25 AUGUST 1906, Page 2

Cuba at this moment is in the thick of a

curious rebellion, of which General Jose Miguel Gomez is said to have been the inspirer. Over a thousand insurgents have taken up arms, and have captured the town of San Luis in the province of Pinar del Rio. What the cause of the rising is it is difficult to say, but it is probably right to attribute it to the known weakness of the authorities and the ambition of Gomez. Meanwhile the latter has been quietly captured at his ranch, and in Havana arrests have been frequent. President Palma has declared that there is no cause for alarm, and President Roosevelt is said to think the matter incon- siderable; but American opinion as a whole regards the rising as an event which brings nearer the day when the United States will be compelled to intervene in Cuba. If the authorities at Havana cannot quell the insurrection, as is quite.on the cards, they will appeal to Washington, and in the next reconstruction of Cuba the present independence must perforce be materially reduced.