CUBA 235 



ent insurrection. The insurgents are Catholics and love their 

 church. The religious condition of the island is as bad as the 

 political. 



Education is still much neglected. The chief educational in- 

 stitutions are the Habana University, two professional schools, 

 with meteorological observatories attached, one agricultural 

 school, and two seminaries. There are several private as well 

 as public schools, aggregating in all 750 institutions, with some 

 30,000 students and scholars. 



The Habana University is modeled after the Spanish univer- 

 sities, and its curriculum is chiefly devoted to medicine, law, 

 tbeology, and an obsolete system of philosophy. Its entire fac- 

 ulty was disposed of by imprisonment and banishment last year, 

 while the students have always been looked upon with a sus- 

 picion of sedition. The public schools are decidedly few, most 

 of the better Cubans patronizing the private institutions. 



COURTS 



Cuba has two high courts ; but the captain-general is above 

 either court, as appears from the royal decree of June 9, 1878, 

 defining his duties and prerogatives. His power not only over- 

 rules decisions of all the judicial authorities, including the jus- 

 tices of the court of judicature, but also enables him to withhold 

 the execution of any order or resolution of the home government 

 li whenever he may deem it best for the public interests." 



ADMINISTRATION 



Since its discovery Cuba has been a crown colony of Spain, 

 occupying a relation to that country, so far as the absence of 

 local self-government is concerned, comparable to that which 

 Alaska occupies to this, but governed by military instead of civil 

 authority. Some of the Spanish islands, like the Canaries and 

 Balearics, are integral parts of the mother country, having equal 

 rights with the people of the peninsula. Cuba, however, has 

 ever been treated solely as a subordinate colony. The central 

 and absolute authority of the crown has been represented by a 

 governor, called the captain-general, controlling the land and sea 

 forces and residing at Habana, and having the right of setting 

 aside all judgments of the local courts. His authority has been 

 backed, even in times of peace, by a Spanish soldiery larger than 

 the army of the United States and with police powers unknown 

 in this country. In addition to the army of soldiers, there is a 



