THE CUBA REVIEW. 



25 



THE SOLVING OF THE CUBAN PROBLEM. 



The January Review of Reviews con- 

 tains an article on the above subject by 

 Captain Parker, U. S. A. The author, says 

 the editor, is well qualified to speak and 

 calls his analysis of the situation "unusually 

 interesting and important." 



The beginnings of American control in 

 Cuba are briefly reviewed, and the future 

 relations of the two countries discussed. 

 The latter properly maintained is considered 

 by the author to be the solution of the Cu- 

 ban problem. Whether the former Cuban 

 government was wise and efficient or 

 whether the Cuban people are capable of 

 self-government is not relevant. "As Amer- 

 ican control is complete, so is American 

 responsibility, and just and lawful govern- 

 ment must be established and maintained in 

 Cuba just as it is established and main- 

 tained in Alaska or the District of Colum- 

 bia." 



Permanently satisfactory sanitary condi- 

 tions are a factor in our future relations 

 with the island. The peril from yellow 

 fever must be forever suppressed. 



Economic relations also play a part, "but 

 tlhese must be as little objectionable as pos- 

 sible to the sugar and tobacco interests of 

 the United States." 



Political considerations also enter. "At 

 the present time there is no race problem in 

 Cuba. The races live together amicably," 

 but "annexation and the consequent immi- 

 gration from the States would soon create 

 a race problem far more difficult of solution 

 than that in the Southern States." 



Among the permanent relations which 

 must be considered in these future relations 

 are the treaties of the United States. Of 

 these, the author does not consider the 

 Piatt amendment the most important one. 

 It imposes, he says, no obligations or rights 

 upon the latter country and similarly it im- 

 poses no conditions upon Cuba. It simply 

 definies conditions made by geography, his- 

 tory and commerce and not by the Piatt 

 amendment, under which whether defined 

 or not, stable government must exist in 

 Cuba. The Treaty of Paris gave to Spain 

 the same commercial rights as the United 

 States for a period of 10 years, which ends 

 February 4, 1909. A permanent adjustment, 

 therefore, of our commercial relations, which 

 would give Cuban products their natural 

 market as nearly free as oossible, must wait 

 until the expiration of '■he treaty in order 

 that tihe provision giving' Spain equal rio-ht 

 to Cuban ports may be no longer a factor 

 in the Cuban problem. 



Before there can be a successful form of 

 republican government in Cuba, there must 

 be educational development in many things 

 that make a people canqble of self-govern- 

 ment without outside aid. 



Until then aid must come from the United 

 States, and it can be given without annexa- 

 tion and without incorporating Cuba into 

 our political system. 



Such aid must come in the form of set- 

 tled commercial relations, discreet changes 

 in Cuban laws, and wise initiative under 

 whidh the exercise 01 greater power by 

 local authorities will develop. 



It is the educated Cuban alone who sees 

 that a period of instruction along these 

 lines is necessary. 



A "protectorate" exists now. The pres- 

 ent intervention, coming in after the mischief 

 had been done, is purely corrective. To 

 prevent a recurrence of trouble, the condi- 

 tions which created it must be abolished. 



The writer instances the English system 

 in Egypt, which while giving the Khedive 

 the rule, gives Lord Cromer the initiative in 

 matters deemed essential by the British 

 government. Similarly, to insure the sta- 

 bility of any Cuban government, the United 

 States must have the initiative in Cuban af- 

 fairs, a rigiht she does not possess under 

 present treaties, but "it is one of the necessi- 

 ties of the situation." Such initiative "must 

 not curtail true Cuban independence, for 

 this would be intolerable to the Cuban peo- 

 ple and entail more and worse disorders." 

 It would simply mean supfrvision by United 

 States representatives in all the important 

 departments of Cuban government, and 

 such a system, the author points out, is al- 

 ready in operation in Cuba and is working 

 satisfactorily without giving ofifense. An 

 American official without function under the 

 Cuban government and without pay there- 

 from is the "adviser" in the several depart- 

 ments and his presence gives the balance 

 and tone necessary to smooth running. With 

 the restoration of the Cuban Republic, it 

 would be unwise to continue this system in 

 all the departments, but the retention of 

 some American officials is urged by the 

 author. The Treasury and Sanitary Depart- 

 ments and that of Foreign Affairs and others 

 as should be necessary stiould each have an 

 "adviser," an American official of the United 

 States. There would be such an official in 

 each province, who would have the right of 

 proposing measures to the Provincial coun- 

 cil. This collective body called "a council 

 of advisers" could propose such legislation 

 to the Cuban congress as might seem ex- 

 pedient ; all these proposals, however, to 

 be strictly advisory in character. The ad- 

 visers would be given diplomatic privileges 

 to make them independent, and be forbidden 

 to hold or acquire any property interest in 

 Cuba, or receive any emolument or per- 

 quisite from the Cuban government or from 

 any citizen. A system of this kind would 

 obviously leave intact all the essential at- 

 tributes enjoyed by a republic. 



