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NEW YORK: SUN JOB PRINTING OFFICE, PRINTING-HOUSE SQUARE. 1870. %v X5v <$ % *l. 'vT ,(, FACTS ABOUT CUBA. Situation. — Cuba is the largest and most fertile of the West Indies ; it is situated between 19° 49' and 23° 13' North latitude, and 74° 6' and 89° 59' West longitude from Greenwich. Area. — The Island, on a straight line from East to West, is about six hundred geographical miles long ; in width from North to South, varies from 21 to 135 miles. Territorial Division. — The Island was divided by the Spanish Government into three large departments : the Western, Cen- tral, and Eastern. These departments were subdivided into 32 districts or jurisdictions, and the latter into partidos, of which there were 166 in all. Notwithstanding this, the people are ac- customed to denominate the territories into which they consider the Island divided, as follows : Vuelta Abajo, the portion em- braced from the meridian of Havana to Cape San Antonio, the western extremity of the Island ; Vuelta Arriba, from the merid- ian of Havana toward the East as far as Cienfuegos; Las Cinco Villas, from the meridian of Cienfuegos to that of Sanc- ti-Spiritus ; Tierra Adentro, from that of Sancti-Spiritus to that of Holguin, toward the East. Population. — According to the official census of 1862 : WHITES. Natives of Spain and of the Canary Islands 115,114 Natives of Cuba 602,145 Natives of the So. American Republics and Brazil.. 4,203 Foreigners, natives of different States of Europe . . 4,999 North Americans 2,496 792,951=53.67 p. c. COLORED. Free 225,938 Slaves 368.550 594,488=43.67 p. c. Chinamen and Indians from Yucatan 34,973= 2.86 p. c. Total 1,359,238 100 Wealth. — There were in Cuba in 1862 : Value. Sugar plantations 1,425 $222,035,724 Coffee plantations 996 24,547,330 Stock breeding farms.. 2,487 121,72,556 Grazing farms 5,748 46,250,189 Small farms, &c 22,496 57,080,152 Tobacco plantations 9,481 18,468,562 Total value of improved producing land $380,554,523 Total value of urban real estate 170,400,833 Total amoixnt of commercial and industrial pursuits . . 773,846,496 Total $1,324,801,852 The value of agricultural productions for the same year amounted, according to official reports, to : Sugar, molasses, and rum $62,127,666 Coffee 2,595,396 Tobacco 15,281,300 Rice 1,747,474 Wax 581,570 Corn 5,449,310 Honey 1,189,718 Bananas 6,915,535 Feed for horses 3,976,726 Sundry productions 24,357,628 Cattle 5,285,200 Total $129,510,518 5 Commerce. — We have 110 sufficiently late reports to show accurately the amount of the imports and exports. The former amounted in the year 1859 to $43,465,679, and the latter to $57,455,185. Out of these amounts the United States repre- sented $12,192,369 imports and $24,076,853 exports. Taking into consideration the constant progress which the trade of the Island has made during the last ten years, it may confidently be stated that the increase has been 50 per cent, up to the breaking out of the revolution, and, therefore, we will say that the amount of imports was then $65,198,518 And the amount of exports 86,182,777 $151,381,295 Of which the United States repre- sented, for imports $18,288,553 And for exports 36,115,279 $54,404,832 Therefore, the United States take 36 per cent, of the total amount of the commerce of Cuba. The main articles imported into Cuba from the United States are provisions, timber, hardware, machinery, and agricultural tools. Those exported from Cuba to the United States are sugar, molasses, ram, tobacco, cigars, honey, and wax. Public lievemtes. — The amount of taxes collected in 1866 by the Spanish Government was $26,806,382. As we have no later official reports, we estimate that, with the new taxes imposed in 1867, the public revenues in 1868 must have amounted to $35,- 000,0000. About $12,000,000 of this amount is derived from the Custom House, $2,000,000 from the government lottery, $11,- 000,000 from taxes upon the productions of the soil, and the balance from taxes on trade and other sources. To this amount there can be added with all certainty from $15,000,000 to $20,- 000,000 more, which the people pay in fraudulent exactions and contributions of all kinds. The Government of Madrid has been receiving for the last ten 6 years, from Cuba, from $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 annually, called the xiltra-ma/rine surplus • and besides, it has made Cuba pay the expenses of the Penitentiary of Fernando Po, oif the coast of Africa, which costs not less than $200,000 a year. Cuba also paid the expenses incurred by the Mexican expedition in 1863, which amounted to $10,000,000, and also paid the expenses of the war with St. Domingo, which amounted to about $22,000,000. It is not to be supposed, from the word surplus being applied to the amount of money taken by the Madrid Government from Cuba, that it is a surplus remaining after all the wants of a civilized people are attended to. Far from this being true, we learn from the official reports published by the Spanish Govern- ment, that in 1862 only $84,233 were devoted to public schools, and in 1866 only $194,571 were spent in public works, and that to invest this small amount it was necessary to pay to employees $106,249. The few public schools which are scattered through the country are generally supported by the local city councils. The Government has ordered most of them to be closed since the breaking out of the war. None of the railroads on the Island have received any assist- ance from the Government. Neither hospitals nor asylums tor the poor have been established, and on the contrary the Govern- ment has appropriated to itself different sums donated by private citizens for that purpose. Among a host of other instances, this was done with a donation of $100,000 made by Donna Maria Josefa Santa Cruz, to found a hospital, and a like sum raised from a fair got up by Don Tomas Reina, the profits to be appropriated to the building of an asylum for the poor. No one knows what has become of these funds since the Government took possession of them. Government. — The government of Spain in Cuba has always been an absolute military despotism, personified in the Captain- General of the Island, who, from the year 1825, has been expressly invested with the powers of the governor of a besieged town, and who in reality has exercised an unlimited dictatorship more or less arbitrary, according to the temper of the functionary who has filled this office. Notwithstanding this, the Island had always been regarded as an integral portion of the Spanish Monarchy, and therefore had undergone the same political vicissitudes as the mother country, electing and sending its representatives to the Congress of the Nation, when any existed, till 1837, when the representatives legally elected by Cuba and Porto Bico were excluded from the Constitutent Cortes, under pretext that the Colonies were to be governed by special laws. From that time the system of spoliation grew stronger in Cuba, and Spain from day to day has been enlarging it. The Captain-Generals trans- formed themselves into irresponsible dictators. Their inferiors followed their examples, neglecting their duty to make money at all hazard. The African slave trade was encouraged, notwith- standing formal treaties with Great Britain, and a political ex- cuse was found for it under the name of a counter-balancing of races, in order to overawe the Creoles with the increasing number of negroes, when in reality the only object of the Spaniards was to enrich themselves with the large profits arising from that inhuman traffic. The press was enslaved to the most rigid and capricious censorship. The Cubans lost all participation in public affairs. At every step they were terrified with the epithet of lad Spaniards, or traitors, and under pretense of supposed conspiracies, they were arbitrarily incarcerated, exiled, and put to death. The Government drew a dividing line between the peninsular Spaniards and the natives of Cuba. The latter were excluded from all public employments ; driven from all profitable occupa- tions, in order to make room for Europeans ; molested in the en- joyment of their property, and obliged in order to obtain a pre- carious personal security, constantly to make presents and pay black-mail to the agents of the Government. Army and Navy. — In the month of October, 1868, Spain had 8 in Cuba twelve regiments of infantry, one corps of engineers, one of artillery, two of cavalry, one section of civil guards, one regiment of armed firemen, one regiment of prison guards, two companies to do duty in the military hospital, and five regiments of infantry and cavalry militia. These forces amounted in all : Regular troops of all arms, including officers =. 14,300 - Civil guard 640 Prison guard 120 Armed firemen 1,000 Infantry and calvary militia 3,400 Soldiers who had served their time, but were kept in service. . . . 300 19,760 in which are included the garrisons of the forts, of the military hospitals, etc. In fact, out of these troops, only 10,000 regulars could take the field. This regular force was distributed as fol- lows : 1,500 in the Eastern Department, 3,000 in the Central, and the balance in the Western. Their armament was first-class, although not all their arms were of the latest styles, for they had only received at that time 6,000 Remington rifles; besides, there was a large supply of arms, ammunition, and war material. There were in Cuban waters at this time : Steam frigate Gerona, wood screw propeller 51 guns. " " Carmen, " " " 40 " Second class steamer Blanco Garay 6 " Ulloa 6 " Third class " Bazan 3 " " '•' Neptune 2 " " Venadito 2 " Don Juan de Austria 1 " " Guadalquivir 2 " Screw steamer, schooner rigged, Africa 3 " " " Huelva 3 " " " Andaluza 3 " " " Guardiana 3 " " " Isabel Francisca 3 " Total, 14 men-of-war, with 128 guns. II. THE REVOLUTION. In 1846 the annexation movement commenced, which pro- duced the expedition and death of Narciso Lopez, in 1850 and 1851 ; the more recent armaments under General Quitman and others ; and finally, in 1855, the imprisonment and death of Eamon Pinto, with the banishment of numerous patriots. These attempts, though unsuccessful, caused, however, some impression on the Madrid Government, who at last saw the necessity of softening, in some degree, the despotic rule under which the" colonies were held, and began to quiet them with promises of concessions. A party sprang up at that time, which was called the Re- formist Party ; and although it was not in consonance with the feelings of many of the Creoles, and although they had very little faith in the sincerity of the Spanish Government, and still less in that of its agents in Cuba, they did all in their power, con- sistently with their dignity, to come to a settlement which might recognize and assure the rights of the colony without impairing the interests of the nation ; and after great and protracted efforts they succeeded, in 1866, in obtaining the institution of an in- quiry in Madrid, the object of which was to consider and deter- mine upon the political, economical, and administrative reforms which were required by Cuba and Porto Rico. The Commis- sioners elected by the City Councils of Cuba and Porto Rico fulfilled their task honorably, demanding political liberties under the form of colonial self-government, free trade, and the aboli- tion of slavery; but they very soon discovered that they had been imposed upon. The only reform which the Government decreed for Cuba was 10 a new system of taxation a good deal more oppressive than the one they had before. The Government uttered the impudent falsehood of saying that the new system originated with the Commissioners. As for the rest, if any change took place on the Island, it was to renew and enlarge the unlimited power of the Captain-G-eneral ; to suspend the civil courts of justice, in order to establish courts-martial ; to decree the banishment of hundreds of peaceful citizens, without trial, and to increase the flocks of corrupt officials who preyed on the vitals of the country. Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, an able lawyer and wealthy plant- er of Bayamo, in the Eastern Department, raised the standard of independence on his estate, Demajagua, in the jurisdiction of Manzanillo, at a short distance from the town of Yara, of which he immediately took possession, on the 10th of October, 1868. One hundred and forty-seven men, without arms, except forty- five fowling pieces, four rifles, and a few pistols and machetes (a long sword), were all the force that Cespedes controlled in taking this daring step. On the 12th he already had 4,000 men, but indifferently armed ; toward the end of the month his army numbered 9,700, and on the 8th of November, 12,000. On the 13th of October the patriots obtained their first tri- umph over the Spaniards, defeating them at Yara, Baire and Jiguani. The latter is an important town, and was captured hy Donato Marmol, with many prisoners, among them the governor * of the town. On the 15th they laid siege to Bayamo, a city of 10,000 inhabitants, and on the 18th took possession of the city, and Cespedes established his government there. On the 8th of November, after having sustained various encounters around Tunas and Baire, and forced Colonel Demetrio Quiros, who had marched against them from Santiago de Cuba, to retreat with great loss, the patriots had advanced to within a mile of that city, the capital of the Eastern Department, cutting off the aqueduct, and bringing it to great distress. On the 23d they were masters of the towns of Caney and Cobre, where they re- 11 mained for more than a month, until it became necessary to con- centrate all their forces to oppose General Valmaseda, who with a large army was marching on Bayamo. On the 28th of October the jurisdiction of Holguin rose in arms. On the 4th of November that of Camaguey imitated their example, and the patriots captured a train with arms and ammunition landed at ISTuevitas, taking prisoners the soldiers who guarded it. Yalmaseda, on learning the formidable proportions which the revolution had taken in the Central Department, then passed by sea from Manzanillo to Yertientes and from Yertien- tes to Puerto Principe ; but finding his position in that city un- tenable, took refuge in ISTuevitas. From thence toward the end of December he commenced his march in the direction of Ba- yamo, which he reached on the 16th of January, finding it a heap of ruins ; for Cespedes, unprovided with the means of resisting a siege led by forces accompanied by artillery, had set fire to the whole city with the unanimous consent of its inhabitants. The insurrection then presented such a formidable attitude, notwithstanding the evacuation of Bayamo, that Captain-Gen. Don Domingo Dulce thought it prudent to attempt pacifica- tion by conciliatory means, and sent two commissioners with let- ters to Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, the first of which wrote a communication to the Cuban leader on the 19th of January, re- questing an interview. Cespedes agreed to this, expressing at the same time his conviction that all efforts to secure a compro- mise would be fruitless, the patriots being resolved to conquer their independence. This interview never took place on account of the death of the Cuban leader Augustus Arango, who was murdered by the Spanish volunteers on entering Puerto Principe, notwithstanding that he was at the time the bearer of a safe-con- duct issued by the Spanish Governor of Manzanillo, and was en- tering the town for the very purpose of carrying on those nego- tiations. The second commissioner was not more fortunate in his attempt. 12 He delivered to Cespedes a letter from General Dulce, dated at Havana, on the 14th of January, in which the General expressed himself as desirous of the termination of the war that was de- stroying all the elements of wealth of that favored country ; but Cespedes made answer that he had at that moment heard of the murder of Augustus Arango, and that no Cuban would enter into further conference with the Spanish Government. On the 9th of February, 1869, the whole of the district called Las Yillas rose in arms under the direction of General Federico Cavada, a colonel in the United States volunteer service during the Southern rebellion. A brief sketch of some of the actions which since then have taken place will not be devoid of interest. AvHl IT. — Colonel Francisco Rubalcava (Cuban) reports to the President of the Republic, that he attacked a convoy pro- ceeding from Manati to Las Tunas, killing 23 men, taking 97 prisoners, among them 7 officers, besides 115 rifles and muskets, a field-piece, and other arms. May IX. — An expedition, composed of 205 men, under the command of Francisco Javier Cisneros, accompanied by General Thomas Jordan, landed in the bay of Nipe. One hundred and fifty of the country people immediately joined them, and, though attacked by a Spanish force, the Cubans succeeded in repulsing them, and saving the large quantity of arms and other supplies they carried with them, until they were re-inforced by a body of 2,000 men. June 6. — The Commander-in-Chief, Manuel Quesada, defeated the Spanish troops, numbering 600 men, who were marching to Las Tunas escorting a convoy, of which he captured four wagons laden with provisions and ammunition, together with important papers. June 21. — The same General reports to the Secretary of War, Francisco V. Aguilera, having marched from Penon, at the head of 300 men — infantry and cavalry — with which he attacked 13 and destroyed the enemy's camp, between Sabana Kueva and Caniaguey, killing 20 men, and taking one captain, two lieuten- ants, two ensigns, two sergeants, a corporal, and 72 soldiers, pris- oners. Besides this, he captured all the arms, horses, and equip- ments found in the camp. July 20. — The Cubans, under General Ignacio Agramonte, commenced to bombard Puerto Principe, capital of Camaguey. Their artillery, commanded by Major Beauvilliers, fired 17 grenades into the town, causing much damage to the public build- ings. Major Cantu, with 80 horsemen, took possession of the bridge of Santa Cruz, and defended it against the enemy, repulsing them with loss. Colonel Bobadilla, on the side of the Plaza de la Caridad, entered the city, took, a large amount of provisions and other stores, and having accomplished the object of the assault by rescuing a considerable number of families, the Cubans retired in good order. August 16. — General Quesada, at the head of 1,200 men, with a piece of ordnance, attacked the town of Las Tunas, which was garrisoned by 600 to TOO Spanish soldiers, and defended by strong intrenchments and artillery. The attack was to have taken place at three o'clock in the morning, at four points at once; but a detachment having sallied from the town on the previous night, to procure provisions, met the Cubans under Col- onel Cornelio Diaz, who were advancing from the west, and retreated. This detachment then fell upon Cuban General Vi- cente Garcia, who was waiting for the signal to attack, and hear- ing the enemy, opened fire, causing them to take refuge in the town, which was thereby alarmed. The firing was heard by Cuban Colonels Bernabe Yarona and Tomas Mendoza, who were posted respectively in the north and south, and, without waiting for any orders, they marched on the town. The Spaniards were intrenched behind the outer houses and earthworks, and, making use of their artillery, sought to keep the Cubans at bay ; but the latter dislodged them, and drove 14 them into the plaza, the approaches to which were fortified. One hundred and fifty Spaniards shut themselves up in the barracks ; but the Cubans took this building at ten o'clock in the morning, and the Spaniards, before abandoning it, put to death several political prisoners who were there detained, and fied to the plaza, leaving behind them seventeen dead bodies, more than fifty muskets, and a great quantity of ammunition and accoutre- ments. The Cubans then directed their fire against the steeple of the church, where some pieces of artillery had been mounted, and succeeded in dismantling this building and silencing the battery. There was then no further obstacle toward gaining possession of the whole town but the works of the plaza, which were defended by deep ditches, and could not be taken in front ; so the patriots resolved to assail them in flank, by breaking through the walls of the intervening houses. At this moment, when the breach was nearly finished, and about two o'clock in the afternoon, General Quesada was informed that a body of eight hundred Spaniards was approaching from Maniabon, and he then retired in good order, without being pursued by the en- emy. During the fight a part of the Cubans devoted themselves to carrying off a number of families who had been suffering there under Spanish cruelty, leaving only a few inhabitants, among whom were the wives of Generals Garcia and Rubalcava, who were detained within the fortification. In the Military Hospital, and in the houses of several officers, the patriots found and took more than two hundred arms, many cartridge boxes, and eleven "flags, besides 27 prisoners. The Cubans lost 26 killed and 82 wounded ; the Spaniards confess to a loss of 102 men. November 21. — The camp and fort of San Jose, defended by the Barcelona Chasseurs, under the command of Colonel Jose Saenz de Tejada, was attacked by the Cubans, who were led by Colonel Bernabe Varona, with such success that they had al- ready summoned the fort to surrender, when two Spanish col- 15 umns from Las Minas and San Antonio came up, obliging the assailants to retreat. This fort is one of the line formed around Puerto Principe, for its defense. The others are Forts Eodas and Yoluntario ; the latter is in the form of a half-star with three points, three guns, good ditches, stone walls and embankments, wells, and sub- terraneous stores for ammunition. All these have been built since the commencement of the war. The Spaniards have thrown up another triple line of fortifica- tions in the territory of Las Yillas, traversing the Island from north to south. In the first, which is the strongest, are Moron, Las Piedras, Sanchez, Ciego de Avila, Pitajones and Jucaro ; in the second, Eanchuelo, Lazaro, Jicotea, Guayacanes, and La Ceiba; in the third, Chambas, Guadalupe, Marroquin, Eio Grande, and Limones. Each one of these has a good garrison, and it is hoped by their aid to bar the passage of the Cubans. — (Diario de la Marina, December 8.) November 22. — The Cubans recovered their old positions on Mogote, causing the forces sent out from Santiago de Cuba, by Count Yalmaseda, to retreat with great loss. Mogote is a moun- tain at the foot of which runs the road from Manzanillo to Ba- yamo, communications between the places having been thus cut off. 16 III. Spanish Re-inforcements. — Since the commencement of the war, Spain has sent out to Cuba, according to the statement made in the Cortes, on the 30th of November last, by Gen. Prim, 40,000 men, besides which nine battalions and about thirty com- panies, numbering in all about 12,000 men, have been raised on the island and sent to the seat of war. 'The Spanish volunteers are well organized, drilled, and equipped with the best arms purchased in the United States ; but they are entirely confined to the cities, and do not take any part in the fighting. The navy, which, as we have before stated, was composed in October, 1868, of 14 vessels 128 guns, has been afterward re-inforced with the following : IRON CLADS. Victoria 27 „ Zaragoza 21 „ WOODEN FIRST CLASS STEAMERS. Almanza 48 „ Lealtad 37 „ SECOND CLASS. Cadiz 17 „ Fernando El Catolico 18 Isabel La Catolica 16 „ Pizarro , . 6 „ Balboa 6 „ Hernan Cortes 6 „ ' THIRD CLASS. Churruca 2 ,, 17 STEAM SCHOONERS. Juanita 3 guna. Sirena 3 « Favorita 3 " Condor 2 « GUN-BOATS. Louisa . Gitano. Figaro . Union . Maria. . Indio. . ARMED MERCHANT STEAMERS. Moctezuma. Marsella. . . Barcelona. . Gorrion Concha. . . . Matanzas . . Pinero oagua. . . Cardenas. Comercio. Triunfo. . Pelayo. . . Damuji. . Delta. . Omega. SAILING GUN-BOATS. TRANSPORT. San Quintin. SCHOOL-SHIP. Pinta 6 " Total, 52 vessels, with 402 guns, besides the 30 gun-boats armed with one large Parrot gun each, lately built in the United States. 2 18 FORCES OF TIIE PATRIOT CUBANS. The Cuban army, which in November, 1868, was composed of 12,000 men, now numbers 40,000, under the following organiza- tion : . Commander-in-Chief General Manuel Quesada. STAFF. Chief General Thomas Jordan. Chief of Artillery Major Beauvilliers. Brigadier-Major of Orders Bernabe Varona. Sanitary Department Adolfo Varona. 4 First Division — Army of Camaguey. Major-General .» Ignacio Agramonte. First Brigade Colonel Miguel Bosse. Second " • ■ . General Francisco Castillo. Third " Colonel Cornelio Porro. Fourth " " Lope Becio. Fifth - " " Manuel Valdes Urra. Sixth " " Manuel Agramonte. First Battalion -. " Pedro Becio. Second " " Jose Lino Coca. Third " " Rafael Bobadilla. Second Division — Army of Oriente. Major-General Francisco Aguilera. First Brigade General Donato Marmol. Second " " Luis Marcano. Third " « " Julio Peralta. Third Division — Army of Las Villas. Major-General Federico Cabada. First Brigade : General C. Acosta. Second " " Salome Hernandez. Third " " Adolfo Cabada. 19 SUPPLIES OF ARMS FOE THE CUBANS. The want of arms, severely felt by the patriots at the com- mencement of their struggle, has been supplied from time to time by their friends abroad with the following shipments : On the 26th of December, 1868, General Manuel Quesada landed at Guanaja with 83 men, and an armament composed of 2,700 muskets and corresponding ammunition. On the 11th of May, 1869, Francisco Xavier Cisneros landed at the Bay of Eipe with 205 men, 2,500 rifles, 10 pieces of artillery, ammunition, clothing, shoes, etc. On the 14th of May, Colonel Rafael Quesada went into the port of Nuevas-Grandes in the steamer Salvador, purchased by and belonging to the Cuban Republic, with 129 men, one cannon, 900 rifles, and other war stores. On the 20th of June, Antonio Jimenez landed at Baitiquiri, from the schooner Grapeshot, with 30 men, 600 rifles and ammunition. In October, an expedition from Jamaica reached Cuba safely, with some hundred guns, powder, medicines, etc. About 2,000 more guns have been introduced in other small lots. LOSSES OF THE SPANIARDS. General Buceta, in a letter published in the Diario de la Marina of Havana, on the 24th of June, stated that all the official dispatches written to the Government by the officers of the army, in which they claimed that the soldiers of Spain come out triumphant and unhurt from every action, were false. How- ever, El Cronista, a paper in the interest of the Spanish Gov- ernment, published in New York, confessed, a few months ago, that out of the 26,000 men sent out to Cuba from Spain, only 10,000 remained. 20 TV. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REPUBLIC. During the first month of the war, a provisional government was organized at Bayamo, with Carlos Manuel Cespedes at its head, who, on the 30th of October, 1868, published a manifesto, declaring that he would not impose his government on the people of the Island, and that he was ready to submit to what- ever the majority of its inhabitants decided, as soon as they could freely assemble to make use of their right of self-govern- ment. On the 10th of April, 1869, a convention met at Guaimaro, presided over by Cespedes, and composed of Miguel Gutierrez, Eduardo Machado, Antonio Lorda, Tranquilino Yaldes, and Ar- cadio Garcia, representatives from Yillaclara ; Honorato Castillo, representative from Sancti-Spiritu ; Jose Maria Izaguirre, for Jiguani ; Antonio Alcala and Jesus Rodriguez, for Holguin ; Salvador Cisneros, Francisco Sanchez, Ignacio Agramonte Loy- nas, Miguel Betancourt Guerra, and Antonio Zambrana, for Camaguey. A draft of a Constitution was laid before this body, which was discussed and amended until it was finally adopted, as follows : Article I. The Legislative power shall be vested in a House of Repre- sentatives. Article II. To this body shall be delegated an equal representation from each of the four States into which the Island of Cuba shall be divided. 21 Article III. These States are Oriente, Camaguey, Las Villas, and Occi- dents. Article IV. No one shall be eligible as Representative of any of these States except a citizen of the Republic, who is upward of twenty years of age. Article Y. ~No Representative of any State shall hold any other official position during his representative term. Article VI. Whenever a vacancy occurs in the representation of any State, the Executive thereof shall have power to fill such vacancy until the ensuing election. Article YII. The House of Representatives shall elect a President of the Republic, a General-in-Chief of its Armies, a President of the Congress, and other executive officers. The General-in-Chief shall be subordinate to the Executive, and shall render him an account of the performance of his duties. Article VIII. The President of the Republic, the General-in-Chief, and the Members of the House of Representatives are amenable to charges which may be made by any citizen to the House of Rep- resentatives, who shall proceed to examine into the charges preferred ; and if in their judgment it be necessary, the case of the accused shall be submitted to the Judiciary. Article IX. The House of Representatives shall have full power to dismiss from office any functionary whom they have appointed. 22 Article X. The Legislative Acts and decisions of the House of Represent- atives, in order to be valid and binding, must have the sanction of the President of the Republic. Article XI. If the President fail to approve the Acts and decisions of the House, he shall, without delay, return the same with his objec- tions thereto, for the reconsideration of that Body. Article XII. Within ten days after their reception, the President shall re- turn all Bills, Resolutions, and Enactments which may be sent to him by the House for his approval, with his sanction thereof, or with his objections thereto. Article XIII. Upon the passage of any Act, Bill, or Resolution, after a reconsideration thereof by the House, it shall be sanctioned by the President. Article XIY. The House of Representatives shall legislate upon Taxation, Public Loans, and Ratification of Treaties; and shall have power to declare and conclude War, to authorize the President to issue Letters of Marque, to raise Troops and provide for their support, to organize and maintain a Navy, and to regulate re- prisals as to the public enemy. Article XV. The House of Representatives shall remain in permanent ses- sion from the time of the ratification of this fundamental law by the People, until the termination of the war with Spain. Article XYI. The Executive Power shall be vested in the President of the Republic. 23 Article XYII. No one snail be eligible to the Presidency, who is not a native of the Republic, and over thirty years of age. Article XYIII. All treaties made by the President may be ratified by the House of Representatives. Article XIX. The President shall have power to appoint Ambassadors, Min- isters-plenipotentiary, and Consuls of the Republic, to foreign countries. Article XX. The President shall treat with Ambassadors, and shall see that the laws are faithfully executed. He shall also issue official commissions to all the functionaries of the Republic. Article XXI. The President shall propose the names for the members of his Cabinet to the House of Representatives for its approval. Article XXII. The Judiciary shall form an independent, co-ordinate depart- ment of the Government, under the organization of a special law. Article XXIII. Voters are required to possess the same qualifications as to age and citizenship as the Members of the House of Represent- atives. Article XXIV. All the inhabitants of the Republic of Cuba are absolutely free. 24 Article XXV. All the citizens are considered as soldiers of the Liberating Army. Article XXVI. The Republic shall not bestow dignities, titles, nor special privileges. Article XXVII. The citizens of the Republic shall not accept honors nor titles from foreign countries. XXVIII. The House of Representatives shall not abridge the Freedom ion, nor of the Press, nor of Public Meetings, nor of Education, nor of Petition, nor any inalienable Might of the Peo Article XXIX. This Constitution can be amended only by the unanimous concurrence of the House of Representatives. On the following day (the 11th), the Assembly proceeded to elect their officers, and the following were chosen : President Salvador Cisneros. Secretaries \ Ignacio Agramonte Loynaz. ( Antonio Zambrana. Vice-Secretaries J Mi S uel Betancourt. ( Eduardo Machado. The House then, in conformity with the provisions of the Constitution, appointed Carlos Manuel Cespedes President of the Republic, and Manuel Quesada Commander-in-Chief of the Army. These tinkers entered upon the discharge of their duties on the 12th. At a later date several Representatives took their seats in the House : Jorge Milanes, for the district of Manzanillo ; Manuel 25 Gomez Silva, for Camaguey ; Manuel Gomez Peiia, for Guan- tanamo ; Tomas Estrada, for Cobre ; Pio Posada, for Santiago de Cuba ; Fernando Fornaris, for Bayamo ; and Pedro Agiiero, for Las Tunas. The first sessions of this Assembly were held at Guaimaro ; afterward they have been held at Cascorro and Sibanicu. Guaimaro is a town of 3,965 inhabitants, with 496 houses. It is 55 miles from Puerto Principe, 30 from ISTuevitas, and 36 from Las Tunas. Cascorro and Sibanicu are two towns, situated in close proxim- ity to one another. They have together a population of 5,000 inhabitants. The Spaniards have never been able to take any of these towns, though they have always had large forces at Puerto Principe Nuevitas, and Las Tunas, commanded by their best officers, among whom was Count Valmaseda. ABOLITION OF SLAVERY. In including within their programme the abolition of slavery, the Cubans have acted consistently with the whole tenor of all the petitions addressed to Spain at various periods. The most eminent writers and thinkers of Cuba — the men who by their teachings have prepared the way for the Revolution, such as Va- rela, Saco, Delmonte, Luz Caballero, and others, have been abo- litionists, and have suffered persecution, imprisonment, and exile in consequence. During the civil war in this country, the Cu- bans distinguished themselves from the Spanish residents of the Island by their open sympathies with the cause of the Union, and their aversion to the principles proclaimed by the Southern confederacy, involving as they did the maintenance of slavery. El Siglo, a Havana paper that represented the liberals of the Cuban party, used to applaud with enthusiasm the triumphs of the Federal army, and maintained with courage the doctrine that 26 the victory of the South would have been a fatal blow to the prog- ress of humanity. And further, the commissioners sent to Madrid in 1868 to propose the reforms demanded by the people in their political and social institutions, pronounced almost unan- imously in favor of the gradual emancipation of slaves. Accord- ingly, one of the first acts of Carlos Manuel Cespedes, in October, 1868, was to proclaim the abolition of slavery. On the 24th of February following, the Assembly of Camaguey decreed the same in an absolute and unconditional manner. The Constitution of the Republic declares in its 24th article, that " all the inhabitants of the Republic of Cuba are abso- lutely free." JUDICIARY. By the law enacted on the 6th of August, 1869, the Adminis- tration of Justice is vested : First — In a Supreme Court. Second — In Criminal Judges. Third — In Civil Judges. Fourth — In Prefects and Sub-Prefects. Fifth—In Courts-Martial. The Supreme Court is composed of a president, two judges, and a judge advocate. Each State of the Republic is divided into various judicial districts, each with a civil judge, a criminal judge, and an attor- ney for the Commonwealth. Among other facts which denote the impartiality with which these courts administer justice, we will cite the case of a Cuban named Borjes, who was tried by them, and condemned to death for having murdered a Spaniard named Manuel Colza, a native of Santander. ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION. In every State there is a civil governor. The States are divi- ded into districts, each of which is governed by a lieutenant- 27 govenor, and these districts subdivided into prefectships and sub- prefectships. All these functionaries are elected by the people. The best proof that this organization is working and in force, has just been afforded by the Spanish Government itself, which published in the Havana papers a telegram dated the 8th of December last, in which the Spanish Commander-General of Cinco Villas reports to the Captain-General that the prefect of Santa-Clara, Don Agustin Hernandez, had presented himself to him. The civil governor, elected by the Cubans for the State of Las Villas, is Joaquin Morales. For the State of Camaguey, Carlos Loret de Mola was appointed in May, ad interim. On the 25th of September, Manuel Ramon Silva was elected in his place. LAWS PASSED BY CONGRESS. 11th May, 1869 — Law granting amnesty to all political pris- oners not sentenced. 4th June, 1869 — Law prescribing the requisites for marriages and authorizing. 7th June, 1869 — Law declaring the commerce of the Republic free with all nations. June 15, 1869. — Law authorizing the emission of $2,000,700 legal tender paper money, the Republic promising to redeem it for specie at par as soon as circumstances should permit. In anticipation of this enactment, the ISTew York Junta had, at the request of President Cespedes, caused to be engraved in this city, and sent out to Cuba, the currency required. July 9, 1869. — Law organizing the different departments of the army, and ordaining that every citizen between the ages of 18 and 50 should be obliged to bear arms. August 6, 1869. — Law regulating the administration of justice as aforesaid. August 7, 1869. — Law describing the powers of the adminis- 28 tration and the functions of the Secretaries of State, tog ether with those of other civil officers. RECOGNITION BY FOREIGN POWERS. Many of the Spanish-American Republics have hastened to express their sympathies in favor of their new-born sister. The Mexican Congress authorized President Juarez to recog- nize the Cubans as belligerents, and gave orders that the Cuban flag should be admitted in the ports of that nation. Cuban belligerency was acknowledged by Chili on the 30th of April, by Peru on the 13th of May, and by Bolivia on the 10th of June. Peru recognized her independence on the 13th of June. 29 Y. PRESENT STATE OF THE REVOLUTION. A few evidences among many that we could furnish, will tend to show the actual strength of the revolution : On the 11th day of October last, the Voz de Cuba, a Spanish paper published in Havana, said in a leading article : " Is it possible that in Guaimaro, four days' journey from Havana — two by sea, and two by land — there should have existed for the last eight months a G overnment of traitors ; that they should have been holding sessions, issuing decrees, publishing papers, and exercising all the rights of sovereignty V The world has never heard since then of the capture of Ces- pedes, of the dissolution of the Cuban Congress, or even of the capture of Guaimaro. On the contrary, on the 25th of Decem- ber, the telegraph informed us that General Puello had left Nuevitas with 3,000 well-armed men, in the direction of Sibani- cu and Guaimard, determined now to take these towns. By order of Captain-General Caballero de Rodas, the "Official Gazette of Havana" published, on the 19th of October last, for general intelligence, as he expressed it, the affidavit of an insur- gent who had surrendered to the Spaniards, and who, from having served as a clerk with several prominent Cuban leaders, had been in a position to acquire information about the insurrection. This witness declares the existence of a Republican Govern- ment, with C. M. Cespedes as President, Francisco Y. Aguilera as Minister of War, etc. ; that Congress was then in recess, and that on the 25th of September, elections were to be held at Ca- maguey. Jose Ramon Boza and Eduardo Agramonte were candi- dates for Representatives to Congress, and Manuel Ramon Silva for Governor of the State ; that Manuel Quesada was General-in- 30 Chief; Ignacio Agramonte, Major-General in the district of Camaguey ; Bernabe Yarona, Major-General of Orders ; Beauvil- liers, Chief of Artillery. He mentions, besides these names, those of thirty-seven brigadier-generals, colonels and majors, among whom we notice Colonel Benitez, a Spaniard ; that there is no uniformity in the arms of the troops, but that they have many Spencer and Remington rifles ; that some of the Spanish officers who are prisoners of war are instructing the Cuban troops ; that the dress of General Quesada is a black or grey suit, white shirt, grey hat, with the Cuban cockade and the initials " Y. C. L." in gold letters, and a sword with a gold hilt in the form of an eagle ; that the staff of Quesada wear red flannel shirts, patent leather boots, Panama hats, and cockades with the letters " Y. C. L." in silver ; his escort wear blue flannel shirts, white or black panta- loons, and Panama hat. All are armed with Spencer rifles, and have good horses and equipments ; that the Sanitary Department is in charge of Adolfo Yarona and other physicians ; that the work goes on, on the farms, as usual, especially at Guaimaro and Sibanicii, for which reason provisions are plentiful, and that four leagues from the city of Puerto Principe there are a great many fat cattle and pigs, from which the Cubans cannot make salt meat for want of salt ; that in the woods there are many retreats built with habitations for families, when they have to fly from the vil- lages ; that the most respectable families of Puerto Principe re- side at Caunao, Braya, and other places, or on their estates ; that there is a constant communication and correspondence between the towns and the country, through the medium of men, women, and children ; that there is besides a regular postal service, and he mentions the names of one of the mail carriers whom he knew, namely, Luis Aguero ; and finally, that in order to keep up the spirit of sympathizers, two Cuban papers, entitled El Cubano Libre and El Mambi, were distributed weekly with great regularity in the city of Puerto Principe itself. 31 Captain-General De Rodas, under date of the 8th of December last, issued a decree establishing the telegraph money service, when he used these words : " On account of the political situa- tion and the damage caused by the insurrection, the. stations where this service can be carried on are, for the present, limited to the following : Havana, Matanzas, Santa Clara, Pinar del Bio, Cardenas, Cienfuegos. Sagiia La Grande, Guanajay, San Antonio, Colon, Bemba, Remedios, San Cristobal, San Diego, and Consolacion del Sur." It will be seen by reference to the map that the places mentioned are all situated on the Western half of the Island, but the real extent of Spanish rule is still less. The list of Cubans whose property has been confiscated by the Government is now many thousands, and the value of their property is many millions of dollars. Not less considerable is the number of individuals of all classes of society who have been banished without trial. It is but lately — on the 24th of December last — that upward of fifty of the most respectable and wealthy citizens of Havana received the order to embark for Spain on twenty-four hours' notice. Many others await the same fate. Is this revolution, then, subdued ? Is it confined to a few disorderly men % Spain has sent to Cuba, within the last three months, over 17,000 men, and she continues to send more. 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