The Spaniards do not succeed in putting down the rebellion
in Cuba. There are perpetual conflicts between the troops and the insurgents, in which both sides claim the victory, and probably neither gains it. It would seem, however, that the hopes of the insurgents increase, for they have proclaimed a Republic, have elected a President, and have established a system of internal taxation, the principle of which seems to be that cultivators may sell produce where they please, if they pay a fourth of their profits to the insurgent Treasury. The Home Government is obviously becoming dissatisfied with Marshal Martinez Campos, who, on his part, declares that the rebellion cannot be crushed without concessions to autonomist feeling,—which again, the Spaniards say, can be made only after complete submission. As there are certainly sixty thousand troops in Cuba, led by the best officers in the Army, there must be some cause of weakness which the external world does not perceive. We presume it to be a secret sympathy in the officers with the insurrection; but they would repudiate the suggestion with scorn, and it must not be forgotten that Spain failed, in spite of determined efforts, in keeping a single province in Spanish America.
