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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (July 4, 1901)
Conservative. 9 cause ho accepted the conditions and brought his command into Havana and disbanded it ; his successful laying of the foundation for that work which has since been accomplished under the ad ministration of his able successor , Major General Wood , U. S. V. , cannot bo over-estimated. It is probable that ho will never receive full credit for what was accomplished. The difficulties which wore met by him required un usual ability and strength of character , united to an oven temperament , good judgment , and a disposition to carefully weigh and examine matters in all their bearings , making decisions that would be recognised as just and equitable by all. His successor , General Wood , not only possesses a strong character , but unusual physical strength ; only an iron consti tution , such as ho possesses , could carry the present military governor through the largo amount of work which he daily accomplishes , and which never ends. The American people owe to these of ficers a debt far beyond the commenda tion of their superiors , which each has received. The war department itself has had to act upon questions never be fore coming to our government. The relations of the United States to Cuba are unique and unprecedented in our history ; we are governing a foreign country ; not that of an enemy , but of a friend , by military occupation ; it has no government of its own with which to deal ; its relations to other countries and to ourselves under existing conditions have given rise to unheard-of and un foreseen questions of law and govern ment. That these have been met satis factorily has been due largely to the wise and conservative policy of the war department , which is fortunate in hav ing at its head a lawyer of recogui/ed ability , clear-headed , ready and able to direct in cases of complication or dotibt. Nebraska's Part in the Work. It may be well to recall , in connection with this article , that Nebraska has taken no small part in the work of re construction of Cuba. Hon. Geo. D. Meiklejohn , as assistant secretary of war , was in immediate charge of insu lar affairs , and had as his legal adviser Hon. 0. E , Magoon , of Lincoln , who is still at the head of the legal work of that division. Mr. Gumaer , formerly of Nebraska , with several other Nebras- kaus , including E. R. Sizer , of Lincoln , have served in the Cuban customs de partments , whilst there are a number of others now employed in other branches of the government. The chief sanitary officer of the city of-Havana undjer Gen eral Ludlow , who acted under his per sonal direction and instructions , and so thoroughly cleaned Havana , was Dr. J. G. Davis , formerly of Beatrice and Liu- coin , who had entered the service from Chicago , 111. , as major and surgeon of volunteers. The university has been , and now is , strongly represented in the engineering department of the island under military government , and a graduate , Mr. Sar gent , of Lincoln , has been in charge of the surveys of the forts and Spanish , do- fences of Havana. Ho has with him several others whoso positions have boon secured through him on recommenda tion of Professor Stout , of the univer sity. The Future. Whilst Cuban politicians have been debating questions of their political fu ture , and as to the acceptance of the Platt amendment and the future control of government , the material prosperity of the island has been , and is steadily advancing under the present govern ment. A gentleman who came to Cuba some weeks ago to look up the title to certain lands in Santiago province , said upon his return to Havana , that he had travelled 300 miles on horse-back and had taken occasion wherever he stopped to e.nquire into the sentiments of the people and as to what they thought of the Cuban constitutional convention then in session. Ho said that they took about as much interest in that conven tion as we would take in a meeting in South Africa ; that they were just get ting their farms into shape , and said that if they could only be let alone for three or four years they would then be ready to talk about a form of govern ment. It is believed to be a fact that Cuba has benofitted more by two and one-half years of American military occupation than they could possibly have hoped for from fifty years of Spanish rule , judg ing from the past , or even from many years of self-government ; for , in the latter case , revenues now used for pur poses of general welfare and the im provement of the conditions of affairs in the island ; the construction of good roads mid bridges ; building of light houses and other works of internal im provement ; the cleansing of cities ; re pairs of streets , construction of sewers and other sanitary measures , would have been diverted to the payment of expenses not now necessary because at present , having no governing power or legislature of its own , much of the civil work is done by United States army officers , and with no president or legislative bodies to provide for and no army or navy to support for its self-pro tection , such expenses of government are now at their minimum and funds are available for public use. . Moreover , no power outside that of arbitrary military authority could have given to Havana , Santiago , Matanzas , and other cities the cleansing they have received. No other power than the military could have entered house after house , every building in fact , through evoiy street of the city of Havana with its corps of sanitary workmen removing the accumulated filth and rubbish of years , washing out living rooms with disinfectants and free xisoof eleotrozone. Such work was to bo seen in operation day after day during the first year of oc cupation , and is still maintained when necessary , under she supervision of Major Gorgas , surgeon United States army , the present sanitary officer acting under the immediate orders of General Wood. Havana never had , and never will have , such another cleansing as it got under the direction of General Ludlow and his successors ; no Spanish or Cuban f official could have succeeded in doing what he accomplished with his sanitary and engineering departments during the year 1899. Political agitation and uncertainty as to the future government is the only draw-back to the prosperity of the island at this time. The people , as a whole , have been more prosperous and better satisfied under the military gov ernment of the past two and one-half years than they have ever been before , or , possibly , will be for years under any government of their own , for political divisions and the increased expenses of government are liable to make them less content. Cuba is a fertile country ; its climate is good , it only lacks the complete con quest of yellow fever germs and a prop erly settled stable government to be come what it is often called , "The Pearl of the Antilles. " Havana , Cuba , June 20 , 1901. DOWN TO HARD PAN. A Chicago merchant , many times a millionaire , is erecting a large addition to liis business building , and in laying the fcmudations has gone down through various strata of soil , sand , gravel and clay almost one hundred feet to the "hard pan. " In the foundation work of life surely one ought to be as care ful to get down to the "hard pan" of facts , and in no school of our knowl edge is this done more thoroughly than in the Gem City Business College of Quinoy , Ills. , owned and directed by Mr. D. L. Musselmau , assisted by a largo corps of most competent instruct ors. Thousands of men and women are in positions of great usefulness today , who , but for the development given their uatiiral abilities in this school , would be unknown outside a small cir cle of personal acquaintance. We wish to call the attention of the young read ers of our paper to the ad of this excellent school , appearing else where in this issue. Road it and write today to D. L. Musselmau , Quinoy , Ills. , for his large illustrated catalogue which he will gladly send you free. Adv.
