“These houses are veritable pig-styes. Houses which rent from thirty to forty-five dollars per month—an extremely high price for a country where wealth has been destroyed by war—are devoid of all comfort. They are unhealthful habitations. A very distinguished stranger, who visited us some time ago, said of them: ‘They are composed solely of four walls and a pavement which are stained with dampness and a privy whose fetid and constant emanations poison the air that must be breathed.’”
CHAPTER XII
MUNICIPAL PROBLEMS IN HAVANA
THE American authorities and American enterprise have jointly taken hold of the municipal problem of Havana with considerable energy. This subject is of such vital importance, not only to the industrial reconstruction of Cuba, but to the future of the Island itself, that no apology is necessary for devoting an entire chapter to it. The problems which General Ludlow, the present Governor of Havana, has taken up energetically are those relating to the reorganisation of the police force, public works, water and gas supply, fire department, and other branches of local government. Private enterprise, both English and American, has lost no time in securing the street-railway system and some of the public theatres, and in various ways engaged in semi-public enterprises, the result of which will be greatly to improve existing conditions, and make Havana a much more desirable city, both for business and residence.
Next to the question of sanitary improvement, which is absolutely imperative unless the United States stands ready to sacrifice thousands of lives next summer, is the organisation of the police force for the preservation of life and property. For several years past it is said the attention of the police of Havana has been directed more to political arrests than to prevention of crime. Whether these rumours are well founded or not, General Greene, whose report upon the sanitation of Cuba was presented in the previous chapter, is not prepared to assert; but he contends that at the time he made his report, last December, the police force was completely disorganised. As it formerly existed, the police force of Havana consisted of two parts, namely: the Government police, under the direct orders of the civil governor of the province; and the municipal police, under the orders of the Alcalde, or Mayor. The functions of the latter were mainly those of inspectors, to look after the enforcement of city ordinances in regard to buildings, public health, and such matters. They numbered 200. The Government police consisted of a battalion called the Orden Publico, the colonel in command of which was chief of police. The battalion numbered about 1200 men, and was recruited from the Spanish army, among men who had passed through not less than six years’ service, who held the grade of sergeant, and who had won certificates of perfectly good character. This force was disarmed and shipped to Spain in November, on the ground of alleged mutiny; the facts being that they claimed the money belonging to them which had been deposited with the regimental paymaster, and by him embezzled.
In addition to the municipal police and the Orden Publico, there was a force, detailed from the Guarda Civil, whose total strength was about 3500 men. This force constituted the rural police of the entire Island, under the orders of the civil governor of each province. About 300 were used by the civil governor of Havana for duty in the suburbs of Jesus del Monte, Cerro, and other outlying neighbourhoods.
At the time the control of the city passed from Spanish into American hands, the police force consisted simply of the municipal police, about 200 in number, with a few additions, all of whom were temporarily organised into a Government police force after the disarmament of the Orden Publico.
The city, according to General Greene’s report, is divided into ten districts, and these are still further subdivided into thirty-nine barrios, or wards. The barrios correspond in a measure to the precincts in New York, and in each there was a celador, corresponding to a sergeant in New York. He received $100 per month, and had charge of the police in his barrio, or precinct. There were five inspectors, each of whom had two of the principal districts under his charge. They received $125 per month. They were in turn subject to the orders of the chief of police, and he to the orders of the civil governor. The appointments to all of the positions named were made by the Governor-General on the nomination of the Governor. Each inspector had an office on the ground floor of the house where he lived, and these were all connected by telephone, through the Telephone Exchange, with the Police Headquarters on Cuba Street, near Quarteles Street. Similarly, each of the celadors had an office in his own house. There were a large number of details for special service at banks, theatres, public offices, and similar places, and while the nominal strength of the Orden Publico was 1200, yet vacancy, sickness, and other causes reduced its effective strength to 800 or 900.
According to this report, in the opinion of the civil governor, a force of 600 carefully selected men, thoroughly well organised, under proper officers, will be ample for the security of life and property in this city. The orders of the President of the United States authorised the organisation of a force of 1000 men. Subsequently the Secretary of War telegraphed General Greene to employ such number of men as was necessary. In the judgment of the commanding general the number authorised by the President was sufficient, and the proposed organisation, inaugurated by General Greene and just completed under the direction of General Ludlow, aided by ex-Chief of Police of New York City, McCullough, is as follows:
| Salary per month | ||
| 1 | Colonel (U S V ), Chief of Police | |
| 1 | Deputy Chief of Police | $250 |
| 1 | Secretary Inspector | 165 |
| 1 | Chief of Detectives, Deputy Inspector | 165 |
| 6 | Inspectors, officers U S V | |
| 6 | Deputy Inspectors | 150 |
| 12 | Captains | 115 |
| 48 | Lieutenants | 90 |
| 48 | Patrol Sergeants | 65 |
| 10 | Detective Sergeants | 115 |
| 14 | Detectives | 100 |
| 12 | Detectives | 75 |
| 820 | Patrolmen | 50 |
| 1 | Stenographer and Interpreter | 150 |
| 6 | Clerks | 50 |
| 6 | Drivers | 40 |
| 12 | Janitors | 35 |
| 2 | Surgeons | 100 |