freedom to others, and the decree of Oct. 17, 1886, declared the system of slavery forever extinct in Spanish dominions. There is a marked discrepancy between Cuban and Spanish statements concerning the fidelity with which the promises made at the time of the capitulation were carried out. By a proclamation of March 24, 1878, full amnesty was granted to all, even to Spanish deserters who served in the insurgent army. During the years following the surrender, the municipal laws, the Constitution, and the legal codes in force in Spain were extended to the Island. Under the Constitution, Cubans were granted the privilege of peaceable assembly." The Constitution also carries, practically, a "Bill of Rights," suffrage, freedom of worship, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right of petition, and eligibility to all public offices. Provision was made for Cuban representation in the Spanish Cortes. This is the Spanish claim. The notably weak point in the concessions lies in the decree of June 9, 1878, defining the powers and duties of the Governor General. His powers were virtually supreme. The decree declares that:

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"The Governor General is the highest official representing the National Government in the Island of Cuba. He is the delegate of the Ministers of the Colonies, of State, of War, and of the Navy. He has, moreover, as vice-royal patron, the powers inherent in the patronship of the Indies, agreeably to the papal bulls and the laws of the Kingdom. His authority extends over all that conduces to the maintenance of the public peace, the preservation of the territory, the execution of the laws, and the protection of life and property.

"He is the commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the Island, and controls the forces on land and sea, subject to the army and navy regulations. All the other authorities of the Island are subordinate to him."

The Cuban argument is set forth in a letter from Tomas Estrada Palma, to Richard Olney, Secretary of State, under date of Dec. 7, 1895. The causes of the revolution of 1895, he gives as

Substantially the same as those of the former revolution, lasting from 1868 to 1878, and terminating only on the representation of the Spanish Government that Cuba would be granted such reforms as would remove the grounds of complaint on the part of the Cuban people. Unfortunately the hopes thus held out have never been realized. The representation which was to be given to the Cubans has proved to be absolutely without character; taxes have been levied anew on everything conceivable; the offices in the Island have increased, but the officers are all Spaniards; the native Cubans have been left with no public duties whatsoever to perform, except the payment of taxes to the government and blackmail to the officials, without privilege even to move from place to place in the Island except on the permission of governmental authority.

"Spain has framed laws so that the natives have substantially been deprived of the right of suffrage. The taxes levied have been almost entirely devoted to the support of the army and navy in Cuba, to pay interest on the debt that Spain has saddled on the Island, and to pay the salaries of the vast number of Spanish officeholders, devoting only $746,000 for internal improvements out of the $26,000,000 collected by tax. No public schools are within reach of the masses for their education. All the principal industries of the Island are hampered by excessive imposts. Her commerce with every country but Spain has been crippled in every possible manner, as can readily be seen by the frequent protests of shipowners and merchants.

"The Cubans have no security of person or property. The judiciary are instruments of the military authorities. Trial by military tribunal can be ordered at any time at the will of the Captain General. There is, besides, no freedom of speech, press, or religion."

Thus runs the Cuban tale, and it is evident that m thousands of Cubans believed the facts to be as stated Señor Palma. So believing, and after waiting for development and trial of Spanish purposes, war was ag declared for the purpose of obtaining the desired freed in all the departments of life. It is asserted that the Years War cost Spain $700,000,000 and more than 200, lives. Its successor was to cost her more money, more li and, at last, her insular possessions.

CHAPTER III

THE REVOLUTION OF 1895

SPAIN'S fulfilment of the conditions of the Treaty of Zanjon was an appearance rather than a fact. It is true that the Spanish Constitution in its entirety was extended to Cuba, and that the Spanish law of civil procedure and the Spanish civil code were put into effect in the Island. Other reforms and improvements were also inaugurated. But it is also true that Cuban conditions and burdens remained with little or no real alleviation.

Another important factor appears in the Cuban experience of this period. For a number of years, the Island had been faced with the competition of European bountied sugars in the marketing of her chief product. The production of beet sugar in Europe increased from 200,000 tons, in 1850, to 3,841,000 tons, in 1894. Prices were greatly reduced, and the profits of Cuban planters were heavily cut. As a general rule, the Cuban planter is a man who desires to make money in order that he may have money to spend, rather than that he may have money with which to make more money. He was called to face conditions which demanded improvements and economies in his business. His earlier experience had not qualified him to cope with such conditions, and a measure of economic distress resulted. This followed notwithstanding the advantages secured during the period of reciprocity with the United States. After the manner of his kind, in Cuba, as elsewhere, the planter

looked to his government to establish political conditions which would relieve his economic distress. He might quite as well have looked to the moon. Spain was not in Cuba for the purpose of encouraging either extravagance or profits in the business of Cuban planters. The revolt followed, chiefly, as a result of Spain's failure to do her part in improving the economic situation in her West Indian colony.

As has been already stated, the promises of the Treaty of Zanjon, effected between General Martinez Campos and General Maximo Gomez, were only nominally fulfilled, and Cuba's condition was still far from satisfactory to the Cuban people. A certain measure of political reform had 'been conceded, but Cuba was still under the domination of what was virtually a military autocracy.

The cancellation of the Reciprocity Treaty, in 1894, and the consequent decrease in the price of sugar, resulted in a further limitation of industrial prosperity, if not in a measure of industrial distress. Had the government been conducted with a view to the rights and the interests of the Cuban people, both economic distress and political `unrest might have been averted. It is difficult to realize Spain's blindness to the situation. It is even more difficult to understand it. The great mass of the Island people were still fairly loyal to the mother country, and desired no absolute separation from her. All that was asked by the majority -was regard for their political rights, and consideration for their economic welfare. Political parties had been organized whose aims were, in the main, not widely divergent, though they failed utterly to harmonize either their interests 'or their actions. Autonomy, though somewhat vaguely defined, was the aim of the greater number. Had that autonomy which was proclaimed when too late, in Novem