have them, and all vacancies on existing committees were to be supplied by members of the committees themselves. The lists of candidates selected by these committees were to be printed on the official ballot. Thus the discredited politicians were enabled to retain control of party management, to assure the constant reëlection of themselves. And yet the elections of 1922 are often styled "good," because there was no presidential interference with armed forces. That was because the outcome of the election was a matter of indifference to the President. The Liberals were successful, but the pseudo-Popular-Conservative occupant of the executive chair later found no difficulty in getting an almost unanimous vote in Congress whenever he wanted it. That, however, does not directly concern elections, although it may help in a measure to explain them.

The fraudulent character of the elections of 1920 and 1922 caused General Crowder (who had become United States ambassador to Cuba in 1923) and a number of leading Cubans to think about a new law, to meet some of the evils that had persisted, or developed, despite the law of 1919. To overcome the forros evil, it was proposed to require frequent meetings of municipal electoral boards to get the voting lists ready before January 1, 1924, because by the law of 1919 nobody could vote at an election unless he were a registered voter. In addition to being excluded from the elections of 1924, those who should register and did not do so were to be fined. The article that Menocal had derogated, to the effect that no man could appear as a candidate on two party lists, was to be restored. The voting certificate was to be done away with, and in its place a requirement was to be inserted that officials of a voting district electoral board were to reside in the district, so that they might know the voters personally. Other safeguards

against "repeating" were also proposed. To guard against the refuerzo it was suggested that individuals be required to vote a straight ticket; the adoption of the "single member district" plan in use in the United States was considered, but dropped, as it would have required an amendment to the Constitution, a virtual impossibility under the circumstances. The law was introduced in the House on February 22, 1923, by Fernando Ortiz and Santiago Rey. The latter, who was president of the Conservative party, was to have charge of the bill. Just at that time President Zayas raised his "nationalism" issue against the United States, and Rey went over to his side. Zayas did promise to call a congressional committee "later" to discuss the matter of a new election law, but a precise date was never set, and nothing was done.

The elections of 1924 have been heralded abroad as "fair," but they were that only in so far as they represented the preference of the people for Machado over Menocal. The same evils manifested themselves as before, and if, indeed, there was comparatively little violence, it was probably because the victory of Machado was so overwhelmingly sure that it was unnecessary. In conclusion it may be said that there is probably no law that would serve any better than the election law of 1919. That, indeed, has not checked fraud. Furthermore, it has some features that are distinctly bad. As one keen-minded Cuban gentleman of Santiago told the writer,

"The Crowder law is based on party conventions, beginning with the election of ward delegates, then municipal, then provincial, and finally national. No decent man has a chance to get far in politics by this course. It is too democratic for Cuba. The Spanish system, based on property-holding, payment of a poll-tax, or the literacy test, was much

better."

There is probably no way to bring about honesty in Cuban elections, except by evolution toward better standards, or unless there is an upheaval that will overwhelm the present political class. Until one or other happens, election laws are likely to be just so much waste paper. There is nothing in sight at present, however, to make one expectant of either eventuality for many years."

7

This chapter is based in part on the various election laws, which may be found in the official Gazette, or Gaceta, at the appropriate date. Nearly every volume or article dealing with political happenings in Cuba has something to say about election

evils. The volumes of Barbarrosa, Cabrera, Collazo, Dolz, Martínez Ortiz, Merino and Ibarzábal, and Pardo Suárez are particularly noteworthy, and among scores of articles those of Marvin, Ortiz, Scott, and Spinden are perhaps outstanding.

CHAPTER XXV

SOCIAL FACTORS IN CUBAN LIFE1

Cuba has a population of more than three millions; at the close of 1922 it was estimated that there were 3,123,040 persons in the island, of whom 2,193,936, or almost exactly seventy per cent, were white, while most of the rest were black. The presence of two such dissimilar races in the island is only one factor, however, in the numerous problems of Cuban society. Foreigners make up a goodly proportion of the whites, and they do not become Cuban. The colored people are patriotic, but retain many of their ancestral traits. There are no organized classes. The white laborer is to be distinguished from the colored, and the Spanish capitalist from the Cuban. In fine, there is no real national unity, or, as one writer has put it, the Cuban state is "an almost hypothetical entity," because there is no "Cuban society."2

A discriminating census, taken by a group of men from Mississippi, would probably cut down the white man's pro

1

As originally planned it was intended to include separate chapters on the Cuban social inheritance, race problems, women, and education. When eventually it was decided to deal primarily with political conditions since 1902, it seemed desirable to include at least some hint of these other matters, in addition to what appears, incidentally, elsewhere in the narrative. This chapter is not to

be considered as in any sense a summary, however, but rather as a suggestion that might work out in formulation into quite different proportions.

2

Carrión, Miguel de, El desenvolvimiento social de Cuba en los últimos veinte años, in Cuba contemporánea, v. XXVII, pp. 6-27, at 24; Sept., 1921.

portion very materially from the now generally estimated seventy per cent. The difference is that in the United States a man is "colored" unless he is all white, while in Cuba one may “pass for white," notwithstanding a few kinky hairs and a shadowy complexion. Certainly, many of the "white" Cubans of the rural districts, or "guajiros," as they are called, have some negro blood in them. Even on this basis the whites were once so greatly in the minority that they were in terror lest Cuba become "another Haiti." That danger seems now to be too remote for serious consideration, as the whites, already in the majority, are gaining a greater and greater preponderance every year. This is due to immigration, which is for the most part white. Thousands of negro laborers come in each year from Haiti and Jamaica during cane-cutting season, but most of them are shipped out again as soon as the crop is gathered. Those who remain do not multiply to any extent, as they are rarely accompanied by wives. In 1919 the census showed 44,609 persons in Cuba born in other islands of the West Indies, of whom 8,318 were women.

3

As already pointed out, the Cuban negro differs from his racial brother in the United States, and many observers claim that the Cuban is the better of the two. He has the courteous Spanish manner and personal dignity; his features have little of the thickness so characteristic of the American negro; he dresses neatly and in reasonably good taste; and he is not domineering or loud-mouthed. makes a good laborer in the fields, and can be used with success in some of the lighter forms of manufacturing. His faults are those of the race wherever it is found. He lacks morality, as measured by Anglo-Saxon standards, but he confines his amours to people of his own color, and has not ' Cf. supra, p. 22.

He