the side of Estrada Palma, and before the actual trial of strength at
the polls Maso withdrew from the campaign, leaving Palma alone in the
field. The supporters of Maso explained that his candidacy was withdrawn
because there was no prospect of a fair election. They objected to some
provisions of the election law, and complained that they were not fairly
represented on the boards of registration and election. They even
alleged that frauds were being committed in the registration, and they
asked that the election be postponed in order that there might be
another registration over which they should have a larger measure of
supervision. This request was refused, whereupon they withdrew from all
participation in the election. A manifesto was issued, denouncing the
Central Board of Elections as "a coalition of partisans" and declaring
that "neither in official circles in the United States nor in Cuba does
the intention exist to see that the elections are carried out with
sufficient legality to reflect the real wishes of the Cubans." These
imputations were unwarranted, and most regrettable; and were rightly
regarded by the great majority of Cubans as a practical confession of
the weakness of the Maso faction.

The elections were duly held on the day appointed, and were conducted
with admirable quiet, order and dignity. The unfortunate feature of them
was that only a very light vote was polled. Not only did the supporters
of Maso pretty generally abstain from voting, but many of Palma's
followers, knowing that there was no real contest, did not take the
trouble to go to the polls. Commenting upon the circumstances, General
Wood reported: "I regret to state that a large portion of the
conservative element, composed of property owners, and business and
professional men, did not take such an interest in the elections as
proper regard for the welfare of their country required, and
consequently the representation of this element among the officials
elected has not been proportionately as large as the best interests of
the island demand." Despite the abstention of Maso's followers from
voting, eight members of that faction were elected in the sixty-three
members of the Electoral College. On February 24 the Electoral College
met and elected Tomas Estrada Palma to be President and Luis Estevez to
be Vice-President of the Republic of Cuba.

President Roosevelt, in a message to the Congress of the United States
on March 27, reported