Government in Cuba (1899)

BY GOVERNOR-GENERAL LEONARD WOOD

WHEN the American authorities took charge of the Province of Santiago de Cuba they found the civil affairs of the province in a condition of complete chaos. The treasuries of all the different municipalities were empty; the offices were vacant; public records, such as had not been burnt or destroyed, were bundled up in abandoned buildings. The courts had ceased to exist. In fact, there was only a semblance of any form of civil government. In many of the towns a few members of the old "Guardia Civil" still continued to maintain an appearance of order, but, practically speaking, there had been a complete destruction of civil government, and it rested with the newcomers to do what they could toward re-establishing a proper form of government which would give the people necessary protection, and guarantee such a condition of order as would once more tend to re-establish business and invite the confidence of outside capital. . . .

The idea with which this work has been done is first to re-establish the municipalities upon the simplest and most economical basis consistent with a fair degree of efficiency. Of course it was impossible to change altogether the old system. We have had to begin, even in the little towns, by appointing a mayor, a secretary and one or two municipal police officers, simply because this was the system to which the people for many generations had been accustomed; but in making these appointments every effort has been made to select the best men and an adequate service for the salary paid has been insisted upon. Under the old system men went to their offices at 9 a. m., left at 11 a. m. and came back for an hour in the afternoon. There were a great many clerks, many of whom were totally unnecessary. In each little town one found a great many officials doing very little, no school houses, no sanitary regulations—in fact nothing indicative of a high degree of civilization. It was a pedantic humbug from top to bottom. In place of this condition, we, so far as possible with the limited time and means at our command, have re-established these little towns, giving them the officers absolutely necessary to maintain an efficient administration of the public business. We insisted upon a thorough sanitary supervision of the towns, a thorough cleaning up of the streets, private houses, yards, courts, etc., the re-establishing of the schools in the best buildings obtainable; a prompt monthly payment of the teachers’ salaries; the forbidding of public school teachers having private pupils in the public schools—a condition which existed formerly and led to great abuses. Every effort has been made toward the re-establishment of the courts upon the most economical basis consistent with prompt transaction of the public business. The entire judicial machinery of the province has been put in operation upon an economical basis. At the head of this judicial system stands the Supreme Court of the province, which is supreme only for the time being, as upon the establishment of the Supreme Court for the island it will continue simply as the Audiencia or Superior Court of the province, from which an appeal can be taken to Havana. The greatest evil of the present system is in the method of criminal procedure. Persons accused are often months in prison before trial. . . . I have done what I could to remedy this condition by making offenses not capital bailable, and by establishing the writ of habeas corpus. The police is also to apply a large portion of the public revenue to the reconstruction of roads, bridges, etc., and to encourage, throughout the province, in all the larger towns, such sanitary reformation as the means at hand would permit. . . .

To the people was given a "Bill of Rights," which guaranteed to them the freedom of the press, the right to assemble peaceably, the right to seek redress for grievances, the right of habeas corpus, and the right to present bail for all offenses not capital. Every effort was made to impress upon them the fact that the civil law must in all free countries be absolutely supreme, and that all classes of people must recognize the authority of the officers of the law, whether represented by the ordinary policeman or by the judges of the Supreme Court. . . . In fact every effort was made to impress upon them the fact that people can do as they wish so long as they do not violate the law. On the other hand they were told, in unmistakable terms, that any and all infractions of the civil law would be punished severely, and that individuals resisting arrest would be taken even at the cost of their lives. Of course all this was under military government. Every effort was made, however, to remove the military as far as practicable from the situation. The intention was to re-establish rather than to replace the civil government. Men were appointed to office solely for their fitness for the position, and their selection was never made arbitrarily, but always upon the recommendation of the best citizens. I do not mean the best men in the social sense, or in any other sense than those best qualified by experience and ability to judge of the fitness of the various applicants for office. . . . I do not believe that just at present the people are in a condition to be taken further into the administration of civil affairs than indicated above. Before proceeding further it will be necessary to complete the organization of the schools; get the courts into thorough running order and, what is very important, to get all the municipalities established upon an efficient basis, making them thoroughly self-supporting; to do all that can be done to get the people back to their plantations and at work; to reopen the roads and make them passable, thus enabling people to get their produce to the seacoast and to the markets; to establish enough rural police to keep things quiet and orderly in the interior. After these conditions have been well established and found to be in good working order then we can begin to consider seriously the remaining details of civil government. Just at present it is well to stop, for a short time at least, where we are.

. . . It must be remembered that a large portion of the population is illiterate and they have never had any extensive participation in the affairs of government, not even in municipal affairs, and, until they thoroughly understand the handling of small affairs, they certainly are not fitted to undertake larger ones. In other words, let us begin from the bottom and build on a secure foundation rather than start at the top to remodel the whole fabric of civil government. . . .

Brigadier-General Leonard Wood, The Establishment of the Civil Government in the Province of Santiago, in , June 15, 1899 (New York), LI, 1601–1604 passim.