nest government.8 aced on expressions of good intention, even granting they e sincere, but an honest and capable executive is Cuba's eatest hope. The best elements in Cuban society would et behind such a man as Machado has promised to be, nd when that occurs, whether the man be Machado or some ter President, Cuba will have a chance to escape the virtual ondage in which she is now held by the corrupt politicians nd to become "Cuba Libre" indeed. It is in the interest f the United States, as well as in that of Cuba, that this hould come to pass.

Too much reliance should not be

This is not the place to deal with e administration of President Manado, who has been in office less han a year, as this is being written. ome rumors about him have come ɔ the writer's notice that are, in the ain, favorable. He seems disposed o maintain good relations with the United States. Prior to his inauguraion he made a trip north, visiting President Coolidge in Washington, nd since becoming President he has aken some steps along the lines of he moralization program. In particilar, he has done some noteworthy hings in connection with the probems of the judiciary. Three comnittees have been appointed to unlertake the following code revisions: revision of the civil codes and codes of procedure; revision of the commercial code; and revision of the criminal code. Furthermore, he has started to purify the courts, filing cases against a number of judges on grounds of crime or inefficiency. If Machado carries through these reforms successfully he will have done enough, without more, to make his name famous in the annals of Cuba. Withal, while vigorously attacking evils in his own administration, so it is said, he has avoided any revelation of the scandals of his predecessors, which may in part account for

the fact that Congress has supported him. On the other hand, if rumor is correct, he has conducted himself like a typical Hispanic American dictator in certain other matters. He has deported labor agitators by the hundreds. There have been several incidents of the "Lavastida affair" type. Some claim that he has completed the work, begun by Menocal and Zayas, of destroying the democratic character of internal party management, as called for by the electoral law of 1919,-this, in preparation for victory in the elections of 1928. The writer presents these comments about Machado without insisting that they are true or false. One thing, however, he does believe: Machado has a chance to make his name the greatest in the history of the republic. He has ability enough to meet the demands of the situation. But will he avoid the corrupt practices of most of his predecessors? Will he say "No!" to family and friends? Will he carry through the reforms that he has begun? And will he hold an honest election in 1928? If he will do these things, then not Zayas, Menocal, Gómez, or even honest old Don Tomás will have made so good a record. This writer wishes that he may accomplish these things,-or, at least, make an effort to do so.

ESSAY ON AUTHORITIES

The amount of material on the republic of Cuba already reuced to writing is, of course, more than one man could read a ten thousand years. Furthermore, there is an extraordinary ack of well formulated studies that might otherwise save the nvestigator's time and lead more surely to a well rounded volime of history. Even the preliminary stage of the collection and diting of materials has hardly been reached as yet, except for he bibliographical work of Carlos Trelles. The field is wide open, therefore, for the writer of monographs, who must make is own estimate of the documents, but it is difficult for the general historian. The items listed below are intended to porray this state of affairs. Nearly all of them (and many more, besides) have also been cited in the text. No attempt has been made to attain to adequate proportions in the individual descriptions, since with respect to the more important works the greater part of the comment already appears in the bibliographical footnotes at the end of the various chapters. The following chart shows how the material has been classified for presentation:

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

I. PRINTED MATERIAL

1. Trelles, Carlos Manuel.

Biblioteca histórica cubana 2v. Matanzas, Cuba. I: 1922; II: 1924. A third volume, not available to the writer, has recently beer published.

There are many volumes of bibliography with at least some bearing on the Cuban republic, and, of course, many other books that contain lists of materials on Cuba. It is not necessary, however, to mention more than the single item given here, as an intelligent use of the Trelles Biblioteca will take one as far as he may wish to go. This is but one of many bibliographical works on Cuba by the same author, but is the most generally useful of all. Volume one treats more particularly of the colonial epoch, with volume two devoted to the republic. Pages 1 to 129 in this volume deal chronologically with Cuban history since 1898. and 129 to 487 are concerned with special phases of Cuban affairs, such as the Senate, the House, diplomatic history, and the history of provinces, cities. and towns, to name only a few of the topics included. While most of the items are of Cuban origin, the author has made every effort to cite American and other publications as well. Important government documents, periodical articles, and pamphlets are entered as well as books. One novelty in a bibliography is Trelles's own running historical comments interspersed between the items,-a valuable source of information in itself. While it would be possible to pick out some technical inaccuracies in the methods of entry, the substantial character of the work and the facility with which it may be used are such that Trelles deserves to rank second only to Medina, the great Chilean, among the bibliographers of the western world. Certainly his volumes are a treasure-house for the student of Cuban affairs.

GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS

While one may find scattered documents here and there of the sort often called "primary," other than those emanating

'Cf. Jones, Cecil Knight, Hispanic works of bibliography by Trelles, all American bibliographies, Baltimore, published prior to the Biblioteca. 1922. This lists no fewer than ten

from government sources, such as printed letters, diaries, handbills, and public statements, the number of those at present known and accessible is not very great, and their importance for the general subject of Cuban history since 1902 is not outstanding. Unquestionably much useful material will be found in government publications of such countries as Spain, England, and Cuba's neighbors in the Caribbean, but the documents of the republic of Cuba will, of course, be the most noteworthy, and those of the United States will undoubtedly rank next. A. Cuban

In addition to the publications named below, the Cuban government gets out many others emanating from the different secretariats and various commissions, to say nothing of the haphazard printings of local bodies. Those given here are perhaps the more important among the government publications. Except where place and date of publication are given, all are published at Havana in continuing sets. 2. Academia de artes y letras. Anales.

Published irregularly, since 1916.

3. Academia de la historia. Anales.

Issued as a quarterly, but in fact published irregularly, since 1922.

4. Cámara de representantes. Diario de sesiones.

This has been published since the establishment of the republic. It is concerned with the debates in the House.

5. Cámara de representantes. Memoria de los trabajos realizados.

This covers the transactions of the House, including matter about the organization of the House, proposals for legislation, laws promulgated, and messages from the President. Each volume covers a legislative period of two years, and the set is complete to date. 6. Cámara de representantes. Mensajes presidenciales remitidos al Congreso.

While the messages of the Presidents contained here may also be found in other publications, and while this set includes only selected messages, it is nevertheless an exceedingly convenient medium for the use. of the more important presidential communications. Only one volume, taking to March 5, 1917, has so far been published.