The History of Cuba, vol. 1

by Willis Fletcher Johnson

These new laws, issued in the latter part of 1526, forbade further compulsion of the Indians as laborers in the mines. But in the course of a few weeks some modifications of them—to the disadvantage of the Indians—were obtained through false representations at court, with the result that conditions became almost as bad as before. The King next directed Sebastian Ramirez, who was Bishop of Hispaniola and president of the supreme court, to report to him on the desirability of retaining or abolishing the repartimiento system; and that functionary reported in favor of retaining it. Then Miguel Ramirez was made Bishop of Cuba and Protector of the Indians; and he, as we have seen, fell completely under the influence of Guzman. The result was that no reforms were effected, and the state of the Indians went from bad to worse.

The King learned of this, and was profoundly dissatisfied. In the latter part of 1529 he demanded to know why reforms had not been effected, and especially why there had not been made the experiment of granting the natives entire freedom. Equivocal replies were made, and it was not until the spring of 1531 that Guzman undertook the experiment. At that time one of the colonists, who had held some 120 slaves, died, and Guzman directed that they be set at liberty and be given a chance to show what they could do as farmers. Every conceivable condition was imposed upon them which would tend to make the experiment the failure which Guzman intended that it should be. In the midst of the experiment, which was to last a year, Guzman was removed from office. Vadillo, who succeeded him for sixty days, had no authority to do anything in the premises, and so the completion of the ill-begun business was left for Manuel de Rojas.

Then began one of the most deplorable passages in all the early history of Cuba, in which good intentions were frustrated, benevolent purposes defeated, and the remnants of a race undeservedly doomed to destruction. Manuel de Rojas should be credited with having been of all men of this time one of the most honest and able, and most sincere in his desire to do justice to the native Indians. He saw through the web of trickery and malign conditions in which they had been enmeshed by those who were predetermined that the experiment of emancipation should fail, and he unsparingly denounced it all. The Indians who had been "selected" for the experiment had in fact not been selected at all, but had been taken at haphazard, without regard to their fitness; if indeed they had not been taken largely because of their unfitness. They had, moreover, been subjected to the instruction and direction of those who seemed more interested in extorting profit from them than in assisting them to independence.

Rojas demanded that these abuses should be corrected, and that the natives should have at least a fair, unhampered chance to show themselves fit for freedom and Cuban citizenship. As a result of his own painstaking investigation, he reported to the King that the tales of Indian insurrections, actual or threatened, which his predecessor had circulated, were chiefly false; obviously invented for the purpose of discrediting the Indians. It was the old story: "Give a dog a bad name, and hang him." The Indians were to be slandered, and represented as incorrigible criminals, and then doomed to slavery. Moreover, in the few cases in which revolts or attempted revolts had occurred, the blame should rest upon the Spaniards more than upon the Indians, for the former had goaded the latter to desperation by inhuman cruelties, in resisting which the Indians were manifesting not savagery but manhood.

In support of this view of the situation, Rojas was able to cite many specific and perfectly well authenticated instances of cruelty and injustice. To correct these evils he recommended that whenever it was proved that a mine-owner, farmer or other employer of native labor, had deliberately treated his Indians cruelly or unjustly, the men should be taken away from him and either set at liberty or be assigned to a more humane employer. The danger of thus being deprived of their workmen would, he plausibly believed, restrain employers from brutality. He also insisted that the professional "slave catchers," who made a profitable business of running down and returning to their employers fugitive Indians, and who notoriously treated such captives with gross cruelty, should be forbidden longer to ply their nefarious trade.

This wise and humane policy was approved by the crown, and Rojas sincerely and perseveringly strove to make it effective throughout the island; devoting to it for a couple of years the greater part of his time and attention. But unfortunately he found the people, the civil officials, and to a large extent the clergy, arrayed against him. The auri sacra fames possessed the people. Slave labor was profitable; therefore they resented and opposed anything which would deprive them of it. Especially did they oppose the provision that men should be deprived of their workmen because they had treated them cruelly. Fines or other penalties for excessive brutality might be well enough, but to take a man's slaves away from him was, in their opinion, going too far. He was not thus deprived of his horses and cattle. Why should he be deprived of his Indians?

Yet in the face of such opposition Rojas bravely persevered. He seems to have been animated by two motives, both creditable and honorable. One was that of humanity and justice. It revolted him to see his fellow human beings treated as badly as beasts. The other was that of patriotic policy. He believed that it was bad for Cuba, that it corrupted the present and compromised the future, to maintain this abominable system of human slavery. So he flung himself into the work of emancipation and reform with all the resolution and energy of which he was capable. He travelled over the island, personally inspecting the conditions of labor at all points, and personally listening to all complaints, petitions, suggestions and what not that were offered. Particularly was he interested in the "experimental village" near Bayamo, where natives were trying to work out their own salvation on farms of their own. He corrected as far as possible the unfavorable conditions which had been imposed upon them, and encouraged them to their best efforts.

Unfortunately the royal government had been misled into sanctioning the imposition upon these people of burdens "almost too heavy to be borne." Regardless of the fact that as inexpert beginners in agriculture they were not likely in the first year or two to make large profits from their labor, they were weighed down with far heavier taxation than that to which Spanish colonists were subjected. They were required to pay a large tribute in cash as "vassals." They were also required to pay large salaries to various functionaries who were saddled upon them without their desire or need. One was an ecclesiastic, who was charged with protecting their spiritual welfare. Another was a layman, who was supposed to be their political guide, philosopher and friend. These overseers probably did them much more harm than good, though Rojas seems to have selected for those places the best men he could find. But the result of these impositions was that many of the Indians became discouraged and indicated a preference for returning to serfdom or slavery. As free men in the experimental village they had to support themselves and in addition to pay practically all their earnings to the tax-gatherer. It would be better to give all their labor to an employer who in return would at least provide them with the necessaries of existence.

On this ground many of the villagers indicated a desire to abandon the experiment and return to the old system. It is probable that some of them were really convinced that this would be best. They were driven to despair by being thrown upon their own resources and then being oppressed with unjust taxes. But there is also reason to suspect that other influences were brought to bear upon many of them. They were threatened with all manner of punishment and persecution if they did not renounce the experiment and ask to be returned to slavery. Similar tactics were certainly employed against those outside of the villages. Wherever Rojas went on his tours of inspection and investigation, he heard of natives who had complaints to make, or petitions to offer, or who wished to be released from serfdom and to enter the free village. But when he reached the spot and sought for these Indians, they had disappeared, or had changed their minds. He had little doubt of foul play, that they were smuggled out of sight, or were coerced into action and speech contrary to their real desires; but he was seldom able to prove it, so general was the conspiracy against emancipation.

The result was inevitable. Rojas lost heart. It is possible that he still clung to his beliefs, but realized that the obstacles to his policy were too great for him to overcome. It may be, on the other hand, that he became convinced that he had erred, that the Indians were not as fit for freedom as he had supposed, and that their general emancipation was impracticable. In any case, he gave up the struggle. "Before God and his conscience," he said, he was convinced that little if any good had come of the experiment of freedom, and that it would be best to abandon it and to return the Indians to the control of well-disposed Spaniards; with a proviso that any who wished for freedom and showed fitness for it should be emancipated. A tone of sadness but of sincerity pervaded the report in which he made this recommendation. The King accepted it and approved it, doubtless with the same reluctance and regret which Rojas must have had in making it; and that chapter of Cuban history was ended.