Chapter 382, Laws of 1889, to read as fo_History for ready reference, Volume 7

‘Every person now confined in a state prison, or in the

Eastern New York Reformatory, under sentence for a definite

term for a felony, the maximum penalty for which is

imprisonment for five years or less, exclusive of fines, who

has never before been convicted of a crime punishable by

imprisonment in a state prison shall be subject to the

jurisdiction of the board of commissioners of paroled

prisoners and may be paroled in the same manner and subject to

the same conditions and penalties as prisoners confined under

indeterminate sentences. The minimum and maximum terms of the

sentences of said prisoners are hereby fixed and determined to

be as follows: The definite term for which each person is

sentenced shall be the maximum limit of his term, and

one-third of the definite term of his sentence shall be the

minimum limit of his term."

_(As amended by chapter 260, L. 1901,

and by chapter 508, L. 1902.)_

"By this Act the members of the State Commission of Prisons

were constituted a Board of Commissioners for Paroled

Prisoners and they were to meet at each of the prisons four

times a year. The Superintendent of State Prisons was

authorized to appoint a parole officer for each prison.

"The other law amended the Penal Code by adding a new section.

§ 687 a.—A person never before convicted of a crime punishable

by imprisonment in a state prison, who is convicted in any

court in this state of a felony, the maximum penalty for

which, exclusive of fines, is imprisonment for five years or

less, and sentenced to a state prison, shall be sentenced

thereto under an indeterminate sentence, the minimum of which

shall not be less than one year; or in case a minimum is fixed

by law, not less than such minimum, and the maximum of which

shall not be more than the longest period fixed by law for

which the crime is punishable of which the offender is

convicted. The maximum limit of such sentence shall be so

fixed as to comply with the provisions of section 697 of the

Penal Code."

"This Act was amended in 1902 to provide also that any first

offender convicted of a felony other than murder first and

second degrees, the maximum penalty for which exceeded five

years, might be sentenced to an indeterminate term. Few

prisoners, however, were so sentenced for crimes that carried

a penalty of more than five years.

"The passage of these Acts put the parole system in active

operation in 1901. Many prisoners then in the prisons whose

terms thus became indeterminate were immediately eligible for

parole. Others became eligible from month to month. … In the

first year under this law the Board considered the

applications of 583 prisoners and granted parole to 272.

{172}

"The scope of the parole system was materially enlarged and

the work of the Board vastly increased by the legislation of

1907. Chapter 737, Laws of 1907, provides, that all first

offenders convicted of felonies other than murder first and

second degrees and sentenced to a state prison _must_ be

sentenced to indeterminate terms. As a result of this law the

class of prisoners subject to the jurisdiction of the Board

will gradually increase to more than double the present

number. …

"Chapter 738, Laws of 1907, changed the penalty for murder

second degree from life imprisonment to an indeterminate term

having a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of life. Also, by

this Act the sentences of all prisoners then in the prisons

serving life sentences for murder second degree were made

indeterminate terms with limits as above given [and 12, out of

17, were soon released on parole],

"Chapter 645, Laws of 1907, provides, that a person convicted

for the fourth time for felony shall be sentenced to an

indeterminate term, the maximum of which shall be life.

"It is the intent of this law that the man who has

demonstrated the fact that he is a persistent criminal shall

be kept under supervision during life. That the counties shall

be saved the expense of repeatedly trying him and, more

important still, that the baneful effects of his association

with, and influence over, prisoners in the jails, shall be

avoided. If at any time after he has served his minimum term

there is a reasonable probability that he will remain at

liberty without violating the law, the Board may parole him."

The Act of 1907, which became effective June 10, in that year,

provides that "the board of parole for state prisons shall be

composed of the superintendent of state prisons and two

citizens appointed by the governor and confirmed by the

senate; and that said board shall meet at each of the prisons

every month. It shall also make examination and report to the

governor with its recommendations on all applications for

pardon referred to them by the governor."

_Report of the Board of Parole for State Prisons, 1907._

To serve with the Superintendent of Prisons as the Board of

Parole the Governor of New York appointed the Honorable George

A. Lewis and the Honorable Albion V. Wadhams, for five years.

In the annual report of the Superintendent of Prisons for 1908

he discusses the working of the law, in part as follows:

"The results attained with State prison convicts under the

indeterminate sentence law have been satisfactory so far as

the term limits fixed by the courts have permitted the proper

application of the parole features of the law. In many cases,

however, the terms of the sentences have been so inconsistent

with the evident purpose and intent of the law as to render

its parole provisions wholly, or to a good degree,

inoperative.

"In several sentences imposed by the courts, the maximum and

minimum terms have been identical as ‘Not less than three

years or more than three years.’ As will be seen, this is

really a definite sentence and no parole period is provided

for. In a very great number of cases, the margin between the

minimum and maximum terms is but one, two or three months.

While prisoners so sentenced may be paroled, the period of

their probation is so limited that there is little opportunity

to influence and train the man. …

"The Superintendent is satisfied that the indeterminate has

many advantages over the definite sentence, but its full

benefit cannot be had under the law as it now stands and is

applied. It should be amended so as to provide for longer

parole periods and for minimum sentences never exceeding the

maximum penalty for the crime of which the prisoner is

convicted less the commutation allowed on definite sentences."

In May, 1909, Governor Hughes signed a retro-active law which

extends to all convicts now in prison, who, being first

offenders, have been sentenced for crimes committed prior to

September 1st, 1907.

CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY:

Pan-American Extradition Convention.

See (in this Volume)

AMERICAN REPUBLICS.

CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY:

Preventive Detention in Great Britain.

The Borstal System of Discipline and Training for

Young Offenders.

An Act entitled The Prevention of Crime Act, passed by the

British Parliament in December, 1908, came into force on the

1st of August, 1909. It is described in the preamble as an

"Act to make better provision for the prevention of crime, and

for that purpose to provide for the reformation of young

offenders, and the prolonged detention of habitual criminals,

and for other purposes incidental thereto." "The principle of

‘preventive detention’ is accepted and embodied in the Act,

such detention to continue until the offender gives sufficient

assurance that he will take to an honest life, or until by age

or infirmity he becomes physically incapable of resuming a

life of crime. In no case is life imprisonment contemplated,

but when a man is convicted on indictment of a crime and is

sentenced to penal servitude, if the jury find that he is an

habitual criminal the Court may pass a further sentence. They

must first be satisfied, however, that by reason of his

criminal antecedents and his mode of life it is expedient for

the protection of the public that he should be kept in

detention for an extended period. The jury will have to be

satisfied, first that the man just convicted of an offence has

been convicted of at least three serious crimes, and,

secondly, that when convicted he was leading an habitually

dishonest life. The charge of being an habitual criminal

cannot be made except by the consent of the Director of Public

Prosecutions. The accused man will have an unqualified right

of appeal. After serving his term of penal servitude he will

be committed to a place of detention which will be a prison

specially adapted for the purposes of the Act. The prison

discipline will be less rigorous than that now prevailing,

alike as regards hours, talking, recreation, occupations, and

food.

"The Act provides that the Secretary of State [the Home

Secretary] shall once at least in every three years during

which the person is detained in custody under a sentence of

preventive detention, take into consideration the condition,

history, and circumstances of that person with a view to

determining whether he shall be placed out on license, and if

so, on what conditions. Directors of convict prisons are to

report periodically to the Secretary of State upon the conduct

and industry of persons undergoing preventive detention, and

their prospects and probable behaviour on release.

{173}

For this purpose they are to be assisted by a committee at

each prison, consisting of such members of the board of

visitors and such other persons of either sex as the Secretary

of State may from time to time appoint. Every such committee

is to hold meetings at intervals of not more than six months,

as may be prescribed, for the purpose of personally

interviewing persons undergoing preventive detention in the

prison and preparing reports for the assistance of the

directors."

The part of the Act which relates to the reformation of young

offenders provides for the establishment and regulation of

what are named "Borstal institutions." "These are places in

which young offenders may be given during their detention such

industrial training and other instruction and be subjected to

such disciplinary and moral influences as will conduce to

their reformation and the prevention of crime. The Act will

apply to persons of not less than 16 or more than 21 years of

age who may be convicted on indictment of an offence for which

they are liable to be sentenced to penal servitude or

imprisonment. In such cases … it will be lawful for the Court,

instead of passing a sentence of penal servitude or

imprisonment, to pass one of detention under penal discipline

in a Borstal institution. Such detention will not be less than

for one year or more than three years. Power is given to

detain in Borstal institutions youthful offenders sentenced to

detention in reformatory schools.

… Powers are also given to the Secretary of State to transfer

persons in certain cases from prison to Borstal institutions.

"Subject to regulations by the Secretary of State, the Prison

Commissioners may, after six months, or in the case of a

female three months, from the commencement of the term of

detention, if satisfied that there is reasonable probability

that the offender will abstain from crime and lead a useful

and industrious life, by license permit him to be discharged

from the Borstal institution, on condition that he be placed

under the supervision or authority of any society or person

named in the license who may be willing to take charge of the

case. Every person sentenced to detention in a Borstal

institution shall, on the expiration of the term of his

sentence, remain for a further period of six months under the

supervision of the Prison Commissioners."

The introduction of this system has been brought about by the

efforts of an organization which bears the name of the Borstal

Association, concerning whose experimental undertakings the

London _Times_ said, lately, in an editorial article:

"Those who have hitherto been sceptical as to effective

treatment of the criminal classes would do well to consult the

report for 1909 of the Borstal Association. They can scarcely

fail to admit that new and powerful agencies for good are at

work. The experiment, which has been more successful than its

authors anticipated, began in a small way at Bedford Prison,

and has been gradually extended. At first it was applied to

selected offenders in the metropolitan prisons between the

ages of sixteen and twenty-one who had been committed for six

months. It was soon discovered that little good could be done

with criminals under successive short sentences. This has been

rectified. … Speaking lately of the Borstal methods, the

Bishop of Wakefield said truly that the problem is how to

combine in the treatment of young criminals ‘tenderness and

strength,’ to ‘draw the line between sternness and sympathy.’

In the past the tendency was to be punctiliously severe. …

To-day the tendency, the danger, is to forget that the prison

is not a place of recreation; to dwell too much on the

hardships of its inmates; to plead a little too much for their

comforts; to ask and expect too much; to be unduly critical of

prison authorities. The advocates of the Borstal system claim

to have avoided these mistakes. ‘It is not,’ they say, ‘a

namby-pamby system; only those who accept its strong incentive

and reformative methods find it tolerable; those who do not,

entreat for removal to other prisons where less development

and improvement of their latent capacities are demanded.’ It

seeks to inure to hard work the lads subject to its

discipline; it would make them strong and fit to handle tools

intelligently; it would turn them into healthy and well set-up

men. The fact that they may quit Borstal with some proficiency

in a trade counts for much."

CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY:

Probation System, as established by recent legislation

in New York.

"Probation, as authorized by the laws of New York State, is a

system of discipline and correction, or, in some cases, of

moral guardianship, applied by courts to suitable offenders,

after conviction, for the purpose of improving their conduct

and circumstances without committing them to institutions. The

defendants are released conditionally on their good behavior,

under suspended sentence, and under the friendly but

authoritative supervision of a representative of the court,

known as a probation officer. The probation law contemplates

that in placing a defendant on probation certain terms and

conditions shall be imposed, and it provides that if the

probationer violate these conditions, his probation officer

may return him to court for the execution of sentence. Besides

usually requiring each probationer to report to him from time

to time, the probation officer is expected to visit the

probationer at frequent intervals and to do whatever seems

essential to improve his surroundings and habits. The

probation officer should report regularly to the court

concerning the progress of each probationer. When so directed

by the court, the probation officer also investigates cases,

particularly with reference to the history, circumstances and

character of the defendants, in order to lay before the court

facts which may be important in determining whether they

should be placed on probation.

"It is desirable to keep the distinction between probation and

parole clearly in mind. Under the New York laws the word

probation refers to the supervision of defendants who, after

conviction, are released under suspended sentence. The

suspension of sentence alone does not constitute probation;

there must also be oversight by a probation officer. The word

parole, on the other hand, is applied to two entirely

different systems. In some courts before convictions are

found, cases are adjourned from time to time and the

defendants conditionally released; and this is called parole.

There is no authority to apply the term probation to this

practice, because under the New York State laws a person

cannot be placed on probation until after conviction. Parole

is the appropriate word to use also in connection with the

conditional release of inmates from penal or reformatory

institutions before the expiration of their term of

commitment. …

{174}

"Twenty-seven hundred and fifty-four boys and girls, and 7,680

adults, making a total of 10,434 persons, were reported by

probation officers as on probation during 1908. Of these 8,762

were placed on probation during the year. On December 31,

1908, there were 2,378 persons remaining on probation. The

corresponding number for December 31, 1907, was 1,672. Three

hundred and twenty probation officers supervised probationers

during the year, which is more than double the number of

active probation officers reported in the last report of this

Commission. During 1908 the probation system was used in the

courts of 26 cities as against 16 cities reported in 1907, in

8 town and village courts in 1908 as against 1 village court

in 1907, in 23 county courts as against 11 in 1907, and, as

far as the reports of probation officers indicate, in the

Supreme Court in 6 counties as against none in 1907."

_Second Report of New York State Probation Commission,

March 15, 1909._

As amended in May, 1909, "the law creates the position of

county probation officer, and makes the services of such an

officer available not only in the county court, but also in

the Supreme Court and the courts of all towns, villages and

third-class cities within the county."

CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY:

The English "Probation of Offenders Act."

This Act, which became law in August, 1907, provides that,

"where any person is charged before a court of summary

jurisdiction with an offence punishable by such court, and the

court thinks that the charge is proved, but is of opinion

that, having regard to the character, antecedents, age,

health, or mental condition of the person charged, or to the

trivial nature of the offence, or to the extenuating

circumstances under which the offence was committed, it is

inexpedient to inflict any punishment or any other than a

nominal punishment, or that it is expedient to release the

offender on probation, the court may, without proceeding to

conviction, make an order either—

(i) dismissing the information or charge; or

(ii) discharging the offender conditionally on his entering

into a recognizance, with or without sureties, to be of good

behaviour and to appear for conviction and sentence when

called on at any time during such period, not exceeding three

years, as may be specified in the order."

Similarly after conviction of the offender, when a court deems

punishment inexpedient, it may, "in lieu of imposing a

sentence of imprisonment, make an order discharging the

offender conditionally on his entering into a recognizance,

with or without sureties, to be of good behaviour and to

appear for sentence when called on at any time during such

period, not exceeding three years, as may be specified in the

order;" and it may, in addition, order the offender to pay

damages for injury or compensation for loss that is consequent

on his offence.

The Act provides further that a recognizance ordered in such a

case may contain a condition that the offender shall be under

the supervision of such person as shall be named, during the

specified period of probation; that certain persons of either

sex may be appointed as probation officers,—some such, when

circumstances permit, to be specially "children’s probation

officers,"—and that salaries in the discretion of the courts

may be paid to these officers.

See (in this Volume), also,

Children, under the Law: As Offenders,

and Law and its Courts.

----------CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY: End--------

CRISES, Financial, of 1903 and 1907.

See (in this Volume)

FINANCE AND TRADE: A. D. 1901-1909.

CROCKER, George:

Bequest for Cancer Research.

See (in this Volume)

PUBLIC HEALTH: CANCER RESEARCH.

CROMER, Sir Evelyn Baring, Viscount:

Crowned King by the Sudanese.

See (in this Volume)

SUDAN, THE.

CROMER, Sir Evelyn Baring, Viscount:

What he saw on the Nile border of the Congo State.

See (in this Volume)

CONGO STATE: A. D. 1903-1905.

CROMER, Sir Evelyn Baring, Viscount:

Statement of conditions in Egypt.

See (in this Volume)

EGYPT: A. D. 1907 (JANUARY).

----------CUBA: Start--------

CUBA:

Gains to Spain from its loss.

See (in this Volume)

SPAIN: A. D. 1898-1906.

CUBA: A. D. 1901-1902.

Organization of Free Government under a Republican Constitution.

Transfer of Executive Authority from the

provisional Military Governor to the President-elect.

Official correspondence of the occasion.

Events in and relating to Cuba, after the surrender of the

island by Spain and the organization of a provisional military

government by the United States are narrated in Volume VI. of

this work, down to the adoption by the Congress of the United

States of the stipulations known as "The Platt Amendment" (see

pages 189-190 in Volume VI), which the constitutional

government for Cuba then in process of formation was asked to

agree to, in order to define the future relation of the

proposed new republic with the United States. This enactment

was approved by the President on the 2d of March, 1901, and

communicated, through the provisional Military Governor of the

island, General Leonard Wood, to the Cuban Constitutional

Convention. Doubt as to possible interpretations of the third

clause of the Platt Amendment having then arisen in the

Convention, the following despatch went from Washington to the

Military Governor April 3d:

"You are authorized to state officially that in view of the

President the intervention described in the third clause of

the Platt amendment is not synonymous with intermeddling or

interference with the affairs of the Cuban Government, but the

formal action of the United States, based upon just and

substantial grounds, for the preservation of Cuban

independence and the maintenance of a government adequate for

the protection of life, property, and individual liberty, and

adequate for discharging the obligations with respect to Cuba

imposed by the treaty of Paris on the United States."

_Elihu Root, Secretary of War._

On the 12th of June, 1901, the convention adopted an ordinance

making provisions identical with those of the Platt Amendment,

a part of the constitution of Cuba.

{175}

"On October 1, 1901, the convention performed its remaining

duty by adopting an electoral law providing for a general

election throughout the island, to be held on the 31st day of

December, 1901, to choose governors of provinces, provincial

councilors, members of the house of representatives, and

presidential and senatorial electors. The law also provided

that on the 24th day of February, 1902, the several bodies of

electors thus chosen should meet and elect a president,

vice-president and senators. The elections were to be held

under the direct supervision of a central board of scrutiny,

composed of the president of the convention and four other

members selected for that purpose. The law was promulgated by

a general order of the military governor on the 14th of

October, 1901.

"The constitution thus adopted and perfected was treated by

the United States as an acceptable basis for the formation of

the new government to which, when organized and installed, the

control of the island was to be transferred.

"In conformity to the Cuban constitution and electoral law,

elections were held by the Cuban people on the 31st of

December, 1901, and by the electoral college on the 24th of

February, 1902, when a president [T. Estrada Palma],

vice-president, senate, and house of representatives were

chosen.

"The situation at this important juncture in the affairs of

Cuba is described by Secretary Root in his annual report for

1902 as follows:

"‘The whole governmental situation in Cuba was quite

unprecedented, with its curious device of a suspended

sovereignty given up by Spain, but not in terms vested in

anybody else, and if vested remaining dormant, while a

practical working government of military occupation in time of

peace, deriving its authority from the sovereignty of another

country, claimed temporary allegiance, made and enforced laws,

and developed a political organization of the Cuban people to

take and exercise the suspended or dormant sovereignty. It was

important that in inaugurating the new government there should

be no break in the continuity of legal obligation, of rights

of property and contract, of jurisdiction, or of

administrative action. It would not do to wait for the new

government to pass laws or to create offices and appoint

administrative officers and vest them with powers, for the

instant that the new government was created the intervening

government ceased, and the period of waiting would be a period

of anarchy.

"‘It was necessary, therefore, to take such steps that the new

Government should be created as a going concern, every officer

of which should be able to go on with his part of the business

of governing under the new sovereignty without waiting for any

new authority. That everything necessary to this end should be

done, and that it should be done according to a consistent and

maintainable legal theory, caused the Department a good deal

of solicitude. It is gratifying to report that it was done,

and that the Government which, until noon of May 20, was

proceeding under the authority of the President of the United

States, went on in the afternoon of that day and has ever

since continued under the sovereignty which had been abandoned

by Spain in April, 1899, without any more break or confusion

than accompanies the inauguration of a new President in the

United States. This could not have been done without the most

perfect good understanding, mutual confidence, and sympathetic

cooperation on the part of our officers who were about to

retire, and the newly elected officers of Cuba, who were about

to take the reins of Government.’"

One of the most interesting pages in history is that which

records the peaceful withdrawal of the flag and forces of the

United States from Cuba, and the inauguration of the

Government of the Republic of Cuba. The story cannot be told

in more interesting form or manner than as it is presented in

the orders of Secretary Root and the exchange of letters

between the President of the United States, the Secretary of

War, and the President of the Republic of Cuba. These

documents in part are as follows:

"Washington, D. C., March 24, 1902.

"Brig. Gen. Leonard Wood,

_Military Governor of Cuba._

"Sir: You are authorized to provide for the inauguration, on

the 20th of May next, of the government elected by the people

of Cuba; and, upon the establishment of said government, to

leave the government and control of the island of Cuba to its

people pursuant to the provisions of the act of Congress

entitled ‘An act making appropriation for the Army for the

fiscal year ending June 30, 1902,’ approved March 2, 1901.

"Upon the transfer of government and control to the President

and Congress so elected, you will advise them that such

transfer is upon the express understanding and condition that

the new government does thereupon, and by the acceptance

thereof, pursuant to the provisions of the appendix to the

constitution of Cuba, adopted by the constitutional convention

on the 12th of June, 1901, assume and undertake all and

several the obligations assumed by the United States with

respect to Cuba by the treaty between the United States of

America and Her Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain, signed at

Paris on the 10th day of December, 1898.

"It is the purpose of the United States Government, forthwith

upon the inauguration of the new government of Cuba, to

terminate the occupancy of the island by the United States,

and to withdraw from that island the military forces now in

occupancy thereof: but for the preservation and care of the

coast defenses of the island, and to avoid leaving the island

entirely defenseless against external attack, you may leave in

the coast fortifications such small number of artillerymen as

may be necessary, for such reasonable time as may be required

to enable the new Government to organize and substitute

therefor an adequate military force of its own: by which time

it is anticipated that the naval stations referred to in the

statute and in the appendix to the constitution above cited,

will have been agreed upon, and the said artillerymen may be

transferred thereto.

"You will convene the Congress elected by the people of Cuba

in joint session at such reasonable time before the 20th of

May as shall be necessary therefor, for the purpose of

performing the duties of counting and rectifying the electoral

vote for President and Vice-President under the fifty-eighth

article of the Cuban constitution.

{176}

At the same time you will publish and certify to the people of

Cuba the instrument adopted as the constitution of Cuba by the

constitutional convention on the 21st day of February, 1901,

together with the appendix added thereto and forming a part

thereof adopted by the said convention on the 12th day of

June, 1901. It is the understanding of the Government of the

United States that the government of the island will pass to

the new President and Congress of Cuba as a going concern; all

the laws promulgated by the government of occupation

continuing in force and effect, and all the judicial and

subordinate executive and administrative officers continuing

in the lawful discharge of their present functions until

changed by the constitutional officers of the new government.

At the same moment the responsibility of the United States for

the collection and expenditure of revenues and for the proper

performance of duty by the officers and employees of the

insular government will end, and the responsibility of the new

government of Cuba therefor will commence.

"In order to avoid any embarrassment to the new President,

which might arise from his assuming executive responsibility

with subordinates whom he does not know, or in whom he has not

confidence, and to avoid any occasion for sweeping changes in

the civil-service personnel immediately after the inauguration

of the new Government, approval is given to the course which

you have already proposed of consulting the President-elect,

and substituting, before the 20th of May, wherever he shall so

desire, for the persons now holding official positions, such

persons as he may designate. This method will make it

necessary that the new President and yourself should appoint

representatives to count and certify the cash and cash

balances and the securities for deposits transferred to the

new government. The consent of the owner of the securities for

deposits to the transfer thereof you will of course obtain.

"The vouchers and accounts in the office of the Auditor and

elsewhere, relating to the receipt and disbursement of moneys

during the government of occupation, must necessarily remain

within the control, and available for the use, of this

Department. Access to these papers will, however, undoubtedly

be important to the officers of the new government in the

conduct of their business subsequent to the 20th of May. You

will accordingly appoint an agent to take possession of these

papers and retain them at such place in the island of Cuba as

may be agreed upon with the new government until they can be

removed to the United States without detriment to the current

business of the new government.

"I desire that you communicate the contents of this letter to

Mr. Palma, the President-elect, and ascertain whether the

course above described accords with his views and wishes. Very

respectfully,

ELIHU ROOT, _Secretary of War_."

On the 20th of May, 1902, the transfer of executive authority

from the American Military Governor, General Wood, to

President elect Palma was made in due form, and the following

correspondence passed between President Palma, General Wood,

President Roosevelt, and Secretary Root:

"HABANA, May 20, 1902.

"Honorable General Leonard Wood.

"Sir: As President of the Republic of Cuba, I hereby receive

the Government of the Island of Cuba which you transfer to me

in compliance with orders communicated to you by the President

of the United States, and take note that by this act the

military occupation of Cuba ceases.

"Upon accepting this transfer I declare that the Government of

the Republic assumes, as provided for in the constitution,

each and every one of the obligations concerning Cuba imposed

upon the United States by virtue of the treaty entered into on

the 10th of December, 1898, between the United States and Her

Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain.

"I understand that, as far as possible, all pecuniary

responsibilities contracted by the military government up to

this date have been paid; that $100,000, or such portion

thereof as maybe necessary, have been set aside to cover the

expenses that may be occasioned by the liquidation and

finishing up of the obligations contracted by said government,

and that there has been transferred to the Government of the

Republic the sum of $689,191.02, which constitutes the cash

balance existing to-day in favor of the State. …

"I take this solemn occasion, which marks the fulfillment of

the honored promise of the Government and people of the United

States in regard to the island of Cuba, and in which our

country is made a ruling nation, to express to you, the worthy

representative of that grand people, the immense gratitude

which the people of Cuba feel toward the American nation,

toward its illustrious President, Theodore Roosevelt, and

toward you for the efforts you have put forth for the

successful accomplishment of such a precious ideal.

T. ESTRADA PALMA."

"Habana, May 20, 1902.

"Theodore Roosevelt, _President, Washington_.

"The government of the island having been just transferred, I,

as Chief Magistrate of the Republic, faithfully interpreting

the sentiments of the whole people of Cuba, have the honor to

send you and the American people testimony of our profound

gratitude and the assurance of an enduring friendship, with

wishes and prayers to the Almighty for the welfare and

prosperity of the United States.

T. ESTRADA PALMA."

"Washington, May 20, 1902.

"President of the Republic of Cuba:

"Believe in my heartfelt congratulations upon the inauguration

of the Republic which the people of Cuba and the people of the

United States have fought and labored together to establish.

With confidence in your unselfish patriotism and courage and

in the substantial civic virtues of your people, I bid you

godspeed, and on this happy day wish for Cuba for all time

liberty and order, peace and prosperity.

ELIHU ROOT, _Secretary of War_."

"Habana, May 21, 1902.

"ELIHU ROOT, _Secretary of War_, Washington.

"I am deeply moved by your heartfelt message of congratulation

on the inauguration of the Republic of Cuba, to the birth of

which the people and the Government of the United States have

contributed with their blood and treasure. Rest assured that

the Cuban people can never forget the debt of gratitude they

owe to the great Republic, with which we will always cultivate

the closest relations of friendship and for the prosperity of

which we pray to the Almighty.

T. ESTRADA PALMA."

{177}

On the 10th of June, General Wood, at Washington, made the

following report to the Adjutant-General of the United States

Army:

"Sir: I have the honor to inform you that the Republic of Cuba

was established at 12 o’clock noon, May 20, 1902. The transfer

was made upon the lines indicated in the instructions of the

honorable the Secretary of War, and the autograph letter of

the President read to President Palma and presented to him.

President Palma responded, expressing his sincere appreciation

of the work done by the United States in Cuba, and the lasting

gratitude of himself and the people of Cuba.

"The transfer was made in the main reception hall of the

palace of the military governor. There were present the

President-elect and his cabinet, the military governor and the

officers of his staff, civil and military, the Cuban Congress,

the judiciary, officers of the British and Italian navies, the

captain and staff of the U. S. S. Brooklyn, and the consular

representatives of foreign countries. …

"I left the palace at twenty-five minutes past 12 o’clock,

accompanied by the officers of my personal and departmental

staff. We were accompanied to the capitania del puerto by

President Palma with his cabinet, the Cuban Congress, and all

others who had been present at the ceremonies. President Palma

bade us farewell at the wharf after again expressing his most

sincere and lasting good will and appreciation.

"Accompanied by my personal staff, I immediately embarked upon

the U. S. S. _Brooklyn_. The officers of the department

staff embarked on the S . S. _Moro Castle_, which sailed

at a quarter past 3. The U. S. S. _Brooklyn_ sailed at

about 3.45.

LEONARD WOOD,_ Brigadier General United States Army_."

The above account of the "Establishment of Free Government in

Cuba "is taken wholly from a narrative thus entitled, compiled

by the Bureau of Insular Affairs, United States War

Department, and published as Document Number 312, in Volume 7

of Senate Documents, 58th Congress, 2d Session.

CUBA: A. D. 1902.

Tomas Estrada Palma, the First President of the Cuban Republic.

"There was such manifest propriety in the selection of General

Estrada Palma to be the first president of the Cuban Republic

that the attempt to bring forward another candidate was

unavailing. There was no excitement at the popular election,

and the voting was light, because the result was a foregone

conclusion. The two most important men in the last struggle

for Cuban freedom were General Maximo Gomez and General

Estrada Palma. Gomez commanded the armies in the field, and

employed methods which, as we have repeatedly said, entitle

him to rank as one of the greatest of all modern commanders.

Palma was the agent of the Cuban patriots in the United

States, and he, more than any other man, is to be credited

with having kept alive the military movement in Cuba by means

of material aid and assistance sent from the outside. Most

important of all, he addressed himself with success to

bringing about that awakening of public opinion in the United

States which finally took the form of an irresistible moral

crusade on behalf of Cuban freedom. If these two men had died,

or were otherwise ineligible, Cuba would not, indeed, have

been left without trained and patriotic sons who could have

filled the presidential office with ability and success. But

since Gomez and Palma were both alive, and available in every

sense, they were the two men to whom Cuba might naturally

turn, rather than to any others, as candidates for the

presidency. The military hero is always the man to be first

considered, and Gomez for a time was the candidate whose name

was upon all lips. But he declared that he had no ambition for

political office, and in due time it appeared that Gomez was

shaping things in Cuba for the nomination of Palma. …

"Tomas Estrada Palma is sixty-six years of age. His father was

a wealthy planter in the easternmost province of Cuba, and the

son was well educated in Cuba and in Spain, and became a

lawyer, with a view not so much to the practice of his

profession as to the better management of the affairs of a

large estate. His patriotic sympathies led him to active

service in the ten years’ struggle for independence which

began in 1868 and ended in 1878, and early in that period he

became a general in the insurgent army. Toward the end of the

war, he became the president of the provisional government, a

position which at least indicated the confidence in which he

was held by the Cuban people. He was made a prisoner, taken to

Spain, at the risk of his life refused to swear allegiance,

witnessed, in consequence, the confiscation of his estates,

and some time after the final termination of the struggle

regained his personal liberty, at the loss, however, of his

Cuban property and home. When he goes to Cuba, two or three

months hence, to assume the duties and high honors of the

presidency, it will be after an absence of twenty four years.

After his release, at the end of the Ten Years War, Palma

traveled in Spanish-American countries, and settled in

Honduras, where he married the daughter of the president of

that republic and became postmaster-general. Subsequently he

came with his wife and one little child to New York, and saw

an opportunity to establish a school for young people from the

Spanish-American countries. His institute was located in the

little town of Central Valley, in Orange County, New York,

some forty miles from the metropolis. He has now lived in

Central Valley for eighteen years, and his six children, five

of whom were born there, have known no other home."

_American Review of Reviews,

February, 1902._

CUBA: A. D. 1903.

Lease of Coaling and Naval Stations to the United States.

Reciprocity with the United States.

Cession of the Isle of Pines.

In consonance with Article VII. of the so-called "Platt

Amendment," which became an Appendix to the Constitution of

the Republic of Cuba, an Agreement between the United States

and Cuba for the lease to the former, in Guantanamo and Bahia

Honda, of lands for coaling and naval stations, was signed in

February, 1903. The consequent lease was signed and

ratifications exchanged in the following July and October.

{178}

According to the terms of the Agreement "while, on the one

hand, the United States recognizes the continuance of the

ultimate sovereignty of the Republic of Cuba over the above

described areas of land and water, on the other hand the

Republic of Cuba consents that during the period of the

occupation by the United States of said areas under the terms

of this agreement the United States shall exercise complete

jurisdiction and control over and within said areas with the

right to acquire (under conditions to be hereafter agreed upon

by the two Governments) for the public purposes of the United

States any land or other property therein by purchase or by

exercise of eminent domain with full compensation to the

owners thereof." The yearly rental to be paid for the use of

the lands defined in the Agreement is $2000.

An arrangement of reciprocity between Cuba and the United

States, conceding to Cuban sugar a rebate of 20 per cent. from

the Dingley tariff rate, and giving 20 to 40 per cent. of

reduction in Cuba on American goods, was ratified by the

United States Senate in December.

A treaty ceding all claims of the United States to the Isle of

Pines was signed in December, and awaited ratification by the

Senate when the year closed.

CUBA: A. D. 1906.

Participation in Third International Conference of

American Republics.

See (in this Volume)

_American Republics._

CUBA: A. D. 1906 (August-October).

Outbreak of insurrection.

Appeal of President Palma for American intervention.

The Republic practically without a Government.

Secretary Taft, sent to the Island, establishes a

Provisional Government.

Governor Magoon.

The first report to the Government of the United States of an

outbreak of insurrection in Cuba was sent from the American

Legation at Havana on the 21st of August, 1906. Between 1000

and 1500 men were then said to be in arms in Pinar del Rio,

under Colonel Pino Guerra, "a Liberal member of the present

Congress and a veteran of the War of Independence." The

insurgents represented the political party called Liberal,

hostile to the party called Moderate which controlled the

Government and enjoyed the favor of President Palma. They

complained of unfairness in late elections and demanded a new

electoral law with a new election to be held under it. The

Government had no effective armed forces to use against them,

and some effort by business men of Havana and by "veterans" to

mediate between the parties and pacify the revolutionists were

without avail. Events, therefore, moved rapidly to the

producing of a situation in which President Palma, on the 12th

of September, asked for American intervention, and begged

"that President Roosevelt send to Havana with rapidity 2000 or

3000 men, to avoid any catastrophe in the capital." Two days

later the request was repeated with more urgency, the

Consul-General at Havana stating in a telegram to the State

Department at Washington:

"President Palma has resolved not to continue at the head of

the Government, and is ready to present his resignation, even

though the present disturbances should cease at once. The

vice-president has resolved not to accept the office. Cabinet

ministers have declared that they will previously resign.

Under these conditions it is impossible that Congress will

meet, for the lack of a proper person to convoke same to

designate a new president. The consequences will be absence of

legal power, and therefore the prevailing state of anarchy

will continue unless the United States Government will adopt

the measures necessary to avoid this danger."

The action then taken by President Roosevelt was recounted by

him in his next annual Message to Congress, as follows:

"It was evident that chaos was impending, and there was every

probability that if steps were not immediately taken by this

Government to try to restore order, the representatives of

various European nations in the island would apply to their

respective governments for armed intervention in order to

protect the lives and property of their citizens. Thanks to

the preparedness of our Navy, I was able immediately to send

enough ships to Cuba to prevent the situation from becoming

hopeless; and I furthermore dispatched to Cuba the Secretary

of War and the Assistant Secretary of State, in order that

they might grapple with the situation on the ground. All

efforts to secure an agreement between the contending

factions, by which they should themselves come to an amicable

understanding and settle upon some modus vivendi—some

provisional government of their own—failed. Finally the

President of the Republic resigned. The quorum of Congress

assembled failed by deliberate purpose of its members, so that

there was no power to act on his resignation, and the

Government came to a halt. In accordance with the so-called

Platt amendment, which was embodied in the constitution of

Cuba, I thereupon proclaimed a provisional government for the

island, the Secretary of War acting as provisional governor

until he could be replaced by Mr. Magoon, the late minister to

Panama and governor of the Canal Zone on the Isthmus; troops

were sent to support them and to relieve the Navy, the

expedition being handled with most satisfactory speed and

efficiency. The insurgent chiefs immediately agreed that their

troops should lay down their arms and disband; and the

agreement was carried out."

From an "Epitome of events attendant upon the establishment of

the Provisional Government of Cuba," published in Part 1 of

"Papers relating to the Foreign Relations of the United

States," for 1906, the following is taken:

"On Saturday, September 29, 1906, a provisional government

exercising Cuban sovereignty under the authority of the

President of the United States was established, and a

proclamation was issued to the Cuban people setting forth the

causes for this action and defining the position of the United

States toward Cuba.

"Since the American commissioners understand that the Republic

of Cuba is continuous and that they are only the ad interim

executives, the various departments continue to function as

before with the assistant secretaries as acting heads, the

only officials discharged being those taken on to meet the

exigencies of the revolution.

"At the time the commissioners assumed control there were many

political prisoners in the jails throughout the island. These,

of whom several were prominent liberals who had several times

been consulted by the commissioners while on parole, were

immediately set at liberty.

"The disbanding and disarming of the rebel forces and,

incidentally, the government militia, enlisted specially for

the revolution, has been the chief concern of the provisional

government from its establishment until now. It was carried

out by a commission of American and Cuban military officers,

of which General Frederick Funston was head, and has been

practically completed.

{179}

"On the 10th instant [October] Provisional Governor Taft

issued a general amnesty proclamation to the people of Cuba,

thus indicating that quiet and peace have been restored. Save

for sporadic local disturbances, the entire country is

tranquil.

"On Tuesday, the 9th instant, Governor Magoon, who has

succeeded Mr. Taft as provisional governor, and General Bell,

who is to take command of the military forces of the United

States in the island, reached Habana, and on Saturday, the

13th, Governor Taft issued a proclamation transferring the

provisional governorship to Governor Magoon."

In his proclamation of September 29th, on taking possession of

the Government, Secretary Taft used these clear and distinct

words:

"The provisional government hereby established will be

maintained only long enough to restore order, peace, and

public confidence, by direction of and in the name of the

President of the United States, and then to hold such

elections as may be necessary to determine on those persons

upon whom the permanent government of the republic should be

devolved.

"In so far as is consistent with the nature of a provisional

government established under the authority of the United

States this will be a Cuban Government, conforming with the

constitution of Cuba. The Cuban flag will be hoisted as usual

over the government buildings of the island, all the executive

departments and provincial and municipal governments,

including that of the City of Havana, will continue to be

administered as under the Cuban Republic; the courts will

continue to administer justice, and all the laws not in their

nature inapplicable by reason of the temporary and emergent

character of the government will be in force."

CUBA: A. D. 1906-1909.

Under the Provisional American Government.

Election of a new Congress and a new President.

Restoration of the Republic.

In his Message to Congress, December, 1907, President

Roosevelt described the conditions that had prevailed in the

island for two years under the provisional government,

instituted by Secretary Taft and over which Governor Magoon

had presided, in a few words, as follows:

"Absolute quiet and prosperity have returned to the island

because of this action. We are now taking steps to provide for

elections in the island and our expectation is within the

coming year to be able to turn the island over again to a

government chosen by the people thereof. Cuba is at our doors.

It is not possible that this Nation should permit Cuba again

to sink into the condition from which we rescued it. All that

we ask of the Cuban people is that they be prosperous, that

they govern themselves so as to bring content, order and

progress to their island, the Queen of the Antilles; and our

only interference has been and will be to help them achieve

these results."

Provincial elections held in the following August went

generally in favor of the Conservative party, and that party

was accordingly expected to win the presidential election,

appointed to occur in November, 1908; but such was not the

result. Three parties were in the field, Conservatives,

Miguelistas, and Zayistas. The Miguelistas were political

followers of General José Miguel Gomez, whose middle name they

took for their party designation; the Zayistas were partisans

of Dr. Alfredo Zayas; the Conservatives were reputed to be

substantially identical with the party known as Moderates in

the politics of the First Republic. Their leader was General

Menocal. The Liberals of former contests were now divided

between Miguelistas and Zayistas. They were reunited in the

national election of November, and swept the Moderates into

the background, electing both their leaders, Gomez and Zayas,

the one to be President, the other to be Vice-President, of

the reconstituted Republic: electing, at the same time, an

effective majority in the Congress for their support.

January 28, 1909, was the day fixed for dissolving the

provisional government and reinvesting the Cubans with

political independence; but the Congress was organized and

held its initial session on the 13th. The President and

Vice-President elect were inaugurated with simple ceremonies

on the 28th. President Roosevelt, on that day, sent a message

to the President and the Congress in these words:CUBA:

"Governor Magoon will, by my direction, turn over to you on

the 28th of this month the control and government of the

island of Cuba, and he will thereupon declare the provisional

administration of the affairs of the island by the United

States to be at an end. Upon the occasion of this final act, I

desire to reiterate to you the sincere friendship and good

wishes of the United States and our most earnest hopes for the

stability and success of your government. Our fondest hope is

that you may enjoy the blessing of peace, prosperity, justice,

and orderly liberty, and that the friendship which has existed

between the republic of the United States and the republic of

Cuba, may continue for all time to come."

Governor Magoon, in his brief address, surrendering the reins

of government to President Gomez, said, in part:

"It is the understanding of the United States, and it now

declares that all the executive and legislative decrees and

rulings of the provisional government now in force shall

continue in force and effect until such time as the same shall

be legally revoked by Cuba.

"All money obligations of the provisional government down to

this date have been paid as far as practicable. Such claims

and obligations, however, as may remain unpaid are to be

regarded as claims and obligations of Cuba, and the United

States understands that these claims and obligations will be

so treated."

President Gomez replied:

"We receive from you the government of Cuba which you turn

over to us in compliance with the instructions of the

President of the United States. All acquired rights shall be

respected in harmony with the principles of international law,

the principles of our constitution and the provisions of the

appendix of the constitution. The constitution shall be upheld

in all its integrity because our chief concern will be to

preserve it inviolate.

{180}

"We are indebted to your nation for its generous aid in the

maintenance of our institutions and the cordial relations

existing will never grow less through any act of ours. Once

again we are masters of our fate and there is not a Cuban

heart but swears to maintain for all time the newly-acquired

integrity of the nation, and who does not at the same time

feel the profoundest gratitude towards those who, after

governing them, have faithfully performed their agreement and

now leave us in the full enjoyment of our sovereignty."

According to newspaper reports, however, the popular feeling

was somewhat different from the sentiment expressed by

President Gomez, if the coldness with which the Cuban crowd of

that day watched the departure of Governor Magoon and his

associates could be taken for a sign. They sailed for home

immediately, on the new battleship Maine. About 3000 American

troops remained on the island, under command of Major-General

Thomas L. Barry, until the 1st of April following. On the

departure of these, President Gomez said to General Barry:

"It is pleasing to me to acknowledge the great aptitudes and

qualities of the Army of Pacification under your command,

which has brought to a happy conclusion its honorable mission

of watching over our country in the difficult days, now

happily past, and in maintaining and reaffirming the most

friendly relations with our people, in whose name I assure you

your efforts have been crowned with the most flattering

success. I pray you, general, to express to your valiant

soldiers the extreme gratitude and admiration which the

government and the people of Cuba have for them."

Of President Gomez the following account was given at the time

of his inauguration by the New York _Evening Post_:

"Major-General Jose Miguel Gomez, the first President of the

new Cuban Republic, is fifty-three years of age, and a native

of Santa Clara province, where he has always enjoyed

extraordinary popularity and influence. He participated in two

Cuban revolutions against Spain, in the first of which he

reached the rank of major and in the second that of

major-general. He was selected as Governor of Santa Clara

province by the government of intervention, and when his term

expired he was elected Governor.

"In May, 1905, the general was nominated for the Presidency by

the National Liberal Convention, but resigned his candidacy

four months later, giving as the reason for this action that

it was impossible to continue the campaign within the bounds

of the law, and laying part of the blame on the United States,

owing to the Platt amendment. An uprising in Cuba followed,

which ended with the deposition of President Palma and the

intervention of the United States.

"In August, 1906, General Gomez was arrested, charged with

conspiring against the Administration of the late President

Palma, but he denied the allegation, and was released from

custody after a month’s imprisonment. In December of the same

year Governor Magoon appointed him secretary of a commission

to revise the laws of Cuba. These included the drafting of an

electoral law, new provincial and municipal laws, a law

defining the organization and functions of the judiciary, a

civil service law, and also laws on such other subjects as may

be referred to it by the provisional Governor."

CUBA: A. D. 1907.

Population.

Remarkable increase in eight years.

"The population of Cuba on September 30, 1907, was 2,048,980;

at the census next preceding, taken under the American

administration in 1899, at the close of the Spanish-American

War, the population was 1,572,797. The rate of increase in

these eight years is not less than 30 per cent. or at the rate

of 39 per cent per decade. This is a very rapid rate of

increase—greater than that of any other country with which I

am acquainted. This increase has not been brought about by

immigration, for in the eight years the net immigration (that

is, the excess of arrivals over departures) numbered only

75,000, and the element of foreign birth increased from 11 per

cent to 11.2 per cent only, but it has been brought about

almost entirely by the excess of births over deaths. … One

peculiar phenomenon of this increase is that the rural

population has gained much more rapidly than has the urban—a

condition which rarely exists, as in nearly every country in

the world the drift of population is toward the cities. The

urban population, including all places of 1,000 inhabitants

and over, was 43.9 per cent of the total population. In 1899

it was 47.1 per cent. If the urban population be limited to

towns of 8,000 inhabitants, the proportion was 30.3 per cent.

The chief cities are Habana, with 297,159 inhabitants, or

about one-seventh of the population of Cuba; Santiago de Cuba,

45,470; Matanzas, 36,009; Cienfuegos, 30,100; and Camaguey,

29,616. The number of inhabitants per square mile in the

island as a whole was 46.5, or about the same as in Missouri,

Virginia, or South Carolina. The foreign-born population

formed 11.2 per cent of the total. Of this element four-fifths

were born in Spain and less than three per cent in the United

States; Chinese and Africans were more numerous than United

States people. …

"As to color, about seven-tenths of the population were white,

the remaining three-tenths being colored, including negroes,

mixed, and a few thousand Chinese. As in the United States,

the colored element is increasing less rapidly than is the

white population."

_Henry Gannett,

National Geographic Magazine,

February, 1909._

As reported from Washington, nearly 57 per cent, of the

population of Cuba, at least ten years of age, can read, the

percentage in the large cities being 82.6 and in the rest of

the island 47.9 according to figures obtained in the census

recently taken. This census shows that in 1907 almost

one-third of the children were attending school, as compared

with less than one-sixth in 1899.

Chapter 382, Laws of 1889, to read as follows:—