Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

Mr. Esteban Collantes refers to a conversation which I do not recall; but I presume that it was one that took place when the minister of state and several other persons met at the house of the president of this chamber, (Mr. Rivero.)

Mr. ESTEBAN COLLANTES. I do in fact refer to a conversation held in the house of the president of the chamber, in which the ministers of state and public works and the envoy of the United States took part; and in which, according to the published report, it was said that reforms in Cuba had produced results contrary to those expected. If this be not true I have nothing more to say.

The MINISTER OF FOMENTO. I thank Mr. Collantes for his response: I cannot say how long ago this conversation was held; but several of us and General Sickles did, in fact, dine one day at General Rivero's house. After dinner we talked about this already old question of reforms in Porto Rico. The conversation took place before twelve or fourteen persons, and there was no objection to its being heard by all Spain. We said then that the government was disposed to grant reforms to the loyal and pacific province of Porto Rico, which had on all occasions given such proofs of its fidelity, and to take the initiative in doing so, for we would never grant reforms at the instance of a foreign power. We spoke also of the Cuban war which has presented the aspects of a national war, a civil war, and a war of personal animosities inflamed by the tropical sun and climate. I do not remember exactly what was said, but I recall that we did not allude to individual rights, and touched but slightly on the evil return made by the insurgents to General Dulce's generosity. A letter from General Sickles was afterward published contradicting the interpretations given to that conversation. As for myself I have never taken notice of any interpretation that may be given to my acts, and therefore I give no heed to what may be said of the part I took in that conversation.

Mr. Collantes had asked: "Why not give the colonies all the reforms of the mother country?" Had England done so with Gibraltar, Canada, and Sierra Leone. The ground must be gradually prepared beforehand. Nothing would yet be done in the Philippines or Fernando Po. Mr. Collantes had censured the law of ayuntamientos, without recollecting that the Marquis de la Habana (General José Concha) had demanded it for Cuba.

Mr. ESTÉBAN COLLANTES recurred to the Rivero dinner incident. He said: "I stated that a report had been printed of a conversation between the ministers of state and fomento, the president of this chamber and the United States envoy, and I also said that this incident had led the president of the chamber to write a letter to General Sickles touching this arduous affair. I have therefore concealed nothing." The document to which I refer says:

"Mr. Martos observed here that as soon as the present government came into power they sent General Dulce to Cuba with instructions to make the largest concessions to the Cubans. He granted them liberty of the press, and they used it to denounce the government of the revolution. He recognized their right to hold public meetings, and they employed it to despoil Spain of her territory. It then became plain that what the Cubans wanted was not liberty, for that was offered them, but independence, and that Spain could not yield to force without dishonor.

"I offer these words in proof of my argument, but I have shown the pro and con of the question and concealed nothing."

[ocr errors]

*

The MINISTER OF FOMENTO. I shall reply but briefly to Mr. Estéban Collantes's statements. The document he has read confirms what I said. Cuba may need reforms on a greater or less scale, before or after Porto Rico; but the flag of "Death to Spain!" has been raised there, and this cry could not be answered otherwise than by preparing for the combat. What did Mr. Martos say to General Sickles? That some reforms had been essayed, that the enemies of the country sought to make use of them, and that, in consequence, they could not do otherwise than fight. My own private opinion, gentlemen, is that a dictatorship would be the best means of speedily ending the war, for there are occasions in which dictatorships are not merely useful, but necessary.

*

Mr. Ramos Calderon said he would say but little, as it was nearly 1 o'clock, and the chamber must be tired. This was not a time for argument, but for feeling, when the liberty of 30,000 slaves was proclaimed by the prime minister. No more important event had happened for a century, save the United States liberating their four millions of slaves, and the convention under Danton freed the slaves in the French colonies. He then replied at some length to Mr. Collantes's remarks, touching the action of the cortes of Cadiz, the influence of colonial reforms on Spanish industry, and the inequality of the status of the colonies and of Spain. Could any situation be sadder, he said, than that of an enlightened citizen of Porto Rico who travels in foreign lands, who comes to Congress, and who is free everywhere save in his native island. Even during the reign of absolutism, the laws and organization of the peninsula extended to the colonies; now that absolutism is over, the reign of liberty should be extended to them. And these reforms would be at once given to Cuba if it were not cowardice

to do so now. He concluded by saying that the ten deputies from Porto Rico had not proposed these reforms to the radical party, but had simply urged the fulfillment of existing promises. Even if those deputies were not here, the radical party would have fulfilled its pledges. The principle of reform had been guaranteed in the constitution framed without the concourse of colonial delegates. Their fathers had freed Spain from the yoke of the great captain of the age (Napoleon,) and the sons now added their mite to civilization in freeing the slaves.

General Gándara (formerly captain-general of San Domingo) spoke against reforms. His own experience in the colonies showed him that some of these reforms were unwise. No Spaniard who had been across the Atlantic did not return of the same opinion as those who form the Spanish party in the colonies. The only republican deputy who had been in Cuba, Mr. Villergas, had spoken the other day against reforms; and the only member of the late cabinet who had been in the Antilles had provoked the crisis. All partisans of radical reform were inspired by patriotism, and so were those who might differ from them in some respects. No one could oppose the abolition of slavery, for example. He (General Gándara) had been a reformer since 1848. But he objected to the form of the municipal law now given to Porto Rico. restricted universal suffrage and gave the town-councils autonomic powers, restricted suffrage, eliminated the most healthful and most Spanish element in Porto Rico. Why not rather leave universal suffrage and restrict the powers of the ayuntamientos? The law attacked the principle of authority and left the governor no means of governing. It might be needful to limit the governor's powers, but he should have enough left to enable him to execute his mission. Another transcendental reform was the separation of civil and military commands where they had never been separated hitherto. This also grievously wounded the principle of authority.

It

As for the slavery question, he was an abolitionist. But why liberate 30,000 slaves from impulse, and maintain 600,000 in bondage from motives of expediency? The same motives of expediency militated against the untimely emancipation of the 30,000. They ought to be free if they could be freed without risk. Moreover, sudden emancipation could not be accomplished by the mere command of the governor when he receives the law. He will have to make "regulations" and take time for its enforcement. It was better to study the measure here maturely than to leave it to be studied afterward in Porto Rico. He concluded by saying:

You tell us that you only treat of Porto Rico and not of Cuba until not merely peace but moral tranquillity be restored. Well, then, I tell you this: if Céspedes, on witnessing reforms in Porto Rico lays down his arms and begs that the same reforms be given to Cuba, will you tell him that it is impossible, because moral order is not restored?

And by what means will you restore it? Will the arguments you have employed and the antecedents you have established lead you, against your will, to give the same reforms to Cuba. Can you maintain there a municipal and provincial autonomy? If reforms be established in Porto Rico submission in Cuba is inevitable, for they are too shrewd not to embrace the opportunity, and they will say: "We are at your orders; give us the same advantages you have given Porto Rico." Go on, then, and give them the means of organizing their forces and preparing for an immediate and triumphant revolution; and you will be forced to endure the humiliation of defeat without even winning the gratitude of those you have favored.

*

*

The discussion was her suspended, and the house adjourned at a quarter before 2 o'clock.

[Appendix G.-Extract.]

Synopsis of the proceedings in the chamber of deputies, Madrid, December 21, 1872.

[From La Gaceta de Madrid, December 22, 1872.]

The sitting began at 1.15 p. m.

Mr. Padial said the transport of slaves from Porto Rico to Cuba was prohibited by law except when they had relatives in the latter island, and then only at their own desire, and in legal form. This law had been frequently evaded hitherto. He asked the colonial minister if orders had been given to positively prevent this traffic, now that emancipation was about to be proclaimed in Porto Rico.

The Secretary said the question would be communicated to the colonial minister. Several other questions were asked when

Mr. Labra presented two petitions praying for the abolition of the death penalty and slavery.

The order of the day was then entered upon and Mr. Becerra's proposition was taken up.

Mr. Ramos Calderon rectified an observation made by General Gandara the previous day. They meant to free thirty thousand slaves in Porto Rico because the island was fit for the measure. General Gandara had said Cuba would soon be pacified. When that happened they would free the remaining six hundred thousand slaves, and thus in God's name blot out slavery on Spanish soil.

Mr. Nuñez de Valasco replied briefly to Mr. Estéban Collantes's speech of the previous night. Mr. Collantes had said that the interests of Catalonia and Castile were bound up with those of the Antilles, and that their flour trade was in danger of utter ruin. He wished to reply as a deputy for Castile. He thought Mr. Collantes labored under a grievous error fraught with terrible consequences to Spain and the Antilles, if he and his partisans regarded the colonies as mere sources of profit, and to be worked as such. If Spain's prosperity lay in her trade with the Antilles, it could only be kept up by making the Antilles entirely Spanish, identical with the mother country in aims, feelings, language, rights, and laws. One province could not be privileged and another enslaved without grave perturbations. Privilege engendered pride, and oppression rebellion. It should be borne in mind that the same waves that rolled Spain's hymns of freedom to the Antilles brought back to her the groans of slavery, and that, while Porto Rico was peaceful, her slaves should be proclaimed men, and not left to realize that they were men, and not to fight for manhood and freedom.

Mr. Estéban Collantes said that they were not discussing slavery; it was a side issue, brought in to divert attention from the main points, and had nothing whatever to do with Catalonia's commerce or Castile's flour.

Mr. Nuñez de Valasco said they were discussing colonial reform. Mr. Collantes looked at these solely from the point of view of expediency and not of justice. The provinces of Castile had sent delegations to confer with the government; all had asked colonial reforms. In all Castile there were not two men who thought as Mr. Collantes did. The Marquis of Sardoval spoke in favor of the proposition. This was the most important issue since the adoption of the constitution of 1869. It was not strange that the separate groups of the opposition should unite against it; some opposed it with consistent adherence to their traditional principles, while others now denied the creed they accepted when the "conciliation" was framed, showing that they had then accepted it for ends of personal expediency. The question was grave, but none should fear to grapple with it on that ground, had not the constituent cortes met and decided far graver issues? Silence should no longer be allowed to give consent to an assumption that they did not feel confidence in their own freedom, and doubted its efficacy in the Antilles. [Good, good.] It would argue debility not to accept the gauntlet now thrown down, and the victory would assuredly not be with those who sought to stifle the right under the mantle of much patriotism. Mr. Collantes had concluded his address by telling the story of a bad actor, in times of absolutism, who, to avoid being hissed from the stage, closed all his speeches with the cry, "Long live Ferdinand the Seventh!" but up thought a parallel to this actor was to be better found to-day in those who wound he their barren arguments with the cry of "Long live Spain!" [Good.]

The municipal, provincial, or financial organization of the Antilles was not under discussion; the real issue was that of slavery. It was said that no one defended slavery in the abstract. But they were not discussing it in the abstract. These were the tactics of the opposition; they accepted abolition in principle, but rejected it in form; they accepted reform, but denied that the time for reform had come. Those who thought twenty-five years ago that there was no obstacle to emancipation within a period of twenty-five years, now that the period is past, hold that the time for such a measure has not come. It was incredible that those who had so recently voted the constitution of 1869 should now deny its principles. In fact they could not discuss its principles now; conservatives and radicals adopted it in common, and must support it together; the only issue was the manner and time of carrying out its precepts. The orator then drew a parallel between the electoral coalition of April, 1872, and the present league. The motto of the former, he said, was the purity of the ballot; of the latter, slavery. It was most fortunate that this issue had arisen to draw a welldefined line between rival forces. [Applause.]

He complimented General Gándara on the good sense, earnestness, and prudence of his speech, which might be summed up as an argument to show that colonial reforms were dangerous, and contrary to the opinion of the country. It had been said that reforms, however just and necessary, could not be attempted, because the Spanish party in the Antilles opposed them. Men of all parties, there, only remembered their nationality. All alike cried, "Long live Spain," and all were resolute in combating reforms. Was the intelligence of the Spanish race like the magnetic needle, that lost its fixedness in certain latitudes? Did the liberal become an absolutist on reaching tropical climates? If this were so, he would never cross the seas for all the gold in the bosom of virgin America. But it was not so. Ideas attained a collective force that commanded obedience, even though opposed to individual convictions. Only thus could it be explained how the slaves submitted to the lash, and how armies obeyed their chiefs' commands and enforced submission on their mutinous comrades. This was

the case in Cuba. Some Spaniards go thither to seek their fortune, others to practice a liberal profession, but most of them to hold government office. What happened to those who did not sport the badge of the volunteers? The lawyer found no clients, the merchant found no custom, and there were influences powerful enough to remove the employé, unless all joined in the general cry. An old anecdote would illustrate the situation in Cuba. An illustrious poet, being asked why he had become a brother of the holy inquisition, replied, "I had rather be the cook than the chicken."

It matters naught to me that the Spaniards in the colonies do not wish reforms. The constitutional convention did not consult the Carlists or the moderados when it gave Spain the liberties guaranteed by the first chapter of the constitution. Here, and here alone, must we and the government seek our inspiration; and if, perchance, the government should be swayed by other suggestions and other motives, and I believed the partisans of reform were in a minority, I, a radical, would counsel my friends to abandon these seats. [Good, good.] But fortunately this is not the case. Congress is the true representation of the country, and should alone determine the course of the government.

Why are reforms perilous? Must they result in the loss of the colonies? I recall how often it has been said that the patriotism and valor of the volunteers, with the concourse of the Cortes and the nation, are enough to prevent the rebellion from triumphing, and how I have heard it said that the rebellion was crushed, and that the bands remaining in the swamps were bands of outlaws; but, if it be true that the volunteers are ready to sacrifice life and treasure to prevent the plucking of the rich gem of Cuba from the diadem of Castile, do you believe they will be against us when reforms are extended to those regions? It would be the same as saying that the patriotism of the volunteers is mainly interest. And, as I do not believe this, from this place I say to the volunteers that they have officious friends here who do them grievous wrong in supposing that they will renounce their defense of the integrity of the nation if reforms be accomplished. [Applause.]

The orator then cited the past record of Mr. Ayala and General Serrano. After the battle of Alcolea, Mr. Ayala said: "The revolution we have effected is so great, so mighty, that the limits of the peninsula cannot contain it, and its beneficent effects reach beyond the seas. Liberty goes out to the colonies, and their representatives shall come hither, who shall be deemed our brethren and shall have an equal part with us in the government of the nation."

And in 1867, when the moderados were in power, the Duke de la Torre, (Serrano.) captain-general of Cuba, freely and without pressure, made a report to the colonial minister, Mr. Castro, in which he said:

"I have been led to recognize, and I can do no less than say to-day to Her Majesty's government, with all the loyalty of my character and impelled by my most intimate convictions, that the complaints of the Cubans are just, that their aspirations are legiti mate; that there is no reason why they, Spaniards like ourselves, should have no press nor any voice whatever in the government, nor even one of the constitutional guarantees to which we of the peninsula are entitled; that there is no reason why a military and absolute government, from the highest to the lowest in the scale, should be the sole rule in the Antilles; and that now is the fitting time-and let not the government forget it to take advantage of the internal and external circumstances that favor the political reform urgently demanded by the Spaniards in the colonies, and which it is just and proper to grant them without delay.

* * *

"As for the domestic government of the island of Cuba, the extent of its territory makes it indispensable to divide it into several provinces, in order to avoid an excessive centralization prejudicial to all interests. The island was formerly divided into three departments, but it seems to me that the increase in its population justifies the division of the island into six provinces, which I have heard recommended by many Cubans, and which would be Havana, Pina del Rio, Matanzas, Villaclara, Puerto Principe, and Santiago de Cuba. There is no reason whatever why these provinces should not be organized in conformity to the Laws of the Indias,' before cited, in the same form and manner as those of the peninsula, with their provincial assemblies and councils, the former being chosen conformably to the electoral law which may be established for deputies to Congress, and the latter nominated by the superior civil governor from a list proposed by the assemblies, seeing that such appointments by the supreme government offer difficulties that will readily be appreciated. Each province should have a government without military command, as in the peninsula; and, in order to secure able men, natives of the island and familiar with its needs, it would be better that they should be named, or at least proposed, by the superior governor." With respect to the most important issue, the slavery question, General Serrano

said:

"And hence the most salient among all the questions is that of slavery, an unfortunate heritage which, always a moral evil, is to-day the source of most serious perils, both domestic and foreign, which menace our transmarine provinces, and compromise the dignity and the peace of the Spanish nation. Thus it was seen that the Duke de

la Torre declared in 1867 that the honor and tranquillity of the nation were compromised by slavery. And why should they not now deem that the present situation of Cuba was due to their disregard of these foreseen counsels?" [Marks of approval.]

And afterwards he says:

"It is a question of humanity, and under the pretext of humanity we are ever menaced, and more and more day by day, with a disturbing and humiliating foreign intervention, so long as we maintain slavery in our transmarine possessions."

That was to say, (the Marquis of Sardoval continued,) that no other reforms could he attempted until slavery was abolished. The Duke de la Torre thought so at that time, and the radical party could not afford to be less prominent than he in conceding reforms. He continues:

"In England, in France, and also in Spain, there are anti-slavery societies, which are steadily gaining in the public opinion, for the motto of their standard appeals to their sympathies, and they will end by exerting an irresistible moral influence. Let us make haste to work to the same end with freedom and prudence, lest the current of abolition come to-morrow and sweep us away with it, overwhelming all interests alike, without the guidance of reason and without any possible compensation for the slave

owners."

There was an argument that seemed to be the Antilles argument of the question. It had been asserted that white labor was impossible in those regions, but on this point also the Duke de la Torre dissents from the common opinion. He says:

"On very many plantations in Cuba, and especially in Porto Rico, the erroneous idea has been dispelled that the whites could not stand field-labor in tropical elimates, and since their aptitude for such labor has been demonstrated, the first duty incumbent upon those of us who are interested in the prosperity of the Antilles, is to favor white emigration thither by all possible means, white labor being the most profitable system, and the only one that offers no perils in the future, and to prohibit absolutely any other race whatever."

The Marquis of Sardoval concluded by congratulating the government and the nation on the firm ground it had taken in defense of reforms, of justice, and of right. [Applause.]

General Gándara replied briefly. He had been a consistent advocate of reform be fore the Marquis of Sardoval was born, and was still. He did not know whether the object of reading from the record of Mr. Ayala and General Serrano was to show that they contradicted themselves, but he was sure those gentlemen would continue to defend those views, and if they did not, he (Gándara) would defend those views on his own account. But it was easy and popular to defend the slave in the regions of the ideal, just as it was difficult and unpopular to seem to defend slavery even on practical grounds. He was as good an abolitionist as the Marquis of Sardoval; they only differed as to the manner of abolition, gradual or immediate. The black race, for which the United States and the French convention had done so much, was ungrateful. The convention decreed them freedom, but in doing so it decreed the extermination of the whites. What was the present vocation of the Haytian negroes? According to General Ghebrard, their President, 350,000 of the 700,000 inhabitants of Hayti belonged to the secret society of Bodue, an anthropological society, which stole, sacrificed, and devoured children. This was a fact, and had come under General Gándara's own observation while governor of San Domingo, when twenty-four child-eaters had been excented by President Ghebrard's orders. Give sudden freedom to such a race and they would relapse into barbarism. This was the result of the exaggerated philanthropy of the convention.

Slavery was abolished in the United States against Lincoln's own desires, for he had thought to end it with the close of the century, and its speedier abolition was due to a war which ruined the country and imposed the hardest laws of war on the conquered. The South still groans under those laws. He had already shown the distinction between Cuba and Porto Rico with respect to reforms. There were two parties in Porto Rico, and insurrection was latent there; but Cuba was in a state of war, and he deplored that a Spanish Congress and government, inspired by a grand ideal, should so grievously err as to decree reforms which would favor the rebels in Cuba.

General Gándara closed by alluding to the Marquis of Sardoval's dread of crossing the seas lest he should lose the sentiments of liberty. This was not so. The sense of liberty was not lost, but that of patriotism was strengthened. So certain was he on this point, that he would willingly agree to accept the marquis's views if the latter would make the voyage and judge for himself.

The Marquis of Sardoval was glad to hear that General Serrano and Mr. Ayala held the same views now as they did then.

Mr. Alvarez Bugallal opposed the motion. He had risen from a sick-bed and come thither in order to "pulverize a miserable calumny." He had been accused, seeretly and openly, of having connived with the president of the council in making his interpellation of a few days before-of being Mr. Zorrilla's accomplice in a shameful

« AnteriorContinuar »