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Show vlgggggBL'' k ww effij ' flfr. ) H k B riei History of th e V a- j rious Uprisings In the Pearl of the Antilles j U. S. Guardianship Over the IslandNoEasy Task. B Copyright, 1917. by The International I BgJ? ' ' OM the time of the settlement " of tho Island of Cuba in 1512 I ' that land has been one of unrest 1 J and revolutions, and uprisings have been frequent. While many have H been merely a series of riots others H have been serious and a great dctrl- H ment to the commercial growth of the 3 country. 3 Early Revolutions. H Spain gave little publicity to these H revolts and until the latter part of the nineteenth century seems to have sup- H pressed them with a firm hand. As J early ps 1717 there was riot and H bloodshed, when General Roja cn- H forced a decree establishing a govern- H ment monopoly in tobacco Again in H 1791 to 1800 the establishing of Haiti H as an independent country caused the H negroes of Cuba to rise uud demand B the same rights for Cuba This revo-lutlon revo-lutlon was put down and Its leaders H were shot. From 1820 until 1830 H there were continual disorders in Cuba nnd the Spanish garrison had to be H constantly employed in quieting the N I I different villages. Somo of the Cubans 1 declared they were tired of Spanish rule and desired to be transferred to some other country, whllo others stood for independence. Secret societies j were organized and a general uprls- j Ing was planned for a certain day. The headquarters were at Matanzas, j where a number of implements of war irere stored. The Spanish learned of ' their plans and before the revolution-lata revolution-lata had time to scatter tho leaders were arrested Some were imprisoned whilo others were sentenced to death Many fled the country or wero exiled i among tho latter being the Cuban ' poet Jose Maria Hercdia. who had stirred the malcontents by his patriotic pa-triotic poems. This was in 1S23, and although the leaders at that time had .been silenced, revolution in Cuba has always been a hydra-headed monster, I and new heads soon sprung up and Incipient rioting gave the Spanish officials offi-cials no little trouble. Finally, In 1825, Spain gave the Spanish Governor of Cuba absolute power over the Is- i land and told him to deal with rebellious re-bellious subjects as he saw fit. Again In 1 837 there was serious trouble, when the slaves threatenod to rise and massacre the whites. The Spanish Secret Service, who were always al-ways on t ho watch discovered this horrible plot and foiled it Just in time to prevent an orglo of blood similar to the one In Haiti a few years before. Dope-. Uprising. General Narclsco Lopez In 184 7 decided to start trouble at Clenfuegos, but the Spaniards learned of it and Lopez escaped to the United States. Thero he Interested some of tho exiles and a few daring Americans. They decided to invade the Islands and an expedition was planned. It, however, became known to President Taylor who warned all citizens of the penalties penal-ties of Invading the shores of a friendly friend-ly nation. The party was captured just as they wero leaving New York. Not daunted by their failure the exiles and a few soldiers of fortune of other lands gathered a month afterward on an Island off the Yucatan coast ajid sailed for Cuba. They arrived off Cardenas on May 19, 1850. The resident resi-dent refused to Join the. Invaders and the Spanish made short work of the members of tho expedition. Lopez again eseaped and succeeded in reaching reach-ing Key West Ho was later arrested arrest-ed at Cavannab and liberated. A year afterward he sailed from New Orleans with a party of followers to Invade Cuba. They landed at Bahla Honda about fifty miles from Havana. The Cubans again refused to Join him and Lopez nnd his followers wero cap- lured. This time there was no escape and he died by the garroto in tho fortress of La Punta, which is now one of the show places of Havana. Again in 1851 and in 1852 thero were uprisings at Puerto Principe and at Pcnar del Rio Then for a time revolution smouldered and In 1866 tho educated and wealthy Cubans formed a national party. The asked certain concessions from the Spanish Government which were by no means' unreasonable. These concessions wero Indignantly refused. Taxes were doubled. This was followed by what Is known as tho ton years war. during which hundreds of people lost their lives and thousands of dollars worth, of property was destroyed. Cuban Boys Martyrs, In 1S71 a number of young Cubans j who were members of a medical class: at tho University were accused of desecrating des-ecrating the grave of a Spanish Jour-I nallst who had been killed in a pollt-j Ileal quarrel with a Cuban. The class was arrested and in the meantime' 'the son of the dead man came from Spain and had the niche containing I I his father's body opened and no dese- i era t Ion was found. At that time tho i Spanish oluntccrs who were quar-tared quar-tared In Havana took up the matter' 'and demanded the death of tho stu-I dents, and to appease tho mob eight j boys wero sentenced to death. The youngest of these martyrs was sixteen j years of age. whllo the eldest was twenty. They were stood up against tho wall 'of the old city prison and shot on November 27, 1871. after 1 which the bodies wero carted away BBS 1 and burled in unconsecrated ground criss-cross in one ditch as traitors. Later the bodies were removed to the Colon Cemetery, whero a handsome monument was set up to their memory. mem-ory. Then uprisings began again and finally ended In tho general revolt of 1S95, when the Cubans made their first real movement for Independence, "Butcher" Wr y lor. At that time "Butcher" Weylor was the governor general of tho island and his policy was of the most brutal type He herded the people of villages together to-gether In prison camps allowing none to pass. Most of them wero non-combatants, non-combatants, women and children. No arrangement was made for thlr food ' and maintenance and they died like tiles from disease and starvation. Tho wrath and indignation of the United States In reference to this brutality was heard In the Court at Madrid and the "Butcher" was recalled and Gen-ereJ Gen-ereJ Blanco was sent in his place. This official tried conciliation but failed Then came the destruction cf the Maine an occurrence which brought on the Spanish-American war, the ' American occupation and the Evacuation Evacua-tion of th Spanish forces into whose places the soldiers of tho Cuban army i were permitted to march In triumph. From 1898 until 1902 tho govern-i ment of Cuba was under the manage-ment manage-ment of the United Stntjs under a military government with an American Ameri-can general In charge. Free Cuba. On May 20, 1902. tho American Military Mil-itary government withdrew leaving a Cuban President in tho palace. Senor I l V D. Thomas Estrada Palma. The American flag went down from Morro Castle and the single star of the Cuban banner rose in place of Its numerous constellations and aT'or four centuries of protest and struggle Cuba lolned tho sisterhood of lnd pendent nations. With Independence the Cuban was like a hlld with a now toy, and for a tlmo all went well. But they had little training In the arta of government and a vigorous flrrht for "fat-Jobs" soon began President Pnlma whllo perhaps per-haps an honest man was not strong and he soon found himself whirling about in the vortex of politico. As the presidential election approached unscrupulous politicians gathered about him dctcrnilnr-d that ho should win in order that they might carry out their nefarious schemos. Tho ballot bal-lot box was stuffed and the clqctlon returns padded so openly that It would put to shame tho old methods of Tammany nail. Second Intervention. Then like tho proverbial Mr. Fln-negan Fln-negan Cuba , ont "off" again and a revolution began. "Pino" Guerra first raised tho standard of revolt In Pinar del Rio when he rodo through the streets carrying a Cuban flag draped In crepe. Men wero ldlo and "Pino" was popular so they flocked j to his standard and were promised 'jobs" if tho revolution succeeded. Cane fields were burned and much property destroyed When the United States took charge of Cuban affairs after the Spanish-American war the Piatt Amendment made a guardianship guardian-ship by tho United States over Cuba as a part of the reconstruction. Consequently Con-sequently when the dashing "Pino" and his forces began to be a menace the United States found it necessary to go down and settlo matters once more. Mr. Tuft, who was the Secre-tary Secre-tary of War. was sent to the island f to talk things over and with him came a number of .entlemen who constituted con-stituted a Peace Commission. Mr. Palma told his story, and tho rebels told theirs. There were long conferences confer-ences n.. reports to Washington and the United States finally decided that a second Intervention was necessary ! and American troops were once more landed on tho Islands. Then the election came on onco moro and General Jose Miguel Gomez became president with Dr. Alfredo Zayas as vice-president. Dr. Zayas was a candldato for president but was finally persuaded to compromise on tho vlcc-presldency with the promlso that ho should be tho next chief executive exec-utive Gomez was elected and Inaugurated on Janvary 28, 1908, and that evening the Americans again folded their tents and left Cuba to rule herself. Gomez believed In spending money and Jobs under him wero "fat" In every sense of the word. Ono of the ory first acts of tho Cuban Congress was to raise the salary of its own members. Graft was open and when tho next election day rolled around General Mario Menocal becamo Cuba's president. . Zayas And Menocal Difficulties. General Menocal is a graduate of Cornell University and a well balanced business man. Ho has large sugar Interests In-terests and takes the freedom and commercial rucccss of Cuba very much to heart. He was re-elected last year defeating ftr. Zuyas. Tho friends of the latter claim that he was counted out and they doclded to revoluto once more. General Gomez, the former president, assisting In the uprising. A troublesome child Is this Pearl of the Antilles. |