THE: FIRST PRESIDENT OF CUBA. TOMAS ESTRADA PALMA, It Is tilth surprising anil significant that Tomaa Estrada Palma should have Jbeen chosen the first president of the Cuban republic by the Cuban people. It is (surprising. because other Spanish-American people have at all times favored their soldiers or rather the soldiers have favored themselves, with office, and it was hardly to have been expected that Cuba, with so many revolutionary heroes to choose from, would have departed from this custom. It is significant, because it points to a new method of government in what has for so many years been a hotbed of revolution. President Palma stands for a government of peace rather than that of the military dictator, and his selection gives promise of a strict com pliance with the expectations of the I'nited States in the government of Cuba. His announced policy is the development of the schoolhouse rather than the soldier In his native country. It would be unfair to President Palma not to giv? him credit for playing an Important part In the achievement of Cuban independence. louring the long strug gle of the ten years' war he fought in the ranks of the revolutionists, rising to the rank of general in the Cuban army, and afterwards being selected as president of the provisional government, lie was later captured by the Spaniards and con fined in Spain until after the close of the war. When lie was finally released his estates were confiscated and he was forever banished from his native island. He settled finally in Honduras, where he married the daughter of the president of that republic and became the postmaster general in the cabinet of his father in-law. Afterwards he removed to the United States and for IS years conducted R school for Spanish-American boys at Central Valley, X. Y. At the breaking out of the last war in Cuba he became the head of the junta In New York city, and Tendered efficient service in that capacity. His selection as president was favored by practically every Cuban general of note, prominent among his supporters being Gen. Gomez. The office came to him entirely unsought, and lie will take his seat as the first chief executive of the Cuban republic with no political ties to bind him. FIGHT FOB FREEDOM The Long, Desperate Struggle That Brought Cuban Independence. It llPKnn AlmoHt with the Kirat S«*t t lenient of the Spaniards in the Ih lu it<l—Some Men Whose \it men and Deed* Will Live in Cuba ii lli lit or y. t : b A'S fight for freedom from panish rule may be said to have begun almost before the Dons 'Hfmrjrttl became masters of the island. When, in 1511, the son of Co- StSNSSIBI/ lumbus determined to take pog session of Cuba in the name of IVfjoEiy. Spain he selected Diego Velas ,» (piez to command an advance guard, as it were, of some 300 men. This force met with vir tually no resistance from the natives save from one chief, Hatuey, a refugee from llis paniola, or Havti as now called, where he had witnessed the barbarities of the new •comers and resented their invasion of his new home, as he, unlike the others, knew from terrible experience what such a com ingmeantto the native people. But Hatuey like many others who came after him in later years, was unsuccessful in opposing the will of the D< s, and paid for his desire for freedom with his life, being burned at the stake as a fugitive slave. Spanish oppression and Spanish cruelty reigned in Cuba from that day until in the ' / GEN. GALIXTO GARCIA. summer of 1 WIS, when, with the assistance of the United States, the patriots banished t ii lr oppressors from the island forever. Almost from the day of the Spaniards' first mding in Cuba until the signing of the peace protocol that put a stop to the war of 1S!IS the Dons had found it necessary to meet opposition to their reign by the use of armed force. This opposition was not at all times of sufficient vigor to be dignified by toe name of revolution, but it was con *:an;. For many years it was more of a eea fight than a land fight and was carried I,:I by the buccaneers Hose object was to ..ivi Spain from the w. *cas, not be cause they were friendly to /lie native ' "ban-, but from motives of revenge against l e mother country, and as allies of other Jiu- can natuM it war with Spain. 2svx were their operations directed against the Spaniards in I'uba alone, but in every part of the western world where the Spanish Hag floated. It was not until late in the eighteenth and early in the nineteenth centuries that the people of Cuba began to think seriously of freedom, or rather of righting existing wrongs, and forcing from the mother coun try a more liberal form of government. England's colonies had thrown off the yoke of oppression, and the seed of freedom that had sprouted on the mainland had been car ried to the island. A grievance that brought with it armed resistance came in 1796 when Spain withdrew the siiip building yards '' OM EZ. from Havana to reestablish them at her home ports. The industry had existed in the island from 1726, and the closing of them was bitterly resented, llut Cuba at that time demanded only her rights as a loyal colony, and not the absolute freedom for which she has since fought. During her earlier history the develop ment ol Cuba s great agricultural resources progressed but slowly, iler ports were closed to tlie commerce of all the world save Spain, and it was not until after circum stances which Spain had opposed for years but which finally overcame her, that the C üban planters began to really realize the narrowness ol Spanish rule. The change thai began to be apparent in the colonial policies of other European nations early in the last century was not shared by Spain, who but attempted to draw the lines tighter. 'lh is fact is evidenced by the issuance of the royal decree of May 25, 1825, defining the functions of the captain generals of Cuba, a decree which invested them with prac tically the powers of oriental despots, and this decree remained in force until Spain had been driven from the island. Even before the issuing of this decree had come the lirst attempt to break the rule of Spain. Secret political societies had be gun organizing as early as 1820 under the name of "Soles de Bolivar," and in 1823 these societies made an attempt at open re volt. Hut the attempt was fruitless of re sults other than the arrest and punishment oi the leaders. The next revolution came in 182R, and was planned by Cuban refugees in Mexico and Colombia. The scheme included the lead ership of the great liberator, Simon Bolivar, but it resulted in nothing tangible through lack of adequate support. The same lead ers attempted to organize another campaign ! for the freeing of C'uba during tlie years 1827- : 2!), this time including among their support ers many persons in the United States, but tfiis plan was frustrated through the influ ; enee of the slave interests in both this coun- I try and Mexico. Another revolution came in 1884 in which I the principals were the slaves on the sugar I plantations about Mautanzas. With some CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, MAY 15, 1902. difficulty Spain suppressed this revolt, and punished in various ways 1,340 ot those con victed of participating in it, but the seed of liberty then planted resulted in later years in the patriots who fought the long ten years' war, and again those who led to ulti mate victory the forces of Cuba in the last war. The next Cuban revolution, started a year later, was led by an ex-officer in the Span ish army, Nareiso Lopez. He was unsuc cessful at the time, but his efforts led final ly to the attempt of this government to purchase Cuba from Spain in 1848. The overtures made to the Spanish government by President Polk were ot no avail, however, and Lopez continued his efforts at libera tion until he was finally captured by the Spanish authorities on Cuban soil and exe cuted in 1851. In 1854 came both the attempt of Gen. Quitman, of Mi>>i.-sippi, for the invasion of Cuba, which resulted disasterously to the leaders, they being captured and executed, and the Ostend Manifesto which recom mended the purchase of Cuba for $120,000,- 000. Hut this, like the previous attempt at purchase, came to naught, and the island was left to drag along in comparative peace until the breaking out of the "ten years' war" in 1808. It was this long struggle that brought to the fore such men as Gomez, Garcia, l'alma and many others destined to live in the his tory of the new republic as the names of Washington, Lee, Putnam and a score of others live in our own history. They are the grandest names Cubans will ever know; true patriots, who yet live to guide the young republic through its first troubled waters with the same courageous hands that taught the ( üban soldiers to match Cuban strategy and daring against the heavier forces of Spain. To this list must be added that of M iceo and the others who sacrificed their lives in the last struggle for Cuban freedom, but demanded of Spain a dear price for the sacrifice. The story of the "ten years' war" is a story of ten years of hardships and sacrifice. It brought with it the first declaration of Cuban independence, signed on October 10, 1808, and also the first election of Cuban officers including a president ami vice presi dent and tiie appointment of cabinet of ficers. It was Carlos M.de C'espedcs, at the head of 128 ill armed men, who started this con flict, and who issued the proclamation of Cuban independence at Yara. Cespedeswas a lawyer of Bayamo at the beginning of the war, but he was a natural leader of men, and soon had 15,000 men with which to op pose Spain. It was lie who virtually wrote the first Cuban constitution which was promulgated at Guaimaro on April 10, 1809. For the first two years of the war success attended almost every effort of the Cuban GEN. ANTONIO MACEO. army, which increased rapidly until it had reached the numbers of 50,(X)0 men, but the ability of Spain to furnish war materials and fresh troops was greater than that of the insurgents, and the rank and file of the Cuban army began finally to tire of the struggle. From 1873 until February, 1878, the war dragged along in a desultory way, and finally ended with the peace of San Antonio which guaranteed pardon to all who had taken part in the conflict, and representa tion for Cuba in the Spanish corte.s. It was during this war, in 1873, tiiat there occurred the incident of the steamer Yir ginius which came so near resulting in war between Spain and the United States, and which did result in some pointed corre spondence between officials of the two coun tries, and the execution as pirates at San tiago of 53 persons. The incidents of the last revolution that started in 1894 and led to American inter vention for the pacification and liberation of the island are too well known to need any recounting here. The leaders who flocked to the Cuban standard were men who had fought for Cuban freedom from 1868-78. Jose Marti started from New York in February, 1895, Gomez, Antonio and Jose Maceo, ( rombet, Cebreco, Borrero, Angel Guerra and a score of others gathered again on Cuban soil from different points to again begin the tight for Cuban freedom, in time Garcia, Robi, Rivera and others joined GEN. RIVERA. them, and what Spain at first believed to be but the beginning of a negro riot that could be suppressed within a short time proved to be the final conflict for < üban freedom, a Conflict that has waged on sea and land for more than a century. WRIGHT A. PATTERSON. Illlvnnn Twice Humeri. The city of Havana has twice been de stroyed by lire set by French privateers. The first destruction occurred in 1538, soon after the city was founded, and to prevent a repetition of the disaster Fernando deSoto, then governor of the island, built the first of the fortresses intended for the defense of the city, the Castillo de la Fuerza, but this proved ineffective, for the city was again de stroyed by the French in 1554. After this the Punta and Mono fortresses were built. AMERICA'S FIGHT FOR CUBA. We Have Dime Untile Not Only wltli Ike Sivoril 11■ ■« with tlie Sfruli biiiK Hrusli MM Well. So fresh in the minds of the American people are the events of the historic summer of 1898 that they really need no recalling at this time when the complete fruition of the objects of the struggle between the Inited States and Spain are now to be realized in the establishment of that independent gov ernment in Cuba which this government guaranteed when it declared the wielding of the sword for the island's independence to be a part of our duty. The destruction of our good ship Maine; the declarations and appropriations voted by congress; the mobilizing of armies and fleets; the victory of Admiral Dewey at Ma nila; the dispatch of troops to Santiago; our naval victory off that harbor; the fall of the city; Uie capture of Porto Rico, and Spain's cry for peace at almost any price, all these incidents need but a mention to recall them to the minds of the people of this country. History was never made more rapidly than it was made during that summer, and it was history of which the country and the world may well be proud in after years. With the sword we drove Spain out of Cuba, our soldiers and sailors reaped wou- MAJOR-GEN. LEONARD WOOD. derful victories in rapid succession, but Spain left behind her a harder struggle than her armies or her fleets had given us —it was with dirt and disease. How well Gov. (.Jen. Wood has conquered this foe is evidenced from the health reports from Cuba. First at Santiago, and later throughout all the island he has persistently fought the battle for clean cities and good sanitation until to-day Havana, instead of being the breeding ground of all the various types of malignant fever, is considered as healthful as almost any city in the United States. He has taught to tile < übans the ne cessity of cleanliness, a lesson they are not likely to soon forget. He has done more than this. He has opened the public schools, and has so ex tended the system that practically all the children of school age have now offered them the advantagesofan education, and has instilled in the hearts of the people a desire for learning, a desire which their own gov ernment will now be in a position to fulfilli <len. Wood, as the representative of the American people, has builded a government of the people, for the people and by the people of Cuba into whose hands our coun try can now safely place the re'gns of con trol, and Gen. Wood's name must be added to the list of Cuban heroes whose memories will long live in the hearts of the people of "the ever faithful isle." FACTS ABOUT CUBA. Cuba Contained at the time of the break ing out of the last revolution 100,000 farms, ranches and plantations, valued at $200,000,- 000. No less than five minor revolts occurred in Cuba between 1878, the date of closing the "ten years' war," and 1894 when the last war began. From 1827 to 18G4 Cuba contributed direct ly to the Spanish treasury the sum of $89,- 000,000. Since 1807 the island has contrib uted but little directly to the Madrid treas ury, but indirectly much of the entire rev enue of the island has reached Spain. From the eastern end of Cuba to Hayti is 34 miles, and to Jamaica 85 miles; from the northern shore on the western end it is 9(5 miles to Florida, and from Cape San An tonio, the western extremity of the island, to Yucatan is 130 miles. Cuba is nearly seven times as long as Long Island. It stretches from a point about even with New York City on the east to Cincin nati on the west, a distance of 750 miles. In width it is nowhere greater than 100 miles, while at places it is as narrow as 20 miles. There are 1,300 small islands and keys ad jacent to and belonging to Cuba, and these, with the main island, comprise an area of about 45,000 square miles. Cuba had at the close of the war with Spain about 1,000 miles of railway divided into a number of small lines. Since the evacuation of the island by Spain Sir Wil liam Van Van Horne, the builder of theCan dian Pacific railway, has been building a new trunk line that, when completed, will traverse the island from one end to the other, and, with its various branches, will comprise more than another thousand miles uf railway line. The main line of this road from Santiago to Nipe, in Santa Clara prov ince, is now nenring completion, and will be opened to traffic in the early summer, and the remainder of the system will be pushed to completion as rapidly as possible. The older lines of railway are practically all in the western portion of the island, and sev eral of them center at Havana, or connect with Havana. "The Ever Faithful Isle." Cuba has been known the world over as "The Fver Faithful Isle," a name it re ceived at the time the Spanish Bourbons were deposed by Napoleon in 1808. At that time each member of the provincial Cuban council took an oath to preserve the island for its legitimate sovereign. The island con tributed voluntarily $5,000,000 to the Span itig treasury during the Napoleonic wars, and declared war against France for depos ing the Spanish sovereign. For such fidelity the Cuban people were rewarded by having taken away from them the rights of their provincial council, and imposing upon them a line of captain generals whose despotic rule continued down to the day this country wrested the colony from the hands of the Dons. (aptlire<l l»y Morgan. The buccaneer Morgan captured and plundered Havana in 100!), just previous to his exploits at Panama and along the Pa cific coast of Central and South America. A <■ rent Ctihun OUaitier. One of the greatest disasters in < 'uban his tory was the hurricane of October 14, 1870, in which some 2,000 lives were lost. / 31 THE CUBAN FLAG. It was under this banner, which is now to represent the youngest of the world's nations, that the Cuban patriots fought and died for many years in the long strug gle for freedom. )t has led them onto victory in many a hard-fought battle, anil it will be a proud day for these patriotic veterans when they see that emblem floating from the flagstaffs of the government buildings, and hear the roar of tho cannon of foreign warships in the harbor as they pay tribute to the glory of that new nation of which the Cuban people have so long dreamed. It is this emblem that will replace the stars and stripes over all the government buildings in Cuba on May 20, and as it is set floating from the flagstaffs it will be greeted with a national salute from the batteries of American artillery on shore, and from tho American and other national warships in the harbor. "Long may it wave o'er a, land of the free and a home of-»the brave," is the wish of every American. RESOURCES OF CUBA Her Greatest Wealth Lies in a Fer tile and Productive Soil. PoHMiliilltie* of Sugar nmt Tobacco Cultivation Judged by (lie llec orilw of tlie l'n*t—Valuable WOOIIH, Fruila anil Minerals. * URIXG years of peace in the past §Cuba has produced more cane su gar than any other country in the world. She produces more than twice the cane sugar manufac tured in Java, her nearest com petitor, and more than five times as much as is produced in any other country. In exceptional years her production of sugar has • passed the one million tons mark. The beet and cane product both considered, Cuba is surpassed by but one country, Ger many, with one and one-half million tons, as a sugar producer, and is equaled by but one other, Austria. Cuba has exported in one year more than 6,000,000 pounds of leaf tobacco and more than 134,000,000 cigars in addition to heavy exports of baled tobacco of less valuable va rieties. The shipping of nine Cuban ports, which includes Havana, for the year 1894 amount ed to 3,538,539 tons, carried by 3,154 vessels. The above three paragraphs give a gen eral idea of industrial Cuba of the past; they can scarcely be classed as even pro phetic of the future. Cuba and the adjacent small islands be longing to it occupy an area of 45,000 square miles —a little less in size than the state of New York. Of this total area less than 10 per •ent. has ever been under cultivation; fot V per cent, is classed as forest land, and large quantities of the remainder is virgin soil awaiting development by a pro<"" v«ive people under a progressive go- . nment. When such a people under such ii govern ment have turned this unclaimed area into productive territory we shall have the Cuba of the future. But togo back again to the Cuba of the past. Cane sugar development has been confined to the vast central plain lying to a great extent in Matanza province. In the season of 1892-93 this great plain yielded 1.054,212 tons of sugar, valued at $80,000,000. The sugar plantations of this territory vary in extent from 100 to 1,000 acres, and employ an average of one man to each two acres undet cultivation. For several years the sugar industry in all the West Indian islands has been in a de plorable condition, but different causes must be assigned for the condition in Cuba than for the other islands. In Cuba it has been the aeries of rebellions and insurrec tions that have caused the decline of the industry. During the periods of compara tive peace the industry has prospered, and the reason may be found in the fact that the Cuban planters have gone about the produc tion of sugar on a large scale, and equipped with the most modern machinery. While sugar is the staple crop of first im portance in Cuba tobacco has an important place in the island's industries, and is even more valuable than sugar when the acreage under cultivation is considered. As Matan zas is the center of the sugar industry so is Pinar del Rio the center of the tobacco in GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S PALACE AT HAVANA. This is the white house of Cuba. In it have resided a long list of Spanish governors, and for nearly four years it has been the official home of Gen. Leonard Wood. When he surrenders the reins of government into tlie hand of President Palma he will also step out of this famous ofiicial residence and turn it over to the family of tlie first president of the Cuban republic. The palace is a substantial building of masonry thoroughly in keeping with the Spanish tendency towaifl extravagance, and will make aa elaborate residence tor Cuba's executives. terests, though the tobacco fields may be found in all sections of the island, and the crop is exported from every port from Ha vana to Santiago. The average size of the Cuban tobacco plantations, or vegas, as they are called, is only about 33 acres, and the average annual production from a farm or vega of this size is something like 9,000 pounds of tobacco of varying qualities. Of this amount, how ever, there will seldom be more than from 450 to 500 pounds of the finest quality from which the higher priced cigars are made; 1,800 pounds of the second quality, and so on down to the cheapest grade, which is, of course, the greatest in quantity. In the wars of Cuba the tobacco interests of the western portion of the island, in which is grown the better qualities and the greatest quantities, have been but little af fected until the last one. During the years of 1890- 97, however, these interests, like the sugar interests of Matanzas, suffered heav ily from the conflicts waged over the tobacco territory, and the planters are but now fulljfl recovering from the effects of the devasta tion which the revolution left in its path. Among other agricultural products which the island is capable of producing, and from which much may be expected in the future, are coffees and fruits. The former is espe cially adapted to the mountain-sides and hill lands of the eastern portion. There was a time when a considerable quantity of coffee was"exported from the island, but the po litical conditions rendered its cultivation unprofitable, as there was always an uncer tainty of getting the crop to market. In point of quality Cuba can produce as good coffee as is grown anywhere in the world, and there is but little doubt that it w ill soon become a leading industry. Though the present value of the fruit crop of Cuba has greatly diminished in compari son with what it was a few years ago it is still of considerable importance, t>nd may ba expected to assume even greater importance in the industrial development of the island under the new regime. In the eastern end of the island there are now a large number of beautiful banana plantations high up the mountains that supply to the American mar kets the best of this class of fruit that is sold in this country. Oranges and pineapples of unusual size and flavor are also grown throughout the island. But Cuba possesses more than agricultural wealth. Her forests supply mahogany, log wood and fustic in some quantities, though the supply is limited, and a great source of wealth is in her, as yet, almost undeveloped mines. Iron, manganese, copper and salt are all mined in paying quantities, though on a comparatively small scale. Of them all iron is the chief of the mineral product. The iron mines are located a few miles east of Santiago, and, while they have not as yet been worked to any large extent, the Amer ican company which controls them have ex pended large sums in preparatory develop ment. That these iron mines will become of considerable importance in the develop ment of the island cannot be doubted. Willi such resources to draw upon Cuba, under a progressive and enlightened govern ment that will encourage rather than an tagonize development, should soon take a leading place among the smaller commercial nations of the world. A Yenr of Cuban Prosperity. The year 1892 was the most prosperous in Cuban history for almost half a century. During that year the value of the island's ex ports amounted to $89,500,000, and the im ports to $50,250,000. Of the exports $85,000,- 000 were classed as vegetable. $3,500,000 as mineral and $750,000 as animal. 3
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