did not herself produce what was
needed, bought from French, German, American, or
other sources, thereby raising prices far above what
they would have been under a system less hampering.
In fact, up to 1818 Cuba does not appear to have had
a tariff system. In that year a tariff was promulgated
making the duties twenty-six and one-half per cent on
agricultural implements and forty-three per cent ad va-
lorem on other foreign merchandise. This was modified
in 1820 and 1822 and the duties reduced to twenty per
cent on agricultural implements and thirty-seven per cent
ad valorem on foreign industrial products. On all Span-
ish importations under this classification the duties were
two-thirds less. The tariff of 1824 was less prohibitive.
Not satisfied, apparently, with this arrangement for
excluding foreign trade or with the amount of customs
revenue, an export tariff was established in 1828 on
sugar and coffee, which had by that time become im-
portant products. On sugar the duty was four-fifths

28

EXCESSIVE TAXATION

of a cent per pound, and on coffee two-fifths of a cent
per pound. If exported in foreign vessels, the duty on
sugar was doubled and on coffee was increased to one
cent per pound. With slight modifications these duties
continued to August I, 1891, when, under the McKinley
tariff law, a reciprocal commercial agreement was pro-
claimed by President Harrison between Spain and the
United States, which enabled Cuba to seek its nearest
and most natural market. In a short time nearly the
entire trade of Cuba was transferred to the United States,
and Cuba enjoyed a degree of prosperity never before
attained. But with the termination of this agreement by
the tariff law of 1894, the old practice of differential,
special, and discriminating duties against foreign trade
was re-established, thus forcing upon the Cubans com-
pulsory trade with Spain. There seems to be no question
among impartial and intelligent judges as to the injurious
effect of this system on the growth of Cuba's population
and material progress, both largely dependent on com-
mercial advantages. Another evil born of the system
and given a certain amount of immunity through the
reverses and disasters of the Spanish navy, in conse-
quence of which Spain was unable to protect her com-
merce or fully enforce trade regulations, was smuggling,
which began with trade restrictions and monopolies
and has continued to .this day, the amount of mer-
chandise smuggled being, for many years, nearly

29

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

equal to that regularly imported and exported. From
smuggling on a large scale and privateering to buc-
caneering and piracy is not a long step, and under the
name of privateers French, Dutch, English, and Amer-
ican smugglers and buccaneers swarmed the Caribbean
Sea and Gulf of Mexico for more than two centuries,
plundering Spanish Hot as and attacking colonial settle-
ments. Among the latter, Cuba was the chief suf-
ferer. Sallying forth from Santo Domingo, Jamaica,
the Tortugas, and other islands and keys, these maraud-
ers raided the island throughout the whole extent of its
northern, eastern, and southern coast line, levying tribute,
kidnapping individuals, and carrying off whatever was
needed. In 1538 they attacked and burned Havana. In
1544 they attacked Baracoa, Matanzas, and Havana,
which they again sacked and burned. In 1604 Giron, a
French buccaneer, landed twice in Santiago, capturing
the Morro, and in 1679 French buccaneers again raided
the province. Incursions on a smaller scale were fre-
quent, causing the Captain-General to issue an order
requiring all men to go armed and all persons to retire
to their homes after nightfall. By the terror they excited
these raids retarded somewhat the development of agri-
culture by compelling the people to concentrate in the
towns for protection. On the other hand, they stimulated
the construction of fortifications in the harbor of Havana
and other ports, which, a few years later, made them safe

3°

BRIG. GEN. ADNA R. CHAFFEE, U. S. A.

STAMP TAXES

against such incursions. Coupled with trade restric-
tions and extending throughout the entire life of Cuba
as a dependency of Spain, excessive taxation has always
prevailed. Apart from imports and exports, taxes were
levied on real and personal property and on industries
and commerce of all kinds. Every profession, art, or
manual occupation contributed its quota, while, as far
back as 1638, seal and stamp taxes were established on
all judicial business and on all kinds of petitions and
claims made to official corporations, and subsequently
on all bills and accounts. These taxes were in the form
of stamps on official paper, and at the date of American
occupation the paper cost from 35 cents to $3 a sheet.
On deeds, wills, and other similar documents the paper
cost from 35 cents to $37.50 per sheet, according to the
value of the property concerned. Failure to use even
the lowest-priced paper involved a fine of $50. There
was also a municipal tax on the slaughter of cattle for
the market. This privilege was sold by the municipal
council to the highest bidder, with the result that taxes
were assessed on all animals slaughtered, whether for the
market or for private consumption, with a corresponding
increase in the price of meat. Another tax established
in 1528, called the derecho de averia, required the
payment of 20 ducats ($16) by every person, bond or
free, arriving in the island. In 1665 this tax .was
increased to $22, and continued in force to 1765, thus

31

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

retarding immigration, and, to that extent, the in-
crease of population, especially of the laboring class.
An examination of these taxes will show their ex-
cessive, arbitrary, and unscientific character, and how
they operated to discourage Cubans from owning prop-
erty or engaging in many industrial pursuits tending to
benefit them and to promote the material improvement
of the island.

" Taxes on real estate were estimated by the tax in-
spector on the basis of its rental or productive capacity,
and varied from four to twelve per cent. Similarly, a
nominal municipal tax of twenty-five per cent was levied
on the estimated profits of all industries and commerce,
and on the income derived from all professions, manual
occupations, or agencies, the collector receiving six per
cent of all taxes assessed. Much unjust discrimination
was made against Cubans in determining assessable
values and in collecting the taxes, and it is said that
bribery in some form was the only effective defence
against the most flagrant impositions. Up to the year
1638 the taxes were collected by royal officers appointed
by the King, and their accounts were passed on by the
audiencia of Santo Domingo. In that year contadores
(auditors) were appointed who exercised fiscal super-
vision over the tax collectors, until, by royal cedula of
October 31, 1764, the intendancy of Havana was created,
the administration of taxes being conducted as in Spain.

32

A GOVERNMENT MONOPOLY

Since 1892 the taxes have been collected by the Spanish
Bank under a ten years' contract, the bank receiving a
commission of five per cent. About eighteen per cent
of the assessed taxes remained uncollected between 1886
and 1897, and the deficits thus caused were added to the
Cuban debt, ever a subject of universal discontent.
If to high taxes, high tariffs, and utter indifference,
apparently, to the needs of the island be added a lack of
banking facilities of all kinds, and a system of currency
dependent entirely on the Spanish Government and af-
fected by all its financial difficulties, we have some of
the reasons why the economic development of Cuba has
been slow. ' All her industrial profits were absorbed by
Spain, leaving no surplus to provide for the accumulation
of capital and the material progress of the island/ which
was apparently regarded as a government monopoly,
whose productive capacity was in no wise connected
with its economic interests. Accordingly, such interests
were invariably subordinated to those of Spain — with
which they rarely accorded — no matter how injurious the
result. That this course should have been followed in
the early period of Spanish colonization is not strange.
All sorts of economic experiments, based on what are now
considered absurd economic theories, were tried about that
time by European countries in vain efforts to promote na-
tional prosperity by entirely unnatural methods. Thus,
for many years Cuba was prohibited, in common with

33

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

other colonies, from the cultivation of raw products
raised in Spain, thus reversing the theory and practice
under which England subsequently developed her manu-
facturing industries at home, successfully colonized all
parts of the habitable globe, and established her enormous
colonial trade, by the very natural process of paying for
the raw products of her colonies in manufactured articles.
No nation in Europe during the sixteenth century was
in a better condition than Spain to establish such a sys-
tem, as she was essentially a manufacturing country.
But with the expulsion of the Moors her manufactures
were practically ruined ; the wealth which for many years
had poured in from the colonies in exchange for the
supplies shipped them now passed through her to other
countries in consequence of her extinguished industries,
and she became little more than a clearing house for
foreign products. Five-sixths of the manufactured
articles used in Spain were imported, and foreigners, in
direct violation of Spanish laws, soon carried on nine-
tenths of the trade with her colonies. It may be said
that results equally unfortunate appear to have at-
tended all other branches of Spanish colonial gov-
ernment. Under a policy so shortsighted that it was
blind to the most ordinary precautions, and long after
repeated warnings should have suggested a greater meas-
tire of economic and political independence for Cuba, the
entire system of Cuban government and administration

34

A SHORTSIGHTED POLICY

was retained in the hands of Spanish officials to the ex-
clusion of native Cubans, thus substituting for home
rule a government which, however necessary in the
earlier history of the island, became, with the lapse of
centuries, an object of suspicion and hatred to a large
majority of Cubans, as the medium through which Spain
exercised despotic power over them and appropriated
to herself the wealth of the island. That these feelings
would have yielded to greater economic and political
freedom, there can be no question. Political independence
was not generally advocated at first. Autonomy under
the protection of Spain was as far as the industrial classes
cared to go, and had this been granted ten years earlier
Cuba might and probably would have remained a Spanish
colony. It was the economic rather than the political
aspect of the island that concerned the greater part of
its population. But in Cuba political and economic con-
ditions were inseparable under the theory of colonial
government which prevailed, and economic concessions
were not to be thought of if the practice of stripping Cuba
by the various means described without giving Cubans
the least opportunity to prevent it. in a peaceful way was
to continue. That they would ever resort to force was
not believed, or if believed, not feared, in the face of a
despotic Governor-General with a local army and navy
to enforce his authority and the whole power of Spain
in reserve. Besides, the Cubans had given ample proof

35

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

of their loyalty. But the rulers of Cuba, usually blind
to its interests, were to test the loyalty of her people
beyond the limits of endurance, and, as a result, to
lose for Spain her ' ever faithful island/ A large
number of the Governors of Cuba have been Span-
ish politicians, appointed without special reference to
their fitness, but as a reward for services, personal or
political, rendered to the Spanish Government. The re-
sources of Cuba were always available to the home party
in control for this purpose, which accounts in some
measure for the unanimity of Spanish opinion respecting
political concessions to the island. It was necessary that
its control should remain absolutely in the hands of the
Captains-General representing the home government;
but there is very little question that had all of them
exercised their authority with moderation, lightened the
burden of taxation, removed or modified many trade re-
strictions, promoted public works, and used their author-
ity to extend the influence of the Cubans in the admin-
istration of the island, the dominion of Spain might
have been continued for years to come, as much of the
political agitation would have been avoided ; the gulf be-
tween Spaniards and Cubans would have been bridged
over, until, through these and other influences, an ad-
justment of the economic situation would have brought
peace and prosperity to the people."

But the peace and prosperity of the people of Cuba

36

A PREY TO THE UNSCRUPULOUS

have not been the object of the Spaniard from the be-
ginning. In dealing with native or with settler, the object
of the authorities at home has been that of plunder.
Politicians of wrecked fortunes were sent here to recoup
their fallen estate, by whatsoever means they might deem
best, and they have almost invariably made the most of
their opportunity. In other words the " ever faithful
island " has been a prey to the rapacious and the mercenary
from the first moment of her appearance among the
known lands of the earth, up to the moment when, as
the Ward of the United States, she and her interests
became the care of the authorities at Washington through
the representatives of the latter chosen from the ranks
of the Army establishment.

37

Chapter III

INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY— HISTORY OF CUBAN SLAVE
TRADE— A PORTUGUESE DESCRIPTION— PRIVATEERS
—ATTACKS UPON HAVANA— FERNANDO DE SOTO—
FORTIFICATIONS— LA FUERZA— MORRO CASTLE— LA
PUNTA— TWO CENTURIES OF UNREST— SIR HENRY
MORGAN— TRIES TO ESTABLISH HEADQUARTERS IN
CUBAN WATERS— ESQUEMELING'S DESCRIPTION OF
CUBA, AND THE SACKING OF PUERTO PRINCIPE.

JT\ UT it was not alone the rapacious rulers sent by
f~~£ Spain to wring blood money from the veins
-^— * of the natives and settlers that constituted the
greatest of Cuba's woes. The gradual extinction
of the aboriginal, and the prime necessity of the
Spanish pioneer to have someone else do his work for
him — for these sons of Castille were not of that strenu-
ous cast that settled upon the forbidding coasts of rock-
bound New England — resulted in the importation of
negro slaves into Cuba. In a letter from Ferdinand to
Ovando, Governor of San Domingo, in 1501, it was pro-
hibited to admit Jews, Moors and new converts into the
Indies "but an exception was made in the case of the
negro slaves, who were allowed to pass, the officers of
the royal revenue to receive the money paid for their
permits." The negro was known already by the Spaniard
as a good worker and when the latter found that his sys-
tems of repartimiento and encomienda were working the

38

INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY

extinction of the red-man who tilled his fields, and delved
in his mines, and in otherwise released him from the
necessity for individual toil, face to face with a proposi-
tion which required a personal physical exertion he natur-
ally turned to the consideration of available labor. Negro
slavery solved this difficult problem for him. and in 1517
the first license to import negroes into the West Indies
was given by Charles V. This provided for the importa-
tion of 8,000 slaves in eight years, 1,000 of which were
to go to Cuba. Quoting from the United States Census
report on this subject we find that " a second monopoly
on the same terms and for the same number was granted
in 1523, but this grant was revoked and a license given
to import 750 men and 750 women, 300 to go to Cuba.
In 1527, 1,000 negroes were imported into Cuba; and
again in 1528 a license was given to import 4,000 negroes
into the Indies. The number of slaves imported between
1521 and 1763 is estimated by Humboldt at 60,000, and
by 1790 the number had reached a total of 90,875. From
1790 to 1820 the importation of slaves into Havana, as
shown by the returns of the custom-house, was 225,575,
to which should be added one-fourth for those smuggled,
making the total importation from 1521 to 1820, 372,449.
Between this date and 1853 it is estimated that there were
271,659 importations, lawful and contraband, a total of
644,108, about one-third being females. From 1853 to
1880, when the slave trade was finally suppressed, over

39

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

200,000 slaves were smuggled into the island, making a
grand total of between 950,000 and 1,000,000.

" It is not proposed to give here a detailed account of
the Cuban slave trade or of negro slavery in the island.
While it was fraught with all the horrors of this nefarious
business elsewhere, the laws for the protection of slaves
were unusually humane. Almost from the beginning
slaves had a right to purchase their freedom or change
their masters, and long before slavery was abolished they
could own property and contract marriage. As a result
the proportion of free colored to slaves 'has always been
large. Of the efforts to abolish the slave trade in Cuba
much might be written ; it is sufficient for our purposes
to state the principal facts. By the treaty of Vienna,
1815, to which Spain was a party, slavery was abolished.
By a treaty with England signed September 24, 1817,
Spain agreed to stop the slave trade May 30, 1820, in
consideration of the sum of £400,000. Again, on June
28, 1835, another treaty was made with England abolish-
ing the slave trade. In addition to these treaties the
Spanish Government promulgated several decrees and
laws after 1835 for the suppression of the slave trade and
the abolition of slavery. Despite these measures, how-
ever, and the active cooperation of the native Cubans,
who were zealously opposed to the slave trade, and the
repeated protests of the British Government, it continued

40

THE NEGRO

to 1880 with but little interruption. The correspond-
ence between England and Spain fully explains the fail-
ure of Spain to enforce her laws and treaty engagements.
Under what is now known as the Moret law, enacted
by the Spanish Cortes July 4, 1870, the gradual abolition
of slavery was commenced. The civil war in the United
States and the Cuban insurrection of 1868-78 hastened
it, as did the law of February 13, 1880, which abolished
slavery. Nevertheless, it continued in remote parts of
the island for several years thereafter, although gener-
ally abolished by the year 1887.

" The condition of the negro in Cuba for many years
appears to have been far better than that of the colored
population of our Southern States, or of any of the West
India Islands under foreign control, and their personal
privileges much greater. No hard and fast ' color line '
has separated the colpred and white Cuban population,
although outside of the Cuban army there has not been
much of what may be called social intercourse; but in
respect to all public benefits, whether ecclesiastical, civil,
or military, they have had about the same considera-
tion from the Spanish Government as the white Cubans.
No doubt the free association of colored and white
Cubans resulted largely from the common struggle in
which they were engaged against Spain, and the fact
that the laws made no discrimination between them.

41

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

Colored men made up a large proportion of the Cuban
army of 1895-98, some of them, like Antonio Maceo,
holding high rank.

" While the statistics of Cuba show a larger proportion
of colored than white criminals, the colored population
are in some respects superior to the colored population
of our Southern States, being more self-reliant, temper-
ate, frugal, and intelligent, and since the abolition of
slavery showing a strong desire to own their homes, to
educate their children, and to improve their condition.
In certain kinds of agriculture they are preferred to
any other race, and in every discussion of the labor
question in Cuba they must be seriously considered."

The slave-trade however has ever cursed those among
whom it has been countenanced, and in the modern world
the institution has owed its growth and maintenance to
that perverted section of the European peninsular which
held the Indies in its grip. It was one of the leading
" industries " of the Portuguese, and a great boon to
the shiftless and lazy Spaniard. For a generation too far
removed from a period when it existed in the United
States genuinely to comprehend its horrors, the picture
drawn of the condition of the unfortunate black-man,
after falling into the hands of his captors, quoted from
Sir Arthur Helps's Spanish Conquest, by John Fiske,
may not lack pertinence:

" A graphic description of the arrival of a company of

42

LIEUT. FRANK Ross McCoy, U. S. A.

PORTUGUESE SLAVE TRADE

these poor creatures, brought by Langarote in the year
1444, is given by an eye-witness, the kind-hearted Portu-
guese chronicler, Azurara. The other day, he says,
which was the eighth of August, very early in the morn-
ing by reason of the heat, the mariners began to bring to
their vessels, and to draw forth those captives whom,
placed together on that plain, it was a marvellous sight
to behold, for amongst them there were some of a rea-
sonable degree of whiteness, handsome and well made;
others less white, resembling leopards in their color;
others as black as Ethiopians, and so ill-formed, as well
in their faces as in their bodies, that it seemed to the be-
holders as if they saw the forms of the lower world.
But what heart was that, how hard soever, which was
not pierced with sorrow, seeing that company ; for some
had sunken cheeks, and their faces bathed in tears, look-
ing at each other ; others were groaning very dolorously,
looking at the heights of the heavens — and crying out
loudly, as if asking succor from the Father of nature;
others struck their faces with their hands, throwing
themselves on the earth; others made their lamentations
in songs, according to the customs of their country, which,
although we could not understand their language, we
saw corresponded well to the height of their sorrow.
But now — came those who had the charge of the distri-
bution, and they began to put them apart one from "the
other, in order to equalize the portions ; wherefore it was

43

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

necessary to part children and parents, husbands and
wives, and brethren from each other. Neither in the
partition of friends and relations was any law kept, only
each fell where the lot took him. And while they were
placing in one part the children that saw their parents
in another, the children sprang up perseveringly and fled
unto them; the mothers enclosed their children in their
arms and threw themselves with them upon the ground,
receiving wounds with little pity for their own flesh, so
that their offspring might not be torn from them ! And
so, with labor and difficulty, they concluded the partition,
for, besides the trouble they had with the captives, the
plain was full of people, as well of the town as of the
villages and neighborhood around, who on that day gave
rest to their hands, the mainstay of their livelihood, only
to see this novelty/'

In a foot-note to this quotation Mr. Fiske observes that
" Azurara goes on to give another side to the picture, for
being much interested in the poor creatures, he made
careful inquiries and found that in general they were
treated with marked kindness. They became Christians,
and were taught trades or engaged in domestic service;
they were also allowed to acquire property, and were
often set free. This however was in the early days of
modern slavery. At a later date, when Portuguese
cruisers caught negroes by the hundred and sold them at
Seville, whence they were shipped to Hispaniola to work

44

PIRACY

in the mines, there was very little to relieve the blackness
of the transaction." *

Such were the industrial conditions for which Cuba
had to thank the Spaniard. Natives annihilated, an
exotic slavery was brought in to suffer and to toil, and
to form the stock of a hybrid posterity which has not
in anywise served to mitigate the woes of the long suf-
fering island.

Additional trials now began for Cuba from the depre-
dations of the soldiers and sailors of fortune all the world
over. Adventurers, pirates, buccaneers, cast envious eyes
upon this rich Pearl of the Antilles. In 1538 a French
privateer, whose Commander naturally coveted a country
so rich as to warrant the rapacity of the Spaniard to such
a degree as has been indicated, attacked Havana and
reduced it to ashes, and in consequence thereof the mar-
vellous system of fortifications which at the close of
Spanish supremacy existed in Cuba was instituted.
Fernando de Soto, best known to us of to-day as the
discoverer of the Mississippi River, was the Governor of
Cuba at this time. He was a far more active and
constructively useful person than the general run of
Spanish Governors, for noting the ease with which
his charge was a prey to the chance buccaneers of
the Caribbean waters, he caused to be built at Havana —

*"The Discovery of America." Copyright, 1892, by John
Fiske. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, Mass.

45

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

after the event — the Castillo de la Fuerza, a fortress of
magnitude which is still one of the most instructive points
of interest in Cuba. This was the first of those fortifica-
tions which modern warfare has rendered useless, but
which, none the less, must inspire with wonder the twen-
tieth century mind, which has yet to solve the problem
of fire-proof construction, even in its armories. De Soto
was the first independent Governor of Cuba, the Crown
having realized in time that so valuable an island should
not be doubly tribute to Spain, the " rake-off " to. use a
modern expression, being the perquisite of the Governor
of San Domingo. It cost the Cubans no less, but the
" unearned increment " of San Domingo was saved to
the Spanish pccket.

La Fuerza apparently did not sufficiently impress the
chance enemy, and of course Cuba had many at that time.
The reason for this as it occurs to the modern mind, was
that La Fuerza was built within the beautiful, and easily
defendable, harbor, and not upon one of the two more
obviously available points of defence at the mouth thereof
—the very neck of a bottle. In 1554 the French again
successfully attacked Havana, since 1552 the Capital of
Cuba, and destroyed it. La Fuerza at the rear was unable
successfully to destroy an enemy to the fore, or to defend
the city against him. The second destruction of Havana
resulted in the building of two more fortresses, that now
known as Morro Castle, of horrific reputation to the

SPANISH FORTRESSES

Easterly, and La Punta, a merely supplementary fortifi-
cation, on the Westerly side of the narrow entrance to the
harbor. Both these fortifications still remain, the one
La Punta, with its sea wall, a healthful adjunct to the
City of Havana, thanks to American modifications of its
purposes, as will be seen later ; the other Morro Castle, a
massive and enduring monument to Mediaeval Spain in
Cuba. The past and the present find no more instructive
contrast than is to be seen in Havana to-day by those
who will observe the engineering efforts of Spain in the
Morro on the one side of the harbor, and those of the
United States at the point of La Punta on the other.

In the two centuries following the Island of Cuba
hardly knew the meaning of the word rest. The country
was kept in a constant state of turmoil and fear of in-
vasion from the self-seeking interests of the old world,
authorized and unauthorized. The colonizing fever of
the age sent French, English and Dutch expeditions
against them in the name of authority, and in addition
to these were the raids of the buccaneers who were quite
as alive to the riches of Cuba, and to the value of its
harbors and rivers as a rendezvous, as their more legiti-
mate, but no less rapacious competitors, preying authori-
tatively upon the unfortunate denizens of the island. As
a fair example of what Cuba had to suffer in the days
of which I write, I venture to include here a portion of
the writings of one John Esquemeling, one of the follow-

47

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

ers of the famous Buccaneer Sir Henry Morgan, a hero
who "sacked Porto Bello " and "burnt Panama;" the
leading pirate of his age who not infrequently descended
upon Cuba for purposes of profit and convenience. As
the testimony of an eye-witness it is interesting. Writ-
ing in 1684, Esquemeling says:

" Captain Morgan, seeing his predecessor and Admiral
Mansvelt was dead, endeavored as much as he could,
and used all the means that were possible, to preserve
and keep in perpetual possession the Isle of St. Catharine,
seated near that of Cuba. His principal intent was to
consecrate it as a refuge and sanctuary to the Pirates of
those parts, putting it in a sufficient condition of being a
convenient receptacle or storehouse of their preys and
robberies. To this effect he left no stone unmoved
whereby to compass his designs, writing for the same
purpose to several merchants that lived in Virginia and
New England, and persuading them to send him pro-
visions and other necessary things towards the putting
the said island in such a posture of defence as it might
neither fear any external dangers, nor be moved at any
suspicions of invasion from any side that might attempt
to disquiet it. At last all his thoughts and cares proved
ineffectual by the Spaniards retaking the said island.
Yet, notwithstanding, Captain Morgan retained his an-
cient courage, which instantly put him upon new de-
signs. Thus he equipped at first a ship, with intention

ESQUEMELING'S DESCRIPTION

to gather an entire fleet, both as great and as strong as
he could compass. By degrees he put the whole matter
in execution and gave order to every member of his fleet
that they should meet at a certain port of Cuba. Here
he determined to call a council and deliberate concerning
what were best to be done, and what place first they
should fall upon. Leaving these new preparations in
this condition, I shall here give my reader some small
account of the aforementioned Isle of Cuba, in whose
ports this expedition was hatched, seeing I omitted to
do it in its proper place.

" The Island of Cuba lies from East to West, in the lati-
tude and situation of twenty to three and twenty degrees
North, being in length one hundred and fifty German
leagues and about forty in breadth. Its fertility is equal
to that of the Island of Hispaniola. Besides which, it
affords many things proper for trading and commerce,
such as are hides of several beasts, particularly those
that in Europe are called Hides of Havana. On all sides
it is surrounded with a great number of small islands,
which go altogether under the name of Cayos. Of these
little islands the Pirates make great use, as of their own
proper ports of refuge. Here most commonly they make
their meetings and hold their councils, how to assault
more easily the Spaniards. It is thoroughly irrigated
on all sides with the streams of plentiful and pleasant
rivers, whose entries form both secure and spacious ports,

49

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

besides many other harbors for ships, which along the
calm shores and coasts adorn many parts of this rich
and beautiful island; all which contribute very much to
its happiness, by facilitating the exercise of trade, where-
unto they invite both natives and aliens. The chief of
these ports are Santiago, Bayame, Santa Maria, Espiritu
Santo, Trinidad, Xagoa, Cabo de Corrientes and others,
all which are seated on the south side of the island. On
the northern side hereof are found the following: La
Havana, Puerto Mariano, Santa Cruz, Mata Ricos and
Barracoa.

" This island has two principal cities, by which the
whole country is governed, and to which all the towns
and villages thereof give obedience. The first of these
is named Santiago, or St. James, being seated on the
south side, and having under its jurisdiction one-half of
the island. The chief magistrates hereof are a Bishop
and a Governor, who command over the villages and
towns belonging to the half above-mentioned. The
chief of these are, on the southern side, Espiritu Santo,
Puerto del Principe and Bayame; on the north side it
has Barracoa and the town called De los Cayos. The
greatest part of the commerce driven at the aforemen-
tioned city of Santiago comes from the Canary Islands,
whither they transport great quantity of tobacco, sugar,
and hides; which sort of merchandize are drawn to the
head city from the subordinate towns and villages. In

50

ESQUEMELING'S STORY

former times the city of Santiago was miserably sacked
by the Pirates of Jamaica and Tortuga, notwithstanding
that it is defended by a considerable castle.

" The city and port De la Havana lies between the north
and west side of the island. This is one of the most
renowned and strongest places of all the West Indies.
Its jurisdiction extends over the other half of the island,
the chief places under it being Santa Cruz on the north-
ern side and La Trinidad on the south. Hence is trans-
ported huge quantity of tobacco, which is sent in great
plenty to New Spain and Costa Rica, even as far as the
South Sea; besides many ships laden with this com-
modity that are consigned to Spain and other parts of
Europe, not only in the leaf but also in rolls. This city
is defended by three castles, very great and strong; two
of which lie towards the port, and the other is seated
upon a hill that commands the town. 'Tis esteemed to
contain ten thousand families, more or less; among
which number of people the merchants of this place trade
in New Spain, Campeche, Honduras and Florida. All
the ships that come from the parts aforementioned as
also from Caracas, Cartagena and Costa Rica, are neces-
sitated to take their provisions in at Havana, wherewith
to make their voyage for Spain ; this being the necessary
and straight course they ought to steer for the South
of Europe and other parts. The plate-fleet of Spain,
which the Spaniards call Flota, being homeward bound,

51

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

touches here yearly, to take in the rest of their full cargo,
as hides, tobacco and Campeche-wood.

" Captain Morgan had been no longer than two months
in the above-mentioned ports of the South of Cuba, when
he had got together a fleet of twelve sail, between ships
and great boats; wherein he had seven hundred fighting
men, part of which were English and part French. They
called a council, and some were of opinion 'twere con-
venient to assault the city of Havana, under the obscur-
ity of the night. Which enterprize, they said, might
easily be performed, especially if they could but take a
few of the ecclesiastics, and make them prisoners. Yea,
that the city might be sacked, before the castles could
put themselves in a posture of defence. Others pro-
pounded, according- to their several opinions, other at-
tempts. Notwithstanding, the former proposal was re-
jected because many of the Pirates had been prisoners
at other times in the said city; and these affirmed noth-
ing of consequence could be done, unless with fifteen
hundred men. Moreover, that with all this number of
people they ought first to go to the island De los Pinos,
(the Isle of Pines), and land them in small boats about
Matamano (Batabano), fourteen leagues distant from
the aforesaid city, whereby to accomplish by these means
and order their designs.

" Finally, they saw no possibility of gathering so great
a fleet ; and hereupon, with that they had, they concluded

5*

OFFICERS' QUARTERS, CAMP COLUMBIA

Sbowi?ig Military Road constructed by Americans

MILITARY ROAD OF AMERICAN CONSTRUCTION

MORGAN'S ATTACK

to attempt some other place. Among the rest was
found, at last, one who propounded they should go and
assault the town El Puerto del Principe. This proposi-
tion he endeavored to persuade, by saying he knew
that place very well, and that, being at a distance from
the sea, it never was sacked by any Pirates; whereby
the inhabitants were rich, as exercising their trade for
ready money with those of Havana, who kept here an
established commerce which consisted chiefly in hides.
This proposal was presently admitted by Captain Mor-
gan and the chief of his companions. And hereupon
they gave order to every captain to weigh anchor and
set sail, steering their course towards that coast that
lies nearest to El Puerto del Principe. Hereabouts is to
be seen a bay, named by the Spaniards El Puerto de
Santa Maria. Being arrived at this bay, a certain
Spaniard, who was prisoner on board the fleet, swam
ashore by night, and came to the town of Puerto del
Principe, giving account to the inhabitants of the design
the Pirates had against them. This he affirmed to have
overheard in their discourse, while they thought he did
not understand the English tongue. The Spaniards, as
soon as they received this fortunate advice, began in-
stantly to hide their riches, and carry away what mov-
ables they could. The Governor also immediately raised
all the people of the town, both freemen and slaves ; and
with part of them took a post by which of necessity the

S3

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

Pirates were to pass. He commanded likewise many
trees to be cut down and laid amidst the ways to hinder
their passage. In like manner he placed several ambus-
cades, which were strengthened with some pieces of
cannon, to play upon them on their march. He gathered
in all about eight hundred men, of which he distributed
several into the aforementioned ambuscades, and with
the rest he begirt the town, displaying them upon the
plain of a spacious field, whence they could see the com-
ing of the Pirates at length.

'* Captain Morgan, with his men, being now upon the
march, found the avenues and passages to the town im-
penetrable. Hereupon they took their way through the
wood, traversing it with great difficulty, whereby they
escaped divers ambuscades. Thus at last they came
into the plain aforementioned, which, from its figure, is
called by the Spaniards, La Savana, or the Sheet. The
Governor, seeing them come, made a detachment of a
troop of horse, which he sent to charge them in the
front, thinking to disperse them and by putting them
to flight, pursue them with his main body. But this
design succeeded not as it was intended. For the Pirates
marched in very good rank and file, at the sound of
their drums, and with flying colors. When they came
near the horse, they drew into the form of a semi-circle,
and thus advanced towards the Spaniards, who charged
them like valiant and courageous soldiers for some

54

CAPTURE OF PORTO PRINCIPE

while. But seeing that the Pirates were very dextrous
at their arms, and their Governor, with many of their
companions killed, they began to retreat towards the
wood. Here they designed to save themselves with
more advantage; but, before they could reach it, the
greatest part of them were unfortunately killed by the
hands of the Pirates. Thus they left the victory to these
new-come enemies, who had no considerable loss of men
in this battle, and but very few wounded, howbeit the
skirmish continued for the space of four hours. They
entered the town, though not without great resistance
of such as were within ; who defended themselves as
long as was possible, thinking by their defence to hinder
the pillage. Hereupon many, seeing the enemy within
the town, shut themselves up in their own houses, and
thence made several shots against the Pirates, who, per-
ceiving the mischief of this disadvantage, presently be-
gan to threaten them, saying: If you surrender not
voluntarily, you shall soon see the town in a flame, and
your wives and children torn in pieces before your faces.
With these menaces the Spaniards submitted entirely to
the discretion of the Pirates, believing they could not
continue there long, and would soon be forced to dis-
lodge.

" As soon as the Pirates had possessed themselves of
the town, they enclosed all the Spaniards, both men,
women, children and slaves, in several churches; and

55

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

gathered all the goods they could find by way of pillage.
Afterwards they searched the whole country round about
the town, bringing in day by day many goods and prison-
ers, with much provision. With this they fell to ban-
queting among themselves and making great cheer after
their customary way, without remembering the poor
prisoners, whom they permitted to starve in the churches.
In the meanwhile they ceased not to torment them daily
after an inhuman manner, thereby to make them con-
fess where they had hid their goods, moneys and other
things, though little or nothing was left them. To this
effect they punished also the women and little children,
giving them nothing to eat; whereby the greatest part
perished.

" When they could find no more to rob, and that pro-
visions began to grow scarce, they thought it convenient
to depart and seek new fortunes in other places. Hence
they intimated to the prisoners : They should find
moneys to ransom themselves, else they should be all
transported to Jamaica. Which being done, if they did
not pay a second ransom for the town, they would turn
every house into ashes. The Spaniards, hearing these
severe menaces, nominated among themselves four fel-
low prisoners to go and seek for the above mentioned
contributions. But the Pirates, to the intent they
should return speedily with the ransoms prescribed, tor-
mented several in their presence, before they departed,

56

KIDNAPPING THE SETTLERS

with all rigor imaginable. After few days the Span-
iards returned from the fatigue of their unreasonable
commissions, telling Captain Morgan: We have run up
and down, and searched aill the neighboring woods and
places we most suspected, and yet have not been able
to find any of our own party, nor consequently any fruit
of our embassy. But if you are pleased to have a little
longer patience with us, we shall certainly cause all that
you demand to be paid v/ithin the space of fifteen days.
Captain Morgan was contented, as it should seem, to
grant them this petition. But, not long after, there came
into the town seven or eight Pirates, who had been rang*
ing in the woods and fields, and got thereabouts some
considerable booty. These brought among other prison-
ers a certain negro, whom they had taken with letters
about him. Captain Morgan having perused them,
found they were from the Governor of Santiago, being
written to some of the prisoners ; wherein he told them :
They should not make too much haste to pay any ran-
som for their town or persons, or any other pretext.
But, on the contrary, they should put off the Pirates as
well as they could with excuses and delays; expecting
to be relieved by him within a short while, when he
would certainly come to their aid. This intelligence
being heard by Captain Morgan, he immediately gave
orders that all they had robbed should be carried on
board the ships. And withal, he intimated to the

57

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

Spaniards that the very next day they should pay their
ransoms, forasmuch as he would not wait one moment
longer, but reduce the whole town to ashes in case they
failed to perform the sum he demanded.

" With this intimation Captain Morgan made no men-
tion to the Spaniards of the letters he had intercepted.
Whereupon they made him answer, that it was totally
impossible for them to give such a sum of money in so
short a space of time; seeing their fellow-townsmen
were not to be found in all the country thereabouts.
Captain Morgan knew full well their intentions, and,
withal, thought it not convenient to remain there any
longer time. Hence he demanded of them only five hun-
dred oxen or cows, together with sufficient salt where-
with to salt them. Hereunto he added only this condi-
tion, that they should carry them on board his ships,
which they promised to do. Thus he departed with all
his men, taking with him only six of the principal prison-
ers, as pledges of what he intended. The next day the
Spaniards brought the cattle and salt to the ships, and
required the prisoners. But Captain Morgan refused
to deliver them till such time as they had helped his men
kill and salt the beeves. This was likewise performed
in great haste, he not caring to stay there any longer,
lest he should be surprised by the forces that were
gathering against him. Having received all on board

58

SPANISH INCOMPETENCE

his vessels, he set at liberty the prisoners he had kept
as hostages of his demands." *

So we have Cuba in the first two hundred and fifty
years of her existence with, first her native population
enslaved and annihilated by the invader, who because
of his own love of thrift, and lack of shift, introduces
the vile institution of slavery into her" borders, and then
is seemingly unable to defend that which he has wrested
from its rightful owners, and wrought with iniquity,
from other disreputable elements that have embarked
upon enterprises of piratical intent. Despoiled by Spain,
the island becomes the quest of the adventurer and the
Buccaneer, and through the incompetence of the Con-
queror is prey to the cupidity of all mankind.

How have the settlers of Cuba met these dreadful
conditions ?

* "The Buccaneers of America," by John Esquemeling. Edi-
ted by Henry Powell. London: Swan, Sonnenschein & Co. New
York: Charles Scribner's Sons.

Chapter IV

CUBAN INSURRECTIONS— THE FIRST IN 1717— THE CON-
SPIRACY OF 1823— THE UPRISING OF 1826— CONGRESS
OF AMERICAN REPUBLICS— BOLIVAR— THE BLACK
EAGLE— SPECIAL LAWS FOR CUBA— LOPEZ— HIS FILI-
BUSTERING EXPEDITION — THE CONSPIRACY OF
VUELTA ABAJO— SPANISH REFORM COMMISSION—
THE TEN YEARS' WAR— CAPITULATION OF ZANJON—
REPRESENTATION IN THE CORTES— GOMEZ— WEYLER
— RECONCENTRATION — INCIDENTAL NOTES — CAP-
TURE OF HAVANA BY LORD ALBEMARLE— LAS CASAS
—SPANISH TROOPS IN CUBA— MOTIVES OF UNITED
STATES.

/T would be impossible to suppose that Cuba so con-
stantly harassed from without should remain al-
ways tranquil from within. Downtrodden,
robbed, humiliated as they were, these people at
last turned upon their incompetent rulers and demanded
reforms, by which they might be guaranteed life and hap-
piness at least, if indeed liberty were an unknown quan-
tity in their days. It is therefore proper that we should
narrate briefly the history of Cuban insurrection.

The turning of the Antillean worm was long in coming,
and it was not until 1717 that any serious opposition to
the insular government manifested itself. The effort was
futile in results, although for a time it seemed to be
marked by elements of success. The Governor of Cuba,
Captain-General Vicente Roja, was compelled to with-

60

INSURRECTION BEGINS

draw from the island in the face of riots accompanied by
much bloodshed. The principal cause of this outbreak
was not, however, due to a lack of protection from outside
enemies, but to the tyrannical imposts of those within
Cuba's borders. Indeed the internal trouble has been the
besetting vexation of Cuba. She has from this first begin-
ning resented the impositions of her rulers more than she
has feared the depredations of her exterior foes — and
properly so. Cuba's sufferings, deep as these have been,
have been greatest at the hands of those sent to protect
her interests, not from the depredations of the stranger
outside her gates. She has been robbed not so much by
her avowed enemies as by the guardians of her peace. The
cause of the insurrection in Roja's administration was his
attempt to enforce the Government monopoly in tobacco.
The trouble was of short duration, though of seeming
proportions at first. Roja fled, but returned and nothing
was gained by the outbreak, save ultimate effect in that it
bred in the people of Cuba a feeling that with concerted
action something might be done to relieve intolerable
conditions. The future insurrections in the island are
adequately summed up in Colonel Sanger's report on the
Census of Cuba, to the War Department at Washington,
from which I quote as follows : " Apart from uprisings
among the negroes, stimulated no doubt by the success of
their race over the French in the neighboring island of
San Domingo there were no other attempts at insurrection

61

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

on the part of Cubans until after the conspiracy of

1823, planned by a secret society known as the ' Soles de
Bolivar/ This conspiracy resulted from the attempt of
Captain-General Vives to carry out the instructions of
Ferdinand VII, after the abrogation of the Spanish liberal
constitution of 1812, and was intended as a protest against
a return to absolutism in Cuba; but, apparently, it failed
of effect, and there was no relaxation of efforts to estab-
lish the old order. The conspiracy was of a serious char-
acter and extended over the entire island, but centered
in Matanzas, where among the revolutionists was Jose
Maria Heredia, the Cuban poet. The effort failed,
and the leader, Jose Francisco Lemus, and a large num-
ber of conspirators were arrested and deported. A feel-
ing of bitter resentment against the Government was the
result, and a period of agitation and public demonstra-
tion followed. Frequent uprisings were attempted in

1824, but failed.

" It would have been well for Spain had Ferdinand VII
been warned by these events and endeavored, by concilia-
tory measures, to allay such manifest feelings of discon-
tent. But neither he nor his advisers would see the
' handwriting on the wall.' The political agitation con-
tinued, and in 1826 a small uprising took place in Puerto
Principe, directed by the Sociedad de la Cadena, and
aimed against the abuses of the regiment Leon quartered
there. The same year (June 22) the Congress of Ameri-

62

CLASS ROOM FOR BOYS

A SMALL CUBAN FAMILY

THE PANAMA CONGRESS

can Republics assembled at Panama, to which the Presi-
dent of the United States appointed Mr. John Sergeant, of
Pennsylvania, and Mr. Richard Anderson, of Kentucky,
as envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary.
Mr. Anderson was United States minister to Colombia
and died en route to the congress, which had adjourned
before Mr. Sergeant arrived, to meet at Tacabaya. But
it did not meet again, and consequently the United States
delegates took no part in its deliberations.

" The objects of this congress, as set forth in the corre-
spondence, were to urge the establishment of liberal prin-
ciples of commercial intercourse, in peace and war, the
advancement of religious liberty, and the abolition of sla-
very, to discuss the relations of Hayti, the affairs of Cuba
and Porto Rico, the continuation of the war of Spain on
her Spanish colonies, and the Monroe doctrine which an-
nounced as a principle, ' that the United States could not
view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them
(governments in this hemisphere whose independence had
been declared and acknowledged by the United States),
or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any
European power in any other light than as a manifesta-
tion of an unfriendly disposition toward the United
States/

" While the United States no doubt sympathized with
the objects of the congress, the debates in the Senate and
House of Representatives indicated a desire to avoid inter-

63

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

ference with Spain, a pseudo friendly nation, or the slavery
question, and that it was not prudent to discuss questions
which might prove embarrassing to the United States if
called on to consider them at a future time. As a result,
the American delegates were given limited powers, and
this, coupled with the conservative attitude of the United
States, resulted in the failure of the congress to achieve
any result.

4< The year before Francisco Agiiero and Manuel An-
dres Sanches, a second lieutenant in the Colombian army,
had been sent from Cuba to the United States and to
Colombia to urge their interference and assistance. An
expedition was organized in Colombia to be led by the
famous Colombian patriot, Simon Bolivar, but the failure
of the Panama congress caused the abandonment of the
expedition. On the return of the emissaries to Cuba they
were arrested, tried and executed. Following this effort,
in 1830, a revolution was planned by the society of the
' Black Eagle,' a Masonic fraternity having its base of
operations in Mexico, with secondary bases in Havana
and at various points throughout the island. The attempt
failed, and several of the conspirators received sentence
of death, afterwards commuted by Captain-General Vives
to life imprisonment. The object of the conspiracy was
the independence of Cuba, the pretext a report that the
island was to be ceded to Great Britain.

" In 1836 the constitution of 1812 was reestablished in

LOPEZ AND OTHERS

Spain, but proved of no benefit to Cuba. On the contrary,
the deputies sent from Cuba to the constitutional conven-
tion in Madrid were excluded, and, by a royal decree of
1837, the representation in the Cortes which had been
given Cuba in 1834 was taken away, and it was announced
that Cuba would be governed by special laws. These, the
Cubans claim, were never published. From this time to
1847 several uprisings or insurrections occurred through-
out Cuba, followed in that year by a revolutionary con-
spiracy organized by Narciso Lopez, and having in view
the liberation of the island or its annexation to the United
States. It had been arranged to make the first demon-
stration on the 4th of July, in the city of Cienfuegos, but
the plot was made known to the Spanish Governor, and
Lopez and his companions fled to the United States,
where, in 1849, they organized a filibustering expedition,
which was prevented from leaving by the vigilance of the
Government. In 1850 Lopez organized a second expe-
dition, which sailed from New Orleans May 10 and landed
with 600 men at Cardenas, attacking its small garrison.
A portion surrendered with Governor Ceniti and the
remainder went over to the insurgents. As the uprising
upon which Lopez depended did not take place, he reem-
barked the same day and made his escape to Key
West.

" Undeterred by these failures, he organized a third
expedition of 480 men in 1851, which sailed from New

65

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

Orleans and landed, August 12, at Playitas, near Bahia
Honda, 55 miles west of Havana. Colonel Crittenden, of
Kentucky, with 150 men, formed part of the force. On
landing Lopez advanced on Las Pozas, leaving Colonel
Crittenden in El Morillo. Meeting a Spanish force under
General Enna, Lopez was defeated after a gallant fight,
his force dispersed and he with some 50 of his men was
captured and taken to Havana, where he was garroted.
In attempting to escape by sea Crittenden and his party
were overtaken and on the i6th of September were shot
at the castle of Atares.

" In the same year an uprising took place in Puerto
Principe, led by Juaquin de Aguero, but the movement
came to naught and he and several of his companions
were executed. Following the attempt of Aguero came
the conspiracy of Vuelta Aba jo, organized in 1852 by
Juan Gonzalez Alvara, a wealthy planter of the province
of Pinar del Rio. Associated with him were several other
prominent Cubans, and among them Francisco de Fras,
Count of Pozos Dulces. This attempt at revolution was
discovered and the leading conspirators arrested. They
were tried and sentenced to death, but were finally trans-
ported under sentence of life imprisonment. Meantime
the Liberal Club of Havana and the Cuban Junta in New
York were raising money and organizing expeditions des-
tined for Cuba. Some of them sailed, and in 1859 an a^"
tempt was made to land at Nuevas Grandes. But these

66

CUBAN DEMANDS

expeditions accomplished little, except to keep alive the
spirit of revolution.

. " From this time to the outbreak of the revolution of
1868 the condition of Cuban affairs does not appear to
have improved. Taxes continued excessive and duties
exorbitant, reaching at times an average of 40 per cent
ad valorem on all imports, and so distributed as practically
to prohibit trade with any country except Spain. Small
uprisings and insurrections were frequent and there were
many executions. Meanwhile the results of the civil war in
the United States, and more particularly the abolition of
slavery, encouraged the Cubans to hope for liberal re-
forms, especially in the trade and industries of the island,
but no concessions appear to have been made until the
year 1865, when, by a royal decree of November 25, a
commission was appointed by Isabella II to consider the.
question of reforms in the administration of Cuba.
Nothing came of it, however, although it afforded an
opportunity to the few Cuban delegates who were present
to formulate their views. They demanded greater politi-
cal and economic liberty, a constitutional insular govern-
ment, freedom of the press, the right of petition and as-
sembly, the privilege of holding office, and representation
in the Cortes. It would have been well for Spain had she
listened to these complaints and made some effort to sat-
isfy them, but nothing was done and as a result the revo-
lution of 1868 generally known as the 'Ten Years'

6?

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

War,' was commenced at Yara in the province of
Puerto Principe. It was ended by the capitulation of
Zanjon, February 10, 1878, and in its more serious phases
was confined to the provinces of Santiago and Puerto
Principe. No battles or serious engagements were
fought, although a guerrilla warfare of great cruelty and
intensity was carried on. While the casualties of the
fighting were comparatively few for a war of such dura-
tion, there were many deaths from disease, executions,
and massacres, and the Spanish troops suffered severely
from yellow fever, which prevailed at all times in the
sea-coast cities.

" The effect of the ten years' war on the material con-
dition of Cuba cannot be stated with accuracy. The
population had increased in the ten years previous to the
outbreak at the rate of 17 per cent; during the war, and
for ten years after, the increase was but 6 per cent. A
great number of lives and a large amount of property
were destroyed, and an enormous debt was incurred,
while taxes of all kinds increased threefold. The war
is said to have cost the contestants $300,000,000, which
was charged to the debt of Cuba. By the capitulation
of Zanjon Spain agreed to redress the grievances of Cuba
by giving greater civil, political, and administrative privi-
leges to the people, with forgetfulness of the past and
amnesty for all then under sentence for political of-
fenses. It has been claimed by Cubans that these

68

CONCESSIONS

promises were never fulfilled, and this and the failure
of the Cortes to pass the bill reforming the govern-
ment of Cuba, introduced in 1894 by Sefior Maura, min-
ister for the colonies, are generally given as the
causes of the last rebellion. On the other hand, Spain
has always insisted that every promise was observed, and
that even more was granted than was asked for or stipu-
lated in the articles of capitulation. Thus, by the decree
of March I, 1878, Cuba and Porto Rico were given rep-
resentation in the Spanish Cortes, upon the basis of their
respective populations, and the provincial and municipal
laws of 1877 promulgated in Spain were made applicable
to Cuba. By proclamation of March 24, 1878, full am-
nesty was given to all, even to Spanish deserters who had
served in the insurgent army ; on May 23, 1879, tne penal
code of Spain and the rules for its application were given
effect in Cuba; on April 7, 1881, the Spanish constitution,
full and unrestricted, as in force in Spain, was extended
to Cuba by law; in 1885 the Spanish law of civil pro-
cedure was given to Cuba, and on July 31, 1889, the Span-
ish civil code, promulgated in 1888, was put in operation
in Cuba and Porto Rico.

"After examining all the evidence, however, the stu-
dent of Cuban history will probably conclude that while
the Spanish government was technically correct in claim-
ing to have enacted all laws necessary to make good her
promises, there was a failure usually to execute them, and

69

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

that, as a matter of fact, political conditions in Cuba
remained practically as before the war, although very
much improved on the surface." The promised reforms
and the general amnesty to insurgents were granted only
in consideration of the latter abandoning the revolution
and laying down their arms, which requirement the in-
surgents complied with. But " Spain unhesitatingly vio-
lated the agreement with a cynical disregard of good
faith, her promise of amnesty was only partially kept, and
she imprisoned or executed many who had been engaged
in the insurgent cause, while the promised reforms were
either totally neglected or carried out by some mockery
which had neither reality nor value." *

"A serious permanent fall in the price of sugar in
1884 and the final abolition of slavery in 1887 added to
the economic troubles of the people, and in conjunction
with continued political oppression, kept alive the feel-
ings which had brought on the war. The Cubans be-
lieved that notwithstanding the capitulation of Zanjon
they were still mere hewers of wood and drawers of
water, with but little voice in the government of the
island, and that Spain was the chief beneficiary of its
wealth. And such would appear to have been the fact
if the following figures, taken from official sources, can
be relied upon : From 1893 to 1898 the revenues of Cuba.

*The War With Spain, by Henry Cabot Lodge. Copyright,
i8;9, by Harper & Bros.

70

CUBAN REVENUES

under excessive taxation, high duties, and the Havana
lottery, averaged about $25,000,000 per annum, although
very much larger in previous years, depending on the
financial exigencies of the Spanish Government." In
1860 they contributed $29,610,779; in 1880, $40,000,060
and in 1882, $35,860,246.77. "Cuba was expected to
contribute whatever was demanded. Of this amount,
the statement continues, $10,500,000 went to Spain to
pay the interest on the Cuban debt, $12,000,000 were
allotted for the support of the Spanish-Cuban army and
navy and the maintenance of the Cuban government in all
its branches, including the church, and the remainder, less
than $2,500,000, was allowed for public works, education,
and the general improvement of Cuba, independent of
municipal expenditures. As the amounts appropriated
annually in the Cuban budget were not sufficient to cover
the expenditures and there was a failure to collect the
taxes, deficits were inevitable. These were charged to the
Cuban debt, until, by 1897, through this and other causes,
it aggregated about $400,000,000, or an amount per capita
of $283.54 — more than three times as large as the per
capita debt of Spain and much larger than the per capita
debt of any other European country.

" Under such perverted economic management," Col-
onel Sanger concludes, " it is not surprising that another
rebellion was planned, and that the war of 1895 -1898 'fol-
lowed.'' The result of Spain's " treachery and of the

7'.

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

bloodshed which accompanied it, and of the increased
abuses in government which followed it was that the
Cubans again prepared for revolt, and in February 1895,
another revolution broke out."

* The detailed story of the revolution of 1895-98 is too
long to be narrated here. One who desires a full and vivid
picture of all that Cuba endured at that time cannot do
better than to read the opening chapters of Mr. Charles
M. Pepper's work Tomorrow in Cuba. For our im-
mediate purpose it suffices to say that under the leader-
ship of men like Jose Marti, Maximo Gomez and Generals
Garcia and Maceo the insurgents formed a government,
and carried on a vigorous guerrilla warfare which soon
set the whole island aflame, drove Martinez Campos into
a confession of failure and brought the unspeakable Wey-
ler with his horrors and atrocities into action. " The
real head and front of this Rebellion was Maximo Gomez,
a man of marked ability and singular tenacity of pur-
pose. His plan was to refuse all compromises, to dis-
tribute his followers in detached bands, to ravage the
country, destroy the possibility of revenue and win in
the end either through the financial exhaustion of Spain
or by the intervention of the United States, one of which
results he believed "—and as the event showed, rightly—
" must come if he could only hold on long enough."*

* " The War With Spain," by Henry Cabot Lodge. Copyright,
1899, by Harper & Bros.

72

ENTER WEYLER

The sufferings of Cuba under the rule of Weyler form
one of the most abhorrent pages in all history. General
Weyler entered the Cuban capital in February 1896. He
was already known as the Butcher thanks to his reputa-
tion for corrupt and cruel practices in previous public
capacities, notably in the Philippines and in the sup-
pression of riots at Barcelona. " His military movements
were farcical, consisting in marching columns out here
and there from garrisoned posts, having an ineffective
brush with the Cubans, and then and there withdrawing
the troops, with as little effect as the proverbial King of
France who marched up the hill. The insurgents con-
tinued their operations without serious check ; they broke
through the trochas, swarmed into Pinar del Rio, wan-
dered at will about the country, and carried their raids
even into the suburbs of Havana. Weyler, who seems
never to have exposed himself to fire, but to have con-
fined his operations in the field to building more trochas,
made his few military progresses by sea, and preferred
to stay in Havana, where he could amass a fortune by
blackmailing the business interests, and levying heavy
tribute on all the money appropriated to public uses by
the bankrupt and broken treasury of Spain. If, how-
ever, Weyler was ineffective as a commander in the field
and no lover of battle, he showed that he was energy
itself in carrying out a campaign of another kind, which
was intended to destroy the people of the island, and

73

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

which had the great merit of being attended with no risk
to the person of the Captain-General. A large portion of
the Cuban population in the country were peasants taking
no part in the war, and known as ' pacificos.' They were
quiet people, as a rule, and gave no cause for offence,
but it was well known that their sympathies were with
the insurgents, and it was believed that they furnished
both supplies and recruits to the rebel forces. Unable
to suppress or defeat the armed insurgents, the Spanish
government characteristically determined to destroy these
helpless ' pacificos.' Accordingly an edict, suggested ap-
parently by Weyler, was issued on October 21, 1896,
which applied to Pinar del Rio, and was afterwards ex-
tended to all the island, and which ordered the army to
concentrate all the pacificos, practically all the rural popu-
lation, in the garrisoned towns. These wretched people
were to be driven in this way from their little farms,
which were their only means of support, and herded in
the towns and in the suburbs of Havana, where they
had nothing before them but starvation, or massacre at
the hands of Spanish soldiers and guerrillas. Whether
the idea of this infamous order originated in Havana or
Madrid is not of much consequence. The Queen-Regent,
for whom some persons feel great sympathy, -because
she is an intelligent woman and the mother of a little
boy, set her hand to the decree which sent thousands
of women and children to a lingering death, and the

74

BRIG. GEN. WILLIAM LUDLOW, U. S. A,

LOST TO SPAIN

whole government of Spain is just as responsible for all
the ensuing atrocities as Weyler, who issued the concen-
tration edict and carried it out with pitiless thoroughness
and genuine pleasure in the task.

" By March, 1896, Spain had sent 121,000 soldiers to
the island, which gave her, at that time with the forces
already in Cuba, 150,000 men. Her debt was piling up
with frightful rapidity; the insurgent policy of prevent-
ing the grinding of the sugar-cane was largely success-
ful, had paralyzed business, and wellnigh extinguished
the revenues. It was apparent to all but the most prej-
udiced that even if the insurgents could not drive the
Spaniards from Cuba, the island was lost to Spain. With
200,000 soldiers in 1897 Spain had utterly and miserably
failed to put down the rebels, who never had in arms,
in all parts of the island, over 35,000 men. The Spanish
government could give protection neither to its own
citizens nor to those of foreign nations, nor could it
even offer security to business, agriculture, or property.
So Spain, impotent and broken, but as savage and cruel
as she had ever been in her most prosperous days, turned
deliberately from the armed men she could not over-
come to the work of starving to death the unarmed
people, old and young, men and women, whom she could
surely reach." *

*" The War With Spain," by Henry Cabot Lodge. Copyright,
1899, by Harper & Bros.

75

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

Incidentally Cuba's history has amounted in general,
outside of the details we have specified, to this: in 1762
the Capital, Havana, was captured by an English fleet and
army under the command of Lord Albemarle, the fleet
consisting of 200 vessels of all classes and the army of
14,041 men. These were opposed in an obstinate defence,
largely due to the fortifications, by a Spanish force of
27,610 men. The siege lasted from the 6th of June until
the I4th of August when the city capitulated. There was
then a u Treaty of Paris " under the provisions of which
the spoils of the invader amounted to £735,185 and this
paid " Cuba was returned to the Spaniards." And then
according to the authority who writes the article on Cuba
for the Encyclopaedia Brittanica " the true era whence
its importance and prosperity are to be dated " began. He
continues: " The administration of Las Casas, who arrived
as captain-general in 1790, is represented by all Spanish
writers as a brilliant epoch in Cuban history. He pro-
moted with indefatigable perseverance a series of public
works of the first utility, introduced the culture of indigo,
extended the commercial importance of the island by re-
moving as far as his authority extended the trammels
imposed upon it by the old system of privilege and re-
striction, and made noble efforts to effect the emancipa-
tion of the enslaved native Indians. By his judicious ad-
ministration the tranquillity of the island was maintained
uninterrupted at the time of the revolution in San Do-

HATRED OF SPAIN

mingo; although, as is generally believed, a conspiracy
was formed at the instigation of the French among the
free people of color in Cuba. In 1795 a number of
French emigrants arrived from San Domingo. In 1802
Jesu Maria, a populous suburb of Havana, was destroyed
by a fire, which deprived 11,400 people of their habita-
tions. On the deposition of the royal family in Spain by
Napoleon (the news of which arrived in July, 1808)
every member of the Cabildo took oath to preserve the
island for the deposed sovereign, and declared war
against Napoleon. Since that time the island has been
ruled over by a succession of governor-captain-generals
from Spain, armed with almost absolute authority, some
of whom have conducted themselves honorably, while
the names of others are loaded with infamy, the office
having been frequently sought and bestowed only as the
means of acquiring a fortune. The deprivation of politi-
cal, civil, and religious liberty, and exclusion from all
public stations, combined with a heavy taxation to main-
tain the standing army and navy, have resulted in a
deadly hatred between the native Cubans and the mass of
officials sent from Spain. This has manifested itself in
frequent risings for greater privileges and freedom."

These uprisings have been amply covered in the preced-
ing paragraphs of this chapter, but it is interesting to note
in connection with these the authoritative statement of
this observer that " in a debate on Cuban affairs in the

77

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

Cortes of Madrid in November, 1876, it was stated that,
during the past eight years, in attempting to crush the
insurgents, Spain had sent to Cuba 145,000 soldiers and
her most favored commanders, but with little or no
results. On the other hand, Cuba under the perpetual
apprehension of the rebellion, has seen her trade de-
creased, her crops reduced, and her Creoles deserting to
the United States and Spanish republics; and her taxes
have been trebled in vain to meet the ever-increasing
expenses and floating debts."

Now what has Uncle Sam's attitude been toward these
people for so long a time as he has himself been a person
of independent circumstances? He had had this sick
neighbor for over a century — from 1776 until 1898. What
have been the relations between himself and his Cuban
cousin — since 1898 his ward? He has been accused of
cherishing notions of conquest in connection with Cuba.
Selfishness has been his alleged motive in all his dealings
with the Cuban question.

What are the facts of history to prove this assumption
one way or the other ? Could he have acquired possession
of Cuba long ago, properly and quietly, or not? It is
worth while in considering the United States as a Trustee
of Cuban interests to look into this question somewhat.
We shall deal with the question frankly and leave the
reader to form his own conclusions.

Chapter V

RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CUBA UNTIL

1898.

rHE wail of Cuba first reached the ears of the
United States — which had troubles of its own
— during the Administration of James Monroe,
President in 1823, which established in Spanish
American matters at least a policy of " reserve and cau-
tion." * The receptivity of our National ear is not to be
attributed to American philanthropy, but to the condi-
tions brought up by the question involved in the Monroe
Doctrine, invented by John Quincy Adams and still a
blessing. Should Cuba pass into the control of any
other power — and incidentally should the principles of
the slave territory of the United States, be menaced by
the existence of free negroes upon an adjacent island?
Adams as Secretary of State in April, 1823, wrote to
the American Minister at Madrid : '* It is scarcely pos-
sible to resist the conviction that the annexation of Cuba
to our Federal Republic will be indispensable to the con-
tinuance and integrity of the Union." Prior to this —
in 1820 — in response to a proposition from the Portu-
guese Minister that the United States and Portugal as
" the two great powers of the Western hemisphere should
concert together a grand American system," Mr. Adams
* Morse's " Life of John Quincy Adams."

79

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

made reply, " as to an American system, we have it ; we
constitute the whole of it; there is no community of in-
terests or of principles between North and South Amer-
ica." " This sound doctrine," says Mr. Morse, the biog-
rapher of Adams, " was put forth in 1820; and it was
only modified during a brief period in 1823, in face of
the alarming vision not only of Spain and Portugal re-
stored to authority, but of Russia in possession of Cali-
fornia and more, France in possession of Mexico, and
perhaps Great Britain becoming mistress of Cuba."
Adams deemed the supposition that England or Spain
could long retain their possessions on this side of the
Atlantic a physical, moral and political absurdity. Yet
while Secretary of State, and later as President, he
did not reach out the long arm of Uncle Sam for the
acquisition of a territory richer than Florida, and in
point of fact the stronghold of Spanish power in the
Western hemisphere. He was in favor of acquiring
Louisiana, Canada and Cuba— an Imperialist of the first
order — and even " encroachments never seemed distaste-
ful to him." Cuba however remained where it was and
the man who through the medium of another defied the
rest of the known world to enter into the sphere of Uncle
Sam's influence, left the Cuban in the thrall of Spain
without an uplifting of his finger to make it otherwise.
Doubtless there was policy in this but the fact remains.
Cuba might then and there have become the property

80

AN IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT

of Unde Sam, and Uncle Sam turned his back upon
the bargain.

All the more remarkable was this failure to seize upon
opportunity because of the inevitable and irrepressible
conflict which had for sometime been raging between the
United States and the powers of the old world, for terri-
torial supremacy in the Western hemisphere. As Mr.
Henry Cabot Lodge points out in his brief history of the
War with Spain, " the irrepressible conflict between
Spain on the one side and England and Holland on the
other, after the former had been crippled in Europe, was
transferred from the Old World to the New. They
seemed at first very remote from each other in the vast
regions of the American continents, but nevertheless the
two opposing forces, the two irrevocably hostile systems,
were always drawing steadily together, with the certainty
that when they met one of them must go down before
the other. The Seven Years' War drove France from
eastern North America, and fixed forever the fate of
that region. It was to be English, not French :

The lilies withered where the lion trod.

The expulsion of France not only removed the long-
standing northern peril to the English colonies, but swept
away the last barrier between them and Spain. In
the American Revolution, France, seeking her revenge
for the conquests of Pitt, forced Spain to become her

81

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

ally against England : but Spain had no love for the
rebellious colonists. A treacherous nominal friend, she
tried to wrest advantage from their weakness, and to
secure to herself in final possession the Mississippi valley
and the great Northwest. . Failing in this, she sought,
after American independence had been won, by false
and insolent diplomacy, and by corrupting intrigues
among the Western settlers, to check the American
advance across the continent. It was all in vain. Through
woodland and savanna, over mountain and stream, came
the steady tramp of the American pioneer. He was
an adventurer, but he was also a settler, and what he
took he held. He carried a rifle in one hand, he bore
an axe in the other, and where he camped he made a
clearing and built a home. The two inevitable antag-
onists were nearing each other at last, for they were
face to face now all along the western and southern
borders of the United States. The time had come for
one to stop, or for the other to give way. But there
was no stopping possible in the Americans, and through
the medium of French ownership the Louisiana pur-
chase was made, the Mississippi became a river of the
United States, and their possessions were stretched across
the continent even to the slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
Still not content, the Americans pressed upon the south-
ern boundary until, in 1819, they forced Spain, in order
to avoid war, to sell them Florida and the northern coast

82

AN INEXORABLE MOVEMENT

of the Gulf of Mexico as far as Louisiana. Meantime,
inspired by the example of the United States in rejecting
foreign dominion, and borne forward by the great demo-
cratic movement which, originating in America, had
swept over Europe, the Spanish colonies rose in arms
and drove Spain from Central and South America.

" A few years passed ,by, and then the restless Ameri-
can advance pressed on into Texas, took it from Mexico,
and a territory larger than any European state except
Russia was added to the United States. Still the Ameri-
can march went on, and then war came with Mexico, and
another vast region, stretching from Oregon to Arizona,
became an American possession. All the lands of North
America which had once called Spain master, which
Cortez and De Soto, Ponce de Leon and Coronado, had
bestowed upon the Spanish crown, had passed from the
hands of the men who could not use them into those of
the men who could. The expulsion of Spain from the
Antilles is merely the last and final step of the inexor-
able movement in which the United States has been en-
gaged for nearly a century. By influence and example,
or more directly by arms and by the pressure of ever-
advancing settlements, the United States drove Spain
from all her continental possessions in the Western
hemisphere, until nothing was left to the successors of
Charles and Philip but Cuba and Puerto Rico.

" How did it happen that this great movement, at once

83

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

racial, political, and economic, governed as it was by
forces which rule men even in their own despite — how
did it happen to stop when it came to the ocean's edge?
The movement against Spain was at once natural and
organic, while 'the pause on the sea-coast was artificial
and in contravention of the laws of political evolution in
the Americas. The conditions in Cuba and Puerto Rico
did not differ from those which had gone down in ruin
wherever the flag of Spain waved upon the mainland.
The Cubans desired freedom, and Bolivar would fain
have gone to their aid. Mexico and Colombia, in 1825,
planned to invade the island, and at that time invasion
was sure to be successful. What power stayed the on-
coming tide which had swept over a continent? Not
Cuban loyalty, for the expression ' Faithful Cuba ' was
a lie from the beginning, like many other Spanish state-
ments. The power which prevented the liberation of
Cuba was the United States; and more than seventy
years later this republic has had to fight a war because
at the appointed time she set herself against her own
teachings, and brought to a halt the movement she had
herself started to free the New World from the oppres-
sion of the Old. The United States held back Mexico
and Colombia and Bolivar, used her influence at home
and abroad to that end, and, in the opinion of contempo-
rary mankind, succeeded, according to her desires, in
keeping Cuba under the dominion of Spain."

84

AN ILLOGICAL POLICY

The reasons which Mr. Lodge advances for the atti-
tude of the United States with reference to Cuba Libre,
or Cuba annexed, are by no means creditable to the
Union, but they seem to be justified by the facts of his-
tory. Up to the outbreak of the Civil War we do not
find much upon which to flatter ourselves in our atti-
tude toward the Cuban question. " The Latin mind "
the historian contends, " is severely logical in politics,
which accounts in a measure for its many failures in
establishing and managing free governments. Being of
this cast of mind, the Spanish-American states, when
they rose to free themselves from Spain, also freed their
own slaves, and in this instance they were not only logi-
cal, but right. The people of the United States, on the
other hand, were at once illogical and wrong; for they
held just then that white men should be free and black
men slaves. So they regarded with great disfavor this
highly logical outcome of South-American independ-
ence, and from this cause Southern hostility brought the
Panama Congress, fraught with many high hopes of
American solidarity, to naught. The sinister influence of
slavery led the United States to hold Cuba under the
yoke of Spain, because free negroes were not to be per-
mitted to exist upon an island so near their Atlantic sea-
board. It was a cruel policy which fastened upon Cuba
slavery to Spain as well as the slavery of black men to
white, when both might have been swept away without

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

cost to America. Those who are curious in the doctrine
of compensations can find here a fresh example. Lin-
coln, in the second inaugural, declared once for all that
our awful Civil War was the price we paid for the sin
of slavery ; and the war of 1898 was the price paid at last,
*as such debts always are paid by nations, for having kept
Cuba in bondage at the dictates of our own slave power.
" The United States had thus undertaken to stop the
movement for the liberation of Spanish colonies at the
point selected by itself, and had deliberately entered upon
the policy of maintaining Spanish rule in its own neigh-
borhood. This policy meant the assumption of a heavy
responsibility, as well as a continuous effort to put to rest
an unsettled question, by asserting stoutly, and in defi-
ance of facts, that it really was settled if people would
only agree pleasantly to think so. But in this, as in all
like cases, the effort was vain. Cuba was held under
Spanish rule, and the question which had received the
wrong answer began almost at once to make itself heard,
after the awkward fashion of questions which men pre-
tend to have disposed of, but which are still restlessly
seeking the right and final answer, and, without respect
for policies or vested interests, keep knocking and cry-
ing at the door. Some American statesmen saw that
there was a real question in Cuba demanding a real settle-
ment, and declared, like John Quincy Adams and Henry
Clay, that Cuba must be annexed, and that it would be-

86

THE SLAVE POWER RULES

come indispensable to the integrity of the Union. Even
then did Adams also assert that the transfer of Cuba to
some other power was a danger obtruding itself upon
our councils. But the plan of leaving the island with
Spain prevailed. Cuba had come near to both independ-
ence and annexation, but both gave way before the slave
power, and for twenty years the policy of 1825 had sway.
As late as 1843, indeed, Webster said that negro emanci-
pation in Cuba would strike a death-blow to slavery in
the United States, thus giving cynically and frankly the
bad and true reason for the policy steadily pressed since
1825. Never at rest, however, the slave power itself a
few years after Webster's lucid definition of its Cuba
policy, changed its own attitude completely. From de-
siring to keep Cuba in the hands of Spain, in order that
Cuban negroes might remain slaves, it passed, as dangers
thickened round it at home, to the determination to se-
cure Cuba, in order that more slave territory might be
added to the United States. Hence a continuous effort
to get the island by annexation, and various projects, all
fallen into more or less oblivion now, to bring that result
about, were devised by American slaveholders and their
allies. Their schemes ranged from Buchanan's offer to
purchase, rejected with deep scorn by Spain the intelli-
gent, to the Ostend Manifesto — a barefaced argument
for conquest — and included attempts to bring about Cu-
ban independence by exciting insurrections and landing

87

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

filibustering expeditions. But the time was fast drawing
near, even while the American slaveholders were thus
seeking new territory, when the slave power would be
thinking not of extension, but of existence."

Thus we see that the Cuban question from the time
of its beginning as a thorn in the American side, was not
precisely a straight question, but one with ramifications
which bore in upon the American mind at every point of
issue the inconsistency of a free people maintaining the
institution of slavery. Prating of a certain preamble in
an instrument of great historic influence which asserted
the rights of all men to an equal chance in the pursuit
of life, liberty and happiness, we arrogated to ourselves
nevertheless the privilege of holding in our hands the
lives of countless scores of human beings, of meting out
to or withholding from them the happiness which our
charter of rights accorded to " all men," and within the
shadow of the temple of liberty stood the cabin of the
slave. The blot of slavery upon our own escutcheon kept
the hands of Uncle Sam pretty securely tied and all he
could do in meeting the vexed question of Cuba and her
wrongs, or Cuba and her riches, was to blow now hot,
now cold, according to the temper of the statesmen who at
the time worked the bellows of policy or of " eloquence "
at the National forge. The inevitable trend of events,
however, now began to remedy the complication. Cuba
and her free negroes, Cuba and her slaves were for-

88

I

THE CIVIL WAR

gotten and the question of expansion became less press-
ing upon the mind of Uncle Sam than that of contraction.
He soon had to fight within his own borders to keep
what he had, without vexing his mind over further terri-
torial acquisitions.

The Civil War in the United States put the Cuban
question to sleep for a brief period as far as any Ameri-
can cognizance of its complications was concerned, and
there were not wanting those who, believing that its in-
terest was bound up wholly in the slave power, now de-
stroyed on the mainland, comforted themselves with the
thought that never again could Cuba vex the soul of the
American statesman. The slate was wiped clean and in
the list of future troubles of the American people Cuba
had gone the way of negro slavery in the United States,
and secession. But there was soon to be a rude awaken-
ing for these comfortable souls. They had reckoned
without a real knowledge of the habits of unsolved prob-
lems, or of the homing qualities of a National obligation.
There is no National or International Bankruptcy law by
which a moral debt can be evaded or even scaled down for
the " benefit " of creditors and the deluded sons of Uncle
Sam who fancied themselves discharged from all further
responsibility in the matter of Cuba soon had cause to
perceive the error of their ways. The revolution of 1868
sounded the bugle blast which brought the sleeping
American up standing from his sweet dreams of peace

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

and it was seen at once that there was still a Cuban ques-
tion, and a mightier one than ever. It was relieved of
some of those clouds of self interest which had hitherto
served to blur over the barefaced iniquity of it and the
active efforts of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes the leader of
the insurgent forces to cripple the power of the Spaniard
were not long in arousing an admiring sympathy for his
cause among the people of the great Republic. Slavery
of any kind was now become intolerable to the American
mind and there was no differentiation between the two
kinds, one of which held the negro in a material bondage
and that other which kept his Cuban master in political
chains. As the revolution progressed it seemed as if the
psychological moment had arrived for Uncle Sam to take
a hand in the quarrel and settle it once and for all. The
idea of fighting was abhorrent to him of course, for he
had had a stomach full of it in settling his own family
troubles, but his Executive officer was a soldier who was
never dismayed by the prospect of shot and shell, and it
seemed as if such a one as he must cry a halt in com-
manding tones to the disturbers of his peace and the
offenders of his principles. It became quite evident that
Spain was not equal to the task of managing the island ;
murder, arson and pillage were going on at our very
doors and the Grant Administration was compelled to
take notice of it. With the smell of blood in the air, with
the smoke of war rising from the ruins of ravaged plan-

90

THE VIRGINIUS

tations within range of eye and nostril, with the raucous
noises of conflict dinning in the ear of the neighborhood
it would have been futile to say that life at last had be-
come sweet and settled and that the millennium was at
hand. Then and there might the American people have
stepped in forcibly and saved themselves and Cuba many
hours of anxiety, much loss of life and war. Secretary
Fish, whose grandson's veins a quarter of a century later
shed almost the first American blood on Cuban soil in the
war of 1898, endeavored to meet the problem by the
peaceful method. " Let us purchase this bloody acreage,"
said he, " from those who cannot redeem it and substitute
Uncle Sam who can for St. Jago who has failed." The
idea was an excellent one and was so considered by the
ruling powers of Spain at the time, but the pride of the
Hidalgo, that beautiful abstraction which appears to be
the only real asset these peninsularities have left, and
which they never use to any good purpose, prevented the
consummation of the project. General Primm, the lead-
ing spirit of the Spanish government at that period, in-
wardly applauding the suggestion, outwardly denounced
it, and the question drifted on into an outrage, which
would have justified the forcible acquisition of Spain's
territorial remnants in this hemisphere. In 1873 an
American vessel, The Virgmius, was captured on the high
seas and taken to Santiago, where fifty of her officers and
crew, American citizens, were blind-folded, stood up

91

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

against a dead wall and shot to death. The act set the
country aflame and the President of the United States,
the grim, dogged, silent soldier had his war cut out for
him with a foundation of righteousness upon which to
base it. But the dogs were held in leash, for slavery was
not yet extinct in the United States — it was changed in
kind but it was potent. Master Dollar cracked his whip
and said, ''No! War is an unholy thing for it disturbs
me. Sheathe your swords gentlemen, I will settle this
Cuban matter at so much per head. Fifty American lives
are worth how much ? We'll rest on a gold basis leaving
lead to savages/' The suggestion prevailed. The coffers
of Uncle Sam were enriched and Spain got a receipt in
full for her little diversion of treating American citizens
as if they were Cuban chattels. What is a human life
indeed that it should rise superior to the sweet serenity
of an unruffled Stock-market !

The ten years' war continued and became daily more
and more a source of discomfort to the American patriot
and pocket. There were many who found little to plume
themselves upon in the diplomacy which bartered lives for
lucre. These of course were the so-called Jingoes who'
had not waked up to the fact that National honor might
under circumstances of a certain kind become a purchase-
able commodity. There were then as there are still
persons of sufficiently obscure perceptions to believe that
outrage and insult cannot be wiped out by a cash pay-

92

UNCLE SAM PROTESTS

ment and who deny that the gold-cure is the long sought
for panacea for human ills. Despite the deep resentment
of these persons however against a policy which ap-
peared to them to be an ignoble one two years passed by
without any outward manifestation of sufficient magni-
tude to warrant the authorities in changing their attitude.
But in 1875 Master Dollar's nerves again became sensi-
tive. He found any kind of War anywhere disturbing to
his equilibrium and unless the conflict in Cuba was
brought to a speeedy close he was afraid his circulation
might be impaired. Hence it was that a polite intimation
was forwarded from Washington to Madrid that unless
Spain settled her squabbles with the Cubans Uncle Sam
might find it necessary to intervene. The intimation
was not without its effect. Spain recognized that while
she might be able to settle on moderate terms for the
destruction of American lives, she could hardly hope to
compensate us for injury to our business interests, and
this realization coupled with the imminent exhaustion of
her resources led her, after two years of deliberation, to
make peace, bound up with many beautiful promises, to
her rebellious colony. We have already seen what were
the provisions of the Treaty of Zanjon; how Cuba was
granted reforms, privileges and amnesty. We have also
learned how wantonly every one of these provisions was
violated. But at the moment the Cuban question again
appeared to be settled and the United States breathed

93

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

freely once more. Cuba was on her feet. The wicked
Spaniard had reformed and we could now go about our
business with that complacent satisfaction which charac-
terizes the man who always does the right thing at the
right moment. Thanks to ourselves, conditions of peace
had been permanently restored and by that threat of in-
tervention our debt to humanity had been paid.

Unfortunately the Cuban was looking at the situation
close at hand, not through the large end of Uncle Sam's
long distance telescope and he saw what Uncle Sam
seemed not to see. The smiling face of the Spaniard
which we fondly believed was the face of a benign father
glad of his reforms and taking pleasure in a contempla-
tion of the happiness of his children, was really but a
mask which concealed the frowning of a sullen despot
acting under a compulsion that he found detestable ; what
sincerity there was in the smile was that of derision that
the compelling power on the continent was so easily
fooled. Her sons who had been promised amnesty Cuba
saw shot furtively to death; sequestered in the dungeons
of Spanish fortresses; subjected to tortures worse than
death, while the promised reforms never emerged from
the land of promise into the realm of reality. So the in-
surgent, after eight years of vain endeavor to persuade
the crafty Castilian to keep the faith, again aroused him-
self into action and set Uncle Sam once more agog. The
revolution of Gomez, and Maceo and Garcia shifted the

94

UNCLE SAM WAKES UP

scene once more from peace to warfare. At this point
we were disposed to regard the situation with indiffer-
ence tinged with a slight irritation that the Cuban could
not be content with that ease of circumstance which we
had secured for him, and, as the conflict proceeded, for a
year it assumed hardly more dignity in American eyes
than as if it were a South American revolution. But the
desperate earnestness of the leaders of the new-born revo-
lution and the absolute unity which prevailed among their
followers soon made themselves felt and changed all that,
so that in 1896, when the insurgents began to show some
signs of crowding the Spaniards into the sea, irritated
indifference became positive and sympathetic interest.
The brave fight the insurgents were making, Mr. Lodge
states " aroused the sympathy of the American people,
which showed itself in the newspaper press and in public
meetings, always with gathering strength. When Con-
gress met, the popular sentiment sought expression in both
branches. A minority desired the immediate recognition
of Cuban independence, a large number wished to recog-
nize belligerency, an overwhelming majority wanted to do
something, while the naturally conservative elements were
led by a few determined men who were opposed to any in-
terference of the remotest kind, and a few of whom, even
if they did not openly avow it, were bent on leaving Spain
a free hand in the island. Out of this confusion came,
as might have been expected, a compromise, in which the

95

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

men in the small minority, who knew just what they
wanted, got the substance, and the large, divided, and
undecided majority, who vaguely desired ( to do some-
thing for Cuba/ obtained nothing but a collection of
sympathetic words. The compromise took the form of a
concurrent resolution, w'hich, after much debate, delay,
and conference, finally passed both Houses. This reso-
lution merely declared that a state of war existed in Cuba,
that the United States would observe strict neutrality, and
that the President should offer the good offices of the
United States with the Spanish government to secure the
recognition of the independence of the island. As the
resolution was concurrent, it did not require the Presi-
dent's assent, and was nothing but an expression of the
opinion of Congress. It therefore had little weight with
Mr. Cleveland, and none at all with Spain. Whatever was
done by the administration in offering our good offices
to secure the recognition of Cuban independence, there
was no result, and the only part of the resolution which
was scrupulously carried out was in observing neutrality,
which was done by the President with a severity that
bore heavily upon the Cuban side alone. The administra-
tion was in fact opposed to any interference in Cuba, and
the action of Congress left it free to hold itself aloof."

With their customary astigmatic method of looking at
things, the Spanish authorities undoubtedly read into the
comfortable attitude of the Cleveland administration to-

RECOGNITION

ward the Cuban question an indication that the real sym-
pathies of the American people lay with them rather than
with the insurgents — due largely to the American habit
of permitting authority to go to great lengths before ven-
turing either protest or active opposition. Taking this
attitude, it was perhaps natural that the government at
Madrid should have ventured on its crowning act of in-
famy in the substitution of General Weyler, as Captain-
General of the unhappy island, for the more humane and
statesmanlike Campos.

We have already told the story of the atrocious admin-
istration of Cuban affairs, both civil and military, under
the direction of this medieval figure misplaced in a cen-
tury of enlightenment. The general effect of Gen.
Weyler's administration — outside of the large number of
widows and orphans which it interjected into the im-
mediate situation in Cuba — was to arouse to a degree
which the American authorities could not afford to ignore,
not alone the keen sympathy of the American people for
their oppressed neighbors, but their active resentment of
methods which they considered unspeakable and without
warrant in an age presumed to be civilized.

The feeling in this country took concrete form in a
resolution presented by a majority of the Senate Com-
mittee on Foreign Relations, recognizing the republic of
Cuba, and presented for the consideration of the Senators
on December 21, 1896. Naturally this resolution caused

97

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

great excitement throughout the country, and Master
Dollar rose up in wrathful opposition to what he con-
sidered the unwarranted disturbance of his comfort.
The stock market became uneasy to a degree, and the
contingent " unsettlement of values " which was heralded
far and wide, in certain quarters sufficed to make the
venturesome Senators, who had presented the resolution,
appear in the light of enemies to their country.

Nevertheless the movement antagonistic to Spain had
now attained to such proportions that the question made
forcible entrance into the politics of the land. The finan-
cial interests of the country might say what they pleased ;
the Secretary of State might announce — as he did in
an interview in a Washington newspaper — that no atten-
tion would be paid to the joint resolution, even if it passed
both Houses over the President's veto ; the President him-
self might resolutely set his face against active participa-
tion in the conflict — yet the hour was surely at hand when
the pressing necessities of the Cuban could no longer be
ignored, in behalf of merely business interests.

Strenuous efforts were made to send the Cuban question
once more into that state of somnolence which had char-
acterized its condition during the period of the Civil
War ; but, like Banquo's ghost, it would not down. The
newspapers would not remain silent upon the subject — •
could not remain silent upon the subject ; that which their
editorial columns might exclude, their news columns were

THE MEANING OF NEUTRALITY

bound to present to the public eye. And once presented
to the public eye, the doings of Gen. Weyler were such
that no " power in heaven, on earth or in the waters
under the earth " could have hoped successfully to make
the Cuban question less than a paramount issue.

It gradually dawned upon the minds of the American
public that the enforcement of neutrality meant nothing
more or less than that the United States had become the
ally of Spain and was assisting a grinding tyranny in its
effort to suppress that which, in our own charter of rights,
was allowed to be the privilege of all men, irrespective of
station.

It was not alone the feeling among Americans, however,
that a neighbor was being ill-treated by a harsh master,
but it soon became evident, even upon the most cursory
examination, that American citizens, deserving of our
protection — not only deserving it but guaranteed it — were
suffering wrong. A naturalization paper proving citizen-
ship in the United States appeared to have no more effect
upon the ruling powers at the palace at Havana, than as
if it were so much blank paper. And, encouraged by
Washington's seeming indifference to the rights and pro-
tection of suffering American citizens, the Spaniard soon
went to the extreme length of oppression, regardless of
the citizenship of the oppressed.

It so happened that at this juncture, the United States
was represented at Havana in the Consul-General's office

99

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

by Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, who, in his reports to the home
government, laid bare the intolerable condition into which
matters had been allowed to drift. But even this did not
seem to awaken the administration to the necessity for im-
mediate action; and it was not until a series of concrete
cases in the imprisonment of Scott, the murder of Dr.
Ruiz, and the outrageous treatment of the prisoners cap-
tured on board of the filibustering schooner Competitor
were actually brought before the American public that
the situation became so acute that the United States
government was bound in honor to take action.

What President Cleveland would have done in this
emergency is, of course, merely a matter of conjecture.
The fact, however, that at this point there was a change
in Washington, and that Mr. McKinley succeeded to the
office of President of the United States, makes any sur-
mise on this point of comparative unimportance. The
Republican party in its platform in the campaign of 1896
had taken a strong ground in regard to Cuba, and had
pledged itself to compel Spain to make a final settlement
of the long unsettled question. Mr. McKinley was in
full sympathy with this declaration of his party; and,
through his sincere desire to see the whole world at peace,
could be counted upon actively to meet the exigencies of
the situation. Immediately upon assuming control, the
McKinley administration, finding the crux of the situation
in the American prisoners, who were still deprived of their

100

CAPTAIN HUGH L. SCOTT, U. S A.

A PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE

liberty and their rights, made immediate demand upon
Spain for their prompt release, and for a suitable in-
demnity for their losses.

There was no mistaking- the import of this demand,
and the Spaniard at once emerged from his dream of an
alliance with the United States in the oppression of the
Cuban, and by the end of April, 1897, every American
prisoner in the island of Cuba had been released.

Relieved of the complications which made the subject
of immediate and imminent interest to the American peo-
ple, the question now resolved itself into the point,
whether or not the Cubans should be granted by our
recognition of their existence as a recognized body, the
privilege of belligerent rights ; and on May 20, 1897, the
Senate, without division, passed a joint resolution recog-
nizing Cuban belligerancy. The lower house, however,
did not think it wise to keep the question in so live a form
before the American people, and were disposed to permit
it to sink into the obscurity with which a house com-
mittee alone can surround any great issue. But at that
precise moment President McKinley again took the ques-
tion in hand, and by a most timely message, called the
attention of the House to the indubitable fact that wrongs
were still being perpetrated in Cuba, that war was still a
material fact, and that under the system of reconcentra-
tion instituted by Gen. Weyler, not only the natives £)f
the island, but American citizens were being starved to

101

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

death. He therefore requested an appropriation of $50-
ooo for the purchase of supplies to be sent to those of our
fellow-citizens who were being slowly tortured to death
by the unspeakable methods of the Spaniard.

The money was voted at once, and the act received
presidential approval on the 24th day of May, 1897. We
demanded from Spain, and she immediately acquiesced,
her assent to send ships and food to our American consuls
for the relief of starving Americans. These were fed,
with plenty to spare for those who were not Americans ;
and by this act, the United States at last had practically
interfered in Cuban matters. As Senator Lodge puts it :
" No more complete act of intervention than this, which
tended to cripple the military measures and check the
starvation campaign of the Spaniard, could be imagined."
Conditions were such that the most potent ammunition
which could be provided for the embarrassment of the
Spanish plan of campaign, was the plain, ordinary staples
of food, which should prolong the existence of those
whom Weyler was trying to kill.

The first material step toward the acceptance of his
trust had at last been made by Uncle Sam. The next step,
which indicated that we had at last waked up to our real
duty in the premises, was taken in the autumn of 1897,
when we asked for the recall of Gen. Weyler, "above
all, for the revocation of the reconcentration edict," the
inhumanity of which as it was applied in practice — what-

IO2

ONE MORE CHANCE

ever may have been its value as a theory — had been suf-
ficiently demonstrated to justify the act.

The Spanish ministry complied instantly with our re-
quests, asking, however, in return that we should give
them the opportunity to try autonomy in Cuba. With
probably full knowledge of the futility of yielding to any
such request as this, the United States government found
it advisable to give Spain one more chance; but it was
not many weeks before it became evident that the crafty
Caslilian was up to his old tricks. With the exception of
the recall of Gen. Weyler in October, 1897, in which Mr.
Lodge says, " no deception or postponement was pos-
sible " — not one of the Spanish promises was kept, nor
is there any reason to believe that Spain thought seriously
at any time of keeping them. Spanish diplomacy was
again trying to place Uncle Sam in his usual ridiculous
position as party of the second part in an international
game of confidence.

Agitation in the United States, however, was some-
what quieted, because of the American love of fair play.
Certain concessions had been made to Spain, in return for
concessions Spain had made to Cuba at our instigation,
and a reasonable period of time in which to permit the
trying of new experiments of government under the cap-
tain-generalcy of Gen. Blanco — a much milder man than
the brutal Weyler — was considered only just and proper.
But week after week passed, and to the intelligent ob-

103

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

server, it became clear that Spanish autonomy could be
neither practical nor, in the nature of things, general ; and
before many days the Cuban question reached again that
stage of acuteness which seemed to demand immediate
and drastic action.

Then dawned the vital year of 1898, in which the in-
exorable trend of events forced Uncle Sam into the posi-
tion of trustee for the demoralized people of Cuba. So
important in its relation to our story are the events and
complications of this year of 1898 that I shall treat of
it in a separate chapter.

104

Chapter VI

THE YEAR OF 1898 AND ITS RESULTS

T Tf HAT-EVER the disposition of the authorities
I/I/ of the United States to suppress the Cuban

question, the progress of events, beginning
almost with the dawn of January, 1898, was such as to
keep the subject conspicuously in the public eye. In the
first place it became increasingly evident as days passed
that the autonomy which the Spanish government had
prepared for Cuba, and in view of which we had prac-
tically promised to hold ourselves aloof from the situation,
was nothing like as full as that which had been promised.
Even granting the different point of view of the Span-
iard and the Anglo-Saxon, there was not in evidence a
sufficiently full degree of autonomy for the Cubans to
satisfy even a Spanish standard. It was, of course, true
that if Spain had granted to Cuba such a government as
Great Britain has granted to Canada, the Cubans would
be much better off than the Spaniards at home ; and that,
naturally, was a condition not likely to prove tolerable or
acceptable to the Spanish government. The captain-
general was to have control over the legislative bodies
proposed for Cuba, complete supervision of the courts
of justice, entire control of the regulations affecting the
financial relations between Cuba and Spain, and the
autonomous Cuban government was not allowed to do

105

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

anything which in any wise conflicted with any one of
the minor policies of the home government, to say noth-
ing of the large.

The situation was duly pointed out by the pro-Cuban
American newspapers day after day; and, even if the
public had been willing to forget the frightful condition
of affairs which existed at our very doors at that time, it
would not have been allowed to do so. More material
incidents, however, soon came into being, which awakened
even the most somnolent dreamer to a realization of the
extreme importance of the Cuban question, and the re-
lation of the United States thereto.

The President of the United States was grossly in-
sulted by the Spanish minister at Washington. Sefior
Dupuy de Lome had chosen to write a letter — under cover
of confidence, no doubt — to a friend, in which he alluded
in terms of much coarseness to the Executive, attributing
to him, in a most offensive manner, traits of character
which even Mr. McKinley's enemies never claimed were
to his discredit. The propriety of its publication by
American newspapers was, of course,- questionable.
Nevertheless, it reached the public eye; and, as a result,
the ill-feeling which existed between the United States
and Spain was gravely accentuated ; and the necessity
which arose of sending Mr. de Lome his passports and
requesting him to return to Madrid, served as no amelio-
ration of the conditions.

1 06

THE WAR CLOUD APPEARS

The situation had become most grave; and that the
war clouds which now began to appear upon the horizon
might be dissipated, seemed the forlornest of forlorn
hopes. Nevertheless there were not a few who believed
that a natural disinclination to plunge the country into a
war of magnitude, for which it was by no means prepared,
would deter the President and the Congress from taking
the last irremediable step.

The insulting letter of minister de Lome, concerning
the President, appeared on the ninth of February, 1898;
and on the morning of February sixteenth, just one week
later, came the news that on the night before in the harbor
of Havana, the battle-ship Maine had been blown up
and tot'ally destroyed, with two hundred sixty-four men
and two officers killed.

The question seemed settled. At first glance, it ap-
peared as if war must be declared on the instant. The
United States had been very vitally injured, and this time
in such a fashion that further toleration of the conditions
which made the attack a possible one could no longer be
regarded with our usual equanimity. The whole country
was outraged, and in a mood for fierce and prompt re-
taliation; but the hour had not yet arrived. An im-
mediate reaction — largely the result of the calm message
of Captain Sigsbee, the commander of the Maine, who
asked that, even in the face of the awful slaughter at
Havana, the people should suspend their judgment until

107

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

the truth were known — set in, , The calm which precedes
the storm took the place of the great wave of wrath
which had swept from one end of the country to the
other; and the American people wishing to be right be-
fore going ahead, sat back and awaited the verdict of a
commission appointed to investigate and to report on the
question of how the Maine came to her destruction.
" To those who understood the people," says Mr. Lodge,
" this grim silence, this stern self-control were more
threatening than any words of sorrow or of anger could
possibly have been." But Spain was too far gone in her
orgy of arrogance to take heed; and, instead of appre-
ciating the calm self-control of the American public, and
offering to make whatever reparation was in her power
for a disaster, with which she might not have had much
to do, thereby showing an appreciation of the attitude
which the American people had taken toward her in a
stressful moment, she added insult to injury. With crass
stupidity, Spain announced to the world, without any in-
vestigation of the causes of the explosion, and before
anyone had even looked at the wreck, that the Maine
was blown up from the inside, and that the disaster was
the natural result of the well-known carelessness of the
American naval officers. This statement was proclaimed
by the Spanish and their sympathizers at every point ; and
the more the story was told, the greater was the fanning
of the flame of indignation in the breasts of the American

108

THE MAINE REPORT

people. Still the American people held their peace. A
long and anxious period of waiting followed, and as
days passed the feeling throughout the country grew more
and more intense. The people were marvelously patient
however and barring one or two outbursts in legislative
halls in the various parts of the land, and the ebullient
attitude of certain sensational newspapers, there was no
overstepping of the bounds of caution and temperate use
of speech. But when the report finally came from the
commission appointed to investigate the Maine disaster,
and it was clear beyond a reasonable doubt that the war-
ship had been blown up from the outside, it became
equally clear that the end had arrived and a new beginning
had to be made. Spain's persistence in the insulting lie
which placed responsibility for the disaster upon the
officers and men of the destroyed vessel might now have
been moderated without avail. The American people
after seventy years of shilly shallying with a corrupt and
vicious neighbor had made up their minds that he should
move out and if he declined to act upon a hint should be
thrown out. The President sent messages to Congress
reciting conditions and laying the question at its doors,
whereupon Congress after much scratching of its political
head finally took the plunge. On April 2Oth, 1898, the
following joint resolution for the recognition of the inde-
pendence of the people of Cuba, demanding that the
Government of Spain should relinquish its authority and

109

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

government in the island of Cuba, and withdraw its land
and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters, and di-
recting the President of the United States to use the land
and naval forces of the United States to carry these reso-
lutions into effect, was approved:

Whereas the abhorrent conditions which have existed
for more than three years in the island of Cuba, so near
our own borders, have shocked the moral sense of the
feople of the United States, have been a disgrace to Chris-
tian civilisation, culminating as they have, in the destruc-
tion of a United States battle ship, with two hundred
and sixty-six of its officers and crew, while on a friendly
visit in the harbor of Havana, and cannot longer be en-
dured, as has been set forth by the President of the United
States in his message to Congress of April* eleventh,
eighteen hundred. and ninety-eight, upon which the action
of Congress was invited: Therefore,

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

FIRST. That the people of the island of Cuba are, and
of right ought to be, free and independent.-

SECOND. That it is the duty of the United States to de-
mand, and the Government of the United States does
hereby demand, that the Government of Spain at once
relinquish its authority and government in the island of
Cuba and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba
and Cuban waters.

IIO

CONGRESS ACTS

THIRD. That the President of the United States be,
and he hereby is, directed and empowered to use the en-
tire land and naval forces of the United States, and to call
into the actual service of the United States the militia of
the several States, to such extent as may be necessary to
carry these resolutions into effect.

FOURTH. That the United States hereby disclaims any
disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdic-
tion or control over said island except for the pacification
thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is ac-
complished, to leave the government and control of the
island to its people.

Five days later war was declared by an Act of Congress
in the following terms :

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represen-
tatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled, FIRST. That war be, and the same is hereby,
declared to exist, and that war has existed since the
tiventy-first day of April, Anno Domini eighteen hundred
and ninety-eight, including said day, between the United
States of America and Kingdom of Spain.

SECOND: That the President of the United States be,
and he hereby is directed and empo^vered to use the en-
tire land and naval forces of the United States, and to
call into actual service of the United States the militia
of the several States, to such extent as may be necessary
to carry this act into effect.

in

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

The final step had been taken and two powers that
had stood face to face for three quarters of a century in
a mutual relation which had been a constant menace to
the peace of both had now directly joined the issue. The
arts of Dollars, and Diplomacy had failed. Arms were
the last resource and were resorted to.

It is not my purpose here to give any account of the
hostilities that followed. It is of Uncle Sam as a Trustee
in times of Peace when his real achievements have been
accomplished that I prefer to speak. Of Dewey and of
Sampson at Manila and at Santiago, of the campaigns
of the Army in the Phillipines, Cuba and Porto Rico,
others may write. The no less renowned victories of the
period of Peace, harder won because won only through
long days and nights of toil and embarrassments incred-
ible and without the stimulating plaudits of the populace
to cheer the leaders on, are the portion of this story.
Suffice it to say that the recalcitrant Spaniard was finally
ejected and by the terms of a Protocol signed at Wash-
ington August 1 2th, 1898, hostilities were suspended.
The wording of the Protocol was as follows :

PROTOCOL

William R. Day, Secretary of State of the United
States, and His Excellency Jules Cambon, ambassador
extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Republic of
France at Washington, respectively possessing for this

112

THE PROTOCOL

purpose full authority from the Government of the United
States and the Government of Spain, have concluded and
signed the following articles, embodying .the terms on
which the two Governments have agreed in respect to the
matters hereinafter set forth, having in view the estab-
lishment of peace between the two countries, that is to
say:

Article i. Spain will relinquish all claim or sovereignty
over or title to Cuba.

Article 2. Spain will cede to the United States the
island of Porto Rico and other islands now under Spanish
sovereignty in the West Indies, and also an island in the
Ladrones, to be selected by the United States.

Article J. The United States will occupy and hold the
city, bay, and harbor of Manila pending the conclusion
of a treaty of peace which shall determine the control^
disposition, and government of the Philippines.

Article 4. Spain will immediately evacuate Cuba, Porto
Rico, and other islands under Spanish sovereignty in the
West Indies; and to this end each Government will, within
ten days after the signing of this protocol, appoint com-
missioners, and the commissioners so appointed shall,
within thirty' days after the signing of this protocol, meet
at Havana for the purpose of arranging and carrying out
the details of the aforesaid evacuation of Cuba and. the
adjacent Spanish islands; and each Government will,
within ten days after the signing of this protocol, also ap-

"3

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

point other commissioners, who shall, within thirty days
after the signing of this protocol, meet at San Juan, in
Porto Rico, for the purpose of arranging and carrying
out the details of the aforesaid evacuation of Porto Rico
and other islands under Spanish sovereignty in the West
Indies.

Article 5. The United States and Spain will each ap-
point not more than five commissioners to treat of peace,
and the commissioners so appointed shall meet at Paris
not later than October i, 1808, and proceed to the nego-
tiation and conclusion of a treaty of peace, vvhich treaty
shall be subject to ratification according to the respective
constitutional forms of the two countries.

Article 6. Upon the conclusion and signing of this
protocol hostilities between the two countries shall be sus-
pended, and notice to that effect shall be given as soon
as possible by each Government to the commanders of its
military and naval forces.

In the treaty of peace signed at Paris on December
tenth, 1898, the following article was given precedence
over all others :

ARTICLE I.

Spain relinquishes all claim of sovereignty over and
title to Cuba.

And as the island is, upon its evacuation by Spain, to
be occupied by the United States, the United States will,
so long as such occupation shall last, assume and discharge

THE TRUST ASSUMED

the obligations that may under international law result
from the fact of its occupation for the protection of life
and property.

Uncle Sam had at last performed his first duty in the
premises. Another equally important remained. He
had rescued a helpless child from the hands of a brutal
father. It now became his office to nurse the sickly in-
fant back to health again, to start him along the road to
prosperity, to administer his property until such a time
as he should be able to care for his own.

Uncle Sam Neighbor had been transformed into Uncle
Sam Trustee. As to his intentions in the Administration
of his trust he had already made indirectly and then
directly to the citizens of Cuba a statement in the in-
structions of the President, through the Secretary of War
to the Military Commander of the United States forces
in the captured Province of Santiago, bearing date of
July 1 8th, 1898, as follows:

To the SECRETARY OF WAR.

SIR : The capitulation of the Spanish forces in Santiago
de Cuba and in the eastern part of the Province of San-
tiago, and the occupation of the territory by the forces
of the United States, render it necessary to instruct the
military commander of the United States as to the con-
duct which he is to observe during the military occu-
pation.

"The first effect of the military occupation of the

"5

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

enemy's territory is the severance of the former political
relations of the inhabitants and the establishment of a new
political power. Under this changed condition of things
the inhabitants^ so long as they perform their duties, are
entitled to security in their persons and property and in all
their private rights and relations. It is my desire that the
inhabitants of Cuba should be acquainted with the pur-
pose of the United States to discharge to the fullest extent
its obligations in this regard. It will therefore be the duty
of the commander of the army of occupation to announce
and proclaim in the most public manner that we come not
to make war upon the inhabitants of Cuba, nor upon any
party or faction among them, but to protect them in their
homes, in their employments, and in their personal and
religious rights. All persons who, either by active aid or
by honest submission, co-operate with the United States
in its efforts to give effect to this beneficent purpose will
receive the reward of its support and protection. Our
occupation should be as free from severity as possible.

" Though the powers of the military occupant are abso-
lute and supreme and immediately operate upon the politi-
cal condition of the inhabitants, the municipal laws of the
conquered territory, such as affect private rights of person
and property and provide for. the punishment of crime,
are considered as continuing in force, so far as they are
compatible with the new order of things, until they are
suspended or superseded by the occupying belligerent,
and in practice they are not usually abrogated, but are
allowed to remain in force and to be administered by the
ordinary tribunals, substantially as they were before the
occupation. This enlightened practice is, so far as pos-
sible to be adhered to on the present occasion. The judges

116

INSTRUCTIONS FROM PRESIDENT

and the other officials connected with the administration
of justice may, if they accept the supremacy of the United
States, continue to administer the ordinary law of the
land, as between man and man, under the supervision of
the American Commander-in-Chief. The native con-
stabulary will, so far as may be practicable, be preserved.
The freedom of the people to pursue their 'accustomed
occupations will be abridged only when it may be neces-
sary to do so.

" While the rule of conduct of the American Com-
mander-in-Chief will be such as has just been defined, it
will be his duty to adopt measures of a different kind, if,
unfortunately, the course of the people should render such
measures indispensable to the maintenance of law and
order. He will then possess the power to replace or ex-
pel the native officials in part or altogether, to substitute
new courts of his own constitution for those that now
exist or to create such new or supplementary tribunals
as may be necessary. In the exercise of these high
powers the commander must be guided by his judgment
and his experience and a high sense of justice.

" One of the most important and most practical prob-
lems with which it will be necessary to deal is that of the
treatment of property and the collection and administra-
tion of the revenues. It is conceded that all public funds
and securities belonging to the government of the coun-
try in its own right, and all arms and supplies and other
movable property of such government, may be seized by
the military occupant and converted to his own use. The
real property of the state he may hold and administer; at
the same time enjoying the revenues thereof, but he is not
to destroy it save in the case of military necessity. All

117

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

public means of transportation, such as telegraph lines,
cables, railways and boats belonging to the state, may be
appropriated to his use, but unless in case of military
necessity they are not to be destroyed. All churches and
buildings devoted to religious worship and to the arts and
sciences, all schoolhouses., are, so far as possible, to be
protected, and all destruction or intentional defacement
of such places, of historical monuments or archives, or
of works of science or art, is prohibited, save when re-
quired by urgent military necessity.

Private property, whether belonging to individuals or
corporations, is to be respected, and can be confiscated
only for cause. Means of transportation, such as tele-
graph lines and cables, railways and boats, may although
they belong to private individuals or corporations, be
seized by the military occupant, but unless destroyed un-
der military necessity are not to be retained.

While it is held to be the right of the conqueror to levy
contributions upon the enemy in their seaports, towns, or
provinces which may be in his military possession by con-
quest and to apply the proceeds to defray the expenses of
the war, this right is to be exercised within such limi-
tations that it may not savor of confiscation. As the re-
sult of military occupation the taxes and duties payable
by the inhabitants to the former government become pay-
able to the military occupant, unless "he sees fit to substi-
tute for them other rates or modes of contribution to the
expenses of the government. The moneys so collected
are to be used for the purpose of paying the expenses of
government under the military occupation, such as the
salaries of the judges and the police, and for the pay-
ment of the expenses of the Army.

118

THE PROMISE

Private property taken for the use of the Army is to be
paid for when possible, in cash at a fair valuation, and
when payment in cash is not possible, receipts are to be
given.

All ports and places in Cuba which may be in the actual
possession of our land and naval forces will be opened to
the commerce of all neutral nations, as well as our own,
in articles not contraband of war, upon payment of the
prescribed rates of duty which may be in force at the time
of the importation.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

Such in general were our promises to the people of
Cuba. To what extent has Uncle Sam kept faith with
his ward?

119

PART II

THE TRUST

THE TRUST

Chapter I

BRIGADIER-GENERAL LEONARD WOOD AT SANTIAGO.

rHE key-note of the American administration of
Cuban affairs was struck within a fortnight of
the great naval battle of Santiago, by Brigadier-
General Leonard Wood, who, upon the 2oth of July, 1898,
was ordered by Gen. Shatter " to take command of the city
of Santiago, to clean it up, maintain order, feed the people,
and start them at work."

By virtue of the victory of July 4, 1898, the city of
Santiago and the province as well, fell naturally into the
hands of the United States. It was not until a period of
nearly six months had elapsed that the further negotia-
tions between Spain and Uncle Sam resulted in our taking
possession in trust of the whole island of Cuba. The ex-
periment, therefore, in which the United States had em-
barked— that of administering the affairs of a colony,
which, while not its own, had yet become its charge — be-
gan at this point ; and upon the officer immediately placed
in control fell the responsibility of formulating the propo-
sition which was to be demonstrated.

It was fortunate for the United States that it had at its
command at this precise moment a man of a kind pecu-
liarly fitted for the special work in hand. Leonard Wood

123

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

was not only a soldier but a physician ; and, whatever the
justice of the criticism which has been passed upon the
Washington administration for its appointment of Gen.
Wood to this singularly delicate commission, and to my
mind there has been no justice in it, the immediate com-
plications in Cuba showed that if a hopeful issue were to
be expected, the guiding mind should be that of the sol-
dier, with the sympathetic touch of the man who cures us
of our ills. The material situation was such that it de-
manded the firm grasp of the military man, of course;
but equally necessary was the sympathetic touch of the
physician.

General Wood had gone to Cuba as colonel of the now
famous regiment of Rough Riders; -and, because of his
efficient work in the organization of this troop, and later
of his gallantry in action, he had risen by degrees to the
rank of Major-General of Volunteers. To those who
had known him, his appointment as military governor of
the province of Santiago came as no surprise, for to them
he had repeatedly shown himself a man of great force of
character, undoubted courage, of excellent executive
ability, and, above all, the possessor of sound common
sense. He was not long in establishing a reputation as a
fighter, but it was not until he undertook work of a semi-
civil nature that the full measure of the man began to
dawn not only upon his friends but upon the country.
Mr. Matthews has well said that in this capacity Gen.

124

BENEFICENTIA, AT HAVANA

MATERNITY ROOM AT BENEFICENTIA

SETTING THE PACE

Wood did his greatest work in Cuba, and set a standard
which will not only be a monument to him, but a lasting
credit to the United States ; and which will be the model,
so far as efficiency and results go, for the government by
the United States of extra territorial regions- which may
come under their jurisdiction. It was Gen. Wood's great
privilege to have set the pace in honest, efficient, economi-
cal government of the island of Cuba, which became the
standard by which the earlier military governors of the
island were guided, and to which he himself, during his
occupancy of the military governorship at Havana, con-
sistently adhered.

The complications which beset Gen. Wood upon as-
suming command of the city of Santiago, of which for the
time being he became practically the mayor or " alcalde,"
were unusually difficult. It is estimated that there were
about 120,000 people, of one kind and another, in Santiago
at the time of his assuming control. There were the vic-
torious American troops to be cared for, and, it must be
confessed, to be held in a state of strictest discipline at a
time, when, flushed with the wine of victory, they were
inclined to overstep the bounds of modesty. There were
the vanquished Spanish troops, some 100,000 of whom
had surrendered with the city, and had laid down their
arms. There were as many more in various parts of the
province who had to be cared for. In addition to these,
were the citizens of Santiago the city, and the denizens

125

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

of Santiago the province, — Cubans, to whom the coming
of the victorious American army was welcome in the sense
that this American army was the harbinger of their own
liberty. And to such an extent were they carried away
by this beautiful realization of their dream of centuries
that it is not surprising that more often than not, they
confounded liberty with license.

The health of the city was bad. There was starvation
on every side, and pestilence was in the air. Abject
poverty was met with at every corner, and cleanliness was
a virtue which for generations had been almost unknown.
The houses were filled with dying or dead, and even upon
the highways, by the hundreds, were men, women and
children in the last stages of starvation, and not a few
who had passed beyond the vale.

Everything susceptible of demoralization was demor-
alized. There were no schools. The hospitals had be-
come mere refuges for the suffering, whether their mala-
dies were of mind or of the body. And, owing to the
conditions which war always interjects into the life of a
country, all commercial enterprises had stopped. The
streets were filled with the idle, and the industrious of the
vicinity were those only who were engaged in enterprises
of a questionable kind.

It was not a matter of weeks but merely of days before
it was evident that this army surgeon, who was sneered at
as being the doctor merely of the illustrious individual,

126

"DON'T SWEAR— WORK"

was of that greater type of physician who can administer
to the diseases of the body politic. His wonderful per-
sonal force, his unusual sanity of mind, his unflinching
courage allied to his instinctive ability as an organizer,
soon made Gen. Wood's influence felt in this small, though
very significant field of activity. Tender as a woman in
such relations of his official life as required the softer
manner, there was still vividly in the recollection of those
who might have been disposed to regard tenderness as
weakness, his injunction to his soldiers in action, when
he uttered his famous order, " Don't swear — shoot." In
a modification of this utterance, seemed to lie the guiding
principle of his civil administration. The import was the
same, but the phraseology altered ; and " Don't swear —
work " became the motto not only of the General him-
self, but of those who helped him in those early days.

Gen. Wood labored at this time under the advantage
which is always that of a man vested with unlimited
powers, and who is, for a time, allowed to go about his
work upon his own initiative without interference from a
higher officialism. Strong of purpose, and with that
same self-reliance which has caused so many heart-burn-
ings among those who would bend him to their own pur-
poses in his later administration of Cuban affairs, Gen.
Wood mapped out his own course of procedure; and,
within a week, the convalescence of the sick city of San-
tiago began.

127

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

The streets were cleaned; the dead were buried; the
poor were fed ; the idle were set at work ; the initial steps
of the wonderful work in sanitation, which has shown
such marvelous results in the later administration of Cuba,
were taken ; schools were established ; order was restored ;
the citizenship which lurked within dark recesses and
lived upon unscrupulous devices — whether Cuban, Span-
ish or American — was warned to employ itself in useful
directions, or to relieve the community of its presence;
the Custom House wias placed upon a basis at least of
honesty, if not of immediate efficiency ; a police force was
organized ; useless offices were abolished ; the militant side
of American control was made subordinate to the civil:
and where there had been a community demoralized by
war, there was within a month established a city enjoy-
ing the blessed privileges of peace.

Gen. Wood's first official act was the issuance of a
charter of civil rights, which announced to those who had
come under his jurisdiction just what were their privi-
leges under the form of government which had been es-
tablished. There was little in this proclamation which
indicated a government by martial law, but the anomalous
condition was presented of a soldier standing sponsor for
such a state of affairs as might rightly have been looked
for under conditions of peace.

This bill of rights, which was formulated after proper
consideration of the matter, provided for the freedom of

128

THE BENEFICENT1A LAUNDRY, 1900

THE BENEFICENT1A LAUNDRY, 1902

THE BILL OF RIGHTS

the press, the right of peaceable assembly, the right of
habeas corpus, and the right to give bail for all offences
not capital. In this was the most significant part of Gen.
Wood's scheme of reconstruction. It was his intent that
the idea should be impressed upon the people of Cuba,
in so far as he had anything to do with their affairs that
the civil law was supreme, and that unless there should be
a proper respect for the laws, the Cubans could not hope
to establish anything in the nature of self -government.
The militaristic idea was to be avoided in every possible
way that the citizens over whom he had been set for the
time, would permit it to be avoided. Whenever and
wherever they were willing to show themselves amenable
to a discipline which was of a purely civil nature, the
strong arm of the soldier would not be exerted against
them ; but, at the same time, he gave these people clearly
to understand that at no time would he tolerate infringe-
ments of his proclaimed ordinances, even if it required
the full power of his military strength to restrain the
offender.

The effect was immediate and healthy. At first the
plain, every-day people had treated every American in the
city with a " cringing courtesy " that seemed born of a
fear of an over-bearing and an ill-used power, while the
attitude of the so-called better classes was one of indiffer-
ent apathy. These conditions were soon changed : where
" cringing courtesy " had been was now respectful grati-

129

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

tude ; and where there had been apathy there arose a con-
dition of confident interest. There were so many evi-
dences on every side of lofty ideals combined with prac-
tical effort for the alleviation of their miseries, that the
people could not fail to see that those now in authority
had come not to rob or to oppress them, but to help them
to get upon their feet again.

Among these obvious indications of a helpful purpose
was the establishment at Santiago of a Sanitary Depart-
ment, at the head of which Gen. Wood placed Maj. George
M. Barber. This Department began its work within
twenty-four hours of Gen. Wood's assumption of the
functions of his office. Of course, it was difficult to se-
cure labor for the various unpleasant duties of a depart-
ment of this nature, and it was here that possibly, for the
moment, the military hand of the newly appointed gov-
ernor bore most heavily upon the people. It was not
pleasant for idle men to be awakened from their dream
of leisure, to enter the deserted houses, of which there
were many in Santiago, to remove from them the bodies
of men, women and children, who had been dead for a
longer time than one likes to think of; it was not pleas-
ant for these men to go into the work of cleaning out
the breeding places of the germs of pestilence : and
naturally few who were willing to volunteer for any
such service could be found. But that they should be

130

SANITARY MEASURES

found, and that the work should be done, was a matter
of pressing importance.

At first, before it was possible to make the appeal cour-
teous to these people, labor was obtained by the sheer
exercise of force; but when the natives, who had long
been without sufficient food and the common necessities
of life, found that the United States did not propose to
place burdens upon their shoulders which should be
without compensation, and that, in return for the work
which they were asked to do, they were actually to be
paid, either in money, or in what they needed more than
that, food supplies — the task became less difficult.

In sixty-eight days, the records of the department
show that Major Barber removed 1,161 dead persons
and animals from houses which were broken into for
the purpose of discovering why it was that they had
become a noisome menace to the community. These
bodies, for the most part, were burned, for the purpose
of obliterating the possibility of pestilence; and it was
no uncommon sight to see the bodies of men and beasts,
and heaps of garbage being destroyed by fire, because,
for the lack of time or other reasons, they could not be
got rid of in a more seemly or a more practical manner.
It is said that on one day, when there were 216 deaths
in the city of Santiago, the sanitary board burned more
than one hundred bodies, and buried the rest. Still fur-

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

ther to assure the public safety, it was ordered that those
who failed to report deaths, should be considered crim-
inals in the eyes of the law, and should be punished
accordingly.

The immediate necessities having been thus met, the
four hundred years' accumulation of filth in the city of
Santiago was next taken in charge by the street cleaning
branch of this department. Every available cart in the
city, and such additional labor as was required, were
impressed into the service, with the result that within a
period of eight months, the health of the city of Santiago
became quite as salubrious as that of any city of its class
and size in the United States — except perhaps, as Gen.
Wood says, for the constant presence of malari'a.

Mr. Franklin Matthews, in showing the results of the
first ten months of Gen. Wood's administration of affairs
at Santiago, gives interesting comparisons of the death
rate for a number of years, quoting from a letter of
Major Barber's, who said that for the month of April,
1899, there were nine days with but one death, whereas
in previous years, taking the I2th of April as a basis for
comparison, the reported deaths had been as follows:

April 12, 1893 II deaths.

April 12, 1894 17 deaths.

April 12, 1897 32 deaths.

April 12, 1898 41 deaths.

April 12, 1899, the first period under American
control, no deaths.

132

THE KITCHEN, BENEFICENTIA, 1900

THE KITCHEN, BENEFICENTIA, 1902

STREET CLEANING

The department of street cleaning reached its highest
stage of efficiency in June, 1899, when Major Barber
employed about thirty-five teams a day throughout the
city, removing with these, two hundred loads of refuse
each day. Two of these carts were kept constantly busy
disinfecting the sections of the city which had been
cleansed, and starting them afresh. The entire force at
Major Barber's command consisted of himself, two as-
sistants, and about six hundred men — the latter, all of
them, Cubans.

Starting in with an unorganized body of this size, the
force was soon, by the application of strict military ideas,
reduced to the plane of an orderly and efficient following,
who not only placed the city of Santiago in a condition
of cleanliness which almost any American city might
well envy, but who also, by their efforts, earned the re-
sources by which they were enabled to keep body and
soul together, 'and to provide for those dependent upon
them. Not only was the work of vast benefit to the mu-
nicipality as such, but to its citizens as individuals, many
of whom, undoubtedly, were kept alive and started afresh
on the path to prosperity by the wise forethought of those
who, at a moment's notice, took upon their shoulders the
burdens of their government.

The sanitary wdrk thus begun and given a sufficient
impetus to carry it along, and placed under such control
that this impetus daily received such augmentations as

133

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

rendered it more and more efficient as time passed, Gen.
Wood turned his attention to the condition of affairs in
other departments. He discovered that which was noth-
ing new to those familiar with Spanish methods of ad-
ministration, that there had been an appalling laxity in
the management of these various bureaus. There were
no official records of any value in existence; or, at least,
if they existed, there were none to be found. There was
no money in the treasury; and there was no evidence
anywhere, in fact, that there had been any semblance of
a government in the city or province of Santiago. .

Bearing in mind the delicate sensibilities of these un-
fortunate people with whom he was now thrown into
official contact, Gen. Wood endeavored, in so far as
possible, to abide by the ideas of government, to which
they had been most accustomed. Materially, there may
have been no suggestion of an orderly management
of public affairs, but it was found that there were ideals,
after all. The Spaniard has never been lacking in these ;
it is only in his practices that he has been a person really
to be complained of. His ideals have been beautiful,
and his dreams have been iridescent: his practices are
the only things that have been unspeakable.

The machinery of administration was thoroughly re-
organized; and where there were to be found officials
who, in the past, had served tolerably well in minor posi-
tions, these men were given a chance to show their metal,

134

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS

and were promoted to positions of some responsibility,
but under a constant surveillance. Salaries everywhere
were reduced, and sinecures were abolished. The best
test of the Spanish official was found in this somewhat
drastic method of procedure. The man who had good
stuff in him, realizing the conditions which existed, could
not complain if his service was rewarded with less pay
than formerly ; and, of course, any official who objected
to the full and proper fulfilment of the functions of his
office, very soon made himself known, and his services
were, — equally, of course — easily dispensed with, with-
out arousing the animosity even of his friends and of
his neighbors.

A Department of Public Works was established, to
which the continued maintenance of street cleaning was
assigned, and the work of repairing the water supply,
and of the laying of new pavements in the streets, which
had fallen into a wofully disreputable state, — was begun.
The water supply of Santiago, like that of Havana, was
of potentially good quality; but, through years of neg-
lect and incredible mismanagement, it had fallen 'into a
deplorable state. There were hardly a dozen yards of
pipe without as many leaks; and, as a result:, the streets
had been materially damaged from beneath as well as
upon the surface; and great quantities of water — which
might well be used for other purposes— were going to
waste. These conditions were rectified, and before long,

135

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

in every part of the city a moderate supply of water was
available. The sanitary effect was of inestimable value,
since the impurities of the soil no longer penetrated to
the vehicles of the water supply, and the physical condi-
tion of those who consumed it was improved. In addi-
tion to this, a yellow fever hospital was established on
one of the islands of the harbor, and several detention
hospitals were placed at the water's edge, thoroughly
equipped for the purpose of meeting the now sporadic
cases of disease, which might manifest themselves.

A more difficult, because less physical, complication
arose in the condition of the courts of justice. These
had practically been closed during the war, and the
prison houses were filled with criminals and others await-
ing trial, whose estate was, indeed, a deplorable one.
Until he could get a properly organized force in this
direction, so as adequately to meet the requirements of
justice formally, Gen. Wood took it upon himself to go
through all the prisons and personally to investigate
every case of injustice he possibly could hope to remedy
himself. He administered justice in his capacity of mili-
tary ruler of the province; and upon the establishment
of his bill of rights, and the opening of the courts, re-
forms in the prisons were soon in operation, which re-
moved, in so far as it was possible to remove them, the
injustices under which those who were incarcerated
therein were suffering.

136

THE SHOE SHOP, BENEFICENTIA

THE TAILOR SHOP, BENEFICENTIA

SCHOOLS

The school question next occupied the attention of the
military governor. Schools of one kind or another were
established in all parts of the province, and were soon
in operation, although, of course, without proper equip-
ment. The main point was the inculcation of the idea
of the desirability of education among the people, and
the striking of the initial note of a reform which should
be of the most potential value to the island in the future.
In this agreeable work, Gen. Wood found a ready ac-
quiescence among the people, who were only too anxious
in some way to have their little ones taken, for a portion
of the day at least, off their hands, and given some kind
of occupation which should take their little minds off
the miseries by which they were surrounded.

To the credit of the Cubans, it must be said that every-
where teachers were found willing to work for less money
than they had ever received before; and the Governor,
having at that time in his control the customs duties of
the province to expend as his judgment assured him was
for the best, supplied from the rather meagre funds of
the custom house such deficiencies as the cities and
towns of the province were unable to meet in the man-
agement of the school work. Thirty kindergartens were
established in the city of Santiago, 'and such other schools
as could be made available were started from time to
time. The parents were pleased, the teachers were en-
thusiastic, and there is no lack of testimony to the fact

137

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

that the children themselves hailed the advent of the
schools with a real delight. This does not prove that
the Cuban child is radically different from the children
of other nations, who " plod their ways unwillingly to
school," so much as it indicates that school work of an
uplifting and ennobling kind in Cuba was such a novelty
that it impressed on their young minds the idea that they
were being entertained while being instructed.

The charitable work found its chief concern in
relief of the conditions of the helpless and the sick.
There were hundreds of needy persons, of course, who
had to be provided for instantly to keep them from star-
vation ; but among them were many who were sufficiently
able-bodied to pay with service for that which was pro-
vided for them. The sick and helpless destitute were
provided with rations until such time as they should be
cured, or were able to work, while the able-bodied were
immediately cared for by the vast amount of labor which
had to be done in connection with the cleaning of the
city, the building of bridges, the construction of roads,
and the rehabilitation of the water supply.

Wages for public works were seventy-five cents, and
fifty cents a day, according to the class, and a ration of
food. Many of the workmen preferred taking all their
pay in rations. It was definitely understood at the begin-
ning that where men were able to work and would not,
they must starve until they did. An easy attitude was

138

REVENUE

taken toward the most of them, however, because the gen-
eral atmosphere of the city was one of sickness and of
weakness; and, for a time, rations were issued to the
extent of from 18,000 to 25,000 a day, sometimes running
up to 40,000, and upon one occasion to 50,000. This con-
tinued up to 1899, but was not necessary in the large
after October, 1898, when the province was practically
in a position properly to care for itself.

The revenues from which all the expense of the main-
tenance of this reestablished government, the cost at
which this efficiency was given to the great work which
has since continued in Cuba, including salaries, the sup-
port of the schools, the maintenance of the lighthouses,
the expenditures for sanitary and police measures, the
repavement of the streets, and the reconstruction of the
water-works, — were all provided without direct taxation
of any sort, being appropriated from the funds taken in
at the custom house; and so carefully were the revenues
at Gen. Wood's disposal administered that at the begin-
ning of 1899, when the province of Santiago became
subject to the ruling powers at Havana, Gen. Brooke,
having been appointed governor of the whole island,
Gen. Wood was able to show a balance to the credit of
the province of $250,000. As Mr. Matthews puts it,
'' The wholesome lesson . of living within one's income
was thus taught to che people of Cuba."

The chapters which follow in this book show in some

139

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

detail the great amount of uplifting work which the
various departments of the insular government at
Havana have been able to accomplish in three and one-
half years of military occupation. Immeasurable credit
is due to all the heads of departments, and to all the
officers connected with the administration of Cuban
affairs. Ideas which have been important, principles
which have been guiding, methods which have been vital,
have been suggested by many minds ; and it has been my
effort to give, wheresoever it is possible to do so, credit
to those to whom it is due. To Gen. Brooke, to Gen.
Ludlow, to Gen. Wood, and to the subordinates of all
these officers, the Cuban, as well as the American, owes
a deep debt of gratitude ; the one for lifting him up from
the mire of despair and ruin, the other for the perform-
ance of their functions in such a way as to reflect ever-
lasting credit upon American enterprise, energy, good
faith, and philanthropy. But in awarding this credit, it
must not be forgotten that the very key-note of Cuban
administration, the essence of American success in the
unfortunate island, which has for so long a time been our
trust, was struck by Brigadier-General Leonard Wood
in those early days in Santiago, when that which has
since become the successful administration of Cuba in the
large, was in all its essentials that same American ad-
ministration in miniature. To the constructive mind of
the retiring Military-Governor of Cuba we owe our

140

OUR DEBT AND OUR CREDITOR

present enviable position in the eyes of the world as an
unselfish upbuilder of a down-trodden people, and when
we consider the difficulties of his labors, the discourage-
ments that have met him at many a turn, the obstacles
thrown across his path by the envious and the malicious,
a warmth more than ordinary should characterize OUT
cry of " Well done, good and faithful servant."

141

Chapter II

A GENERAL SURVEY OF CUBA AT THE CLOSE OF THE
WAR— FIRST STEPS TOWARD REGENERATION— GEN-
ERAL LUDLOW.

rHE Hon. Juan Gualberto Gomez, a representa-
tive negro of Cuba, a member of the Constitu-
tional Convention at Havana, and a possible
future President of the Cuban Republic, is reported
to have said that he preferred Spanish slavery to
American rule. I am somewhat loath to believe that
Sefior Gomez has been correctly reported in this instance,
since the eminent statesman of Santiago impressed me
when I had the pleasure of meeting him in February
1901, as being a person of some intelligence and too well
fed to " die of grief," as it is said he threatened to do
unless Cuba Libre was immediately established without
any reference whatever to American rights in the prem-
ises, and without any guarantee of stability. True or not,
the ebullition lacked importance, since if Mr. Gomez did
speak the words imputed to him, it will not be long before
he will find himself repudiated by the real public senti-
ment of the island, and if he did not break forth as alleged,
the statement that he did so is a mere idle rumor which
may be dismissed into that limbo of forgotten things to
which all other perversions of fact that emanate from
Cuba are relegated by time.

I42

MAJOR WILLIAM MURRAY BLACK, U. S. A.

Chief of Department of Public Works

TRANSFORMATIONS

I make use of Mr. Gomez's alleged remark only be-
cause it gives me a nail upon which to hang a few pic-
tures of the before-and-after order, showing, as mere
words could not possibly show, some of the things that the
United States have done for these people whose friends
have chosen to represent them as being wholly devoid of
the sentiment of gratitude. Scourged by Spain for 400
years, Cuba has been scoured by the United States for
four, and a glance at the photographs which are pre-
sented in these pages will show some of the transforma-
tions.

It is scarcely conceivable that one who visits Havana
to-day can fail to observe the marvelous transformation
that has been wrought in that city by the American au-
thorities, under the successive Military Governors, guided
by the engineering skill of Major William Murray Black,
until the spring of 1901 chief of the Department of Public
Works. There are few people who are at all familiar
with Cuban affairs who do not know the Havana of old
by reputation at least. Not alone politically, but physi-
cally, that this potentially beautiful little city was a plague-
spot, and a constant menace to the health, one might al-
most say, of this hemisphere, is a matter of common knowl-
edge. Its streets were narrow, ill-paved, and dirty. Its
sewers were barely less than so many open rivers of refuse
and disease-breeding streams of filth. One could almost
find one's way about its dark and devious streets by fol-

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

lowing this odor or that, provided one had been there
long enough to differentiate one smell from another, and
know whither and whence each one led. Refuse that
was not carried off into the harbor by these sewers was
left to accumulate and to decay in the highways them-
selves. The decaying bodies of dead animals were no un-
common sight on the public thoroughfares, and when
these were merely of cats or dogs they were left to time
and the processes of nature to remove; large .carcasses
were carted away and dumped at any convenient point —
were sometimes taken out to sea and thrown overboard;
not so far out, however, that they did not frequently re-
turn to become an offence upon the shores of the gulf.

Persons who swept the floors of their houses cast their
sweepings into the streets. Garbage was similarly treated,
except at the governor's palace and in other public build-
ings, where for some inscrutable reason large quantities
of it were retained in-doors. Nearly two score of cart-
loads of dirt were removed from the former when the
Americans came into control, and it is related by a keen
observer of conditions as they existed at the close of
Spanish supremacy, Mr. Franklin Matthews, that in one
of the rooms of La Fuerza Castle, occupied by the civil
guard, and in the group of public buildings of which the
Captain-General's palace was the chief, the bodies of no
less than fifteen dead cats and dogs were found. " These
animals had not died of starvation," Mr. Matthews adds.

144

INTOLERABLE CONDITIONS

" They had strayed into this room in their search for food,
and had died of the foul atmosphere. A candle would
not burn in the place."

A further pleasing feature of life in Havana under
the Spanish system, preferred, according to rumor, by
Mr. Gomez, who must not be confounded with
Gen. Gomez, was the delicious habit householders had
of emptying the day's collection of dirty water from
second-story windows into the streets, whence it might,
or might not, find its way to the gutter, and thence
to the sewer openings at the corner, to pass any one of
which was to risk one's health, and unless one held
one's breath, to draw into one's system a select assort-
ment of germs which migfat prove pleasing bottled for a
bacteriological museum, but which most individuals would
prefer not to have roaming around inside of them. Other
customs, which may better be left to the imagination than
described here, became fixed habits in the comparatively
more squalid sections of the city, and the utter neglect of
the public highways, some indication of which the reader
may derive from an inspection of the 1899 pictures in
these pages resulted in the city's becoming hardly less
than a sort of municipal cesspool.

In most communities afflicted with such intolerable
conditions, it might be expected that relief coulcl -be
found along the harbor-front, or somewhere along such
stretches of coast-line as Nature has vouchsafed. Those

145

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

for instance who sometimes find the atmosphere of New
York too subtly suggestive of earth for their comfort, are
not unused to spending an afternoon, or an evening hour
or two, on one of the roomy recreation piers provided for
the purpose which are so health-giving to the toilers of the
city in summer days. But until American days in Cuba
this was not feasible for the overpowered citizens of its
cities not because there were no recreation piers, and not
because there was no beautiful coast-line, but because the
water's edge in most of them and in Havana especially
was a reeking mass of sewage and decayed organic matter,
which, in bays that have no visible movement of their
waters except in times of storm, possesses few attractions
to the lover of fresh air. " The moment we stepped upon
the wharf at the landing," writes Mr. Matthews in de-
scribing the conditions as they existed in Havana in 1899,
" we needed no visual proof to know that we were in
Havana. An odor which only such a city could produce,
and a description of which need not be given, reached our
nostrils." It requires no stretch of the imagination to
see how such a harbor-line could be no refuge for those
who thirsted for a breath of pure sweet air. Along the
coast line, from La Punta to the terminus of the Vedado,
conditions were better, but if the testimony of disin-
terested persons may be believed, they were scarcely more
tolerable than those which aroused such a furor of dis-
content among the dwellers along the Long Island coast

146

EARLY CONDITIONS

some years ago when the offal of the New York city
streets, dumped too close to the shores, was strewn along
the beach from Coney Island to Far Rockaway.

Viewing the situation in the general and not in the
specific case, to appreciate the work of the American
authorities in Cuba it will be necessary first to review
somewhat the condition of affairs in Havana and the
island at large at the end of 1898 when the Americans
took possession. As is well known, excepting in a few of
the larger cities, the ordinary pursuits of the island had
been almost entirely abandoned. The greater part of the
sugar estates had been devastated and the mills and
machinery destroyed. Very little tobacco was under cul-
tivation and the vast herds of cattle which had formed the
principal wealth of the dwellers of the plains in the in-
terior of the island, had completely disappeared. Ruins
dotted the country on every side and the former laborers
and their families had either been gathered into the cities,
or in the ranks of the Cuban Army, or had perished
miserably. It has been seriously estimated that had the
war lasted six months longer the entire rural population
of Cuba would have been wiped out. The railroads had
been but little molested excepting for some bridges and
stationhouses burned and a portion of the rolling stock
destroyed. Public works throughout the island had been
suspended, and in the cities even the necessary collection
of garbage had been almost totally neglected for months.

147

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

All of these conditions, added to the customary neglect of
sanitation which had always prevailed to a great extent in
Cuba, bade fair to make the succeeding summer the
most unhealthy known in the annals of the island. For
months such of the garbage of Havana as had been re-
moved from the streets had been piled within the city
limits, at the head of the bay, in a festering, ill-smelling
heap. The 112 miles of Havana streets were heaped with
filth of all kinds, and of these streets ninety-three miles
which had been either paved with macadam or left un-
paved, were so worn by long travel that the water from
the rains, and from slops thrown from the street doors,
lay in puddles in which the accumulated filth putrefied
under the hot rays of the sun. The roughness of some of
these streets was such that nothing but a large cart or
Army wagon could traverse them safely. As stated by
General Ludlow in his first report: —

" The physical condition of the city could only be de-
scribed as frightful. There were several thousands of
reconcentrados in and about who had been herded like
swine and perishing like flies. They were found dead
in the streets and in their noisome quarters where disease
and starvation were rampant. Other thousands were
lacking food, clothing and medicines. The regular serv-
ice of the city was practically paralyzed; street cleaning
had stopped and the force was suspended, and the houses
of assistance and hospitals were destitute of resources,

148

DEMORALIZED GOVERNMENT

even food. No sanitary measures or rules were in force
and the starving population — natives and citizens, as well
as reconcentrados — used the street or any open place for
the deposit of refuse and filth of all kinds. A woman
killed by a railroad train lay on a principal street (Carlos
III) for eight hours because an ambulance and the proper
officials could not be found to remove her. It was nearly
the same with all other branches of the city administra-
tion ; officials, clerks and employees had been unpaid for
many months and the public offices were practically
abandoned."

In Havana the government was in the hands of Spanish
sympathizers between whom and the now jubilant Cubans
there was the bitterest enmity. The government of the
island and of the cities under the Spanish laws was so
arranged as to afford a maximum of funds for the office
holders and a minimum of return to the people. The
laws themselves were most cunningly and ably devised.
To a reader of the various proclamations, orders and leg-
islative acts, the laws seemed innocent enough, but a
closer investigation showed that no measure involving an
expenditure of money could be taken excepting with the
independent approval of a number of high officials, all
of whom were of Spanish appointment, and that the exe-
cution of these laws could be expedited, or postponed in-
definitely, at the will of the various functionaries. No
work of a public character, whether executed by private

149

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

or State funds, could be carried on without a concession,
and a careful examination made later by the American
authorities of many of these concessions showed that
whatever may have been the benefits conveyed, the rights
of the people were but little cared for. Sometimes it
would seem that no returns to the city whatever were
made for important privileges and monopolies granted.

Judicial proceedings were simply farcical and the
authority of the officials to place prisoners in the status
known as incommunicado, in which they were not al-
lowed to hold any communication whatever with any one
excepting their jailers or judges, provided a fearful
weapon of tyranny. In many cases prisoners were found
to have been in jail without trial for terms far beyond the
maximum limit of punishment allowed by the law for the
offences of which they had been accused. Such offences
as are punishable by police courts and justices of the
peace in the United States were tried before what were
known as courts of the first instance.. In these courts the
judge acted as judge, jury and prosecuting attorney;
interrogatories were made in private and the accused was
not allowed to confront either his own witnesses or the
witnesses of the prosecution. Nor did the accused have
any means for hastening his trial other than by a money
payment. There were no courts of equity and even after
the American occupation such was the working of the
law that verdicts were found and sentences pronounced

VAPOR STREET, HAVANA, in January, 1900

VAPOR STREET, HAVANA, in June, 1900

CORRUPTION RAMPANT

in strict accordance with the law, in which there was not a
shadow of justice.

Municipalities were governed by what were .termed
ayuntamientos of which the alcade, or mayor, was the
presiding officer, and the members of which were elected
for one year to serve without pay. These ayuntamientos
were divided into committees of one, two or three per-
sons, which had charge of the various public institutions
and works of the city such as markets, slaughter-houses,
street cleaning, street repairs, and others. Inasmuch as
the greater portion of the working time of any counselor
was required to carry out the executive functions thus
vested in him, and as there was no salary attached, this
form of government was fruitful of corruption and neg-
lect of duty. The paid servants of the city were gener-
ally the relatives or friends of those in power, and as is
usual in such cases what work was done was done by a
very small part of the mass of officials.

In the city of Havana, with a population of 217,000 and
covering an area of 5,240 acres, the engineer force con-
sisted of two men known as municipal architects and four
or five assistants, and of a director of water-works with
two assistants, without instruments and without records
worthy of the name. Throughout the island public office
was looked upon, with a few honorable exceptions, as a
place for repairing broken fortunes or for taking care of
indigent relatives. Responsibility to the people was little

'51

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

thought of and it was a matter of common knowledge that
men appointed to the higher positions were expected to
remit definite sums of money to the appointing powers in
Spain. Some of the most sought-after offices of the cus-
tom house had no salary nor legal fees attached to them.
Men who were strictly honorable in their private dealings
— and the Spanish merchant is proverbially honest in
financial transactions with his brother merchants — thought
it only right to defraud the government. The police force
of Havana had consisted of the guardia civile, who were
always posted in twos, but in spite of the large number
of men , so employed an assassination society known as
" Nanigo " existed for many years in the city, the first
essential of membership in which was the killing of some
human being, and portions of the city were unsafe to
enter or pass through by day or night.

Such were the conditions when General Castellanos at
the head of the few remaining Spanish troops sorrowfully
left the city of Havana at noon on January ist, 1899. At
twelve o'clock on that day an amateur photographer took
two views in quick succession of the Morro Castle; in
the first one the Spanish flag is flying, the sky is overcast
and the picture is dark and gloomy; in the second the
stars and stripes have just been run to the top of the
pole, the sun has burst forth, and the brightness of the
picture is, we hope, an augury of the future of Cuba.

When the evacuation of Havana began General Francis

152

EVACUATION OF CUBA

V. Greene was in command of the American troops and
he immediately took measures to clean the city roughly as
the Spaniards left, placing in direct charge of the work
Captain W. L. Geary of the 2d Volunteer Engineers, with
a force of non-commissioned officers of the same regiment
as inspectors, and employing Cuban labor. General
William Ludlow succeeded General Greene in command
on December 2ist and continued the work, occupying,
with American troops, the different districts of the city in
succession as the Spaniards left them, so that by January
1st the whole of the city streets had been partially cleaned.
On January 1st the entire city was under American
control and though a portion of the Spanish police force
remained, the entire city was patrolled and guarded by
regular troops of the American Army. General Brooke,
the Military Governor of the island was at first, with his
staff, at the Hotel Inglaterra in Havana, but soon removed
to the Hotel Trotcha in Vedado which had, up to that
time, been occupied by the American Evacuation Com-
mission. General Ludlow and his staff were also at the
Inglaterra until better quarters could be prepared for
them. Two regiments of United States troops, the 8th
and loth Infantry, were camped within the city and
furnished the necessary men for guard and patrol duty.
In spite of the national enmity between the different
classes of the inhabitants of Havana, due to the pre-
cautions taken, no collisions took place. It had been de-

'53

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

sired by the Cubans to set aside the first week in January
for a grand fiesta in celebration of the departure of the
Spaniards, during which the victorious Cuban Army, or
such portion as was encamped near the city, was to join
in a grand street parade. Such a procedure was justly
looked upon as dangerous and, with the acquiescence of
prominent Cubans, it was decided that it had best be
postponed, much to the regret of the people, who, how-
ever, bore their disappointment well.

To swell the confusion the city was full of strangers,
many of whom had come to Havana on legitimate busi-
ness enterprises, but many more were of the crowd of ad-
venturers who are always to be found on occasions of
this kind.

General Ludlow had been appointed by the President
the Military Governor of the city of Havana under the
orders of the commanding officer of the Division of Cuba.
He was "charged with all that relates to the collection
and disbursement of the revenues of the port and city
and its police, sanitation and general government, under
such regulations as may be prescribed by the President."
Later, these orders were modified by relieving him of the
responsibility for the collection and disbursement of the
customs revenues of the port.

The special fitness of General Ludlow for this task
was recognized by all. He had proved his gallantry and
ability as a soldier in two wars and as an engineer during

154

GENERAL LUDLOW

the long period of peace, after the Civil War having been
charged with many important public works, including the
charge of the water department of the city of Philadel-
phia, by special permission of Congress, and the duties of
Engineer Commissioner of the District of Columbia.

The work accomplished in Havana during the time
when he was in charge there from January i, 1899 to
May i, 1900, showed the wisdom of the choice, and a
study of the annual reports presented by him discloses
not only the vast amount of work accomplished, but also
plans for further work of constructive value to the new
Republic, shortly to take its place in the family of nations.
It was always a matter of regret to General Ludlow dur-
ing his entire term of office that he was unable to induce
the Msdical Department of the United States Army to
begin the work which later, under Major Walter Reed,
Surgeon, U. S. Army, has given to America, the honor
of having discovered the mode of propagation of yellow
fever, and has permitted the American authorities prac-
tically to free Havana from that dread scourge. General
Ludlow's work was confined to his duties in Havana. He
had there to clean and render sanitary a city which for
years had been a menace to the health of the southern
ports of the United States and which was, at that time in
a condition worse than had ever before been known ; to
keep the peace between the discordant classes of the popu-
lation, the Cubans and Spaniards, in the capital city which

155

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

had, at the same time, been the hot-bed of the revolution
and the home of those most loyal to Spain ; to organize
a city government which should be Cuban in its best sense
but which should protect the rights of property of the
Spanish minority ; to provide for an honest administration
of the finances and restore the credit of 'a bankrupt city
whose resources were crippled by unwise, if not corrupt,
concessions; to care for the homeless and starving; to
fit the prisons, hospitals and asylums for the work for
which they were intended; to start schools; to make an
efficient and self-respecting police force ; to see that justice
was duly administered, and last, but not least, do all this
without embittering :a race alien in thought, feelings and
customs, proud of their descent, language and institutions,
sensitive to a degree, and already chafing over the delay
in the time when the Cuban flag should fly alone over the
island. The magnitude of the work was but a stimulus to
General Ludlow ; the greater the difficulty the higher was
his courage. His staff officers always found in him wise
counsel and cheering words in their greatest trials. He
was loyal to his superiors and to his subordinates ; ready to
correct where work was badly done but unstinting in
praise where praise was deserved; ready to assume re-
sponsibility not only for his own acts, but for those of his
staff when criticized by higher authority ; able, honest and
just, he hated a lie and had small patience with those
whom he found to be working for private ends and

LUDLOW PLACE, 1898

LUDLOW PLACE, 1901

A TACTFUL COMMANDER

against the public interest. In person and manner he was
the beau ideal of a soldier and a cultivated gentleman.
This, too, went for much with the Cubans. He was the
soul of hospitality, and understanding that phase of the
Latin character which causes it to reason by the heart
rather than by the head, he constantly strove to better the
understanding between the Americans on duty in Havana
and the natives, by bringing them together in social func-
tions of various kinds. His sense of humor never de-
serted him and a ludicrous turn of events would relieve
the tension of the severest stress.

His readiness to meet emergencies, also, can be shown
by two instances : One was in the case of El Reconcen-
trado, a paper which made a large part of its income by
blackmail and the publication of obscene and slanderous
accusations against public and private persons. It soon
became evident that severe measures had to be taken and
the paper was suspended and the editors compelled to
promise " not to publish a newspaper of any kind ; not to
" insult any authority nor the chief of police of Havana ;
" not to disturb the public order in any respect ; nor to
" publish the private life of any one ; to live quietly and
" honestly as good citizens/' These editors went
straightway to the United States where they endeavored
to create trouble by proclaiming that General Ludlow
had interfered with the liberty of the press. The matter
was fully investigated by the United States authorities

'57

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

and the action of the General entirely sustained. How
the matter was looked upon in Havana can be understood
when it is known that a number of the leading ladies of
the city had prepared themselves to call on the General
and thank him for his action, in the name of the women
of Havana, but were dissuaded on the ground that undue
publicity would thus be given them.

Another example was the case of the strikes of Sep-
tember, 1899. One Sunday afternoon the minds of the
working classes were inflamed by parties calling upon
them to follow the example of the Chicago anarchists,
and a manifesto was issued in which the following phrase
occurred : " Since there were in Chicago seven martyrs
" who offered their lives when they raised the red flag
" that exalted all workers, we must hoist in this free coun-
" try the same flag that caused the death of so many true
" and noble comrades." The leaders ordered a general
strike for a certain day, which was to include all the
working people of the city. The situation was rendered
the more grave by the fact that even the bread of Havana
was obtained from the public bakeries, so that the execution
of this strike order would have added the menace of
famine to the ordinary 'dangers attending such turbu-
lences. The workingmen of Havana had really no just
cause for complaint and did not desire to strike. The
many, however, were coerced by the few. Action had to
be taken and that quickly, for already minor disturb-

HANDLING A STRIKE

ances had occurred. General Ludlow went at once to the
root of the matter. He arrested a dozen of the labor
leaders, " selecting those who had publicly committed
" themselves to incendiary proclamations and speeches,
" etc. . . . They were informed that the strike would
" not be permitted, and that they would be held respon-
" sible for its abandonment; that all men found idle in
"the street, without visible occupation or means of sup-
" port would be held as vagrants ; that there were ac-
" commodations, such as they were, in the carcel and
"presidio for a thousand or two arrests, and in the
" Morro and Cabana casemates for as many more ; that
" they would be released and escape punishment if they
" acted in good faith and stopped all agitation for a
" strike ; and that otherwise the full power of the gov-
" ernment would be used to control the situation in every
" sense." To this those whose comfort the order most
vitally affected readily agreed, and were immediately dis-
charged. At the same time General Ludlow issued a
proclamation to the people of Havana in which, in well
chosen words, the rights and limitations of liberty were
fully described. The strike was over and no more trouble
was had from this source.

Gen. Ludlow's staff learned to love him, and there was
not one who would not willingly have worked night and
day in executing his orders. As a good executive offi-
cer, he knew how to work through others and at once

'59

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

assigned his various duties, military and civil, to the dif-
ferent members of his staff, and during the entire period
of his command there was not a time when each had not
the feeling that he was in real charge of his particular
work, and would not be overruled excepting for weighty
reasons.

One of the first works was the appointment of an
ayuntamiento to take the place of that left by the Span-
iards, which, for many reasons, could not be left in office.
After consultation with leading Cubans, a new ayunta-
miento was selected from the best representatives of all
classes of the city. This ayuntamiento remained in power
until June, 1900, when it was replaced by one elected by
popular vote. It was freely confessed, later, that up to
date, it has been the only ayuntamiento that has per-
formed its duties with anything like the right spirit. In
his dealings with the ayuntamiento, General Ludlow
showed a rare tact, and guiding, rather than directing
them, never offended the sensitive Spanish pride.

Throughout he showed a thorough understanding of
the best method of dealing with a race which had been
long subjected to tyranny, and which, though aspiring to
liberty, did not comprehend its limitations and responsi-
bilities. He was firm and just, taking action only when
necessary, but then promptly and without temporizing.

1 60

Chapter III

THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS: ITS FORMATION
AND INTELLIGENT OPERATION

THE external transformation of Havana, thanks
to the application of American ideas and car-
ried out with characteristic American energy,
has been little short of marvelous. It almost needs
to be seen to be believed. The photographs which
I am fortunately able to present with this story
tell a portion of the story, not all of it. They show
but a tithe of the herculean task which has been performed
by Generals Wood and Ludlow and by Major Black and
his well-organized department in the Augean Stable of
the Antilles. In the first place, a working system had to
be devised which in itself was enough to tax the energy
and resources of the most energetic and resourceful man
to the uttermost. When one considers the peculiar kind
of chaos which existed at the beginning of American con-
trol in Cuba, and realizes how utterly hopeless, how with-
out beginning or end, was the tangled skein of ruin
wrought by Spanish incompetence, neglect, and corrup-
tion, the magnitude of the task which confronted these
American soldiers may be realized even by those who,
critically inclined, have viewed the situation from distant
armchairs and through the eyes of newspaper correspond-
ents on the alert for sensational " scoops." The mere

161

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

organization of a department which might successfully
hope to work the physical regeneration of a city fallen
into such evil estate was in itself an achievement which
not many men would care to undertake — a fact which
General Ludlow appreciated to the full when in his re-
port of 1899-1900 he wrote concerning Major Black's
accomplished work even at that early date :

" The organization of the department, its gradual ex-
pansion, the training of its employees, the simplification
of methods, the augmented efficiency, and the increased
economy of service are enduring monuments to the
energy, intelligence, and professional ability of the re-
sponsible officer, who has inaugurated and conducted a
tremendous work with the most conspicuous success."

As organized, the Department consisted of the follow-
ing subdivisions: Office of the City Engineer; includ-
ing the chief clerk, stenographers, and record division ;
the Pay Department; Property Department; Department
of Streets; Department of Street Cleaning and Parks;
Department of Waters and Sewers ; Department of Har-
bor Works; Department of Buildings; Department of
Municipal Architect, and Department of Surveys.

As already stated, the work of cleaning the city of
Havana had been begun by Captain Geary, assisted by a
small force of non-commissioned officers of the 2d Volun-
teer Engineers, with Cuban workmen. The quarters of
this force were in a shed on Zulueta street, in an enclosed

162

FIRST STEPS

piece of ground belonging to the city, which had formerly
been the site of a part of the city wall. In this yard was
found the stock which had belonged to the owner of a
concession for paving the city streets. The regular
street cleaning had been done, after a fashion, by machine
sweepers, under a contract, which also included the re-
moval of the garbage. Machine cleaning of the rough
streets was simply impracticable, and that portion of the
contract was discontinued at once. This was easily done
since the contractor had not been paid for some time,
and the contract time had expired. Temporary arrange-
ments were made by means of which the removal of the
garbage was continued. It had been the hope of the
Chief Engineer that he would be able to form a modern
department of municipal public works modeled on that
of the District of Columbia Engineer Department, in
which the employees should be Cubans. This was soon
found to be impracticable inasmuch as, with but few
exceptions, it had proved impossible to find on the island
men capable of conducting the work, either clerical or
out of doors. As soon as practicable, men were brought
from the United States and, with the exceptions above
noted, the responsible positions had to be filled with
Americans. Whether through lack of training or through
inherent defects, it seemed to be impossible for. the
Cubans at first to understand what was meant by a strict
obedience to orders, and by accuracy in executing work.

163

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

This was exemplified in one case where one of the best
Cubans was sent to count the number of sewer openings
in a certain number of city blocks. He made three sepa-
rate counts which all differed each from the others, until
finally his chief in despair was compelled to send an
American to do the work. This did not result from
idleness or lack of desire to do, for many of the Cuban
employees later became excellent public servants.

The volume of work confronting this Department at
the outset was enormous. There were many public
buildings in Havana which had been vacated by the
Spaniards and which, when taken possession of by the
Government of Intervention were found to have been
.looted, not only of their furniture but of all small mov-
able articles they contained, such as gas fixtures, door
knobs, Venetian blinds, etc., etc., and in general had been
defiled with filth in the most disgusting manner. It was
hard to believe that the palace of Segundo Cado, occu-
pied by the officer second in command in the island, with
his assistants, could have been the home of decent peo-
ple. The fortifications, which had been garrisoned up
to the last moment, were found to be in an equally filthy
condition. This was particularly the case with the old
Castillo de la Fuerza, the oldest fortification probably in
the Western Hemisphere, built originally by Fernando
de Soto, and first destroyed in 1538 by pirates, which
had been promptly rebuilt and was in use successively

164

CALZADA DE JESUS DEL MONTE, 1899

CALZADA DE JESUS DEL MONTE, 1901

A FILTHY CITY

as the Governor-General's Palace, military prison, and
barracks for the Guardia Civile, down to the date of
occupation. It was a bastioned work of stone, with a
tier of casemates on the ground floor, and with barracks
built on the site of the barbette battery. On entering
the fort in the early days it was necessary to hold the
breath in passing the doors of these casemates, and when
they were cleaned one of them was found to contain the
bodies of about thirty cats and dogs, which had entered
and perished by reason of the foul air. The building
adjoining the palace of the admiral of the port, used as
a post-office, was in an almost equally bad condition, and
had been a deadly nest of yellow fever during the pre-
ceding summer. The shores of the bay were vile, and
its waters polluted. The city abattoir, called the " Mata-
deros," was situated on the banks of a small stream flow-
ing into the bay near its head. The stream through its
whole course from the Mataderos to the bay was littered
with the viscera of animals slaughtered, and its course
lay directly across the streets which were the main
thoroughfares of the suburbs, the Cerro and Jesus del
Monte. Instances of this kind could be multiplied in-
definitely. The condition of the streets has been de-
scribed before.

All this had to be rectified and without delay. There
were no tools nor implements of a proper kind to be had
in Havana. There was nothing in the possession of the

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

city which could be used. In addition, the Cuban work-
men employed were so suspicious of the good faith of
the Government, doubtless from long and doleful experi-
ence, that it was necessary to pay them every week, and
all this had to be done with vouchers similar to those
required in the United States, and without any adequate
force other than the men mentioned. Within the first
three months after, a very efficient department of munici-
pal public works had been formed, and on the first of
March the organization of this department could com-
pare favorably with any similar organization in the
United States.

Captain Geary was mustered out with his regiment
and returned to the United States in April. His work
had been of the utmost value and had been conducted
with fearlessness of danger and with the system of a
trained public servant. He was a graduate of the U. S.
Military Academy who had resigned and gone into the
civil service of the United States. When the war with
Spain broke out he volunteered and was made a Captain
in the 2d Volunteer Engineers; after the muster out of
his regiment he again volunteered and saw service in the
Philippines, and the country is now fortunate in having
him in the commissioned force of the Regular Army.

He was succeeded by Mr. P. D. Cunningham, civil
engineer, who later became chief engineer of the city of
Havana and remained such until his appointment as con-

166

ASSISTANTS

suiting engineer of the Mexican Boundary Commission,
a promotion thoroughly well deserved, but which after-
wards led to the loss of his life by drowning while on
survey work in the Rio Grande river. Mr. Cunningham
was succeeded by Lieut. Wm. J. Barden, Corps of En-
gineers, U. S. Army, who still retains that position. The
Chief Engineer of the Department was particularly for-
tunate in having the assistance of these gentlemen, both
of whom showed the highest ability and devotion to duty.
On their honesty, good judgment and business capacity,
the fullest reliance could be placed. No small share of
the success of the work in Havana is due to each.

In the Record Department the clerks had to be brought
from the United States and trained in the card-index
system. The magnitude of the work of this office is
shown by the fact that 14,266 cases were placed on record
up to December 31, 1900.

The Pay Department, until fully organized and finally
developed under Messrs. W. F. Smith and Wm. C.
Strong, was a source of anxiety. It was absolutely es-
sential that no mistakes should be made in this Depart-
ment, and that the Cubans should be shown that it was
possible to handle public money without malfeasance of
any kind. The accounts had to be so kept that, at all
times, it could be shown at a moment's notice just what
was the state of each specific allotment for each work,
how much had been allotted, how much had been pledged,

167

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

for materials or services rendered, and how much had
been paid. What this means can only be appreciated by
those who have had charge of large and complicated
public works. Under the old regime, commissions had
always to be paid to purchasing agents of the govern-
ment, two bills being rendered, one showing the amount
to be actually paid to the merchant and one the bill to
be rendered on the government voucher. This system
had to be absolutely broken up and it was long before
the Cuban merchants found that no commissions were
to be paid and that the government demanded the lowest
market rates. On one occasion a bill having been ren-
dered for certification to an assistant engineer, he said to
the merchant presenting it : " I believe there is the usual
commission ; how much is it ? " " Yes," said the mer-
chant, " ten per cent/' " Very well," said the engineer,
"re-write your bill deducting ten per cent, and I will
forward it for payment."

Another custom was that money in payment of labor
was given in bulk to an official, who then allotted it to
the foremen, who finally paid it to the laborers; each of
these officials lowering the amount somewhat as it passed
through his hands, as it was thoroughly recognized that
each man having a government position had to render
up a portion of his pay to the appointing officer. This
custom was broken up with difficulty, for although from

168

PAYMENTS

the first, the laborers were paid in person by the pay-
master, it was some time before they discovered that they
did not have to turn over a portion of their earnings to the
foreman. Frauds of all kinds were attempted and the
most elaborate system had to be devised to prevent them.
The total amount disbursed up to December 31, 1900,
was $4,374,498.10. This amount was fully accounted for
and frequent inspections by the Inspectors-General, U. S.
Army, and two inspections by skilled accountants, re-
sulted in compliments to the Department. At the end of
1900 the number of vouchers was 615 per month. The
force on the rolls was — laborers 3,440, and men of higher
grade 446 — total, 3,886. Payments were made from the
first in United States currency. This was made neces-
sary by the vagaries of the Spanish money used in the
island, in which a five-dollar gold piece (centen) was
worth $5.30 in gold (Spanish). Silver fluctuated in the
neighborhood of from 65^ to 85^ on the dollar, in which
$5.30 of Spanish gold was worth in the neighborhood of
$4.50 American gold. Payments were made to the work-
men, at first weekly; afterwards once in ten days, and
later, as their confidence increased, semi-monthly.

The Property Department, in which materials were
bought and cared for, was finally under the charge of
Mr. Beauregard Weber, on whom fell the task of obtain-
ing the materials called for by the assistant engineers in

169

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

charge of the works, and of seeing that they reached
their proper destination; caring for those that were not
actually used at the time of purchase.

An incidental result of the clerical work of this and
the other departments of the United States in Cuba, was
the introduction of the typewriting machine and the en-
largement of the sphere of women in Cuba by their em-
ployment as stenographers and typewriters, a thing
unknown before the American intervention. One of the
minor incidents in starting the office was the procure-
ment of office furniture. This was mainly obtained from
the pawnshops which had been thoroughly stocked with
the finest office furniture, looted by the Spaniards before
leaving. There is no doubt that a part of the furniture
so bought was replaced in the very office from which it
had been stolen a month earlier.

The Department of Streets was, in succession, under
the charge of Captain Geary, Mr. Cunningham, and Mr.
W. N. McDonald, who had as principal assistant for a
portion of the time, Mr. Jose R. Villalon, who afterwards
became Secretary of Public Works of the island. This
department had charge of repairing the streets, made
necessary, not only for traffic purposes, but also for sani-
tation. The difficulties overcome by this department in
obtaining plant and materials for the repair of streets
and training workmen, were enormous. By Decem-
ber, 1900, the entire in lineal miles of streets of Havana

170

SURVEYS

had been repaired, and most of the thoroughfares were
in fine condition.

Preparatory to the work of sewering and paving
Havana, which was from the start foremost in the mind
of the Government of Intervention, it was necessary to
make a detailed survey of the city. to show the width, and
length of the streets, positions of houses, and grades.
Havana had been built up without any systematic ar-
rangement of grades excepting on one or two streets.
The result was that in the time of rains, the run off from
a large district would be concentrated in a single street,
and the sewers being inadequate, this street became a
raging torrent with water up to the hubs of the wheels.
It is credibly related that on one such occasion a mule
which fell in Obispo street, the principal shopping street
of the city, and which has about a three per cent grade,
was drowned before it could be gotten on its feet.

Another interesting problem was the testing and
selection of materials for the permanent paving of the
city. Photographs of both paved and unpaved streets,
published in the official reports, show better than words
can express, some of the work of this Department. The
cost of this work, after the Department had been organ-
ized, compares very favorably with the unit cost of similar
work in the United States.

The Department of Street Cleaning and Parks was
at an early date under the charge of Mr. A. C. Harper,

171

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

who had been an assistant engineer in the Engineer De-
partment of the U. S. Army. Under Mr. Harper, this
department was thoroughly organized on a most im-
proved modern basis. The streets were swept by hand,
the men working in gangs, excepting towards the end
of 1900, when it was found possible to secure a few re-
sponsible men who could be trusted to work singly dur-
ing the entire day, in the streets of the business portion
of the city. It was Mr. Harper's pride that the back
alleys and streets of the slums were as clean as the busi-
ness portion, and that the whole city, in spite of the bad
pavements, should have its streets in better condition
than those of Washington. Two million, five hundred
and fifty thousand square meters were cleaned daily at an
average cost of 26^ per 1,000 square meters. In the last
six months 4,645 cart loads of materials were removed per
month, weighing in tons, 2,566 pounds. To bring about
these results a plant had to be created, and laborers and
foremen trained ; and stables and repair shops established.
The Department of Street Cleaning in Havana to-day,
will bear comparison with that of any city of the world.
The work of this Department included also the cleaning
of the suburban towns in the Municipality of Havana,
two of which, Regla and Casa Blanca, were in as bad
condition as the worst parts of Havana.

As stated, at the time of the American occupation,
garbage was being placed on some vacant ground at the

172

AGUILA STREET, HAVANA, 1900

AGUILA STREET, HAVANA, 1901

DISPOSITION OF GARBAGE

head of the bay. Prior to the war, it had been taken a
few miles out into the country. Owing to the danger of
sickness this disposal had to be changed. A crematory
was erected, dumping platforms built, and a floating
plant, consisting of lighters and tugs procured, and the
material was burnt or taken to sea daily. Knowing the
noisesomeness and discomfort in a community ordinarily
caused by the presence of a garbage wharf, some diffi-
culty was encountered in obtaining a site for it on the
crowded shores of the Bay of Havana. The old San
Ambrosia Hospital, otherwise known as the Hospital
Militar, was a large building occupying a block of ground
immediately to the north of the Navy Yard. Between it
and the bay was a space, roughly, 130 meters square. A
portion of it was occupied by some low stone buildings
which formed adjuncts to the hospital. This hospital
and its surroundings had probably the very worst repu-
tation in the world as a yellow fever pest hole, with a
mortality record of 60 per cent, and vessels which had
discharged cargoes at the lumber wharves near it were
subjected to extra quarantine on their arrival in the
United States. The walls and the ground were sup-
posed to be impregnated with yellow fever germs, and at
first, in spite of the fine character of the building, there
were serious thoughts of burning it to the ground for the
purpose of removing it, and its accumulated filth and
dangers. Incidentally, it may be stated, that after the

173-

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

building had been thoroughly repaired and cleaned up
by the Engineer Department, its lower floors were and
are now used as a storage warehouse, and the upper
floor has been turned into a fine school, accommodating
1,300 pupils, and with all modern conveniences. It was
rightly believed that no neighborhood which had stood
the Hospital Militar, could be injured by establishing
garbage wharves there, and the space between the hospi-
tal and the bay was set aside for this use. The small
buildings previously spoken of were iri such condition
at the time of the American occupation, in one of them
having been found a putrefying heap of human remains,
that they had to be torn down and destroyed. A crema-
tory was erected, and an office building for the inspector
of the dumps, and platforms, and other adjuncts were
built. Under the energetic and able management of Mr.
J. L. Mudge, the much feared Talipiedra Wharf, in spite
of its use as a place for the collection of the city refuse,
became actually a park to which on Sunday afternoons,
the families of the neighborhood came to get a little pure
air from the bay.

Havana is dotted with parks of greater or smaller ex-
tent, which contained many fine specimens of beautiful
trees and plants. They were in awful condition at the
time of the American occupation. Instead of grass
spaces the ground was covered with flowering plants,
and the walks were bordered with board fences. The

'74

PARKS

gardeners who had been in charge had not been paid for
some time, and had gained their living by raising vege-
tables in the interior of these flower gardens. They were
paid regularly by the Americans from the first, and this
illicit source of gain prohibited. Later it was necessary
to discharge them as it was impossible to keep them from
these corrupt practices.

The parks were finally taken in hand by Mr. Harper,
the fences taken down, flowers removed, and the spaces
thus exposed were made into fine grassy lawns, the first
that had ever been known in Havana. The formation of
these lawns was a mystery to the Cubans, who could not
be convinced that the Americans did not have some secret
method and kind of seed by which they were produced,
and did not realize that it. was simply the result of care-
ful attention.

The parks, some of which had been shunned by decent
people, quickly were utilized for places of rest and recrea-
tion, and no part of the American work in Cuba was
more thoroughly appreciated. The transformations were
truly wonderful. Mr. Harper took the greatest interest
in his work, and inspired his employees with the same
enthusiasm. The space in front of the palace occupied
by General Ludlow's headquarters, was at first a mud
hole. This was paved and a small park arranged for.
On the Saturday evening following the first Fourth of
July, General Ludlow had prepared to give a large public

'75

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

reception at his headquarters, and on the preceding day
had said to the Chief Engineer how sorry he was that
he had been unable to get some trees in the park in time
for it. This was mentioned to Mr. Harper, who said
nothing, and things remained as they were during Fri-
day. On Saturday morning the General looking down
out of his windows found the park filled with beautiful
trees from ten to thirty feet high, and could not believe
his senses. He turned to the Chief Engineer and said:
" Where did you get your lamp ? "

One of the extremely pleasant duties was the restora-
tion of the grounds and ditch of the Fuerza to their an-
cient condition, and also the preservation of the ruins of
the old city walls, in both of which works General Wood
took great interest. Another was the transformation of
the vacant space to the west of the Punta, and at the
foot of the Prado from a receptacle for all sorts of garb-
age into a beautiful park, with a strong sea-wall on the
Gulf front, forming the beginning of a bund, or water-
side drive which, when completed, will not be equaled in
the world. In authorizing the Engineer Department to
do this work, General Wood has added, greatly to the
beauty of Havana. This park faces directly on the open
waters of the Gulf, with shores of rock which fall steeply
into great depths, so that the waves of the sea roll in at
full height, and to within a few feet of the promenade,
where, in time of storms, they rear themselves and break

176

WATER AND SEWERS

with a vast upheaval of foam and spray. On calm after-
noons the view from the sea wall along the crescent-
shaped front of Havana, with its many tinted buildings,
out to the Western horizon, where, over the dark blue
waters of the Gulf the setting sun tints the sky with its
greatest splendors, is entrancingly beautiful. The atmos-
phere is singularly pure and clear, and to the eastward,
in the rosy sunset glow, the masonry of the Morro Castle,
which seems to spring naturally from the rough rocks
of its base, takes on colors which cannot be reproduced
by art.

The Water and Sewer Department was organized by
Captain A. W. Cooke, who remained in Havana after the
departure of his regiment, the 2d Volunteer Engineers,
and was its efficient head until he resigned in the summer
of 1900, to accept a very advantageous position in the
United States. He was succeeded by Mr. Ovidio
Giberga, a Cuban engineer who had received his training
in the United States. It seemed the irony of fate that,
in the following fall, Captain Cooke, who had passed
unhurt through the dangers attending the first cleaning
up of the city, should have revisited Havana on business
and should have died within a few days of his arrival,
a victim of the dread yellow fever.

Havana is blessed in its pure water supply. Water
was first introduced into the city toward the end of the
1 6th century, from the Almendares river, through an

177

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

open aqueduct called the Zanja Real, which started from
a pool formed by a dam placed about four miles above
the mouth of the river. The Zanja ended in a ditch or
moat outside the walls of the city, which it supplied with
water. In 1837 a set of filter-beds was constructed on the
banks of the river near the inlet of the Zanja, and was
connected with the city by a 2O-inch iron main. This
was known as the aqueduct of Ferdinand VII. The
works of the present system of water supply were con-
structed between 1880 and 1893. Five miles above the
old dam, and about six miles from Havana, a spring of
pure water, having a daily flow of about seventy million
gallons, bursts from the west bank of the Almendares
river. This spring was carefully walled in and protected
from overflow by the river during freshets, and the sur-
face of the ground was drained in such manner as to
prevent contamination by surface water. From this
spring, water is led through a covered brick aqueduct
about six feet in diameter to the reservoir which is situ-
ated in the Cerro. The aqueduct crosses the river be-
neath its bed, close to the spring, and the masonry at the
spring, in the tunnel, and in the aqueduct itself is a most
creditable piece of work. This aqueduct is called the
Canal de Albear. This name and a statue in the city
commemorate the gratitude of the people to Colonel de
Albear, an engineer in the Spanish Army, who con-
structed the aqueduct. The water is wonderfully clear,

ESCOBAR STREET, 1899

ESCOBAR STREET, 1901

THE WATER DEPARTMENT

and a small piece of silver thrown into the reservoir can
be seen shining at its bottom through a depth of twenty
feet.

The water department of the city was better organized
than any other branch of the municipal service, but even
the fine aqueduct had been allowed to fall in need of
repairs, and work had to be done at the river crossing to
prevent its destruction. The distribution system through
the city, contained parts of the old system of Ferdinand
VII. It was found that the water pressures in the houses
were not what they should be, and an examination showed
the cause. Leaks and stoppages existed everywhere in
the pipes of the old system. One piece taken out and
brought to the office was a curiosity. In this the work-
man had neglected to calk first with tow and had simply
poured the lead solder into the open joint. When the
joint was taken up there was a lump about the size of a
derby hat in the interior of the pipe. This was simply
a sample of the kind of work which was found. Water
waste prevailed everywhere, and energetic measures had
to be taken. There was nothing like an equal system of
distribution of water. Every legalized abuse existed and
on the whole it was found that the equitable, proper and
financially economical use of water was no more under-
stood in Havana than in New York. Among the im-
provements made, were the supplying of the suburb of
Casa Blanca and the fortresses of Cabana and Morro

179

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

with water by means of a 6-inch pipe, leading across the
harbor, with a small pumping station in Casa Blanca;
the construction of a main around the head of the bay,
for supplying Regla and the intermediate suburbs; the
construction of a pumping station for the high service
necessary for Cerro and Jesus del Monte, and Marianao,
and the installation in Havana of modern plugs for fire
service.

There were about forty miles of old sewers in Havana.
These had been constructed apparently on the shortest
line from some particular house or locality which was
to be served, to the bay or sea. They ordinarily were
situated just below the street pavement; were rectangular
in cross-section, with sidewalks and top of rough stone
and a bottom of natural rock or roughly paved stone.
They were totally unfit for carrying anything but storm
water, but as modern toilet arrangements began to be
introduced in Havana, the houses were necessarily con-
nected with them, and at the time of American interven-
tion the sewers were in a frightful condition. There was
no map in existence which showed their location or
course, and they were discovered usually by the odor
arising from a sewer opening. They were found and
cleaned, by tearing up the streets and removing the accu-
mulated filth by hand. All possible precautions were
taken to prevent sickness in pursuing this most un-
pleasant, but most necessary labor, and it is gratifying

1 80

PLUMBING

to be able to state that not a case of sickness was known
to have resulted therefrom.

Together with this sewer work the installation of
proper plumbing in the buildings of the city was taken
in hand. When plumbing installations were ordered by
the sanitary department, the plans were furnished, and
in many cases the work done, by the Engineer Depart-
ment. No plumber able to make a wiped joint was to
be found in Havana, nor was there adequate knowledge
of modern plumbing systems, so that not only the mate-
rials, but also the men to install them had to be brought
from the United States. Another improvement worked
was in the night soil service. Odorless excavators were
imported and put in use, to replace the filthy hand clean-
ing which had been done, or not done, prior to the
American occupation.

As stated before, the subject of a proper sewerage sys-
tem for Havana had been, from the first, under serious
consideration. In the almost panicky condition of the
people of the United States over the dangers of Havana,
not only to the army, but to the cities on the southern
sea-ports, the greatest haste was urged on the American
authorities, and absurd propositions to install a complete
sewerage system in Havana within three months received
strong political backing. Under these circumstances it
required a strong will and clear judgment on the part
of the Military Governor to act wisely. There was no

181

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

map of Havana in sufficient detail on which to make the
proper calculations for designing a sewer system, and no
experiments had been made looking to a proper and
economical means of disposal. Prior to the American
intervention, an individual had urged upon the city a plan
for sewering and paving a portion of it, and formalities
for the granting of a concession to him had been partially
completed. He too, urged his claims on the Military
Governor. After careful consideration it was determined,
however, that Havana could be made clean and free from
disease without a sewer system, and that such delay as
might be necessary to permit surveys to be made and a
proper system devised, with the aid of the best sewer
experts attainable, was not only justified but was most to
the public interest. This decision received not unlooked-
for abuse from interested parties who had hoped to profit
very largely at the city's expense. Its wisdom, however,
was recognized by General Wood, when he succeeded in
charge of the city, and the action has been abundantly
justified by the completion of a contract which will afford
a thoroughly efficient system of sewers and pavements
for the whole of Havana, at a cost less than had been
contemplated, in the proposed concession before men-
tioned, for providing sewers and pavements for a por-
tion of this area.

The sewer system was devised by Mr. D. E. McComb,
Civil Engineer, Washington, D. C, and the final project

182

THE BAY OF HAVANA

was made by Mr. Samuel M. Gray, of Providence,
Rhode Island.

In gathering the data necessary, very interesting in-
formation was, obtained relating to the tides and currents
of the Gulf, and the Bay of Havana. Havana is situated
in a bight of the coast, and in front of it the Gulf Stream
forms an eddy, so that the flow of the water passes from
the mouth of the harbor along the city frontage, to the
westward, almost the entire time. There is but one real
tide a day in the harbor, and the rise is about the same in
the Gulf and at the head of the bay, averaging about
eight-tenths of a foot. The surface flow at the mouth is
almost invariably outward, the flood current entering
from the east as a subsurface current and not showing
on the surface until well within the harbor.

The works of the Port of Havana were formerly a
State institution managed by a Junta with an Engineer
Director in immediate charge. General Ludlow placed
these works under the Chief Engineer, along with the
municipal work. Captain A. H. Weber of the 2d Volun-
teer Engineers was placed in immediate charge, and in
the conduct of these works, and all other works intrusted
to him, Captain Weber added to the reputation which
he obtained in his twenty years' service as an assistant
engineer in the Engineer Department of the U. S. Army
as a thoroughly reliable and clear-headed assistant, -abso-
lutely devoted to duty. In the many problems that arose

183

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

it sometimes occurred that work was given to Captain
Weber outside the line of his former experience, but in
not a single instance did he fail to merit the full confi-
dence that was reposed in him by his superiors.

The work of the port as found organized under the
direct charge of Senor Jose Pujals, was the only really
efficient organization which the Department discovered
in Cuba. Seiior Pujals was a most courteous gentleman,
and an able engineer, and it was a great pleasure to the
intervening government to retain so honorable a public
servant in service. The same may be said of his assist-
ants. Additions were made to the department, but almost
all of the old personnel was retained. The work carried
on by this department included the cleaning of the shores
of the bay, and the periodical cleaning out of the vile
Mateadoras creek; dredging in the bay, and the repair
and construction of piers and bulkheads.

The Bay of Havana has been about the most maligned
natural body of water known, but when the city was
cleaned, and kept clean, the bay promptly cleaned itself.
The worst portions are the shores at its head, for the
bulkheading and clearing of which projects have been
formed, but not yet carried out. Even the water in that
vicinity was clean as compared with the Chicago river,
and portions of the harbors of New York and Philadel-
phia. A portion of the staff of General Ludlow lived in
a large building on the harbor front, a little over a half

184

THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT

mile from its mouth, and it was a favorite diversion in
the early morning to watch the schools of fish ply about
the water directly beneath the house walls. The presence
of the fish and the fact that they could be seen was a
sufficient proof of the clearness of the water.

One of the busiest branches of the service was the
Building Department which, under Captain T. H. Hus-
ton, formerly of the 2d Volunteer Engineers, who or-
ganized it and remained at its head until the fall of 1900,
when he received a most advantageous position in civil
life, reached a high degree of efficiency. Captain Huston
was succeeded by Mr. G. W. Armitage, who had been
his assistant.

All kinds of construction work were carried on by
this department, and the records were so carefully kept
that the unit cost of each class of work, both of mate-
rials and labor, was known accurately, so that work pro-
jected and estimated for was completed inside the esti-
mates, and work done by contract was let under prices
which exceeded the estimated cost only by the usual con-
tractor's profit. The work of this department was very
interesting. The better class of houses in Havana were
solidly constructed of stone, with heavy side walls. The
floors and roof had the same construction which usually
consisted of a series of deep joists laid quite closely to-
gether, over which was placed, at right angles 2" x 4"
strips spaced so as to support an ordinary flat tile, a layer

185

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

of which was then set with mortar joints. Over this was
from two to three inches of sand obtained from rotten
limestone, called " coca." On this again was spread a
layer of mortar in which the tile which formed the floor
and roof, as the case may be, was laid. The roofs were
flat as a rule, and the side walls were ordinarily extended
about two and one-half feet above them, forming a para-
pet. The addition of another story was a simple matter.
Smaller houses had roofs with a very steep pitch, covered
usually with semi-cylindrical tile. The lines of these
roofs were ordinarily slightly curved, the effect being
very picturesque.

Many beautiful woods were found in the old buildings
which, when stripped of their disfiguring coat of paint
and given an oil finish had a lovely coloring. As an
example of the profusion of fine timber formerly found
in Cuba, it may be stated that the wharf at Santiago was
decked entirely with mahogany planks. Woods of equal
richness in coloring were used for railroad ties.

The plan of the houses was well fitted for the hot cli-
mate. Ordinarily a single depth of rooms with lofty ceil-
ings was built around a patio or court, with corridors
inside and out. This court sometimes was screened by
awnings and ornamented with fountains and plants.

Nearly a million dollars was expended in this depart-
ment up to December 3Oth, 1901. Practically all the pub-
lic buildings in Havana received more or less attention

186

PALATINO ROAD, 1899

PALATINO ROAD, 1901

THE MUNICIPAL ARCHITECT

from it, and some were almost entirely reconstructed.
The department must be given the credit for introducing
into Cuba expanded metal concrete construction for the
cheaper class of houses, a style of building well suited to
the climate. In addition to this construction work, there
were installed in hospitals, prisons and other public in-
stitutions, modern sanitary plumbing, lavatories, electric
light plants, steam laundries and steam kitchens. One
of its most extensive works was the transforming of the
Hospital Militar, alluded to earlier. The skill and taste
shown, as well as the economy and efficiency of manage-
ment, were most creditable.

The office of the Municipal Architect was entirely dis-
tinct. Some of the building laws of Havana are very
wise, especially those relating to the exterior construction,
adornment and painting. Under these laws, private in-
dividuals desiring to build were compelled to obtain per-
mits from the municipal architect in the usual manner.
For this reason it was deemed best that the municipal
architect's office which had the charge and supervision
of this, should be entirely Cuban, and the Department
was very fortunate in obtaining a fearless and honest
head for it in Senor Luis de Arozarena, a well-known
citizen of Cuba.

On the arrival of the Americans in Cuba many maps
of Havana were found. These all proved to be on too
small a scale to be used in detailed municipal work, and

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

almost all were quite inaccurate. Some of the maps ap-
peared to be beautiful specimens of cartography, but a
close investigation showed that they bore not a very close
relation to the accidents of the ground which they were
supposed to picture. This was notably the case with the
Spanish engineer maps of the fortifications around
Havana. Under these circumstances it was deemed best
to make an accurate chart of Havana and its surround-
ings. As before stated, the portion within the city was
made by the Street Department; the remaining portion
of the original Department of Havana was mapped under
the charge of Mr. Joseph A. Sargent. In carrying on his
work Mr. Sargent had some forty different maps of the
country for his guidance, but no two of them agreed.
Almost all of Mr. Sargent's assistants were Americans.
To the force of Americans employed in the Engineer
Department too much credit cannot be given for their
faithfulness to duty. Where work was to be done and
time was pressing, as was the case through that first year
of stress, office hours were entirely disregarded, and
when yellow fever appeared in Havana they remained at
their posts. A very few were scared away. Happily the
force was little touched by the fever ; a few became sick,
but only two died. Among the employees were several
young American women, typewriters and stenographers,
and their pluck was equal to that of the men. Our coun-
try owes a debt of gratitude to the men and women in

188

CONSOLIDATION

this and the other departments of the intervening govern-
ment for upholding its good name, and conducting a
missionary work which will have most far-reaching re-
sults. It is a pity that the names of all cannot be recorded
and made known.

After the arrival of General Wood in Havana, the De-
partment of Havana was consolidated into the Depart-
ment of Cuba, and the field of labor was correspondingly
enlarged. One of the important works which fell to the
Engineer Department, was the compilation of an organic
law for the Department of Public Works of the island;
the drawing up of its blank forms, and the translation
of the whole into Spanish, not an easy task when it is
remembered that differences in methods and work are
always reflected in a language. For example, it was im-
possible to find a Spanish word corresponding to our
term " public property " and the word " material " which
had been used somewhat in that sense in branches of
the Spanish military service, had to be adopted and
defined.

Throughout Cuba was found the quickening hand of
the Americans ; roads and bridges built ; hospitals and
schools established ; and prisons renovated, showed the
work of officers of the various arms of the service. Cuba
to-day is a very different country from what it was on
December 31, 1898.

In the little band of Americans which formed the staff

189

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

of the Commanding-General, mention must be made of
one whose name but rarely appeared, and who has never
been associated with any particular work, but yet whose
influence was felt everywhere, removing threatened fric-
tion between the heads of the various departments, and
by wise counsel strengthening the hand of his command-
ing officer. This was the Adjutant-General, Colonel H.
L. Scott, U. S. V., Captain 7th Cavalry. It is a sad
reflection on the system of rewards in our military service
that after the hard work, well done, Colonel Scott will
finish his career in Cuba with exactly the same rank and
pay in the regular service as that which he had before
the war.

The details of Major Black's organization and its
workings are so vast that it would require twice the num-
ber of pages at my disposal to set them forth, but one
special item of unusual significance in the matter of the
personnel of the Engineering- Department is worthy of
note. It may be added that in the assignment of work in
all the departments now in operation in Cuba the same
idea is followed out, and to such a degree that it may be
said that almost every penny that has been expended in
Cuba for the advancement of Cuban health and prosperity
in the line of public works has gone into Cuban pockets.
I quote from Major Black's report of May i, 1900, pub-
lished in the report of General Ludlow :

" In forming the personnel of the department, prefer-
190

CUBANS IN THE SERVICE

ence has been given to Cubans seeking employment. The
absolute lack of experience of the natives of this island
in general in modern municipal work has made it neces-
sary to employ Americans to a great extent. It is be-
lieved, however, that this department has, at the expense
of some money and a great deal of time, succeeded in
placing in training a number of Cubans for advancement
later to higher posts. It would have been possible to have
made a better showing in cost had none, with but few
exceptions, but Americans been employed in all positions
above the grade of ordinary laborer, but it is not believed
that that would have been the proper policy to be pursued.
In the works promotions have been made from the lower
grades to the higher, with excellent results throughout,
and a number of excellent foremen and inspectors have
been obtained thereby. As time passes, and as Cubans
of the requisite training and acquirements become avail-
able, the number of Americans can be gradually de-
creased. To-day there are not in the island of Cuba
enough trained Cuban engineers, architects, master-me-
chanics, master-workmen, stenographers, and type-writ-
ers to carry .on the works that are required."

From the time when Major Black's report was made,
and his relinquishment of his office in this particular
respect he more than fulfilled the implied pledge of this
paragraph. Cuba for the Cubans has been the key-note
of American administration in that island, and those who

191

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

state aught to the contrary do so either in ignorance or
in wilful perversion of the facts.

With the results of the methods of this Department,
we of the American public are much concerned to-day.
Among those who comprehend the difficulties of the work
that was undertaken by them the recognition of the ad-
mirable service rendered by the responsible heads of the
various departments is inevitable. By those who see
only the results equal appreciation will be shown, although
these may fail to realize the intense application, the un-
remitting energy, the enthusiasm, and the discourage-
ments through which the Cuban tree, grafted with Amer-
ican ideals, has been made to bear such good fruit. Ha-
vana of to-day is a redeemed Havana, and while of old
it was said that Havana is not Cuba, it is true to-day that
the same energy and spirit of upliftment which has shown
such remarkable results in the capital city of the island,
are typical of the work throughout. Those who left Cuba
in former days, despite the enjoyment of the dolce far
niente hours spent within its boundaries, left it with a
sense of relief. To-day, after a brief sojourn, it is left with
regret and with a positive sense of affection. Somehow
or other Havana brought to myself the sensation which a
glorious toy would have brought in my boyhood days,
and I should not have regretted it had I been permitted
to remain there indefinitely to enjoy its many charms. It
is a smiling city. It is a clean city, and as a haven of

192

THE SEA WALL OF LA PUNTA

LA PUNTA, 1900

A SMILING COUNTRY

delight, of rest, and of pleasure it may be called without
exaggeration a miniature Paris. The scouring it has
received from the street-cleaning forces has made its
highways sweet and fair to look upon. The rebuilding
of these highways has made traffic throughout tjieir
quaint and devious length a delight. The harbor, once
known as the natural home of all sorts and conditions of
disease-breeding germs, has now some of the unspeak-
able charm that we look for along the Venetian canals.
The public parks, the broad drives through the Cerro,
the Vedado, the Palatine Road, the Esplanade of La
Punta — all to-day suggest, even to an unimaginative
mind, a municipal paradise, and whatever the future may
hold for those who have wrought this transformation ;
whether they find or do not find that appreciation of the
strenuous effort they have so self-sacrificingly put forth
in behalf of the Havanese and the Cubans generally which
is their due, the American rulers of the island, since Jan-
uary i, 1899, may regard with pride and personal satis-
faction the results which are obvious to any open eye and
to any fair mind.

If Mr. Gomez prefers General Weyler, with his atroc-
ities, to General Wood and his beneficent despotism,
with the evidences of the great work accomplished before
the eyes of the world, one cannot but feel sorry for Mr.
Gomez ; nor can we escape the conviction that if he rep-
resents any considerable portion of the Cuban public,

193

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

then a considerable portion of the Cuban public is unfit
to assume the responsibilities of self-government, and
that, therefore, our obligations, not alone to humanity,
but to Cuba itself may require us willingly or unwillingly
to assume once more the responsibilities of the Trust.

In the matter of breathing-spots in cities, the record
at Havana is typical.

Visitors to the Havana of former days look back with
much sentimental pleasure upon the public squares and
parks of that charming little city of which I have already
spoken generally. Among the first questions that were
asked of me upon my return by friends who knew the
Cuba of other days was as to the condition of these breath-
ing-spots, and most solicitous have all seemed to be for
the Prado, which, once seen in its beauty and gayety, is
not soon to be forgotten. It has been a pleasure not only
to reassure these reminiscent folk of the continued main-
tenance of the Prado as an avenue of delight for those
awheel, afoot, or on horseback, but to be able to add that
American genius and enterprise have given to this broad
and deliciously shaded boulevard in miniature a finishing-
touch which leaves it little short of perfection. The chief
trouble with the Prado of olden time was that it led to
nothing in particular. It began at the Parque Central
and ended there. The objective was eliminated, unless a
vast space of rough and unimproved frontage on the
Gulf, where careless people disposed of refuse articles at

194

THE PRADO

their pleasure, may be considered a spot worth going
to see. It is not to be admitted that a sublime junk-
repository, or a vacant lot unadorned, would be a fitting
climax to such a broad highway as Commonwealth Ave-
nue at Boston, for instance, and yet the famous drive of
Havana was hardly better off than this. It was a pity
that it should be so, too, for there is no more beautiful
spectacle to be seen anywhere than the breaking of the
waves of the Gulf of Mexico upon the seaboard at what
is now the terminal point of the Prado. The most unsen-
timental of souls must yield to the seductions of that
scene. There is an element of grandeur about it which
we do not find in the breakers of the New Jersey coast,
or even in those which lend to the rock-bound coast-line
of Newport an indescribable charm. Both day and night
it provides for the eye of man a glimpse of nature in a
mood that thrills; or if not, at least soothes; and in my
own particular case I found in a five minutes' contem-
plation of its beauties more real rest and relaxation from
care than could be derived from a six hours' sleep upon
my steel-ribbed mattress and wood-fibre pillow at the
hotel. In spite of its vastness there is a spirit of friend-
liness about the sea that makes a man think just a little
better of himself than he otherwise might, and there are
few men who can be oppressed by a sense of loneliness
if in some way they are able to establish a personal rela-
tionship with the restless waters of the earth. One gets

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

down to the elementals of life in a contemplation of the
elements in their normal estate, and I should say on gen-
eral principles that in giving to the people of Havana a
point of vantage whence they may look upon that beauti-
ful body of water which nature has hitherto wasted
upon them, the tyrants of American empire have accom-
plished a work of actual beneficence an appreciation of
which is filtering into the consciousness of the bene-
ficiaries. It makes little difference how bad a man may
be or how unsusceptible to the fineness of the things that
lie ready to the eye, there is an undeniable appeal in
the glories of nature that must touch somewhere and at
some time upon his latent sense of appreciation; and if
a man be one of the weary — as so many of our Cuban
brothers are — a vast wash of spray made prismatic by
the wondrous colors of a Southern sunset cannot fail to
bring relief to the tense nerves and rest to the tired
mind.

I do not know if the American rulers of Cuba had
in mind the philosophy of La Punta when they ven-
tured upon this improvement. It is more than likely
that they thought of it merely as a new outlet for
their energies in the line of constructive public work.
Nevertheless, they have accomplished a work in the
building of this parklike terminal of this favorite and
fashionable drive of Havana which makes of this
highway not alone a perfect and exhilarating diversion

196

LA PUNTA

for those favored by fortune, but a haven of rest and
comfort and health as well for the care-burdened mem-
bers of a semi-submerged class. It was not until an
administration capable of discerning the possibilities of
the situation came into control of their affairs that the
Havanese were permitted to see and to enjoy the natural
beauties of their environment, and in supplanting the
red glare of a vacant and obnoxious acreage with that
coign of health and restfulness La Punta, the soldiers
of the United States have conferred an actual blessing
upon the Cuban people. The use which the latter make
of it indicates their appreciation of its value to them.
The sea-wall on Sunday afternoons is crowded by Cubans
of all sorts and conditions; and of all ages, from prank-
some youth, romping, while the police are looking the
other way, along the coping of the wall itself, to the
solemn, sedate, and contemplative patriarch seated on
the benches, gazing out over the waters of the Gulf and
letting its beauties soak into the recesses of his weary
braiq. At night, especially on moonlight nights, one
finds not a few evidences hereon that, however strict the
regulations of society may be, all Cuban maidens are
not required to sit under the espionage of duennas at
important crises of life — or if so required are sometimes
able to escape an irksome association; and as a substi-
tute for the nightcap of Northern latitudes I found a
stroll to La Punta and a brief moment thereon shortly

197

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

before retiring a delightful and fitting climax to the
day.

It was never my good fortune while in Havana to
encounter Mr. Juan Gualberto Gomez, the most ardent
opponent of American ideas in Cuba, upon the Esplanade
of La Punta, and it is possible, though hardly probable,
that he has never seen it. If he has not, however, I
should advise him to hasten thither at the first convenient
moment, and to take in all the suggestiveness of the
scene. He may not be susceptible to the natural beauties
of the Gulf that will strike his eye, but he will find
himself able to take in at a glance the essential differ-
ences between Spanish and American militarism, since
from this esplanade of peace, health, and pleasure, the
work of the American military authorities, he will be
able to look across the narrow entrance to the harbor of
Havana upon the frowning heights of El Morro, re-
enforced to the southward by the grim and tragic walls
of the fortress of Cabana — these both the outward and
the visible signs of Spanish militaristic aspiration. If
there is no object-lesson in this contrast for the distin-
guished statesman and his followers, he and they are
past educating, and so far beyond the possibility of paci-
fication that it would seem almost like giving the island
over to renewed chaos for the American authorities to
relinquish the responsibility for the future welfare of
Cuba to such a leader and to such a party.

198

COLON PARK, 1 899

COLON PARK 1901

THE PARKS

Another notable improvement, along similar lines is
encountered in Colon Park, some idea of which the
reader may derive from a glance at the before and after
photographs here presented. Both pictures were taken
from practically the same spot, and show the precise con-
dition of the northeast cuarton of the park as it was
when our forces entered into control and as it appears to-
day. The transformation is striking, and as far as any
one can discover meets with the approval of all save
those who may no longer profit by demoralized con-
ditions. I have been informed that former care-takers of
Colon Park were in the habit of devoting their best
energies to the raising of vegetables for their own ag-
grandizement upon this public play-ground, the dense
foliage serving as a screen behind which to hide the
evidences of their unlawful industry. Under present
conditions, of course, such enterprises as this are as
impossible as they would be in Madison Square Park or
on the Boston Common ; but, after all, one can hardly
blame the canny Cuban of other days for making a
private enterprise of a public utility, since place from
top to bottom of the official scale was regarded as a
legitimate outlet for the activities of the plunderer.
Surely if General Weyler was able to regard Cuba as
his farm, the superintendent of a public park could
hardly be expected to see anything reprehensible in the
transformation of the people's play-ground into a market-

199

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

garden. Men of this stamp are probably unfavorably
impressed by American ideas in relation to the park
system, but these are few in number, and are no more
worthy of serious consideration than the cavilling critics
of the cafes, or the politicians who for obvious reasons
would like to have supervised the work.

The remaining photographs of contrast presented here-
with are but additional evidence of the energy and sound
sense of those who have had the physical regeneration of
Cuba on their shoulders. The contrast between Mon-
serrate Street as it once was, and now is, is interesting
in the fact that the transformation involved an attack on
what in this country we would call " Shanty-town." A
large number of wooden shacks bordered the ruin of
the old Havana wall, and were the natural resting-place
of all sorts, of unhealthful and revolting conditions.
These have practically all been cleared away, and a
locality which was to all intents and purposes a pest-hole
of filth and disease germs is rapidly being turned into a
further acreage for the rest and diversion of the people
of Havana. The ruined wall is being retained as an
object of historic interest, repaired where necessary, and
restored where desirable, but the squatter's sovereignty
is at an end and where once he built his shack we now
see stretches of grass-bordered paths having all the at-
tributes of a public parkway.

It should be added in a discussion of the park improve-
2OO

A CUBAN PLAYGROUND

ment of Havana that the special instances already noted
are only typical of the work that has been done and is still
being prosecuted throughout the whole city, as well as
in the other cities of Cuba. It is not much of an exag-
geration to say of Havana that it has become almost a
park in itself. In spite of its business activities, which are
great, there is an atmosphere about the Cuban capital
which suggests the play-ground rather than the market-
place. It strikes one as a city designed by nature to
become a resort for men and women in search of rest
and recreation, and just as Paris since the days of the
empire has been in many ways remodelled and made over
into a city of pleasure as well as of commerce, so is
Havana being transformed in such a fashion that great
profit must ultimately come to her people. Thousands of
Americans flock annually to the State of Florida to
secure a little surcease from the trials of business life,
and not a few of the leisurely make a habit of spending
their winters in that favored State. It is inconceivable
that once the American people realize the wonderful
interest of this developing section of the world they will
not travel the very few hours longer that are necessary to
bring them into those Southern latitudes across the Strait
of Florida. Of what commercial value alone to the
island of Cuba this influx of travel must ultimately be-
come it requires no superhuman intelligence to estimate,
and even those who find vent for cavilling comment upon

2OI

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

the operations of the American military government in
these improvements must admit that they are the neces-
sary forerunners of a great prosperity.

Aside from this, the commercial aspect of the situation,
however, are the greater considerations of the public
health, and the immediate welfare of the general public.
In the work which the military authorities have prose-
cuted in these improvements they have not only made
Havana a city more healthful than many cities of a
similar class in our own country, but have given work
to thousands of laborers who without it would either
have starved to death, or have become a charge upon
the charities of the island. Viewed from any stand-point,
then, these efforts have been along lines of the highest
political wisdom, and as such should redound everlast-
ingly to the credit of the American administration in
Cuba.

202

Chapter IV

THE DEPARTMENT OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. I.

NE of the most pressing duties of the American
Military Government upon assuming control of
Cuban affairs was the immediate care of the
destitute and homeless people of that unhappy country
to the number of thousands. To exaggerate the condi-
tion of misery into which the rule of General Weyler
had plunged those who were unhappily subject to his
monstrous will is impossible. Adequately to describe
their woeful condition is too hard a task for any
pen. Weyler's successor, General Blanco, none too scru-
pulous himself in the matter of the humanities, was an
angel of mercy compared to this High-Priest of Inhu-
manity, who brought things to such a pass on Cuban soil
that it taxes the credulity even of those who witnessed
them to believe that such conditions could have existed
in any age, much less our own. The policy of reconcen-
tration inaugurated by General Weyler in the province
of Pinar del Rio was merciful only in that it was a
policy of death; but there were some who escaped its
mercy, and who lived to face an awful beggary in a land
where the well-to-do had nothing to give, to face starva-
tion in fertile fields which the policy of reconcentration
had rendered unproductive, and whose only friend was

203

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

the Cuban climate, which fortunately is almost always
kind to the roofless and the naked. It is an old story,
that of the corruption of the Spanish official. It is one
of the few stories in history that compel the historian to
set aside rather than to cultivate his imaginative powers,
since in a mere narration of the facts he runs the risk
of destroying that confidence in his periods which is
essential to success. But the corruption of the Spanish
monster was as an ant-hill beside the Alp-like heights
of his inhumanity. Such open cruelty as was that of
Weyler is terrible to contemplate. His subtle cruelties
are beyond description and belief. Fertile fields were
laid waste by fire, families were broken up, workers were
forbidden on penalty of death to work, even while it
needed but their effort to silence the cries of their starv-
ing little ones ; children were separated from their parents ;
homes were utterly destroyed, both physically and mor-
ally; and where death failed to follow in the train of
Weyler's endeavor to " pacify," a life that was worse
than death ensued. The photographs of individual men,
women, and children who suffered the horrors of this
policy but who yet survived its monstrous requirements,
are of so terrible a realism that I should not dare repro-
duce them in these pages. It suffices to say that they
exist, and are actual pictures of living human beings,
dwelling in a land so richly fertile that there is scarcely
another like it in all the garden-spots of earth, reduced

204

MAJOR E. ST. JOHN GREBLE, U. S. A

WIDOWS AND ORPHANS

to a condition of actual suffering and material misery
alongside of which a contemplation of the sufferings of
the famine-stricken people of India as shown in the
photographs that now and then come to us from the
East becomes a positive relief.

To give a faint idea of the destitute condition through-
out the country side and merely to suggest the brutalities
of the Spanish soldiery which left so much ruin in their
train I reproduce some extracts made by Mr. Franklin
Matthews from the notes- set down by Gen. James H.
Wilson, while upon his tour of inspection, immediately
after the American occupation, as follows:

" SANTANILLA. — About 800 widows, girls, and help-
less children left without male support.

JAGUEY GRANDE. — About 550 destitute widows, besides
850 destitute women and children.

LAS CABEZAS. — There are now about 300 widows and
their families; total destitute, from 700 to 1,000.

BOLONDRON. — About 450 women and children without
male support.

CORRAL FALSO. — About 100 widows and 400 orphans."

And so the list might be extended to town after town.
Remember, this was the situation in small towns, mere
villages, and only in one province.

Here are some notes taken by General Wilson as to the
conduct of the Spanish soldiers:

205

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

" LAS CABEZAS. — After the people had planted and
raised crops the Spanish soldiers would not permit them
to gather them, but took them from them, and also stole
everything they had — cattle, cows, and chickens.

BOLONDRON. — Spanish soldiers stole everything in sight,
and told council to pay for it.

JAGUEY GRANDE. — Eight hundred Spanish troops here
for eighteen months ; left 28th of November ; went to Ma-
tanzas; they robbed the people of everything they pos-
sessed— poultry, livestock, vegetables, fruits — everything.

CUEVITAS. — Spanish troops left here on December 17.
They stole everything they could find every night; even
broke into houses.

CUMANAYAGUA. — About 800 to i,ooo Spanish troops
left here on December 1 1 ; they stole right and left —
everything and everybody.

MACAGUA. — The Spanish soldiers behaved in the
blackest and worst manner. When traveling by train
and they saw a herd of cattle, the train would be stopped,
such quantity as they needed for use would be killed, and
the remainder ruthlessly shot and left lying along the
track."

And that feature of Spanish conduct could be extended
indefinitely. Mr. Matthews makes another quotation
from these notes, which General Wilson jotted down
roughly :

206

THE STARVATION POLICY

" Nobody seems to have yet understood how far-reach-
ing was the effort of General Weyler to starve the Cu-
ban people. He took occasion to send to every town a
garrison whose business it was to sweep in all the cattle
and other livestock, and consume it, as well as the garden
products; and also to destroy the bananas in the field,
leaving the people absolutely without anything to eat
or the liberty to procure more by cultivation or purchase.
In explanation of the fact that no farm-houses are to
be seen, General Betancourt says that while the custom of
the people used to be to live in the country, the war re-
sulted in the burning and destruction of all the houses,
and the people were all forced into the towns."

What has been the course of the American Military
Administration of Cuban Affairs in respect to these con-
ditions? What has American Imperialism — this terrible
bogey, which the negro leader of a shiftless Cuban ele-
ment properly fears, and which our paler brothers of
Boston mistrust with such fearsome outpourings of their
eloquence — done for these suffering people ? It is a very
simple story, yet one which should give to every Ameri-
can a thrill of joy that he may account himself such,
and of pride that the army which represents him, under
such difficult conditions has produced men capable of
achieving such marvelous results.

In January, 1898, when the American troops began the
occupation of Cuba, they encountered, among other

207

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

things, a large number of destitute Cubans who had
been taken from their work and rounded into the cities by
the order of reconcentration issued by General Weyler;
in such a condition, in fact, as I have already indicated.
Most of these people were " guajiros," many of whom
had lost all the male members of their families, either
in the war or through sickness after the reconcentration,
and the percentage of women and children was exceed-
ingly great. The homes of these people had been de-
stroyed in the war, their little fincas were absolutely
unproductive, and in many cases, where only small chil-
dren had been left out of large families, these unhappy
little ones did not know even the locality of their former
homes.

The so-called hospitals were absolutely without equip-
ment, without medicine, and without medical attendants
or nurses. The houses where the women and children had
been herded together were pest-holes, and as there was
no work for the men, except such as was given them by
the Spanish troops — building forts — and for which they
received no pay, the families, even where the men were
alive, were in the utmost destitution. The first thing
necessary, therefore, was to devise some means by which
these people could be fed, given medicines and some
clothing. The Red Cross had undertaken to do this, and
had supplied much clothing, medicine, and food for these
families, and had established small orphan asylums

208

SOME RAW MATERIAL FOR THE SCHOOLS

THE SCHOOL ROOM AT GUANAJAY

FIRST STEPS FOR RELIEF

throughout the country for the care of the little children.
The United States government at once sent large num-
bers of rations to Cuba, and these were distributed abun-
dantly to the people, and undoubtedly saved the lives of
many hundreds of them. The continuance of this distri-
bution, however, would have resulted in the pauperization
of a large part of these destitute, and some means had
to be devised by which the people who had at first been
fed could be put to work. This was accomplished in
various ways.

First, the Engineering Department and the Depart-
ment of Public Works, in their various constructions,
and especially in the making of roads throughout the
island, furnished work for a large number of the men,
and a careful inspection of the families applying for
rations promptly cut off the supply to all those who
could gain their own livelihood, work being furnished
to many of the women in sewing on the sheets, pillow-
cases, and clothing needed to equip the hospitals and
asylums.

In Matanzas province, under General Wilson, two
separate schemes were tried to start the families at pro-
ductive labor, which would in a short time render them
independent and self-supporting. One scheme started
near Sagua la Grande consisted of buying a certain
number of oxen, ploughs, wagons, and other appurte-
nances of a farming life. These were divided into four

209

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

parts, and placed under the charge of men who were
hired at salaries, and by them distributed among the fami-
lies who were placed upon land which had been provided
by the citizens of Sagua la Grande. The families were
also divided into four groups, and given land surround-
ing the central station, at which were placed the animals
and implements. Each central station would, in succes-
sion, plough and prepare for planting a small part of the
land belonging to each family, and after thus serving
each group would start at ploughing more land, and so on
until enough of the land had been prepared for each
family to plant crops sufficient to support them. This
scheme worked well. The natives were rationed for
three months, at the end of which time their crops began
to come in. The total cost of starting the scheme did
not amount to more than the cost of the rations for these
people for about three months. The last reports from
Sagua la Grande state that the beneficiaries are now
self-supporting.

The other scheme started by General Wilson was to
supply the families who had been receiving rations with
oxen, ploughs, twelve chickens, a rooster, a couple of
sows and other essentials of farm life, the total amount
to be given to each family not to exceed $250. All these
articles were branded, and the families receiving them
signed a formal contract with the municipality, promising
to pay for them in two years, the price being the cost at

2IO

CALISTHENICS AT THE GUANAJAY SCHOOL

GYMNASIUM AT THE GUANAJAY SCHOOL

PRACTICAL RELIEF

which the articles were purchased by the government.
Interest at four per cent was also charged, provided the
articles were paid for in the two years. If it was found
that for any reason the families could not make their pay-
ments in two years an additional year was granted to them,
but the interest in this case was to be eight per cent. Eigh-
teen or twenty such families received this aid most of
them, however, taking only a yoke of oxen, which as a
rule, were of low cost being unbroken, and costing eighty-
eight dollars a yoke. The families broke these oxen,
and the majority said they could provide all the other
things necessary to start farms. These families have all
done well, and many of them at the end of two years
had paid for the articles furnished them.

General Wood, through the Secretary of Agriculture,
continued this mode of helping the poor, and imported
cows and bulls, which were distributed to those who de-
sired them.

In the City of Havana, the reconcentrados and destitute
found at the close of the war had been placed in the
Fosos, and in the government buildings on Paula, Fun-
dicion and Monserrate Streets. These people had been
furnished rations for nearly two years, and, being given
shelter, there was no inducement for them to work. They
were fast drifting into the pauper class. The distribu-
tion of rations to the families in the houses on Paula an'd
Fundicion Streets had been discontinued by April, 1900,

211

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

but the women and children in the Fosos and the families
on Monserrate Street were being fed by the Municipality
and steadily refused to work, even when given it, and
as a rule were dirty, shiftless and immoral. The Military
Governor directed that they be returned to their
homes at once or placed in rooms in the City of Ha-
vana, the rent for each family to be paid for one month,
not to exceed $6 for the small families, and $9 for the
larger ones. The women and children were to be equipped
with cots, bedding, cooking utensils and clothing.

Miss Nevins, an employee of the Department of Chari-
ties, was intrusted with the work of breaking up the
Fosos. She met with the most persistent resistance in her
attempts. As long as the people were fed they seemed
unwilling, or perhaps through long suffering were un-
able, to shift for themselves but finally the Mayor of
Havana issued an order discontinuing their food, and
the pauperizing system was destroyed.

As soon as these destitute, sick, and dying had been
afforded relief, attention was turned to the hospitals
and asylums. One of the principal needs in the hospi-
tals was trained nurses. The only persons in the hospi-
tals who pretended to look after the sick at all were the
Sisters of Charity, but such a thing as a trained nurse
was unknown in Cuba. If the sick could get medicines
and food they did so themselves. Sometimes they were
helped to these things by another sick person in the same

212

THE SHOE SHOP AT GUANAJAY

SOME OF THE WORK OF THE BOYS AT GUANATAY

TRAINED NURSES

ward, who could crawl out of his bed and help a less
fortunate companion. To relieve this condition trained
nurses were brought from the United States and placed
in some of the hospitals, and training-schools for nurses
were started in six of the larger ones, with such re-
sults that it is confidently expected that a sufficient num-
ber of tolerably well trained Cuban nurses will shortly be
available for supplying the demand. Gradually the
hospitals have been supplied with equipment and medi-
cines, and in most instances those which have continued
in operation are able to give decent care at least to the
sick.

These expedients for the immediate and temporary
relief of the victims of Weyler's cruelty having been
devised the Military Government took up the business of
the complete and comprehensive organization of a De-
partment of Charities. In July 1900, Gen. Wood issued
an order providing, first for the organization of the De-
partment ; second a declaration of the policy of the island
that destitute and delinquent children should be cared for
and under what conditions, defining the meaning of the
terms, destitute and delinquent; third for the establish-
ment of a Training School for Boys, and another for
Girls wherein should be taught such subjects or pursuits
as should better fit them for the duties of their mature
years ; fourth for Reform Schools for children of both
sexes in which the wayward and seemingly incorrigible

213

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

might be persuaded from the paths of evil and have the
highways of rectitude pointed out to them; fifth for
the prompt organization of a Bureau for the placing of
children in families; and sixth for the proper control of
Hospitals and Asylums for the Aged and the Insane. The
general powers and duties of the Department were clearly
defined and the necessary powers to proceed at once to the .
work of placing it upon an active footing were conferred
by this order. It was a very complete and comprehensive
effort to meet the immediate and future needs of the
island of Cuba in matters involving the humanities and
was drawn up by Major E. St. John Greble, the Superin-
tendent of Charities and Hospitals, assisted by Mr.
Homer Folks of New York. Mr. Folks in this as well
as in other matters pertaining to the relief of the down-
trodden in Cuba rendered valuable aid to the American
authorities, placing his wide experience in the Charities
of New York at their disposal.

In dealing with the orphans, General Wood, the Mili-
tary Governor, decided, along the lines laid down in the
order of July 7th, to start three state institutions—
viz., a reform-school for boys at Guanajay; a reform-
school for girls at Aldecoa; a training and agricultural
college for boys at Santiago de las Vegas ; and to develop
to the full a training-school for girls already established
by Gen. Ludlow on Compostella Street, Havana, of
which I shall speak specifically later. In addition

214

SCHOOL-ROOM

FIELD DAY AT GUANAJAY

PLACING THE CHILDREN

to these there were large provincial asylums for boys
and girls — one at Cienfuegos, two at Matanzas and
two at Santiago de Cuba. The other homes for orphans,
which had been started and which were little more than
refuges, were broken up, the children being returned
to their relatives wherever possible, or placed with good
families who were willing to receive and care for them
under the rules and system of supervision adopted by the
New York Bureau for Placing Children. This system
has worked well. Such children as have to be kept in
asylums are congregated in some one of the large institu-
tions, which are well equipped and provided with means
for furnishing both mental and manual training for the
inmates. The children taken from the other refuges have
all been furnished with fairly good homes, and are grow-
ing up as part of the community which will eventually
have to absorb them.

There are photographs in these pages showing con-
ditions as they exist to-day at the Guanajay Reform-
School under the efficient superintendence of Captain
Robert Crawford, and before his retirement from Cuba
of Major E. St. John Greble. If the reader desires a
before and after photographic presentation of the good
work done by these gentlemen, and of a work which is
merely typical of what is being done throughout the is-
land of Cuba, he need only look at the picture of the
raw material herewith presented, showing the boys about

215

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

to set forth on their journey to the school, and then to
gaze upon the photograph of the products of the shoe-
shop, showing the material results of the instruction they
receive.

THE BLACKSMITH SHOP

THE CARPENTER SHOP

i

Chapter V

THE DEPARTMENT OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. II.

£ • 'HE fairest example, however, of the humane
work for the little ones of Cuba that we can

i

find in the roll of American achievement is
the Compostella School. By no means least among the
achievements of Major Black, of the Public Works De-
partment, to whose work I have already made special ref-
erence, is the transformation of a filthy Spanish barracks
into a healthful, cheery home for an orphan industrial
school, which in its own habitat supplants with three hun-
dred children learning a useful trade in life a regiment of
Spanish light-artillery, to which, according to all accounts,
the principles of cleanliness were absolutely unknown. I
have chosen for special note the Compostella Barracks at
Havana, because it represents to a peculiar degree the
precise nature of the work that the representatives of
American Imperialism are doing in Cuba to-day. I know
of no especial achievement of our forces in the unfortu-
nate island, for whose welfare we are immediately respon-
sible, that is more thoroughly characteristic of the high-
minded and great-souled men who have represented us
there than this same transformation of a filthy barracks
for unclean military folk into a sweet, wholesome, and
edifying industrial school for the most truly helpless liv-
ing beings in the Antilles.

217

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

If we can only bear in mind the fact that we ran to
the assistance of a people racked by war, and living under
conditions which, even now that they have been laid
before us, are scarcely conceivable to the American mind
in the nineteenth century, we shall be less inclined, I
think, to find fault with our soldiers who have made the
cause of humanity their first care. When men trained
to warfare, trained either at the military academy or in
the harder walks of military life in the far West, set
aside the predilections of this training and assume the
burdens of civil administration with actual results which
the average civilian of brains, energy, and equipment for
the work in hand might well envy, it ill becomes those of
us who dwell far apart from the strenuous scenes into
which they have been thrust to withhold from them the
meed of praise which is their due, merely because, as civil-
ians, we have little personal liking for that kind of author-
ity which is said to be bolstered up by gold lace and brass
buttons. In so far as my Cuban experience is concerned,
I have yet to meet the civilian who could do better the civil
work that our military representatives in Cuba have ac-
tually accomplished there. I am even willing to go so far
as to express my belief that if our Anti-Imperialist friends,
Mr. Atkinson and Mr. Winslow and Mr. Garrison, could
be induced to desert the comfort of their firesides in New
England to travel into Cuba they would come back with
resolutions of such a character that we should never

218

CUBAN CHILDREN

hear from one of them again upon this subject. They
would sacrifice speech itself in the face of American
achievement in Cuba, and no greater sacrifice on their
part than that could be expected of any man. It is not
impossible that Mr. Garrison would even write a sonnet
in exaltation of American Imperialism if he could only
see this Compostella Industrial school as I saw it one
afternoon in February, 1901, under the guidance of
General Wood.

I do not know if all people are as much interested in
children as I am. To those who are not I can only say
that in a consideration of the Cuban question they cannot
ignore them since the Cuba of the future will be the Cuba
of the Cuban children of to-day ; and with all due respect
to the adults of that island, the children of Cuba to-day
are almost all there is of human kind in existence there
that is worth fighting for. The real hope of the island is
in the juvenile element, and for a very good reason.
Their elders are tired, wearied by the uncertainties of
life, the exactions of war, the privations of strife, and,
barring a few politicians like Juan Gualberto Gomez, who
would turn Cuba into an opaque republic, and drag it
down into a ruin worse than it has yet known in further-
ance of their own ambition, the adults of the island care
little what happens to them, provided the Cuban flag
flies officially for a few moments over the palace at Ha-

219

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

vana, and a balance of trade for so long a time denied
them flows into their pockets. But the children are
worth while — they are bright, alert, interested, happy,
and best yet saddest of all, represent the only class of
individuals now to be found in the Antilles who are en-
tirely trustful and wholly grateful. Wherefore I think
the transformation of the Compostella Barracks into
the Compostella industrial school for orphans a feat not
only of achievement, but of conception.

The Compostella school, as stated in General Ludlow's
report, 1899-1900, was the outgrowth of the efforts of
the United States military authorities in Cuba, at the be-
ginning of the period of occupation, to provide food,
shelter, and instruction for an unhappily large class of
helpless and dependent orphans in Havana. To provide
relief for men and women, not an easy task of course,
was comparatively less difficult than to care most ade-
quately for the children, who, either by reason of deser-
tion or the death of their parents, were left wholly de-
pendent upon the charitably inclined. The men and
women could be set to work after a fashion. The care
of the young was as difficult as it was pressing. The first
intention of the authorities was to transform the old
Spanish barracks into an orphan asylum for both boys
and girls. It was supposed that an institution capable ol
caring for four hundred of these would suffice, but the

220

AT ALDECOA

THE CHAPEL AT ALDECOA

THE COMPOSTELLA SCHOOL

numbers requiring aid were found to be so large that
it became necessary to provide, in this institution, ac-
commodations and instruction for girls only, and, con-
sidering the peculiar disposition of the unattached gamin
of the Havana streets in those days of chaos, to send
the boys off into the country, where such agricultural
and mechanical pursuits as would give an outlet to their
surplus energy, and at the same time make useful citizens
of them, could be more successfully taught them. Having
an eye to the future of these youngsters, the authorities
decided that they should have not only a home and the
ordinary instruction which a child requires, but that
they should have also an opportunity to acquire
a knowledge of useful industrial arts, lest they should
remain indefinitely dependent upon public charity.
The idea of pauperization has never commended itself to
any of the American military governors of Cuba. Fur-
thermore, to quote from General Ludlow's report of 1899-
1900, in order that the institution should be one of ad-
vantage, not only to its beneficiaries, but to the whole
island, it was essential that it be constituted as a normal
school, or centre of instruction, where half-grown girls
and young women, themselves orphans and dependent,
could receive instruction in the methods and manage-
ment of such institutions, and be prepared to inaugurate
and conduct them elsewhere, so as to establish other
centres in the several provinces.

221

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

We must keep in mind the fact that the public-school
system of Cuba does not include instruction in industries
or trades. The means of employment for girls and
women are extremely limited. A modicum of teaching1, a
few nearly profitless uses of the needle, and, in individual
cases, some music or painting, are about all the occupa-
tions open to girls of the better class in Cuba. An in-
stitution was needed where dress-making, millinery,
housekeeping, domestic arts, kindergarten, type-writing,
stenography, bookkeeping, and the like could be taught,
and the ambition and capacity for independent self-sup-
port be inculcated an', acquired. This within two short
years was accomplished. Fortunately for General Lud-
low and the Department of Charities and Correction,
the services of Miss Laura D. Gill, of the Cuban Orphan
Society of New York, now Dean of Barnard College,
were secured, and it is due to her active participation
in the work in hand and to her own personal endeavors
on its behalf, both in Havana and in the United States,
that the development of the original plan of the asylum,
both in theory and in practice, has come to such a
substantial realization. The school is now caring
for all the orphan children within the sphere of its
usefulness, and under the superintendence of Major
Greble, as the official head of the department, under
whose control this institution and others of a similar na-
ture directly came, the Compostella school has thrived

222

SEWING CLASS AT ALDECOA

AT MAZURRA

A WONDERFUL TRANSFORMATION

until it is to-day one of the most successful ventures of
its kind to be found anywhere in the world. Not alone
has it developed healthful ideas in the minds of the chil-
dren, but it has instructed teachers as well, who are of
assistance not only in the administration of the institution
itself, but are capable of going out into the island and
taking charge of such other institutions of the same kind
as the various communities of Cuba may require. The
filth of the Patio, which was incredible, not only in the
number of the cart-loads of dirt removed, but in the
nature of it, hr.s given place to the health of the court-
yard, wherein we are enabled to see, through the photo-
graph printed herewith, between three and four hundred
orphan children at play. In pavilions where we might
once have listened to the profane speech and question-
able tales of Spanish soldiers we may now hear the
happy voices of some fifty-odd little tots as they sing the
songs and play the games and pirouette through the
little dances of the kindergarten. It is a transformation
as wonderful as it is appealing. No man or woman of
feeling can look upon it without a thrill, without a lump
in the throat and a suggestion of wetness about the eye.
Nor can any student of humanity gaze upon these classes
of girls who might in other days have been left to roam
the city streets, exposed to dangers which we need hardly
mention, now learning to sew, to cook, and to make them-
selves useful in the life that lies ahead of them, without

223

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

the conviction stealing over him that this was a good
thing to do, that the men who have done it are good
men and strong men, and men worthy of our confidence,
even if they sometimes fail to secure the endorsement of
the hordes of political pot-hunters who once filled the air
with their denunciations, the approval of the army of
cafe loungers, or the commendation of the querulous cor-
respondent who refuses to look at these things, since,
forsooth, they have no bearing upon questions of State
— as if this latter contention could by any possibility be
true!

The Compostella industrial school is but one of many
evidences lying before the eyes of those who visit Cuba
of the wonderful energy, the deep sincerity, and the mag-
nificent philanthropy characteristic of the work of the
American military authorities in that island. It is not
an easy task to cleanse the Augean stables. To not only
cleanse them, but to transform them into an institution
of high educational aims, into a home for the homeless
and unprotected, into what may be termed a factory of
a future citizenship, which shall be uplifting and equal
to the burdens of national existence, is little short of a
miraculous achievement, and in this particular instance
that is precisely what the Military Government of Cuba
has done.

In taking the hospitals in hand similar vigor to that in
224

i

CO

o

ffi

H

O

HOSPITALS

the formation of schools was shown and drastic changes
were made in their administration.

Prior to January ist, 1900, the Juntas de Patronos or
Boards of Governors of the various institutions had been
required to submit estimates for the support of the insti-
tutions pursuant to existing regulations, and allotments
were made from Insular funds in accordance with the
estimates thus prepared, but this was proven to be a most
unsatisfactory method to those who were compelled to
accept the responsibility for the proper expenditure of the
revenues. The Department instituted a thorough system
of inspection and auditing of accounts and within a few
months had succeeded in devising a system of procedure
which resulted in many economies and vast salvage of
public moneys.

Up to this time the institutions were being conducted
upon the plans originally in vogue, and no efforts had
been made to establish them upon a basis more in con-
formity with the modern recognized methods of conduct-
ing such institutions. The Civil or District Hospitals
were actually hospitals only in name, being little more
than refuges where the destitute sick were collected and
taken care of in a most primitive fashion. The asylums
likewise were but gathering places for the large number
of orphans and other children whose mothers were unable
to afford them support.

225

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

The extreme devastation produced by the Cuban revo-
lution and the large loss of life incidental to the recon-
centration produced a large number of destitute women
and children, whom the American authorities found in
a demoralized and starving condition and for whom it
was necessary to provide an immediate refuge. This
resulted in an unnecessarily large number of asylums,
all of which soon became overcrowded, and in most of
which there was little or no effort made to conduct them
upon any but the crudest principles. Owing to the im-
mense amount of sanitary and humanitarian work which
devolved upon the army during the first year of the mili-
tary occupancy of Cuba, it was impossible to do more than
create these refuges, which ably fulfilled their missions as
emergency measures, but as hospitals they were lament-
able failures.

The whole internal system was in the usual state of
demoralization. Patients, such as there were, were almost
wholly neglected. Food was improperly prepared and
of a kind utterly foreign to the requirements of a hospital.
There was hardly an institution of this character provided
with an operating room equipped to perform more than
the simplest operations. In most instances the beds were
of a nondescript character, uncomfortable and unservice-
able, and the bedding and clothing were tattered and in
most instances filthy, by reason of the fact that the limited
quantity only allowed changes at long intervals. The

226

IN THE LEPER HOSPITAL OF SAN LAZARO

THE DINING HALL AT MAZURRA

HOSPITAL REFORMS

superintendent reported that he had seen one half of the
men in some of the hospital wards lying naked on the
beds, as there were not sufficient night shirts to supply
them, and the clothing in which they entered the hospital
was unfit for use.

The actual nursing in these institutions amounted to
practically nothing. Many instances were observed where
patients too ill to hardly lift up their heads were required
to get out of bed to perform the required functions of
nature because the simplest contrivances of a well equipped
hospital were lacking. No efforts apparently were made
to wash even the faces and hands of patients, many of
whom would often be weeks possibly in a ward without
that duty being even once performed.

All of these and many other of the more trivial abuses
were gradually corrected. The lists of employees were
carefully revised, many unnecessary ones eliminated, and
others added, whose services were essential. Operating
rooms have been amply equipped with surgical instru-
ments and appliances, and a liberal amount of bedding
and clothing has been distributed, and in all cases possible
the bathing facilities have been improved. Training
schools for female nurses have been established in two
of the hospitals, and are giving extraordinary satisfac-
tion. There seems to have been a genuine effort on the
part of the hospital authorities to improve the condition
of their institutions, and there was almost from the first

227

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

perfect harmony and accord between the civil authorities
and the Department.

The condition of the insane and of the lepers was
deplorable. The 'former, irrespective of sex, of age, or
of degrees of insanity, were herded together in a mass
of Bedlam which is well nigh inconceivable and certainly
indescribable; and the leper hospital was in no wise
different from the other hospitals of the island — ill-
equipped, filthy and unsanitary. To-day the hard fate
of the inmates of these various institutions has found the
amelioration which comes from a tender solicitude for
their needs. The insane asylum at Mazzura is as well-
conducted an institution of its kind as may be found
anywhere; the victims of the mind disordered are cared
for, and their unhappy estate is relieved in so far as it
can be of its miseries; while the leper hospital of San
Lazaro is a clean and efficient refuge for those suffering
from this awful malady. If it is good that the victims
of leprosy should be deprived of their liberty, it is not
possible to imagine a better housing than that which has
been set apart for them, but in this point lay my only
serious apprehension as to the completeness of our phil-
anthropic work in Cuba. Since leprosy is not contagious
there seems to be no good reason why its victims should
be placed behind, what are to all intents and purposes,
the bars of a prison. Their sequestration might easily

12128

A VIOLENTLY INSANE PATIENT AT MAZURRA

THE LEPER

be made a happier one, and I should have been happy
to be able to record the establishment of a leper colony
in Cuba, where the afflicted persons might enjoy a cer-
tain degree of personal freedom and contact with nature
in some more intimate fashion than that which is pos-
sible from a restricted interior court, or upon the roof
of their hospital. There is a vast acreage in Cuba at
the Government's disposal, and it would have proven no
very difficult task to try some such experiment as that
which appears to have succeeded in the South Seas, and
in Hawaii. Nevertheless the condition of these sufferers
has been materially altered for the better, and there is
not one of the inmates of the San Lazaro Hospital at
Havana, at least, who has not gained courage and con-
solation in his affliction from the vigorous and cheery
presence of General Wood himself, who has personally
visited the sick for whom he has had to care as if he
were their personal friend and physician.

So has it been in all branches of this humanitarian
department. The sick and destitute have been cared for ;
the orphan has been housed and clothed and started use-
fully along in life; the prisoner in the jails and peniten-
tiaries has learned that the law is punitive, but not vin-
dictive; the incorrigible have been placed within the
sphere of corrective influences; the hospitals have been
built anew, and the afflicted have found comfort in the
arms of Uncle Sam — and they are grateful. I wish no

229

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

more beautiful sight than that which repeatedly met my
eyes when, while inspecting these institutions, either with
General Wood or Major Greble, the soft little hands of
the children crept trustingly into the brawny grasp of
the soldier, nor shall I soon forget the glances of heart-
felt gratitude that went out from the prostrate on many
a hospital cot to those two Samaritan gentlemen, whose
official and personal care it has been to relieve distress
in all its form's, and to bring sunshine into thousands of
darkened souls.

130

TRAINING CUBAN NURSES

SCENE AT HOSPITAL NO. i, HAVANA

Chapter VI

THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. I.

rO the general rule of chaos which prevailed in
Cuba at the beginning of the American mili-
tary occupation, the cause of public instruc-
tion was no exception. Indeed, there was every reason
why it should not be excepted from the rule of chaos,
since it was the one branch of public work which
Spain by choice preferred to hold in a chaotic state.
The Spaniard from the first, with few exceptions, as is
shown by the records, seems to have taken as his educa-
tional platform for his colonies, the sentiment of Charles
IV., who " prohibited the establishment of the University
of Merida, in Maracaibo, on the ground that he did
not deem it expedient that enlightenment should be-
come general in America." As one considers Spain's
endeavor to keep her colonial subjects in a state of dense
ignorance, one's chief source of surprise at the present
moment is that at the beginning of the American military
occupation there should have been any system of public-
school instruction in that then unhappy island suscep-
tible to demoralization, yet such was the case. There was
a system of education in vogue in Cuba before our army
people took charge, but it was typical of Spain, not of
the United States ; was a source of abuse and profit to
politicians, rather than of profit and learning to the

231

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

young of Cuba. In fact, it was the logical result of
many years of application of Spanish ideas. The chaos
into which it was plunged at the end of the war was not
the chaos of strife, but was its inevitable and intrinsic
desert, as any one who has ever studied the history of
school- work in Cuba under Spanish administration must
admit. The history of Cuban school-work, private or
public, ecclesiastic or secular, primary or collegiate, is
not exactly a page of plumage for the Spaniard. On the
contrary, it but emphasizes the very natural contempt
which most well-ordered persons of Anglo-Saxon origin
must feel for the essentially degenerate race who dese-
crate the beautiful peninsula by their ocupation thereof.
It is, of course, true that prior to the nineteenth cen-
tury education was everywhere at a low ebb as a national
asset, and it is possible that among the then great nations
of earth, learning in its primary sense was cultivated no
more by France and Britain in their colonial enterprises
than by Spain, yet there was a vast difference. In Cuba,
Spain pretended to give and gave not, and made of the
thirst and aspirations of a subject people merely another
graft for the growth of Spanish corruption. The last
period of Spanish rule in Cuba was characterized by the
most absolute neglect of everything connected with in-
struction. Popular teaching had sunk to the lowest level.
There was not a single public school-house in the island ;
the teachers, always badly paid, lived in penury; school

232

LIEUT. MATTHEW E. HANNA,

Commissioner rf Public Instruction

SCHOOLS UNDER SPAIN

furniture and appliances were out of the question, the
school attendance was almost insignificant, and the
greater portion of the school population was illiterate.

Prior to the nineteenth century education in Spain as
well as in other European countries was within the reach
only of those who could afford to pay for it.* The free
school as an institution was rather an abstraction than
a tangible reality, and necessarily the educational needs of
a colony did not appear particularly pressing to a home
government that paid little attention to the subject in its
immediate vicinity. Nevertheless the desirability of free
schools in Cuba did manifest itself to certain unofficial
minds and we find numerous instances of private indi-
viduals placing their own resources at the command of
their fellows for the purpose of teaching the young cer-
tain rudiments at least which might suffice the better
to fit them for the duties of man and womanhood. Until
the eighteenth century was far advanced, beyond the
founding of seminaries under the control of the church
nothing worthy of note was accomplished along educa-
tional lines and in these efforts more attention was paid
to the pretentious form than to the substance, and the title
of academy or institute was given to institutions which

* For the historical statement concerning the growth of schools
in Cuba under Spanish rule, I am indebted to the excellent record
thereof prepared by Mr. R. L. Packard, United States Commis-
sioner of Education, and published in his report on Education in
Cuba, Porto Rico and the Philippines for 1898-99.—;. K. B.

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

were hardly more than primary schools, which held out
inducements of a speedy preparation for the university.
At that time, it should be remembered, the natural sciences
had not reached the importance they subsequently at-
tained, and the study of philosophy required the royal
permission, so that secondary instruction was reduced to
a superficial study of the humanities, especially Latin,
which occupied the leading place on account of its use
in fitting for the university and because teachers of Latin
were easily found among the clergy, who were the princi-
pal factors of education at that period. All this may
be said without detracting from the praiseworthy efforts
and antiquity of some institutions like the Chapter of
Havana, which in 1603, convinced of the need of a teacher
of grammar, voted a hundred ducats for the support of
one who should teach Latin; but as the plan did not
meet with the royal approbation they were obliged to
drop the project, only to revive it afterwards with a
larger salary. In the same year the municipality pro-
vided for continuing classes in grammar by a monk of
the convent, which had been suspended. In 1607 Bishop
Juan de las Cabezas Altamirano founded the Tridentine
Seminary, the citizens offering to pay part of the ex-
penses annually. The secular clergy also gave lessons
in Latin and morals, as Conyedo did, who prepared stu-
dents for the priesthood in Villa Clara, and later Fr.
Antonio Perez de Corcho, who gave lectures on philosophy

234

EARLY ATTEMPTS

in the monastery of his order. By the bull of Adrian
VI of April 28, 1522, the Scholatria was established at
Santiago de Cuba for giving instruction in Latin, and
by his will, dated May 15, 1571, Capt. Francisca de Pa-
radas left a considerable sum for the foundation of a
school in Bayamo, which in 1720 was intrusted to the
charge of two monks of San Domingo, in whose hands
the estate increased. In 1689 the College of San Ambro-
sio was established in Havana with 12 bursarships for
the purpose of preparing young men for the church, but
it did not fulfill its purpose, and subsequently received
the severe censure of Bishop Hechavarria Yelgueza on
account of its defective education, which had become re-
duced to Latin and singing. Fr. Jose Maria Penalver
opened a chair of eloquence and literature in the convent
of La Merced in 1788, which also was not a success.

After these attempts the foundation of a Jesuit college
in Havana gave a new impulse to education. From the
first, the priests of this order had observed the inclination
of the inhabitants of Havana toward education, and
Pezuela states in his history of Cuba that the municipality
in 1656 wished to establish a college of the order, but
the differences between the Jesuits and the prelates in
the other colonies had been so frequent that the bishops
and priests in Havana opposed the plan. But as the
population increased the demands for the college multi-
plied, and in 1717 a citizen of Havana, Don Gregorio

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

Diaz Angel, contributed $40,000 in funds for its sup-
port. The necessary license was obtained in 1721 ; three
more years were spent in selecting and purchasing the
ground, when the institution was opened under the name
of the College of San Ignacio. The old college of San
Ambrosio, which had been under the direction of the
Jesuits since its establishment in 1689, was then united
with it, although the old institution still retained its dis-
tinctive character as a foundation school for the profes-
sion of the church.

As early as 1688 the ayuntamiento (or city council) of
Havana petitioned to the Royal Government to establish
a university in the city in order that young men desirous
of study might not be compelled to go to the mainland or
to Spain. This request was furthered by Bishop Valdes,
and finally, by a letter of Innocent XIII of September
12, 1721, the fathers of the convent of S. Juan de Letran
were authorize i to found the institution desired, and
after some years of preparation it was opened in 1728.
This University of Havana which consists at present of
an academic department together with professional schools
has had a varied and by no means useless career, and like
all other institutions of Cuba, at the close of the war was
found to be in a state bordering at least upon collapse.
It was ill equipped with books, material and apparatus.
A great many of the professors were entirely unfitted for
their positions, which had been obtained in many in-

236

A DEMORALIZED UNIVERSITY

stances in an irregular manner and held very much as
a sinecure without any feeling of responsibility as to
either the amount or quality of services which they ren-
dered in return for the salary paid by the Government.
The University was, in short, in a condition of demoral-
ization, and after a few months it was apparent that if it
was to become in any way efficient a thorough reor-
ganization combined with radical changes in the per-
sonnel was necessary.

The condition of the Institutes of Secondary Instruc-
tion was equally demoralized. They were such only in
name, and as the report of Secretary Varona points out,
" nothing was taught in them, but on the other hand, they
were the scene of the most barefaced traffic in certificates
of excellence and degrees granted to the pupils. There
were Institutes, like that of Havana, where such certifi-
cates were subject to a regular tariff. Students would
leave these Colleges, duly furnished with Bachelor de-
grees, but could not write a fairly well spelled letter.
When the war came on, the classes in the Institutes of
Pinar del Rio. Santa Clara, Puerto Principe and Santiago
de Cuba were entirely suspended. The University
dragged on a sickly existence, without influencing in any-
way public culture. It never showed that its Faculty
was composed of men who lived in contact with outside
civilization. Not a single work can be mentioned, as
having been written by them, except some compilations

237

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

without criticism, and they cannot be credited with
original work of any kind. Most of them looked upon
themselves as privileged office-holders, members of an
irresponsible bureaucracy. Some lived in Spain and were
substituted by assistants, drawing, however, their salaries
with due regularity; others enjoyed practically limitless
leaves of absence."

The task of reorganization was a difficult and un-
pleasant one, the Military-Governor confesses in his
report to the Department of War. Many of the chairs
were held by venerable gentlemen whose days of activity
and capacity for teaching had long since passed. The
old institution was surrounded by an atmosphere of help-
lessness and inefficiency. To intrude upon its traditions
with modern ideas or purposes of reform was regarded in
a way as something almost sacrilegious. No one seemed
to doubt the fact that the University was thoroughly in-
efficient, but no one was willing to put his hand to the
work of reformation until the matter was actively taken
up by Sefior Varona, Secretary of Public Instruction in
the Cabinet of Gen. Wood. This gentleman with singular
courage and devotion to the improvement of the Univer-
sity and the elevation of University teaching in the island,
regardless of the storm of personal abuse which was
poured upon him, taking at times the form of most in-
sulting letters, and indifferent to the loss of personal
friends or the creation of enemies, proceeded to mark

238

COMPOSTELLA BARRACKS, HAVANA, in 1898

COMPOSTELLA BARRACKS, HAVANA, in 1901

EXAMINATION OF THE FACULTY

out what he considered a straight line of advance and
improvement and adhered to it. In this he was given
the full support of the Government and the result was
the re-examination of practically all professors of the
University as well as those of the Institutes of Secondary
Instruction. In all such the professors who had obtained
their positions by competition and were still efficient and
able to render good service were retained. Those who
either by virtue of eminent attainments or conspicuous
ability were deemed worthy of appointment or retention
without examination were also continued. Among those
of this latter class were included several secretaries of
the insular cabinet who were professors in the Uni-
versity. All other chairs were declared vacant and com-
petitive examinations held to fill them. The result was
many new men, bringing with them new energy and
ambition to make the University one in fact as well
as in name. Certain qualifications were prescribed for
admission to the University and the University course
was rearranged and modernized, making it practically
a four years' course in the academic department. Ad-
mission to the professional schools was prohibited for
students under eighteen years of age and it was required
that they should be either graduates of the academic de-
partment of the University or able to pass certain pre-
liminary examinations sufficiently severe to indicate that
they possessed a liberal education.

239

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

Besides this reorganization of the University as a whole
especial attention was paid to the needs of the Medical
School, which is one of the most important branches of
an institution of this nature in a country for so long
ridden by pest and disease due to a careless attitude
toward sanitation. This Department of the University
has been well established in one of the former Spanish
barrack buildings, which has undergone considerable
alterations and repairs to render it suitable for school
purposes. Other similar buildings in a very desirable
portion of the city have been equipped as thorough
laboratories with all modern conveniences and -apparatus.
These laboratories are the first of the kind ever con-
structed in Cuba. They furnish ample space for
a large class in general Chemistry, a separate labora-
tory for general and advanced work in Histology and
another for advanced and general work in Bacteriology.
Large lecture rooms containing a thoroughly modern
equipment have also been provided. The best of micro-
scopes and all necessary special apparatus have been sup-
plied for the laboratories in Histology and Bacteriology.
Plans have been drawn to erect, adjoining these build-
ings, one for general lectures and a library for the
medical school, thus assembling this department of the
University. The location selected is an excellent one.
in one of the most desirable portions of the city, and
almost equi-distant from the important hospitals. With

240

PUBLIC SCHOOLS

the completion of the buildings of the medical school it
is the purpose to remove the Institute of Havana, which
is now occupying a portion of the University, into the
building at present occupied by the medical school, giving
to the University the rooms now used by the Institute.
This will give them sufficient space for necessary lab-
oratories and some additional class and lecture rooms.

With the present sincere interest in the welfare of the
University, says Gen. Wood in his annual report for
1900, there is no reason to doubt that it will soon be on
a prosperous footing and its capacity for useful work
taxed to the utmost.

Important as the work of the University may be con-
sidered to be however it is the more elementary institu-
tions that come closer to the real needs of the people and
while we may feel a certain measure of pride in the work
of Uncle Sam's army officers in this reorganization of the
college and professional schools of the Cuban University
it is the work along public school lines of which I fancy
the reader would most like to hear, and the story is a
pleasant one to tell.

Until the i;th century was far advanced the Cubans
had not a single public institution where they could
have their children taught to read and write, says Com-
missioner Packard in his report of 1898-1899. The first
school was that of the Bethlehemite fathers in Havana,

241

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

and was established through the generosity of Don Juan
F. Carballo. He was, according to some authorities, a
native of Seville, and according to others, of the Canary
Islands. He repaid thus generously the debt of gratitude
he owed the country where he had acquired his wealth.
Already, in the sixteenth century, a philanthropist of
Santiago de Cuba, Francisco Paradas, had afforded a like
good example by bequeathing a large estate for the pur-
pose of teaching Latin linguistics and Christian morals.
The legacy was eventually made of avail by the Do-
minican friars, who administered it, but when the con-
vents were abolished it was swallowed by the royal
treasury, and thus the beneficent intentions of the found-
ers were frustrated, to the permanent danger of the un-
fortunate country. Only these two institutions, due en-
tirely to individual initiative, are recorded in the scho-
lastic annals during the three first centuries of the colony.
The thirst and scent for gold reigned supreme. The sons
of wealthy families, in the absence of learning at home,
sought schools and colleges in foreign parts. On their
return, with the patriotic zeal natural to cultured men,
they endeavored to better the intellectual condition of
their compatriots. This enforced immigration of Cubans
in quest of learning was fought against by the Govern-
ment, and finally the children of Cuban families were for-
bidden to be educated in foreign countries. This despotic
measure was adopted without any honest effort being

242

THE COMPOSTELLA SCHOOL CHILDREN

!•••••••••• •• 8iij ».,„ ilimiimi

DAILY JjRliL AT '111E COMPOS1ELLA SCHOOL

THE SOCIEDAD ECONOMICA

made to establish schools for instructing the children of a
population already numbering nearly 500,000 souls.

The Sociedad Economica was founded in 1793, during
the time of Las Casas, whose name has always been ven-
erated among Cubans. Then, as now, the members of
this association were the most talented men of the coun-
try, and their best efforts were directed toward promot-
ing public instruction. It gave impulse and organization
to the school system in Cuba. It established inspections,
collected statistics, and founded a newspaper to promote
instruction and devoted its profits to this cause. It
raised funds and labored with such zeal and enthusiasm
that it finally secured the assistance of the colonial gov-
ernment and obtained an appropriation, though but of
small amount, for the benefit of popular instruction.

In 1793 there were only seven schools for boys in the
capital of Cuba, in which 408 white and 144 free colored
children could be educated. From this privilege the slaves
were debarred. The seven schools referred to, besides a
number of seminaries for girls, afforded a means of liveli-
hood for a number of free mulattoes and some whites.
The schools were private undertakings, paid for by the
parents. Only one, that of the reverend Father Senor,
of Havana,, was a free school. Reading, writing, and
arithmetic were taught in these schools. Lorenzo Len-
dez, a mulatto of Havana, was the only one who taught
Spanish grammar. The poor of the free colored classes

243

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

were on a par with the slaves. The Sociedad Economica
then founded two free schools, one for each sex, but the
bishop, Felix Jose de Tres Palacios, nullified the laudable
efforts of the country's wellwishers by maintaining that it
was unnecessary to establish more schools. From 1793 to
1893 the society was unable to accomplish even a part of
its noble purpose; it was found impossible to obtain an
official sanction of popular education. In 1817 there were
90 schools in the rest of the island — 19 districts — all, or
nearly all, founded by private individuals. In 1816 the
section of education of the Sociedad Economica was
established. It afforded a renewed impulse to the cause
of education, thanks to the influential support of the gov-
ernor, Don Aliquando Ramirez. The schools improved,
the boys and girls, both white and black, were taught
separately, literary contests were opened, annual exami-
nations were made obligatory, prizes were distributed,
and a powerful incentive was created among all classes
for the cause of education. But the concessions obtained
for the society by the influence of Ramirez were revoked
by royal order of February, 1824. In this year the muni-
cipality of Havana loaned the Sociedad Patriotica $100
for school purposes.

So we see that after many years of fruitless experi-
mentation the first real impulse and organization given to
school -work in Cuba was by the foundation, in 1793, of
the Sociedad Economica, but that it merely bettered con-

244

NET RESULTS

ditions by a degree, it did not remedy them, and in thirty-
three years the net result of its efforts was 140 schools
in the whole island, of which only sixteen were free. In
1860 there were 285 schools in operation, a growth of
which the authorities seemed to take some note, since the
secretary of the governor in 1863 began to make " recom-
mendations " for school reforms which tended " to keep
the population in ignorance in order to keep it Spanish."
As an example of the Spanish attitude toward the move-
ment in Cuba, it is not without interest that I should
quote Mr. Packard's digest of the preamble of the decree
reforming education in Cuba, published by the govern-
ment at Havana in 1871 :

" It states that the insurrection of 1868 was due to the
bad system of education; that while the old methods
were slow, the new are prompted by eagerness for hurry,
and the child is taught a number of things, whereas its
mind is unable to comprehend many things at a time. A
number of subjects should therefore be suppressed.
Balmes is quoted as the authority for the psychology and
pedagogy of the preamble. The latter goes on to say that
this haste to teach many things has made religious in-
struction secondary to that of the arts and sciences, a
fatal error which has produced fatal consequences. It
refers to statistics to show that crime has increased with
education, and states that Aime Martin found the remedy

245

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

for this evil in educating instead of merely instructing.
But as there were many religious sects, Martin unfor-
tunately selected an irreligious religion as the means of
educating, and consequently there was no decrease in
crime., Senor Lasagra is quoted to prove that suicides
are more numerous in Protestant than in Catholic coun-
tries, and more so in the capitals than elsewhere. This
is due to too great individual freedom of thought and
consequent changes in social and economic conditions,
which have produced dissatisfaction, despair and suicide.
Philosophical and religious sects have multiplied, and the
multiplicity of these has always and everywhere produced
doubt and scepticism, which in their turn have engendered
a materialism whose only offspring is disbelief in virtue
and morality. Under its influence some are tortured with
unhappiness without hope of the future, while others are
filled with envy. Religious instruction has been too much
neglected or too carelessly performed, and the real remedy
would consist in Christianizing or Catholicizing education
by putting the government and municipal machinery of
education in the hands of the religious teaching orders,
when the evil would disappear. It goes on to say, with
severe condemnation of the schools where they had taught,
that many of the insurgents had been teachers, and men-
tions particularly the school formerly conducted by Jose
de la Luz. Instruction must be supplemented by moral
and religious education, and great care should be taken

246

SPANISH HYPOCRISY

to prevent access to (politically) evil literature. Even
in text-books of elementary geography, it declares, have
wicked documents been inserted. In one of them we
read that the greatest event of the present century in
America was the revolt of Bolivar. ' See under what
seductive forms the minds of children are predisposed to

A finer example of Spanish hypocrisy than is here pre-
sented it would be hard to find, and that under such
a regime even the rudiments of education should ever
have come within the reach of the people as a mass is
little short of marvellous. Yet such was the case. The
Spanish hide was penetrable in spots, and in the ensuing
twenty-seven years — up to 1898 — a school system grew
up which, the authorities state, was in itself unassailable,
but in its administration so abominable that it was worse
than none at all.

The precise situation was that in order to make a super-
ficially good impression, the Spanish authorities devised a
school system that in honest and competent hands would
have worked well, but which, having no sincere desire
to uplift the masses back of it, was allowed to lapse into
failure. The laws made ample provision for the free
education of Cuban children, but the administration of
the laws was corrupt. Through the failure of the admin'-
istration to provide funds for the proper maintenance of

247

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

the schools, only a small fraction of the boys and girls
of the school age, six to eighteen, were cared for. In
1895 there were 904 public schools in the island, con-
ducted by 998 teachers with 36,306 pupils. But even
with this showing the advantages to the children were
practically nil, since the festering sore of corruption at
the top spread down through the trunk of the educational
tree, and infected even the teachers. These were sup-
posed to be appointed after a competitive examination,
but the practice was not along the lines of the theory.
Nothing ever was with these haymaking Spanish, who
farmed out instructorships in the schools and professor-
ships in the colleges on the basis of personal friendship,
or for political considerations, without regard to the in-
tellectual or moral fitness of the appointee. An additional
obstacle in the way of the struggling Cuban youth with
a thirst for knowledge was the failure of the state to
provide school-rooms. The .teachers themselves were
looked to for class-room accommodations, so that the
larger number of the schools were conducted in the homes
of the fortunate " instructors." " Of school furniture,"
says the Census Report for 1899, " suc^ as desks, books,
slates, blackboards, maps, etc. — there was frequently none,
and the pupils, without respect to race, blacks and whites
mixed, sat on benches with no backs for five or six hours
consecutively, the instruction being usually given simul-
taneously to the classes, study and recitation being excep-

248

SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS

tional and impracticable." But a single teacher was al-
lowed the elementary schools, no matter how many pupils,
although the superior elementary schools were sometimes
provided with assistants. The school-rooms provided
by the teachers were badly lighted, ill-ventilated, with
insufficient and foul toilet accommodations, and the idea
of a playground was unheard of.

Among the further evils of the public school system as
it then existed, the Census Report continues, were the
provisions for substitute teachers and pensioners. A
teacher requesting a leave of absence for any purpose — ;
for example, ill health, or private business — was per-
mitted to propose the name of a substitute, who was paid
by the regular incumbent of the office. After being
formally appointed substitute, he was supposed to receive
one-half of the compensation assigned to the school, the
contributions of the children whose parents could pay,
and the amount allotted for school supplies — usually one-
fourth the amount of the salary. On the surface this
would appear to be a very fair arrangement; but, as a
matter of fact, the salary, fees, and allotment for supplies
were handed over to the regular incumbent of the office,
who paid his substitute whatever sums had been agreed
upon when he paid him at all. It is said that in this way
schools were without their regular teachers for years,
and meanwhile were left in charge of persons without a
single qualification for this most important duty. In

249

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

other words, just as the politicians sold positions in the
public-school service to their favorites, so these men in
turn farmed out their offices to others of their own selec-
tion, retaining for themselves a comfortable margin of
profit.

Confronted by such conditions the American military
government of Cuba began its work of upbuilding the
Cuban school system.

250

A GROUP OF CUBAN TEACHERS

Compostella School

THE COOKING CLASS, COMPOSTELLA SCHOOL

Chapter VII

PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. II.

/N taking up the school work in Cuba, the authori-
ties were confronted with many difficulties. It
was not as if they had entered a field where
everything could be done de novo, and without re-
gard to the prejudices of the beneficiaries. Added
to the difficulties of reorganization on every hand
were the obstacles which are never wanting to im-
pede any great measure of reform. There were the
jealousies of those who had profited under the old system.
There were the prejudices of the parents to be overcome.
There were the tremendous difficulties of getting the
children into the schools, and, after that, of keeping them
there. Some one was needed to take hold at this particular
juncture of peculiar temperament, of indestructible enthu-
siasm, full of patience, having a knowledge of school re-
quirements, and no fear of hard work. Providentially
such a man appeared in the person of Mr. Alexis E.
Frye. who, singularly enough, possessed almost all the
qualities enumerated; and upon the request of General
Brooke, then Military Governor, this gentleman under-
took the difficult task of drawing order out of chaos.
Whatever criticism may be made of Mr. Frye as
a master of detail in the administration of his office
of Superintendent of Public Instruction — and muchi

251

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

of it appears to have been wholly just and well
directed — there is no denying that he was the man
for the moment, and for the particular work in hand,
just as Funston was the man for the capture of Aguin-
aldo. As a permanent factor in the educational develop-
ment of Cuba it is doubtless true that Mr. Frye was im-
possible. It rarely happens that one of so great en-
thusiasm as was his ever becomes a permanently useful
wheel in a great human machine, but without the pre-
liminary efforts of Mr. Frye in the reorganization of
Cuban schools, it may be doubted if the showing of to-day
would have been so creditable in its comprehensiveness.
The ex-superintendent went at his work with an almost
fanatical zeal, and within six months he had succeeded
in getting the schools reestablished upon a reasonable
basis at least; the attendance had been increased to a
marvellous degree, and throughout the corps of instruc-
tors there had spread the contagion of Mr. Frye's per-
sonal enthusiasm. Whatever Mr. Frye's limitations, it
soon became evident that the extension of popular in-
struction had received a vigorous impulse, With great
rapidity school-rooms were opened, even in places which
had never heard of a school. The whole island was
covered with them in a few months. Although little dis-
crimination could be exercised in the selection of teachers,
the latter displayed, as a rule, real interest in the duties
confided to their care, especially the women, who dis-

252

THE FIRST YEAR'S WORK

tinguished themselves from the start for the activity and
zeal they put into their work. But for the first year of
American occupation in the nature of things not very
much of permanent character could be done to remedy
existing evils.

The close of the year 1899 showed only such imme-
diate betterment of conditions as the opening of
the schools under the old system, which, it is pointed
out, was merely a lack of system. These were without
desks, chairs, textbooks, proper school furniture or
other materials. ' The children were perched on benches
without regard to size. No attempt was made to grade
or classify them, nor was there any settled procedure
in the school methods; in short, public instruction was
without organization and of little value." The end of
the year saw the change in the Military Governorship.
General Wood succeeded General Brooke and immedi-
ately after taking charge, separated the Departments of
Justice and Public Instruction, which had hitherto been
combined, showing thus the intelligent interest he took in
a matter so vital to the prosperity of Cuba. There was
never any sane reason for combining the Departments of
Justice and Public Education, and it did not take the
thoughtful mind of the new Governor long to perceive
how particularly inexpedient in Cuba was the union, and
how necessary the divorce, if indeed anything of perma-
nent value in the way of a system was to be obtained.

253

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

The union of the school system and the politics of an
island like Cuba, was a mesalliance of the worst kind, and
General Wood acted promptly. The operation performed,
a new Department of Instruction was organized, and the
serious consideration of the Cuban school problem began.

" It was evident," says General Wood, " and had been
ever since the military occupation of the island, that if
a stable government was to be established in Cuba, op-
portunities must be given the children to obtain an
elementary education and with this object in view vigor-
ous measures were instituted looking towards the
organization of public schools and supplying them with
books, materials, etc. One of the first things to be
done was to settle the question of salaries, concern-
ing which there was already much discussion, and
explain to the teachers, who were opposed to the salaries
as being too small, that the salaries proposed by the new
school law were most liberal and in excess of those paid
by most cities in the United States."

To this end a circular note was written and sent to
all the teachers, signed by Gen. Chaffee at that time Chief
of Staff to the Governor-General, explaining the reasons
for the financial adjustments required by the situation,
and demonstrating by illuminating comparisons that they
were rather better off, if anything, than the bulk of the
teachers in the public schools of the United States. The

254

A SUCCESSFUL APPEAL

note closed with an appeal to the patriotism of the teach-
ers in the following terms:

" Having in mind the great task of preparing the Cu-
ban children for citizenship — a task which calls for the
highest effort of every patriot — the teachers are earnestly
advised to cease further agitation concerning salaries, and
devote their entire time to organizing their schools, thus
proving which among them are worthy of the highest
rank as educators."

The appeal was not made in vain, for the salary agita-
tion as a disturbing factor ceased, and the great majority
of the teachers " displayed great willingness and anxiety
to faithfully carry out the work entrusted to them." The
Administration has been criticized on the other hand for
the liberal amounts paid to teachers, but as the Governor
has well said, the work required of them had to be of
high character, and to obtain proper persons to act as
teachers it was necessary to pay a sufficient amount to
maintain them properly.

The next important step was the proper equipment of
the school-rooms that were already in operation, and to
provide for those that should be started. The precise
needs were ascertained, and under the superintendence
of Mr. Frye, Maj. Chauncey B. Baker of the Quarter-
master's Department and Lieut. E. C. Brooks, one hun-
dred thousand desks and chairs, and a vast amount of

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

other necessary material were obtained and properly dis-
tributed. Books and materials, together with the furni-
ture, cost approximately three quarters of a million of
dollars, but results soon began to show, and at the end
of January, 1900, 635 schools were in active operation,
and in June of the same year this number had been in-
creased to 3,313 schools, with 143,000 pupils actually
enrolled.

But it was not alone upon the children and their urgent
necessities that the representatives of Uncle Sam had
their eye. The needs of the teachers themselves began to
attract attention, and they were soon made aware that
the fount of learning must be of crystalline clearness if
the stream that flowed therefrom was to be of the re-
quired purity. Of the Cuban teachers, Lieut. Hanna,
Commissioner of Education, in his report for 1900,
speaks as follows:

" The teachers of Cuba have been so written about and
talked about, and advertised to the world, that it would
not be at all strange if they had misjudged their powers
and abilities, but through it all they have remained calm
and self-possessed. The most promising feature in the
outlook of the public schools of Cuba to-day is the simple
modesty of the teacher. He knows that he has much to
learn, and his eagerness to learn is most encouraging.
It is no reflection on the teachers of the island as a body,
to say that they are but poorly fitted for their work. The

256

PARADE OF SCHOOL CHILDREN
HAVANA, February, 1901

RECESS

TEACHERS

fact is denied by no one, and the teachers are free to
acknowledge it. But when the past is considered, the
very poor advantages there were for training teachers,
to say nothing of educating them, and the present is
considered, the sudden increase of their number from a
few hundred to nearly four thousand, it is no less a fact
that cannot be denied that the progress the teachers have
already made is remarkable. They were almost totally
without any knowledge of the theory and practice of
teaching; modern methods were unknown to most of
them. In the United States, a bright boy or girl who is
educated in the public schools may make a fair teacher,
for he is able to perpetuate the methods followed by his
teacher. In Cuba there was almost a total lack of such
example, and nearly all the teachers, up to the present
time, have had to depend mainly upon their own good
sense and judgment, without the aid of past experience
under a good teacher to guide them. Some, however,
are born teachers and the instruction they are giving is
of a high order. Others, who need the assistance of the
ideas of others are doing their duty in a way that no
one can complain of seriously."

To meet such conditions as are here indicated, and in
order to broaden the minds of those to whom the actual
work of instructing the youth of Cuba was committed,
early in the spring of 1900 the plan of sending a
certain number of teachers to Harvard was taken up

257

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

and actively discussed. The idea was first suggested
to the Military-Governor by Mr. Cameron Forbes
of Boston, and Mr. Ernest L. Conant of Havana,
and Gen. Wood at once assured them of his hearty ap-
proval of the project and promised the substantial co-
operation and support of the Government. Mr. Frye had
also been actively engaged in promoting this plan and
pushing it forward. In March Mr. Frye went to the
United States to arrange the details of this expedition
and returned in May, having, in connection with Presi-
dent Eliot of Harvard and others, completed the details
of the plan. The War Department at Washington,
through the Quartermaster-General, arranged to trans-
port all teachers,, send ships to the ports of embarkation
and return the teachers to Cuba at the completion
of the summer work. The entire project was a
success. The teachers sailed in the latter part of June,
returning in August. The authorities of Harvard Uni-
versity deserve the greatest credit for the deep and gen-
erous interest which they took in this great work, and for
the liberal provision which they made for the care and
maintenance of the visitors. The work of caring for
them in Cambridge was conducted with the greatest at-
tention to detail, and was in charge of a committee of
intelligent young men under the supervision of Mr.
Clarence C. Mann. At the conclusion of the work at
the University a trip was made to New York, Philadel-

258

SUMMER SCHOOLS

phia and Washington, after a brief stay in each of which
the teachers returned to Cuba. The entire expedition
was without accident and practically devoid of unpleasant
or unfortunate incidents. In addition to the technical
information acquired, all members of the expedition came
back with new ideas concerning the United States, its
people and their feeling towards Cuba.

In addition to this educational outing for the Cuban
teachers Summer Schools were established in the capitals
of the different provinces for the benefit of those who
were unable to go to Harvard and every effort was made
to give them in these institutions courses of lectures con-
taining useful and practical information on the subject
of teaching. The courses included practical talks upon
Reading, Language, the History of Cuba and its relations
to the countries of Latin America and the United States,
School Hygiene and other subjects of signal impor-
tance in the fulfillment of the work they had undertaken
to perform.

As the work in hand grew in magnitude, and as its
importance to themselves began to be realized by the
Cubans, it was seen that certain changes were essential
if the labors of the Americans in Cuba were to produce
the best results. The number of schools had increased in
six months from 312 to 3,313, but Mr. Frye's system, ex-
cellent for the beginning of things, proved deficient for
the constantly enlarging business of the school depart-

259

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

ment. To be superintendent, commissioner, and all else,
considering the vast amount of detail to be attended to,
was too much to expect of any man, and especially of one
who was not a little of an idealist. It became necessary
to somewhat restrict the functions of the superintendent,
and to remodel the school act to a very considerable de-
gree. Mr. Frye, regrettably, resigned wholly from fur-
ther participation in the work, and General Wood ap-
pointed to the head of his Educational Department Lieu-
tenant Matthew E. Hanna, of the regular army, a gentle-
man of broad culture, and of actual previous experience
as a school-teacher.

In July, 1900, a new school law prepared by Lieut.
Hanna was published, the old one having been found to
be thoroughly inefficient and lacking and faulty in many
essential features. The new law was framed upon lines
which are practically those of the school law of the State
of Ohio, which was selected after careful consideration
as the basis upon which the needs of Cuba might be
most satisfactorily met. It was of course adapted to
meet conditions existing in Cuba, which do not exist in
Ohio, and in many points differs not a little from the
original. Yet in the main it is the Ohio law, and it has
worked with entire satisfaction and is giving most
excellent results.

Gen. Wood states that " it was at first, of course, ex-
tremely difficult to organize and put in harmonious

260

DIFFICULTIES OF ORGANIZATION

operation over three thousand new schools with new
teachers, and in a country where public instruction had
hitherto been practically unknown. To those dealing
with only one or a few schools, the difficulties were not
so apparent, but for those charged with the organization,
maintenance, supplying and payment for over thirty-three
hundred schools, together with the leasing of buildings,
etc., the confusion and vastness of the work was not only
apparent but almost appalling. The teachers, janitors
and owners of houses were all required to submit their
monthly statements as to salaries, rent, and so forth. The
agents of the Finance Department of the Government,
charged with the payment of these salaries and expenses,
found innumerable errors in the method of rendering ac-
counts; mail facilities in many localities were extremely
poor, and as a result an immense amount of confusion
arose in the early months of the school year; in fact,
it was not until the close of the summer vacation that
the innumerable tangles had been thoroughly straightened
out." In addition to these, such other difficulties arose as
the distaste of teachers for new methods the opposition of
existing Boards of Education, and greater still, the pas-
sive resistance to the new law when the Board of Super-
intendents, in the month of September of the same year,
modified several of its Articles and took away the presi-
dency of the Boards of Education from the Alcaldes. The
reason for this modification was that municipal mayors,

261

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

with very praiseworthy exceptions, paid very little heed
to the interests entrusted to them and others no heed what-
ever. For some of them it may be advanced as an excuse,
that, with the multifarious duties of their office, they
could not possibly give to this important part of the public
administration the attention it required, and in order to do
away with a state of things with such evil and unhealthy
consequences, the modifications were introduced. True it
is that this step made the resistance to the new law still
greater, so great that the government had to appoint In-
spectors, whose duty it was to see that the law was en-
forced throughout the island, but the end has justified the
act. In place of active or passive opposition to the regu-
lations by those to whom the work was entrusted and in
marked contrast with the indifference then manifested by
the public generally, the records of 1901 show that there
are now in the island of Cuba one hundred and thirty-five
Boards of Education ; five in city districts of the first class,
nine in city districts of the second, class ; and one hundred
and twenty-one in municipal districts, and everywhere
exhibiting the most sincere interest in school matters.
Their energies are not in every instance directed in the
right channels, but the enthusiasm that they display, if
under careful control and rightly directed, will result in
the end in preserving public interest in the schools of the
island of Cuba, and will make permanent a school system
of which any country might well be proud.

262

RESULTS

Lieutenant Hanna gathered his forces into a cohesive
and compact body; reorganized his department from top
to bottom; gathered up the loose ends of official threads
which were a part of his heritage from Mr. Frye, and
in the closing days of his Administration of his Depart-
ment was the master of as well-organized a school de-
partment as may be found in this Hemisphere of En-
lightenment. Controlled by this department are 3,650
teachers, conducting schools in 2,800 buildings, educating
in all branches of school work, from primary through
grammar grades, 172,000 children.

In other words, in less than four years American energy
has planted upon a worse than barren soil a public-school
system which would be a credit to any portion of New
England, and by labor almost incredible in its demands
upon those who control the situation has placed within
the reach of the young of Cuba opportunities the like of
which have been denied their ancestors from time im-
memorial. The schools, which are as far from perfec-
tion as such institutions will always be, and by no means
measuring up to the ideals of the men who have made
them, are none the less in efficient operation where four
years ago they were in a state of chaos. Where there
was a corps of teachers irresponsible, unfitted, and of
political cast to the great wrong of the young entrusted to
their care there is to-day a band of instructors both trust-
worthy and faithful, who make up in devotion to their

263

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

labors that which they may lack in technical knowledge of
methods, and what is best of all there are discernible
everywhere in the island an interest among the people for
educational work, a thirst for knowledge, and a manifest
desire to aid the authorities in their efforts to extend the
beneficent influences of a public school system at what-
ever proper cost to themselves to the rising generation.

And as for the rising generation no one can look into
the faces of the thousands of youngsters in the schools
of Cuba to-day without invoking the blessing of a divine
Providence upon these men of War who have built up
almost in a day, this wonderful engine of civilization. It
has been my good fortune to see the public schools of
Cuba in operation at close range and I have paid
more attention to the raw material to be found there than
to the methods which were the care of wiser heads than
mine. Among the Cuban children I found much that
was inspirational of hope for the future, a real interest
in and even an enthusiasm for their work, and back of
many a bright eye there seemed to me to flash the light
of a soul capable of great things and worthy of the best
that can be done for man by man. With the introduction
of the Gill School City into the schools of Cuba and its
proper management, one cannot but be hopeful for the
future citizenship of the island.

The object of the School City is " to teach citizenship by
practical means and to raise its quality to the highest

264

A GROUP OF CUBAN TEACHERS

CLASS ROOM FOR GIRLS

THE SCHOOL CITY

standard ; to increase the happiness of student life ; to add
effectiveness to the teacher's work; to set forth in clear
relief, before the teachers and students, that there is an-
other object of education, greater than merely sharpening
the wits and storing the mind with general information,
which is that the individual while young shall be led to
form the habit of acting toward others honestly and gen-
erously, to govern himself fearlessly and wisely always,
and to use to the best educational and economic advantage,
time, energy, tools and materials, for this is essential to
best morals and best citizenship:

First. By engrafting into the character and habits of all
its citizens that principle which is the necessary founda-
tion of all successful popular government, that one should
love his neighbor as himself, and do to others as he would
have them do to him.

Second. By leading its citizens to more fully appreciate
and utilize the benefits of education and other privileges
of citizenship.

Third. By leading its citizens to use carefully and
economically the books, supplies and other property en-
trusted to them, both for the public thrift, and that by
means of a wholesome public spirit, their characters shall
be guarded from that injury to which they are made liable
by their being made recipients of such free bounties.

Fourth. By training its citizens in the ordinary duties
of citizenship.

265

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

Fifth. By affording instructors and students the op-
portunity and means to check every tendency toward
wrong thinking such as results in profane and indecent
language, hazing, bullying and other unmanly and
cowardly conduct and forms of anarchy.

Sixth. By getting such good for the community as may
be gained by enlisting the active co-operation of the
students with the public authorities for various purposes ;
such as preventing the littering of the streets, the defacing
of private and public property, and improving the general
health and the esthetic conditions of homes and public
places.

Seventh. By relieving instructors of the police duty of
school government, that their undivided attention may be
given to the work of instruction and inspiration, and
thereby to give them fuller opportunity to lead their
students to the attainment of a higher scholarship and
more noble character."

Surely, with a system of instruction inculcating such
principles as these placed upon a solid and permanent
foundation one must indeed be hard put to it to vent
his spleen if he finds aught herein at which to cavil.

Of course the politician of Havana who could not
profit from its financial administration and who would
take to the woods before he would avail himself of its
educational advantages, has viewed this work with dis-
favor, as has also the cafe critic, who writes letters for

266

BENEVOLENT OPPRESSION

the American anti-Imperialist press, the clouds of smoke
from his cigar being too thick to permit him to get any-
thing more than a very hazy view of this very healthful
situation. But to those of us who realize the difference
between a civilization founded upon the Spanish Inquisi-
tion, or a Tammany Hall, and that which finds its rock-
bed in the school house, the Educational feather in Uncle
Sam's Cuban cap must appear to be a bit of plumage of
divine beauty, to which he may point with honest pride,
and for which he may devoutly thank the high-minded
American soldiers who have done the work so success-
fully and accomplished results so marvellous. The Mili-
tary Government of Cuba in this Department at least has
benevolently oppressed the victims of its despotism with
the blessings of enlightenment.

267

Chapter VIII

THE CUSTOM HOUSE AND THE POST OFFICE.

/N a community for which so much needed to be
done at the outset, and for which necessary funds
were instantly required — it being understood, of
course, that the Spanish, in their inglorious exit, left little
that bore semblance to ready cash behind them — the re-
organization of the custom house became a matter of
immediate importance. In Spanish times there was no
department that was more corrupt than this, and under
American rule there has been none that has been better
administered. For this important undertaking, Col.
(Tasker H. Bliss of the regular army was chosen, being
made collector of the port of Havana and placed in
charge of all the other custom houses in the island, under
the supervision of the. Department of War. For his
assistant Mr. Walter A. Donaldson, a gentleman who
had more than a score of years' experience in custom
house matters — largely in the City of New York — and
who, during Gen. Leonard Wood's early administration
of the affairs of the province of Santiago, had success-
fully reorganized the customs service at that point, — was
selected.

These gentlemen made an immediate and thorough in-
vestigation of their problem ; and to say that they found
matters in a state of chaos and of incredible corruption,

268

THE CUSTOM HOUSE

is but a meagre description of the situation which con-
fronted them. They took charge of the customs service
of Cuba at noon on the first day of January, 1899, under
the authority of an order dated December 9, 1898, which
formed the island of Cuba and all other islands evacuated
by Spain and lying west of the seventy-fourth degree of
west longitude, into a customs collecting district, with
Havana as the chief port of entry. Later orders estab-
lished fifteen additional ports of entry in Cuba, and col-
lectors of customs, reporting to Col. Bliss, were appointed
to each, from among the commissioned officers of the
United States army.

Results immediately began to make themselves ap-
parent, for, as Mr. Franklin Matthews testifies : " Only a
few days had elapsed after the Spanish evacuation of
Havana and after the United States army officials had
taken charge of the government in all its branches, when
the merchants of Cuba began to realize that the strangest
thing in all the world had happened — the custom house
was being run honestly."

The tariff which was adopted for immediate use was a
literal translation of the existing Spanish schedule with
such modifications as the condition of the island demanded,
consisting chiefly of reductions in the rates. The Spanish
rates, as we have seen, had been excessive in many, in-
stances, more particularly upon such articles as Spain
herself could not supply. The maximum reduction was

269

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

seventy-five per cent, and reached an average of nearly
sixty per cent. Special modifications were made in the
tariff on the necessities of life ; and for the hastening of
the work of reconstruction and of placing the people upon
a basis of self-support, all farm implements were put upon
the free list ; and the livestock necessary for the farmers'
work, as well as for that of the various, departments of
street cleaning, sanitation and others, were taxed only the
minimum duty ; enough merely to meet the cost of passing
them, properly inspected by veterinary surgeons, through
the custom house.

The average duty under the modified schedule was less
than twenty-two per cent., while under the Spanish rule it
had approximated fifty per cent. Differential rates favor-
able to Spanish imports were abolished. No preferential
provisions of any kind were made, and the United States
was granted no more privileges under the new schedule
than those possessed by all other nations.

Col. Bliss and Mr. Donaldson naturally met with many
irritating obstacles in the way of opposition, not only
from employees of the department, who had come to re-
gard lax methods as one of their inalienable rights, but
also from merchants, who found the strict enforcement
of the law not wholly to their taste, and certainly not as
much to their individual profit as the dishonest practices
of the Spanish collectors. The new officials, however,
were not to be deterred by any such opposition as this,

270

COLONEL TASKER H. BLISS, U. S. A.

Chief of Customs and Collector of Port of Havana

THE SPANISH SYSTEM

and Col. Bliss, having conceived the idea that the way to
" collect taxes was to collect them, set himself to finding
out what he had to collect and then to doing it in the most
direct and straightforward fashion." It must be borne
in mind that under Spanish rule the custom house was
the chief source of revenue for the captain-general and
other high officials, who had been appointed to their lofty
positions for the purpose of securing their individual en-
richment. The system in vogue had been described by
Mr. Robert P. Porter, the tariff expert, as having been
" made by Spaniards for Spain in the interests of the
Spanish." Mr. Porter added that on any other theory,
it was inexplicable.

Col. Bliss did not begin by turning out all the old
officials. He kept as many of the old force at work as
was possible. He instituted a new bureau of audit ;
placed the book-keepers in a different room from the
cashiers ; placed gates at such points of the custom house
as were necessary to keep the clerical force from coming
into contact with the merchants and their agents; and,
best of all, broke down the barriers of " red tape " which
hitherto had existed between the person of the collector
and the public. No honest employee was discharged,
and no man under suspicion was discharged unless upon
actual proof of his dishonesty. The principles of civil
service reform were applied, but in such fashion that the
hold-overs from the previous administration were not led

271

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

into the comfortable belief that once in office, it was im-
possible for anyone to get them out.

Many instances of blackmail manifested themselves
early in the administration; but by degrees the firmness
with which such underhand attacks were met convinced
those who were attempting by nefarious methods to im-
pede the honest performance of the functions of the col-
lector's office, that blackmailing was, after all, an un-
profitable business.

One of the principal difficulties in the beginning was
the management of the appraisers, or avistas, as they
were called in Spanish times. These individuals had come
to believe that they were after all, the custom house ; and
that the custom house existed more for the purpose of sup-
plying them with funds than for that of supplying the gov-
ernment of Cuba with revenue. Perhaps this misconcep-
tion was not wholly unnatural, since they received salaries
which were not at all commensurate to the services
they were supposed to render; and, taking their cue no
doubt from the regularly accredited officials of the home
government at the palace, they deemed that a certain
large proportion of the funds which came into their pos-
session was the perquisite of their own pockets. In spite
of the smallness of their salaries, it is stated that these
persons " earned " annually enormous amounts of money,
there being a double source of revenue, comprising that
which could be got from the funds of the government

272

EASY METHODS

and that which could be extracted, as a matter of friendly
interest, from the importer.

Apropos of the devious methods of the former Spanish
officials to enrich themselves, 'a story is told of a Spanish
customs inspector who was asked by an American cap-
tain if he could see if a gold doubloon were placed over
each eye. He replied by stating that under such condi-
tions he could not see; and that if one were placed over
each ear and his mouth he could neither speak nor hear.

Another story illustrating the easy attitude of the
Spanish customs officials toward their work, related to
the port of Manzanillo. This until the ten years' war
was simply the port of Bayamo, a charming little town
located in the hill country, forty miles away from the
coast. It was considered a very pleasant place for the
Spanish officials to spend the summer months. Duty
possessed no compelling force for these officers, and find-
ing Bayamo so pleasing a resting place, when summer
came they departed one and all, including the captain
of the port, for its precincts, compelling every ship's
master who entered the port of Bayamo, if he wished to
get his clearance papers, to take a horse and ride there
and back to get them, a distance altogether of eighty
miles.

The new system placed into operation by Col. Bliss and
Mr. Donaldson brought these " avistas " to an unpleasant
realization of the fact that a hitherto profitable business

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

was in imminent danger of being one of the ruined in-
dustries of Spain; and in consequence of this realization
— they struck. The strike was met simply, directly and
promptly. The leaders were discharged. Some of the
minor malcontents were requested to resign ; and at the
end of a quarter of an hour, the remainder were express-
ing their willingness to go back to business again.

A more serious revolt, because harder to cope with,
came later, when the merchants of Havana and Cuba ven-
tured to disapprove of the new honest methods of the cus-
toms department. They refused to abide by the system
which had been adopted, and threatened to leave their
goods in the hands of the custom house until there was
a return to the old system of dealing directly with the ap-
praisers. They complained also of what they considered
the " red tape " of the department, which consisted
merely of organized effort where there had been hap-
hazard methods, and their ultimatum was that modifica-
tions of the new system should be made at once, else the
commerce of the whole port would be tied up.

These gentlemen were met in a spirit of tact and di-
plomacy which was wholly admirable ; and w!hich, consid-
ered in all its bearings, would probably prove very disap-
pointing to anti-imperialistic friends at home, whose idea
of an army officer in power is that he is an arbitrary
despot, who does by force of arms and without respect to
the rights of citizens, that which could be accomplished

274

OPPOSITION OVERCOME

by finesse. Seeming to yield to all the demands of the
merchants, Col. Bliss and Mr. Donaldson by a process of
ad hominem argument soon managed to convince a suffi-
cient number of the reputable among the remonstrants
of the impracticability of their demands. Mr. Donaldson
laid before them the various planks in the platform of
the new management, proved to them the necessity of
modern business methods for the proper protection of the
interests of the department, and- showed them very briefly
that the only desire of the collector and himself, after
having protected the interests of the department, was to
be helpful to the merchants in their business, and to place
them in a position of being not victims but customers of
the custom house.

There were practical methods of doing this, and the
collector availed himself of them. From that time to this,
it has come to be recognized among the merchants of
Cuba that the department is run solely with regard to its
own requirements, and without involving any interests of
a purely personal consideration.

As time went on, many inequalities in the tariff schedule
manifested themselves ; and in the spring of 1900, a second
revision was ordered. This was made and went into
effect on the fifteenth day of June, 1900, and is still in
operation. The main principles of its predecessor were
maintained. The average rate remained the same —
about twenty-two per cent., and its net results have barely

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

differed from those of the preceding instrument. Its pro-
visions levy a moderate, equitable and uniform duty on all
imported articles, irrespective of their source; and they
have been administered in the same spirit of unvarying,
uncompromising impartiality.

Another early problem which the singular condition of
affairs had interjected into the situation, Mr. Matthews
notes was that of an " open door." Col. Bliss and Mr.
Donaldson, as well as Mr. Porter, our tariff commissioner
in Cuba, saw that if Cuba would be rehabilitated the ports
must be open to ships of all nations. There were not
enough ships under the American flag to deal with its
commerce as if the island were our own possession. Had
it not been for the open door policy, the mines at Santiago
could not have been started up, and commerce at most of
the ports of the island would have stood still.

In a report as far back as December i, 1898, to Gen.
Wood at Santiago, Mr. Donaldson said : " It is to be re-
marked that the policy of no discrimination in intercourse
extended to the vessels of all nations in the matter of
entering and clearing at this port, as well as at the various
other ports within this province, has greatly facilitated
the reestablishment of commercial relations.

This policy, adopted at the beginning has been ex-
tended since then to all ports, and the " open door " has
been of inestimable value in the rehabilitation of the
island.

276

THE CUBAN FLAG

Another somewhat curious complication arose in the
early days of Col. Bliss's administration, and that was as
to the flag under which Cubans might engage in their
coast trade. Their vessels not being vessels of American
register, the flag of the United States could not be used
upon them ; and, since there was no Cuban nation, clearly
the Cuban flag was useless. The Spanish flag naturally
was not such a one as, under prevailing conditions, the
coasters cared to use. To meet this complication, the
President of the United States ordered " that a blue flag
with a white jack " should be used for such vessels.
Owners were required to take an oath renouncing alle-
giance to all former governments. Some of the captains
of the vessels thought they had a right to fly the United
States flag, and it took a long time to convince them that
the only flag they could fly would be that blue field with a
white patch on one corner; and that the forces of the
United States would be used, if necessary, to protect them
from being considered pirates or as belonging to a ficti-
tious nation. That flag, Mr. Matthews states, is the
only flag of Cuban sovereignty or semi-sovereignty that
the United States up to this writing has recognized, and
so far as this country is concerned officially that is the
present Cuban flag.

Physically, the task of the collector and his aids was a
very difficult one. The custom houses were in a frightful
state of dilapidation and filthy beyond description. The

277

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

Havana custom house was without adequate furniture,
there was no stationery of any kind, and for some reason
probably well known to themselves, the Spaniards had
taken care before departure to remove or to destroy im-
portant records. Conditions at other ports were in a
similar condition of demoralization. Then, too, the ques-
tion of sanitation intruded itself upon the vexations of
Col. Bliss, followed by the necessity for countless repairs
and improvements indispensable for the proper conduct of
business — a situation for which there seemed to be little
prospect of immediate relief, since the requirements of the
island for improved hospitals, new roads and school
houses were so 'pressing that such things as improvements
to the custom house itself and the construction of new
wharves seem to be matters that might be allowed to wait.
Time and patience however, have brought about neces-
sary reforms in this direction; and at the present time,
while far from perfect, the material conditions under
which the custom house is operated have taken a long
stride in the direction of adequacy.

The customs service of Cuba as it exists to-day is the
work of the military representatives of Uncle Sam. Its
personnel is made up of men who had had no experience
in the business of the custom house prior to the period of
intervention, with, of course, a few exceptions. Requir-
ing good business knowledge, as well as business sense,
and a knowledge of customs laws and regulations, the

278

THE HAVANA CUSTOM HOUSE

DRILLING RAW RECRUITS, HAVANA POLICE

A SMUGGLER'S TRICK

collectors of the sixteen ports of entry have practically
had to acquire these qualifications by untiring application ;
and that their service has been constant and intelligent
and fruitful of results speaks volumes for their faithful
and efficient labor. Eternal vigilance has been required
of the heads of departments, unremitting attention to
their duties has been exacted of the subordinates. And
when we consider that the coast line of Cuba is more than
2,000 miles in length, the enormous work of this depart-
ment in the administration of its affairs, in the suppression
of smuggling, in the instruction of the incompetent, and in
the rooting out of corruption becomes little short of mar-
velous.

Every kind of organized smuggling was resorted to in
the old days, from bribing the inspectors, and appraisers to
making false entries. Scarcely a trick of the professional
smuggling fraternity but was a common practice under
Spanish rule. An amusing instance of this is found in
the employment of a certain negro expert in former days,
when there was a big differential duty against American
flour. Spanish and American flour were interchanged
on the dock, for the purpose of avoiding duties, by the
simple process of changing the labels. This change of
label was brought about by this expert, who had the proper
brand upon the seat of his trousers, and entertained the
appraisers by cleverly sitting the brand on the sacks on
the open dock.

279

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

Many changes have been made in methods by which
great advantages accrue to the business interests of Cuba.
The original orders provided for sixteen ports of entry,
of which three were sub-ports reporting respectively from
Havana, Manzanillo and Trinidad. In order to facilitate
the business interests of the island, especially its exporta-
tions, other sub-ports have been established. As Col.
Bliss has said, " to have limited the trade to sixteen ports
would have done much injury to the trade of the island,
especially its export trade. Fruit and wood and iron ores
are now loaded at sub-ports and taken directly to their
destination in the United States, and since export duties
have been abolished there is no danger from exportations
in this practice."

Unorganized or sporadic smuggling has practically
been eliminated, if, indeed, in the sense in which it is
ordinarily known, it was ever practiced outside of the
regular channels of business. In a country lacking high-
ways and railroads and other facilities for carrying smug-
gled goods to market, the ordinary business of the con-
traband was not particularly profitable. What little re-
mains has been got under control by a revenue cutter
service', which was established in 1901, at a cost of about
$50,000; and which, in addition to restraining the illegal
traffic of the smuggler, gives protection to the sponge and
turtle fisheries of the coast.

As to the personnel of the Cuban customs service, which
280

THE PERSONNEL

includes the employees of the office of the Surveyor of the
Port at Havana, Col. Bliss states that it is a varying
quantity, but at the present time contains a number slightly
in excess of 800. Of this number it is estimated that 700
arc about equally divided between the Havana custom
house on the one hand, and all other ports on the other.
The remainder are engaged in the general work of the
whole service. And in the whole service the Americans
still engaged at the moment of our departure from the
island barely exceed 100, the rest are Cubans, with the ex-
ception of eighty men who were born in Spain. This
has been a marked feature of American military control in
the island. As in the other departments, " Cuba for the
Cubans " has been the guiding principle of those having
public place to bestow. The military government has
not been one of " carpet-baggers ; " but, on the contrary,
has made it its constant concern to develop along lines of
utility to the public and to themselves the capabilities of
the real owners of the island of Cuba. It is estimated that
less than one per cent, of the personnel in the various
offices of the insular government are Americans. Of
the Americans holding places in the customs service,
twelve are officers of the United States army; the re-
mainder, Col. Bliss tells me, are employed in the bureau
of correspondence, as special agents, in the department
of statistics, and in the revenue cutter service; and
perform duties that none other than Americans could

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UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

render for so long a time as our military government re-
mains in charge. Precisely what service this small army
of workers has performed can best be determined by a
brief retrospect of the business operations that have been
transacted at the customs houses of Cuba since January
i, 1899.

The duties collected by the American administration at
all ports up to the first of January, 1902, were somewhat
in excess of $39,000,000, at a cost of less than $1,825,000.
The moneys thus received were of an interestingly vary-
ing kind. At the port of Havana at the end of the fiscal
year, ending June i, 1901, six different kinds of money
were paid to the cashier. Of the $11,538,949 taken in
by him, $7,409,139 was in paper currency of the United
States; $1,366,871 in American gold; $108,775 m Ameri-
can silver; $2,084,795 m Spanish gold; $21.45 m Spanish
silver; $567,316 in French louis; and $2,032 in half-louis.

These transactions involved the execution of about
180,000 entries of declarations on importations, of which
number a trifle over 120,000 were handled at Havana
and the balance at other ports; and, as evidence of the
fairness and accuracy with which this was accomplished,
it should be stated that fewer than 2,600 protests were
filed by importers during a period of thirty months. About
one-fourth of these protests were sustained, and the
over-charges refunded — a system which has been most

282

THE BALANCE OF TRADE

astonishing to the Cuban, who rarely, if ever, got any-
thing back once paid to a Spaniard.

The total value of all classes of importations into Cuba
up to the first of June, 1901, approximated $180,000,000,
and the exports exceeded $145,000,000. At a time when
we are considering the interests of the Cuban ward, who,
even when he has assumed charge of his own affairs, may
still need some assistance from his old-time guardian, we
should note Col. Bliss's comment upon the thirty-five mil-
lion-dollar balance of trade against the island. " This,"
Col. Bliss states, " is no doubt an additional price that
Cuba must pay for the ravages of the late war. Princely
sums have been realized for sugar and tobacco during
this period — more than sixty millions for each of them;
but it was not enough to meet the extraordinary outlay
which the war entailed upon this people. For the neces-
saries of life and for the rehabilitation of their homes and
farms, they expended $65,000,000 for articles of food, in-
cluding wines and liquors; nearly $25,000,000 for live-
stock— 1,000,000 animals of all kinds, including 825,000
head of cattle having been imported; $24,000,000 was
paid for cotton, linen and woolen goods ; $5,600,000 for
shoes, hats and other articles of clothing; $7,000,000 for
manufactures of metal, such as structural iron, railroad
material, hardware, tools and implements ; $45,000 ooo
for machinery, of which nearly $10,000,000 was for sugar

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UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

and brandy machinery; $12,341,671 of gold and $236,166
silver coin, a total of $12,576,837 was imported."

Three-fourths of the products of Cuba the records of
Col. Bliss show have been sent to the United States, and
one-half of Cuba's importations have come from the
United States. The United States have supplied $83,-
250,000 worth out of a grand total of $180,000,000 of im-
ports, or forty-six per cent.; and has bought $108,000,000
worth out of a grand total of $145,000,000 of exports, or
seventy-five per cent.

The most important item of Col. Bliss's figures may be
set down to be' the fact which they prove that most of the
food stuffs and livestock, nearly all of the manufactures
of metal, implements, machinery, hardware and railroad
material, and the bulk of the coin — all the necessities —
were imported there from the United States.

The United States has received practically all of the
sugar of the island, more than 2,000,300,000 pounds, at a
cost of $63,000,000; barely 300,000 pounds have been
shipped to all other countries. America has purchased
most of the Cuban tobacco, comprising sixty-four million
pounds of manufactured leaf, 540 million cigars, and
twenty-eight million packages of cigarettes. All other
products,, fruit, vegetables, fibres, fine woods — of which
there are countless varieties in Cuba — and various ores
were sold to the value of $13,500.000, of • which $12,
000,000 worth found its way to the United States.

284

THE POSTAL SERVICE

Surely it would seem as if there was in this vast volume
of business an adequate basis for mutually satisfactory
reciprocal relations between the new Republic and our-
selves.

In marked contrast to the administration of the Cus-
tom House, has been ttiat of the Post Office Department
in which we find the only blot upon the escutcheon of
Uncle Sam's work in Cuba. Yet even the difference is
illuminating, for the work of the Postal Department was
the one branch of American endeavor that was not under
the absolute control of the Military Government. Its
high places were farmed out from the political wing of
the Department at Washington, on the good old Spanish
principle, apparently, of take what you can get and get
away with it if you can — at any rate political services
were paid for by its emoluments and as a result the
calibre of the men selected was of inferior grade. The
revelation of the corrupt practices of the postal stewards
has been a humiliation to those who have cared for Uncle
Sam's good name under circumstances so peculiar, but
the swift retribution which has overtaken the criminals
while it does not wipe out the disgrace of the peculations,
nevertheless in a measure emphasizes our insistence upon
honesty in public office. Viewed in this light the be-
trayal of their trusts by the convicted men of the Cu.ban
Postal Service is not an unmixed blessing. For malfea-
sances for which Spanish officials would have gone un-

285

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

punished, the American thieves have been sentenced to
heavy fines and prolonged imprisonment — a lesson in con-
trasts which may not be without value. It is curious in
this connection that in Mr. Franklin Matthews' book,
The New Born Cuba, one of the illustrations of his
article on the Postal Service bears the title " The Pres-
ent Post Office Building." As a matter of fact the illus-
tration is not that of the post office building, but of the
penitentiary. A more prophetic forecast of the natural
abiding place of the then Administrators of Cuba's posts
could not have been devised.

Apart from the peculations of these " opportunists,"
the Administration of the Cuban posts has been efficient.
I do not care to go into details concerning it since it is
of the Army work in the civil administration of Cuba that
I wish to speak more particularly. The Army's chief con-
nection with the office has consisted of seeing that its cor-
rupt heads have not escaped the punishment their crimes
have merited. Gen. Wood can stand all the criticism he
will receive from high political quarters for his " com-
plicity " in the conspiracy which has brought Neeley
and Rathbone and Reeves to justice. In this as in
other matters that would have inconvenienced men of
lesser build he has shown himself sternly inflexible in
the face of a plain duty; fearless as he is just, and un-
afraid in the presence of the majesty of the political
machine.

286

Chapter IX

THE POLICE, THE LAW, AND THE CHURCH.

rHE maintenance of public order under the prin-
ciples laid down as guiding ones by the Ameri-
can administration in Cubi, in which the civil
rather than the militant idea was to prevail, was one of
great and immediate importance. The chief effort in
the direction of organizing a well-equipped constabulary
was made in Havana.

Preparations for reforming the police department were
begun by General Francis V. Greene, who engaged the
services of ex-Chief McCullagh, of New York, to organ-
ize the new force. On January 6th, a mounted force of
350 men was created for the policing of the district lying
outside of the built-up portions of Havana ; it was formed
mainly from the Cuban troops and proved very efficient.
The organization and equipment of the municipal police
was begun at once but it was not until the first of March
that the city was placed entirely under their protection,
and the American sentinels withdrawn.

Much praise is due to the American soldiers for the
police work done by them during these early days. Com-
plete order was kept, though the bewilderment of the men
in trying to calm and direct the excitable Cuban was
frequently laughable, and sometimes the methods em-

287

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

ployed were not strictly in accordance with any recog-
nized code. On one occasion one of the sentinels saw
a mule, attached to an overloaded cart, which had fallen
and had one leg over the shaft. Its brutal driver, with-
out dismounting from the cart, tried to make it rise by
beating it. The sentinel remonstrated in plain English
but without any effect, whereupon, seeing that the situation
demanded other measures, he leaned his gun against the
nearest house, walked out to the cart, knocked the driver
off with a blow of his fist, picked -up the driver, and with
his assistance got the mule to his feet and started, then
resumed his gun and went on patrolling his beat with-
out further words. And here it may be remarked that
our soldiers were a continual source of surprise to the
natives. They looked so big and so burly, and while ap-
parently so rough in their ways and ready to use their
fists, were withal so honest and kindly.

Shortly after the police force was organized, the United
States patrol in going its rounds saw at the far end of a
block a couple of soldiers, evidently out on a. lark, who
had just stripped one of the new policemen absolutely
naked and neatly piled his uniform, with his revolver on
top, beside him, and were apparently about to give him
some lessons in deportment. By the time the patrol
reached the spot the men had disappeared, and the police-
man was rehabilitated and sent on his way. Later, these
policemen learned their authority and learned to exer-

288

POLICE COURTS

cise it properly. They learned another lesson also, and
that was the value of the club. The Cubans do not seem
to be afraid of a pistol shot or of a sword, but they could
not stand a blow of the fist or of the club. In the early
clays of the force the club was left sheathed and the
pistol drawn in case of a disturbance, and on at least
one occasion quite a skirmish ensued, with wounds on
both sides. Afterwards the mobs were handled easily by
the club alone.

The courts of first instance having proved to be very
slow and very uncertain in the administration of justice,
it was found necessary to establish a police court in
Havana on lines similar to those existing in the United
States, for the prompt trial and punishment of minor
offences. The Spanish system of jurisprudence contained
no provision for police or correctional courts, such as are
known in the United States and elsewhere, for the speedy
disposal of police arrests and minor offences. When
judicial action was required, recourse was had to the
regular city magistrates' courts, having mainly inquisi-
torial and reportorial powers, and later to the courts of
first instance, with limited jurisdiction, above which were
the provincial courts, designated " audiencias." The
punishment of minor offences, collections of fines and
penalties, and the like were therefore attended by the in-
convenience and injustice of prolonged delays in com-
pleting trials, involving unnecessary detention of offend-

289

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

ers and witnesses, frequent failures to reach conclusions
at all, and the multiplication of opportunities for corrupt
practices in connection with the courts and their respec-
tive functionaries, high and low. During the anomalous
conditions obtaining at the outset of the American occu-
pation in Havana, and prior to the organization of a local
police, and when soldiers were performing police duty,
the number of arrests and the variety of offences, as well
as offenders, complicated the situation and caused much
embarrassment in their disposition.

For this reason Gen. Ludlow established at the vivac
(the police jail) a summary police court with an officer
of his staff in charge, who sat every morning for the
purpose of disposing of the police arrests of the preced-
ing day.

The first incumbent was Major Evans, U. S. V., in-
spector-general on the staff of Gen. Ludlow, who con-
ducted these novel proceedings with tact, judgment, and
good humor, so that in fact the institution furnished both
instruction and entertainment to the public, and became
a popular feature even with the victims, who preferred
paying their $2 to $10 fines to being detained for two or
three months awaiting trial and judgment.

Major Evans upon leaving the United States service
was succeeded by Captain (now Major) Pitcher, of the
Eighth Infantry, who still further enhanced the renown
and usefulness of the court until its repute extended all

290

A POPULAR COURT

over the island. Major Evans was succeeded by Captain
(now Major) Louis V. Caziarc, 2d U. S. Artillery, under
whose later management of its affairs, the Havana Police
Department reached its highest efficiency.

When the administrative reorganization of the city
government had been fairly accomplished, and matters
were proceeding with smoothness and regularity, practi-
cally the only arbitrary military feature remaining was
the police court, which had approved itself thoroughly
as both a convenience and a practical necessity in the con-
duct of the city affairs. This court, which was organized
through necessity, and without any local foundation,
proved not only beneficial but popular, and later, was
made by General Wood a part of the judicial system of
the island. The officers presiding over these courts per-
formed their novel duties with much tact and discretion,
and it is a curious fact that they became very popular,
even among the more turbulent elements of Havana, who
highly appreciated the fact that they were sure of a
prompt trial and punishment for any offence that might
be committed and were not, as in the old days, to be kept
in prison until they or their friends could raise the
amount of money demanded. Captain Pitcher, who held
this position the longest, became well known in Havana,
and in his rides around the city would be saluted by the
street urchins with, " Ho ! Meester Peecher, ten dollahs
or ten days ! "

291

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

The " Vivacs " or principal city police stations in
which prisoners first arrested and those convicted of the
minor offences were confined, were vile holes, with little
pretence of sanitation of any kind. One of the first tasks
of the officers in charge was to see that this was re-
formed. There were three buildings used for this pur-
pose ; two for males and one for females, the latter being
the well known " Recogidas " from which, during the
war, the sensational escape of Miss Cisneros took place.
One of the others, a rented building, was what had form-
erly been a palatial dwelling; this was subsequently
abandoned. The third was an interesting structure built
in the eighteenth century by convicts under the direc-
tion of a monastic order which, at that time, had charge
of the prisons. As quickly as possible this last building
was cleaned and repaired by the Engineer Department,
and is to-day a model police station. When the repaired
building was first opened it was dedicated, after truly
Cuban fashion, with a reception and promenade concert
given under the auspices of the police of that precinct.
Cleanliness was strictly enforced in this and the other
police stations, so that the Vivac became not only a cor-
rectional, but also an educational institution for the class
of people who most needed this kind of training. Later,
the building formerly used as a barracks and known as
the " Dragones barracks " was also transformed into a
police station with all modern improvements. The old

292

THE VIVAC, HAVANA

REORGANIZATION

castle of Atares was made into a workhouse for prison-
ers under sentence. In all of this work Captains Pitcher
and Caziarc took the very greatest interest, and under
their care the police force of Havana became a model of
neatness, respected by the law-abiding and dreaded by
the law-breakers.

The work performed by former chief of police Mc-
Cullagh of New York in the reorganization of the Havana
Police, forms one of the most interesting stories that are
told of the early American days in Cuba. The ex-chief
arrived in Havana on the fourteenth of December, 1898,
having, upon the suggestion of Gen. Greene, the first
military governor of the city under the United States,
been appointed by President McKinley a committee of one
to assist in the reorganization. Col. Moulton of the
Second Illinois Volunteers had already been appointed
chief of police, and with the promised assistance of Mr.
McCullagh had undertaken the complete reconstruction of
the department. The system already in existence was
seen to be a mere farce. It comprised about 1800 men,
of whom 300 were municipal police appointed by the city
council to enforce city ordinances, 300 were government
police appointed by the authorities of the province, and
1 200 belonged to what was called the or den publico, and
were really soldiers of the Cuban army. There was so
much ' red tape ' about the performance of the functions
of their office that comparatively little in the way of pre-

293

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

serving public order was possible. There were no station
houses in existence, and all of the prisoners upon arrest
were taken to the city jail. A record was made of an
arrest, and Mr. Franklin Matthews states " that was as
far as all police records went. There was no record of
criminals kept, and after a man was sent to jail, all sight
of him was lost so far as the police were concerned."
The hard lot of the prisoner is further indicated by Mr.
Matthews who continues his story as follows: "The
policeman after an arrest took his prisoner to his captain,
whose office was in his residence. The captain com-
mitted him to jail and sent the case to a magistrate.
There were twelve magistrates, six of whom were judges
of the first instance. The salary of these was $5,000
each, and they adjudicated felonies. The other six judges
received no salaries, and they sat in misdemeanor cases.
They simply lived on blackmail. Those prisoners who
had money never went to jail to stay. After from one to
three days, the prisoner's case was heard, and then came
jail or a fine. The police knew no more about the case,
except as an unusually intelligent policeman kept a record
for himself. The man who went to jail got out after-
wards as best he could, either from expiration of sen-
tence or through corruption. The system was thoroughly
Spanish in its operation, and corruption was its corner
stone."
After four or five days of drastic investigation, Mr.

294

\

1

MAJOR Louis V. CAZIARC, U. S. A.

SCHEME OF REORGANIZATION

McCullagh reported to Gen. Greene the results of his
observations, and laid before him a full and complete
scheme of reorganization. By this plan he divided the
city into six inspection districts and twelve precincts, and
recommended that 360 night posts and 180 day posts be
established. He divided the force which was necessary,
in his judgment, as follows: one chief, one deputy chief,
eight inspectors, twelve captains, forty-eight lieutenants,
eight hundred and thirty-four patrolmen, ten detective
sergeants, fourteen detectives, twelve precinct detectives,
and twelve doormen. One hundred of the patrolmen
were to be mounted for duty in the suburbs, and the total
force was to consist of about one thousand men.

Gen. Greene immediately approved Mr. McCullagh's
report, and applications for membership began to pour in.
Equipments were secured, similar in kind to those used
upon the force in the city of New York, to which the
United States government added, at its own cost, a suf-
ficient number of revolvers for department use. Designs
for uniform and buttons were made, and all other details
necessary for the turning out of a complete policeman, so
far as externals went, were completed in about a month.
The necessary stationery, consisting of desk blotters, arrest
books, complaint books, transfer books, and other essen-
tials, were printed ; and a set of 180 rules and regulations
for the instruction of the new police was printed both in
English and in Spanish.

295

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

Gen. Menocal, formerly of the Cuban army, now suc-
ceeded Col. Moulton as chief of police ; and friction began
for the first time to show itself in the department. It be-
came necessary for complete authority to be vested in
some one individual, and Mr. McCullagh, finding his
hands somewhat tied by the authority of Gen. Menocal,
refused to go further without full and exclusive powers.
These were given to him by Gen. Ludlow, who had suc-
ceeded Gen. Greene in command of the department of
Havana, and the work began to proceed toward comple-
tion with gratifying rapidity.

On the i6th of January, 1899, the first applicants were
examined. It was required of the men that they should
be at least five feet, six and one-half inches tall, in good
physical condition, and able to read and write. 2700
men applied for examination, of whom 800 were accepted.
Whereupon drills were begun, the measurements of every
man were taken for uniforms, and the officers required
by the system were appointed. So far as possible the re-
sponsible officers were appointed from the ranks of the
natives.

The personnel of the force selected, it was now found
somewhat necessary to instruct its members in the topog-
raphy of Havana. There was, in fact, no correct map
of distances to be found among the city records. This
shortcoming was speedily remedied and within a week
the posts of patrolmen were laid out for the entire city

296

NATIVE PERSONNEL

in feet. The salaries paid were $4000 for the chief,
$2,000 for the deputy, $1,800 for inspectors, $115 per
month for captains, lieutenants $90 per month, rounds-
men $65 per month, patrolmen and door-men $50 per
month ; and each member of the force was required to
pay for his equipment in deductions from his salary.

The infinite patience of Mr. McCullagh in the drilling
of his men was something wonderful to look upon ; and
it is greatly to his credit that at a peculiarly irritating
period he was found to 'be so fully in sympathy with the
work in hand that he set for the men in his charge an
indubitably useful and admirable example in self-restraint.

As in the other departments, at the time of the relin-
quishment of American control, the number of Americans
employed upon the police force of Havana and in the
other branches of the constabulary throughout the island,
was barely one per cent. The opportunities of the force
were placed in the hands of the Cuban people and they
quickly availed themselves of them.

It may be said of the men who constitute this municipal
guard to-day that they will bear favorable comparison
with the police of any other country in the new or the old
world. They are efficient and courteous always ; physically
not of any particular distinction they, nevertheless, are a
most presentable body of men. They seem to be under-
sized compared to the police of New York or London, but
they make up in soldierly bearing and general cleanness

297

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

of cut and of person what they lack in physical propor-
tions. It may be said to their credit and with truth that
they take a sincere, honest and even ambitious view of
the work they have in hand. The police band of the
city of Havana established under American auspices is
one of the best military bands I have ever had the
pleasure of listening to, and its concerts in the city of
Havana on Saturday nights, as well as the afternoon per-
formances upon the Prado and at fetes of a public nature
are a delight to the ear. There seems to be among these
police officers of Havana the smallest — if indeed there is
any — of that natural tendency toward corrupt practices
which would appear to be characteristic of the police
officers in more experienced communities ; and, whether or
not this condition of affairs will last, it is certainly to the
credit both of the force itself and of those who have
had charge of the selection of its members that to-day
Havana seems to be possessed of an ideal constabulary.
Speaking to this point Maj. Pitcher in his report of April
2oth, 1900, says : " The police officers are men chosen from
the better class of Cuban citizens, many of them belonging
to the best families in Havana. They learn their duties
well and make good officials.

" I believe that in their work the police, as a general
thing, have acted honestly and conscientiously. I think
they have done all that was required of them. There have
been some cases in which the police have arrested citizens

298

RURAL POLICE

for attempting to bribe them. They have brought the
citizen as a prisoner to the police court, handed over to the
police magistrate the money offered as a bribe, and have
made charges against the citizen for attempting to cor-
rupt the police force. In most cases the money offered as
a bribe was confiscated and the citizen punished for at-
tempting bribery of the force."

In addition to the municipal police the needs of the out-
lying districts required attention and in the early part of
the occupation of the Department of Havana by the
United States it was found necessary to organize a rural
guard for the protection of the suburban districts between
the city and the boundary of the department. This force
was established for the protection of the suburbs of
Havana, as well as of the outlying municipalities of Regla,
Guanabacoa, Santa Maria del Rosario, Puentes Grandes,
and their vicinity. The force included 200 officers and
men; about one-half of them mounted. The men were
selected from among the Cubans who had served in the
war, and were equipped with a machete and carbine.
They were under the orders of the chief of police of
Havana and were located in seventeen different stations.
The principal stations are Santa Maria del Rosario, Jesus
del Monte, Luyano, Guanabacoa, Puentes Grandes, Cerro,
and the Vivac. These men have done excellent work.
Frequent inspections of their daily rendezvous, showed the
force to be painstaking and clean and their equipments

299

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

and horses well taken care of. They have prevented a
great deal of stealing and disorder in the rural districts.
In the administration of the laws of Cuba, no little dif-
ficulty has been met with by the American authorities.
The laws which prevailed there were naturally the laws
of Spain, and were based upon a civilization radically
different from that which we call our own. The Ameri-
can authorities, in so far as they have been able to do so,
have enforced the existing statutes, except in such cases as
it was clearly evident that they wrought injustice rather
than justice. It is to the credit of the thinking element
of Cuba that they were among the first to realize the em-
barrassments by which the authorities were confronted in
the enforcement of laws which they felt to be iniquitous ;
and, sensitive as these people are in most matters in-
volving a departure from their own established customs,
they have been more than usually helpful in upholding the
arm of the American representatives in Cuba in what
they recognized as a sincere effort to administer justice to
those who needed it. As Senor Jose Varella Jado, Sec-
retary of Justice for the island of Cuba, has said in an
interesting essay on legal jurisprudence, " The movement
which broke out in February, 1895, called for the exer-
cise of what is known as the American policy in its rela-
tions with the Antilles, and particularly with the island
of Cuba, whose geographical location made it a serious
and constant menace to the interests of the United States.

300

A SERGEANT OF POLICE, HAVANA

INNOVATIONS

It is not strange that one who so believed should advise
in good faith that we by aiding in the fulfilment of the
laws of expansion, assimilation and progress, should en-
deavor to secure for our country all that is recognized as
good in the United States. Let at least the generation
that succeeds us, in place of the sad heritage that has
always fallen to our lot, enjoy in every field of activity the
full benefits which this transcendant social and political
change will bring to us."

The first innovation which was introduced into Cuba
by the military government was in the correctional courts,
already referred to at some length, which, it is the testi-
mony of this eminent Cuban whom I have just quoted,
" has already produced magnificent results and will prove
an important factor in the moral education of the masses,
teaching them the respect due to the law, to each other,
and to the general interests of the country."

The administration of Justice, has been on the whole,
the most difficult problem the authorities have to deal
with. They were from the first short of suitable per-
sonnel. The population of the island is small and almost
every judge has been a lawyer and every case which'
comes up for trial is one in which his own friends are
mixed up in one way or another. However, the time
which prisoners formerly spent waiting trial has been re-
duced nearly two thirds, and there are few, if any men,
held in prison without just and sufficient reason. The

301

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

Habeas Corpus is in force and gradually becoming under-
stood. There was not one change that was more opposed
by the secretaries and the lawyers than this. The points
of view of Cubans and Americans are so different as to be
remarkable, and one who was present at the preliminary
discussions between Gen. Wood and his Cuban secretaries
says that he was filled with surprise over the reasoning
of the Secretary of Justice when he was opposing it. The
Secretary seemed to think that it carried a reflection on the
judiciary which would in the end defeat the purpose of
justice and the penal clause for the judges filled him with
horror. Not once in his whole discussion did he refer to
the rights of the accused. The privileges and dignity of
the judges were all that could come into his mind. But
the American idea prevailed in the end with gratifying
results, although as yet the writ has not been taken much
advantage of except by resourceful Americans.

The railroad laws have recently been re-written and
what is thought to be an excellent general railroad law
substituted. A general law, very comprehensive in its
scope, has been prepared, regulating the division of com-
mon lands — " Haciendas Comuneras " — a subject which
has been most vexatious and which has been under dis-
cussion for a hundred years.

The " Haciendas Comuneras " were the outcome of the
crown's habit of granting principalities to its best friends.
The best friend came over to Cuba and standing on a cer-

302

THE "HACIENDAS COMUNERAS"

tain spot and with a good generous radius described a
circle which he claimed his own by royal grant. As the
king had a good many friends to be rewarded these circles
began to intersect so that for a hundred years there have
been many long and weary fights over the different lines.
The situation has been still further complicated by a pro-
vision of the law of inheritance which prohibits the heir
from selling any part of his estate without the full consent
of all the co-heirs ; so that these old royal grants are still
intact in many parts of the island, especially in Puerto
Principe and Santiago, but belong to dozens of descend-
ants of the original grantee not one of whom knows what
part is his.

The general law which at this writing is about to be
published is the result of the work of the present judicial
commission and with the experience of a good many other
such for the last hundred years clears up this difficult
situation. It was extremely important that this question
be settled while there was arbitrary power in Cuba to do
it legally, as it would take years of discussion, probably
a hundred years more, before any number of legislators
more or less interested could be expected to agree on a
proper solution. Of course a good many of the people
over a good part of the island will feel injured by this
arbitrary action, but it is the only way to cut the gordian
knot and clear up most of the titles of the island. After
a title has once been made clear it is a very simple matter

303

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

to keep it so, as the system of land registration in Cuba
is of the very best.

Summing up this phase of our subject in refer-
ence to the attitude of the American administration
towards the existing laws in Cuba, it may be said, as
a general statement, that little has been done in the way of
radical changes in the law as a whole; the principal
changes having been made in the procedure. An attempt
has been made to do away with the fee system, which led
to so much corruption among the clerk employees and
officials. Police courts have been established throughout
the island for the summary trial of minor offences.
Habeas Corpus has been put in operation. Perjury has
been defined and made punishable under the law. A
marriage law has been put into effect, with the full co-
operation of the Catholic Church, which recognizes mar-
riages by all religious denominations and also recognizes
duly performed civil marriages. The Catholic Church, is
referred to because prior to the establishment of Ameri-
can control it had practically the monopoly of religious
marriages and any changes adverse to this monopoly
might be expected to arouse its opposition. Just and
equitable laws, giving due protection to the ruined es-
tates have been prepared. Cruelty jto animals has been
made punishable.

In looking over the orders which have been issued by
the military authorities, one's first impression is that there

304

FEW CHANGES

may be some justice in the criticism of the Governor-Gen-
eral for having made a large number of changes in the
laws and in the promulgation of new ones ; but when this
criticism arises in the mind of the investigator, second
thought comes to the rescue and when it is remembered
that in the Governor-General has been vested the whole
law-making power; and that in making changes, he has
been forced sometimes into expedients to meet certain
immediate contingencies, a failure to meet which would
have outraged his sense of justice, one's cavilling turns
to approval concerning the ends which have been accom-
plished by the means criticized. Closer investigation
will also develop the fact that there have been compara-
tively few changes in the fundamental laws of the land,
and that most of the orders issued from the Palace have
been those affecting appointments and other matters rela-
tive to the administration of the country's business.

To illustrate in some minor detail the absurdity of the
laws, I may call attention to one or two instances of the
operation of the Spanish laws framed for Spain, intro-
duced into and enforced in Cuba upon the " rule of
thumb " idea. One of the old game laws provided that
deer could not be tracked when snow was on the ground —
this is a land where snow is as rare as in Central Africa.
There was another which answered very well for cool and
comfortable Spain, by which in opening up streets they
were limited to a very narrow width, which, upon being

305

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

applied to Havana, left matters in a very unsanitary and
unpleasant condition. One of the aides of Gen. Wood said
to me that it looked for a while after the American oc-
cupation " as though we were rapidly wiping out all of the
old Spanish customs without regard to the wishes of the
people, such as stopping cock fighting and bull fighting,"
and for this the Administration has been severely criticized
by the liberal minded at home, but the bull-fighting was
only appreciated by the Spaniards and its abolition was
highly approved by all classes of Cuban society. As for
the Cuban national sport of cock-fighting that was abol-
ished on the earnest solicitation of most of the prominent
people of the island and has met with the full approval of
all of the educated people.

Beyond such changes as these, the military authorities
have not ventured upon any large scheme of reconstruc-
tion, feeling perhaps that this was a matter best left to
those who might succeed them in the administration of
Cuban affairs. But busy and able minds have been at
work upon the subject, and Gen. Wood has succeeded in
getting some of the best legal talent of Cuba so far in-
terested in the subject of reforms that already many com-
prehensive schemes for the betterment of the courts, of
one kind and another, have taken material shape. What
will be done with these remains to be seen. The newly
constituted republic cannot claim, however, if inequalities

306

A MOUNTED POLICE OFFICER, HAVANA

A CUBAN VIEW

prevail, that the way has not been pointed out for them
by their Trustee.

The attitude of the best elements of Cuba toward these
changes is best indicated by the statement of Judge
Gener of Havana, upon the general subject, who speaks
in the following terms : " With the disappearance of the
secular sovereignty of Spain, all our judicial institutions
were disorganized, as they had their roots imbedded in
the said sovereignty. Law regulates the life of coun-
tries. Law is essentially social. Law governs and con-
trols social life. And if this is true it could not be con-
ceived that, after the secular political moulds were broken
into which Cuban society was cast, our legal institutions
should remain permanently and intangibly intact. The
political order of things which for four centuries pre-
vailed in Cuba having been essentially modified, the
sovereignty that served as a foundation having been de-
stroyed, the necessity of modifying legal procedure be-
came and continues to be absolutely needed. Cuba can-
not easily and methodically make progress in political ad-
vance hampered by embarrassing legal methods. Ju-
dicial forms should not be the same in countries subject
to the colonial system, as in countries that have succeeded
in freeing themselves from the dominion of the nation
that controlled them from the fact of the latter being the
metropolis. The judicial forms that were perchance good

307

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

or at least adequate for Cuba as a colony of Spain, could
not be so in a like manner for Cuba emancipated from
Spanish control. Thus doubtless the matter was under-
stood by the former Secretaries ; for which reason they
took in hand the judicial organisms, at times modifying
them, and at times adapting them to the necessities or con-
veniences of the new order of things brought about by the
ruin and disappearance of Spanish power.

" From this point of view the work of the former Sec-
retaries was essentially revolutionary, as is and must be
the case with the work of the present Secretary and of
those who may succeed him in his thorny and difficult po-
sition. The Cuban revolution, like all other revolutions,
destroyed many things that were not in accordance with
the spirit that brought it about. But at the same time
that destruction was carried out, it was necessary to go on
rebuilding. The reconstruction due after demolition
should immediately follow it. Two methods could be
followed for the renewal of the legal status of the coun-
try; one consisting in conjointly reforming our institu-
tions ; the other consisted in making partial reforms as re-
quired by the public necessity or convenience. This latter
method is the one that must necessarily be followed, be-
cause it is the most convenient and most proper. The
most practical, because the study and preparation of an
entire Code would be evidently a most complex and com-
plicated work, requiring much time, perhaps entire years,

308

THE NECESSITY FOR CHANGES

to complete. On the other hand, there are less difficulties
in the partial reformation of the law. Besides, the new
order of things upon which Cuba has entered offers new
necessities, brings up new problems to be solved quickly
in order that collective or private interests may not be
caused to suffer injury. Therefore, the necessity of slowly
commencing the reformation of judicial institutions of
colonial times was demanded, in the direction of a new
political organization, a new judicial organization and
new laws for new times.

" This necessity of changing the colonial laws was de-
manded besides, by a high political ideal. If here the
colonial laws should be left intact, if the old judicial
regime were adhered to, it would result that the revolu-
tion would be exclusively limited to the expulsion of
Spain from Cuba; to a mere, although transcendental,
political change in the government of the island. If this
were the case the people would not receive from the revo-
lution all the benefits to which they are entitled, inasmuch
as in essence the laws of the vanquished regime would
continue to exist.

c< The effects of the Cuban revolution and of the war
that the United States engaged in against Spain to save
Cuba to the cause of humanity, liberty and of civilization,
re-establishing in our island the reign of order and con-
science must of necessity be felt in all parts of our legal
life, as the revolution in Cuba was not solely for the

309

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

purpose of putting one government in the place of an-
other, one bureaucracy in the place of another bureau-
cracy, but was for the purpose of establishing some in-
stitutions in the place of other ones."

If the Government of Intervention needed any justifi-
cation or apology for its few changes in the laws of Cuba,
surely it would find this in this testimony of the Secretary
of Justice in General Wood's Cabinet as to the necessi-
ties which compelled them.

The Church question in Cuba has been met upon
broad and generous lines. In leference to the church
property the situation was about as follows. In 1841 the
church property was generally seized by Spain and prac-
tically confiscated. This led to a long and troublesome
conflict between Spain and the Holy See. Finally, in
1 86 1, the Pope acting as the temporal power made a
treaty or Concordat with Spain to the effect that Spain
would return to the Church all those properties which she
had not actually sold or put to secular uses which could
not be given up, and in lieu of this latter property she
agreed to pay the church a certain sum per year, which
amounted to $470,000 in Cuba; this amount varied from
time to time. When the United States entered Cuba
the authorities declined to pay this rental and at the same
time held on to the church property. Gen. Wood's work
with the church has been to settle the contingent dispute
amicably and after a great deal of arduous labor and an

310

THE CHURCH QUESTION

infinite amount of talking this has been accomplished.
All the Capellanias (mortgages on masses for souls) and
censos were paid off for sums varying from $0.50 on the
dollar to a few cents according to locality. This pay-
ment frees thousands of titles all over the island of church
claims. The government has acknowledged the title of
the church to such property as a judicial commission, ap-
pointed by Gen. Wood, decided to be the property of the
church ; and the bishop and archbishop and the Governor
have agreed upon a price to be paid for this property,
which, as a rule, is about one-fourth to one-half the
original price asked for it. At these figures the state has
an option on the property for five years, during which
period she can buy it at the figure fixed: but as long as
she holds it she pays a rental for its use of from three to
five per cent, interest on the fixed price, according to
locality. In case of purchase twenty-five per cent, of the
rental paid is returned. The demands of the church were
fair and it is thought by those most interested that the
United States have dealt fairly with them, and very ad-
vantageously for the future government, since by the
terms of the agreement an endless amount of trouble and
discussion will be avoided.

Chapter X

THE DEPARTMENT OF SANITATION

S~\ F prime importance, not alone to Cuba, but to the
I M United States, in her Southern ports particu-
^•^ larly, has been the work of the Sanitary Depart-
ment of Havana. To say that that charming, city was
nigh unto a pest-hole at the close of Spanish con-
trol is far short of exaggeration. With the exception
of its water-supply, which was excellent, the city had
nothing in the line of public or private works which was
above suspicion as a breeder of disease, and this fact,
allied to the naturally filthy habits of the great mass of
the people, rendered the sanitary crisis confronting the
American officers at the beginning of the occupation ex-
ceedingly acute. When it is remembered that General
Weyler himself, as a mark of special distinction to a
guest, was wont to take him confidentially aside and show
him his newly installed bathtub in the Palace as one of
the chief objects of interest in Havana, and with all the
prideful manner of a London Tower Beef-Eater exhib-
iting the crown jewels of the British Empire, one begins
to get some idea of the standards of personal cleanliness
that prevailed at this centre of Cuban civilization. Even
to-day, in one of the leading hotels of Havana, the bath-
room consists of a wooden shed on the roof of one of the

312

THE BATH TUB AS A CURIOSITY

inner buildings, and the tub itself — having to do duty for
the occupants of at least twenty rooms, or say thirty
people — is a rectangular tank constructed of brown tiles,
and fed by a single spigot, through which in the course of
a half-hour a sufficient quantity of water to saturate an
ordinarily large bath-sponge will flow. The floor of this
lavatorial gem would not be tolerated in a third-class bath-
house on the coast of New Jersey, and it was my personal
experience that when I desired to use the apartment it
usually required from half to three-quarters of an hour to
find the key, which, I regret to say, was rusted, and turned
hardly in the lock as if not accustomed to the function
for which it was designed. I may also personally testify
to the fact that after my first bath in this place I promptly
hired a cab and went to the headquarters of an incorpo-
rated bath company and took another. All of which I
mention merely to give the reader some idea of that
inherent love of personal cleanliness with which American
authorities in Cuba have had to grapple even in high
places. If a bathtub was a curiosity at the Palace, and
had become merely a lure for advertising purposes in a
" first-class hotel," it is not difficult to conjecture how
such a thing would be regarded as one descended the
social scale.

I have already attempted to describe in these pages
some of the difficulties which Major Black had to contend

3'3

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

against in his reconstruction of the external Havana.
On the outside, as we have seen, that city was not the
fair and pleasant thing it has since become. Internally
it was indescribable. It is the testimony of reliable wit-
nesses that there was scarcely a building in the whole city
— and the 250,000 citizens of Havana live in 26,000
houses of one kind and another — that was not an offence
to the olfactories of those who have no liking for smells.
The sewer system, such as it was, was antiquated, and
the refuse of thousands of dwellings was carried into
cesspools constructed immediately underneath the build-
ings themselves, which were never cleaned, and in rare
instances even adequately covered. As a result the city
was literally infested with " black holes," so called, from
which nothing but the most frightful and unspeakable
emanations could be expected, and to what extent germs
of disease were bred and reveled in this environment it
takes no superhuman intelligence to guess.

In connection with this chapter are printed two photo-
graphs of models constructed for the Cuban exhibit at the
Buffalo Exposition, from a glance at which the reader
may gain some idea of internal sanitary conditions as they
existed under presumably favorable conditions in the old
days. These models represent two views of a typical
residence block in Havana. On three sides run sewers,
on the fourth there is none, and the total number of con-

A TYPICAL CONDITION

nections with the sewers in this whole square was nineteen.
Within-doors, located directly beneath the dwellings them-
selves, more often under the kitchen than elsewhere,
having no outlet whatsoever, and depending wholly upon
natural seepage for relief, were no less than twelve cess-
pools, into which flowed all the refuse of these houses.
As long as the contents of these sink-holes kept below the
kitchen floor they were left unattended and regarded
with unconcern. When they overflowed it was the habit
of the health-loving Havanese to remove a portion of
their contents to make room for more, but not completely
to clean them out, and in certain cases, in other portions of
the city, there is evidence that some of these plague spots
had not been cleaned out in fifty years. It is not without
interest, too, that I should add that in this whole square
there is no outlet from any of the buildings to the street
excepting through the front door, and what that means
when it comes to the unpleasant process of " cleaning
up " scarcely needs to be described. As for the sewers of
Havana, they were and still are hardly worthy of the
name. Their condition is such that the Sanitary Depart-
ment has not dared to compel the owners of buildings to
connect their premises with them, since in construction
they are wofully weak, in dimensions inadequate, and as
a matter of fact hardly different from the cesspools, ex-
cept in their form and location. A heavy rainfall fills
them to overflowing, and aggravates rather than relieves

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

their condition, bringing up into the streets and through
the vents substances that might better remain below.

From 1890 to 1898, inclusive, comprising the last
nine years of Spanish rule, in spite of all its natural
advantages, and the essential salubrity of its climate, the
average death-rate per thousand in Havana was 46.71.
During a portion of this period, however, conditions were
not normal, owing to the insurrection, so to be quite fair
to the Spanish we should take the six years of peace
from 1890 to 1895, inclusive, when from carefully revised
statistics we find that the death-rate was not less than
33.21 per thousand, high enough in all conscience, and
comparing unfavorably with that of the principal cities
of Europe and America during the same period. Nor
was this due to virulent and widespread epidemics, but
to the general diseases operating in large cities.

Here, then, were all the potentials of yellow fever,
tuberculosis, small-pox, typhus, and other fevers, within
ninety miles of the coast of the United States, and in a
city whose chief commercial outlet was through the ports
of the American republic. Into this atmosphere, fur-
thermore, the fortunes of war thrust a large body of
American soldiers, who, even if the beneficiaries of their
service cared nothing for their own health, were entitled
to the protection which a well-ordered sanitary condition
could afford them.

The remedial efforts in relief of these conditions have

316

AFTER A SHOWER IN HAVANA

A TYPICAL HAVANA RESIDENCE BLOCK FROM TWO
POINTS OF VIEW

(Photographed from the Models Constructed for the Cuban Exhibit
at the Pan- American

ORGANIZING THE DEPARTMENT

fortunately been from the first in the hands of men of
energy, of experience, and of ideas. As the work of
transformation of the external Havana was carried
through, with wonderful results, by the persistent and
intelligent application to his task of Major Black, so
has the inner transformation of the city been wrought
by Major John G. Davis and his successor, Major Will-
iam C. Gorgas, assisted by Major V. Havard, chief
surgeon. It was under General Francis Vinton Greene,
Military Governor of Havana, that Major Davis gave
to this work its original impetus and force, organizing
his department and making the reconnoissance so to
speak, upon which all subsequent effort has been based.
Major Davis has been described as " one of those military
officers who do things," in which respect he appears to be
like the rest of those army men who have gone into Cuba
on duty as soldiers and acquitted themselves with so
much credit as administrators. He took hold of the situ-
ation with a firm grasp, was full of initiative, and con-
structive in every minutest detail of his work. What he
and his successor have done has been the result of a
scientific consideration of the situation, and in no wise the
haphazard effort of men suddenly confronted with a hard
proposition firing wildly in the dark with the meagre
hope of scoring. In the face of opposition — not official,
happily, for from General Greene, General Ludlow, and
General Wood nothing but encouragement and helpful

317

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

advice has been received — these men have carried through
their arduous purpose to a conclusion which has been not
only of lasting value to the Cubans, but of practical
worth to the whole civilized world. The figures for 1901
show that under the American military regime the aver-
age death-rate per one thousand population has been re-
duced to 22.11 — a marked improvement over the Spanish
rate of 33.21. Furthermore, the report for the last month
of 1901 showed this great reduction to have been still
further bettered to a rate of 20.47 Per thousand. Yellow
fever has been materially checked. Infant mortality has
shown a marvelous decrease, and along the whole line
of diseases to which the Havanese were subject the re-
duction has been equally marked. These facts and figures
tell the whole story far better than it can be set forth
without them, and to those Americans who would deny
to their representatives in Cuba the feathers to which
their caps are entitled, they are respectfully commended
as worthy of study.

The Department organized by these gentlemen at the
conclusion of the Government of Intervention, was under
the direct supervision of Major W. C. Gorgas, Medical
Corps, U. S. A., assisted by two principal assistants, —
one being in charge of fines and remittances in connection
with sanitary improvements : the other supervising the
direct and indirect destruction of mosquitoes. For pur-
poses of administration, the Department is sub-divided

318

VARIOUS DIVISIONS

into divisions, the more important ones being the General
Inspections, Engineer Inspections, Mosquito-Destruction,
Disinfection, Hospital Inspection and Tuberculosis
Division. The general office force consists of an Execu-
tive Officer, Chief Clerk and Divisions as follows: Cor-
respondents, Record, Statistical, Accounts, Property,
Fining, Purchasing and Time-keeping Divisions.

To give the reader a more comprehensive idea of the
workings of the department, and its present condition, it
is thought best to state the duties and the general char-
acter of the work performed by some of the more im-
portant of these sub-divisions, as brought out by the most
recent inspection of its various branches.

Beginning with the Record Division, it was found that
it files and forwards all official communications, such as
notices to owners and tenants, relative to sanitary condi-
tion of premises, copies of sanitary ordinances, legal cor-
respondence with the various municipal judges and the
prosecution of the sanitary work, etc. The general
records kept are very voluminous, but in good condition,
under the supervision of Mr. Alfredo Silvera, a Cuban-
American and an efficient officer. What is known as the
card system is used, which insures prompt reference to
any paper that has entered the office under the present
management. Formerly the records of the Sanitary De-
partment were few and, it is claimed, were loosely kept.
Many of these old records have been gradually classified

319

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

and indexed in such a manner as to render them avail-
able for immediate use. A check, in the form of a receipt
from house owners and others, is kept to refute claims
often advanced that papers sent out are not received.

The General Inspections Division follows the Record
Division in order of importance. The chief of this
division assigns the various inspectors to their duties, and
makes necessary recommendations on the reports sub-
mitted by them. He also makes personal inspections in
exceptional cases. The inspectors are required to make
daily houseTto-house inspections and to render such re-
ports as they may consider necessary in the interest of
efficient sanitation. For a better understanding of this
part of the work, it seems proper to give an outline of
the methods pursued.

The City of Havana, including Jesus del Monte, Cerro,
Vedado, Guanabacoa and Regla, is divided into twenty-
two inspection districts, to each of which is assigned an
inspector. As a precaution to insure good work, these
inspectors are changed frequently from district to dis-
trict, and each in his district inspects every house in it
three times a year, and renders reports embracing the
results of his observations respecting the sanitary condi-
tions. These inspections average about 1,000 to the dis-
trict. It frequently happens that re-inspections are made
of places for which sanitary improvements are ordered.
The direct and re-inspections cover about 60,000 yearly.

320

INSPECTIONS

Besides the district inspectors, there are ten sanitary in-
spectors, whose duties are to investigate and make full
reports on such places as require special attention on
account of unusually bad conditions. In the case of these
special reports orders are issued to owners of property
for the necessary sanitary work. Re-inspections and
check inspections are made until the orders of the Sani-
tary Department are complied with. In extreme cases
where the property owner or tenant shows no disposition
to comply, fines are imposed.

The report of the sanitary inspector is rendered on a
printed form, giving information in detail concerning the
subject of inspection. Upon receipt of this report at the
Sanitary office, a notice is sent to the tenant of the prem-
ises, giving him seven days in which to perform the work.
At the expiration of the seven days a re-inspection is
made to ascertain if the orders have been complied with,
report of which is rendered on a blank form for filing.
At the time of this re-inspection, if the Department's
orders have been disregarded by the occupant of the
premises, the inspector serves a notice to the effect that
cognizance has been taken of default. About ten days
thereafter, what is called check inspection is made, and
if it is then found that the work has not been done, a
notice is sent to the responsible party to the effect that
he will be fined ten dollars American money unless the
matter is attended to within fifteen days. At the expira-

321

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

tion of the fifteen days, if the work has been neglected, a
final notice is sent, stating that the fine will be enforced
and the work done at his expense. The following day
a communication is addressed to the judge of the munici-
pal district in which the property is located directing him
to collect the fine. If the work is done immediately, even
after judicial action, the judge is usually instructed to
remit the fines and costs. Should the facts so justify,
notice is sent to the judge instructing him to remit the
fine, but to exact the costs. All fines collected by the
judge in this way are turned over to the Ayuntamiento
and receipts taken therefor, which are transmitted by
the judge to the Chief Sanitary Officer as evidence of
settlement.

The above are termed unlicensed inspections, and deal
principally with cleaning, whitewashing and removal of
unsanitary matter.

To the Engineer Inspections Division are referred all
cases where extensive alterations and new constructions
are required to meet sanitary conditions. Its first step
is to send to the responsible party a notice requesting him
to call within seven days to arrange with reference to
certain sanitary work required on his premises. If he
fails to call within the specified time, notice is sent allow-
ing him three days in which to comply with the request.
If this elicits no response, a notice is sent, stating that
he has incurred a fine of $10, for failure to obey said

322

ENGINEER'S INSPECTIONS

order. A circular letter, is then sent to the judge of the
municipal district in which the property is located, for
collection of the fine imposed. If the party calls at the
Sanitary Office and arranges to do the work he is re-
quired to sign a paper making application for a license.
After the license is granted the party is notified by the
Sanitary Office to call and pay for the same. This hav-
ing been accomplished, he is required to sign a pledge, to
the effect that he will begin the work on a certain date
therein stated.

Specifications for all licensed work are prepared by the
Engineer Department of the City of Havana, which su-
pervises the work until completed, when it is inspected
and passed upon by the Sanitary Department, which also
inspects the work from time to time during its progress,
to see that it meets with the sanitary requirements. It
sometimes happens that a place is in such bad sanitary
condition as to necessitate the placing of the matter in
the hands of the Chief of Police, who posts a notice on
the door to the effect that the house will be closed if the
evil is not remedied within thirty days. After a house
is closed by the Police, it is inspected at short intervals
by the Sanitary Department to see that it is not reopened.
Occasionally houses of inferior character have been
destroyed by the Department on account of unsanitary
conditions, but such cases are rare.

The object of the Mosquito Destruction Division, is to

323

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

prevent the propagation of infectious diseases through
the medium of the mosquito, first by the direct destruc-
tion of the insect, second by destroying its breeding
places, in still water by petroleum, and by draining low
lands by ditching. The department embraces two divi-
sions, namely, the oiling and ditching. One branch, the
oiling, inspects around premises in the city to see that
there is no still water left where mosquitoes could de-
posit their larvae; the other is engaged in draining by
ditches, all the low lands lying around the bay.

The most important work of this division is done in
and about private houses. Here there are forms of
letters, circulars, notices, etc., issued in profusion. If
still water where mosquitoes can deposit their larvae is
found around premises, the owner is called upon to com-
ply with the orders issued by the Department. If the
order is not complied with he is fined ten dollars, Ameri-
can money. This order is quite explicit in explaining
to property owners and tenants that the yellow fever
mosquitoes prefer clear still water in which to breed, and
directs that all wells, cisterns, tanks, etc., containing
standing water should be tightly covered. The oiling
brigades follow up the inspectors of these houses to re-
move all water found in uncovered receptacles and to
apply petroleum wherever needed. The inspections for
this purpose reveal the fact that most of the houses in
Cuba keep jars of water standing, called Tinejons, which

3*4

SUPPRESSING MOSQUITOES

are found to be favorite breeding places for this insect.
In all cisterns, sewer connections, pozos negros, infiltra-
tion basins, etc., oil is used freely.

It has been learned from experience that the yellow
fever mosquito, contrary to former supposition, habitu^
ally breeds in clear water, whereas the malaria mosquito
prefers shallow water underlying grass. Another dis-
covery is that the last variety is partial to hill-tops where
the soil is clay, covered by shallow water, shaded by
vegetation. This division claims to have destroyed ninety
per cent, of the breeding places of mosquitoes in and
around Havana.

The Disinfection Service disinfects or fumigates all
places in which contagious and infectious diseases have
occurred. In case of infection from yellow fever, all
mosquitoes in the house, and in those adjacent thereto
for a block, are destroyed.

This division is subdivided into three special brigades,
each one of which is further sub-divided into sections.
One of these sub-divisions has for its object the disinfec-
tion of houses as well as stables, from whence animals
with glanders have been removed. Houses that contain
cases of yellow fever, glanders or diphtheria are isolated
and guarded until released by the Sanitary Officer. The
major number of brigade sections clean houses when
necessary, and disinfect others wherein have occurred
contagious diseases, as well as distribute petroleum where

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

needed. A monthly report is rendered, showing the work
accomplished by each brigade during the past thirty
days.

Under this division all clothing taken from infected
premises is listed on a form kept for the purpose and
sent to Las Animas Hospital for disinfection.

A most valuable section of the Department is the
Statistical Division, which collects and compiles statistics
relative to all classes of disease, births, marriages, deaths
and immigration. It receives and files all statistical re-
ports from the large cities of the world, which are used
for comparison. It also classifies all data and prepares
material for the monthly reports issued by the Chief
Sanitary Officer. It notes all infectious and contagious
diseases treated by resident physicians, who are, by its
order, directed, under penalty of fine for disobedience,
to report all such cases coming under their observation.

The records kept are :

1. A Yellow Fever Record.

2. Record of Typhoid Fever.

3. Record of Measles and Scarlet Fever.

4. Smallpox and Varioloid Record.

5. Record of Puerperal Fever.

6. Diphtheria Record.

7. Record of Glanders and Leprosy.

8. Pernicious Fever Record.

9. Book containing numbers of houses in which yel-

low fever has occurred since the year 1890.
326

DEPARTMENT RECORDS

10. Record of Tuberculosis Cases.

11. Record of Births.

12. Record of Marriages.

13. Record of Deaths.

14. Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths received

from the various municipal judges.

15. Book and newspaper clippings from Island press

in regard to various diseases, sanitary work,
etc.

The Property Division keeps a record of all unexpend-
able property, showing amount of articles, cost per unit,
and total cost, number of articles transferred, dropped
or condemned, and total remaining on hand. A record
of expendable property is kept, showing the date of re-
ceipt thereof, date issued, amount, balance on hand, and
to whom issued. In connection with these records is a
book containing a consolidation of monthly abstracts,
kept in order to ascertain at the end of the year the quan-
tity of property of various kinds purchased, expended,
transferred and remaining on hand.

The Division of Tuberculosis was established in the
month of March of 1901. Its object is to collect sputum,
blood specimens, etc., from patients suspected of suffer-
ing from tuberculosis, typhoid fever, diphtheria, malaria,
glanders, filariosis, etc., for microscopic examination in
the City Laboratory. There are twenty drug stores,
located in various parts of the city, that act as culture
stations. This division has distributed circulars of in-

3*7

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

formation relative to the prevention of tuberculosis,
diphtheria, glanders, malaria and filariosis. The Depart-
ment has taken all precautions possible to extirpate the
disease of tuberculosis by arousing a sentiment among
the inhabitants against the evil practice of expectoration
in public places. All correspondence and records per-
taining to this division are kept separate from the gen-
eral office files. The system used is the card index with
envelopes containing original papers in each case, which
are referred to by number.

There are other smaller sub-divisions, not treated
specifically because closely allied to larger divisions of
similar purport.

Such in general has been the organization of the De-
partment.

The best idea of the results of the American system
obtainable, can be derived from the report of Major
Gorgas, Chief Sanitary Officer, for 1901, from which I
quote as follows :

*' All the tables of this report show a steady and gen-
eral improvement in the sanitary conditions of the city,
but the great work done this year by the Department,
has been the extirpation of yellow fever from Havana,
and, as I believe this has been due to measures for the
first time adopted and carried out here, based upon cer-
tain scientific facts established by the Army Board, of
which Major Reed was President, I will confine my re-

328

YELLOW FEVER EXTERMINATED

marks almost entirely to this subject. If we are right
in our belief that, by measures taken for the killing of
infected mosquitoes, we have rid Havana of yellow fever
in a few months, when it had been endemic in the city
for the past 200 years, it is of vast importance that these
facts should be made known to the world as extensively
and rapidly as possible, and this is particularly true with
regard to the United States. For it may happen that
during the coming summer, yellow fever might be in-
troduced into our Southern cities, and, if it could be con-
trolled as it has been in Havana during the past year,
it would save many lives and prevent inconvenience and
financial loss to the States so affected. The above rea-
sons are sufficient, I think, for dwelling so much on this
one topic.

" To make clear our claim that Havana has been
purged from yellow fever during the past year by the
destruction of infected mosquitoes, I will run over, in
brief, the history of Havana with regard to yellow fever
during the past 100 years and point out that yellow fever
has always been endemic in Havana, up to 1901 ; that
sanitary measures, which had reduced the excessive death
rate of Havana to that of healthy cities of civilized coun-
tries, had had little or no effect upon yellow fever; that
general disinfection, as carried out for other infe.ctious
and contagious diseases, had been most extensively and
faithfully tried; that yellow fever had suddenly and

329

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

sharply disappeared, upon the introduction of a system
whose object was killing infected mosquitoes, based upon
the theory that the Stegomyia mosquito is the ONLY
means of transmitting yellow fever; that from the 28th
of September to February I5th, the time of making this
report, there has not been a single case of yellow fever in
Havana, a condition of affairs so unusual that all question
of chance can be dropped from consideration."

In the body of Maj. Gorgas's report will be found a
table giving the deaths from yellow fever for the past
forty-five years. From this it is seen that in these years,
with scarcely an exception, some deaths have occurred
from yellow fever in every month of the year; that the
maximum, — 2058 deaths, — occurred in 1857; the mini-
mum, fifty-one deaths, occurred in 1866; average 751.44.
For the year 1901, in which the new system was adopted,
there occurred only eighteen deaths. And twelve of these
eighteen deaths occurred before the new system was put
into effect. It is equally well established that yellow fever
existed in just the same way, before the time covered by
this table. We have pretty definite data warranting the
belief that it has . been endemic in Havana since the
English occupation in 1762.

The report goes on in substance as follows : " The gen-
eral sanitary methods adopted by the American Admin-
istration, upon its occupation in January, 1899, na<^ a rapid
effect in reducing the general mortality as will be seen

33°

SOME SIGNIFICANT FIGURES

from the following figures. In 1898, the last year of the
Spanish Occupation, Havana had 21,252 deaths; in 1899,
the first year of the American Occupation, 8,153 deaths;
the next year, 1900, 6,102 deaths and 1901, 5,720
deaths, which would be a small number for cities of
similar size in any civilized country. This is a much
smaller number of deaths than had ever occurred for a
year in Havana before. In the body of the report will
be found a table giving the number of deaths since 1870.
For the past thirty-one years, this table shows that the
maximum death rate during this period, occurred in 1898,
when it was 91.03; the minimum in 1885, 29.30; average
41.55. In 1901 we have 22.11. The data above given
would indicate that the hygienic conditions of Havana, at
the end of 1899, were better by far than they had ever
been before; but, when we consider the table for yellow
fever, our conclusions will be very different as to that
disease. From the figures just quoted, it will be seen
that there has always been a considerable number of
deaths from yellow fever in Havana every year.

" In 1898, on account of the Spanish War, there was
very little immigration to the city, and therefore, there
were few non-immunes to contract yellow fever; we
had during this year, only 136 deaths from the disease.
The next year, 1899, there was little or no immigration
during the first six months, and consequently, few non-
immunes, and we had only five deaths. During the last

331

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

six months of that year, over 12,000 immigrants came in,
and ninety-eight deaths from yellow fever occurred. The
winter epidemic for 1899 was unusually severe. The
next year, 1900, there were 310 deaths from yellow fever.
This demonstrates that the general sanitary measures had
had a marked effect upon the general death rate, but very
little upon the death rate for yellow fever. Neither labor
nor expense was spared. The floors and walls of the
room occupied by the patient were washed down with a
solution of bichloride, applied with a force pump ; then
the room was carefully sealed and filled with formaline
gas. All the fabrics were taken to the disinfecting plant
and passed through a steam sterilizer. Every case was
carefully isolated, and the quarantine enforced by an em-
ployee of this Department, who was on guard at the room
quarantined. Three men in eight hour shifts were as-
signed as guards to each case. By the end of 1900, the
authorities were convinced that general sanitary methods
could not, in a short time, eradicate yellow fever from
Havana. In the smaller cities and military camps, entire
success had resulted from the deportation of the non-
immune population, together with general sanitary
methods; but in a city the size of Havana, with a non-
immune population of between 30,000 and 40,000, such a
measure was entirely impracticable.

" At the beginning of 1901, the prospects, as far as yel-
low fever in Havana was concerned, were very un favor-

332

MAJOR W. C. GORGAS

Chief of Department of Sanitation

YELLOW FEVER SHOWING

able.. There was a large non-immune population, probably
larger than it had ever been before.' The city was thor-
oughly infected, cases having occurred in all parts.
During the preceding year, there had been 1,244 cases
and 310 deaths, and all cases of non-immunes had suffered
severely. On the staff of the Military Governor, the
Chief Commissary, the Chief Quartermaster and one of
the Aides had died.

" January commenced with an unusually large number
of deaths from this disease, the record showing twenty-
four cases and seven deaths ; February was equally severe,
eight cases and five deaths occurring during that month.
The Military Governor, being determined that no pre-
caution should be omitted, directed that, in addition to
former measures, work be started on the line that the
mosquito was the cause of the transmission of the disease.
This work went into effect about the first of March, with
the result that during the whole year we had only eighteen
deaths from yellow fever and twelve of these eighteen
deaths occurred before the mosquito measures were
started.

" This is still better shown by taking the table of deaths,
which estimates the yellow fever year as commencing
April first. In this we see that, for the past eleven years,
the maximum, 1,385 deaths, occurred in 1896-1897;. the
minimum, 122 deaths, in 1899-1900; average 467. For
the year 1901-1902, up to February I5th, there were five

333

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

deaths. This difference is too marked to be any matter of
chance. That the yellow fever year of 1901-1902 had
only 1-25 the number of deaths that had occurred in the
minimum year of the preceding eleven years, must be due
to some cause that did not act during these years. Still
more marked is the fact that since September 28, 1901,
no cases at all have occurred, particularly when it is con-
sidered that October and November rank among the worst
months for yellow fever.

" Not only was this result obtained with the city full of
non-immunes, with infection in all parts of it, but there
were half a dozen infected towns in railroad communica-
tion with Havana. Constant intercourse was kept up and
no interference with commerce occurred. Goods of all
kinds were allowed to come into the city freely. No re-
striction was put upon bringing in clothing, bedding and
so on, from those infected points. The only infected
material from the towns looked after, was the sick man,
who was carefully sought out and screened from mos-
quitoes. The number of other infectious and contagious
diseases have been small during the year. There has been
very little diphtheria and typhoid fever. The tuberculo-
sis rate is about that of most cities of civilized countries."

Surely with such a record as this Major Gorgas is jus-
tified in pointing out some of the sanitary differences be-
tween the " then and the now " as he puts it, in the fol-
lowing terms :

334

THEN AND NOW

" The Army took charge of the Health Department of
Havana when deaths were occurring at the rate of 21,252
per year. It gives it up with deaths occurring at the rate
of 5,720 per year. It took charge with small pox en-
demic for years. It gives it up with not a single case
having occurred in the city for over eighteen months. It
took charge with yellow fever endemic for two centuries,
the relentless foe of every foreigner who came within
Havana's borders, — which he could not escape, and from
whose attack he well knew that every fourth man must
die. It found Havana feared as a thing unclean by all
her neighbors of the United States, and quarantined
against as too dangerous to touch, or even to come near
anything that she had touched, to the untold financial loss
of both Havana and the United States. It leaves, after
careful study of the question of yellow fever by its
officers, undeterred by personal risk, — for several of the
investigators have died of the disease, contracted at their
work. It has established the fact that yellow fever is
only transmitted by a certain species of mosquito, a dis-
covery that, in its power for saving human life, is only
excelled by Jenner's great discovery, and as time goes on,
it will stand in the same class as that great boon to man-
kind."

In many ways the showing of this Department is the
greatest feat of American achievement in Cuba if not
in the world in so far as its benefits to mankind at large

335

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

are concerned, and certainly the New York Medical
Journal states the case mildly only when it says that " the
sanitary revolution that has been accomplished in Cuba
as a consequence of the American occupation must ever
count greatly to the credit of American medicine and of
American discipline." There is at Havana a small plaza
and a handsome marble statue to the memory of General
Albear, a Cuban engineer to whose initiative and energy
and skill Havana owes its most excellent water supply.
It is a fitting recognition of a worthy achievement. How
much more fitting would be some such material ex-
pression of their loving gratitude of the Cuban people to
the men who in the brief period of intervention have en-
abled them to drink of the crystalline fount of health ;
ridding them of the scourge of the slave-master, of the
devastating fires of war and bringing to their impover-
ished bodies food for the soul and for the mind, and in a
noble spirit of self sacrifice standing between them and
pestilence and starting them along the highway of happi-
ness with a clean bill of health ! .

It is a common and somewhat childish fashion among
those who have been unable to bend him to their own pur-
poses in Cuba to refer to Governor Wood as Doctor-
General Wood. These persons are too shortsighted to
see that after all this epithet which they speak in con-
tempt and derision is rather a high distinction than other-
wise. Certainly Doctor-Major Gorgas need not hesitate

336

A COMPLIMENTARY EPITHET

to take such a designation as a tribute, nor should Sur-
geon-Major Havard feel unhappy to be so called. The
hyphenation is merely a further distinction for them all,
since it indicates that to their unquestioned fitness as men
engaged in the pursuit of arduous military duties they
have added to their equipment those qualities of mind, of
character, and of usefulness in the service of mankind
which belong to the recognized guardians of the health of
man.

The Cubans have cause to be grateful to the United
States government for having so happily placed these
doctors where they may do the most good. Without
them there might not have been so many Cubans left alive
to-day to dream of the new republic.

337

Chapter XI

CONCLUSION

y^ND so in meagre fashion the story of the Trust
/J is told. Have we kept the faith and has the
-^ -*• Trust been administered properly and well ?
Only a portion of the great painting has been sketched
in here. Scores of the details of organization must per-
force have escaped our attention. The work along lines
of finance, under Maj. Eugene T. Ladd who as Treas-
urer of the island filled the arduous duties of his re-
sponsible office with signal fidelity and distinction, the
thousand and one little things which go to make up the
whole fabric, the difficult labors well accomplished by the
silent hundreds who follow but without whom the leaders
could hope for no results — all these things may only be
surmised and may properly be left for some less rapid
survey of the work than I have undertaken. To sum
the whole story up however Uncle Sam may felicitate
himself upon the facts that he found Cuba unhealthy and
he leaves her healthy ; he found her without an adequate
system of charities and hospitals and he leaves her a well
established one; he found her without schools and he
leaves her with a good school law and a good school sys-
tem established; he found the island filled with beggars
and with an empty treasury ; he leaves it without beggars,

338

SUMMING UP

its people with enough to eat, and with a reserve of about
a million and a half dollars in the treasury. He found
her without any knowledge of popular elections and with-
out an electoral law ; he has given her both. He found
the insane without a'ny systematic treatment whatever,
caged up like animals; he leaves them assembled in one
large hospital under the best available treatment. He
found her prisons indescribably bad and leaves them as
good as the average prisons of his own country. He
has built up a good system of sanitary supervision
throughout the island. He has built and put into com-
mission a small fleet of coast guard launches, or revenue
cutters. He has collected the revenues at a figure which
compares favorably with the cost of collection in the
United States. He has buoyed the harbors and has added
very largely to the lighthouses and lights of the island.
An immense amount of road and bridge building has been
done. He has organized a system of civil service for the
municipal police throughout the island in order to pro-
tect them in their rights and secure them from arbitrary
dismissal. He has enlisted, equipped, trained and thor-
oughly established a Rural Guard which will compare
favorably with any similar force, and not over one per
cent, of those employed to help him in his work has
come from within his own borders. For the first time
in history the carpet-bagger in a situation of this kind
has been held in subjection and every penny of the

339

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

Trust has been administered for the benefit of the
ward. It has been a wonderful showing and serves
only to confirm me in an impression of a year ago,
after a visit to the island that it would be a good
thing for the credit of the United States at this mo-
ment, if we could only have a Floating University
for the education of those gifted individuals to whom is
entrusted the molding of public opinion. There is often
a sad need of information on the part of a great many
good people who write advice by which our rulers should
be guided and through which public opinion, should be
formed ; and in no connection doe3 this fact become more
obvious than in the published opinions throughout the
country as to the Cuban situation and the work that has
been done in connection therewith. It is difficult to say
what one would surely do if possessed of unlimited
wealth, but a priori my own opinion is that if I were Mr.
Andrew Carnegie at this moment, I would scale down my
library gifts about ten per cent., charter a ship and after
placing aboard of her a selected number of students with
minds like clean slates, enforced by a good digestion, re-
enforced by an ability to see straight, and having a proper
degree of patriotism, send them off to Cuba to see things
as they are. The dullest clod among them would come
back with impressions the proper presentation of which
to the American public would inspire in the latter a pride
so great that it could hardly be adequately described.

340

A BRILLIANT SHOWING

After some observation of men and affairs in Cuba, I am
satisfied that the only people of American birth in the
island who know anything at all about the situation, who
because of the American policy in Cuba are ashamed of
being Americans, are those who, judged by any reason-
able standard of fitness, should be ashamed of themselves.
Thev have been trouble makers from the start. The ad-
ministration at Havana, however, from top to bottom, has
at no time had anything to fear from an inspection of its
work by any man who approaches his task with a clear
conscience, a good liver, and, if he be a newspaper man,
with no instructions from the home office; or, having
these, no carping, cavilling, bilious editorial policy to
justify.

Despite these persons the manly men in authority have
gone their way resolutely to the work in hand undeterred
by the snapping and snarling of the jealous and irre-
sponsible, and now that the end has crowned the work
they have the satisfaction of knowing that they take rank
among the strong and great figures in the pages of history
whilst their envious critics have slunk back into the
tobacco scented purlieus of the cafes where their ignoble
energies have found their chiefest outlet. To Gen. Wood
and the noble band of men who have fought side by side
to help him and his predecessors in this regeneration of
a fallen people the gratitude of the United States goes' out
in fullest measure, and when in future days they come to

341

UNCLE SAM TRUSTEE

look back upon the events of four years of discouragement
and toil they will see I fancy merely the outlines of that
enduring monument to their own nobility of character
and purpose which step by step and hour by hour they
have builded up. And Cuba? If Cuba in the remotest
hour of the remotest century to come forgets this service
and the names of these men who have rendered it, then
will she be guilty of an ingratitude which is inconceiv-
able, and to be likened only to that of the serpent, who,
warmed by the fire of his benefactor, turned and stung
the hand that brought him back to life.

END

342

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