Chapter 382: , Laws of 1889, to read as follows (1)

‘Every person now confined in a state prison, or in the
Eastern New York Reformatory, under sentence for a definite
term for a felony, the maximum penalty for which is
imprisonment for five years or less, exclusive of fines, who
has never before been convicted of a crime punishable by
imprisonment in a state prison shall be subject to the
jurisdiction of the board of commissioners of paroled
prisoners and may be paroled in the same manner and subject to
the same conditions and penalties as prisoners confined under
indeterminate sentences. The minimum and maximum terms of the
sentences of said prisoners are hereby fixed and determined to
be as follows: The definite term for which each person is
sentenced shall be the maximum limit of his term, and
one-third of the definite term of his sentence shall be the
minimum limit of his term."

_(As amended by chapter 260, L. 1901,
and by chapter 508, L. 1902.)_

"By this Act the members of the State Commission of Prisons
were constituted a Board of Commissioners for Paroled
Prisoners and they were to meet at each of the prisons four
times a year. The Superintendent of State Prisons was
authorized to appoint a parole officer for each prison.

"The other law amended the Penal Code by adding a new section.
§ 687 a.—A person never before convicted of a crime punishable
by imprisonment in a state prison, who is convicted in any
court in this state of a felony, the maximum penalty for
which, exclusive of fines, is imprisonment for five years or
less, and sentenced to a state prison, shall be sentenced
thereto under an indeterminate sentence, the minimum of which
shall not be less than one year; or in case a minimum is fixed
by law, not less than such minimum, and the maximum of which
shall not be more than the longest period fixed by law for
which the crime is punishable of which the offender is
convicted. The maximum limit of such sentence shall be so
fixed as to comply with the provisions of section 697 of the
Penal Code."

"This Act was amended in 1902 to provide also that any first
offender convicted of a felony other than murder first and
second degrees, the maximum penalty for which exceeded five
years, might be sentenced to an indeterminate term. Few
prisoners, however, were so sentenced for crimes that carried
a penalty of more than five years.

"The passage of these Acts put the parole system in active
operation in 1901. Many prisoners then in the prisons whose
terms thus became indeterminate were immediately eligible for
parole. Others became eligible from month to month. … In the
first year under this law the Board considered the
applications of 583 prisoners and granted parole to 272.

{172}

"The scope of the parole system was materially enlarged and
the work of the Board vastly increased by the legislation of
1907. Chapter 737, Laws of 1907, provides, that all first
offenders convicted of felonies other than murder first and
second degrees and sentenced to a state prison _must_ be
sentenced to indeterminate terms. As a result of this law the
class of prisoners subject to the jurisdiction of the Board
will gradually increase to more than double the present
number. …

"Chapter 738, Laws of 1907, changed the penalty for murder
second degree from life imprisonment to an indeterminate term
having a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of life. Also, by
this Act the sentences of all prisoners then in the prisons
serving life sentences for murder second degree were made
indeterminate terms with limits as above given [and 12, out of
17, were soon released on parole],

"Chapter 645, Laws of 1907, provides, that a person convicted
for the fourth time for felony shall be sentenced to an
indeterminate term, the maximum of which shall be life.

"It is the intent of this law that the man who has
demonstrated the fact that he is a persistent criminal shall
be kept under supervision during life. That the counties shall
be saved the expense of repeatedly trying him and, more
important still, that the baneful effects of his association
with, and influence over, prisoners in the jails, shall be
avoided. If at any time after he has served his minimum term
there is a reasonable probability that he will remain at
liberty without violating the law, the Board may parole him."

The Act of 1907, which became effective June 10, in that year,
provides that "the board of parole for state prisons shall be
composed of the superintendent of state prisons and two
citizens appointed by the governor and confirmed by the
senate; and that said board shall meet at each of the prisons
every month. It shall also make examination and report to the
governor with its recommendations on all applications for
pardon referred to them by the governor."

_Report of the Board of Parole for State Prisons, 1907._

To serve with the Superintendent of Prisons as the Board of
Parole the Governor of New York appointed the Honorable George
A. Lewis and the Honorable Albion V. Wadhams, for five years.

In the annual report of the Superintendent of Prisons for 1908
he discusses the working of the law, in part as follows:

"The results attained with State prison convicts under the
indeterminate sentence law have been satisfactory so far as
the term limits fixed by the courts have permitted the proper
application of the parole features of the law. In many cases,
however, the terms of the sentences have been so inconsistent
with the evident purpose and intent of the law as to render
its parole provisions wholly, or to a good degree,
inoperative.

"In several sentences imposed by the courts, the maximum and
minimum terms have been identical as ‘Not less than three
years or more than three years.’ As will be seen, this is
really a definite sentence and no parole period is provided
for. In a very great number of cases, the margin between the
minimum and maximum terms is but one, two or three months.
While prisoners so sentenced may be paroled, the period of
their probation is so limited that there is little opportunity
to influence and train the man. …

"The Superintendent is satisfied that the indeterminate has
many advantages over the definite sentence, but its full
benefit cannot be had under the law as it now stands and is
applied. It should be amended so as to provide for longer
parole periods and for minimum sentences never exceeding the
maximum penalty for the crime of which the prisoner is
convicted less the commutation allowed on definite sentences."

In May, 1909, Governor Hughes signed a retro-active law which
extends to all convicts now in prison, who, being first
offenders, have been sentenced for crimes committed prior to
September 1st, 1907.

CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY:
Pan-American Extradition Convention.

See (in this Volume)
AMERICAN REPUBLICS.

CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY:
Preventive Detention in Great Britain.
The Borstal System of Discipline and Training for
Young Offenders.

An Act entitled The Prevention of Crime Act, passed by the
British Parliament in December, 1908, came into force on the
1st of August, 1909. It is described in the preamble as an
"Act to make better provision for the prevention of crime, and
for that purpose to provide for the reformation of young
offenders, and the prolonged detention of habitual criminals,
and for other purposes incidental thereto." "The principle of
‘preventive detention’ is accepted and embodied in the Act,
such detention to continue until the offender gives sufficient
assurance that he will take to an honest life, or until by age
or infirmity he becomes physically incapable of resuming a
life of crime. In no case is life imprisonment contemplated,
but when a man is convicted on indictment of a crime and is
sentenced to penal servitude, if the jury find that he is an
habitual criminal the Court may pass a further sentence. They
must first be satisfied, however, that by reason of his
criminal antecedents and his mode of life it is expedient for
the protection of the public that he should be kept in
detention for an extended period. The jury will have to be
satisfied, first that the man just convicted of an offence has
been convicted of at least three serious crimes, and,
secondly, that when convicted he was leading an habitually
dishonest life. The charge of being an habitual criminal
cannot be made except by the consent of the Director of Public
Prosecutions. The accused man will have an unqualified right
of appeal. After serving his term of penal servitude he will
be committed to a place of detention which will be a prison
specially adapted for the purposes of the Act. The prison
discipline will be less rigorous than that now prevailing,
alike as regards hours, talking, recreation, occupations, and
food.

"The Act provides that the Secretary of State [the Home
Secretary] shall once at least in every three years during
which the person is detained in custody under a sentence of
preventive detention, take into consideration the condition,
history, and circumstances of that person with a view to
determining whether he shall be placed out on license, and if
so, on what conditions. Directors of convict prisons are to
report periodically to the Secretary of State upon the conduct
and industry of persons undergoing preventive detention, and
their prospects and probable behaviour on release.
{173}
For this purpose they are to be assisted by a committee at
each prison, consisting of such members of the board of
visitors and such other persons of either sex as the Secretary
of State may from time to time appoint. Every such committee
is to hold meetings at intervals of not more than six months,
as may be prescribed, for the purpose of personally
interviewing persons undergoing preventive detention in the
prison and preparing reports for the assistance of the
directors."

The part of the Act which relates to the reformation of young
offenders provides for the establishment and regulation of
what are named "Borstal institutions." "These are places in
which young offenders may be given during their detention such
industrial training and other instruction and be subjected to
such disciplinary and moral influences as will conduce to
their reformation and the prevention of crime. The Act will
apply to persons of not less than 16 or more than 21 years of
age who may be convicted on indictment of an offence for which
they are liable to be sentenced to penal servitude or
imprisonment. In such cases … it will be lawful for the Court,
instead of passing a sentence of penal servitude or
imprisonment, to pass one of detention under penal discipline
in a Borstal institution. Such detention will not be less than
for one year or more than three years. Power is given to
detain in Borstal institutions youthful offenders sentenced to
detention in reformatory schools.

… Powers are also given to the Secretary of State to transfer
persons in certain cases from prison to Borstal institutions.

"Subject to regulations by the Secretary of State, the Prison
Commissioners may, after six months, or in the case of a
female three months, from the commencement of the term of
detention, if satisfied that there is reasonable probability
that the offender will abstain from crime and lead a useful
and industrious life, by license permit him to be discharged
from the Borstal institution, on condition that he be placed
under the supervision or authority of any society or person
named in the license who may be willing to take charge of the
case. Every person sentenced to detention in a Borstal
institution shall, on the expiration of the term of his
sentence, remain for a further period of six months under the
supervision of the Prison Commissioners."

The introduction of this system has been brought about by the
efforts of an organization which bears the name of the Borstal
Association, concerning whose experimental undertakings the
London _Times_ said, lately, in an editorial article:

"Those who have hitherto been sceptical as to effective
treatment of the criminal classes would do well to consult the
report for 1909 of the Borstal Association. They can scarcely
fail to admit that new and powerful agencies for good are at
work. The experiment, which has been more successful than its
authors anticipated, began in a small way at Bedford Prison,
and has been gradually extended. At first it was applied to
selected offenders in the metropolitan prisons between the
ages of sixteen and twenty-one who had been committed for six
months. It was soon discovered that little good could be done
with criminals under successive short sentences. This has been
rectified. … Speaking lately of the Borstal methods, the
Bishop of Wakefield said truly that the problem is how to
combine in the treatment of young criminals ‘tenderness and
strength,’ to ‘draw the line between sternness and sympathy.’
In the past the tendency was to be punctiliously severe. …
To-day the tendency, the danger, is to forget that the prison
is not a place of recreation; to dwell too much on the
hardships of its inmates; to plead a little too much for their
comforts; to ask and expect too much; to be unduly critical of
prison authorities. The advocates of the Borstal system claim
to have avoided these mistakes. ‘It is not,’ they say, ‘a
namby-pamby system; only those who accept its strong incentive
and reformative methods find it tolerable; those who do not,
entreat for removal to other prisons where less development
and improvement of their latent capacities are demanded.’ It
seeks to inure to hard work the lads subject to its
discipline; it would make them strong and fit to handle tools
intelligently; it would turn them into healthy and well set-up
men. The fact that they may quit Borstal with some proficiency
in a trade counts for much."

CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY:
Probation System, as established by recent legislation
in New York.

"Probation, as authorized by the laws of New York State, is a
system of discipline and correction, or, in some cases, of
moral guardianship, applied by courts to suitable offenders,
after conviction, for the purpose of improving their conduct
and circumstances without committing them to institutions. The
defendants are released conditionally on their good behavior,
under suspended sentence, and under the friendly but
authoritative supervision of a representative of the court,
known as a probation officer. The probation law contemplates
that in placing a defendant on probation certain terms and
conditions shall be imposed, and it provides that if the
probationer violate these conditions, his probation officer
may return him to court for the execution of sentence. Besides
usually requiring each probationer to report to him from time
to time, the probation officer is expected to visit the
probationer at frequent intervals and to do whatever seems
essential to improve his surroundings and habits. The
probation officer should report regularly to the court
concerning the progress of each probationer. When so directed
by the court, the probation officer also investigates cases,
particularly with reference to the history, circumstances and
character of the defendants, in order to lay before the court
facts which may be important in determining whether they
should be placed on probation.

"It is desirable to keep the distinction between probation and
parole clearly in mind. Under the New York laws the word
probation refers to the supervision of defendants who, after
conviction, are released under suspended sentence. The
suspension of sentence alone does not constitute probation;
there must also be oversight by a probation officer. The word
parole, on the other hand, is applied to two entirely
different systems. In some courts before convictions are
found, cases are adjourned from time to time and the
defendants conditionally released; and this is called parole.
There is no authority to apply the term probation to this
practice, because under the New York State laws a person
cannot be placed on probation until after conviction. Parole
is the appropriate word to use also in connection with the
conditional release of inmates from penal or reformatory
institutions before the expiration of their term of
commitment. …

{174}

"Twenty-seven hundred and fifty-four boys and girls, and 7,680
adults, making a total of 10,434 persons, were reported by
probation officers as on probation during 1908. Of these 8,762
were placed on probation during the year. On December 31,
1908, there were 2,378 persons remaining on probation. The
corresponding number for December 31, 1907, was 1,672. Three
hundred and twenty probation officers supervised probationers
during the year, which is more than double the number of
active probation officers reported in the last report of this
Commission. During 1908 the probation system was used in the
courts of 26 cities as against 16 cities reported in 1907, in
8 town and village courts in 1908 as against 1 village court
in 1907, in 23 county courts as against 11 in 1907, and, as
far as the reports of probation officers indicate, in the
Supreme Court in 6 counties as against none in 1907."

_Second Report of New York State Probation Commission,
March 15, 1909._

As amended in May, 1909, "the law creates the position of
county probation officer, and makes the services of such an
officer available not only in the county court, but also in
the Supreme Court and the courts of all towns, villages and
third-class cities within the county."

CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY:
The English "Probation of Offenders Act."

This Act, which became law in August, 1907, provides that,
"where any person is charged before a court of summary
jurisdiction with an offence punishable by such court, and the
court thinks that the charge is proved, but is of opinion
that, having regard to the character, antecedents, age,
health, or mental condition of the person charged, or to the
trivial nature of the offence, or to the extenuating
circumstances under which the offence was committed, it is
inexpedient to inflict any punishment or any other than a
nominal punishment, or that it is expedient to release the
offender on probation, the court may, without proceeding to
conviction, make an order either—

(i) dismissing the information or charge; or

(ii) discharging the offender conditionally on his entering
into a recognizance, with or without sureties, to be of good
behaviour and to appear for conviction and sentence when
called on at any time during such period, not exceeding three
years, as may be specified in the order."

Similarly after conviction of the offender, when a court deems
punishment inexpedient, it may, "in lieu of imposing a
sentence of imprisonment, make an order discharging the
offender conditionally on his entering into a recognizance,
with or without sureties, to be of good behaviour and to
appear for sentence when called on at any time during such
period, not exceeding three years, as may be specified in the
order;" and it may, in addition, order the offender to pay
damages for injury or compensation for loss that is consequent
on his offence.

The Act provides further that a recognizance ordered in such a
case may contain a condition that the offender shall be under
the supervision of such person as shall be named, during the
specified period of probation; that certain persons of either
sex may be appointed as probation officers,—some such, when
circumstances permit, to be specially "children’s probation
officers,"—and that salaries in the discretion of the courts
may be paid to these officers.

See (in this Volume), also,
Children, under the Law: As Offenders,
and Law and its Courts.

----------CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY: End--------

CRISES, Financial, of 1903 and 1907.

See (in this Volume)
FINANCE AND TRADE: A. D. 1901-1909.

CROCKER, George:
Bequest for Cancer Research.

See (in this Volume)
PUBLIC HEALTH: CANCER RESEARCH.

CROMER, Sir Evelyn Baring, Viscount:
Crowned King by the Sudanese.

See (in this Volume)
SUDAN, THE.

CROMER, Sir Evelyn Baring, Viscount:
What he saw on the Nile border of the Congo State.

See (in this Volume)
CONGO STATE: A. D. 1903-1905.

CROMER, Sir Evelyn Baring, Viscount:
Statement of conditions in Egypt.

See (in this Volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1907 (JANUARY).

----------CUBA: Start--------

CUBA:
Gains to Spain from its loss.

See (in this Volume)
SPAIN: A. D. 1898-1906.

CUBA: A. D. 1901-1902.
Organization of Free Government under a Republican Constitution.
Transfer of Executive Authority from the
provisional Military Governor to the President-elect.
Official correspondence of the occasion.

Events in and relating to Cuba, after the surrender of the
island by Spain and the organization of a provisional military
government by the United States are narrated in Volume VI. of
this work, down to the adoption by the Congress of the United
States of the stipulations known as "The Platt Amendment" (see
pages 189-190 in Volume VI), which the constitutional
government for Cuba then in process of formation was asked to
agree to, in order to define the future relation of the
proposed new republic with the United States. This enactment
was approved by the President on the 2d of March, 1901, and
communicated, through the provisional Military Governor of the
island, General Leonard Wood, to the Cuban Constitutional
Convention. Doubt as to possible interpretations of the third
clause of the Platt Amendment having then arisen in the
Convention, the following despatch went from Washington to the
Military Governor April 3d:

"You are authorized to state officially that in view of the
President the intervention described in the third clause of
the Platt amendment is not synonymous with intermeddling or
interference with the affairs of the Cuban Government, but the
formal action of the United States, based upon just and
substantial grounds, for the preservation of Cuban
independence and the maintenance of a government adequate for
the protection of life, property, and individual liberty, and
adequate for discharging the obligations with respect to Cuba
imposed by the treaty of Paris on the United States."

_Elihu Root, Secretary of War._

On the 12th of June, 1901, the convention adopted an ordinance
making provisions identical with those of the Platt Amendment,
a part of the constitution of Cuba.

{175}

"On October 1, 1901, the convention performed its remaining
duty by adopting an electoral law providing for a general
election throughout the island, to be held on the 31st day of
December, 1901, to choose governors of provinces, provincial
councilors, members of the house of representatives, and
presidential and senatorial electors. The law also provided
that on the 24th day of February, 1902, the several bodies of
electors thus chosen should meet and elect a president,
vice-president and senators. The elections were to be held
under the direct supervision of a central board of scrutiny,
composed of the president of the convention and four other
members selected for that purpose. The law was promulgated by
a general order of the military governor on the 14th of
October, 1901.

"The constitution thus adopted and perfected was treated by
the United States as an acceptable basis for the formation of
the new government to which, when organized and installed, the
control of the island was to be transferred.

"In conformity to the Cuban constitution and electoral law,
elections were held by the Cuban people on the 31st of
December, 1901, and by the electoral college on the 24th of
February, 1902, when a president [T. Estrada Palma],
vice-president, senate, and house of representatives were
chosen.

"The situation at this important juncture in the affairs of
Cuba is described by Secretary Root in his annual report for
1902 as follows:

"‘The whole governmental situation in Cuba was quite
unprecedented, with its curious device of a suspended
sovereignty given up by Spain, but not in terms vested in
anybody else, and if vested remaining dormant, while a
practical working government of military occupation in time of
peace, deriving its authority from the sovereignty of another
country, claimed temporary allegiance, made and enforced laws,
and developed a political organization of the Cuban people to
take and exercise the suspended or dormant sovereignty. It was
important that in inaugurating the new government there should
be no break in the continuity of legal obligation, of rights
of property and contract, of jurisdiction, or of
administrative action. It would not do to wait for the new
government to pass laws or to create offices and appoint
administrative officers and vest them with powers, for the
instant that the new government was created the intervening
government ceased, and the period of waiting would be a period
of anarchy.

"‘It was necessary, therefore, to take such steps that the new
Government should be created as a going concern, every officer
of which should be able to go on with his part of the business
of governing under the new sovereignty without waiting for any
new authority. That everything necessary to this end should be
done, and that it should be done according to a consistent and
maintainable legal theory, caused the Department a good deal
of solicitude. It is gratifying to report that it was done,
and that the Government which, until noon of May 20, was
proceeding under the authority of the President of the United
States, went on in the afternoon of that day and has ever
since continued under the sovereignty which had been abandoned
by Spain in April, 1899, without any more break or confusion
than accompanies the inauguration of a new President in the
United States. This could not have been done without the most
perfect good understanding, mutual confidence, and sympathetic
cooperation on the part of our officers who were about to
retire, and the newly elected officers of Cuba, who were about
to take the reins of Government.’"

One of the most interesting pages in history is that which
records the peaceful withdrawal of the flag and forces of the
United States from Cuba, and the inauguration of the
Government of the Republic of Cuba. The story cannot be told
in more interesting form or manner than as it is presented in
the orders of Secretary Root and the exchange of letters
between the President of the United States, the Secretary of
War, and the President of the Republic of Cuba. These
documents in part are as follows:

"Washington, D. C., March 24, 1902.
"Brig. Gen. Leonard Wood,
_Military Governor of Cuba._

"Sir: You are authorized to provide for the inauguration, on
the 20th of May next, of the government elected by the people
of Cuba; and, upon the establishment of said government, to
leave the government and control of the island of Cuba to its
people pursuant to the provisions of the act of Congress
entitled ‘An act making appropriation for the Army for the
fiscal year ending June 30, 1902,’ approved March 2, 1901.

"Upon the transfer of government and control to the President
and Congress so elected, you will advise them that such
transfer is upon the express understanding and condition that
the new government does thereupon, and by the acceptance
thereof, pursuant to the provisions of the appendix to the
constitution of Cuba, adopted by the constitutional convention
on the 12th of June, 1901, assume and undertake all and
several the obligations assumed by the United States with
respect to Cuba by the treaty between the United States of
America and Her Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain, signed at
Paris on the 10th day of December, 1898.

"It is the purpose of the United States Government, forthwith
upon the inauguration of the new government of Cuba, to
terminate the occupancy of the island by the United States,
and to withdraw from that island the military forces now in
occupancy thereof: but for the preservation and care of the
coast defenses of the island, and to avoid leaving the island
entirely defenseless against external attack, you may leave in
the coast fortifications such small number of artillerymen as
may be necessary, for such reasonable time as may be required
to enable the new Government to organize and substitute
therefor an adequate military force of its own: by which time
it is anticipated that the naval stations referred to in the
statute and in the appendix to the constitution above cited,
will have been agreed upon, and the said artillerymen may be
transferred thereto.

"You will convene the Congress elected by the people of Cuba
in joint session at such reasonable time before the 20th of
May as shall be necessary therefor, for the purpose of
performing the duties of counting and rectifying the electoral
vote for President and Vice-President under the fifty-eighth
article of the Cuban constitution.
{176}
At the same time you will publish and certify to the people of
Cuba the instrument adopted as the constitution of Cuba by the
constitutional convention on the 21st day of February, 1901,
together with the appendix added thereto and forming a part
thereof adopted by the said convention on the 12th day of
June, 1901. It is the understanding of the Government of the
United States that the government of the island will pass to
the new President and Congress of Cuba as a going concern; all
the laws promulgated by the government of occupation
continuing in force and effect, and all the judicial and
subordinate executive and administrative officers continuing
in the lawful discharge of their present functions until
changed by the constitutional officers of the new government.
At the same moment the responsibility of the United States for
the collection and expenditure of revenues and for the proper
performance of duty by the officers and employees of the
insular government will end, and the responsibility of the new
government of Cuba therefor will commence.

"In order to avoid any embarrassment to the new President,
which might arise from his assuming executive responsibility
with subordinates whom he does not know, or in whom he has not
confidence, and to avoid any occasion for sweeping changes in
the civil-service personnel immediately after the inauguration
of the new Government, approval is given to the course which
you have already proposed of consulting the President-elect,
and substituting, before the 20th of May, wherever he shall so
desire, for the persons now holding official positions, such
persons as he may designate. This method will make it
necessary that the new President and yourself should appoint
representatives to count and certify the cash and cash
balances and the securities for deposits transferred to the
new government. The consent of the owner of the securities for
deposits to the transfer thereof you will of course obtain.

"The vouchers and accounts in the office of the Auditor and
elsewhere, relating to the receipt and disbursement of moneys
during the government of occupation, must necessarily remain
within the control, and available for the use, of this
Department. Access to these papers will, however, undoubtedly
be important to the officers of the new government in the
conduct of their business subsequent to the 20th of May. You
will accordingly appoint an agent to take possession of these
papers and retain them at such place in the island of Cuba as
may be agreed upon with the new government until they can be
removed to the United States without detriment to the current
business of the new government.

"I desire that you communicate the contents of this letter to
Mr. Palma, the President-elect, and ascertain whether the
course above described accords with his views and wishes. Very
respectfully,
ELIHU ROOT, _Secretary of War_."

On the 20th of May, 1902, the transfer of executive authority
from the American Military Governor, General Wood, to
President elect Palma was made in due form, and the following
correspondence passed between President Palma, General Wood,
President Roosevelt, and Secretary Root:

"HABANA, May 20, 1902.
"Honorable General Leonard Wood.

"Sir: As President of the Republic of Cuba, I hereby receive
the Government of the Island of Cuba which you transfer to me
in compliance with orders communicated to you by the President
of the United States, and take note that by this act the
military occupation of Cuba ceases.

"Upon accepting this transfer I declare that the Government of
the Republic assumes, as provided for in the constitution,
each and every one of the obligations concerning Cuba imposed
upon the United States by virtue of the treaty entered into on
the 10th of December, 1898, between the United States and Her
Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain.

"I understand that, as far as possible, all pecuniary
responsibilities contracted by the military government up to
this date have been paid; that $100,000, or such portion
thereof as maybe necessary, have been set aside to cover the
expenses that may be occasioned by the liquidation and
finishing up of the obligations contracted by said government,
and that there has been transferred to the Government of the
Republic the sum of $689,191.02, which constitutes the cash
balance existing to-day in favor of the State. …

"I take this solemn occasion, which marks the fulfillment of
the honored promise of the Government and people of the United
States in regard to the island of Cuba, and in which our
country is made a ruling nation, to express to you, the worthy
representative of that grand people, the immense gratitude
which the people of Cuba feel toward the American nation,
toward its illustrious President, Theodore Roosevelt, and
toward you for the efforts you have put forth for the
successful accomplishment of such a precious ideal.

T. ESTRADA PALMA."

"Habana, May 20, 1902.
"Theodore Roosevelt, _President, Washington_.

"The government of the island having been just transferred, I,
as Chief Magistrate of the Republic, faithfully interpreting
the sentiments of the whole people of Cuba, have the honor to
send you and the American people testimony of our profound
gratitude and the assurance of an enduring friendship, with
wishes and prayers to the Almighty for the welfare and
prosperity of the United States.

T. ESTRADA PALMA."

"Washington, May 20, 1902.
"President of the Republic of Cuba:

"Believe in my heartfelt congratulations upon the inauguration
of the Republic which the people of Cuba and the people of the
United States have fought and labored together to establish.
With confidence in your unselfish patriotism and courage and
in the substantial civic virtues of your people, I bid you
godspeed, and on this happy day wish for Cuba for all time
liberty and order, peace and prosperity.
ELIHU ROOT, _Secretary of War_."

"Habana, May 21, 1902.
"ELIHU ROOT, _Secretary of War_, Washington.

"I am deeply moved by your heartfelt message of congratulation
on the inauguration of the Republic of Cuba, to the birth of
which the people and the Government of the United States have
contributed with their blood and treasure. Rest assured that
the Cuban people can never forget the debt of gratitude they
owe to the great Republic, with which we will always cultivate
the closest relations of friendship and for the prosperity of
which we pray to the Almighty.
T. ESTRADA PALMA."

{177}

On the 10th of June, General Wood, at Washington, made the
following report to the Adjutant-General of the United States
Army:

"Sir: I have the honor to inform you that the Republic of Cuba
was established at 12 o’clock noon, May 20, 1902. The transfer
was made upon the lines indicated in the instructions of the
honorable the Secretary of War, and the autograph letter of
the President read to President Palma and presented to him.
President Palma responded, expressing his sincere appreciation
of the work done by the United States in Cuba, and the lasting
gratitude of himself and the people of Cuba.

"The transfer was made in the main reception hall of the
palace of the military governor. There were present the
President-elect and his cabinet, the military governor and the
officers of his staff, civil and military, the Cuban Congress,
the judiciary, officers of the British and Italian navies, the
captain and staff of the U. S. S. Brooklyn, and the consular
representatives of foreign countries. …

"I left the palace at twenty-five minutes past 12 o’clock,
accompanied by the officers of my personal and departmental
staff. We were accompanied to the capitania del puerto by
President Palma with his cabinet, the Cuban Congress, and all
others who had been present at the ceremonies. President Palma
bade us farewell at the wharf after again expressing his most
sincere and lasting good will and appreciation.

"Accompanied by my personal staff, I immediately embarked upon
the U. S. S. _Brooklyn_. The officers of the department
staff embarked on the S . S. _Moro Castle_, which sailed
at a quarter past 3. The U. S. S. _Brooklyn_ sailed at
about 3.45.

LEONARD WOOD,_ Brigadier General United States Army_."

The above account of the "Establishment of Free Government in
Cuba "is taken wholly from a narrative thus entitled, compiled
by the Bureau of Insular Affairs, United States War
Department, and published as Document Number 312, in Volume 7
of Senate Documents, 58th Congress, 2d Session.

CUBA: A. D. 1902.
Tomas Estrada Palma, the First President of the Cuban Republic.

"There was such manifest propriety in the selection of General
Estrada Palma to be the first president of the Cuban Republic
that the attempt to bring forward another candidate was
unavailing. There was no excitement at the popular election,
and the voting was light, because the result was a foregone
conclusion. The two most important men in the last struggle
for Cuban freedom were General Maximo Gomez and General
Estrada Palma. Gomez commanded the armies in the field, and
employed methods which, as we have repeatedly said, entitle
him to rank as one of the greatest of all modern commanders.
Palma was the agent of the Cuban patriots in the United
States, and he, more than any other man, is to be credited
with having kept alive the military movement in Cuba by means
of material aid and assistance sent from the outside. Most
important of all, he addressed himself with success to
bringing about that awakening of public opinion in the United
States which finally took the form of an irresistible moral
crusade on behalf of Cuban freedom. If these two men had died,
or were otherwise ineligible, Cuba would not, indeed, have
been left without trained and patriotic sons who could have
filled the presidential office with ability and success. But
since Gomez and Palma were both alive, and available in every
sense, they were the two men to whom Cuba might naturally
turn, rather than to any others, as candidates for the
presidency. The military hero is always the man to be first
considered, and Gomez for a time was the candidate whose name
was upon all lips. But he declared that he had no ambition for
political office, and in due time it appeared that Gomez was
shaping things in Cuba for the nomination of Palma. …

"Tomas Estrada Palma is sixty-six years of age. His father was
a wealthy planter in the easternmost province of Cuba, and the
son was well educated in Cuba and in Spain, and became a
lawyer, with a view not so much to the practice of his
profession as to the better management of the affairs of a
large estate. His patriotic sympathies led him to active
service in the ten years’ struggle for independence which
began in 1868 and ended in 1878, and early in that period he
became a general in the insurgent army. Toward the end of the
war, he became the president of the provisional government, a
position which at least indicated the confidence in which he
was held by the Cuban people. He was made a prisoner, taken to
Spain, at the risk of his life refused to swear allegiance,
witnessed, in consequence, the confiscation of his estates,
and some time after the final termination of the struggle
regained his personal liberty, at the loss, however, of his
Cuban property and home. When he goes to Cuba, two or three
months hence, to assume the duties and high honors of the
presidency, it will be after an absence of twenty four years.
After his release, at the end of the Ten Years War, Palma
traveled in Spanish-American countries, and settled in
Honduras, where he married the daughter of the president of
that republic and became postmaster-general. Subsequently he
came with his wife and one little child to New York, and saw
an opportunity to establish a school for young people from the
Spanish-American countries. His institute was located in the
little town of Central Valley, in Orange County, New York,
some forty miles from the metropolis. He has now lived in
Central Valley for eighteen years, and his six children, five
of whom were born there, have known no other home."

_American Review of Reviews,
February, 1902._

CUBA: A. D. 1903.
Lease of Coaling and Naval Stations to the United States.
Reciprocity with the United States.
Cession of the Isle of Pines.

In consonance with Article VII. of the so-called "Platt
Amendment," which became an Appendix to the Constitution of
the Republic of Cuba, an Agreement between the United States
and Cuba for the lease to the former, in Guantanamo and Bahia
Honda, of lands for coaling and naval stations, was signed in
February, 1903. The consequent lease was signed and
ratifications exchanged in the following July and October.
{178}
According to the terms of the Agreement "while, on the one
hand, the United States recognizes the continuance of the
ultimate sovereignty of the Republic of Cuba over the above
described areas of land and water, on the other hand the
Republic of Cuba consents that during the period of the
occupation by the United States of said areas under the terms
of this agreement the United States shall exercise complete
jurisdiction and control over and within said areas with the
right to acquire (under conditions to be hereafter agreed upon
by the two Governments) for the public purposes of the United
States any land or other property therein by purchase or by
exercise of eminent domain with full compensation to the
owners thereof." The yearly rental to be paid for the use of
the lands defined in the Agreement is $2000.

An arrangement of reciprocity between Cuba and the United
States, conceding to Cuban sugar a rebate of 20 per cent. from
the Dingley tariff rate, and giving 20 to 40 per cent. of
reduction in Cuba on American goods, was ratified by the
United States Senate in December.

A treaty ceding all claims of the United States to the Isle of
Pines was signed in December, and awaited ratification by the
Senate when the year closed.

CUBA: A. D. 1906.
Participation in Third International Conference of
American Republics.

See (in this Volume)
_American Republics._

CUBA: A. D. 1906 (August-October).
Outbreak of insurrection.
Appeal of President Palma for American intervention.
The Republic practically without a Government.
Secretary Taft, sent to the Island, establishes a
Provisional Government.
Governor Magoon.

The first report to the Government of the United States of an
outbreak of insurrection in Cuba was sent from the American
Legation at Havana on the 21st of August, 1906. Between 1000
and 1500 men were then said to be in arms in Pinar del Rio,
under Colonel Pino Guerra, "a Liberal member of the present
Congress and a veteran of the War of Independence." The
insurgents represented the political party called Liberal,
hostile to the party called Moderate which controlled the
Government and enjoyed the favor of President Palma. They
complained of unfairness in late elections and demanded a new
electoral law with a new election to be held under it. The
Government had no effective armed forces to use against them,
and some effort by business men of Havana and by "veterans" to
mediate between the parties and pacify the revolutionists were
without avail. Events, therefore, moved rapidly to the
producing of a situation in which President Palma, on the 12th
of September, asked for American intervention, and begged
"that President Roosevelt send to Havana with rapidity 2000 or
3000 men, to avoid any catastrophe in the capital." Two days
later the request was repeated with more urgency, the
Consul-General at Havana stating in a telegram to the State
Department at Washington:

"President Palma has resolved not to continue at the head of
the Government, and is ready to present his resignation, even
though the present disturbances should cease at once. The
vice-president has resolved not to accept the office. Cabinet
ministers have declared that they will previously resign.
Under these conditions it is impossible that Congress will
meet, for the lack of a proper person to convoke same to
designate a new president. The consequences will be absence of
legal power, and therefore the prevailing state of anarchy
will continue unless the United States Government will adopt
the measures necessary to avoid this danger."

The action then taken by President Roosevelt was recounted by
him in his next annual Message to Congress, as follows:

"It was evident that chaos was impending, and there was every
probability that if steps were not immediately taken by this
Government to try to restore order, the representatives of
various European nations in the island would apply to their
respective governments for armed intervention in order to
protect the lives and property of their citizens. Thanks to
the preparedness of our Navy, I was able immediately to send
enough ships to Cuba to prevent the situation from becoming
hopeless; and I furthermore dispatched to Cuba the Secretary
of War and the Assistant Secretary of State, in order that
they might grapple with the situation on the ground. All
efforts to secure an agreement between the contending
factions, by which they should themselves come to an amicable
understanding and settle upon some modus vivendi—some
provisional government of their own—failed. Finally the
President of the Republic resigned. The quorum of Congress
assembled failed by deliberate purpose of its members, so that
there was no power to act on his resignation, and the
Government came to a halt. In accordance with the so-called
Platt amendment, which was embodied in the constitution of
Cuba, I thereupon proclaimed a provisional government for the
island, the Secretary of War acting as provisional governor
until he could be replaced by Mr. Magoon, the late minister to
Panama and governor of the Canal Zone on the Isthmus; troops
were sent to support them and to relieve the Navy, the
expedition being handled with most satisfactory speed and
efficiency. The insurgent chiefs immediately agreed that their
troops should lay down their arms and disband; and the
agreement was carried out."

From an "Epitome of events attendant upon the establishment of
the Provisional Government of Cuba," published in Part 1 of
"Papers relating to the Foreign Relations of the United
States," for 1906, the following is taken:

"On Saturday, September 29, 1906, a provisional government
exercising Cuban sovereignty under the authority of the
President of the United States was established, and a
proclamation was issued to the Cuban people setting forth the
causes for this action and defining the position of the United
States toward Cuba.

"Since the American commissioners understand that the Republic
of Cuba is continuous and that they are only the ad interim
executives, the various departments continue to function as
before with the assistant secretaries as acting heads, the
only officials discharged being those taken on to meet the
exigencies of the revolution.

"At the time the commissioners assumed control there were many
political prisoners in the jails throughout the island. These,
of whom several were prominent liberals who had several times
been consulted by the commissioners while on parole, were
immediately set at liberty.

"The disbanding and disarming of the rebel forces and,
incidentally, the government militia, enlisted specially for
the revolution, has been the chief concern of the provisional
government from its establishment until now. It was carried
out by a commission of American and Cuban military officers,
of which General Frederick Funston was head, and has been
practically completed.

{179}

"On the 10th instant [October] Provisional Governor Taft
issued a general amnesty proclamation to the people of Cuba,
thus indicating that quiet and peace have been restored. Save
for sporadic local disturbances, the entire country is
tranquil.

"On Tuesday, the 9th instant, Governor Magoon, who has
succeeded Mr. Taft as provisional governor, and General Bell,
who is to take command of the military forces of the United
States in the island, reached Habana, and on Saturday, the
13th, Governor Taft issued a proclamation transferring the
provisional governorship to Governor Magoon."

In his proclamation of September 29th, on taking possession of
the Government, Secretary Taft used these clear and distinct
words:

"The provisional government hereby established will be
maintained only long enough to restore order, peace, and
public confidence, by direction of and in the name of the
President of the United States, and then to hold such
elections as may be necessary to determine on those persons
upon whom the permanent government of the republic should be
devolved.

"In so far as is consistent with the nature of a provisional
government established under the authority of the United
States this will be a Cuban Government, conforming with the
constitution of Cuba. The Cuban flag will be hoisted as usual
over the government buildings of the island, all the executive
departments and provincial and municipal governments,
including that of the City of Havana, will continue to be
administered as under the Cuban Republic; the courts will
continue to administer justice, and all the laws not in their
nature inapplicable by reason of the temporary and emergent
character of the government will be in force."

CUBA: A. D. 1906-1909.
Under the Provisional American Government.
Election of a new Congress and a new President.
Restoration of the Republic.

In his Message to Congress, December, 1907, President
Roosevelt described the conditions that had prevailed in the
island for two years under the provisional government,
instituted by Secretary Taft and over which Governor Magoon
had presided, in a few words, as follows:

"Absolute quiet and prosperity have returned to the island
because of this action. We are now taking steps to provide for
elections in the island and our expectation is within the
coming year to be able to turn the island over again to a
government chosen by the people thereof. Cuba is at our doors.
It is not possible that this Nation should permit Cuba again
to sink into the condition from which we rescued it. All that
we ask of the Cuban people is that they be prosperous, that
they govern themselves so as to bring content, order and
progress to their island, the Queen of the Antilles; and our
only interference has been and will be to help them achieve
these results."

Provincial elections held in the following August went
generally in favor of the Conservative party, and that party
was accordingly expected to win the presidential election,
appointed to occur in November, 1908; but such was not the
result. Three parties were in the field, Conservatives,
Miguelistas, and Zayistas. The Miguelistas were political
followers of General José Miguel Gomez, whose middle name they
took for their party designation; the Zayistas were partisans
of Dr. Alfredo Zayas; the Conservatives were reputed to be
substantially identical with the party known as Moderates in
the politics of the First Republic. Their leader was General
Menocal. The Liberals of former contests were now divided
between Miguelistas and Zayistas. They were reunited in the
national election of November, and swept the Moderates into
the background, electing both their leaders, Gomez and Zayas,
the one to be President, the other to be Vice-President, of
the reconstituted Republic: electing, at the same time, an
effective majority in the Congress for their support.

January 28, 1909, was the day fixed for dissolving the
provisional government and reinvesting the Cubans with
political independence; but the Congress was organized and
held its initial session on the 13th. The President and
Vice-President elect were inaugurated with simple ceremonies
on the 28th. President Roosevelt, on that day, sent a message
to the President and the Congress in these words:CUBA:

"Governor Magoon will, by my direction, turn over to you on
the 28th of this month the control and government of the
island of Cuba, and he will thereupon declare the provisional
administration of the affairs of the island by the United
States to be at an end. Upon the occasion of this final act, I
desire to reiterate to you the sincere friendship and good
wishes of the United States and our most earnest hopes for the
stability and success of your government. Our fondest hope is
that you may enjoy the blessing of peace, prosperity, justice,
and orderly liberty, and that the friendship which has existed
between the republic of the United States and the republic of
Cuba, may continue for all time to come."

Governor Magoon, in his brief address, surrendering the reins
of government to President Gomez, said, in part:

"It is the understanding of the United States, and it now
declares that all the executive and legislative decrees and
rulings of the provisional government now in force shall
continue in force and effect until such time as the same shall
be legally revoked by Cuba.

"All money obligations of the provisional government down to
this date have been paid as far as practicable. Such claims
and obligations, however, as may remain unpaid are to be
regarded as claims and obligations of Cuba, and the United
States understands that these claims and obligations will be
so treated."

President Gomez replied: