NEWS Ob THE WEEK.
THE latest news from Cuba points to events of far- reaching importance. President Palma still declares that he can subdue the rising, but so far his optimism has received little justification. The Conference of the "veterans" who were to devise some scheme of peace broke up in dismay on the intelligence that the President had virtually proclaimed martial law in the three provinces of Pinar del Rio, Havana., and Santa Clara. Many of the so- called " independents " have announced their intention of joining the revolutionaries, and it is said that the Vice- President of the Senate is among the deserters from the Presidential cause. Cuban politics, never very clear to out- siders, are now shrouded in a haze of general suspicion, and it is difficult for the President to distinguish friend from foe. In these circumstances, it was only natural that the United States Government should despatch a cruiser to Havana to safeguard American interests. On Thursday she landed a hundred and fifty Marines. Whether this is the beginning of a new military occupation of the island by American troops remains to be seen; but if the Americans mean to prevent the revolutionaries succeeding, we do not see how it will be possible for them to avoid sending in troops, for the insurrec- tion is spreading rapidly. If the United States Army arrives a second time in Cuba, it will come to stay.
