The fourth Presidential campaign in Cuba began in the spring of 1912.
The Liberal administration had given the nation a thorough taste of its
quality, with the result that there was a strong reaction against it on
the part of many who had been its zealous upholders. The compact between
José Miguel Gomez and Alfredo Zayas was, however, carried out, the
former not seeking re-election but standing aside in favor of the
latter, who accordingly received the Presidential nomination at the
convention which was held on April 15. Before this, on April 7, the
Conservative convention by unanimous vote and with great enthusiasm
nominated General Mario G. Menocal for President, and Enrique José
Varona for President. The campaign was conducted with much determination
on both sides, but in a generally orderly fashion, and the election,
which occurred on November 1, was also conducted in a creditable manner.
Although the Liberals had made extravagant claims in advance, the result
of the polling was a decisive victory for General Menocal, who easily
carried every one of the six provinces. This result was due in part to
the popular revulsion against the corruption of the Liberal
administration, and partly to the immense popularity of the Conservative
candidate and his admirable record as a useful public servant in various
capacities.
[Illustration: MARIO G. MENOCAL
The third President of the Republic of Cuba, General Mario G. Menocal,
comes of one of the most distinguished families in Latin America. He was
born at Jaguey Grande, Cuba, on December 17, 1866, was educated at
Cornell University, New York, and became associated in professional and
business work with his uncle, Aniceto G. Menocal, the distinguished
canal and railroad engineer. He entered the War of Independence at the
beginning and served to the end with distinction. He was defeated for
the Presidency in 1908, but was elected in 1912 and reelected in 1916.
His history is the history of Cuba for the last seven years.]
Mario G. Menocal, who was thus chosen to be the head of the Cuban
Republic, came of an old Havana family, traditionally revolutionary, and
was born in Jaguey Grande, Matanzas, in December, 1866. When his family
emigrated, as a consequence of his father having taken part in the Ten
Years' War, Mario Menocal began his education in the United States. He
was graduated at Cornell University with the Class of 1888 and took his
degree as Civil Engineer. No sooner was he graduated than his uncle,
Aniceto G. Menocal, the distinguished engineer of the Isthmian Canals,
summoned him to his side to work with him at Nicaragua. In 1893 he went
to Cuba as engineer of a French Company to exploit a salt mine at Cayo
Romano. He was working on the construction of the Santa Cruz railway in
Camaguey when the War of Independence broke out in 1895. On June 5 of
that year he joined the forces of Commander Alejandro Rodriguez as a
private. At the attack on Fort Ramblazo he was promoted to sergeant, and
it was not long before his military talents had won for him the rank of
Lieutenant Colonel.
[Illustration: BIRTHPLACE AND BOYHOOD HOME OF PRESIDENT MARIO G.
MENOCAL, JAGUEY GRANDE, MATANZAS]
When the Revolutionary Government was constituted on September 15, 1895,
Colonel Menocal was appointed Assistant Secretary of War, and in that
capacity assisted Generals Gomez and Maceo in organizing the "invasion"
contingent. He later joined the Third Army Corps under Mayia Rodriguez,
and remained with it until the beginning of 1896 when he was called by
General Calixto Garcia, who had just reached the Island and who made
Menocal his Chief of Staff. Thereafter his name was associated with
Garcia's brilliant campaign in Oriente.
Among the many battles in which Colonel Menocal took part were the
hard-fought engagements of La Gloria, Bellezas, Moscones, Hierba de
Guinea, and the great struggle at Guantanamo, in July, 1896, against two
Spanish columns which were cut apart and were obliged to abandon the
Ramon de las Yaguas zone. In August the agricultural regions of Holguin
were invaded and the Loma de Heirro fort seized, artillery being used
for the first time in the war. This feat caused his promotion to the
rank of Colonel. He then was active in the Sierra Maestra Mountains to
meet Mendez's expedition. In October, Menocal seized Guaimaro,
conducting personally the assault on Fort Gonfan, having captured which,
he was made Brigadier General.
In November, 1896, he took part in the battles of Alta Conchita and
Lugones against Gen. Pando. Later he was present at the siege of Jiguani
(April 13, 1897) and at Tuaheque, Jacaibama and Jucaibanita against Vara
del Rey and Nicolas Rey, and at Baire he fought at the battle of
Ratonera. It was at this time that Gen. Calixto Garcia made him Chief of
the 3rd Division of the 2nd Corps, which included the western part of
Holguin and Tunas. At the head of these forces he organized the attack
and capture of Tunas, which was achieved by Gen. Calixto Garcia, August
30, 1897, Menocal having been wounded in a trench assault.
This strategic success won for him an immediate promotion to Division
General. In November, 1897, he attacked Fort Guamo on the Cauto River,
one of the bloodiest events of the war, and took part in the battles of
Cayamos, Monte Oscuro, Nabraga and Aguacatones, succeeding in this
latter in seizing Tejeda's supply train.
In March, 1898, he was appointed Chief of the 5th Army Corps, to join
which he marched at the head of 200 select men, among whom were many
prominent figures of the war--many still alive--as General Sartorius,
Colonels Aurelio Hevea, Enrique Nunez, Federico Mendizabal, Pablo,
Gustavo and Tomas Menocal, Rafael Pena, Carlos Manuel de Cespedes,
Commander Manuel Secades, Miguel Coyula, Ignacio Weber, Alberto de
Cardenas, Antonio Calzades and Domingo Herrera. With this brave
contingent, and assisted by the forces of Gen. Agramonte, Gen. Menocal
passed the Trocha at its most dangerous point between Ciego de Avila and
Jucaro. After a fifty days' march from Holguin, they reached Havana,
relieving Gen. Alejandro Rodriguez of his command as Chief of the 5th
Army Corps.
Gen. Menocal was in this command when the American Intervention came,
and cooperated with the American authorities in maintaining public order
in Havana while the evacuation of the Spanish troops took place. Then
General Ludlow appointed him Chief of the Havana Police, which body he
organized, giving posts under him to the most distinguished chiefs of
the Province of Havana. In 1899 he was appointed Inspector of Light
Houses and subsequently Inspector of Public Works, which offices he
resigned to manage Central Chaparra, in June, 1899.
It is difficult to speak without danger of apparent exaggeration of the
incommensurable work of General Menocal at Chaparra, as a true "captain
of industry." There what were formerly barren fields have been
transformed by something more than the touch of a magician's wand into
the greatest sugar-producing establishment in the world. Nor does it
consist merely of the gigantic mills. Houses for homes, schools, stores,
churches, surround it, forming a city of no fewer than 30,000 prosperous
inhabitants, devoted to the manufacture of sugar. Of this unique
community, General Menocal was the chief creator and for years the
responsible head. Even it, however, did not monopolize his attention,
for he organized and managed also great sugar mills at San Manuel, Las
Delicias, and elsewhere.
In 1903 General Menocal was appointed by President Palma to be one of a
Commission for the negotiation of a loan for the payment of the soldiers
of the army in the War of Independence, together with Gonzalo de Quesada
and D. Mendez Capote. Three years later he was conspicuous and active in
the Veteran movement which strove to avert the necessity of the second
American intervention. In 1908, as we have seen, he was nominated for
the Presidency, with Dr. Montoro for the Vice-Presidency, but was
defeated. Again he was nominated for the Presidency, with Enrique José
Varona as candidate for the Vice-Presidency, and was elected for the
term of 1913-1917; at the expiration of which he was reelected, with
General Emilio Nunez as Vice-President.
[Illustration: ENRIQUE JOSÉ VARONA
Poet, philosopher and statesman, Enrique José Varona y Pera was born in
Camaguey in 1849. Before attaining his majority he had published a
volume of poems. Later he was the author of "Philosophical Lectures,"
"Commentaries on Spanish Grammar and Literature," "The Intellectual
Movement in America," "Cain in Modern Literature," "Idealism" and
"Naturalism." He was a Deputy from Cuba to the Spanish Cortes; editor of
_The Cuban Review_ and _Patria_, the latter the organ of the
patriots--in New York--in the War of Independence; Secretary of Finance
and Public Instruction during the Governorship of Leonard Wood; and
Vice-President of the Republic during the first administration of
President Menocal, in 1913-1917. For many years he has been Professor of
Philosophy in the University of Havana.]
Enrique José Varona, who thus became Vice-President of Cuba in 1913,
ranked as one of the foremost scholars and writers of the nation. He was
born in Camaguey on April 13, 1849, and in early life adopted the career
of a man of letters in addition to serving the public in political
matters. He was at once an orator of rare eloquence, a philosopher of
profound learning, and a poet of exceptional charm. He served,
before the War of Independence, as a Deputy in the Spanish Cortes from
Cuba; he wrote the famous plea for Cuban independence entitled "Cuba
contra España," which was translated into a number of languages; and
under the administration of General Wood was Secretary of Public
Instruction and of the Treasury. He was once President of the
Anthropological Society of Cuba, and was a Member of the Academy of
History. He has written numerous books, comprising philosophical
disquisitions, essays on nature and art, and lyrical poetry.
Dr. Rafael Montoro, who was refused election to the Vice-Presidency in
1908, has since that date been kept in the service of his country in
highly important capacities, and now, as Secretary to the Presidency, is
most intimately associated with President Menocal, and exerts an
exceptional degree of usefulness in many directions to the national
welfare of the Cuban Republic.
Rafael Montoro was born in Havana on October 24, 1852. He received his
primary education in Havana and in his tenth year was taken to Europe
and to the United States. He was a pupil of the Charlier Institute in
New York until 1865. Having returned to Havana he took up his
preparatory studies at the school of San Francisco de Asis. In 1867 he
returned to Europe with his family, which settled in Madrid. Here he
spent his youth until 1878, devoting himself to literary and
intellectual activities; he contributed to various periodicals, was
editor of the "Revista Contemporanea"; second secretary of the Ateneo de
Madrid; vice president of the Moral and Political Sciences Section of
that institution; second secretary of the Spanish Writers' and Artists'
Association, etc. On his return to Cuba he took an active part in
constituting and organizing the Liberal Party, which seized the first
opportunity to uphold the cause of Colonial Autonomy, calling itself the
Autonomist Liberal Party. In 1879 he was elected a member of the Central
Junta of the party and in the first elections after Cuba had been
granted the right of representation at the Cortes took place, he was
elected a Deputy from the province of Havana. Later he continued working
for his party as editor of its organ _El Triunfo_, which became _El
Pais_, and as an orator in meetings and assemblies. In 1886 he was
reelected Deputy to the Cortes from the province of Camaguey and yearly
went to Spain during the period of the Legislature, being a member of
the Autonomist minority headed by Rafael Maria de Labra. The Sociedad
Economica de Amigo del Pais appointed Dr. Montoro a Special Delegate to
the Junta de Information which met at Madrid in 1890, the principal
economic institutions of Cuba having been previously invited by the
Spanish Colonial Department. The purpose of this Junta was to report on
the tariff regime of the Island and on the proposed commercial treaty
with the United States, as suggested by the famous McKinley Bill of
1890. Towards the middle of 1895 he returned to his activities in Havana
as editorial writer of _El Pais_ and member of the Central Junta of the
Party.
When autonomy was granted in 1898, he formed part, as Secretary of the
Treasury, of the Cabinet organized by José Maria Galvez, the head of the
party since its foundation in 1878. When Spanish rule came to an end, as
a consequence of the war and of the American intervention, and the
Autonomist Government ceased, Dr. Montoro retired to private life. In
1900 and 1901 he was appointed to but did not accept the professorship
of philosophy and history in the University of Havana. He was a member
of the Committee which was to undertake the reform of the Municipal
suffrage legislation under Governor Brooke and of the Committee charged
by General Wood with the revision of the legislation on the importation
tariff.
In 1902 Dr. Montoro was appointed by the Palma administration as Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James. In
1904 he was appointed also Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary in Germany, which caused him to reside alternately in
both countries until 1906 when he was appointed with Gonzalo de Quesada
and Gonzales Lanuza a delegate of the Republic to the Third Pan-American
International Conference held at Rio de Janeiro. In the same year he was
confirmed in both his posts, at London and Berlin, by Governor Magoon,
as were the other members of the diplomatic and consular corps, but
later he was appointed a member of the Consultive Committee on Laws. In
1907 he was one of the founders of the National Conservative Party, of
which he was appointed second vice-president, and was nominated as the
Party's candidate for the Vice-Presidency of the Republic, with General
Menocal as Presidential Candidate.
When General Jose M. Gomez took possession of the Government as
President, Dr. Montoro was confirmed in his posts as Minister at Berlin
and London, returning to Europe to remain there until 1910, in which
year he was appointed by President Gomez a delegate to the Fourth
Pan-American International Conference, which took place at Buenos Aires.
At this Conference he was elected to preside over the seventh section of
Consular documents, Tariff regulations, Census and Commercial
Statistics.
In 1910 and 1911, respectively, he ceased his posts as Minister at
Berlin and London to become Diplomatic Advisor of the State Department.
In 1913 he was appointed Secretary of the Presidency under General
Menocal to which post he gave an importance which it had lacked
theretofore. In this capacity he still is an assiduous and valuable
collaborator of the Menocal Administration.
Of Dr. Montoro's writings the following have been collected in book
form: "Political and Parliamentary Speeches; Reports and Dissertations"
(1878-1893), Philadelphia, 1894. "Elements of Moral and Civic
Instruction" (1903).
Dr. Montoro is a member of the National Academy of Arts and Letters of
which he was elected Director in 1812. He was President of the Executive
Committee at Havana of the 2nd Pan-American Scientific Congress (1915)
and was a member of the High Committee for Cuba of the Pan-American
Financial Congress (1917) and of the American Institute of International
Law (1916).
President Menocal gathered about himself a Cabinet of representative
Cubans, selected for their ability rather than on grounds of personal
favor or political advantage; two of them, the Secretaries of Justice
and Education, being members of the Liberal party. The places were
filled as follows:
Secretary of Government, Cosimo de la Torriente.
Secretary of the Interior, Aurelio Hevea.
Secretary of the Treasury, Leopoldo Cancio.
Secretary of Health and Charities, Enrique Nuñez.
Secretary of Justice, Cristobal de la Guardia.
Secretary of Agriculture, Emilio Nuñez.
Secretary of Public Works, José Villalon.
Secretary of Education, Ezequiel Garcia.
[Illustration: RAFAEL MONTORO
Called by Cabrera "Our Great Montoro" and by others the "Cuban
Castelar," Dr. Rafael Montoro has long been eminent in the public life
of Cuba as a scholar, writer, orator, statesman, diplomat,
administrator, and unwavering and resolute patriot The record of his
services to Cuba, as Ambassador to the foremost courts of Europe, as
Secretary to the Presidency, and in other distinguished capacities at
home and abroad, forms a brilliant passage elsewhere in this History of
Cuba.]
The spirit in which the new President began his work, and the spirit
which animated his associates in the government, was admirably expressed
by him soon after his election and before his inauguration, in a frank,
informal but very serious personal conversation. "What," he was asked,
"does Cuba need? And what do you expect to accomplish as her President?"
"Cuba," replied General Menocal, "needs an honest administration of its
governmental affairs; and that is what I can give it and will give it.
But more than that, Cuba needs more citizens anxious to develop its
marvellous resources and fewer citizens anxious to hold office. I was
not elected as a politician, and I have no ambition to succeed as a
politician."
[Illustration: DR. JUAN GUITERAS
One of the foremost physicians and scientists of Cuba, Dr. Juan Guiteras
is the son of the distinguished educator Eusebio Guiteras, and was born
at Matanzas on January 4, 1852. He collaborated with Dr. Carlos J.
Finlay in the discovery and demonstration of the transmission of yellow
fever by mosquitoes, and contributed much to the eradication of that and
other pestilences from Cuba. Under President Menocal's administration he
was made Director of Sanitation. He was a delegate to the second
Pan-American Scientific Congress at Washington in 1916.]
Reference being made to the menace of revolution, President Menocal
said, with emphasis:
"There will be no revolution under my administration. There may be
outbreaks headed by disappointed politicians or military adventurers,
but they will be crushed and their leaders will be punished. The day is
past when men of this class can arrest the orderly processes of
government. I shall have back of me not only a loyal army, but also a
loyal people who are determined to show to the United States and to the
world that Cuba realizes her responsibilities and is capable of
self-government. I shall appoint honest men, and will guarantee that
they honestly administer their duties. I shall urge the passage of
honest taxation laws, and have faith that the people will respond by
electing men who will assist me to make Cuba worthy of the favors which
God has lavished upon her."
With such purposes and with such expectations he entered upon his great
work. Unfortunately there was not a majority upon which he could depend
in Congress to enact the measures which were needed for the welfare of
Cuba. Indeed, there was a hostile majority, as we shall see, which
deliberately set itself to embarrass and thwart him in his undertakings.
But that had merely the effect which obstacles usually have upon men who
are really brave and strong. It indeed made his work more difficult, but
it did not turn him from his purpose nor defeat his efforts. Rather did
it give him all the greater credit and honor, to have achieved so much
in the face of so much opposition.
General Mario G. Menocal became President and Senor Enrique Jose Varona
became Vice-President of Cuba on May 20, 1913, the tenth anniversary of
the establishment of the independent Cuban Government. The President
delivered his first message to Congress on the following day. It was an
eminently practical, statesman-like and businesslike document, in which
he modestly promised a wise and prudent administration of his office,
and especially an immediate reform of the finances of the Government,
which was notoriously much needed. As a small beginning of this reform,
he offered to do away with the usual appropriation of $25,000 for
Presidential secret service. Many debts had been left over by the former
administration and he purposed to address himself to the liquidation of
these, so far as they had been honestly contracted. The notorious
Dragado concession was repealed on August 4, and a commission was
appointed to investigate the methods of the company. As a result of this
and other investigations, the former Secretary of Public Works, and
Auditor were indicted for misappropriation of public funds, and various
other officers were prosecuted.
The President desired to obtain a loan of $15,000,000 with which to pay
off the debts which had been left to him by his predecessor, and also
for urgent road work, and the paving and sewering of the streets of
Havana. This was, however, refused him by Congress, and that body, under
the domination of the Liberals, refused to pass any budget whatever.
President Menocal was therefore compelled to declare the budget of the
preceding year still in force, pending the adoption of new financial
provisions. Hoping to persuade or to compel Congress to perform its
constitutional duty, he called that body together in special session in
July and again in October, but on both occasions the Liberals all
absented themselves and thus prevented the securing of a quorum. These,
it will be observed, were similar to the tactics which the same party in
Congress had employed against President Palma in their malignant
campaign for the overthrow of his administration. But President Menocal
was not thus to be overthrown. When the Liberals in October, a second
time, refused to perform their duty he issued a manifesto in which he
seriously criticized them and made it plain that no such methods would
be permitted to interfere with the legitimate work of Government. Rumors
were indeed current that he would resort to compulsion if persuasion
failed. The Liberals attempted to reply with a countermanifesto
protesting against his action as a usurpation of congressional
authority, declaring their opposition to the making of the proposed
loan, and pretending that it would be illegal to hold the special
session which he had called for October.
The President exercised patience and waited until November 2, when the
regular session of Congress opened, and the Liberals took their seats.
At this time the Liberals practically stultified themselves by agreeing
to discuss and finally to approve the loan project which they had
formerly opposed. After transacting this and some other business,
Congress adjourned in December.
Among the reforms which President Menocal promptly undertook to effect
was the abolition of the national lottery which had been established
during the Gomez administration. In his messages and through the
influence of all legitimate presidential influence he strove to abolish
this form of legalized gambling. His arguments were that the low price
of the tickets, only 25¢, and the appeal which was thus made to the poor
and ignorant, to servants and working women as well as to men, had
caused great injury and had brought about a certain degree of moral
decline among the masses of the people. It had induced many individuals
to borrow money and even to steal in order to purchase lottery tickets,
in the delusive hope of winning one of the large prizes, which ran up to
$100,000, and thus exempting themselves from the necessity of work for
the rest of their lives. The lottery, it is true, yielded a considerable
revenue each year for the government, but General Menocal regarded this
as far more than counter-balanced by the social and moral evil which it
wrought, and by the reproach which it brought upon the good name of the
Republic. He was unable, however, to persuade Congress to abolish it,
partly because of the popular love of gambling which so largely pervades
Latin American countries, and partly--perhaps chiefly--because the
privilege of selling tickets at wholesale, at a handsome profit, was
farmed out to many members of Congress.
At the beginning of his administration, President Menocal found all the
Government offices crowded with the appointees of the former
administration. A great many of them were entirely superfluous and a
great many of them were also entirely incompetent to fill their places.
There was, therefore, a considerable clearing out of placeholders. There
might have been, of course, what is known in America as a "clean sweep,"
and this was urged by a few of the President's friends. But General
Menocal would listen to no such proposition. A Civil Service law had
indeed been formulated by the Consulting Commission presided over by
General Crowder, and had been in force since 1907, and while an
unscrupulous executive might have evaded its provisions, General Menocal
was a believer in the merit system, and in secure tenure of office for
men who were doing their duty. He therefore refused positively to remove
a single man merely because of his political affiliations. So far as
placeholders were dismissed, they were dismissed because of incompetence
or dishonesty, or because their services were superfluous. As a result
of this enlightened policy, it is true, President Menocal was compelled
to conduct his administration through the agency of a staff, the
majority of which was composed of his political opponents. He even
appointed two Liberals to his cabinet, while nearly all the foreign
ministers and consuls and important officers of the various departments
were members of that party, holding over from the Gomez administration.
It cannot be said that this policy was in all cases appreciated by those
who personally profited from it, for some of these officeholders did not
scruple to engage in intrigues against the President whose generosity
retained them in their places.
The United States Government retained a certain supervision over some of
the acts of the Cuban Government. Thus, as hitherto stated, in March,
1913, an amnesty bill had been passed at the instance of the Gomez
administration, which would have set at liberty several hundred
political and other prisoners, but it was objected to by Mr. Bryan, the
Secretary of State of the United States, and was accordingly vetoed. It
was again posed in a modified form on April 25, and was again similarly
vetoed. In November, 1913, it was once more taken up and revised so as
to extend the pardon to those who had participated in the negro
insurrection, and to some former officeholders of the Gomez
administration who had been indicted. It was also intended that it
should extend amnesty to General Ernesto Asbert, Governor of the
Province of Havana, to Senator Vidal Morales, and to Representative
Arias, who had been indicted for the murder of the Chief of Police of
Havana, General Armando Riva; a tragedy which occurred during a police
raid on a club, on the evening of July 7. This attempt to extend amnesty
to these men caused an acute and prolonged controversy. But on December
9, 1914, the bill was finally passed in a form which granted amnesty to
General Asbert, but not to Senator Arias. In this form the United States
Government sanctioned its enactment because of the belief that the real
burden of guilt rested upon the latter rather than upon the former.
This controversy over amnesty to General Asbert meanwhile had serious
political effects in Cuba. For a time the so-called Asbert faction of
the Liberal party allied itself with the Conservatives in Congress in
support of President Menocal and thus gave him a majority in that body.
But in the summer of 1914 this faction became reunited with the rest of
the Liberal party, and Conservative control of Congress was lost. The
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Senor Gonzales Lanuza, a
Conservative, resigned and was succeeded by Senor Urquiaga, a Liberal,
on August 31. When at last in February, 1915, the act of amnesty for
General Asbert was completed, and he was released and fully
rehabilitated, there was a great popular celebration of the event in the
City of Havana.
The first attempt at insurrection in President Menocal's administration
occurred on November 9, 1913, when Crecencio Garcia, a mulatto,
undertook to lead a revolt in the province of Santa Clara. It was
promptly suppressed by the Rural Guard in a manner which augured well
for the promise which the President had made, that there would be no
revolutions during his administration; and there were no more such
attempts until the great treason of ex-President Gomez.