CUBA FOR CHRIST 
 
 N otable events in Cuban history: 
 Discovery by Columbus October 28, 
 1492. Natives almost annihilated by 
 Spaniards. First slave to the New World 
 brought to Cuba in 1524; nearly one 
 million, up to 1860. Total abolition of 
 slavery in 1887. Chinese coolies introduced 
 in 1848; about 100,000 subsequently came. 
 An uprising against Spain in 1829; another 
 in 1844; a great but unsuccessful revolution 
 in 1848; another of ten years from 1868 to 
 1878, that cost Spain the lives of 8,000 
 officers, 200,000 privates and $300,000,000. 
 The last revolution began in 1895. Steam¬ 
 ship “Maine” blown up in Havana harbor 
 February 15, 1898. Weyler’s atrocities 
 
 shocked the civilized world. April 11, 
 1898, President McKinley said to Congress: 
 “In the name of humanity, the name of 
 civilization, in behalf of endangered Ameri¬ 
 can interests, which give us the right and 
 the duty to speak and act, the war in 
 Cuba must stop.” April 22, 1898, war 
 against Spain declared; July 1, battle at 
 San Juan; July 3, destruction of Cervera’s 
 fleet; July 17, our flag unfurled over 
 Santiago; January 1, 1899, last vestige of 
 authority of Spain over Cuba vanished and 
 guardianship by our Government began. 
 Estimated cost of the war to the United 
 States $200,000,000. Cuban Republic estab- 
 
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 lished May 20, 1902; hence May 20 is Cuba’s 
 national holiday, as Fourth of July is with 
 us. First President of “Cuba Libre” elected 
 Dec. 31, 1901, and assumed office May 20 
 following, the American governor and 
 troops withdrawing. 
 
 ^HE COUNTRY. Cuba is 730 miles 
 long; its greatest width, 135 miles; 
 average width about 30 miles. Its area of 
 45,000 square miles is about three-fourths 
 that of New England; nearly equal to that 
 of Pennsylvania. Mountain ranges of East¬ 
 ern Cuba have an altitude, near Santiago, 
 of 8,600 feet, sloping sharply 18,000 feet be¬ 
 low the water to the ocean’s bed. Cuba, the 
 fairest and most fertile of the tropical 
 islands, is justly termed the “Pearl of the 
 Antilles.” Yellow fever, a legacy of the 
 slave trade, has practically been eradicated 
 by American sanitary methods. 
 
 'T'HE PEOPLE. The population, accord- 
 ing to census of 1907, was 2,048,980; of 
 whom 1,224,540 were whites; 274,272 ne¬ 
 groes; 334,695 mulattoes; 11,837 Chinese; 
 203,646 foreigners, of whom 185,393 were of 
 Spanish birth. People of all classes and 
 colors mingle in society, in business and 
 in the churches; though there is a growing 
 tendency to separation on racial lines. 
 Antonio Maceo and his brother, leaders in 
 the late war, were free mulattoes, and a large 
 proportion of the Cuban army were negroes. 
 Cubans are hospitable to American ideas. 
 
 ■DOMANISM IN CUBA. Rome ruled 
 Cuba religiously for four hundred years. 
 Church and State were united. Toward the 
 close of the last century religious toleration 
 with special restrictions was granted. The 
 hierarchy, mostly Spaniards, took the side 
 of tyrannical Spain in the recent revolution 
 and so incurred the hatred of hosts of 
 Cubans. The priests in general were indolent, 
 
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 morally bad, very sordid in their exorbitant 
 charges for baptism, for marriage and for 
 burial. Hence, according to a late census, 
 while 246,351 people were married, 131,787 
 lived together by common consent, being 
 unable generally to pay the priestly charges 
 for the marriage ceremony. African slaves 
 were taught a few rudiments of the Roman 
 Catholic faith, so that within a year after 
 their arrival they could be baptized and 
 become members of the church. Romanism 
 in Cuba therefore was generally of a low 
 type and repulsive to the progressive ele¬ 
 ment struggling for independence. 
 
 ^UR FIELD IN CUBA. By an amicable 
 ^ arrangement the Home Mission Board 
 of the Southern Baptist Convention has the 
 four western provinces, while the American 
 Baptist Home Mission Society has the two 
 eastern provinces of Camaguey and Oriente. 
 These eastern provinces, with an area of 
 23,000 square miles, are a little more than 
 one-half of the island; their population, 
 about 500,000, being one-fourth of the whole. 
 In Camaguey about four-fifths are white 
 and one-fifth colored; in Oriente about 
 three-fifths white and two-fifths colored. 
 
 The population of the chief cities, accord¬ 
 ing to the census of 1899, was as follows: 
 Camaguey, 53,140; Santiago, 43,090; Hol¬ 
 guin, 6,045; Manzanillo, 14,464; Guantanamo, 
 7,137; Baracoa, 4,937; Nuevitas, 4,228; 
 Gibara, 6,841; Bayamo, 3,022. The great 
 iron mines of Eastern Cuba have attracted 
 American capital, and important railways 
 have been built. This region has a bright 
 future. 
 
 ^UR MISSIONS. The Society’s first ap- 
 ^ pointee was Rev. H. R. Moseley, D. D., 
 as General Missionary, with headquarters at 
 Santiago, in January, 1899. He had been 
 a missionary in Mexico and acquired com- 
 
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 mand of the Spanish language, and for thir¬ 
 teen years has handled the entire work, 
 including the erection of church edifices, 
 with rare ability. His residence is at El 
 Cristo, Province of Oriente, twelve miles 
 from Santiago, and 1,000 feet above sea 
 level in the beautiful hill region. 
 
 Here, in 1907, the Society established a 
 splendid school, with 173 pupils the first 
 year, which has given strength and per¬ 
 manence to its missionary work. This en¬ 
 terprise is almost self-supporting. In 
 Santiago, Camaguey, Guantanamo, Bayamo 
 and Manzanillo—as in other strategic points 
 —the work is well oiganized. In a remark¬ 
 able way God has given us pre-emption of 
 many places, and pre-eminence in the num¬ 
 ber and efficiency of missionaries and in 
 substantial results in Eastern Cuba. 
 
 WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. 
 
 From nothing in 1898, the work has 
 grown until the reports for 1911-12 show 
 a total of 54 churches; 73 out-stations; 2,701 
 members; 38 chapels and 8 pastors’ resi¬ 
 dences; 56 Sunday schools with 2,511 mem¬ 
 bers; and 236 baptisms during the last year. 
 
 The value of church buildings and parson¬ 
 ages is $112,000, and of school buildings 
 and equipment $51,000—a total of $163,000. 
 During the nine years more than 3,500 con¬ 
 verts have been baptized; Christian homes 
 have been established, and native workers 
 have been called of God to preach, and 
 have been trained for His service. A 
 monthly paper, “El Mensajero,” is published 
 at Camaguey. An Association gathers all 
 the workers together annually. The 
 churches are undertaking to pay all inci¬ 
 dental expenses and a percentage of the 
 pastors’ salaries, with the goal of self-sup¬ 
 port kept in view. A profound impression 
 has been made upon the people by our mis¬ 
 sions. The Association of our Cuban 
 churches has recently voted to contribute 
 
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 to the support of a missionary in the adja¬ 
 cent island of Santo Domingo. 
 
 AN OPEN DOOR. Dr. Moseley says: 
 
 “In Mexico and other Catholic coun¬ 
 tries everything is against us. In Cuba the 
 tide is in our favor. There is absolutely no 
 fanaticism manifested toward us. All 
 classes of people in crowds attend our serv¬ 
 ices. To-day is the day of opportunity. 
 Rome is alert and at work to win back to 
 her fold this people who have been alien¬ 
 ated, and she will succeed if Protestant 
 America is blind to this matchless oppor¬ 
 tunity that God in His providence has given 
 her.” The people freely buy and read 
 copies of the Bible—a rare thing in Catholic 
 lands. 
 
 (^UR DUTY AND PRIVILEGE. Dr. 
 ^ Morehouse says: “The measure of our 
 duty is determined by the deplorable re¬ 
 ligious condition of the people; by their 
 proximity to us; by their accessibility and 
 readiness to receive the Gospel; by their 
 particularly friendly disposition toward 
 this country. As it was our privilege in 
 the interest of humanity to help in Cuba’s 
 emancipation from the Spanish yoke and 
 pilot her on her new career, so it should 
 be esteemed a privilege by the Christian 
 people of this country to crown that work 
 by the religious emancipation of Cuba, 
 which then indeed shall be Cuba Libre. 
 Shall the ‘Pearl of the Antilles’ become, 
 through our efforts, a pearl in the diadem 
 of our Lord?” 
 
 FUTURE of Cuba depends largely 
 
 * upon the results of the missionary ef¬ 
 forts now under way. Christianity alone 
 can fit the Cubans for good government 
 and a new order of civilization. The Cuban 
 people in a measure realize this and wel¬ 
 come the missionaries most cordially. 
 
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 12 M. 
 
 
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 IV/TISSIONARIES AND TEACHERS. 
 
 The names and addresses of our 
 American ordained ministers are as follows: 
 
 MISSIONARIES 
 
 Rev. H, R. Moseley, D. D., 
 
 El Cristo, Province Oriente 
 
 Rev. a, B. Howell Guantanamo 
 
 Rev. Juan McCarthy Baracoa 
 
 Rev. F. J. Peters Bayamo 
 
 Rev. A. L. Story Santiago 
 
 Rev. E. W. Watson Victoria de las Tunas 
 Rev. D. a. Wilson Camaguey 
 
 teachers in international school 
 
 AT EL CRISTO 
 
 Rev. Robert Routledge, Principal 
 
 ScoTT Cotton 
 
 Mrs. Scott Cotton 
 
 Mrs. H. R. Moseley 
 
 Miss Alicia McCarthy 
 
 Afiss Eva Dorsett 
 
 THE AMERICAN 
 HOME MISSION 
 
 23 East 26tk Street 
 
 E A D Y 
 
 BAPTIST 
 
 SOCIETY 
 
 New York 
 
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 SERIES 
 
 REFERENCE