Produced by Chuck Greif, Broward County Library and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Etext transcriber's note:
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected; the original
orthography, including variation in the spelling of names, has been
retained.
The Index included at the end of this etext (which includes volumes 1
thru 4) appears at the end of volume four of The History of Cuba. It is
provided here for the convenience of the reader.
[Illustration: JOSE CIPRIANO DE LA LUZ
"The Socrates of Cuban youth," as he has often been called, Jose
Cipriano de la Luz y Caballero was born in Havana on July 11, 1799, and
was educated at the Convent of San Francisco, the University of Havana,
and the San Carlos Seminary where he was a pupil of his uncle, Jose
Agustin Caballero, and of Felix Varela. Later he travelled and studied
in the United States and Europe. In Germany he became intimately
associated with Baron Humboldt. Returning to Cuba in 1831, he gave
himself to the task of improving and promoting the educational interests
of his country. In 1843 he revisited Europe, but was recalled the
following year to answer an absurdly false charge of being implicated in
the Negro Conspiracy. He then founded and until his death conducted his
famous school of El Salvador, in which for a generation many of the
foremost Cubans were educated, and in which manhood and patriotism were
ever the foremost items of the curriculum. He was the author of a number
of standard educational works. He died on June 22, 1862.]
THE
HISTORY OF CUBA
BY
WILLIS FLETCHER JOHNSON
A.M., L.H.D.
Author of "A Century of Expansion," "Four Centuries of
the Panama Canal," "America's Foreign Relations"
Honorary Professor of the History of American Foreign
Relations in New York University
_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS_
VOLUME THREE
NEW YORK
B. F. BUCK & COMPANY, INC.
156 FIFTH AVENUE
1920
Copyright, 1920,
BY CENTURY HISTORY CO.
_All rights reserved_
ENTERED AT STATIONERS HALL
London, England.
PRINTED IN U. S. A.
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I--1
Conditions at the Beginning of the Era of Revolution--Cuba's Commercial
Backwardness--Resources Unappreciated--Statistics of Imports and
Exports--The Sugar Trade--Burdensome Taxes and Tariffs--Restrictions on
Personal Liberty--Obstacles to Travel--Titles of Nobility--The Intendent
and His Powers--Authority and Functions of the Captain-General--District
Governments--Municipal Organization--The Courts--Control of the
Navy--Censorship of the Press--Adversion to Foreigners, Particularly to
Americans.
CHAPTER II--23
Narciso Lopez and His Career--His Valor in the Venezuelan Wars--A
Soldier of Spain--Some Daring Exploits--With the Spanish Army in
Cuba--His Distinguished Career in Spain--A Leader Against the
Carlists--General and Senator--Important Office in Cuba--Alienation from
Spain--First Plans for Cuban Revolution.
CHAPTER III--37
Betrayal of Lopez's First Revolutionary Venture--His Flight to New
York--Cuban Juntas in the United States--Lopez's Negotiations with
Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee--Unofficial American Aid--Strained
American Relations with Spain--Official Warnings Against
Filibustering--An Elaborate Expedition Prepared by Lopez in the United
States for the Freeing of Cuba--His Proclamation to His Followers--The
Voyage to Cuba.
CHAPTER IV--49
The Landing of Lopez at Cardenas--The Flag of Cuba Libre for the First
Time Unfurled on Cuban Soil--Parleying and Fighting at Cardenas--Spanish
Treachery--Failure of the Cuban People to Rally to the Support of
Lopez--Retreat and Reembarcation of the Expedition--Mutiny of the
Crew--Landing at Key West--Spanish Wrath Against the United
States--Arrest of Lopez and His Comrades--Their Release.
CHAPTER V--62
Administration of Concha and His Recall--Second Expedition of Lopez
Recruited in the United States--Men and Money Provided in the
South--Betrayal of the Scheme--Proclamation of the
Captain-General--Disturbances in Cuba--Third Expedition of Lopez
Organized--Aguero's Attempt at Revolution at Puerto Principe--His
Proclamation--Initial Victories Over the Spaniards--A Fatal
Mistake--Suppression of the Revolution by Overwhelming
Numbers--Execution of the Leaders--Suppression of Other Uprisings.
CHAPTER VI--91
Another Expedition Organized by Lopez--Its Roster--Departure from New
Orleans--Colonel Crittenden--Arrival at Key West--The Landing in
Cuba--Lack of Cuban Support--Fatal Division of Forces--Desperate
Fighting with Spaniards--Crittenden's Mistake--Capture of the
Revolutionists by the Spaniards--Indignities and Tortures--Fifty-Two Put
to Death--Heroism of Crittenden--Ill Fortune of Lopez--Betrayal and
Capture of Lopez and His Comrades--His Death on the Scaffold.
CHAPTER VII--116
Failure and Success of Lopez--Irrepressible Determination of Cuba to Be
Free--Crisis in the Affairs of Spain--Animosity Between Creoles and
Spaniards--Expressions of Cuban Sentiment and Determination--Profound
Impression Produced in the United States--Opposing Views of Pro-Slavery
and Anti-Slavery Men--Attitude of Great Britain and France--Anti-Spanish
Outbreak in New Orleans--Webster's Diplomacy--England and France Warned
Not to Meddle in Cuba--Spain's Appeal to England Against
America--Tripartite Pact Refused.
CHAPTER VIII--132
American Overtures for the Purchase of Cuba--Some Early
Diplomacy--Change of Policy Under President Polk--Spain's Refusal to
Consider Sale--Pierre Soule's Extraordinary Negotiations--The Black
Warrior Controversy--Soule's Humiliation--The Ostend Manifesto--Marcy's
Shrewd Disposition of It--Buchanan's Futile Persistence.
CHAPTER IX--145
Revolution in Peninsular Spain--General Prim's Proclamations--General
Response Throughout the Kingdom--Serrano's Entry Into Madrid--Flight of
the Queen--Republican Government Established--Downfall of Maximilian in
Mexico--Change in American Attitude Toward Cuba Because of the Civil War
and Abolition of Slavery--Organization of the Spanish "Volunteers" in
Cuba--The Moret Anti-Slavery Law--Cuban Interest in the Spanish
Revolution.
CHAPTER X--155
Cuban Independence Proclaimed at the Outbreak of the Ten Years'
War--Provisional Government Organized--Carlos Manuel
Cespedes--Proclamation of Emancipation--Representative Government
Formed--Cespedes's Address--The First Cuban Constitution--The House of
Representatives--Presidential Proclamation--Proclamation of General
Quesada--Proclamation of Count Valmaseda--Request for Recognition--The
"Juntas of the Laborers"--Cuban Government and Laws--Organization of the
Cuban Army.
CHAPTER XI--180
Beginning of Hostilities--Comparative Strengths of the Cuban and Spanish
Armies--The Spanish Navy--Pacific Measures First Tried by
Captain-General Dulce--Their Rejection by the Cubans--The First
Engagements--Cuban Victories--Destruction of Bayamo--Revolts in Many
Places--Murder of Cespedes's Messenger by Volunteers--Guerilla
Warfare--Havana in a State of Siege--Progress of the Insurrection
Throughout the Island--Dulce's Change of Policy--Sympathy and Aid for
the Revolution from the United States.
CHAPTER XII--200
An Appeal to the United States for Recognition--President Grant
Overruled by His Secretary of State--Americans Stirred by News of
Spanish Cruelties--Cuban Disappointment at Non-Recognition--Progress of
the War--Spanish Reenforcements--Liberation of Slaves--Spanish
Successes--Controversies with the United States--Destruction of
Property--Arrival of General Jordan with Supplies--Dulce Forced Out of
Office by the Volunteers--Accession of Rodas and His Decrees--The
"Butcher of Cadiz"--American Protests Against Interference with
Commerce--Proposals of Mediation--More Aid from the United States.
CHAPTER XIII--225
Great Increase of Revolutionary Strength--Spain's Enormous Force--The
Case of Napoleon Arango--His Extraordinary Manifesto--An Elaborate
Appeal for Betrayal of the Revolution--Designing Decrees of
Rodas--Emancipation Decree of the Spanish Government--Its Practical
Effects--Atrocities Practised by the Spanish--Downfall of Rodas and
Appointment of Valmaseda as Captain-General--Spanish Overtures to the
United States--Murder of Zenea by the Volunteers--Address by
Cespedes--Treachery in the Ranks.
CHAPTER XIV--259
Counter-Revolution in Spain--Amadeus Made King--Increased Malignity of
the Volunteers--The Massacre of the Cuban Students--Death of General
Quesada--Reorganization of the Cuban Army--Campaign of Maximo
Gomez--Progress of the War with Varying Fortunes--Calixto Garcia at
Jiguani--Gradual Reduction of Cuban Strength--Valmaseda's Savage
Threats.
CHAPTER XV--271
Spain's Desperate Efforts to Suppress the Revolution--Stubborn
Resistance of the Cubans--Valmaseda Opposed and Overthrown by the
Volunteers--Accession of Jovellar--Increasing Interest in Cuban Affairs
in the United States--Spain a Republic Again--Retirement of
Cespedes--The Seizure of the _Virginius_--Massacre of Many of Her
Passengers and Crew--Strenuous Intervention--Settlement of the
Affair--"The Book of Blood"--Spanish Confessions of Brutality.
CHAPTER XVI--289
Renewed Cuban Successes--The Island in a State of Siege--Concha Again
Captain-General--Record of the Cost of the War--The United States
Threatens Intervention--Spanish Anger--A Protest to England Against
America--American Peace Proposals--Strength of the Spanish Army--A War
of Extermination--Martinez Campos Becomes Captain-General--His
Conciliatory Decrees--Surrender of Cuban Leaders--The Treaty of
Zanjon--End of the War--Campos's Explanation of His Course.
CHAPTER XVII--305
Results of the Ten Years' War--Political Parties in Cuba--The Liberals,
Who Were Conservative--The Union Constitutionalists--A Third Party
Platform--Cubans in the Cortes--Failure to Fulfill the Treaty of
Zanjon--The Little War--Calixto Garcia's Campaign--Cuban Fugitives
Protected by England--Revolt of 1885--Custom House Frauds at Havana--A
Reign of Lawlessness--Tariff Troubles--The Roster of Rulers.
CHAPTER XVIII--315
The Intellectual and Spiritual Development of Cuba--Some Famous Cuban
Authors--Jose Maria Heredia--Felix Varela y Morales--Jose de la Luz y
Caballero, "The Father of the Cuban Revolution"--Domingo del Monte and
the "Friends of Peace"--Jose Antonio Saco--Joaquin Lorenzo Luaces--Dona
Luisa Perez--Dona Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda--Nicolas Azcarate--Juan
Clemente Zenea--Rafael Merchan--The Distinguished Intellectual Status of
Cuba Among the Nations.
ILLUSTRATIONS
FULL PAGE PLATES
_Jose_ Cipriano de la Luz y Caballero _Frontispiece_
FACING
PAGE
The Old Presidential Palace 14
Falls of the Hanebanilla 110
Carlos Manuel de Cespedes 158
Ignacio Agramonte 258
Calixto Garcia 268
A Santiago Sunset 280
Jose Silverio Jorrin 308
Jose Maria Heredia 318
Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda 332
TEXT EMBELLISHMENTS
PAGE
Narciso Lopez 23
Ramon Pinto 62
Manuel Quesada 167
Francisco V. Aguilera 173
Bernabe de Varona 178
Miguel de Aldama 204
Domingo Goicouria 234
Nicolas Azcarate 251
Juan Clemente Zenea 252
Salvador Cisneros Betancourt 276
Felipe Poey 315
Antonio Bachiller 317
Felix Varela 320
Jose Agustin Caballero 321
Domingo del Monte 323
Jose Jacinto Milanes 324
Jose Manuel Mestre 326
Luisa Perez de Zambrana 328
Joaquin Lorenzo Luaces 330
Enrique Pineyro 334
THE HISTORY OF CUBA
CHAPTER I
The revolutionary era in Cuban history had its rise amid circumstances
of both political and commercial dissatisfaction and protest, and it is
by no means impossible nor even improbable that the latter form of
discontent was the more potent of the two. The commercial and industrial
development of the island, despite its almost incredibly opulent
resources, had been very slow, because handicapped by selfish and sordid
misgovernment. The typical attitude of the Peninsular government and its
agents in Cuba had been to use and to exploit the island for the sole
benefit of Spain, and not to permit other nations to enter in
competition. Other countries, in fact, so great was the secrecy
maintained with regard to Cuba, knew but little of the vast wealth
contained in this small space of land. Consequently the island was
developed in accordance with the wishes, needs, and potentialities of
Spain and with one other point of view. Cuba was never exploited by
Spain for all its worth, and indeed there seems to be doubt as to
whether Spain ever grasped in full the future possibilities of the
island. Certain it is that she never actually realized them. And the
loss was in consequence as great to Spain as it was to Cuba. For had
Spain allowed herself to lose sight of the richness of present
extortions and aided Cuba to develop her resources for the future, the
whole story would have been far different. But the people of the United
States were beginning to recognize Cuba's possibilities. American
merchants began to flock thither. American money and American
resourcefulness opened new doors for Cuba's rich products. American
trade and enterprise contributed a great deal which made for Cuban
expansion and industrial development. In proof of this there is the fact
that the island towns on the north side, which is nearest the United
States, increased both in population and commercially, in striking
contrast to the slow growth of the towns on the south side of the
island. In 1850 these latter towns, with Santiago de Cuba as the chief
city, did not maintain more than twenty-five per cent. of the trade of
the island.
In further proof of America's hand in the development of Cuba, we may
cite the following tables, in every one of which it is easy to see that
Cuba's trade was largely with the United States. Taking the records of
Cuban trade in 1828 as typical of the commerce of the early part of the
century, we get the following contrasts with the figures of the years
immediately preceding 1850:
Cuban imports in 1828, $19,534,922; exports, $13,414,362; revenue,
$9,086,406.
Cuban imports in 1847, $32,389,117; exports, $27,998,770; revenues,
$12,808,713.
Cuban imports in 1848, $20,346,516; exports, $20,461,934; revenue,
$11,635,052.
These statistics of the imports and exports of Cuba are divided
according to the chief countries concerned:
1847 Imports Exports
United States $10,892,335 $8,880,040
Spain 7,088,750 6,780,058
England 6,389,936 7,240,880
France 1,349,683 1,940,535
1848
United States $6,933,538 $8,285,928
Spain 7,088,750 3,927,007
England 4,974,545 1,184,201
Entries and clearings of vessels from Cuba were as follows:
1847 1848
Entries Clearances Entries Clearances
United States 2,012 1722 1733 1611
Spain 819 751 875 747
England 563 489 670 348
France 99 81 85 63
Copper was at this time greatly exported from Cuba. Since its discovery
in 1530 comparatively little had been done until three centuries later.
In 1830 an English company commenced operating the copper mines and from
that time to 1870 had extracted this ore to the value of $50,000,000.
Sugar had long been the greatest source of Cuban wealth. It was always
the sugar planter who had social as well as financial prestige on the
island. Up to the middle of the nineteenth century even the poorest and
smallest of sugar plantations had yielded a profit of $100,000 a year
while the larger and more prosperous ones had cleared even as high as
$200,000 annually. And all this had been accomplished with a minimum of
effort. Vast areas of Cuba at this period were given over to these
plantations. Some estates devoted themselves exclusively to raising the
cane, while others ran mills which ground the cane and prepared the
product for sale as sugar. Particularly with the soil as it was then,
unravished by revolution, with its original fertility unimpaired, it was
rarely necessary to replant the sugar cane. The old sprouts came up year
after year, yielding at least two crops a year without any necessity for
disturbing or enriching the soil. In 1800 Cuba exported 41,000 tons of
sugar; and in 1850 no less than 223,000 tons.
From 1836 Cuba had no representation in the Cortes. Although Spain had
promised Cuba "special laws," these were not enacted, and such laws as
were put on the books were inimical to Cuban interests. Without
representation, Cubans were also denied free speech. To speak one's mind
against Spain meant to be thrown into a dungeon. If two or more persons
signed a petition to secure some slight betterment in conditions, it was
termed treason, and they were promptly apprehended. Business was under
control of the Captain-General. It had to pay him large sums to be
allowed to live, and it was compelled to conduct its affairs in
accordance with his ideas. The "Junta de Fomento" established by Arango
was no longer a factor in the improvement of Cuban affairs, but was
packed with creatures of the Captain-General, with favorites of the
court, and was used as a means of obtaining information and extorting
money from Cubans who were suspected of disloyalty to Spain. The public
offices were used to support additional taxation, and to strengthen the
despotic rule of the Captain-General.
Under the decree of 1825 the Captains-General had taken unto themselves
the most autocratic power. Creoles were not allowed to serve in the
army, or in the treasury, customs or judicial departments. From these
last three they were excluded because such positions were lucrative, and
were desired by court favorites. The Captains-General financed and
fostered all kinds of nefarious schemes for extracting wealth from the
Cubans to pour it into their own pockets. The poor people were obliged
to police the rural districts, and to give up their own occupations to
work on the roads making repairs. The control of education in Cuba was
given--it hardly seems credible--into the hands of the military
functionaries to administer. The Spanish military authorities had a
well-organized system of blackmailing well to do citizens by threatening
to denounce them for sedition unless they paid hush money, which was
put at as large a sum as possible. Of course it did not matter whether
the victim was guilty or innocent. If the latter he would have no
opportunity of clearing himself. The only thing which the robbers took
into consideration was how much he could pay. Money was the open sesame
for prison doors, and the barrier which prevented their closing on the
unfortunate Cuban.
Yet one would think he would have little left for bribery when he had
paid his taxes, for the subject of taxation was after all the most
grievous one, and was a direct cause of the various filibustering
expeditions which attempted to gain freedom for Cuba, and finally led to
the war of independence.
The revenues from all sources, including export and import duties,
license fees, and the government lottery, for the year 1851 were
$12,248,712.06, which amounted to a tax of $20 for each free citizen.
The excess duties had a very deleterious effect on the commerce of Cuba.
The duty on goods shipped direct from Spain to Cuba was so much less
than the duty on goods shipped from other countries that it became the
custom to ship materials from the United States to Spain and from Spain
back to Cuba, since this cost less than a direct shipment. The direct
shipments of flour from the United States to Cuba decreased from 113,245
barrels in 1826 to 100 barrels in 1852, while the imports of flour from
Spain, who could hardly produce enough for her own needs, increased from
31,749 barrels to 257,451 barrels in the same time. Of course, this was
the golden opportunity for the smuggler, who could slip across from
Florida and run his boat into one of the hundreds of little coves with
which the coast of Cuba is lined.
Cubans might have more cheerfully rendered their tribute in taxes, but
unfortunately the huge sums were not expended for the good of their
country. An extravagant government had to be supported. In 1850 the cost
of maintaining the army and all expenses in connection with it were over
$5,000,000 and the navy cost more than $2,000,000, while the Spanish
legation in the United States was maintained from Cuban coffers. Writing
of such a state of affairs, Jose Antonio Saco said in 1835:
"Enormous is the load of taxation which weighs upon us--perhaps there is
no people in the world which in proportion to its resources and
population pays as much as the island of Cuba, nor a country, perhaps,
where less care is taken to use on its own soil some part of its great
sacrifices."
In 1851 the duty on sugar was raised from 50 cents a box to 87-1/2
cents. Flour and hogs were more heavily taxed than any other imports.
Hogs carried a duty of six dollars each, while the tax on flour was so
enormous as to prevent its use by any but the very wealthiest
inhabitants. Foreign flour was discriminated against in favor of Spanish
flour; on the former the duty was $10 a barrel while on the latter it
was increased from $2.50 to $6 a barrel. The records show there
importations of flour to Cuba:
1847 1848
From Spain 175,870 bbls. 212,944 bbls.
From America 59,373 bbls. 18,175 bbls.
------- -------
Total 235,243 bbls. 231,119 bbls.
Spain was favored in other ways in these taxes. Spanish vessels were
taxed only one-seventh of one per cent. on imports, while foreign
vessels were taxed 1.1 per cent, on the same goods. Nor were these taxes
the only ones which the people had to undergo. One of the most
pernicious of all taxes was the 1/10 of all farm produce which was
given to the church. The result of this tax was indirectly bad as well
as unjust, for it fostered a kind of priest in Cuba who could do little
for the moral and spiritual welfare of the people.
The following table shows the revenue of the island in 1849-51:
Import Export Other
Duties Duties Revenues Total
1849 $5,844,783 $ 584,477 $4,782,226 $11,211,526
1850 5,639,225 757,071 3,655,149 10,051,443
1851 6,364,825 1,793,992 4,821,195 12,180,012
The currency of Cuba was gold and silver; and in 1842 she had a total
amount in her treasury of $12,000,000 in coin.
An official statement compiled in 1844 lists a few of the taxes, and
gives some interesting figures as to the amounts collected. The Cubans
were taxed six per cent. of the selling price, on all sales of real
estate, or slaves, and on sales at auction and in shop. They were also
taxed on Papal Bulls, and there were brokers' taxes, cattle taxes,
shopkeepers' taxes, tax on mortgages, tax on donations, tax on
cockfighting, taxes on grants of crosses, insignia or use of uniforms;
taxes on promissory notes or bills of exchange, taxes on municipal
taxes, taxes on the death of all non-insolvent persons, taxes on
investments in favor of the clergy; the church did not escape, for there
were taxes on the property of the Jesuits. There were also taxes on
sales of public lands, taxes on the establishments of auctioneers, and
taxes on everything sold, water canal taxes, and customhouse duties on
imports and exports and the tonnage of vessels. Cubans were not only
taxed on the sale of lands, but of course on the land itself, and there
were state and municipal taxes, and they were taxed on their cattle and
all animals whether they kept them or sold them. Passports were taxed,
and as Cuba had a large transient population this tax brought in a
goodly sum. Public offices were privately sold to the highest bidder.
There were taxes on the sale of archives to notaries for the recording
of deeds. Small fines were being constantly imposed by grafting
officials, and the Captain-General's tribunal exacted a special fee,
which brought in large sums. Fees were demanded for marriages, both by
the church and the state. There was an inheritance tax; there were tolls
imposed on bridges; and large amounts were extorted for the nomination
to office of captains of districts, city ward commissaries, and
watchmen; gambling was licensed; and there were the taxes on sugar, on
pastures, on coffee and tobacco, and on minerals exported. The tax on
all crops, except sugar, when gathered was ten per cent. There was a tax
of $1.25 on every hundred weight of salt. Government documents were
required to be written on special paper, furnished by the government at
a high price.
Worse than all this were the restrictions placed on personal liberty. No
private individual of a hospitable nature was allowed to give an
entertainment to his friends, even a small evening gathering, without
obtaining a license, for which he paid. If he neglected to do this he
was fined, and sometimes the license was declared invalid on some
pretext and he was fined anyway.
No Cuban could move from place to place, or go on even a short journey,
without obtaining a license. If a man wanted to make an evening call on
a friend, he could not do so unless he carried a lantern, and obtained
from each watchman whom he passed permission to proceed. If he failed to
comply, he was arrested and fined $8. He could not entertain a guest in
his house over night, not even a neighbor, without informing the
authorities, under penalty of a heavy fine. The household goods of a
Cuban could not be moved from one house to another in the same town
without the consent of the authorities, and the penalty for failure in
this case was a fine.
The cost of a passport, which was necessary before a foreigner could
enter any port in Cuba, and the proceeds of which went into the
treasury, was $2. The traveller was also obliged to give security for
good conduct, and his baggage was thoroughly searched. Particular care
was taken to see that he did not have any incendiary literature, and if
he had a Bible, which must have been considered a dangerous book, and
which, at any rate, came under the ban of both the church and the
government, it was promptly separated from his other effects and seized.
Unless he desired to remain in the seaport where he entered, he was
required to pay twenty-five cents more for a passport permitting him to
visit the interior. It seems to have been difficult enough to get into
Cuba, but like the proverbial church fair, it was even more expensive to
get out, for the privilege cost $7.50.
Some authorities estimate that the taxes of Cuba averaged in 1850 $38 a
head, while in the United States, a republic and the nearest neighbor,
they amounted to only about $2. But then the people of the United States
were free, and were not paying tribute for the privilege of being
governed by royalty. The greater part of these taxes were exacted from
the Creoles, for the Spaniards made up only about 35,000 of the
population and there were estimated to be 520,000 Creoles at this
period.
A large number of families came to Cuba from the Spanish colonies of
South America and Mexico, which had gained their independence from
Spain, and from Florida and Louisiana when they came into the
possession of the United States. These families were, of course, all
intensely loyal to Spain, and of the arrogant disposition which
naturally prevailed among men of such tendencies as led them to prefer
the autocracy of Spain to American democracy. In spite of this increase
in their number, the native white or Creole population of Cuba
outnumbered the Spanish by more than 10 to 1.
In 1850 among the Cubans themselves there were 50 marquises and 30
counts. These men were in the main wealthy planters who had bought their
titles from Spain for sums varying between twenty and fifty thousand
dollars. The fundamental reason for this expenditure on their part was
not wholly for social prestige but rather to enjoy the greater personal
freedom accorded to nobles. These latter could never be tried by
ordinary courts but only by tribunals, and they could not be arrested
for debt.
Those Cubans who were hoping for better days for Cuba were eager that
their children should have opportunities not accorded them. They desired
to send them to the United States for education, in the hope perhaps
that they might imbibe some of the principles of liberty. But this did
not find favor with the Spanish authorities, and it was only by swearing
that the children were ill, that the climate did not agree with them,
and that they were being sent away for their health, that passports
could be obtained to get them out of the country.
Many Cubans were persecuted by officials, high and low, falsely accused,
condemned without a hearing; shut up in fortresses without adequate
food, without the ordinary comforts of life, in solitary confinement,
often in dungeons; and frequently their own people were denied knowledge
of their whereabouts. They simply dropped out of sight and were gone. No
man knew when he opened his eyes in the morning whether that day might
be his last as a free human being--free so far as he might be with the
thousand and one restrictions imposed upon him. He was not sure that
some enemy, unwittingly made, might not inform upon him for some
imaginary action of disloyalty, or that he might not be falsely
denounced by hired spies. It was then no wonder that those who loved
their country, who had self-respect and affection for their families,
longed for freedom from Spain, and lived in the hope of emancipation
from what was virtual slavery.
Under the Spanish rule the chief officer of government in Cuba was the
Captain-General, who after the promulgation of the decree of May 25,
1825, had absolute authority. Even prior to that time, because of the
long distance between Cuba and the mother country, the time consumed for
information and instructions to travel back and forth, and the fact that
Spain was more or less concerned with her own none too quiet domestic
affairs, the Captain-General was very powerful.
There was another office under the crown which was much sought after,
that of Intendant. He controlled the financial affairs of the island,
and received his orders not from the Captain-General but direct from the
crown. In his own realm his power was equal to that of the
Captain-General, but he had no authority outside his own particular
domain. The title of Intendant was changed to Superintendent, in 1812,
at which time the financial business of Cuba had become so important
that it was impossible for it to be handled from one place, and
subordinate officers were placed in command at Santiago and Puerto
Principe, subject of course to the direction of the Superintendent.
It is needless to say that the arrogant Spanish Captains-General did
not relish having anyone on the island who equalled them in rank, and
after much controversy at home and abroad the Captain-General in 1844
was declared to be the superior officer, and later on, in 1853, the two
offices were united, under the title of Captain-General. The
Superintendent was head or chief of a "Tribunal de Cuentas" which had
judicial control over the treasury and its officers, was auditor in
chief of all accounts, and voted on all expenditures. Its rulings were
reviewed only by the Minister of Finance in Madrid, to whose direction
it was subject.
The Captain-General was the presiding officer of the City Council which
had charge of the civic administration of Havana, but he had only one
vote, exactly as had every other member, and officially he had no power
except to carry out the resolutions of the juntas. Unofficially, he
controlled the city affairs absolutely. If occasion demanded he could
act as the presiding officer of any city council. This power was
exercised whenever he felt that the councils were growing too liberal in
their ideas and actions, and enabled him to exercise a despotic power
and coerce public opinion.
Cuban leaders had no conception of the democratic form of government
which in the United States gave separate powers to the national, state
or province and city administrations. The national government was
closely linked with the provincial and with the city, and the functions
were so intertwined that it was hard to say where one left off and the
other began. The Captain-General always encouraged this close
amalgamation of governmental functions because it enabled him to keep in
close touch with all the branches of the government and to discover and
put down any movements which would tend to diminish the power of the
supreme officer. The Captain-General's power was civic, provincial,
national and indeed international. This enabled him very easily to line
his coffers, for he spent a great deal of time in signing papers of no
especial significance, except that to obtain his signature it was
necessary that he be paid a big fee. It was said that any
Captain-General who remained four years in Cuba, and did not take away
from the island with him when he departed at least a million dollars,
was a poor manager.
The Captain-General had all prisons under his control; and the fate of
all prisoners, either those imprisoned for petty or state offenses, lay
in his hands. This did not mean that he personally supervised the
prisons, but that his creatures and officers were subject to his orders,
and the offices were within his gift. Thus he was able to extort fees
for various functions, as well as to demand largess for leniency
extended to state prisoners. Under Tacon's administration this power was
exercised to such an extent that it became a public scandal.
The postal service also fell under the supervision of the
Captain-General, and there were many ways in which he could make this
office line his pockets. He acted as a police magistrate in the city of
Havana, another fruitful source of revenue, particularly as the office
was connected with that of president of the city council.
Cuba was divided into three districts, the western, central and eastern.
Havana was the capital of the western district, Santiago de Cuba of the
eastern and Puerto Principe of the central district. Each district had
its governor who was directly under the Captain-General, and under the
governor, in charge of the affairs of the larger towns and their
out-lying districts, was a lieutenant-governor, who was president of the
local council and had control of military affairs for his district.
Under the lieutenant-governors were captains, who were located in
regions which were not very thickly settled, and who had absolute
military power--subject of course to commands emanating higher up--over
the affairs, lives and property of the people under their jurisdiction.
Each of these officers received his appointment from the Spanish crown,
but he was obliged to receive his nomination from the Captain-General,
so that these offices too were a source of revenue to that gentleman,
and his nominees, when appointed, were subject to his control. The
functions of the governors and lieutenant-governors were supposed to be
primarily military, and they received the salary which would naturally
attach to their rank, but since they also presided in civil and criminal
cases in their jurisdictions, as did the Captain-General in Havana, the
fees from these proceedings made very fat picking. Now the captains had
no salary at all, and the style in which they were able to live depended
on the number of fines they were able to impose, and therefore it is not
difficult to imagine that they were not easy on any Cubans who came
under suspicion of any offense. They received one-third of all fines
imposed by them.
Each city in Cuba had its Ayuntamiento or council. In Puerto Principe
there seem to have been elections for membership to this body, but in
most cases seats were bought at enormous prices, and the receipts from
such sale went into the Spanish treasury, although the Captain-General
received his perquisite for allowing the transfer to be made. He also
seems to have had some power of appointment, which was seldom made
without pecuniary consideration, and there were some cases where members
had hereditary rights to their seats. Not every town had its
Ayuntamiento, but in most of the older towns they existed. The
Ayuntamiento elected its own mayor from among its members, but they were
all subject to the control of the Governor or Lieutenant Governor, who
was in line of course subject to the Captain-General.
[Illustration: THE OLD PRESIDENTIAL PALACE
The official residence of a long line of Spanish Governors and
Captains-General is a large and handsome building of stone, tinted white
and yellow, facing the Plaza de Armas from the east, and standing on the
site of the original parish church of Havana. Within its walls occurred
the memorable scene of the final abdication of Spanish sovereignty in
Cuba. It has now been replaced by the new Presidential Palace.]
Early in the reign of the Spaniards in Cuba, courts called Audiencias
with both judicial and administrative functions had been established.
They were not at all pleasing to the more arbitrary of the
Captains-General for while they were subordinate to him, and their only
restriction on his power was in a kind of advisory capacity, yet they
often reflected public opinion, and too, if their conclusions differed
from that of the Captain-General, they were a moral curb upon his
actions which he resented. The most ancient and honorable of these
Audiencias was the one at Puerto Principe. It was the oldest in the
island, and it strove to uphold its dignity by conducting its
proceedings in the most formal and impressive manner, by adhering to the
most ancient customs. It was greatly reverenced by the people of the
district, and the Captain-General felt that somehow it detracted from
his glory, and from the respect which he felt should be accorded the
commands of his inferior officers. Various Captains-General strove to
abolish this court, and to turn its revenues into their own pockets.
The judicial functions in criminal and civil suits were divided among
many bodies, and there must have been great confusion, overlapping of
authority, and consequent wrangling. Judicial powers were accorded to
the Alcaldes Mayors, to the Captains, Lieutenant Governors, Governors,
Captains-General, Audiencias, in some cases to juntas, and even to naval
officers. Judges could condemn, but they could not themselves be
condemned. There was no way of curbing a wrongful exercise of their
power, and even when their offenses were heinous they could not be
disciplined through any democratic measures. Civil prisoners were often
taken from the jurisdiction of the civil courts and tried by military
tribunals. In the last resort, the Captain-General could always
interfere, when he chose.
The courts in Cuba at the middle of the nineteenth century were
notoriously corrupt, and while the people feared them, in their
gatherings in their homes they did not hesitate to condemn them. Justice
was almost a dead letter. When a well known offender against the laws
had influence with the Captain-General, or with some subordinate
official, the prosecuting attorneys would refuse to try him. The very
source of the pay of the captains made it impossible for them to make a
living without corruption, and an honest one would have been hard to
find, while the governors and lieutenant-governors were of opinion that
the only way to keep the people in subjection was to oppress and terrify
them, and the only way for governors and lieutenant-governors to return
to Spain with the proper amount of spoil was to exact it from the
unfortunate Cubans.
While the Captain-General was the supreme military authority, he was not
the supreme commander of the naval forces, the latter being a separate
office. This was due principally at least to the fact that all the naval
forces of Spain in America were commanded from Havana, and all naval
expeditions for the defense of Spain in South America were commanded and
directed from that port. Therefore, it was necessary not only that the
naval officer should be a person of importance and ability, but also
that he should not be subordinate to the chief officer of any one of the
Spanish colonies. When Spain lost her large possessions in America, and
only Cuba remained to her, then the office of naval commander was
greatly curtailed in scope, and it was a matter of much irritation to
the Captain-General that there should be stationed in Cuba, or in Cuban
waters, an official of equal rank with himself.
Over the army the Captain-General held undisputed sway. There were
quartered in Cuba in 1825 three regular army battalions, a brigade of
artillery and one cavalry regiment. This army was supposed to be
augmented by the local militia. In 1850 there were in the regular army
sixteen battalions, two picked companies of veterans, twelve squadrons
of cavalry, two brigades of artillery, and two light batteries.
Cuba had reason to fear the success of an attack made from the southern
coast of Florida, from Hayti or from Yucatan. The island lies in the
midst of the gulf waters, long and narrow in outline, and with miles of
sea coast all out of proportion to its area. It was almost impossible
adequately to patrol the coast and it would have been easy for an enemy
to make a landing, provided the leader of an expedition was familiar
with the coasts. Means of communication were slow in those days, and
particularly slow in Cuba because of her geographical formation. If the
attackers once entrenched themselves in the mountains, they were in a
position to carry on an interminable guerrilla warfare. For these
reasons, Spain would have felt that Cuba should be heavily garrisoned,
even were it not also for the fact that the Cubans were growing so
restless and crying so vociferously for liberty that Spain had reason to
fear dangers both from within and without.
People did not lightly express their opinions publicly in Cuba,
particularly if those opinions were unfavorable to the government.
Expressions unfavorable to the government were never allowed to leak
into print, for except for a short period in 1812, and another from 1820
to 1823, the press was securely censored. The Captains-General who
reigned during the nineteenth century were particularly careful that
this censorship should be rigid and unbending. An American editor, Mr.
Thrasher, was more daring than the native Cubans and his paper, _El Faro
Industrial_, frequently contained matter which provoked the displeasure
of the Captain-General. He had powerful connections and he was therefore
unmolested until it was deemed that his comment on the death of General
Ena, during the Lopez uprising, was too offensive, and the paper was
suppressed. The Spanish interests conducted the largest newspaper in
Havana, _El Diario de la Marina_, which had a list of 6,000 subscribers.
Although this paper was avowedly Spanish in its sympathies and was
conducted with Spanish money, it too was carefully watched by the
censor. One day, it unguardedly, or through a misjudgment, accepted for
publication an article implying that the interests of Cuba and the
interests of Spain were not one and identical, and the entire edition
was promptly suppressed by the censor.
Not only was the local press carefully muzzled, but a watch was kept
lest anything creep in from the United States, or from any other source,
which might put notions in the heads of the Cubans that would divert
their allegiance from Spain. The work of the censor was not an
acceptable one for the United States, and the American residents in Cuba
did not take pleasantly to the suppression of the American papers, and
friction on this score was constant.
A paper called _La Verdad_, published in New York by Cuban sympathizers,
came under the especial displeasure of the Captain-General and of the
Spanish government in Madrid. Regarding it, the Spanish Secretary of
Foreign Affairs wrote as follows to Calderon de la Barca, the Spanish
minister at Washington, on January 2, 1848:
"Your excellency knows that the paper called _La Verdad_, published in
New York, is printed with the specific object of awakening among the
inhabitants of Cuba and Porto Rico the sentiment of rebellion, and to
propagate the idea of annexation to the United States. The
Captain-General of the island, in fulfilment of his duty, prohibited the
entrance and circulation of this newspaper in the island, and tried to
investigate the ramifications in the island of this conspiracy against
the rights of Spain, and against the peace of the country. As a result
of the efforts made with this object, it was discovered that although
not numerous, there were in Havana some wicked Spaniards charged with
the task of collecting money to sustain the subversive publication, and
to distribute its copies to those who should care to read them."
The Spanish government in Cuba did not look with favor upon foreigners.
It thought that other countries, especially those adjacent to Cuba, were
too tainted with liberal notions to render their inhabitants safe
associates for the already restless Cubans. It therefore preferred that
persons wishing to visit Cuba either remain quietly at home, or become
Spanish citizens, subject to Spanish rule, if they insisted on remaining
on the island. On October 21, 1817, a Royal Order was issued dividing
foreigners into three classes. First, transients, composed of those who
were merely enjoying the unwilling hospitality of Spain in Cuba. A
person could be regarded as a transient for a period of only five years.
After that he must either declare his intention of remaining in Cuba
permanently or depart. Second, domiciled foreigners, who must declare
their intention of remaining permanently in Cuba, must embrace the
church by becoming Roman Catholics, must forswear allegiance to their
native country in favor of allegiance to Spain, and must agree to be
subject to Spanish law exactly as native Cubans and Spaniards were
subject to it. Third, citizens by naturalization, who were regarded as
Spanish citizens in every sense of the word, and could be sure of the
same unjust treatment which Spain accorded all subjects in her
possessions.
Now this subject of foreigners in Cuba was a complex one, because,
beside the tendency among Americans to settle on the island, now that
its rich resources were becoming recognized, there were, in the middle
of the nineteenth century, many Americans rushing to California to seek
their fortunes in the gold fields. The favorite route was via Havana and
Panama, and they naturally left their mark on the thought of the people
with whom they came in contact. Beside this each year during the sugar
harvest skilled mechanics came to work on the plantations. This did not
meet with the approval of those in command of the finances of the
island, because each of these visitors carried home with him every year
from $1,000 to $1,500 on which he had paid no taxes. Such conduct was
reprehensible, and it was entirely foreign to the policy or intent of
any Captain-General that anyone should get away with any money without
being either taxed or fined for it. Besides, these adventurers, as they
were contemptuously termed, were regular mouthpieces of treason, and
were said to talk of nothing else but freedom from Spain by annexation.
Naturally their coming was unpleasant to the high powers in Cuba. Now
under the treaty of 1795, between Spain and the United States, provision
was made that "in all cases of seizure, detention or arrest, for debts
contracted, or offenses committed by any citizen or subject of the one
party, within the jurisdiction of the other, the same shall be made and
prosecuted by order of the law only, and according to the regular course
of proceedings in such cases. The citizens and subjects of both parties
shall be allowed to employ such advocates, solicitors, notaries, agents
and factors as they may judge proper in all their affairs and in all
their trials at law in which they may be concerned before the tribunals
of the other party, and such agents shall have free access to be present
at the proceedings in such cases and at the taking of all examinations
and evidence which may be exhibited in the said trials."
Americans charged with offenses against the Spanish government should
have had the benefits of the rights given them under this treaty, but
the government took refuge behind the fact that the Captain-General had
no diplomatic functions, and Americans were frequently thrust into
prison and allowed to remain there subject to much discomfort and to
financial loss until Washington and Madrid got the facts, and took the
time to arrange the matter. The Spanish Secretary for Foreign Affairs
wrote to Calderon de la Barca, on this matter, as follows:
"Your Excellency knows that the government of Her Majesty has always
maintained the position with all foreign powers that its colonies are
outside of all the promises and obligations undertaken by Spain in
international agreements. With regard to Cuba, the discussions with
England to this effect are well known, in which the Spanish Government
has declared that the treaties which form the positive law of Spain had
been adjusted in times when the Spanish colonies were closed to all
foreign trade and commerce, and that when in 1824, these colonies were
opened to commerce of all other nations, they were not placed on equal
footing with the home country, but were kept in the exceptional position
of colonies. Of this exceptional position of that part of the Spanish
dominions, no one has more proof than the foreign consuls, since it is
evident to them that the Spanish government has only endured their
presence on the condition that they should not exercise other functions
than those of mere commercial agents. Thus in 1845 the English
government accepted formally the agreement that its consul should not
demand the fulfillment of treaties, not even of those which refer to the
slave trade."
The natural inference to be drawn from this was that Spain considered
that foreigners who desired to live in Cuba must do so at their own
peril, and that the Captain-General was above the trammeling bonds of
international agreements in his dealing with interlopers who came to the
island. But it must be borne in mind that the government of Cuba was
administered not for the development of the island or the best good of
its inhabitants, but according to the short sighted and stupid policies
which seemed to Spain best calculated to prevent Cuba from slipping from
her grasp as had her other colonies. Therefore, the main solicitude of
each of the Captains-General was the subduing of the inhabitants by
force, if necessary, the defense of the island from an enemy who might
come by sea, and the lining of his own pockets while opportunity
offered.