soon to enter. You have been convened solely for the purpose expressed in paragraph II of Order No. 101, dated Havana, April 14, 1902 (examining credentials of Congressmen and counting and rectifying vote of electoral college for President and Vice-President), and no legislative power will be vested in the Congress until after the formal transfer of the government to the government-elect, which transfer will take place at noon, May 20, 1902." Other less important information followed. Señor Mendez Capote was chosen by his associates to make reply, which he did in the following words (translation):

Mr. Military Governor of the Island of Cuba:

"In the name of my companions, Senators and Representatives of the Cuban Congress who have designated me for the mission of giving you an affectionate reply for the speech you have just made, I address you.

"We desire that you as Military Governor of the Island of Cuba notify the President of the United States Government and the American people, of our sincere gratitude for complying with the promises which they have given to the aspirations of the Cuban people for an independent republic.

"It is our earnest desire to comply with the mission with which we are charged by the Cuban Constitution, as adopted by the Constitutional Assembly.

"We give you our heartiest thanks for the good wishes which you have expressed for us in the accomplishment of the duties entrusted to us by our people."

Senators and Representatives then adjourned to the halls which had been provided for their respective use. During the succeeding days they effected their organization and transacted such routine business as fell within the scope their then existing powers.

of

President-elect Palma sailed for Cuba during the latter part of April, and landed at Gibara, on the northeast coast of the Island. From that point, he crossed to Santiago, and to his old home near Bayamo, and then, partly by boat and partly by rail, proceeded to Havana, reaching that city on May 11. His course was a veritable triumphal procession. People of all classes, Spaniards as well as Cubans, bade him welcome, and received him with balls, dinners, and other forms of public entertainment. His speeches during the trip were broadly conservative, and did much to establish a general confidence in the future. Havana received him with great enthusiasm.

The ensuing days were spent in preparation, by the officials and by the people, for the coming event. Elaborate arches were erected in the streets of the city, and the morning of the 20th of May saw the streets, residences, and public buildings radiant with bunting. Many of the leading thoroughfares were converted into arcades of brilliant colors. The shipping in the harbor was decorated with a profusion rivalling that of the shore. The night of the 19th was a pandemonium of noise. Bombs and fire-crackers, large and small, banged, boomed, and snapped throughout the night. Sleep was evidently no object to thousands of Cuban patriots, and was made impossible for the less enthusiastic. At midnight some three thousand people were gathered in the Parque Central. The other parks presented their full quota of a noisy and excited throng. Rockets pierced the air from many points, and Cuba's natal day was ushered in with shouts and vivas and a terrific din of explosives. Steamers in the bay tied their whistles wide open and screamed a welcome to Cuba's birthday. The jubilation of the night slackened at about 3 A.M., but was quickly renewed by the opening of the noise of those who had reserved their energies

for the day. By five o'clock, the streets were thronged with a swarming mass bent upon noise-making and upon seeing all that was to be seen. Only slightly moderated, this was the experience of the nights and the days of the 20th, the 21st, and the 22d.

The ceremony of the official transfer was set for twelve o'clock, noon, of the 20th. At that hour there gathered in the State Apartment of the Palace, the officials of the American and the Cuban governments, the representatives of the foreign powers, and a limited number of guests whose position gave them claim to admission. It was in the same apartment that Castellanos signed the abdication of Spanish authority in the Island. The ceremony of transfer was almost as brief and as simple as that of January 1, 1899. General Wood read the following letter of instruction from his superior at Washington, under date of May 10:

To the President and Congress of the Republic of Cuba.

Sirs: On the 20th of this month, the Military Governor of Cuba will, by my direction, transfer to you the control and government of the Island of Cuba, to be thenceforth exercised under the provisions of the Constitution adopted by your Constitutional Convention as on that day promulgated; and he will thereupon declare the occupation of Cuba by the United States to be at an end.

At the same time I desire to express to you the sincere friendship and good wishes of the United States, and our most earnest hopes for the stability and success of your government, for the blessings of peace, justice, prosperity, and ordered freedom among your people, and for enduring friendship between the Republic of the United States and the Republic of Cuba.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT, President of the United States.

Sundry details of the transfer were then submitted, in

cluding the following:

Headquarters Department of Cuba,

HAVANA, May 20, 1902.

To the President and Congress of the Republic of Cuba.

Sirs: Under the direction of the President of the United States, I now transfer to you as the duly elected representative of the people of Cuba the government and control of the Island; to be held and exercised by you, under the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba heretofore adopted by the Constitutional Convention and this day promulgated; and I hereby declare the occupation of Cuba by the United States and the Military Government of the Island to be ended.

This transfer of government and control is upon the express condition, and the Government of the United States will understand, that by the acceptance thereof you do now, pursuant to the provisions of the said Constitution, assume and undertake, all and several, the obligations assumed by the United States with respect to Cuba, by the treaty between the United States of America and Her Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain, signed at Paris on the 10th day of Decemb, 1898.

All money obligations of the Military Government down to this date have been paid as far as practicable. The public civil funds derived from the revenues of Cuba transferred to you this day, amounting to $689,191.02, are transferred subject to such claims and obligations properly payable out of the revenues of the Island as may remain. The sum of $100,000 has been reserved from the transfer of funds to defray anticipated expenses of accounting, reporting, and winding up the affairs of the Military Government, after which any unexpended balance of said sum will be paid into the Treasury of the Island.

The plans already devised for the sanitation of the cities of the Island and to prevent a recurrence of epidemic and infectious diseases, to which the Government of the United States understands that the provision of the Constitution contained in the fifth article of the appendix applies, are as follows:

1. A plan for the paving and sewering of the City of Havana

for which a contract has been awarded by the municipality of that city to McGivney, Rokeby & Co.

2. A plan for waterworks to supply the City of Santiago de Cuba, prepared by Capt. S. D. Rockenbach, in charge of the District of Santiago, and approved by the Military Governor, providing for taking water from the wells of San Juan Canyon and pumping the same to reservoirs located on the heights to the east of the city.

3. A plan for the sewering of the City of Santiago de Cuba, a contract for which was awarded to Michael J. Dady & Co. by the Military Governor of Cuba, and now under construction.

4. The rules and regulations established by the President of the United States on the 17th of January, 1899, for the maintenance of quarantine against epidemic diseases at the ports of Havana, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, and Santiago de Cuba, and thereafter at the other ports of the Island, as extended and amended and made applicable to future conditions by the order of the Military Governor, published in the Official Gazette of Havana on day of April, 1902.

dated

the

5. The sanitary rules and regulations in force in the City of Havana (and in any other city having official rules, etc.).

(a) It is understood by the United States that the present government of the Isle of Pines will continue as a de facto government, pending the settlement of the title to said island by treaty pursuant to the Cuban Constitution and the Act of Congress of the United States approved March 2, 1902.

(b) I am further charged by the President of the United States to deliver to you the letter which I now hand you.

LEONARD WOOD, Military Governor.

To this and to its accompanying communications, Presi

dent Palma replied as follows:

Honorable General Leonard Wood.

HAVANA, May 20, 1902.

Sir: As President of the Republic of Cuba, I hereby receive the government of the Island of Cuba which you transfer to me in compliance with orders communicated to you by the President of the