CHAPTER III THE REVOLUTION OF 1895 SPAIN'S fulfilment of the conditions of the Treaty of Zanjon was an appearance rather than a fact. that the Spanish Constitution in its entirety was extended to Cuba, and that the Spanish law of civil procedure and the Spanish civil code were put into effect in the Island. Other reforms and improvements were also inaugurated. But it is also true that Cuban conditions and burdens remained with little or no real alleviation. Another important factor appears in the Cuban experience of this period. For a number of years, the Island had been faced with the competition of European bountied sugars in the marketing of her chief product. The production of beet sugar in Europe increased from 200,000 tons, in 1850, to 3,841,000 tons, in 1894. Prices were greatly reduced, and the profits of Cuban planters were heavily cut. As a general rule, the Cuban planter is a man who desires to make money in order that he may have money to spend, rather than that he may have money with which to make more money. He was called to face conditions which demanded improvements and economies in his business. His earlier experience had not qualified him to cope with such conditions, and a measure of economic distress resulted. This followed notwithstanding the advantages secured during the period of reciprocity with the United States. After the manner of his kind, in Cuba, as elsewhere, the planter looked to his government to establish political conditions which would relieve his economic distress. He might quite as well have looked to the moon. Spain was not in Cuba for the purpose of encouraging either extravagance or profits in the business of Cuban planters. The revolt followed, chiefly, as a result of Spain's failure to do her part in improving the economic situation in her West Indian colony. As has been already stated, the promises of the Treaty of Zanjon, effected between General Martinez Campos and General Maximo Gomez, were only nominally fulfilled, and Cuba's condition was still far from satisfactory to the Cuban people. A certain measure of political reform had been conceded, but Cuba was still under the domination of what was virtually a military autocracy. The cancellation of the Reciprocity Treaty, in 1894, and the consequent decrease in the price of sugar, resulted in a further limitation of industrial prosperity, if not in a measure of industrial distress. Had the government been conducted with a view to the rights and the interests of the Cuban people, both economic distress and political unrest might have been averted. It is difficult to realize Spain's blindness to the situation. It is even more difficult to understand it. The great mass of the Island people were still fairly loyal to the mother country, and desired no absolute separation from her. All that was asked by the majority was regard for their political rights, and consideration for their economic welfare. Political parties had been organized whose aims were, in the main, not widely divergent, though they failed utterly to harmonize either their interests or their actions. Autonomy, though somewhat vaguely defined, was the aim of the greater number. Had that autonomy which was proclaimed when too late, in Novem ber, 1897, been proffered and effected in November, 1894, there is every reason for belief that the subsequent history, not only of Cuba but of the United States as well, would have been vastly changed. The war between Spain and the United States would have been indefinitely postponed, if not entirely averted. But Spain persisted in her indifference to Cuba's highest interests, and revolution followed. During February and March, 1895, local uprisings occurred in the eastern part of the Island. These were quickly suppressed and some of the leaders were deported to Spain's penal colonies. The inauguration of the insurrection of 1895 was the work of a few men. Their work was effectively accomplished, and, until the outbreak, a remarkable degree of secrecy was maintained. The authorities believed that a movement was on foot, but were unable to locate its centre or to obtain sufficiently compromising evidence against those who were suspected of being engaged in it. José Marti was the animating spirit. By personal visits and by correspondence he put himself into communication with some of those who had been prominent in the Ten Years' War. He visited Maximo Gomez at his home in Santo Domingo, where that spirited old revolutionist had betaken himself after the conclusion of the Treaty of Zanjon. Gomez was offered, and accepted, the command of the proposed army of liberators. Antonio Maceo, a mulatto, the ablest and most daring of Cuban military leaders, gladly accepted a command and held himself in readiness to return to Cuba when summoned. The Cuban Junta, with headquarters in New York, was in charge of Estrada Palma. An effective working organization was established. The date set for a general uprising was the 24th of February, but the response on that date was not widespread by reason of a lack of arms. Yet it appeared with such force that, on the 27th, the Spanish authorities declared martial law in Matanzas and Santa Clara provinces, and a period of eight days was given for the surrender of the insurgents with promise of pardon. Several local uprisings and skirmishes occurred prior to the arrival on the Island of the recognized leaders of the insurrection. One of these was at Ybarra, in Matanzas province. Others occurred in the provinces of Santa Clara and Santiago. These were readily suppressed by the Spanish authorities, who then became seriously alarmed. The insurrection made rapid headway under the leadership of local commanders, and reinforcements for the garrison in Cuba were hurried across from Spain. Martinez Campos, who had effected the conclusion of the Ten Years' War, was sent out as Governor and Captain General. It was realized that an active war was imminent, and Spain took measures to meet it. The movement in Santiago was under the leadership of Bartolomé Masó, an influential planter in the vicinity of Manzanillo. On April 1, Antonio Maceo, his brother José, and other leaders landed at Duaba and took the field. On April 11, José Marti, Maximo Gomez, and others arrived on the Island. Engagements soon became a matter of daily occurrence, and Campos realized that he had a formidable opponent. Meanwhile, the Island was alive with political movement. Numerous political parties were in existence, representing varying shades of political opinion and political ambition. Out of the peace of 1878, there had grown two definite parties, the Liberal and the Union Constitutional. Factions had broken off from these and organized as Autonomists, Liberal Autonomists, Conservatives, Reformers, and others which had little or no importance. None of them was revolutionary. The revolutionary party was the insurrection. Numerically, it was, at this time, probably no more than a small minority, a focus toward which or from which those of other parties would turn, according to the developments of the revolt. In his able work on this period, Mr. Charles M. Pepper says:* "Torch and machete make short work of constitutional agitation. They are not the weapons of political parties. When they were resorted to it was a question whether they would convert the Autonomists into recruits or into enemies of the faith that proclaimed its doctrines by war." Many who sympathized with the insurrectos hesitated to become active participants in the movement. Some were swept into it by the processes of war. Others remained inactive though yielding such material aid as was possible for them. These became known as the Pacificos. At its inception, although the leadership of the revolutionary movement included among its numbers not a few Cubans of prominent social and financial position, its rank and file, the fighting force, was composed chiefly of a somewhat irresponsible element, largely negro and mulatto field hands, with little or no stake in the country, and nothing to give or lose except life. With the growth and success of the movement, many of the better and more responsible classes became openly identified with it, though an undue number of these insisted upon and only served on receiving commissions as field or line officers. Later on, a certain number, became known as Heroes of the Blockade, because their patriotism awoke to enthusiastic activity only after the serious fighting was over, and the Island became blockaded by American war ships. Naturally the motives which led to participation in the movement were varied and com*"Tomorrow in Cuba," page 23. |