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