THE 

 CUBA RLVILW 



"ALL ABOUT CUBA" 



Copyright, 1914, hy the Munson Steamship Line 



Volume XII 



NOVEMBER, 1914 



Number 12 



CUBAN GOVERNMENT MATTERS 



THE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS— MANY PARTIES IN THE FIELD- 

 NEW BOND ISSUE 



Elections were held in Cuba 

 The on November 1st for half the 



November membership of the House of 

 Elections Representatives and certain 

 municipal and pro\ancial 

 Councilmen. Wliile this was not of itself an 

 important election, it served as a significant 

 prehminary to the campaign for election of a 

 new president next year. President Menocal 

 is said to be against accepting a renomination, 

 and the question of who his successor will be 

 is aheady becoming an interesting one in 

 Cuba. 



The present factional complications have 

 never been equaled. \Yliile broadly there 

 are two main parties, the Conservatives and 

 the Liberals, there are also numerous indepen- 

 dent groups whose affiliations are not defined. 

 There is, for instance, one important offshoot 

 of the old Liberal party made up of the "Old 

 Guard," of the administration of President 

 Jose Miguel Gomez, who recognize as their 

 chief and who wdU doubtless do their utmost 

 to place him in the presidential chair again. 

 These are opposed to the wing of the Liberal 

 party led by Zayas, the former running mate 

 of General Gomez. 



President Menocal, it is said, has declared 

 that during the remainder of his term, he will 

 carry out his own poUcies in his own way and 

 not defer to this or that gi'oup or faction 

 which offer support as the price of presiden- 

 tial favor, and that he will endeavor to in- 

 augurate soon a "National Party" for the 

 amalgamation of aU that is best in the Liberal 

 and Conservative organizations. 



It is certain that whoever the next Con- 

 servative or National Presidential candidate 

 may be, he will have a formidable rival in 

 General Gomez. The former President has 

 just returned to Havana to occupy his new 

 palace and his candidacy will be officially de- 

 clared very soon. He will endeavor to rally 

 the United Liberal partv which elected him in 

 1908. 



Other probable candidates mentioned this 

 early are General Carlos Garcia Velez, Min- 

 ister to Great Britain and General Emilio 

 Nunez, who may appeal' in the lists with the 

 backing of the veteran element. 



Those who prophesied that the elections 

 would pass off without any notable breach of 

 the peace had their predictions amply fuffiUed 

 The animation and excitement usual at such 

 times was notable bj^ its absence in the streets 

 of Havana, and from the cities in the interior 

 came the same report. 



President Menocal was unable to vote. He 

 had been registered at Chaparra in Oriente 

 Pro\ance, his old headquarters, and forgot to 

 ask for a change of registration within the 

 thu'ty daj's preceding the election. This fact 

 was discovered by the President on October 

 31, when he appUed to the Central Board of 

 Elections to order his registration here. 



The board in accordance to this request met 

 and after dehberating for a long time, resolved 

 that there was no provision in the law under 

 which to make the change, and denied the ap- 

 plication. 



Owing to the many divisions which have 

 occun-ed within the Conservative party in 

 Havana, in the Liberal party in Pinar del Rio, 

 Matanzas, Havana and Santa Clara and the 

 personal campaign preached that a selection 

 should be made of the best among those nomi- 

 nated, the elections wiU not tell the strength 

 of the poHtical parties. 



Outside of the Conservative and Liberal 

 parties, to which the majority of the Cuban 

 voters belong, there were in the November 

 elections the following independent political 

 organizations having candidates in the field. 



Partido L*nioni.sta, 

 Partido Federal Obrero, 

 Partido Nacional Cubana, 

 Partido Republicano, 

 Por La Moral. 



