THL 

 CUBA RLVILW 



"ALL ABOUT CUBA" 



Copyright, 1912, by the Munson Steamship Line 



Volume X 



APRIL, 1912 



Number 



QAl 



CUBAN GOVERNMENT MATTERS 



Political 

 Gossip 



Dr. Enrique Jose \'arona, 

 president of the Conserva- 

 tive Party, has made the 

 positive statement that if 

 his party nominates again General Mario 

 Menocal, now the general manager of the 

 great Chaparra sugar estate, for its can- 

 didate for president of Cuba, that the 

 General will run. The Havana Post says 

 he has written a letter to Dr. Varona, 

 in which he points out that - there are 

 several others in the Conservative Party 

 just as strong as he and asks that one of 

 them be nominated in his stead. He states 

 in the letter that he is sick, that he has 

 been working steadily at Chaparra for two 

 years without a rest and that his physicians 

 declare it imperative for him to go abroad 

 after the present sugar campaign. He 

 declares that he felt that he had done his 

 dut}'- by his party by being its candidate 

 three years ago. He ended, however, by 

 saying that be bowed his head to party 

 discipline. He will do its bidding. 



On April 8th, General Menocal having 

 been on April 7th unanimously nominated 

 for president of Cuba by the Conservative 

 Party, accepted the nomination. Dr. En- 

 rique Jose Varona is his running mate. 

 "These two men, who are possessed of 

 great prestige," says La Lucha, "will inspire 

 a great deal of confidence to the people, 

 for the country is now anxious for an hon- 

 est and conscientious administration." 



"What is the more desirable for the 

 country — a government of the Conserva- 

 tive Party or a government of the Zayista 

 faction?" asks El Miuido of Havana. 

 "To formulate the question is to answer 

 it," it says, and its own answer is as 

 follows: "Evidently the welfare of the 

 country would be better proinoted by a 

 Conservative than by a Zayista administra- 

 tion. For to be governed by a powerful 

 party is b}'' no means the same as to be 

 governed by a faction; factional adminis- 



tration is always disastrous, for it is one 

 thing to be governed by a system of prin- 

 ciples and quite another to be governed 

 by a conglomeration of personal interests. 

 Should the country declare its preference 

 for a Zayista rather than for a government 

 by the powerful and respectable Conserva- 

 tive Party, it would show its poUtical in- 

 eptitude, its incapacity for self-government, 

 and this without taking into consideration 

 that a Zayista .government could not en- 

 dure ; its existence would be stormy and 

 ephemeral. It could not long resist the 

 assaults of the Conservatives and of the 

 other Liberal faction." 



Alfredo 

 Zayas 



Nominated 



The national convention of 

 the Liberal Party held their 

 meeting in Havana on the 

 night of April 15th, ad- 

 journing at ] a. m., and 

 nominating Alfredo Zayas, the present vice- 

 president of Cuba, for president, despite 

 predictions that he would not receive the 

 coveted distinction. Sr. Manduley, the 

 governor of Oriente Province, was nomi- 

 nated at the same time for vice-president. 

 President Gomez' last word, says the Nezv 

 York Sun, was that he had no desire for 

 re-election, as he did not wish to be re- 

 proached as the late President Palma had 

 been with the assertion that he "was 

 enamored of the job.". 



The same evening, partisans of Zayas 

 and Governor Asbert, the unsuccessful 

 candidate, met in a fierce riot on the Prado. 

 Many shots were fired and several persons 

 were wounded. The police charged the 

 mob repeatedly. A large number of arrests 

 were made and order was finally restored. 

 The administration organs question the 

 validity of the nominations. All the anti- 

 Zayas papers predict the formation of a 

 third party, the nomination of President 

 Gomez and the defeat of the liberal can- 

 didates. 



