The History of Cuba, vol. 4

by Willis Fletcher Johnson

A distinguished jurist, penologist, and man of letters, Gonzalez Lanuza, was born in Havana on July 17, 1865. He rose to eminence at the bar and on the bench, became professor of penal law in the University of Havana, and was the author of several important works on jurisprudence. He was an agent of the revolution in Havana in 1895, and Secretary of the Cuban Delegation in New York. During General Brooke's Governorship he was Secretary of Justice and Public Instruction, and during President Menocal's first term was Speaker of the House of Representatives. He was a delegate to the Pan-American Congress at Rio de Janeiro in 1906.

The problems which confronted the American military administrators and their Cuban colleagues of the civil government were manifold and grave. There was the work of sanitation, which was undertaken on lines similar to those which General Wood had pursued in Santiago. The city of Havana had the advantage of the services of General Ludlow, an expert engineer and sanitarian. Then there was the work of feeding a starving population. So vast had been the ravages of war, so great had been the destruction of resources, that one of the most fertile and productive countries in the world was unable for a time to provide food for its own inhabitants, although their numbers had been diminished[{147}] by one-fourth by the horrors of war. In these circumstances the American government was compelled to establish a system of food distribution, on very liberal lines. In Havana alone more than 20,000 persons were dependent upon it to save them from actual starvation. So well was the system administered, however, and so vigorously did the Cubans themselves apply themselves to self-help that within five months it was found possible to abolish the general system of food supply, and to restrict such work to such cases of special need as are liable to occur in any community.

In thus redeeming the island from threatened if not actual famine, the American government undoubtedly did much, but the Cuban people themselves did far more. Self-help and mutual aid were the order of the day. All who could do so hastened to secure employment, either upon their own property or on the land or in the establishments of others. Planters whose fields had been ravaged and whose buildings had been destroyed borrowed money wherever they could, when necessary, for rehabilitation. If they could not raise money to pay their employes, they pledged them an interest in the proceeds of the coming harvest. The small farmers, who had lost all their implements and had no money to buy others to replace them, worked almost without tools, or borrowed and loaned among themselves so that a single plow would serve for half a dozen, and even hoes and spades were similarly passed from garden to garden. In the absence of horses and mules, plows were actually drawn by teams of four or six men, in such cases doing, perhaps, little more than to scratch the surface of the soil, though even this was sufficient to enable the planting of seed.

Reference has been made to the borrowing of money by the planters for the rehabilitation of their estates. This[{148}] was no easy task, because of the extent to which they were already overburdened with debts. Nearly all the land in Cuba was mortgaged, for a large percentage of its value. The census which was taken by the American authorities in 1899 showed a total real estate valuation in the entire island of only $323,641,895. These amazingly low figures were due, of course, to the depreciation of values through the ravages of war. But upon that valuation there was an 47,915,494; or more than 76 per cent. Obviously, the borrowing capacity of Cuban real estate had been exhausted. During the war, with the impairment of industry which then prevailed, it was impossible for farmers to pay off their mortgages, and accordingly the Spanish government, in May, 1896, decreed that all mortgages then maturing should be extended for a year, during which time all legal steps for collection of them should be halted. In Oriente and Camaguey, however, the grace thus granted was for only a month. Successive extensions of the grace carried it to April, 1899, when the American administration was in control. A final extension was then granted, to April, 1901.

Still another problem, and one which proved peculiarly embarrassing, was that of local or municipal government. The island was divided into six provinces, thirty-one judicial districts, and one hundred and thirty-two municipalities, and these last named were each divided into sub-districts and these again into wards. These all had their local officials and local systems of finance, and these latter were found by the Americans to be in serious confusion. It was necessary to reform them, but in the doing of this almost endless friction arose. Such matters so closely touched the Cuban people that they were naturally jealous and resentful of alien interference and dictation.[{149}] At the same time the Americans considered it necessary to supervise the reorganization of local government as a basis for satisfactory general government. Each side became more or less irritated against the other, with unfortunate results.

An interesting personal factor at this time, whose influence was on the whole helpful to the American government, was found in General Maximo Gomez. There is no question that he felt himself somewhat ill-treated by the Americans, as Calixto Garcia had felt at the surrender of Santiago. During the first month of the American rule at the capital he held aloof, remaining at his home at Remedios. But in February he came to Havana and had such a reception as probably no other man in Cuban history had ever enjoyed. From Remedios to Havana he proceeded through an almost unbroken series of popular demonstrations of the most enthusiastic kind, and at the capital he was greeted as a conquering hero and as the unrivalled idol of the people whose independence he had won. The only discordant note came from a small body of politicians identified with that Assembly which both Gomez and the American government had declined to recognize, and which Gomez had strongly antagonized in the matter of paying off and demobilizing the Cuban army. But that opposition to him did not lessen the affection and reverence with which the great mass of the Cuban people regarded the grim and grey old champion of their wars. It is to be recorded, too, that while he was thus being received by the people, his own attitude toward them was no less significant. At every place through which he passed on his journey to Havana, and at every gathering at which he was entertained in that city, he spoke to the people, tersely and vigorously, as became a soldier; exhorting them to forget[{150}] the differences of the past, even their righteous wrath against the Spaniards, and to unite and work together harmoniously and efficiently to complete in peace the great task for Cuba's welfare which had so far been advanced in war.

The result, at least for a time, was marvellous. Cuban and Spaniard, Revolutionist, Autonomist and Constitutionalist, for a time joined hands. At one of the chief public receptions given to Gomez in Havana, the flags of Cuba, of the United States, and of Spain were equally displayed, and were all three greeted with applause. That spirit did not, it is true, always thereafter prevail. But it was of incalculable profit to Cuba to have it so strongly aroused and manifested at that crucial period in her history.

During the administration of General Brooke the police force of Havana was completely reorganized, with the assistance of John B. McCullagh, formerly Superintendent of Police in New York. This was done as promptly as possible after the installation of American rule, and by the beginning of March, 1899, the peace and security of the Cuban capital were safeguarded by an admirable uniformed force of about a thousand men. Under the command of General Mario G. Menocal as Chief this body of men rendered Havana as efficient service, probably, as that in any American city of similar size. Police work in Havana, it should be understood, differs considerably from that in cities of the United States, for the reason that drunkenness and its attendant disorder and petty brawls are substantially unknown in the Cuban metropolis, and therefore one of the most prolific causes of arrests in American cities is there non-existent.

When the American administration took charge of[{151}] Cuban affairs it found the insular treasury quite empty. The departing Spaniards had seen to that. But a careful, honest and thrifty management of finances soon provided the island with a good working income. By the first of September, 1899, fully $10,000,000 had been received in revenue from different sources. Major E. F. Ladd of the United States army was made Treasurer and Disbursing Officer of the customs service, and a little later he was appointed Auditor and then Treasurer of the island. In those capacities he showed admirable efficiency and greatly ingratiated himself with the people; ranking as one of the most successful members of the American governing staff. His administration was the more appreciated by Cubans because of the welcome reform of the taxation system which was at that time effected. The old Spanish tax system had been abominable, and that of the short-lived Autonomist regime of 1897-1898 changed it chiefly with the result of adding to the confusion. Early in 1899, therefore, radical reforms were undertaken. An order was issued on February 10 remitting all taxes due under the old Spanish law which had remained unpaid on January 1, with the exception of taxes on passengers and freight which had according to custom been collected and were held by the railroad companies. All taxes on the principal articles of food and fuel were abolished, as were also all municipal taxes on imports and exports. These taxes had formerly been very burden-some and were a source of much grievance and irritation, and their abolition was very gratifying to the Cuban people, who began to appreciate what it meant to have a government whose prime object was to serve them and not to plunder them.

One tax was greatly increased, namely, the excise tax upon all alcoholic liquors, and this was made a part of[{152}] the revenue of the municipalities instead of the state, thus compensating the municipalities for the loss of the tax on merchandise. Despite the temperate habits of the Cuban people, the very general consumption of some form of alcoholic drink made this impost amount to a considerable sum.