hen sent his troops to disperse Cimarron bands near Bayamo, and
Baracoa, which they did with much success, so that peace and security
were pretty well restored throughout the island.

This left unsettled, however, the other and in some respects more
important and more trying phase of the Indian question, namely, the
treatment and disposal of the "tame" Indians, who for years had been in
a state of practical slavery under the repartimiento system. It will be
recalled that at the beginning they were placed under the protection of
the Jeronimite Order of monks; a protection which did not effectively
protect. In fact, within a dozen years of the foundation of the system
the Jeronimites were more oppressors than protectors, and were chiefly
engaged in making what pecuniary profit they could out of their hapless
wards. On this account their nominal protectorate was formally abolished
by the crown, in 1526, and Gonzalo de Guzman was made repartidor with
powers equal to those which Velasquez had exercised. Indeed, his powers
were even more absolute than those of Velasquez, since the supreme court
of Hispaniola was deprived of jurisdiction over him in his
administration of Indian affairs. Later the Bishop, Ramirez, was made
co-repartidor with him.

There then arose a protracted and bitter rivalry between the governor
and Bishop on the one side and the municipal alcaldes on the other, for
the exercise of powers of inspection of and supervision over the labor
of the natives. Both sides appointed inspectors, whose functions
clashed. Appeal was made to the crown, with the result that the dispute
was decided in favor of the alcaldes, who were authorized to appoint
inspectors, which the governor and Bishop were forbidden to do. As is
usual in such cases, the objects of the contention were the chief
sufferers. Indeed, so wretched became their plight that some inkling of
the truth reached the ears of the King, who thereupon commissioned a
Provincial of the Franciscan Order to go from Hispaniola to Cuba, to
investigate charges of cruelty, and to punish severely all who were
found guilty. The King also directed that he should arrange for the
liberation of the natives to the fullest extent for which they seemed to
be fitted.

Learning of this before the arrival of this commissioner, Guzman and his
friends set energetically to work to defeat his mission in advance. A
vast mass of "evidence" was cooked up, pretending to demonstrate the
un