n rewarded after the peace by complete emancipation. There was
not a slave now in Cuba. No indemnity had been granted to their owners,
nor had any been asked for, and the business on the plantations had gone
on without interruption. Those who had been slaves continued to work at
the same locations, receiving wages instead of food and maintenance; all
were satisfied at the change, and this remarkable revolution had been
carried out with an ease and completeness which found no parallel in any
other slave-owning country.

In spite of rebellion, in spite of the breaking up and reconstruction of
the social system, in spite of the indifferent administration of
justice, in spite of taxation, and the inexplicable appropriation of the
revenue, Cuba was still moderately prosperous, and that it could
flourish at all after trials so severe was the best evidence of the
greatness of its natural wealth. The party of insurrection was
dissolved, and would revive again only under the unlikely contingency of
encouragement from the United States. There was a party, however, which
desired for Cuba a constitution like the Canadian--Home Rule and the
management of its own affairs--and as the black element was far
outnumbered and under control, such a constitution would not be
politically dangerous.

If the Spanish Government does not mend its ways, concessions of this
kind may eventually have to be made, though the improvement to be
expected from it is doubtful. Official corruption is engrained in the
character and habits of the Spanish people. Judges allowed their
decisions to be 'influenced' under Philip III. as much as to-day in the
colonies of Queen Christina; and when a fault is the habit of a people,
it survives political reforms and any number of turnings of the
kaleidoscope.

The encouraging feature is the success of emancipation. There is no
jealousy, no race animosity, no supercilious contempt of whites for
'niggers.' The Spaniards have inherited a tinge of colour themselves
from their African ancestors, and thus they are all friends together.
The liberated slave can acquire and own land if he wishes for it, but as
a rule he prefers to work for wages. These happy conditions arise in
part from the Spanish temperament, but chiefly from the numerical
preponderance of the white element, which, as in the United States, is
too secure to be uneasy. The black is not encouraged in insubordination
by a sense that he could win in a contest