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Page 2
Every one is most anxious to learn just what General Woodford's mission
is, and how Spain will receive it.
In the mean while many people are wondering why Spain has suddenly
become so averse to parting with her colonies. Many times in the last
century she has ceded and sold them, and it seems strange that she
should be unwilling to let Cuba purchase her freedom when it is the
easiest way out of the present difficulty.
At one time Spain had vast possessions in the New World. Louisiana,
Florida, Mexico, the Central American States, Venezuela, Colombia,
Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, and the Argentine
Republic were all under the rule of Spain.
One by one these countries have thrown off the Spanish yoke; Cuba is
only following in their footsteps, and yet while the mother country has
been content to receive valuable considerations for her other provinces,
she declares that to surrender Cuba would be to forfeit her honor.
Affairs in Madrid are approaching a crisis. It is rumored that within
two weeks General Azcarraga will cease to be Prime Minister, and that
Se�or Sagasta will be called to take command of the affairs of State.
Sagasta, as we have told you, has very broad views about Cuba, and
wishes for nothing so much as peace with the unhappy little island.
The affairs of the election in Cuba are progressing quietly.
The election should have taken place on September 1st, but the bad
roads made travelling so difficult that some of the most important
members of the Assembly were unable to get to the meeting, and so the
business of electing a President has had to be postponed for a few days.
The Cubans say that the first work of the new administration must be to
establish a government for _peace_. Up to the present time their
thoughts have all been directed toward preserving the army in the field,
and making it possible to continue the war.
The rebellion has now such a strong hold in the eastern part of the
island that it is necessary to provide laws for the welfare of those who
are living under the flag of free Cuba, which, as we have told you
before, now floats over Santiago de Cuba.
The Government has already established factories and workshops to
furnish supplies for the army, and about five thousand persons are
employed in them.
There are tanneries where the skins of beasts are made into leather;
shoe, saddle, harness, gunpowder, and dynamite factories, and workshops
for repairing arms and reloading gun-cartridges.
A newspaper man who says he has been through these establishments states
that while they are somewhat old-fashioned in their methods, owing to
the impossibility of obtaining the newest machinery, the work they turn
out is excellent.
The Cuban Government is also providing for the education of its
subjects. Free schools are being established wherever it is safe to do
so, and every effort is being made to render the people who acknowledge
the rule of the young republic happy and law-abiding.
One of the candidates for the Presidency is Gen. Bartolome Maso, who
holds the office of Vice-President under the present administration.
Se�or Maso is a dear friend and close companion of President Cisneros;
so warm is this friendship, indeed, that Cisneros has offered to
withdraw from the candidacy in favor of Maso, and Maso has refused to
let him do so, declaring that he can serve the republic just as well
whether he is President or private citizen.
Maso is one of the soldiers who fought in the revolt ten years ago. He
was one of the first to take up arms against Spain on the present
occasion. You must not confound him with Maceo, the murdered general.
This man is Bartolome Maso, the dead general was Antonio Maceo.
Se�or Maso is often lovingly referred to by the Cubans as the father of
the revolution.
Consul-General Lee has returned from Cuba. He has been ill for some
months, and has obtained a few weeks' leave of absence in which to
regain his strength. There are reports that he is not to return to Cuba,
but that another Consul-General is to be appointed in his place. These
rumors are not generally credited.
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