d not developed." In
_Tomorrow in Cuba_, Mr. Pepper notes that "though the conception of
colonial home rule for Cuba was non-existent among the Spanish statesmen of
that day, the perception of it was clear on the part of the thinking
people of the island. The educated and wealthy Cubans who in 1865 formed
themselves into a national party and urged administrative and economic
changes upon Madrid felt the lack of understanding among Spanish statesmen.
The concessions asked were not a broad application of civil liberties. When
their programme was rejected in its entirety they ceased to ask favors.
They inaugurated the Ten Years' War." Regarding this action by the Cubans,
Dr. Enrique Jose Varona, a distinguished Cuban and a former deputy to the
Cortes, has stated that "before the insurrection of 1868, the reform party
which included the most enlightened, wealthy, and influential Cubans,
exhausted all the resources within their reach to induce Spain to initiate
a healthy change in her Cuban policy. The party started the publication of
periodicals in Madrid and in the island, addressed petitions, maintained a
great agitation throughout the country, and having succeeded in leading the
Spanish Government to make an inquiry into the economic, political, and
social conditions in Cuba, they presented a complete plan of government
which satisfied public requirements as well as the aspirations of the
people. The Spanish Government disdainfully cast aside the proposition as
useless, increased taxation, and proceeded to its exaction with extreme
severity." Here not seek its independence; the object was reform in
oppressive laws and in burdensome taxation, a measure of self-government,
under Spain, and a greater industrial and commercial freedom. It is most
difficult to understand the short-sightedness of the Spanish authorities.
The war soon followed the refusal of these entirely reasonable demands, and
the course of the Cubans is entirely to their credit. An acceptance of the
situation and a further submission would have shown them as contemptible.

The details of a conflict that lasted for ten years are quite impossible
of presentation in a few pages. Nor are they of value or interest to any
except special students who can find them elaborately set forth in many
volumes, some in Spanish and a few in English. Having tried once before to
cover this period as briefly and as adequately as possible, I can do no
better here than to repeat t