Velasquez had been Governor--technically Lieutenant-Governor under the
Admiral, Diego Columbus, at Hispaniola--for more than thirteen years;
save for the abortive and illegal administration of Zuazo. But after him
gubernatorial terms were destined to be of much shorter duration, and
marked with many vicissitudes. His nominal successor was appointed some
time before his death. Whether in anticipation of his decease, or with
the design of ousting him, is not clear. At any rate, at the middle of
May, probably on May 20, 1524, Juan Altamarino was named by the King to
be the next governor, for a term of two years and no more. He appears
not to have been in any way identified with the island, though probably
he had been associated with Diego Columbus in Hispaniola; and at the
time of his appointment he was in peninsular Spain. He made no haste to
go to Cuba and assume his office, wherefore it was necessary, upon the
death of Velasquez a few weeks later, that some stop-gap governor should
be named. Diego Columbus, who as Admiral might have made such temporary
appointment, was also in Spain. In consequence, the Audiencia or supreme
court of Hispaniola acted in his stead, and appointed Manuel de Rojas.
This forceful and patriotic man was a cousin of Velasquez, who had been
sent by the latter to Spain in July, 1521, as his advocate before the
King in the controversy with Cortez over Mexico. He had served for some
time as Alcalde of Baracoa; he was a loyal friend of Velasquez, and a
man of approved ability and integrity. He was also the first Cuban
governor of Cuba. By that I mean that he was the first to regard Cuba as
a separate entity, apart from Hispaniola and Mexico and even from Spain
itself. Velasquez, vast as were his services, was never able to
dissociate the interests of Cuba from those of Spain, or even from those
of Mexico and other Spanish lands in this hemisphere, insular and
continental; and had actually compromised the welfare of Cuba in
grasping at the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Zuazo, if he is to be reckoned
in the line of governors at all, was quite alien to Cuba. But Rojas was
an insular patriot. He was of course entirely loyal to Spain. But that
fact did not restrain him from developing an intense local patriotism.
He regarded Cuba as a great enough country to command his entire
attention and devotion. His policy was, Cuba for the Cubans; and he was
the first of a line of Governors, not always unbroken, committed to that
enlightened policy.
The island at this time, indeed, well merited such regard. It had been
extensively settled, and its resources were beginning to be developed.
Gold mining was profitably practised. Agriculture and cattle-raising had
made great progress. Juan Mosquera, as the envoy or representative of
the Cuban municipalities in Spain, had in February, 1523, secured from
the King the first recognition of and encouragement for the sugar
industry, which had already been established in Hispaniola, and which
far-sighted men perceived to be capable of great things in Cuba. He had
also, a year earlier, secured from the King grants of free trade between
Cuba and all other Spanish colonies around the Caribbean, insular or
continental; together with some reforms of the royalty system in gold
mining and a comprehensive and orderly scheme of taxation for the
building of roads and bridges and other necessary public works. In fact,
Cuba was beginning to "find herself" and to show herself worthy of the
affection and patriotism of her people.
The administration of Rojas was for the time, however, cut short. It had
been ordered legally enough, but with the understanding that it was only
temporary, pending the coming of Altamarino. Unfortunately the
Hispaniola audiencia went too far. It also appointed Rojas to succeed
Velasquez as repartidor of the natives, which it had no right to do, the
power to make that appointment being reserved exclusively for the King
himself. It does not appear that he misused his power, or even indeed
that he exercised it at all as repartidor; though it is likely that his
illegal appointment to that office caused some quite unmerited prejudice
against him at Madrid. His administration of the governorship, which was
legal, was brief. Altamarino entered Santiago de Cuba on March 14, 1525,
and at once assumed office, and Rojas retired without demur and without
reproach.
Altamarino had been commissioned as juez de residencia, to investigate
the administration and conduct of Velasquez. That commission came of
course from the King, but there is reason for suspecting that Diego
Columbus had something to do with it. If he did not instigate it, he
certainly heartily approved it. Now Velasquez had, at the time of
Altamarino's appointment, been living and in office. But at the time
when Altamarino actually assumed the powers and duties of the
governorship and those of the juez de residencia, Velasquez had been
dead and buried in the cathedral of Santiago for nine months. No such
trifling circumstance as that was, however, to be permitted to cause any
deviation of the course of Spanish official procedure; particularly when
the latter was urged on by personal animus. Diego Columbus had desired
and the King had commanded Velasquez to be investigated, and
investigated he must be, alive or dead. His remains were not, it is
true, to be disinterred and placed at the bar. But his name and
reputation were made the target for all manner of attack. A proclamation
was issued, inviting everybody who had anything against the former
governor to make it known, publicly, fully and fearlessly, being assured
of immunity for anything they might say.
In response there was a mighty flood of insinuations, complaints,
accusations, calumnies. Nor did Altamarino content himself with this.
He ransacked the archives of Cuba for all complaints, protests and what
not that had ever been made, and if the makers of them could be found,
as most of them could, he summoned them before his tribunal and required
them to testify everything they could to the discredit of Velasquez. A
similar inquisition was conducted into the affairs of all the chief
office-holders and administrators under Velasquez. The result was what
might have been expected, seeing that there was no opportunity for
Velasquez to reply to the charges or to cross-examine the witnesses
against him, or to produce other testimony in rebuttal. The founder of
the Cuban State was charged with the acceptance of gifts, including a
horse and a mule; with having levied and collected taxes without special
authority from the King, though these were admittedly for road-building
and other useful public purposes; with having participated in gambling
games, though Rojas pointed out that his fellow gamblers were among the
foremost members of the community; with having failed to check and
punish blasphemous utterances; with having neglected to pay for some of
the supplies which were taken for his Mexican expeditions; and with
having administered justice without due regard to the letter of the
statute law, which was not strange, seeing that he was not a lawyer. In
his mortuary absence, he was found guilty, by default, and was condemned
to pay heavy fines; which were collected from his heirs.
The dead lion was not, however, without his vengeance upon the jackals
that would defile his sepulchre. The inquisition went too far, and too
dearly disclosed its animus. A vigorous resentment and reaction soon
arose, widespread and formidable; among the municipal councils and among
the people. The kinsmen and friends of Velasquez were numerous, loyal to
his memory, and powerful in influence. Gonzalo de Guzman, who had been
the advocate of Velasquez at court at Madrid, not only against Cortez
but also against Diego Columbus himself, and Nunez de Guzman, the royal
treasurer at Santiago de Cuba, were brothers-in-law of Velasquez; and
Andres Duero, Pedro de Paz, and Diego de Soto were his steadfast
friends. These were all men of wealth and influence. Like Rojas, they
were Cuban colonists, and resented meddling in Cuban affairs by one whom
they considered an outsider. They were, moreover, life members of the
Municipal Council of Santiago, by appointment of the King, and were
therefore independent of the Governor so far as their tenure of office
was concerned, and removable only by the King.
They therefore arrayed themselves solidly against Altamarino, and
rallied to the opposition the councils of the other municipalities and
many of the principal men throughout the island. Altamarino replied by
trumping up charges against several of the life councillors, of having
expended public funds without authorization, and suspended them from
their functions, or attempted to do so. He certainly could not remove
them outright, and there was much question of his right to suspend them,
unless during actual trial in court. The Guzmans and their allies
retorted by obtaining from the court at Hispaniola an injunction
restraining Altamarino from attending meetings of the Council, so that
he would not know whether the suspended members continued their
functions or not. Against this the Governor furiously protested,
declaring that his predecessors had habitually attended all Council
meetings, and he issued an order forbidding the Council of Santiago to
transact any business whatever or indeed to meet officially, in his
absence. Of course this brought matters to an impasse, which could be
solved only through appeal to the King. This was made, and resulted in a
royal decision in favor of the Councils, confirming the injunction of
the Hispaniola tribunal against the Governor's intrusion into council
meetings.
This, in the early autumn of 1525, was obviously the beginning of the
end for Altamarino. A little later, in October of that year, the
various municipal councils of the island united in sending Rodrigo Duran
to Hispaniola, to prefer to the court there charges against Altamarino
of a most serious character. They were indeed tantamount to his
impeachment and a demand for his removal from the Governorship. The
court hesitated to take action so radical, but considered the charges
sufficiently important to warrant reference to the King. The result was
that the King promptly decided against the Governor. Less than nine
months after his actual assumption of office, and little more than a
year and a half after his appointment to it, Altamarino was summarily
removed from the place to which he had been appointed for two years.
Immediately after this, at the beginning of December, 1525, Altamarino's
chief antagonist, Gonzalo de Guzman, a life Councillor of Santiago, was
appointed to succeed him as Governor, and also as Repartidor of the
natives, with all the plenary authority that Velasquez had exercised.
Nor was that all. Guzman was commissioned juez de residencia, to
investigate the affairs of the deposed Altamarino as the latter had
investigated those of the deceased Velasquez. Guzman appears not
actually to have taken office until April 25, 1526, and not to have
begun his inquest into his predecessor's affairs until midsummer of that
year. But he then made up for the delay with the searching and ruthless
character of his investigation. We can scarcely doubt that he was moved
by a large degree of personal vindictiveness. Certainly he seemed to try
to be as irritating and as humiliating to Altamarino as possible; the
more so, perhaps, because he realized that there was nothing serious to
be proved, and that the chief penalty the ex-Governor would suffer would
be the heckling and denunciation which he received during the
investigation. There were charges enough against him, but not one
warranted any severe punishment. As a matter of fact, all the penalties
imposed upon him were light, and they were all promptly remitted by the
King; the royal advisers at Madrid reporting to His Majesty that the
whole business had been nothing but a tempest in a teapot. Nevertheless,
the episode ended the career of Altamarino in Cuba. He at once departed
to Mexico, and was seen in the island no more.
We may now fittingly observe a certain highly significant political
development which at this time was manifested in the island. Reference
has already been made to the rise of a feeling of local pride and
municipal independence in the various provinces into which the island
was divided, and also to the marked assertion of insular patriotism
under Rojas and his colleagues. The former movement dated from as early
as 1518, when Panfilo de Narvaez secured from the King a decree giving
to some of the members of municipal councils life terms of office. In
that year, accordingly, Gonzalo de Guzman and Diego de Sumana were
appointed by the King to be life Councillors, or Regidors, in Santiago;
Alonzo Bembrilla and Bernardino Yniguez in Trinidad; and Francisco Santa
Cruz and, as we might suppose, Panfilo de Narvaez himself in Bayamo. A
little later Diego de Caballero and Fernando de Medina were appointed in
Sancti Spiritus, and Rodrigo Canon and Sancho de Urrutia in Puerto del
Principe. In addition to these there were, of course, other Councillors
appointed by the Governor for limited terms. But the life Councillors
gave tone and direction to the municipal administrations and developed a
certain degree of local independence of the general government of the
island. In brief, there began to be promulgated at this early date the
salutary principle that the various municipalities or provinces were to
enjoy home rule in all purely local matters, while of course remaining
subject to the Governor in everything relating to the general welfare of
the island; and also that the island was to enjoy home rule in all
matters pertaining exclusively to it, while subject and loyal to the
Crown in everything affecting the general welfare and integrity of the
Spanish kingdom and its colonial empire.
The motives and purpose of Narvaez in seeking this permanent tenure for
municipal Councillors have been much debated. He has been charged by
some, and not unnaturally, with a selfish purpose to entrench himself
and his friends irremovably in office. On the other hand there have been
those who have credited him with a high-minded and statesmanlike design
of promoting the welfare of Cuba by securing stability of local
government under the best men. Knowing what we do of his character, it
seems reasonable to suppose that the latter motive was potent, even if
the other also had some influence. What is quite certain is, however,
that the system quickly became a formidable power in Cuban politics,
sometimes beneficent and sometimes mischievous. These permanent
Councillors were powerful in bringing to naught the brief administration
of Zuazo, and they formed, as already stated, the head and front of the
successful opposition to Altamarino. At the same time, through their
control of the election of alcaldes and other local officers they gave
to the local administrations a stability which they might not otherwise
have enjoyed.
With the accession of Gonzalo de Guzman to the Governorship, however, a
strong and widespread reaction against the Councillors arose. This was
doubtless largely provoked by the injudicious action of Guzman himself.
As a life Councillor of Santiago he had been foremost in securing the
exclusion of Altamarino from sessions of the councils. But when he
himself became Governor, he retained his life Councillorship and
therefore insisted upon his right to continue attending the meetings.
Remonstrance against this was made, to the King; he having appointed
Guzman to both offices; but he declined to interfere. He did, however,
appoint additional life Councillors, enough largely to outnumber the
partisans of Guzman. He also took the very important step of authorizing
each municipality to elect from among its Councillors a Procurator, or
public advocate, corresponding in some respects to a Tribune of the
ancient Roman Republic.
These procurators soon found their chief occupation in resisting and
protesting against those acts of the Councils which they deemed inimical
to the public welfare. The procurators of all the municipalities met
together, to compare notes and to take counsel together for the common
good, and there was an increasing inclination among them to oppose what
they regarded as the growing tyranny of the Councils. At such a meeting
of all the procurators, in March, 1528, Manuel de Rojas, procurator for
Bayamo, took the sensational action of presenting a formal popular
protest against what was described as the arrogance and oligarchical
tendencies of the Councils. This provoked an impassioned reply from Juan
de Quexo, the procurator for Havana, who denied the statements and
insinuations of the document and opposed its reception by the meeting.
But after an acrimonious controversy, Rojas won the day. The protest was
received, adopted by the convention, and forwarded to the King of Spain.
Together with it the procurators forwarded to the King some radical
recommendations for the improvement of the insular government. These
were, that the Governor should always be selected from among the bona
fide residents of the island and should be appointed for a term of three
years; that the life tenure of Councillors should be abolished; and that
all councillors, alcaldes and procurators should be elected yearly by
the people.
These suggestions were not in their entirety received favorably by the
King. He refused outright to adopt those relating to the selection and
appointment of governors, and to the abolition of life councillorships.
He did, however, order that the procurators should be elected yearly by
the people, and he greatly enlarged the functions and powers of that
office. A new system of choosing alcaldes was also decreed. Instead of
their being elected yearly by the Councils, it was ordered that the
Council presided over by the alcalde should nominate two candidates,
that the Council members without the alcalde should nominate two more,
and that the Governor should name one; and that from among these five a
first and second alcalde should be chosen by lot.
Thus in the administration of Gonzalo de Guzman the principle of "Cuba
for the Cubans," afterward long neglected, was pretty efficiently
established. The Governor, at that time, and all other royal officers of
the island, were Cuban colonists; and the people were invested with
power to select their own procurators or advocates, who were
irremovable, and who were competent to represent the people not only in
the Cuban courts and in those of Hispaniola, but also before the Royal
Council for the Indies at Madrid, and who were empowered to proceed
against the municipal councils, the royal officials, or even the
Governor himself.