But, be it well understood, this unrest and dissatisfaction are the outcome of basic causes. They can only be remedied by radical reformation of the economic and political state of the country. And such reformation is not to be expected from any native source. Cuba’s salvation depends upon guidance and aid from without, or, if not that, from the foreign element within her borders. This fact has become so obvious that even the organs of the politicians admit it. All classes, save the numerically smallest, are weary and disgusted with the condition of things. They can find no remedy at the polls. If the present administration is ejected, it is sure to be followed by another as bad, or worse. When it comes to a consideration of the best means to relieve Cuba’s distress, the factors in the matter are found to be so complex, and the opinions on the subject so diverse, that it is extremely difficult to arrive at any definite conclusion. One point, at least, almost all students of the situation are agreed upon, and that is that the United States fell very short of affording the Cubans the assistance in rehabilitating themselves that they had a right to expect, and that the hasty manner in which they were left to their own resources is mainly responsible for the confusion that has existed ever since. If the Cuban has not an actual ineptitude for exercising the functions of government, he must be disqualified by utter inexperience. The brief period of autonomy is hardly worth considering in this respect. Before the present century only a very small proportion of the population had ever exercised the elementary political function of voting. Under Spain the affairs of the country were regulated to the smallest detail by the national authority, which extended its paternal supervision to matters affecting the private life of the individual. For instance, regulations for the conduct of the bull-ring and the cock-pit emanated from the captain-general, and under his instructions the petty officers were constituted censors of the morals of private citizens, with power to punish offenders. Another equally serious disqualification is to be found in the large proportion of illiterates in Cuba. These comprise more than half the total population. The great majority of them are _campesinos_, rustics. Nevertheless, it is to the country districts that we must look for the best thought and the greatest influence in future political movements. City dwellers are prone to act and think in mass, to be led by the crowd and to be unduly influenced by the press. The _guajiro_, who owns a little patch of ground, but is utterly lacking in education, is a safer and more valuable political unit than the average citizen of Habana.