Order was established and a workable form of government framed in Cuba by the United States, but its action in leaving this machinery entirely under the control of an inexperienced and immature people was like placing a razor in the hands of a child. The needs of the Island were sacrificed to the political exigencies of its protector. This is a fact that will hardly admit of dispute. The leading Cuban papers and the most representative citizens of the country declared unequivocally that the people were not prepared nor qualified to assume the responsibility of self-government. Governor Magoon, in a report which was suppressed, made similar representations to his superiors in Washington. Nevertheless, thirteen months after the transfer of the Island from Spain to the United States, President Roosevelt ordered that withdrawal should take place one year later and “under no circumstances and for no reason” should our occupancy be extended beyond the date set, which happened to be just before the assembling of the presidential conventions. We committed our first injustice to the country and made our first mistake in the treatment of it by that hasty and premature abandonment. We have already paid a heavy price for the blunder and Cuba has suffered severely from the effects of it. But our responsibility still exists and the task remains to be performed. There is no possibility of avoidance. Sooner or later we must take the work of Cuba’s regeneration in hand seriously and carry it out thoroughly. How this shall be done is difficult of conjecture.