[Enclosure—Translation]
The Cuban Secretary of State (
Desvernine
)
to the American Chargé (
Bingham
)
Habana
,
January 20,
1919
.
No. 11
Mr. Chargé d’Affaires: I have informed
His Excellency the President of the Republic of your Note No.
763, under date of the 17th instant, which you, Mr. Chargé
d’Affaires, addressed to me personally, and in compliance with
the instructions given me by His Excellency the President, I
shall proceed to answer the note in question in the following
terms:
The taking of a new census of population as a necessary
preliminary step toward the revision and reformation of the
electoral lists, the errors and defects of which have been set
forth in sundry documents, has been the subject of continuous
appeals by His Excellency the President to Congress and to the
political parties of the Republic. In his message devoted
exclusively to that subject, dated the 14th of [Page 4] December, 1914, the President
pointed out in detail the deficiencies to which I refer, and
though on more than one occasion he has requested the
Legislative Bodies to assist in the enactment of a law providing
for the taking of a general census, or the revision and
reformation of the electoral lists, the desired end has not been
achieved through the failure of the political opposition to
support such a measure.
In his messages of April 3, 1916, and April of 1917, the
President renewed these recommendations, without being able to
obtain the assent of the said political opposition to the
legislative action necessary for the purpose, which could only
be accomplished by the co-operation of both the political
parties of Cuba.
Lastly, in his message of November 4, last year, the President
called the attention of the two Legislative Bodies to the errors
and defects of the lists in question and to the need of
reforming the Electoral Law in such of its provisions as gave
rise to frauds and abuses. The literal transcription of this
message is given herewith:
“The elections have taken place in an orderly manner, and
without any complaints having been received from any
party or candidate of undue intervention by the
authorities in the electoral operations. The Central
Electoral Board and the Provisional Municipal Boards, in
the exercise of the powers which the Electoral Law
confers upon them and with the impartiality and
independence assured them by their being permanently
composed of members of the bench and representatives of
the two great contending parties, have dictated the
proper regulations and competently dealt with all
appeals received, with due consideration, in so far as
they were empowered, to the insurance of the liberty and
purity of the suffrage. To my Government nothing else
was possible, and I have endeavored with special zeal to
guarantee public order and the rights of all.
But it is evident and of public notoriety that each day
there appear more noticeable and alarming signs of the
abuses and corrupt practices which for many years have
vitiated the electoral lists, without there being any
means within ordinary procedure to correct these
defects, since the persons whose duty it is to strive
for and attain their correction and reformation scarcely
take interest in whether they continue as they are or
become still further corrupted. Since 1914, I have, in
different messages, recommended this very important
matter to the consideration of Congress, explaining the
character of the evil, recognized by everybody and
repeatedly denounced by the periodical press; and have
demonstrated the impossibility of remedying it,
according to general belief, without taking a new
general census as a basis for new lists. I again call
attention to the messages above referred to, and
especially to those of December 14th, 1914, April 3rd,
1916, and April 9th, 1917.
The Electoral Law of September 11, 1918, conscientious
and well thought out as it was, elicited favorable
comment alike from corporations and publicists, here and
abroad, but it did not accord, nevertheless, as has been
shown in practice, with the needs of our national [Page 5] character and the
deficiencies of our political education. Congress would
render a valuable service to the country by proceeding
to a careful examination and correction of the clauses
which are deemed inadequate or liable to ambiguous
interpretation.[”]
Notwithstanding that his efforts in behalf of a new census of the
population have not met with success, the President has not been
discouraged, nor will he be discouraged in his firm purpose of
devoting the most careful attention to the matter and his
unremitting efforts towards its attainment, as soon as the new
Legislature is inaugurated on April 2, next, when advantage may
be taken of the favorable circumstance of there being a
political majority on the side of the Government sufficiently
large to overcome the opposition of obstructionists and elements
opposed to the Government, which, as you, Mr. Chargé d’Affaires,
cannot be unaware, have frequently reduced our houses of
Congress to legislative inertia.
His Excellency the President offers the assurance that he will
withhold no effort to secure the co-operation of the leaders of
the opposition who, in view of the majority above referred to,
will not be able to ignore or resist the forces of the
Government, and may prefer to actively co-operate in putting
through a work in which all citizens are so deeply
concerned.
With reference to the offer to which Your Honor refers, to send a
Commission to Cuba to assist in the supervision of the
elections, the President regrets not being able to accept it,
not only because he does not believe it necessary, expedient or
advisable, but that, on the contrary, it would be a disturbing
and unsettling element, since its acceptance would seem to
indicate a lack of confidence in the reasonableness and good
sense of the Cuban public, of which they are able, by
themselves, to give conclusive evidence, and the opposition
party would see in this measure an expression of lack of
confidence in the Government.
Complying with the instructions of the President, I can assure
you, Mr. Chargé d’Affaires, that this is the purpose, and it
will be carried out, both in regard to the taking of the new
census, the drastic and rigid correction of the electoral lists
and the reform of the Electoral Law, so far as needed, all in
accordance with the message above cited, and that which will be
addressed to Congress at the opening of the Legislature, the
President being confident that the Presidential Elections will
take place with all the guarantees necessary.
His Excellency the President informs me that he is in sympathy
with the movement, and in order to prepare public opinion for
this important work, Dr. Ricardo Dolz, the leader of the
Conservative Party, in his address to the Executive Committee of
that political [Page 6] group,
delivered on the evening of the 15th of this month, explained
clearly the standard and aim to which this party must give its
most emphatic support. For a better understanding of the above
the entire text of his discourse is appended hereto.1
I renew [etc.]
