"The military government of Cuba should have been administered in such a way as to prepare the people for early self-government. Did Wood leave the people any better prepared to administer republican government than he found them? Did he not, in fact, by precept and example teach them autocratic rather than democratic government? He had no Congress to restrain him, he dominated the judiciary by force of character, and he accomplished his results primarily by such methods, making little effort to elicit the coöperation of the people. The result was that the ground was not prepared by him for institutional government, but rather he employed the autocratic government which had preceded and was to follow him. All else about Wood's record was good, and speaks for itself."

The writer agrees with the assertions in this statement, but differs as to the advisability of following another course. In the intervention of 1906-1909 the method suggested was to be tried, with disastrous results in loss of prestige for the American authorities and no counterbalancing advantageous effect on Cuban political practices. The truth is, an autocratic government alone could have been for the moment successful, for it was the only one which the Cubans could understand. In two years and a half it was no more possible to impart to them any real conception of democratic, republican institutions than it would be to teach a wildcat to be the playmate of a child. One has but to study the experiences of the other southern republics over a century of independence to realize that Hispanic political evils of an antirepublican character are too deep-seated to be uprooted by anything but a long and painful process of correction.

There is another point of view, less often voiced, but worthy of consideration. Would the militant Cuban political group have endured a longer occupation without an uprising? A prominent American statesman of those times once remarked to the writer that he hardly ever glanced at his morning paper but that he expected to see a headline that the Cubans had "taken to the woods." A Cuban revo

lution could have been put down, but not without difficulty, and almost surely it would have involved annexation of the island to the United States, or at least an indefinitely prolonged occupation. The American government was eager to fulfil its pledges. The Cubans were not yet ideally equipped for self-government,-far from it! But they had been carried along, from one step to another, just about as far as they would stand American tutelage without resisting it. So it was that

"On May 20, 1902, the world saw the unwonted spectacle of a country living up to its solemn promise and turning over a coveted possession to the inhabitants thereof in pursuance of a solemnly declared purpose, the hauling down of the American flag, the symbol of sovereignty during the occupation, and the unenforced, voluntary evacuation of Cuba Libre by the American troops." "

"Comment of the editors in Root, worthy among Cuban contributions 185. The Root volume and the works to Platt Amendment literature are cited at the close of the preceding the volumes by López Hidalgo and chapter, especially Wood's reports Machado, used more particularly in and the writings of Martínez Ortiz chapter XXVII.

and Robinson, are useful here. Note

CHAPTER VII

THE BEST YEARS OF THE REPUBLIC: ESTRADA PALMA, 1902-1905

THE United States government took over Cuba in 18981899 at a time of terrible distress. It left the island, as General Wood put it, "a going concern." Furthermore, the country was in the hands of perhaps the best man that could be found, the new President, Tomás Estrada Palma. There is hardly an incident of Cuban history since 1902 that is not matter of controversy, but if there is anything on which there is even an approach to a general agreement, it is that Estrada Palma was honest and incorruptible. Despite the fierceness of party feeling in Cuba, his political opponents have rarely attempted to impugn the motives of Estrada Palma himself, though alleging that he was mistaken in his policies or else deceived by his friends. Born at Bayamo, Oriente, July 9, 1835, he was nearly sixty-seven years of age when he became President. Many assert that he was too old, and some go so far as to say he had reached the point of senility, a charge that is extravagant to the point of being silly. Omitting the obviously absurd characterizations, the following are typical of statements obtained by the writer from opponents of Estrada Palma:

(1) "Estrada Palma was honest, and would have made an excellent President of the United States, but he was too good for the Cubans." (2) "Estrada Palma was a fine, honest, old man. The main trouble with him was that he was too old. It was easy, therefore, for the crooked politicians to 'put something over' on him. He was innocent

of any wrong-doing himself, but could not prevent his subordinates from indulging in improper political practices."

(3) "Estrada Palma was a very good man, but a dreamer who trusted everybody and could not believe that other people were not as unselfish as himself."

(4) "Estrada Palma was a man who had never seen a thousand dollars in his life until he became President, and he had lived away from Cuba for so long that he was really not Cuban. So he economized and built up a vast balance in the treasury, which was not the right thing to do in Cuba."

On the other hand, those who praise Estrada Palma wholeheartedly are legion. The following comments are representative:

(1) "He had the lofty virtue of North American Presidents and of many Presidents in South America. His has been the only such case in our republican life. His life was exemplary. Virtue was his norm, and honor his guide . . . Whenever people talk of the governors we have had, one hears this exclamation: 'Don Tomás has been the only good President.'"1

(2) "Cuba's first president, Don Tomás Estrada Palma, was a simple, unaffected, democratic gentleman, too unsophisticated, possibly, for the task before him. During the early part of his term in office he traveled from his home to the executive offices in street cars, discussing affairs of state and mundane matters with such of his fellow-travelers as cared to address him.”'

Martínez Ortiz says Estrada Palma was stubborn and obstinate, but despite a certain obvious lack of approval of the new President he has drawn an attractively intimate picture of him.

"Affable and courteous, he was in the habit of saying little, but of having his way. However many wished to 'measure swords' with him, he vanquished them. Escobar says he always had ready a slight cough, which attacked him at opportune moments when it was best not to say anything, and with the affectionate phrase 'Sonny,'' which was habitual

1 Pérez, 4.

'Cuba, an American ward again?, in Independent, v. CXIII, pp. 35-38, at 35; July 19, 1924.

"Hinto," literally "little son," but

in fact almost untranslatable, having a friendly but not undignified quality for which there seem to be no words in English.

with him, he overcame the opposition of the ablest men. "This man seems like rubber,' Sanguily exclaimed on a certain occasion, 'for when one thinks he has put his fist in him up to the elbow, why, not at all, for when one draws it away he remains as he was before.' Small in stature, but erect and firm, he carried his years very well, and they were already running on seventy. A slight 'tic' frequently obliged him to close one eye. This and the ruddy color, of his face gave his features a certain mixture of firmness and kindliness which inspired respect. By way of complement he had a white moustache that fell toward the corners of his mouth and white hair that was always carefully combed."

In fine, Estrada Palma was little, but honest, earnest, and capable. He did not have the traits that appealed to the Cuban masses, and was personally known to few people on the island, but he was in every sense of the word a respectable figure. It had not been necessary for him to affiliate with any party in order to win the presidency, and he was not involved in the compromises that would have handicapped almost any other man in that office. Furthermore, his own prestige, on account of his lifetime services to the cause of independence and his known rectitude of character, was enhanced by the support Máximo Gómez had given him, and even the reputedly benevolent attitude of the United States was more a help than a hindrance, because of the innate Cuban reverence for authority and power.

On May 26, 1902, the President delivered his first message to Congress. After some preliminary remarks, in which, among other things, he paid his respects to Presidents McKinley and Roosevelt and spoke of the "gratitude" which Cubans owed the United States, he proceeded to make some admirable recommendations for legislation, mainly in the direction of enacting the supplementary laws called for by the Constitution. He laid great stress on furtherance of education, "for in reality the problem of Cuba's future lies 'Martínez Ortiz, I, 313-314.