TWENTY CUBA A DESCRIPTION OF CUBA AS A MIS- SION FIELD AFTER TWENTY YEARS OF EVANGELICAL ENDEAVOR. l.A mtf. - I ^{/ CHARLES S. DETWEILEB CONTENTS I. Historical Background. 5 II. Economic Background . 9 III. Social Background . 12 IV. Educational Background . 16 V. Beginning and Development of Missionary Work 18 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Columbia University Libraries https://archive.org/details/twentyyearsincubOOdetw Twenty Years in Cuba A Description of Cuba As a Mission Field After Twenty Years of Evangelical Endeavor By Charles S. Detweiler i: H '’• 4 , fV 'V ' r. r ' ■ fvA;i# ' •K\t. ■■ -11 ; ■ * i !; •. . »/i.. ' '1 *. > u s 1 , ' m 'V; J’V' » •»' ' '■■■ ' V-(.’'>Jm‘ ■ ^ '■ ,•. .'•'•’•iVl# « s '! ■ r' '’'it! .; ;V.> '■ I,'/, iiil r|i L . 4 rr\&r, - Cdih<^ Preface T his pamphlet has been prepared as a companion to two al¬ ready issued on two other mission fields in the West Indies, one on Porto Rico by Arthur James, published by the Pres¬ byterian Board of Home Missions, and one on Santo Domingo and Haiti by Samuel Guy Inman, published by the Committee on Co¬ operation in Latin America, It is hoped that the three pamphlets together may afford help to those who are interested in the study of missions in these oldest parts of the New World. The West Indies are rapidly regaining the commercial importance they held in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries but which they lost in the nineteenth through the abolition of slavery and the develop¬ ment of the beet sugar industry in Central Europe. The departure of Spain from Porto Rico and Cuba was followed by an inrush of American capital and a period of business prosperity never dreamed of under the old regime. About the same time Jamaica was being developed by the United Fruit Company, until it produced approxi¬ mately one-third of the total world output of bananas. Then with the opening of the Panama Canal the Caribbean Sea became once more what it was in the sixteenth century, a great traffic center of the world’s commerce. At the same time the steady growth of the political influence of the United States in this region has made it a real home mission field, a new frontier. First came the acquisition of Porto Rico and the protectorate over Cuba. Then followed in rapid succession the pur¬ chase of the Virgin Islands from Denmark, and the assumption of a protectorate over Santo Domingo and Haiti. The financial dependence of these republics upon the United States affords our country a leverage which with tactful use can effect much good. It is in this way that General Crowder has accom¬ plished a vast deal in Cuba in helping that republic suppress graft, and in insisting upon the selection and retention in cabinet positions of men of high honor and ability. It is to be hoped that the steady growth of American political influence in the Caribbean may not mean an open door for the exploitation of its material resources 3 and cheap labor by our great corporations, but that it may rather mean the extension of American and Christian ideals of education, sanitation and justice for all who are oppressed. On this account every effort should be made to promote among American Christians a more thorough appreciation of our missionary responsibility in the West Indies. Cuba ought not to be exploited simply as a winter resort for anti-prohibitionists and racetrack de¬ votees. The fact that it is popular with these types of Americans, and that it is used as a base for smuggling aliens as well as liquor into the United States, makes it the more incumbent upon the Christian elements of our country to strengthen the evan¬ gelical forces that are the better representatives of American life, and which are really helping Cuba. In the hope of promoting this good work, this pamphlet is issued. The author gratefully acknowl¬ edges the collaboration of the Rev. Sylvester Jones in the prepara¬ tion of the last chapter. Mr. Jones was for many years a successful missionary of the Friends in Cuba, and is at present engaged in inter¬ denominational work on the island in promoting the Daily Vacation Bible School, the circulation of Christian literature, and the cause of temperance. 4 Twenty Years in Cuba I. Historical Background T he island of Cuba was discovered and claimed for Spain by Columbus on his first voyage of exploration, on October 28, 1492. As a Spanish colony it dates from 1511, when the first governor was appointed, and there began the subjection of the war¬ like Indian inhabitants. Cuba was important to the early Spaniards as a base of supply for numerous expeditions to the mainland, the most important being that of Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico. Later on Havana became the rendezvous of the galleons that con¬ veyed the treasures of Mexico and Peru to Spain. In 1762 Havana was conquered by the English under Lord Alber- marle after a seige of two months. In the following year it was restored to the Spanish authorities, and remained under their rule until the Spanish-American war in 1898. The last Spanish governor surrendered his authority on the first day of January, 1899. This transfer marked the end of Spain’s empire in the New World and meant the loss of her richest and most prized colony. Her own stupid colonial policy, excusable in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries but without justification when carried down into the nineteenth century, was the cause of her humiliation. In that policy she violated the fundamental principles of government, which other nations had learned much earlier in their colonial enterprises. Spain assumed that the subject existed solely for the benefit of the sovereign. In all her colonies she sought only her own financial advantage. Because of her severe restrictions of trade to Spanish ports and Spanish vessels, the first three centuries of Spanish rule in America was a period of stagnation. Early in the nineteenth century this monopoly was given up but in exchange high tariff walls were erected that wrought the same result. Not only was the colony expected to produce large returns through taxes both direct and indirect to the mother country, but all of the lucra¬ tive positions were reserved for Spaniards. Cubans were not es¬ teemed worthy of public office. During the early years of United States history and especially after the acquisition of Florida, the importance of Cuba for the protection of our territory from foreign invasion was clearly seen. At different times uneasiness was manifested at Washington lest France or Great Britain should acquire this island so near to our doors, and the government of Spain received assurance from Wash- 5 Twenty Years in Cuba ington that the American government would look with disfavor and alarm upon the transfer of her sovereignty over the island to any other nation. In the decade preceding the Civil War there arose a very strong desire, especially on the part of the statesmen of the South, for the acquisition of Cuba in order to increase slave-holding territory. All during the administration of President Pierce efforts were made to acquire it by purchase from Spain but without meeting any encouragement at Madrid. The Cuban question figured con¬ spicuously in the campaign of 1856, the platform of the Democratic party containing a strong declaration in favor of its acquisition. The Civil War and the abolition of slavery in the United States brought to an end all this agitation and thereafter our policy was mainly concerned with urging upon the Spanish government the abolition of slavery in Cuba and the establishment of a more liberal form of government through independence or autonomy. The heroic period of struggle for Cuban independence began in 1868 with an uprising in Yara under the leadership of Carlos Manuel Cespedes. Then began the Ten Years’ War, which lasted until 1878. The great leader of this war was Maximo Gomez, a leader who was to continue the heroic struggle until final victory was assured. A republican government was established, whose capital was in the field most of the time. The movement finally failed in 1878 and a treaty of peace was concluded between the insurgents and Spain, under which some of the former went into exile and Spain promised politi¬ cal reforms. These political reforms were never realized to any great extent and the Cubans continued in more or less dissatisfaction, plotting within and without the country another uprising. The last move¬ ment, which through American intervention led to final victory, was initiated early in 1896. Jose Marti, dreamer, poet, idealist, had visited Maximo Gomez in his retirement in Santo Domingo and on behalf of the Cuban revolutionary society had offered him the com¬ mand of the insurgent army that was to spring up spontaneously when the standard of revolt should be raised. Gomez accepted the command and soon landed on the coast of eastern Cuba to begin his campaign, accompanied by Marti, recognized as the president of the revolutionary party. The latter was not by nature nor by train¬ ing a military leader and early in the campaign lost his life in a combat with the Spanish troops. Spain was prompt in sending mili¬ tary reenforcements to the island, and she had need of all of them, for the new movement was not confined to the eastern end of the island as in the war of ’68 to ’78. Gomez, ably seconded by Antonio Maceo, carried the war to the very gates of Havana and kindled the fire 6 Twenty Years in Cuba of insurrection all over the island. At one time the city of Havana was almost in a panic for fear the revolutionists would attack it. They came within fifteen miles of the city and destroyed railroads and sugar mills on all sides of it. A demand being made in Spain for more vigorous measures against the revolution General Weyler was appointed as a new Captain General in place of General Campos. The new arrival soon earned the title of “Butcher” by his ruthless measures, one of which was called “the policy of reconcentration.” The Cubans were called to come into certain centers appointed by the Spaniards and were promised amnesty if they presented them¬ selves and sought pardon. The country people were then shut up in prison camps. Often they were herded in settlements enclosed within stockades or trenches. When they were permitted to wander in the nearby towns the bounds were still set for them by military lines. No attempt was made to feed them as is expected of all governments that hold prisoners. They were left to live on the charity of the community in which they were herded. Most of them were noncombatants, women and children, and thousands died. Re¬ ports of this inhumanity increased the popular sympathy in the United States that was already awakened by the insurgents because they were struggling for liberty. The events leading up to the Spanish-American War are too well known to require detailing here. On April 19, 1898, war was declared, and ended that same year with the triumph of American arms and the complete withdrawal of Spain from her American possessions. The task that awaited the American Army of Occupation baffles description. Cuba had been converted by the long years of war into a hospital and a poor farm. Hundreds of children wandered homeless and unclothed, living as they could almost like wild ani¬ mals. A state of desolation, starvation and anarchy prevailed almost everyhere.. At the outbreak of the revolution Cuba had some three million head of cattle, many of which were oxen upon which the Cuban planter depends for his agricultural work. At the close of the war it was estimated that fully ninety per cent of these cattle had been destroyed without replacement. In 1894 there were more than 350 mills for the grinding of sugar cane and the making of raw sugar. Few of these escaped injury during the war and about half of them were totally destroyed. Sanitation had been neglected and yel¬ low fever, frequently epidemic, seemed more threatening because of the general conditions of filth. Under American military adminis¬ tration order was rapidly restored, the customs service was organized and a just system of taxation instituted. An American army surgeon 7 Twet^ty Years in Cuba engaged in the sanitation of the island presented certain studies to the governor, General Wood, who fortunately had had medical training and knew how to appreciate the findings of this physician. Public funds were set apart for further investigation, which resulted in proving that a certain species of mosquito was the carrier of yellow fever. The result was that measures were taken which have delivered Cuba forever from the menace of this dread disease. The public school system was organized and schools to the number of over three thousand were established where under the Spanish regime there had been only nine hundred. Public works of importance were undertaken, such as the roads and bridges, and finally when the end of intervention came in May, 1902, the new Cuban government under President Estrada Palma had turned over to it a handsome balance of public funds. In the face of world-wide skepticism the pledge made by the United States when it declared war on Spain was faithfully carried out. “The United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or con¬ trol 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.” In August, 1906, President Palma was re-elected for a second term, but the Cuban people had not learned sufficiently well the art of self-government and insurrection at once began to be planned by his defeated opponents. President Roosevelt endeavored to com¬ pose the difficulties between the two Cuban parties but was unsuc¬ cessful. Finally President Palma resigned, and it being impossible to assemble a quorum of the Cuban Congress to undertake the re¬ sponsibility of government, the American government once more intervened and governed the island until 1909. General Gomez, the regularly elected president, then assumed control and after his four year period General Menocal was elected. General Menocal was president for eight years. At the time of his re-election (1917) there was an outbreak in eastern Cuba. - The Liberal party felt that they were about to be cheated out of an election and appealed to arms. At first they were quite successful and gained possession of Santiago and the control of the railroad in eastern Cuba, but the revolution was finally suppressed and General Menocal finished his second term in peace. Dr. Alfredo Zayas was elected his successor and found an empty treasury and a heavy public debt. It is commonly believed that the greater part of this debt is due to graft in all branches of the government. If the success of self-government and free institutions has ever been endangered in Cuba it is undoubtedly due to widespread political corruption. A third intervention by the 8 Twenty Yb:ars in Cuba United States has been freely predicted, but fortunately the predic¬ tion has not been realized. At the close of the Spanish-American War the United States showed that it had no intention of withdrawing from Cuba until the people of Cuba should recognize that in the field of international relations the two nations were henceforth to stand together. A pro¬ vision known as the Platt Amendment was inserted in the army appropriation bill of March 2, 1901, directing the President of the United States to leave the control of the island to its people so soon as a government should be established under a constitution which defined the future relations with the United States as follows: 1. Cuba to make no treaty with any foreign power which would tend to impair the independence of Cuba, nor to permit any foreign power to obtain any control over any part of the island. 2. Cuba not to contract any public debt beyond the resources of the nation to provide for it out of the ordinary revenues. 3. The United States tO' have the right to intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence and the maintenance of a gov¬ ernment adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty. This is the substance of the famous Platt Amendment, which was adopted as an appendix to the Cuban Constitution. The right of the United States to intervene has been exercised in a military way only once after the inauguration of the republic, but in a diplomatic way our government has been continually inter¬ vening. By wise counsel and by representations given personally to the President and his cabinet, the United States has endeavored to help Cuba to correct its mistakes and to overcome its weaknesses as it develops self-government. At the time of this writing (Novem¬ ber, 1922) General Enoch Crowder has been for more than a year in Havana as the personal representative of the President of the United States and has exerted pressure upon the Cuban government to effect political reforms and to balance the budget. It is expected that sufficient good can be accomplished by these friendly and per¬ sonal efforts to avoid the necessity of any direct intervention in the administration of Cuba. II. Economic Background Cuba is the largest and most important of the West Indian islands. Its length is about 780 miles, average width from fifty to sixty miles, greatest width 100 miles, narrowest width thirty-five 9 Twenty Years in Cuba miles. Havana is about ninety miles from Key West, Florida, and Santiago, about the same distance from Kingston, Jamaica. The pop¬ ulation of the largest cities is as follows: Havana, 360,000; Santiago, 50,000; Matanzas, 37,000; Cienfuegos, 40,000; Camaguey, 35,000. The total area is about 44,000 square miles, about the same as that of the state of Pennsylvania. The population is 2,700,000, or about sixty to the square mile. Cuba’s seacoast is approximately 2,000 miles long, which is equal to that of the Atlantic coast of the United States. In other words, if Cuba’s entire coast were placed along the Atlantic coast it would reach from Boston on the north to Key West on the south. At the same time it has more fine deep¬ water harbors than any other country in the western hemisphere. The climate of Cuba while tropical is moderate. The weather bureau at Camaguey records the maximum temperatures in August as ninety-five degrees, and the minimum temperature in January as fifty degrees. For the four hottest months of the year the mean temperature is about eighty degrees. The climate is salubri¬ ous,—the death rate is only 14.5 per thousand, which is said to be the lowest of any country in the world with the exception of Australia. There are over 2,200 miles of railways on the island. This makes Cuba in proportion to its size, one of the best served in respect to railroad transportation of any of the American republics. There are few towns in Cuba that are more than a few miles away from some railway. Cuba has always been essentially an agricultural country with large tracts especially adapted for cattle raising. Of late years her mineral resources have attracted attention, the principal metals pro¬ duced being iron, copper and manganese. There are also asphalt and petroleum deposits. Bananas, cocoanuts, cacao, coffee, tobacco and sugar cane have been the staple productive crops of Cuba for centuries. Shortly after Cuba 'was started on her way as an independent republic in 1902, President Roosevelt began to advocate a special tariff arrangement for Cuban products. He insisted that inasmuch as Cuba had been brought within our system of international policy it necessarily followed that it must to a certain degree come within the lines of our economic policy. He finally succeeded by the close of the year 1903 in getting the approval of Congress to a special reciprocity convention with Cuba by which all Cuban products not on the free list are to be admitted into the United States at a reduction of twenty per cent from American tariff rates. This 10 Twenty Years in Cuba treaty, together with the guarantee of stable political conditions af¬ forded by the Platt Amendment, caused a great inrush of American capital to Cuba, and a wonderful development of Cuban commerce. In ten years’ time the exports increased one hundred fifty per cent and the imports eighty-two per cent. How important the island has become as an element of trade in the United States is shown by the fact that Cuba ranks fifth among all the countries from which the United States imports goods, and takes sixth place among her cus¬ tomers. As further emphasizing Cuba’s key position in Pan-America is the fact that according to the reports of 1917 Cuba took care of nearly thirty-three per cent of the entire exports of the United States to the whole of Latin America, and she exported to the United States nearly twenty-six per cent of all our purchases from Latin America. Of course the greater part of this commerce, or to speak more accurately more than two-thirds, is in sugar; and sugar and tobacco together make up ninety per cent of Cuban export trade. Sugar is the basis of prosperity of Cuba and to a large degree controls both her domestic and her foreign policy. But the most remarkable fact about the wealth and prosperity of Cuba is that it is largely in the hands of foreigners. The railway and street car systems are under Anglo-American control; public lighting, American; city property, sixty per cent owned or pledged to foreign interests as security for loans; rural property, sixty-six per cent American; sugar interests, fifty-six per cent American con¬ trolled and forty-four per cent other foreign control; tobacco, seventy per cent Anglo-American; mining, Anglo-American; banking, sev¬ enty-five per cent foreign; shipping, foreign. Statistics may reveal a wonderful state of progress, but when one comes to study the distri¬ bution of this wealth another story is told. Absentee ownership means that the wealth produced by the fertile soil and rich mines of Cuba goes to New York, London and Madrid to be distributed among foreign stock and bond-holders. Upon landing in Havana one is impressed on seeing how completely the retail business of the city is in the hands of Spaniards. Cubans have been forced into minor positions in every line except law, medicine and politics. The only thing Cuban in Cuba is the state, and this situation goes far to explain a great deal of the political unrest. Government positions are the only avenue of advancement open to many an aspiring Cuban youth. The fact that four-fifths of Cuba’s exports are to the United States and that more than one-half of her imports come from the United States makes our relations with that country the most im- 11 Twenty Years in Cuba portant of Cuba’s foreign interests, and in these days economic rela¬ tions of a strong with a weak country often imply a certain measure of political and social control. No student of missions, therefore, can afford to neglect the bearing of economic conditions upon the problems to be met in the work of evangelization. For the development of the sugar industry the Cuban labor supply has never been sufficient and recourse has been had to immigration from other countries. Every year thousands of hardy Spanish peas¬ ants come over for the harvest season in the cane fields and return to Spain at its conclusion. Field hands from Jamaica and Haiti have also been contracted in large numbers. The wages paid in Cuba have always been higher than on any of the neighboring islands of the West Indies and, therefore, it has not been difficult to attract sufficient foreign labor. The western end of the island, where is the capital Havana, is the more populous and developed part. Eastern Cuba was left without a railroad until 1903, Since then forests have been cleared, much lumber has been exported, new towns built and new sections opened up to settlement and productive cultivation. To the traveler along the railroad there are in many places yet remaining indications of pioneer life,—hastily constructed frame buildings amid new clearings. The two eastern provinces that comprise one-half the territory of the island are easily capable of supporting a vastly increased population and even then will fall far short of the density of Porto Rico and Haiti, III. Social Background The population of Cuba is divided between the Negroes and white people much about the same as in our Southern States, The Indians in the West Indies were so thoroughly exterminated by the early Spaniards through wars and forced labor that there is little of their stock to be found in the present inhabitants. The census reports fully seventy per cent of the people as being white, and only thirty per cent as being Negroes, Nearly twelve per cent of the population is for¬ eign born, of whom the great majority—somewhat more than 200,000 •—are from Spain. These Spaniards constitute a very valuable ele¬ ment for their thrift and industry. Instances are common of Span¬ iards who arrived in Cuba with nothing but their bags of clothing and who are now among the wealthiest business men and planters. It is to be expected for various reasons that Cuba should be rapidly Americanized, not only because of its nearness to the United States but also because of the large American investments on the 12 Twenty Years in Cuba island. The first impression upon a traveler in Havana is that the city has become a great tourist center and that American sports, especially horse racing and baseball, have taken a firm hold upon the affections of the people. To these influences must be added those of the eight or ten thousand Cuban youths who annually go North to attend American schools and return to their own land full of en¬ thusiasm for American ways. Last, but not least, is the direct pressure exercised by our government upon the Cuban administration when¬ ever it is felt that reforms should be effected to lessen the danger of intervention. The use of the English language is not growing, except with the upper and privileged classes. One thing that the Spaniards have taught the Cubans is the organi¬ zation of cooperative societies. Havana is famous for its great clubs, three of them having a combined membership of over one hundred thousand. These clubs are the greatest mutual benefit agencies to be found in Spanish America. The Gallego Club is for the benefit particularly of those Spaniards coming from the Province of Galicia. There is no finer building in Cuba than the Gallego Club, costing about one million dollars. Next in rank comes the Asturiano Club with a membership of 36,000, composed principally of Spaniards from the Province of Asturia. Then there is a clerks’ club with a membership of 30,000, for the benefit of the clerks of Havana, with its home in a palace in the heart of the city. Members of these clubs have the privilege of night schools, musical instruction and hospital care. Intemperance has never been considered the prominent and de¬ structive evil among the Latin that it has been in the Anglo-Saxon world. The Latin races have the reputation of drinking wines and liquors in moderation. In any case the public conscience on this question has never been developed as it has in Protestant lands. One may go into a drinking place without being conscious of being in a saloon because the Spanish cafe dispenses as much coffee and bottled water as alcoholic beverages. They are frequented by all classes of society, men and women alike, and have never had the low atmosphere that has characterized the American saloon. Beer is served every¬ where and it occasions surprise that anyone should refuse it from conscientious motives. Nevertheless there has been a growth in in¬ temperance, due perhaps to the example of Americans, especially in recent years since Havana has become the Mecca of all anti-prohibi¬ tionists in the United States. The American occupation and military government abolished cock- fighting, but when Cuba attained complete independence it was re- 13 Twenty Years in Cuba stored and is now the most popular sport. CoclcHfights are usually held on Sunday and almost every town has a cock-pit constructed in amphitheatre style. Everywhere throughout the country on Sunday one may meet these gamesters carrying one or two roosters under their arms and if on the train the railway coach seems to become a barnyard. Of course gambling is connected with cock-fighting and adds to the attractiveness of it. One of the best racing tracks in the world is to be found in Havana. For four months every year during the winter season racing is on almost daily and thousands of visitors from the States are at¬ tracted to this. It is hardly necessary to state that gambling on a large scale is connected with this institution. In fact as a social evil gambling anywhere in Latin America is far graver than intemperance. It seems to be in the blood of the race. Perhaps the most popular institution in Cuba today is the national lottery, abolished by the American military government but restored by the Cuban. The government receives a clear revenue of some thirty per cent from this institution. All classes patronize it but its worst effects are seen among the poor. It is a breeder of poverty and a discourager of thrift. It has drawings about every ten days and twenty-five cents is the smallest amount that can be invested in a chance. Of American sports that have been introduced baseball is the most popular. Though played in all parts of the island it has not taken the place of cock-fighting. Basketball and soccer football are also played to some extent. A great need exists in Cuba for public play¬ grounds. Especially in the cities is one impressed with the throngs of children having no place to play except in the streets, where they may be seen chasing one another around the corners in constant danger from the traffic. The movies abound everywhere in Cuba, but the pictures exhibited frequently seem to be the very off-scouring of the dramatic world. Certain theatres in Havana have been infamous for their exhibitions. In general the quality of the pictures exhibited all over the island is such as to give credence to the opinion that those which fail to pass the censor in the United States are sent to Latin America. In their family life Cubans differ little from the people of Mexico, Porto Rico and South America. They are affectionate to their chil¬ dren, even to the point of neglecting discipline. They are loyal to one another in the family circle. Instances are very common of homes of poor people being opened to take in the orphans of relatives or 14 Twenty Years in Cuba neighbors at great sacrifice. And yet when all is said about their appreciation of the family it remains to be stated that the conscience is untrained and on a different basis from that of the Anglo-Saxon world. While the Cuban woman is just as good and faithful to her husband as her Anglo-Saxon sister, the same cannot be said of the Cuban man. Popular opinion even in the best society tolerates a double standard of morals. The restraints and restrictions thrown about the girl of the bet¬ ter class are far in excess of anything known in this country. She is carefully guarded and chaperoned, and even during the period of courtship after the suitor has been admitted into the family circle she is never left alone; consequently there is not the same comrade¬ ship between husband and wife that is the glory of the American home. In a few mission schools, where there is coeducation, a new order is coming into vogue and it is safe to say that young people who have learned to know each other in the classroom and the social life of the college will make happier matches and raise the standard of married life for the whole island. Considerably more than half of the inhabitants of Cuba are en¬ gaged in agriculture and live in hamlets and towns of less than one thousand population. Among these people life is reduced to the barest simplicity. The usual residence of the country laborer is a little palm-thatched shack with dirt floor, whose only furniture is a bench, a table, a canvas cot and a hammock. His food consists of rice and beans and plantain and salt cod-fish with black coffee. The more prosperous own a cow and a horse. Two or three acres belong¬ ing to him, or loaned by the sugar estate upon which he lives, affords him a scant harvest of sweet potatoes, plantain, cassava, corn and beans. Perhaps he cuts some scrub timber from a neighboring swamp and burns charcoal, which he sells in the nearest town. On Sunday he goes to market in this town and sells his produce. Some of this money he invests in a lottery ticket, and he must have a strong character if he does not lose some of the remainder in the afternoon at a cock-fight. The most surprising feature of country life is to see so many neatly dressed people in freshly ironed cotton goods issue on a Sunday morning from the most miserable hovels. On the great sugar estates neat little cabins are provided for the laborers, and a few of the companies are making sincere attempts to provide for the comfort of their employees. The largest of these has built ten schoolhouses for the children of its employees and hires the schoolteachers. It also employs one who was formerly a Methodist missionary as superintendent of their welfare work. All 15 Twenty Years in Cuba of this has had an excellent efifect upon the moral as well as the physical life of their employees. IV. Educational Background Educationally, Cuba before becoming an independent republic was in the same situation as all of Spanish America. The tendency of every country where the Roman Catholic civilization prevails has been to educate the few who are to be the ruling class and to neglect the many upon whom the whole fabric of their civilization rests. According to the best figures obtainable the attendance in the public schools before American intervention in 1898 was 21,000. There was a public school system similar to that of Spain but it fell easily under the dominating influence of the church. Schoolhouses as distinct edifices erected for school purposes were unknown. Schools were usually held in the residence of the teacher. One of the first changes introduced by the American military government was the institution of a new school system. A school law issued very early in the American occupation provided for municipal boards of edu¬ cation, for the payment of teachers, and for the rental of school buildings for school purposes. It authorized the expenditure of a sum not exceeding $50.00 for furniture for each schoolroom. When this fact became known applications for appropriations poured in by the hundreds. Within six months the number of schools rose from 635 to 3,313. So overwhelming was the application for this allotment that on March 3, 1900, a telegraphic order was sent out forbidding the opening of any more schools. It is probable that the desire to draw the excellent pay of a Cuban teacher was in many cases the immediate cause of the demand for schools. There being few opportunities for employment for people of the middle class it was natural that hundreds of them should seek to get upon the gov¬ ernment payrolls as schoolteachers. Unfortunately it has been dif¬ ficult in Cuba to divorce these appointments from political influence. The sum appropriated from the public funds for school establish¬ ment and maintenance during the year 1900 was $4,000,000. This was only a little less than one-quarter of the total revenue of the island. This proportion was maintained until after the administra¬ tion of the first president. Since then there has been deterioration in the whole organization of public education. The present system calls for a cabinet official known as the Sec¬ retary of Public Instruction, with office in Havana. After him as chief there is a Superintendent of Education in each province and another in each municipality. There is a Board of Education for 16 Twenty Years in Cuba each province and municipality. The school system is graded more or less accurately from the primary school up to the national univer¬ sity in Havana which grants doctor’s degrees and is composed of college, technical and professional courses. That which corresponds to the American high school is called an institute, with five-yeai courses, and grants the bachelor’s degree. There is one such in¬ stitute in each province. The work is done on the lecture basis. The ages of the pupils in these institutes would correspond to those in our high schools, from thirteen years upward. Great emphasis is placed upon the examinations at the close of the school year and if passing marks are obtained one may go on to the next class, irrespective of regularity in attendance during the year. Below the high school there are two years grammar and three years primary. Unfortunately for Cuba the public schools have not the standing and prestige of the public school in Porto Rico. Only the poorest attend them. The provincial institutes labor under the great disadvantage of having young people who come from homes of the lower classes where family training and discipline have been lacking. Children from good families are not sent to these schools but to some private school or denominational institution. Perhaps the principal explanation of the low condition of the public schools lies in the fact that the political parties have used them as pawns in their strife for supremacy. A Cuban writer in a Cuban magazine affirms that the school system has degenerated into a political machine; that provincial superintendents are administration errand boys, not technical men ; that a politically elected commissioner chooses teachers on political, not educational, grounds; and that the schools suffer from frequent political disturbances. The difficulties in the life of the people which must be corrected by the schools are, first, economic improvidence, lack of thought for the future; second, addiction to gambling, which is excessive in the lower classes; third, superstition, which is especially noticeable among the women; fourth, gross language among the boys. In 1902 the percentage of illiteracy was eighty. Today this percentage has dropped to something like fifty, and this .is mostly accounted for by the older and mature people who under the old system had no opportunity to learn in their youth. There are few today under thirty who cannot read or write. But unfortunately that is all most of them can do, as we are told that only twelve per cent of the pupils get beyond the second grade. Even in cities of the ten thousand class government instruction rarely goes beyond the third or fourth grade. The uniformly poor secular facili¬ ties scale down with the lesser communities to disappearance in the remotest sections. In the large sugar plantations there are from 17 Twenty Years in Cuba twelve to fourteen hamlets situated from one to ten or fifteen miles from a central point. At the central point there is a public school but none in the hamlets. Dr. Ramon Guerra, an experienced edu¬ cator, in an address delivered in Havana May 13, 1921, gave the following statistics for public education in Cuba. “According to the census of 1919 Cuba has a population of obligatory school age, that is from six to fourteen, of 723,756. If as in all enlightened coun¬ tries the school age should be considered to be from five to seven¬ teen, then Cuba, according to that census had more than a million children of elementary school age. For the instruction of these children there are 5,700 schools, and a total matriculation of 291,648. These figures in comparison with 723,756 children of obligatory school age inform us that there are 432,108 children of from six to fourteen years of age who are not registered in the public schools. It is an incontrovertible fact that the public school in Cuba is giving instruction to a minority of the Cuban children.” He calls upon the government to return to the policy of General Wood and of their first president, Estrada Palma, and devote twenty-five per cent of the income to public instruction. The somber picture of a low mat¬ riculation becomes still darker if we consider the attendance of the children of the schools reduced during the school year 1919-20 to 167,000, a most distressing figure, informing us that the discipline is lacking to enforce attendance even of those who are enrolled. V. Beginning and Development of Missionary Work The Spanish-American War marked the beginning of a period of expansion in the missionary activities of the Christian people of the United States, paralleling in significance the political expansion of that epoch. Inasmuch as responsibility for Cuba’s political tutelage rested unmistakably upon the American Government, the Christian people of America felt that the burden of Cuba’s evangelization was upon them. The Island of Cuba was then in a state of deplorable religious neglect. In the year 1900 in a certain municipal district of Oriente Province there was a population of 30,000. Only one priest was in the district and his ministrations were limited to the performance of sacramental rites. Each of these was performed only when the interested party made payment in accordance with a fixed schedule of prices—a certain price for baptism, a higher price for marriages, while the cheapest mass for the repose of souls was sold for one dollar. There were no Sunday schools nor classes for religious teaching of any kind. Almost two decades had passed since a ser¬ mon had been preached. 18 Twenty Years in Cuba In many other parts of the island the religious neglect was even greater. Most of the priests were Spaniards. The more intelligent soon returned to their homes in Spain. Many of those who re¬ mained were ignorant; some were controlled by avarice, and some were living immoral lives. Religion as such was in popular dis¬ repute. Under the Spanish regime there had been no real religious free¬ dom. It is true that an interesting Protestant work had been car¬ ried on for some years in Havana, but organized Protestant work found its pathway blocked at almost every turn. The sale and dis¬ tribution of Bibles had been prohibited, but adventurous Bible agents had found ways of circulating the Scriptures. Some years after the establishment of Protestant work a missionary went to a remote town of the interior and started a class in the study of the New Testament. After a time the missionary was told by one of the class that he believed he had once possessed a book similar to the one that they were studying. After searching in his home he found in the bottom of an old trunk a New Testament which a colporter had given him sixteen years before. With political freedom at the beginning of 1899, the door was opened wide to the work of Protestant missionaries. Aflame with the enthusiasm kindled by the newly opened door several of the leading denominations in the United States and some of the smaller religious groups started missionary work in Cuba. The first workers came largely from two sources; Cubans who had been in exile in the United States and American workers with experience in Mexico. During the period of revolutionary activities many Cubans had emigrated to Florida and other parts of the United States. Some of these were reached by the churches, and having known the way of Christ these converts felt the urge to carry the message to their own countrymen and responded to the challenge of the open door in 1899. The mission boards having work in Mexico levied upon their workers in that field for recruits who were prepared with the lan¬ guage and experience to guide the efforts of the workers in what seemed to promise an unprecedented ingathering. Thousands flocked to the Protestant missions. Large numbers were received as members. For a time it seemed as if the whole island would be quickly evangelized. New recruits were sent by the mission boards from the United States. New converts who showed promise of some ability as evangelists and preachers were thrust out into the fields. 19 Twenty Years in Cuba By 1903, when the Cuba Central Railroad was completed, the zeal of the missionary workers had carried them to all parts of the island. Unfortunately, notwithstanding the tireless energy and the self-sacrificing devotion of the workers which in many instances merited the highest praise, the superficial character of the most of the work made it quickly vanish because the converts were unpre¬ pared to meet the stress and strain of the new life which confronted them. In the leading centers, however, a solid work was established. Another problem faced the missionary workers and administrators at that time. With a large number of denominations working in a comparatively small country where every turn was an inviting oppor¬ tunity, it seemed inevitable that there should be duplication of effort in some of the more promising fields, while others less inviting and more difficult of access would be neglected. The greatest success in the comity was achieved by arrangements in denominational families. The Baptists, North and South, ad¬ justed their field by assigning the former to the eastern provinces of Cuba and the latter to the western provinces. The Methodist Episcopal Church left to the M. E. Church South the entire responsi¬ bility for the work in Cuba so far as that denominational family was concerned. The two Presbyterian families at first occupied separate areas but in later years the work has been merged, though both branches of Presbyterians still contribute to the work in Cuba. The Disciples in recent years withdrew, leaving their work to be cared for by the Presbyterians. The Eriends some years ago com¬ bined an independent mission established by members of their denom¬ inations with their regular work and all is now under the direction of their denominational board. Even with the generous appropriations of the American military government for the establishment of free schools in Cuba, it was found that these could not meet the whole educational needs. There was an insistent demand for mission schools to supplement and go beyond what the public schools were prepared to do. With the clouded religious background of most of the children of converts, it seemed necessary for their highest development that they should where possible receive their instruction in schools where there was a wholesome religious atmosphere. So eager were the Cuban parents for the advantages of the mission schools that they willingly paid for the education of their children in these schools in preference to sending them to the newly opened free schools. Erequently this was a means by which an inadequately supported pastor could sup¬ plement his income and thus make it possible for him to stay and shepherd the flock. 20 Twenty Years in Cuba The first ten years of mission work in Cuba were years of earnest effort, but years of experimenting and testing. Perhaps of more enduring value than the record of converts gained was the knowledge gained of conditions and possibilities in that new field. New Yorkers had successfully adjusted themselves to new condi¬ tions. A serious study had been made of the needs and possibilities of a people whose heritage of language, temperament and customs was foreign to the missionaries who had gone among them. There has been the testing and determining of the elements of weakness and strength in the institutions already existing. There had been gained a first hand knowledge of what the Roman Catholic Church had done and what she had failed to do, what Spanish domination and American intervention had done and what they had failed to do, what had been the immediate result of national independence upon the moral and spiritual life of the people, what influences were tugging them upward and what groveling downward pull was hold¬ ing them to the weak and beggarly elements, what thoughts they were thinking, what lives they lived and what hopes they cherished. There had been a careful casting about for the best methods and procedures for carrying on a work that would yield both adequate and permanent results. Growing out of these beginnings we see the well established Protestant work of today. In the past few years the number of foreign workers has dimin¬ ished rather than increased. In the Baptist and Presbyterian groups the work of the local churches and missions is almost altogether under the leadership of Cuban workers and in the other denominations there is a steady trend in that direction. More than one hundred Cuban ministers are working for the evangelization of their own people and almost as many teachers of both sexes are with like con¬ secration teaching in the mission schools. In Cuba the public schools, after the manner of those of the United States, do not provide any religious teaching whatever. But whereas the child of Christian parents in the United States has a background of virile faith, the Cuban youth lacks this, and because of this lack he has a special need of a religious education that will prepare him for a strong, vigorous religious expression. The mis¬ sion day schools have done much to meet this need. One teacher writes: “At eight o’clock the bell rings and the morning session begins. The hymn books are passed around and all voices join with ours in songs of praise. We now have our Bible lesson. The refer¬ ences have been given out to those who have arrived early, and they will now read when called upon. How eagerly they await their turn! The children like the Bible stories. Last month we had the story 21 Twenty Years in Cuba of Joseph. One day as I closed my Bible, a boy said, ‘Senorita, if we remain after school this evening, will you finish the story?’ ” The outstanding educational contribution, however, that Protest¬ antism has made in Cuba is the secondary schools. More than a dozen such schools or junior colleges are being maintained success¬ fully, with a total matriculation of nearly 3,000 in all departments. A very creditable showing is made by these students in government examinations. “Los Colegios Internacionales’’ of the Northern Baptists at Cristo under the direction of Robert Routledge has made a notable contribution to raising the standards of life, sending out as they have from their doors into all parts of eastern Cuba trained preachers and teachers together with business, industrial and professional men and home-makers. “Colegio Los Amigos” of the Friends mission at Holguin has been built up in ten years under the leadership of Clarence G. Mc- Clean from a noisy primary school of thirty pupils to a standard junior college with an attendance in all departments of about three hundred. “La Progesiva” school of the Presbyterians at Cardenas with Miss M. Evelyn Craig as principal has been a pioneer in coeduca¬ tion in Cuba. Miss Craig has been ably supported in her work by R. L. Wharton, the Superintendent of Education in the Presby¬ terian Mission. “Candler College” and “Buena Vista College,” Methodist schools in charge of H. B. Bardwell and Miss Belle Markey respectively, and the Cuban-American College, a Southern Baptist institution, with W. B. Miller as principal, are schools that are radiating Christian influence from Havana and its environs. There are many other schools, some of which are, perhaps, quite as deserving of mention as the above. The path of progress in Cuba leads through the Christian schoolroom. Cooperative efforts among the various denominations in Cuba have produced some helpful results despite great difficulties en¬ countered. The fact that there has been such a variety of coopera¬ tive undertakings shows that there is a deep concern on the minds of many leaders to work together in those things that can be done better together than separately. While the Committee on Confer¬ ence in Cuba which was organized for the purpose of giving expres¬ sion to the desires for cooperation has not accomplished all that had 22 Twenty Years in Cuba been expected of it, yet it did open up a channel by which the churches could be helped in cooperative efforts. The National Sunday School Association of Cuba has made a valuable contribution to a much needed line of work. This Associa¬ tion is affiliated with the International Sunday School Council on Religious Education. The present General Secretary of the Cuba Association is S. A. Neblett, who has had wide experience in Sunday school work. A Sunday school quarterly edited and published by him is quite widely used. The Young People’s Societies are also organized into a National Association, affiliated with the Sunday School Association. Five years ago an Interdenominational Summer Institute was organized. The Presbyterians, Friends and Northern Baptists are officially connected with this, though every summer there are those who attend from other denominations. Each summer an outstanding leader in religious work in the United States is brought to Cuba for this institute. At one time there were five religious periodicals published as official organs of as many denominations. These periodicals have now been reduced to three in number with a larger circulation than at any time in the history of the work in Cuba. Considerable atten¬ tion has been given to the circulation of the Bible and of religious literature. For some time a religious bookstore has been maintained in Havana. Its helpful service far outmeasures the meager resources at its command. While the language of the Island of Cuba is Spanish and will probably remain so for generations to come, nevertheless there are many English-speaking people now living on the island. These are made up of two classes:—the Americans, Canadians and English who have come to Cuba for business, industrial and recreational pur¬ poses; the Jamaican laborers who have come to work on the sugar plantations. While the Methodists, Presbyterians and Baptists have done some work among the English-speaking population, the largest work in this line has been done by the Protestant Episcopal Church. The outstanding institution under Protestant auspices for at¬ tending to the physical and social needs is the Y. M. C. A. in Havana. Not only has this institution ministered to its some hundreds of members in the metropolitan city, but it has placed its resources most generously at the disposal of the religious forces of the island so that in a very real way its commodious building is the capitol of Prot¬ estantism in Cuba. 23 Twenty Years in Cuba The Industrial School for Orphan Children in Cardenas has through its many years of continued ministrations made for itself a worthy name as an unselfish contribution of Christian service. At the present time it cares for about forty children of both sexes. A Community Service organization has done commendable work in some of the centers of the sugar industry. The earliest missionaries on the field found the people hungry for preaching. It is told of one man and his wife that they regularly walked six miles from their home to the place of preaching every Sunday. In ministering to this hunger of the people there has been extensive and continuous use of preaching as a means of evangeliza¬ tion. There has centered in Havana a strong leadership in preach¬ ing. Bishop H. R. Hulse, E. A. Odell, E. E. Clements and M. N. McCall, as superintendents in their respective denominations, have maintained a high type of public ministry themselves and thus set the standards for their fields. Several scores of Cuban converts are in the active work of preaching, whose call and vocation for this work is such as could only have resulted from a great need. The story of Jose Rodriguez, of Bayamol, as related by one of the Baptist missionaries, tells how the light spreads in Cuba. He came faithfully to the meetings all through that winter until the revival in February and March of 1912. He lives three miles from the church, with a very bad road thither, but the weather never hindered him. There was no one more deeply interested in that revival than Jose, though not then a Christian. He made sacrifices so as to be present at all those meetings. He even gave up his work in the fields rather than be absent. This is very unusual for even a Christian in Cuba, and extremely rare for one not a decided follower of the Lord Jesus. When the meetings were tested he was one of the first to make his decision for the Master. A great number were brought in during that revival, and many had to be sifted out in the after meetings held for that purpose, and for teaching the sincere. Jose, though unable to read, faithfully mastered the texts and passages given to the con¬ verts, and manifested a fervor very deep and real, and a conviction rarely seen in Latin countries. He was ready for baptism, with a number of others, when we learned from him that he was living with his wife unmarried. In other words, he was living in concubinage. This is a very common thing in Roman Catholic lands, and in Cuba great numbers of people live in this unmoral way. In the case of Jose, he had lived with the same woman for twenty-five years, and had a family of eight by her. His eldest son was legally married, but Jose was not. Now 24 Twenty Years in Cuba such converts are not baptized unless they consent to be married first, thus bringing forth fruits meet for repentance. We told Jose this, and assured him that when he married his wife we would gladly baptize him. Days and weeks passed by, others were baptized but he was not. Yet he never missed a meeting. His place in the church was never vacant, unless when working at Manzanillo, forty miles away. At that time his interest in the church work was as great as that of the members of the church. Though a poor man he subscribed ten dollars to the organ fund, a larger sum than any Cuban member of the church. He also subscribed freely when we needed help for the electric light installation. All this meant genuine sacrifice for him. So we reached December, 1912, and Jose had not decided to marry. What hindered him no one seemed to know, but we prayed on for him in faith and hope. Finally the crisis came; the Lord was to get the victory. It was the last week of December when Jose came to me and declared his intention to be married to his wife. He said he wanted to pass over the threshold of the new year a new man. He was intensely happy at the prospect, and we were thankful and praised the Lord. Ar¬ rangements were made during the last week of the year for the wedding. On December 31 a number of the members of the church went out to Jose’s home, three miles from the city, on horseback, to celebrate the eventful occasion. At 4:30 the ceremony took place in the presence of a large company of country people. As soon as the papers were signed Jose did a beautiful thing. He gathered his eight children around him and his now wedded wife, and said to them that they had seen their mother and father married that after¬ noon, and he wanted them to remember that he had done this because he believed in Jesus, and loved Him, and wanted to do the things that pleased Him. “He that believeth on Me, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” So said the Master of all true believers. They have begun to flow from Jose. Though not able to read, he carries a Bible with him, and when he has an opportunity he asks some one to read for him. Thus some are introduced to the Book who have never read it before. On several occasions it ended in Jose losing his Bible, for the person became so interested that he begged for the book. Thus he turns his very weakness into strength; his inability into ability. When he goes into the country to work. 25 Twenty Years in Cuba he takes a bundle of tracts for his campaign by the way. A mar¬ velous work has resulted from one of these trips. After all we must look to what the local mission church is doing for the test of the value of Protestantism in Cuba. It is this work that is reaching the lives of the common people and giving them a new vision of life and gripping their imaginations with the stupen¬ dous undertaking of bringing the Kingdom of God to Cuba. The following description of what one church of the Friends Mis¬ sion is doing will show in a concrete way a work similar to that which many are accomplishing in the island. “They (the native church at Gibara) have decided to release the foreign missionary who has worked among them so that he can do work along other lines and have pledged in their budget the greater part of the support of a home-grown, hand-picked, Cuban young man whom, with the advice of the missionaries, they have chosen for their pastor. He was brought up in their town and converted and trained in their own church, Sunday school and Christian Endeavor. He has recently become the happy husband of a most suitable helpmate, also a home-grown, hand-picked product of that same church and a graduate of its mission day school. The budget of the church for this year is $1,200 for all purposes. This is $35.00 more than they actually raised last year. “The significance of such an undertaking by this church will be seen when it is understood that of the thirty-two members contribut¬ ing regularly in the envelopes, three are under eight years of age, two between eight and twelve, five between thirteen and eighteen, seven¬ teen between nineteen and thirty, and only six including wives are thirty years of age or over. An examination of their subscription list shows that they have pledged to give an average of a little over $22.00 each, including small children. This they did last year and besides that made regular contributions to Sunday school, Christian Endeavor and for various forms of benevolent work. Excepting the children, most of these members live by days’ work in factories or otherwise. Only one owns his own home and with the exception of three or four families all live in homes we would think exceedingly inadequate and bare of comforts. “Moreover, six young men, spiritual children of this church, are preaching the gospel to their countrymen in various places. The mission day school has produced several teachers who are teaching some in the home town, some at other places.’’ 26 Twenty Years in Cuba It is such mission churches as these that are making a new Cuba. They are the dividends on the investment of life, of prayer and of material resources that Christian America has made during more than two decades of time. It shows, too, that this is no decadent country, but one worthy of our best efforts to establish Christian institutions that will help to make it great. Amid the rugged hills of Baracoa in eastern Cuba, separated from the rest of the island by almost impassable roads, there are twenty-four Baptist churches. Many of these are small groups made up of the very poorest in the land. They are ministered to by six itinerant pastors supported by the other Baptist churches of eastern Cuba. Their ministry is truly of a pioneer character. As they go about on horseback, fording streams often swollen by torrential rains, receiving the hospitality of the country people and holding meetings sometimes in the open and sometimes under the shelter of the thatch-covered huts, there is accomplished a work of real worth and it is done without American supervision or visitation, but under the direction of a Cuban Home Mission Society. The most encouraging feature of the evangelical missions in Cuba is their rapid progress in attaining self-support. This note of standing upon their own feet and not being dependent upon American money has awakened a responsive chord in Cuban Christians. The Northern Baptists in eastern Cuba report that their budget for salaries, house-rents, and traveling expenses of nineteen Cuban pastors for the year 1923-24 amounts to $21,647, of which $9,400 is con¬ tributed by the churches. This includes three churches that pay the entire salary of their pastors. In addition to this, the Cuban Baptist Home Mission Society is raising for the same year a budget of $4,500 with which to aid in the support of eight pastors under their own supervision, the six above mentioned in the Baracoa region and two elsewhere. In this way they expect each year to assume a larger share of the responsibility now borne by the American Baptist Home Mission Society for Cuba’s evangelization, until eventually Ameri¬ can mission funds will be used only for the support of educational institutions. Certain important results of mission work are sometimes over¬ looked. They are results the significance of which lies in the fact that they show the common course of things. A number of years ago a young man began to come to a mission Sunday school in Cuba. At that time he was earning fairly good wages, but he spent it in ways that did not bring him lasting good. He lived in a palm- thatched shack with a dirt floor. He had scarcely any furniture. He slept in a hammock, and wore cotton clothes and canvas sandals. He did not know how to spend his money profitably. 27 Twenty Years in Cuba Soon after entering the Sunday school he joined the Young People’s Society and later took up special studies. With his change of heart his whole life was changed. The Christian ideals of life gripped him with compelling force. As his life flowed out to others there came to him a new appreciation of what is worth while in material things. The missionary found that he had all unconsciously created a new market for American goods. The wages of this young man had not materially increased, but he now knew how to use them better. He now lives in a neat frame cottage made of lum¬ ber shipped from Charleston, S. C. His furniture was made at Grand Rapids, Michigan. The bread he has on his table is made from flour shipped from Wichita, Kansas. His clothes were woven in Massachusetts. He wears shoes that were manufactured in St. Louis. He is fond of music and he plays a violin that was pur¬ chased from a Chicago firm. Yes, the missionary has—without intention—created a new market for the American farmer, the American manufacturer and the Amer¬ ican merchant. But the missionary does not think of that. He only recognizes that into the life of the convert has come a fuller apprecia¬ tion of the true value of things, and he makes his community richer and nobler because his own life is richer and nobler. The results of Christian missions in Cuba are something far greater than can be tabulated in records of churches established, converts made or schools maintained. Mission work is after all a spiritual enterprise that has to do with the growth of souls. It has to do with the power which begets character, that inward urge which moves men to make the great adventures of faith. A letter from a young Cuban whose spiritual life is being released in labors of love says: “I am still exploring the way of Calvary. Pray for me that I may do it in the spirit of Christ.” Here is a great adven¬ ture and the basis of a great fellow.ship and the promise of a new life for Cuba. 28 DATE DUE DEC 1- ^ ■) ' GAYLORD PRINTED IN U.S A. i - .,'V'i-'-f ' ^ -v--' ■' - ■ , -■ Published by The General Board of Promotion OF THE Northern Baptist Convention 276 Fifth Avenue, New York City for The American Baptist Home Mission Society 23 East 26th Street, New York City 712-I-3M-Aug., 1923— Fiftesk Cents