The children placed in families will continue under the supervision and inspection of the department of charities. The principal asylums are situated in Santiago, Guantanamo, Puerto Principe, Cienfuegos, Matanzas, and Habana. Hospitals. Upon the advent of the American occupation the hospitals of Cuba were found to be hospitals only in name. They were practically without equipment, without sanitary arrangements, and without any system of nursing. The whole hospital system has been revolutionized. The buildings have been renovated, and in many instances reconstructed and thoroughly repaired. Enormous amounts have been allotted for supplies and equipments, and to-day we have in Cuba many first-class hospitals, and almost every town of any size has a small hospital with a sufficient supply of medicines, instruments, suitable bedding, and beds. A systematic method of hospital administration has been established, and in the larger hospitals training schools under nurses from the United States. Cuban girls of ability and good character have been taken and placed under instruction and are rapidly learning to be nurses. All hospitals of the island are at present controlled and supported by the General Government, and funds are allotted them through the department of finance on monthly estimates, duly approved by the department of charities. The amount allotted is as nearly as possible a fixed sum, which changes a little from time to time on account of epidemics or unusual number of sick and general causes. The equipment of these institutions has called for a large outlay of money, but the result has been thoroughly satisfactory. The training schools for nurses will have a wide and far-reaching effect for good. Homes for the aged and infirm.-These are scattered through the island and are at present maintained by the State and governed by the same general rules as hospitals and asylums. They are in most instances under the charge of Sisters of Charity or of other religious orders. These institutions, although many of them are endowed, have been largely assisted from State funds and have also received many new equipments. Lepers and leper asylums.—Leprosy is generally distributed throughout the island of Cuba, but the number of cases is small. The general type is not a particularly malignant one. It seems to affect particularly the Chinese, negroes, the few Hindoos, and the mixed races. On my first general inspection of the island I found lepers in many of the larger hospitals and in smaller establishments specially devoted to their treatment. Most of these establishments were ill kept, and the lepers were receiving very little consideration or treatment. Their condition was quite that which popular imagination pictures the condition of lepers to be, except in the leper hospital at Santa Clara, which was and is admirably conducted. All others were broken up and the inmates sent to the large hospital in Habana. This institution is an old one, well endowed, but, like the majority of charitable institutions, unable at present to obtain sufficient income from its properties to pay its expenses. Steps are being taken to find a suitable location, preferably on some island of the coast, to which all the lepers of the island can be transferred. It is desirable that they should have an island of sufficient area to give them exercise and room to build their houses and live, as far as a leper can live, the life of a human being. The establishment in Habana is under the charge of the Sisters of Charity. These devoted women have done everything possible for the people under their care, and in frequent personal inspections of the institution I have always found that the lepers have a real affection for them, consider them as their friends, and appreciate their services. Treatment of the insane.-The government insane asylum, Mazorra, is situated a few miles from Habana. My predecessor had already commenced the work of reconstruction of this establishment, a work which has been continued by the present administration. It is still far from what it should be. Plans are now under consideration for new buildings which will render the control and treatment of the insane much more easy and beneficial. The suffering and deaths in this institution during the last year of the war were extreme. There were approximately 900 deaths among 1,200 inmates in two years. When I was assigned military governor of Santiago, in 1898, I found most of the insane people confined in civil hospitals. They were in little wooden boxes or pens which were built like small houses, in some instances placed on wheels. The general effect was that of a large dog kennel. In size they were about 10 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 7 feet high, with a door in front, and in the door a small grating through which food and water, etc., were passed. Inside was a board about 14 inches wide, secured to the wall, which served as a bed. In many other towns the insane were found in the prisons. So far as I could see there was no effort being made to cure them. 0 The conditions under which they existed tended to increase rather than modify their malady. It is impossible to accurately describe the condition of these people. One must have seen them to appreciate it. Early in the present year orders were issued that all the insane throughout the island be sent, under the care of proper individuals, to the general asylum at Mazorra. It will be seen on reference to the law governing charities and hospitals that in this law special effort is made to protect in every way the insane and to prevent advantage being taken of persons under charge of insanity. There is a great amount of work still ahead of us in this department. It is in the treatment of the insane, lepers, etc., or rather in the failure to give them any proper treatment or consideration, that one sees some of the demoralizing effects which have been produced by preexisting conditions. The work of Maj. E. St. John Greble, Second United States Artillery, as superintendent of charities and hospitals, has been of the highest character. Under his intelligent and unremitting attention the hospitals and charities of the island have been put upon an efficient footing and wise provision made for the future. Major Greble's work has been in the highest sense constructive and one destined to be of lasting benefit to the people of Cuba. The organizations which he has established, the training schools for nurses, the industrial and reform schools, the provision for proper care of the insane, are all solid foundations for the future government. ELECTIONS. Municipal elections.-It was decided early in February that municipal elections should be held throughout Cuba in the month of June, for the purpose of electing municipal officers-i. e., alcaldes, members of city councils, municipal treasurers, municipal judges, and correc tional judges. There had been and was at the time much discussion as to the form of electoral law to be employed in these elections. In order to definitely determine this a commission was appointed by Order 73, of February 16, 1900, which follows: HEADQUARTERS DIVISION OF CUBA, The military governor of Cuba directs the publication of the following: The herein-named persons are designated as a commission to draw up rules and regulations to govern municipal elections: Diego Tamayo y Tejeda, Luis Estévez y Romero, Juan Bautista Hernández y Barreiro, Enrique José Varona, Juan Rius Rivera, Manuel Sanguily, Fidel Pierra, José María Gálvez, Rafael Montoro, Antonio Govín, José García Montes, Eusebio Hernández, Martín Morúa Delgado, J. E. Runcie, Horatio S. Rubens. The commission will meet at 104 Prado as soon as practicable. The services of the commission, being voluntary, are without salary. ADNA R. CHAFFEE, Brigadier-General, United States Volunteers, Chief of Staff. The gentlemen mentioned in the above order were selected as representing fairly the different political groups or parties. Mr. Runcie and Mr. Rubens were added as representing American ideas and as men familiar with our election laws and regulations. The commission, after a long and rather heated session, submitted two plans-one drawn by the majority, the other by the minority. The majority plan was rejected and that of the minority adopted and published in Order 164 of April 18, the following being a copy thereof. The majority scheme is also published herewith. HEADQUARTERS DIVISION OF CUBA, After careful consideration of the various plans and regulations proposed for municipal elections the military governor of Cuba directs the publication of the fol'lowing order: Municipal elections will be held throughout the island on June 16, 1900, at which there will be elected alcaldes, members of the ayuntamientos, municipal treasurers, municipal judges, and correctional judges, as follows: For each municipality, one alcalde and the number of members of the ayuntamiento now provided by law, one municipal judge, except in Habana, where four shall be elected, one municipal treasurer, and correctional judges as shall hereafter be announced. Duly elected candidates will take office July 1, 1900, and will continue in office until July 1, 1901. The following instructions will govern said municipal elections, and the forms herewith published shall be used in carrying on said elections. Election day, June 16, 1900, is hereby declared a legal holiday. I. Voters at the municipal elections must possess the following qualifications: 1. The voter must be a native male Cuban or the son of a native male Cuban born while his parents were temporarily residing abroad, or a Spaniard included within the provisions of article 9 of the treaty of Paris, who has not made declaration of his decision to preserve his allegiance to the Crown of Spain, as provided in said article. 2. He must be of the age of 21 years or upward on the day preceding the day of election. 3. He must have resided in the municipality in which he intends to vote at least thirty days immediately preceding the first day of registration, and in addition to the above he must possess any one of the following qualifications: (a) Ability to read and write; (b) ownership of real or personal property to the value of $250 American gold; (c) service in the Cuban army prior to July 18, 1898, and honorable discharge therefrom, whether a native Cuban or not. DISQUALIFICATIONS. II. No person shall be qualified to vote who is insane or an idiot, or who is resident in or supported by any public charitable institution, or who is deprived of or suspended from the exercise of his political rights by sentence of a court, except in cases where the conviction is for a crime of a political character, CANDIDATES. 1. No person shall be a candidate for office in any municipality other than a qualified elector of that municipality able to read and write. REGISTRATION OF VOTERS. IV. There shall be appointed in every municipality a board of registration of voters for every barrio, which shall consist of three residents of the barrio who can read and write, known to be qualified electors, to be elected in the following manner: The ayuntamiento must as soon as possible before the 27th day of April select a supervisor of elections for each barrio of the municipality. Such supervisor of elections shall serve without pay, and shall be a bona fide resident of the barrio and a qualified elector. It shall be the duty of the supervisor to notify the electors of the barrio that from the 30th of April until the hour of noon of the 4th of May, 1900, they may present to him, at a place within the barrio specified by him, a certificate in which they name one individual as their choice for member of the board of registration and one individual who may act as his alternate. The supervisor of elections shall on the afternoon of May 4 declare that the individuals and their alternates having the three largest number of signatures to their certificates shall constitute the board of registration of the barrio, and he shall issue the proper appointments to such invividuals and forthwith send his report and all certificates received by him to the alcalde, who shall permit the public to inspect them at his office. Should any individual decline to serve, his alternate shall take his place. Should the alternate also decline to serve, then the individual having the next highest number of signatures and his alternate shall be declared elected, and in all cases where a sufficient number of individuals to constitute the board are not named by certificate the supervisor of elections shall appoint. When the board of election is officially appointed the duties of the supervisor of elections shall end. After the board of registration is once organized absent members shall be replaced by their own or other alternates, or, should the necessity arise, the remaining members may fill the board by the selection of a duly qualified elector of the barrio. The certificates must show the residence of the signer, and those who not being qualified electors within the barrio who may sign such certificates shall incur the penalties hereinafter provided for. V. The board of registration in each municipality shall meet on the 6th day of May, 1900, at a place to be previously publicly announced by the alce'de and shall proceed to register, on forms to be furnished for that purpose, all persons who, upon application for registration, are found to be qualified to vote, as herein prescribed. VI. Any person who applies for registration as a voter shall be put on oath or affirmation to answer truly all questions touching his qualifications as an elector, and he shall also swear that he is not disqualified by Article II of this order, and such oath or affirmation shall be administered by a member of the board to which application is made. In any case the board may require the production of such evidence as may be immediately available in support of the applicant's claim. Unless the board have personal knowledge that he can read and write, the right to be registered being claimed because of such knowledge, the applicant must be required to read from any book or newspaper, or to write one or more phrases from dictation. A majority of the board shall in every case summarily decide as to whether the applicant shall be registered or not. VII. The entry in the register in the case of each voter must show 1. His full name; 2. His age, omitting fractions of years; 3. His place of birth; 4. His place of residence; 5. That he has resided at least thirty days within the limits of the municipality next preceding the first day of registration; 6. Date of registry, and one of the following facts: A. That he is able to read and write. B. That he owns property to the value of $250, American gold. C. That he is an honorably discharged soldier of the Cuban army. VIII. Boards of registration must be in session daily for ten consecutive days, beginning the 6th of May, 1900, from 6 in the morning to 6 at night. IX. No person other than members of the board, a clerical assistant, and applicants for registration shall be permitted to be present at any session. X. On the day following the last day of registration three exact copies of the register, arranged in alphabetical order of surnames, certified to and subscribed by members of the board, shall be made by each board, and one such copy shall be publicly posted at the place of registration and the other in the building in which the ayuntamiento holds its sessions, and the third shall be mailed to the civil governor. In addition, one certified copy, alphabetically arranged, shall be sent to the alcalde for every polling place, as determined by Article XVII. XI. The various sheets of the original list shall be fastened together and immediately following the last name the three members of the board shall certify to the total number of names contained in said list, and each member shall subscribe his name thereto. The list shall then be carefully sealed in the presence of the three members and delivered to the alcalde for safe-keeping. NOMINATION OF CANDIDATES. XII. No person shall be a candidate for office in a municipal election unless there shall have been presented to the alcalde municipal a nomination of such person, stating the office for which he is to be candidate, signed by at least 250 registered voters in the municipality of Habana, and by at least 100 registered voters in the municipalities of Santiago de Cuba, Cienfuegos, Matanzas, Pinar del Rio, Santa Clara, and Puerto Principe, and by at least 50 registered voters in all other municipalities. Signatures to a certificate of nomination must be followed by a statement of the residence of each signer. Qualified electors who are unable for any reason to write their names may specially request other electors to sign for them. XIII. No certificate of nomination of any candidate shall be received after the hour of noon of May 26, 1900, and all such certificates must be accompanied by the acceptance, in writing, of the nomination by the candidates. XIV. As soon as practicable after the 26th day of May, 1900, the alcalde in each municipality shall transmit to the civil governor of the province a certified list of the names of all candidates duly nominated within the municipality, stating the office for which each candidate is nominated. XV. The certificates nomination of candidates shall be open the inspection of any qualified voter after they have been in the hands of the alcalde for twenty-four hours. Together with the certified list of names the alcalde municipal shall transmit to the civil gove or a statement showing the total number of registered voters in his municipality and also the number of polling places. TICKETS. XVI. Upon receipt of the certificates of nomination from the alcaldes, as above provided, the civil governor shall forthwith cause to be printed voting tickets for each municipality within the province, beginning with the tickets for those most remote or most difficult of access from the provincial capital, and he shall provide for each such municipality a number of tickets, not less than three times the number of registered voters thereof or 1,200 for each polling place, and upon the completion of the printing of the tickets for any municipality the same shall be forwarded to the alcalde of the municipality at the earliest time possible. All tickets in any province shall be of white paper, uniform in texture and general appearance, shall be nontransparent, and there shall be uniformity of size for each municipality. FORM OF TICKET. Each ticket shall be divided into parallel columns. At the head of each column shall be designated the name of the office to be filled, and immediately thereunder shall be printed the names, arranged in alphabetical order according to the surnames, of all the candidates duly nominated for that office, with a sufficient number of blank spaces below the last name to permit the insertion, in writing, of the name of any person not nominated, for whom the elector may desire to vote. At the left of each name in each column there shall be a rectangular space, within which the voter must make a cross, with ink, to indicate that the candidate opposite whose name the mark is placed is the one voted for on the ballot. VOTING. XVII. The board of registration shall also act as the board of election, and the polls shall be held at the same place where the registration boards met. If, however, the registration lists show more than 400 names, the board of registration shall |