THL 

 CUBA RLVILW 



'■ALL ABOUT CUBA" 



Copyright, 1917, by the Munson Steamship Line 



Volume XV 



MARCH, 1917 



Number 4 



CUBAN GOVERNMENT MATTERS 



THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN CUBA 

 The following is a sequence of the events 

 leading up to the Cuban revolt: 



President Mario G. Menocal, after serving 

 one four-j-ear term, so.ight re-election as a 

 candidate of the Conservative Party. Presi- 

 dent Menocal was opposed by Dr. Alfredo 

 Zayas, representative of the Liberal Party. 

 The campaign was hotly contested. The 

 election was held on November 1st and the 

 first retiu-ns indicated the probaljility of 

 the election of Dr. Zayas. The Conserva- 

 tive Party refused to admit defeat and 

 claimed to have carried the election. After 

 some days of saspense, the matter of the 

 contested election was referred to the Cen- 

 tral Election Board in Havana, and eventually 

 to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court 

 affirmed most of the retiu-ns favorable to 

 Dr. Zayas, but ordered that new elections 

 should be held in certain districts, the most 

 important of these new elections being in 

 Santa Clara Province, the balloting to take 

 place on February Uth. The methods 

 of the Conservative Party during this period 

 have been bitterly attacked by the Liberals, 

 who have alleged corruption, coercion and 

 illegal use of governmental influence. Earh' 

 in February bands of armed men appeared 

 in the Eastern Provmces. On February 

 lOtb the Govermnent announced the dis- 

 covery of a plot to kidnap the President, 

 and many were arrested charged with being 

 conspirators. On February r2th, the gar- 

 rison at Santiago de Culja revolted and 

 obtained po.ssession of the city. Aljout 

 this time General Jose IMiguel Gomez, 

 Ex-president of Cuba and a powerful factor 

 of the Liberal Part}-, disappeared from Hav- 

 ana. On Februarj^ 14th the new elections 

 were held in Santa Clara Province, and the 



result was an overwhelming majority for 

 the re-election of President Menocal. The 

 Government of Cuba, in an official statem.ent, 

 sought to minimize the im,portance of the 

 insurgent movement, but at the same tim.e 

 announced the purchase of 10,000 rifles 

 and 5,000,000 rounds of am.munition, the 

 purchase being made from the United 

 States, and a call for volunteers was i.ssued. 

 On March Sth the capture of General Gon ez 

 took place as a re.sult of a battle between 

 the Goverm^nent forces and the in.siu-gents 

 near Placetas del Sur. General Gom.ez 

 and a large number of other prisoners were 

 brought to Havana, where they were im.- 

 prisoned and will be tried in due course of 

 law. 



It is extrem.eh' unfortunate for Cuba 

 that these political disturbances took place 

 at such a prosperous period in her history. 

 It has already cost the Cuban people a large 

 amount of money, as will be readily seen 

 when the estimate of the Cuban sugar 

 crop is examined. This will show a great 

 loss of production and a consequent loss of 

 wealth to the Cuban people. Fiu-therm.ore, 

 there has been considerable damage done 

 to the railroads in Eastern Cuba, which 

 has made it impossible to operate trains, 

 and it will take some time Vjefore this dam.age 

 can be repaired and transportation again 

 be resumed. Considerable dpmage to the 

 cane fields and to the sugar centrals has 

 been reported. 



It is greatly to be hoped that in the future 

 the Cuban people will learn that the peace- 

 ful developnient of the wonderfid resources 

 of Cuba is the true province of their Govern- 

 ment and that nothing can be gained by 

 revolution, and such disputes as friction 

 over elections should be decided by the 

 constituted legal tribunals and not by force. 



