THE CUBA REVIEW 



Hugh S. Gibson, American 



Attack Charge de Affaires at Ha- 



011 vana, was attacked on 



Mr. Gibson August 27th by a journahst 

 named Maza, employed by 

 a Havana newspaper, while he was enter- 

 ing the lobby of a hotel. 



While Mr. Gibson was lying on the floor, 

 his assailant jumped on him. Edward Bell, 

 the second secretary of the legation, saw 

 the attack and dragged off the assailant. 



The prisoner was consigned to jail to 

 await the official complaint from the le- 

 gation. He had been forbidden entrance 

 to the legation because he had falsely at- 

 tributed to Mr. Gibson certain statements 

 purporting to pertain to the relations of 

 the American legation with the Cuban 

 government. 



The assault apparently was the outcome 

 of Mr. Gibson's attitude in calling the at- 

 tention of the Cuban government to the 

 various demands of the Washington gov- 

 ernment, and especially in his insistence 

 on the payment in cash of the Reilly claim 

 in the matter of the Cienfuegos water 

 works contract. 



On the next day the prisoner was re- 

 leased in spite of the official request that 

 he should be held, handed in by Hugh S. 

 Gibson to Secretary of State Manuel 

 Sanguily. A vigorous protest was made 

 to the Cuban government by Mr. Gibson. 

 He was rearrested the same afternoon and 

 arraigned in the Correctional Court on the 

 charge of wanton assault on the repre- 

 sentative of a foreign power. The prisoner 

 was committed to jail without bail to await 

 indictment. 



The Cuban press generally minimized 

 the incident, some frankly anti-American 

 newspapers proclaiming Maza as an 

 avenger of insults to Cuba and lauding 

 his "gallant conduct." 



On the evening of this same day. El 

 Comercio. the editor of which is one of 

 the strongest Conservative leaders in 

 Congress, had this to say: 



"The government must demand Mr. 

 Gibson's recall. H it does not the Cuban 

 people, who do not fear the United States, 

 which is the bugaboo of Spanish America, 

 will take the matter into its own hands. 

 Does not Mr. Gibson understand that he 

 is exposed to a repetition of the assault? 

 Does he suppose his nation's war strength 

 terrifies the Cubans? If so he is lam- 

 entably mistaken. He better go and escape 

 fatal consequences." 



Maza was released on bail on a surety 

 of $500, the lowest amount demaitded, 

 even in a case of common assault. This 

 was done in spite of the fact that Mr. Gib- 

 son had been informed by the court that 

 no bail would be allowed, and that the 

 accused would be kept in jail. 



On August 30th Maza was arrested for 

 the third time in consequence of a third 



ous protest by Mr. Hugh S. Gibson. 

 Representatives of all the foreign le- 

 gations expressed their sympathy with Mr. 

 Gibson and indignation at the outrage. It 

 is probable that a protest will now be made 

 against the withdrawal of the police 

 guards from the legations, which is in 

 contemplation by the secretary of the in- 

 terior. It is reported that another diplo- 

 mat was recently the victim of an assault, 

 but refused to prosecute. 



Some of the newspapers urged hostilities 

 with the United States, expressing the 

 opinion that Cuban soldiers could slaughter 

 thousands of Americans as did the Span- 

 iards at San Juan Hill. 



The more reputable newspapers adopted 

 a more moderate tone than the anti-Ameri- 

 can organs in discussing the affair. Some 

 of them admitted that Mr. Gibson's con- 

 duct in Cuba had been irreproachable, and 

 especially in the matter of his insistence 

 on a settlement of the Reilly waterworks 

 contract. In this matter they say that the 

 Cuban government's stupidity brought hu- 

 miliation upon itself, and that no blame 

 for it attaches to the American legation. 



'Maza receives the sympathy of many 

 Cubans, and a proposition has been ad- 

 vanced to start a popular subscription for 

 his release as a patriotic defender of his 

 country's honor. 



That Enrique Maza, the reporter who 

 attacked Hugh Gibson in Havana, was 

 merely a tool in the hands of Cuban plot- 

 ters, who are antagonistic to the United 

 States and who would like to get the Cu- 

 ban government into trouble with this 

 country, was the opinion expressed by 

 Sr. Martin-Rivero, the Cuban minister. He 

 was of the belief, he said, that Maza had 

 not attacked Mr. Gibson of his own voli- 

 tion, but that he had been urged on by 

 others who had made him think he had 

 been insulted and that he should seek re- 

 venge. 



Under no circumstances, no matter what 

 his provocations may have been, said the 

 minister, was Maza justified in the action 

 he took. That justice would be done in 

 the case was the declaration of Sr. Martin- 

 Rivero. 



The minister has notified his government 

 of the demands of the United States, that 

 the assailant be punished. As soon as he 

 had learned of the attack, the minister bad 

 "spontaneously sent word to Cuba," he 

 said, that the United States had laws, ren- 

 dering virtually immune from attack the 

 person of foreign representatives here, 

 and that on account of this reciprocity, 

 the full vigor of the Cuban law could be 

 applied. In case of a country which does 

 not protect Cuban representatives, said the 

 minister, no further rights are extended 

 to its diplomats than to any other foreign- 

 ers. He immediately called attention, lie 

 said, to this clause in their laws. 



