Chapter XXVII: Education and Religion

Whatever the Cuban people may have thought of Spain and her methods, it is plain that in one regard, at least, the child deemed its mother a pattern of excellence and followed her example far beyond the pattern,--and that regard was education. Spain has always been at the head of the ignorant list among European countries, but Cuba is far worse, for she has the sloth of climate against her, in addition to other handicaps, and the people are slow to avail themselves of even such opportunities as they have. Indeed, the opportunities seem not to be lacking for a great many, for there are laws for general education, even compulsory education, and there are schools and colleges; but neither those for whose benefit the laws were made nor those to whom their execution is entrusted care to work any harder than is necessary, and the result is that the proportion of scholars to population, including all kinds of schools, is as 1 to 40. The rates in the United States are 1 to 4.39, except in the South, where they are 1 to 8. Nowhere in rural Cuba does the country schoolhouse prevail as we know it and feel its influence all over the United States, and possibly, quite surely indeed, it will never exist there as it does with us; but a great deal of improvement can be made, and to the 300,000 children of school age in Cuba who do not yet know their a, b, c's, may be given an opportunity to get, at least, a little sip at the fountain of learning. Although the country schoolhouse was entirely absent, in the city there was a pretence of having so-called "common schools," but their teachers were usually selected by politicians, and the pay was so small and precarious that even the political "scum" did not become school-teachers until every other chance was gone. What these teachers were like may be guessed at nearly. On the subject of common-school education, Mr. Charles M. Pepper, in a newspaper letter from Cuba, says:

"It is tolerably clear that military control will not be able to do
much for Cuba in the way of education. The most that can be done
will be to encourage the reopening of municipal schools and to
sustain the local authorities in rigorously enforcing the laws
against truancy. The reconcentration has left large numbers of
children on the streets. After a time, when homes are found for
them, it will be important that they shall go to school. Before
that the various towns will have to get the schools opened and
provide means for keeping them open. That will come when the
municipal revenues again appear, and these revenues will be slow in
making their appearance. As for the teachers, there is little
prospect for those from the United States. It is a common delusion
that the need of Cuba is a school system of which the basis is the
English language. One tongue is all that the mass of the children
can use during their primary schooling, and that is the tongue
which is heard all around them. Reading, writing, and arithmetic
can be taught in Castilian as well as in English. The first two are
taught the easier because in Spanish every syllable is pronounced
as written.

"A large number of young Cubans who have been educated in the
United States are now wondering what they will do to earn a living.
Most of them are thinking of getting office. The best office that
they could seek would be that of schoolmaster. If any educational
system can be provided under which they will find employment, their
energies and their knowledge will not go amiss. Most of them are
full of sentimental patriotism. They want to help raise their
people above the plane to which Spanish rule had degraded the mass
of the inhabitants. The schoolroom is the place in which to do it,
and it is the only place. These educated young Cubans will be
better employed in teaching than in talking politics or in fretting
about the independence of the Island.

"This is said only of the municipal schools. I do not know when a
system of country schools can be established in Cuba. The present
problem is to get what is left of the reconcentrado population back
into homes in the country, and to raising crops which will support
them. Some progress has been made. Next year they may all be back
on their farms and on the plantations. Then it will be possible to
plan schooling for the children of the fields. In the meantime the
education of the few Cuban youths at American colleges does not
solve the question. That is praise-worthy in its way, but the mass
of children in Cuba cannot be transferred in a body to the States,
nor is it desirable that they should be taken away. They have got
to be given their schooling in the midst of the surroundings to
which they are born. That can only be done by planting the
schoolhouse. It will not be a little red one, most likely will not
be painted at all, for the bamboo frames and the palm thatching do
not need to be painted. When the country schoolmaster (or perhaps
under the new conditions it will be the country schoolma'am)
becomes part of the rural life of Cuba the future will no longer be
blank."

While it scarcely seems necessary to comment upon matters of the past, which will soon undergo such changes as scarcely to be recognisable, still history is interesting, and a short description of the University of Havana, the chief educational agency of the Island, its purpose and its future, by Dr. Joaquin Lastres, will not be inappropriate. It may be said of the University that it has branches in all the provinces, and numbered before 1898 about 3000 students, 1800 of whom were in Havana. Dr. Lastres writes as follows, under date of September, 1898, in Havana:

"The University of Havana, which is the highest institution of
instruction in the Island of Cuba, has, ever since its foundation
in 1721, had a personality of its own, and consequently it has
never been considered a property, or dependency of the State; but,
like municipalities and deputations, has constituted an
institution, self-supporting as regards the State. Since its
foundation it has occupied buildings that have not been State
property. At the beginning, its own property and income
maintained it; but in 1842, without removing its own judicial
individuality, the State undertook its maintenance in exchange for
the confiscation of its property and income. The _Instituto de 2ª
Enseñanza_ (The Institution of Elementary Instruction) is only a
dependency of the University under the same judicial conception,
owing to its having substituted the old College of the University,
which in its turn was formed of several schools teaching different
branches of learning, which were within the sphere of the
University's jurisdiction at the time of its foundation in 1721.
Consequently, this elementary school has to-day the same judicial
character as the University.

"The property and estate seized by the State in exchange for the
obligation to maintain this institution were numerous and
important; a full statement is to be found in the Treasury
Department of this city. Among the properties may be mentioned
quit-rents in favour of the University, the building occupied by
the old College of Pharmacy, the building occupied by the
University 'Instituto,' the important sums of money delivered to
the State when it undertook the maintenance of the College, and
several other effects. Some of this property has been already
expropriated by the State partially or totally.

"By the law of the 24th of March, 1883, published in the _Gacota de
la Habana_ on the 5th of the following May, it was decided to
construct a new University, the necessary funds to be raised by the
sale of the building occupied by the University and Instituto, the
sale of State property not yet expropriated originally occupied by
the old city walls, provided this property be free of all
incumbrances, the sale of other lands in Havana belonging to the
State not yet disposed of, gifts and subscriptions that may be
obtained for this object by the Governor-General of the Island, and
the amount annually fixed in the budget of the Island as an
appropriation to this end. The subscription was never started, nor
was any appropriation made for it. The same law that assigned the
means of raising the funds declared it a public benefit and liable
to compulsory appropriation.

"The royal decree of the 7th of July, 1883, ordered the
Governor-General of this Island to commence the construction of the
University building, and blocks eight and nine of the old city
walls were chosen by the State architect. The corner-stone of this
building was solemnly laid at 9 o'clock A.M. of the 23d of January,
1884, his Excellency, the Governor-General Don Ignacio-Maria del
Castillo y Gil de la Torre, as President, in the presence of the
authorities, corporations, civil functionaries, and a number of
invited guests. This stone remains in the corner where it was
placed in the grounds chosen for the new University.

"By decree of the 9th of August, 1886, the Botanical Gardens of
this city were ordered to be a dependency of this University, as
they continue to be.

"The scant scientific material of this University, and the valuable
collections of the Havana _Instituto_, and also the modest
appurtenances of the Matanzas Institution are all the exclusive
property of the colleges in which they are, as they have been
acquired by the same and they have the legal right to their
possession.

"The library belongs to the University, as nearly all the books
came from the Pontifical Library; the appropriation made by the
State in the annual budget for the University Library has scarcely
sufficed to provide for its care. A good proportion of the books
are donations of professors and private individuals, and are mostly
valuable acquisitions.

"As all the present furniture of the University is new and has been
paid for with the proceeds of the academical dues of the different
faculties, in other words, with the University funds, it must be
considered as University property. The archives of the secretary's
department referring to the files of those graduated from the
University should be retained as the University has an
individuality of its own, and these documents being purely of a
personal character can have no interest for outsiders. Files of an
administrative character and those relating to examinations and
degrees should certainly be kept in the University archives. Those
professors who decide to remain in Cuba should have their files
kept in the secretary's department of this University; those who
may wish to be changed to some university in Spain, or who may not
renounce the Spanish citizenship, may obtain at their own expense a
certified copy of their files or a certificate of their services
duly legalized, the originals to be kept in the archives of this
University so long as its individuality be retained.

"Such titles as may have been given during Spanish sovereignty in
the West Indies should be respected, both in Spain and in Cuba and
Porto Rico, without in any way interfering with such rights as may
be acquired by those obtaining titles given after the cessation of
Spanish sovereignty in Cuba, which will depend upon the laws which
may be applied to both countries in this connection.

"Cuban students, who have commenced their studies in Spanish
universities, whether in Cuba or in Spain, after cessation of
Spanish sovereignty, should be given credit for the courses of
study followed whether in Cuba or in Spain, adapting their future
studies, as much as possible, to any new plans adopted. It would be
well to give a maximum limit of five years to those who may have
commenced their studies under old plans, in which to finish them,
whether such studies be elementary or superior.

"All professors remaining in this Island should have all their
rights respected, including promotions, prizes, and
superannuations, which they may be entitled to, including
_excedencia_. The Spanish sovereignty should also respect the
rights of all professors who may go to other universities of the
kingdom, whatever institution of this Island they may come from in
order of antiquity."

Dr. JOAQUIN LASTRES.

Of more interest and of more future potency, scope, and applicability is the "Industrial School of Havana," by Director Fernando Aguado y Rico, who goes into details which are here given in full to show how elaborate are Spanish educational laws and details of instruction, and how very little more work in that line will have to be done by whatever American talent may be called upon to conduct an educational advance along these and other lines in Cuba. The Director says:

"In regard to the origin of the school, one of the originators
proposed to the city to establish this school, which proposition
was accepted. We first began with night courses and then day and
night classes and some workshops. We have not been able to keep the
workshops going owing to lack of funds, but I think this school is
a nucleus from which to enlarge this work.

"We do not graduate civil engineers from our school, and our aim
is to teach these boys carpentering, mechanical pursuits, and
industrial chemistry, though the laboratories have not yet been
established. There is a great lack of elementary schools here with
industrial applications. This is something like a manual-training
school, and like the one of arts and trades in Paris. I studied
systems in France, Belgium, and the United States, and so far as
possible have applied the best of these systems here. I graduated
in 1881 in physical chemistry in the Department of Science in the
University here, and the next year I commenced teaching.

"It does not cost the pupil anything to attend this school. There
is an absolute lack of anything between the higher engineer and the
ordinary labourer. Mechanics, agriculturists, and industrial
chemists are most needed here, and the aim of the school is to
supply these. There are a good many architects here who build
houses but know nothing about mechanics, and a good many engineers
who do not know anything about a steam-engine, being merely copies
of what they have seen other men do. There are absolutely no
draughtsmen here, though there is a great demand for them. The
school will be extended as soon as we have the means.

"_The School of Arts and Trades_ is a public institution of
instruction, depending on the Provincial Deputation of Havana,
consistent with the rights which these institutions are entitled to
by Article 147 of the present Plan of Studies (Educational Law).

"The courses of instruction of this school are divided into two
sections--day classes and night classes. Instruction is absolutely
free and only day-scholars are allowed.

"The day classes comprise:

"Preparatory instruction for admission.

"Technical industrial instruction.

"The night classes are intended to give workmen opportunities to
improve themselves in their trades, acquiring technical knowledge
of their work.

"These are divided into:

"Oral instruction and drawing classes.

"Graphical, numerical, and analytical exercises in connection with
the above.

"Assays, analysis, and manipulation.

"Practical work in the shops of the school, giving instruction of a
practical character and in connection with the theoretical courses,
besides giving the ways of judging the quality of the raw
materials; names, description, and use of different utensils and
tools.

"DAY CLASSES--PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION

Writing
Religion and Morals.
Spanish Grammar and Spelling.
Arithmetic.
Geography and Spanish History.
Elements of Geometry and Geometrical Drawing.

"The foreign studies are adapted to those to be followed by the
students in the other courses and which constitute the main object
of the school. The students of these courses do some simple work in
the shops.

"To be admitted to the preparatory courses at the request of
fathers, tutors, or trustees, it is necessary:

"(1) To be at least eleven years old on the 1st of September.

"(2) To know how to read and write well.

"The admission term will be during all September.

"The number of inscriptions for preparatory courses will be limited
to 100, the most promising being selected from such as may apply,
preference being given to the children of artisans.

"Vacancies up to the end of December to be covered as they occur.

"Examinations to take place during the last ten days of June.

"Vacations will last from the end of the examinations to the 31st
day of August.

"In September, students who may have failed in previous
examinations, those not yet examined, and new scholars will attend
the courses.

"Those who may have studied and passed the examinations in the
school of the preparatory courses will be entitled to commence the
technical courses.

"TECHNICAL INDUSTRIAL INSTRUCTION

"Young men wishing to be admitted to the courses of Technical
Industrial Instruction at the request of their fathers, tutors, or
trustees must:

"(1) Be at least twelve years old on October 1st.

"(2) Have followed the preparatory courses.

"Examinations for admission to this section will take place on the
26th of September at 12 M.

"Petitions for admission should be addressed to the Director, and
will be received up to the previous day.

"Both spoken and written exercises will be given in these
examinations.

"The written exercises will consist in:

"(1) Dictation.

"(2) A problem in Arithmetic.

"(3) A problem in Geometry, applying the metric system.

"(4) Free-hand croquis with boundaries.

"The written exercises will be the same for all the applicants, and
will be all on the same day and hour, which will be duly announced
beforehand.

"The Board of Examiners for admission will be constituted by the
Director of the schools, the President, the Professors of Grammar,
Geography, and History, one of Mathematics, one of Drawing, and the
Instructor of the preparatory course, who will act as secretary.

"Technical instruction will be divided into general and special for
Constructors, Mechanics, and Industrial Chemists.

"General instruction comprises the theory of the following subjects
applied to Industrial Arts and the apprenticeship in the shops:

"Spanish Grammar; Geography and History; Arithmetic; Geometry;
Elementary Algebra; Trigonometry; Applied Geometry; Completion of
Mathematics; Descriptive Geometry; Elements of Physics, with
practical applications; Elementary Chemistry, with experiments;
Elementary Mechanics, with practical applications; Elements of
Hygiene; Notions of Accounting and Industrial Economy; Geometrical,
Mechanical, and Applied Drawing; Ornamental and Decorative Drawing.

"Woodwork: Carpenter's work and turning; models.

"Metal-work: Mechanics; forge; adjusting.

"The special studies comprise a separate course each as follows:

{ Applied Mechanics.
Civil Constructors { Construction and Architecture.

{ Industrial Mechanics.
Mechanics { Steam-Engines and Elements of Machine Construction.

{ Industrial Physics.
Industrial Chemists { Industrial Chemistry Chemical Analysis.

"The tuition of each special course is complemented with graphical
work, applied drawing, plans, and practices.

"Special studies cannot be followed unless the general courses have
been studied.

"The courses will commence on the first Monday of October and will
close on the eve of the examinations, which will take place in June
on the days and hours that may be chosen.

"July and August are vacation months, but a limited amount of work
in the shops will be continued, as may be determined by the Board
of Professors. In September the extra examinations will take place.

"NIGHT CLASSES

"To be admitted to the night classes, it is necessary:

"(1) To be at least twelve years old.

"(2) To know how to read and write well and the rudiments of
Grammar, Arithmetic, and Geometrical Drawing.

"Those under fifteen must call accompanied by their fathers or
tutors when applying for admittance.

"Admittance examinations will take place in September.

"The night classes comprise the following courses:

Written exercises.
Grammar.
Arithmetic.
Geometry with practical applications.
Elementary Algebra.
Physics with practical applications.
Chemistry with practical applications.
Mechanics with practical applications.
Geometrical and Mechanical Drawing.
Geometrical and Applied Drawing.
Ornamental and Decorative Drawing.

"In studying these courses the following rules shall be observed:

"(1) Arithmetic and Geometry with practical applications shall
precede all the oral courses, excepting Grammar.

"(2) Geometrical Drawing shall precede Mechanical and Applied
Drawing.

"The term for inscribing in the night courses shall be during all
September.

"All persons soliciting matriculation in the night courses shall be
admitted free of charge.

"REGULATIONS:

"All courses shall be public and anyone is entitled to attend with
the sanction of the Director. No dues are charged for matriculation
or the examinations that may be necessary to get a diploma.

"New students are entitled to inscribe in the higher courses prior
to payable examinations, once they show having followed the
elementary courses in some other institution.

"During the college term the classes will be suspended only on
Sundays, holidays, Saints'-days, and birthdays of the King and
Queen, All-Souls Day, from December 23d to January 2d, the three
days of Carnival, Ash Wednesday and the last four days of Holy
Week, Easter, and Pentecost.

"The matriculation term shall be all of September. Applicants will
solicit the same in printed forms furnished by the school, together
with this prospectus.

"DUTIES OF STUDENTS: Students will attend the courses punctually
and with decorum; they will endeavour to benefit by the lessons of
the professors, doing the work assigned to them in connection with
their studies and the trade they may be following. They will use a
special suit for working in the shops, a model of which will be
furnished by the school.

"Due respect will be shown the Director, professors, and the shop
instructors. The file of each student will show the prizes he may
be given, as well as the punishment he may receive.

"Should a student commit some offence deserving special
punishment, either the Director will be charged to administer it,
or a 'Council of Discipline' as specified in the present Laws of
Public Instruction.

"The fathers, tutors, trustees of the students, will attend to
being informed every month of the behaviour and progress of their
charges, calling at the secretary's department where the
information on the subject will be exposed for inspection.

"EXAMINATIONS: Examinations for passing to higher classes are
divided into ordinary and extraordinary. The former to take place
in June, the latter in September.

"In June such students will be examined as the professors may
consider deserving it. Those failing to go to the examinations when
called upon, may do so the next time the examiners meet if they
justify their previous absence.

"In September may be examined:

"(1) Those included in these lists by the professors.

"(2) Those who may have been absent at the June examinations.

"(3) Those failing to pass in June.

"(4) Those wishing to improve their record in the June
examinations.

"PRIZES: To encourage students, the School will distribute prizes
every year, consisting of medals, books, instruments, tools, etc.

"One prize will be given for every 25 students; "honourable
mention" will besides be made of others.

"Only those rated first-class in each course may be awarded prizes.

"There will be extraordinary prizes, awarded by competition, during
the first fortnight of September.

"DIPLOMAS: Students will be given at the end of the third year a
certificate or diploma of general instruction and apprenticeship of
the trade they may have followed, if their practical work of the
three years' course is considered satisfactory.

"Those finishing a special course are entitled to a diploma, after
a theoretical and practical examination. These examinations may be
solicited at any time excepting during July and August. Those
failing in their first examinations will have to wait at least two
months before being examined again.

"A certificate of the studies followed and practical work done by
each student will accompany every diploma.

"The Director,

"FERNANDO AGUADO Y RICO.

"HAVANA, August, 1898.

"SCHOOL: _Diputacion Provincial_, 32 Empedrado St.

"SHOPS: Belascoain St., between Maloja and Sitios Sts."

The following figures indicate what amount of public money goes to the cause of education in Cuba:

University $120,650
Department of Secretary of Public Instruction 58,300
Professional School 18,300
Drawing and Fine Arts School 8,750
Normal School for Schoolmasters and Schoolmistresses 25,147
--------
Total $231,147

The municipalities in all the Island pay $775,646 for 888 schools for boys and girls (1893), four per cent. on all municipal taxes taken from this.

The Provincial Elementary State Schools are paid by the _Diputaciones Provinciales._ (Paid out of _cedula_ tax.)

In 1893 they (the _Diputaciones Provinciales_) paid:

Havana $ 37,550
Pinar del Rio (closed) 12,650
Matanzas 14,650
Santa Clara 15,900
Puerto Principe 14,650
Santiago de Cuba 15,900
--------
Total $110,400

The religion of the Island is Roman Catholic, and no other religious bodies are permitted to exercise their belief in public, although no interference has ever been attempted with individual belief so long as the individual was careful not to interfere with the established religion. There are no churches of any kind except Catholic and Baptist.

From the beginning until 1788 the Island consisted of a single diocese with the seat of the bishop at Santiago de Cuba, which has always been the religious centre; but in that year the diocese of Havana was created, with a bishop in charge, and Santiago was erected into a bishopric with an archbishop. The religious festivals and celebrations at Santiago are observed with an attempt at magnificence nowhere else approached on the Island.

The priests of the Island are appointed by the archbishop and bishop, and as a rule the Captain-General has not interfered to any extent with religious matters. Generally speaking, the Cuban men, outside of the profession of the Church, do not pay much attention to religious observances, leaving that duty mainly to the women.

The Church has always been a State institution and receives its regular annual allowance in the budget, in addition to its private income, which is not small. In 1894 the amount given by the Government amounted to $385,588. Under the new order there will be no union of Church and State, neither will there be any interference with the religious belief and practice of the people. Every denomination will have equal rights in New Cuba.