Rico status has been changed is that the treaty is unconstitutional. Thus far in the history of our country no treaty has ever been adjudged invalid on this ground. A treaty is not only the law of our land, but also a contract of the United States with another nation. A court would not be justified in overruling the act of the treaty making power unless its reasons for so doing were strong and imperative.

"The sole constitutional question is this: May our Government by treaty accept the title of and sovereignty over territory and at the same time preserve its status as foreign country so far as internal relations to us are concerned? Can we, in other words, hold sovereignty over territory without incorporating it into the United States?”

CHAPTER XII.

THE NEW CUBA

The war with Spain had its origin in the declaration of Congress that the people of Cuba are and of right ought to be free and independent. For two years there has been much suspicion aroused by Democratic accusation that this declaration was made in a Pickwickian sense and that the United States plucked "the pearl of the Antilles" from the Spanish crown to adorn that of the American Republic, but in two years the wise and tactful administration of Cuban affairs under military authority has brought order out of chaos and the Cuban people are preparing for the election of delegates to a constitutional convention. The order for this election was issued by Secretary Root Tuesday, July 31, 1900. The convention to frame a new constitution for an independent Cuba will be in session at the time when the voters of this country are deciding the issue of this campaign and whether they will uphold or defeat the present administration. This is a complete answer to the charge that the McKinley administration did not intend to withdraw American troops from Cuba, but sought to annex the island as a territory of the United States. The order of Secretary Root is as follows:

Whereas, The Congress of the United States, by its joint resolution of April 20, 1898, declared "that the people of the Island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, free and independent; that the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction or control over said island, except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination when that is accomplished to leave the government and control of the island to its people"; and

Whereas, the people of Cuba have established municipal governments, deriving their authority from the suffrages of the people given under just and equal laws, and are now ready, in like manner, to proceed to the establishment of a general government, which shall assume and exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction and control over the island;

Therefore it is ordered that a general election be held in the Island of Cuba on the third Saturday of September, in the year 1900, to elect delegates to a convention to meet in the city of Havana at twelve o'clock noon on the first Monday of November, in the year 1900, to frame and adopt a constitution for the people of Cuba, and, as a part thereof, to provide for and agree with the government of the United States upon

the relations to exist between that government and the government of Cuba, and to provide for the election by the people of officers under such constitution and the transfer of government to the officers so elected.

The election will be held in the several voting precincts of the island under and pursuant to the provisions of the electoral law of April 18, 1900, and the amendments thereof.

The order also apportions delegates among the provinces. The province of Pinar del Rio will elect three delegates, Havana eight, Matanzas four, Santa Clara seven, Puerto Principe two and Santiago seven.

Two years ago there were few people in this country who believed that a stable government could be organized in Cuba within the next ten years, while the outside world would not be convinced that the United States even desired to give Cuba an independent government. Egypt was offered as a visible proof that the temporary occupation meant permanent occupation. Europe could not understand the American policy and love of freedom and believed that a war for humanity was only a war for aggression. No island ever offered worse conditions. for redemption from disorder. A seventh of the population had in three years perished of hunger. A tattered army that had fought for independence, sullenly demanded immediate control of the island after the United States had driven out Spain. The revolutionary warfare against Spain had destroyed property on sugar plantations estimated at $868,000,000, a yield of 100,000,000 tons of sugar had dropped to 250,000, the loss in live stock had been as heavy as other losses and the island was denuded of cattle and other domestic animals. Poverty and starvation were not the only difficulties which Cuba faced. It had its double race question. In a population of only 1,500,000 there were nearly 130,000 Spanish immigrants, nearly 80,000 other immigrants and half a million of negro or mixed negro ancestors. In other words, one-half the population was negro and foreign. Of the whole population over ten years of age one-half were illiterate. The church question touched every relation of life. Sepulture was in the exclusive control of the priest, and high fees for marriage had bred a wholesale concubinage embracing a fifth of the population of marriageable age. Sanitary improvements were unknown and Havana was a breeding ground for yellow fever. The cynical corruption for centuries had left its impress on the whole people and honesty was regarded as an unknown quantity in official life. This was the problem which confronted the United States when the

Spanish army was withdrawn and this government became responsible for the conduct of Cuban affairs and also for the stability of government which should be organized by the people of the island. Yet in two years from the date of conquest and eighteen months after formal occupation the call is issued for a constitutional convention. The Cuban army has been peacefully dissolved and its strongest division has become an efficient police for Havana. Order and security exist throughout the island. Freedom for marriage and lay sepulture have come. The revenues have been freed from a debt charged of $12,600,000 and military charges of $5,900,000. The Spanish army was supported by Cuba. The United States army in Cuba pays its own bills. Where nothing had been spent for sanitation under Spanish rule, in 1899 more than $3,000,000 was devoted to this reform and Havana has become one of the healthiest of tropical cities. Last year in August the deaths from yellow fever in Havana were 10, where, in the last year of peace, 1896, there had been 296 deaths in the same month. In Santiago the water supply was doubled, the death rate halved, the birth rate increased, sewerage introduced and yellow fever suppressed. Out of 300,000 children of school age less than 50,000 had ever been in a school house. Today Cuba has a school system covering the island with 2,500 teachers, who are now enjoying the hospitality and sharing the instruction of the oldest and most conspicuous university in America. Courts have been purified and bribery in them has been exposed and punished. Fraud and corruption have been as unsparingly attacked in American as in Cuban appointees. Not one charge made in regard to the administration of Cuban affairs under American control but has been sifted and guilt has been punished. Last spring municipal elections were held, which demonstrated the possibilities of self-government for the Cubans. Municipal self-government already exists. Monopolies have been abolished and odious taxes on occupations repealed. No concessions have been made; no charters have been issued; no Cuba bonds have been sold. All these things were predicted as the result of American control. None of them have been realized. In September the voters of Cuba will select delegates to their constitutional convention. That convention will meet in November and proceed to the adoption of a constitution for Cuba.

The American occupation of Cuba has bridged over the chaos which would have resulted from the revolution and the withdrawal of Spain. The first duty, that of pacifying the island and maintaining public order,

could have been fulfilled by no other agency so effectively. The foundations of political and industrial reconstruction could have been laid by no other means. The American military officials have set a good example for the Cubans who will follow them. The American standard of integrity has been an important object lesson throughout the island.

What the constitution for Cuba shall be is left largely to the Cuban people. The constitutional convention will be a test of the ability of Cuban leaders to formulate a constitution which will give to the people a government suited to their needs and realizing their aspirations. It will, however, have to submit that constitution to this government for approval, because, in the treaty of peace with Spain, this government assumed responsibility and pledged itself not to permit internal misgovernment in the future. The United States is a continuous protecting power over Cuba.

In his last message President McKinley discussed this question as follows:

"This nation has assumed before the world a grave responsibility for the future good government of Cuba. We have accepted a trust the fulfillment of which calls for the sternest integrity of purpose and the exercise of the highest wisdom. The new Cuba yet to arise from the ashes of the past must needs be bound to us by ties of singular intimacy and strength if its enduring welfare is to be assured. Whether those ties shall be organic or conventional, the destinies of Cuba are in some rightful form and manner irrevocably linked with our own, but how and how far is for the future to determine in the ripeness of events. Whatever be the outcome, we must see to it that free Cuba be a reality, not a name; a perfect entity, not a hasty experiment bearing within itself the elements of failure. Our mission, to accomplish which we took up the wager of battle, is not to be fulfilled by turning adrift any loosely framed commonwealth to face the vicissitudes which too often attend weaker states whose natural wealth and abundant resources are offset by the incongruities of their political organization and the recurring occasions for internal rivalries to sap their strength and dissipate their energies. The greatest blessing which can come to Cuba is the restoration of her agricultural and industrial prosperity, which will give employment to idle men and re-establish the pursuits of peace. This is her chief and immediate need."