yip * - .r
8 Conservative.
more summary proceeding of the pro
posed writ should be introduced , nud nt
Inst its adoption was secured the pro
mulgation of an order by the military
governor , General Wood , in December
last.
It would require much space to at
tempt to enumerate all that has been
done iu the way of reform , and the
Ixnioficial actions taken by the two mili
tary governors. A few may bo stated ,
of those affecting the laws , such as the
reorganization of the existing courts ;
> „ the creation of a supreme court , and of
*
correctional courts for the trial of minor
cases ; provisions to facilitate the ad
ministration of justice , to provide
salaries for court officials instead of
fees which had led to corruption ; the
promulgation of laws for the punish
ment of bribery ; provision for making
legal the religious as well as the civil
ceremony of marriage ; authorization of
notaries to administer oaths outside of
. judicial proceedings , and to take affi
davits and acknowledgements of deeds
and other instruments ; with many other
laws , the benefits of which" are only to
1)0 understood by comparison of present
remedies and facilities with those which
had existed before.
The progress made in a mutual under
standing and adaptation of the two dif
ferent systems of law , the civil law of
Spain and the laws of the United
States , derived from the common law of
England , during the past two years is
greater than could have been expected.
Naturally suspicious and hostile to the
introduction of changes into their sys
tem of law and the methods of its ad
ministration to which they had been ed
ucated ( but possibly no more so than
ourselves would be , were the conditions
reversed ) it required constant and per
sistent effort to convince the Cuban sec
retaries of justice and the legal fra
ternity generally of the necessity or ad
vantage of reforms which , to American
view , were much needed , and it was
necessary to go slowly. In some in
stances their assent was not awaited ;
but to have attempted the introduction
of American laws bodily into Cuba
would have beeu to provide them with
a system entirely unknown to their
judges , their lawyers , or the people , and
was manifestly an impossibility. It
would have been unwise to undertake
it or to attempt to force upon them laws
that they could not understand or com
prehend.
Schools.
At the date of military occupation
there were few , if any public schools in
the island. Under the reorganization
of departments these were placed in
charge of the Secretary of Justice and
Public Instruction , and the consequent
work devolving upon that functionary
was very great. The reorganization of
schools and the school system was , how
ever , begun under General Brooke , and
a decree which had been'propared under
his administration was issued by Gen
eral Wood substantially in its original
form soon after his assumption of duties
as military governor , and he has earned
the reorganization to a successful con
clusion. The work , and law has , however -
over , been greatly modified and enlarged
under his supervision ; a largo force of
teachers has been employed ; school
houses built ; the number of school
rooms largely increased ; school furni
ture , books , etc. , have been provided ,
and it is stated in the Annual Report of
Public Schools for 1900 , that the num
ber of school rooms which was 812 in
December , 1898 , had increased to over
8,800. New orders issued , putting in
force a system of school laws for the
island , provide for a commissioner of
public schools , and a superintendent of
schools of the island , and for a superin- ,
teudent of schools in each of the six
provinces. Boards of education had al
ready beeu established in municipalities ,
and in December last there was an en
rollment of 172,218 scholars , with an
average attendance of 128,862.
Charities , Hospitals , Etc.
Considering the condition of the people
ple , with their farms destroyed , the til
lers of the soil absent from their lands ,
the "reconcentrados" with their women
and children , without means to sustain
life , and in a starving condition , it be
came necessary for General Brooke to
provide at once for an immense number
of helpless persons. This , as well as
other matters of immediate necessity
beyond his possible personal supervision ,
he placed , at first , in charge of the sev
eral department commanders who , as a
rule , designated certain officers of their
staff , or of the line , to superintend the
charities and hospitals , and to issue
uecessaiy rations. General Brooke
ordered immediate relief given , and
daily rations were supplied to the needy ,
which were continued until those able
to' work could be returned to their
homes or given work in the fields or
elsewhere ; and the aged women with
out support , children , and the sick ,
could be placed in hospitals or charita
ble institutions. The hospitals and asy
lums as left by the Spanish authorities
were , as a rule , in bad condition , with
out funds for immediate use , and lack
ing supplies. In case of the insane
asylums , their condition was such as to
reflect no credit upon a civilized people.
It was reported that in some instances
the insane were found chained or in
cages , treated more like wild beasts than
human beings , and no effort appeared to
have been made for their comfort or
kindly treatment. It was evident that
modern methods of treatment of the in
sane had not reached Cuba under Span
ish administration.
All hospitals and charitable institu
tions being placed under supervision of
American army officers , changes for the
better. began at once ; buildings were
cleansed , repaired or reconstructed , and
in July 1900 , "Regulations for the De
partment of Charities and Hospitals"
wore promulgated , and the department
placed under charge of the department
of state and government. The work
hud been substantially organized , and
all cases of charity provided for long
before , but by this order provision was
made for permanent organization ; re
form schools for girls as well as boys
were established , and provision made
for training schools for destitute and de
linquent children. A training-school
for boys already established , is now in
active operation and a great credit to
this department.
A slight idea of the charitable work
performed may be had when it is stated
that in the two years from January 1 ,
1899 ( the date of military occupation )
to December 31 , 1900 , more than two
million , one hundred and eighty-four
thousand dollars in money were paid out
for this purpose ; nearly 600,000 rations ,
and more than 28,000 pounds of fresh
beef , in addition thereto , had been is
sued.
Private aid from American sources
had also been given. An asylum for
children was established in September
1889 , at Remedies , by the trustees of the
Cuban orphan fund , organized in New
York , of which General Greene and
General Ludlow are prominent mem
bers , the trustees being represented in
Cuba by Miss Laura D. Gill.
Results.
It would take a volume to tell all that
has been done for Cuba during its mili
tary occupation by the United States.
The methods of administration alone
have been an object lesson for the Cu
ban people , and though there have been
cases of individual dishonesty , like that
of Neely in the post-office , yet such an
exception made more significant the ab
solute integrity of ruling officials , and
the administration of customs under
General Bliss , where the entire revenues
of the island from this source have been
handled in a manner unprecedented in
Cuban history , has convinced the Cu
bans that a public office can bo and
should be a public trust , and not an op
portunity , as formerly , for individual
profit.
The work undertaken and performed
by General Brooke iu bringing order out
of chaos , harmonizing antagonistic ele
ments , hostile to each other through
civil war ; in selecting an efficient cabi
net and reorganizing the government of
the island ; in securing the disbandinent
of the Cuban insurgent forces without
disorder ; and in compelling the dissolu
tion of an organized "assembly" that at
one time threatened to make trouble by
opposing the disbandment of the Cuban
army , and which actually deposed Gen
eral Maximo Gomez from command be-
t - :