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George S. Cartwright, major, quartermaster, U. S. Volunteers; depot quartermaster at Matanzas to May 30, 1900. This officer has served under my command from the date of our arrival in this island until May 30, when he was promoted to be chief quartermaster of the Department of Habana and Pinar del Rio. He is an officer of excellent character and abilities.

H. B. Chamberlain, captain, assistant quartermaster, U. S. Volunteers; assistant to the chief quartermaster from July 7, 1899. This officer has had special charge of the renovation of Spanish barracks, and of the repair of jails and streets in the interior towns, and has discharged his various duties to the satisfaction of his immediate superiors as well as myself.

Walter B. Barker, captain, assistant quartermaster, U. S. Volunteers; depot quartermaster at Cienfuegos.

M. R. Peterson, major, commissary of subsistence, U. S. Volunteers; chief and depot commissary at Matanzas. This officer has served on my staff and under my observation since January 12, 1899, and has given entire satisfaction. He has recently been promoted and ordered to duty as chief commissary of the military division.

George LeRoy Brown, major, Tenth Infantry, acting chief and depot commissary from September 25 to November 30, 1899. In addition to his duties as depot commissary, Major Brown has performed various duties of inspection of money accounts and civil affairs. He was subsequently appointed collector of customs at Cienfuegos, and has discharged all of his duties with fidelity and intelligence.

E. B. Fenton, captain, commissary of subsistence, U. S. Volunteers; depot commissary at Cienfuegos from July 25 to September 21, 1899. Frank J. Ives, major and surgeon, U. S. Volunteers; chief surgeon, superintendent of correctional and charitable institutions from December 26, 1899. This officer has performed his duties as chief surgeon with high professional skill and success. As superintendent of charities and corrections he has done a great deal of most excellent and intelligent work. His report for the year is specially commended to the attention of those in higher authority and especially to the SurgeonGeneral.

James H. Hysell, major and surgeon, U. S. Volunteers; sanitary inspector to February 5, 1900. This officer performed his duties as chief surgeon of the Department of Santa Clara, of sanitary inspector of that province, and on my staff until ordered to duty as chief surgeon of the Department of Santiago and Puerto Principe. He has shown himself to be highly intelligent and efficient in all his work.

Lewis Balch, major and surgeon, U. S. Volunteers; sanitary inspector to August 29, 1899. This officer came into the island with the first United States troops, serving under my observation to the date just mentioned, at which time he was relieved to go to the Philippines. He is a gentleman of high intelligence, energy, and activity.

J. Hamilton Stone, first lieutenant, assistant surgeon, U. S. A.; assistant to the chief surgeon from February 19 to June 14, 1900. This officer has shown himself to be exceedingly intelligent and devoted to his duty.

James B. Houston, major, additional paymaster, U. S. Volunteers; chief paymaster from August 15, 1899, to April 20, 1900. This officer is one of the most rapid, accurate, and successful paymasters in

the service. He is competent by education, character, and ability to fill any office in the corps to which he is attached.

Otto Becker, major, additional paymaster, U. S. Volunteers; additional paymaster stationed at Cienfuegos from September 5, 1899. This officer has served as additional paymaster, and has only recently joined the department staff. He is painstaking, careful, and accurate. John Biddle, captain, Engineer Corps, U. S. A.; chief engineer officer to September 19, 1899. This officer served with me as chief engineer of the Sixth Army Corps, First Army Corps, and in the expedition to Porto Rico. He preceded me with the first troops into this department, and has shown himself to be an officer of enterprise, courage, skill, and ambition. He was relieved September 19, 1899, at his own request, for service in the Philippines, where he is now chief engineer of the military division. He is an ambitious and rising officer and sure to give an excellent account of himself in the future.

William J. Barden, first lieutenant, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A.; engineer officer from October 28, 1899. This officer succeeded Colonel Biddle as chief engineer of the department, and has performed all his duties to my entire satisfaction.

Samuel Reber, captain, Signal Corps, U. S. Volunteers; chief signal officer to August 6, 1899. This officer served with me in the Sixth and First Army Corps, accompanied me to this department, and was constantly engaged in the various duties of his position. He is a scientific electrical and civil engineer, and is fully capable of organizing and running a signal department for an army of any size. He is an officer of vigor and ambition.

Frank E. Lyman, first lieutenant, Signal Corps, U. S. Volunteers; assistant to signal officer to August 6, 1899; signal officer from August 6 to October 26, 1899.

William M. Talbott, first lieutenant, Signal Corps, U. S. Volunteers; signal officer from December 28, 1899, to June 9, 1900. This officer has performed all of his duties to my entire satisfaction.

Charles B. Rogan, first lieutenant, Signal Corps, U. S. Volunteers; signal officer from November 6 to December 28, 1899, and assistant to signal officer from December 28, 1899, to June 9, 1900; signal officer from June 9, 1900. He has performed all of his duties honestly and faithfully, and as he is intelligent and well educated, he may reasonably hope for distinction if he remains in the service.

Charles J. Stevens, captain, Second Cavalry; inspector of rural police to September 22, 1899; provost marshal from July 7 to September 22, 1899. He performed his duties to my entire satisfaction, and was relieved to take command of his troop at his own request.

Francis J. Kernan, captain, Second Infantry; provost-marshal to July 7, 1899. In addition to the duties of provost-marshal, this officer performed the duties of inspector of rural police. He is capable of performing the duties of any staff department, and is an officer of high character and abilities.

Eli A. Helmick, captain, Tenth Infantry; acting inspector-general from August 19 to October 8, 1899; acting engineer officer from September 19 to October 8, 1899; acting provost-marshal and inspector of police from September 22, 1899. This officer has performed the various and exacting duties of his position with marked ability and care. He is methodical, attentive, and capable. His judgment is excellent, and he is sure to rise to distinction in the service.

William A. Phillips, captain, Tenth Infantry; inspector of schools from March 2, 1900. This officer was specially selected to perform the duties of inspector of schools, having been a school teacher and president of a teachers' institute before he entered the Military Academy, and since then having been a professor of engineering, military science, and mathematics in a civil college, he is peculiarly fitted for the work with which he has been charged. His system of inspection reports was adopted by the chief of staff of the military division as the standard for other departments. He is able, attentive, and versatile. The chief engineer of the department having been relieved, Captain Phillips has been designated to take charge of the engineering and sanitary works belonging to that department.

It gives me great pleasure to say that the officers serving on my staff, as well as those attached to the various regiments in this department, have shown themselves, with scarcely an exception, to be gentlemen of the highest character, devoted to their duty, competent, and in every way creditable to the Army and to the country. There have been but few courts-martial, and even those grew out of accidents in no way reflecting upon the moral character or standing of the gentlemen concerned.

Notwithstanding that all these officers have done their duty in so satisfactory a manner, there are a number who deserve special mention.

Col. Ezra P. Ewers, Tenth Infantry, commanding the garrison of Matanzas, has done much by his considerate and careful intercourse with the Cubans to establish and maintain the harmonious relations that exist in this city between our troops, the civil authorities, and the population.

Maj. R. W. Hoyt, Tenth Infantry, at Cárdenas, has proved himself an officer of great value, not only in maintaining the best relations with the people of that city, but has displayed excellent judgment in the prosecution of civil works that were carried on there under his supervision.

Capt. Henry Kirby, Tenth Infantry, at Cárdenas before Major Hoyt, also deserves commendation for his conscientious and energetic work at that place.

Col. Henry E. Noyes, Second Cavalry, at Santa Clara, has been largely occupied with civil matters and has displayed great judgment and delicacy in his relations with the civil authorities of the province of Santa Clara.

Capt. W. M. Wright, Second Infantry, proved himself by his considerate conduct and careful attention to business to be exceedingly valuable in civil work at Sagua la Grande, and later Capt. H. H. Bandholtz, at the same point, carried forward and completed the work with especial energy and good judgment.

My thanks are also due to Capt. H. H. Benham, Second Infantry, at Trinidad, and Capt. F. P. Fremont, at Sancti Spíritus, where they have both filled positions of great delicacy with entire disregard of their own convenience and interests and to my great satisfaction.

CIVIL AFFAIRS.

The conditions existing at the beginning of the fiscal year are set forth in my annual report of last year and the special report accompanying it.

Early after the beginning of the fiscal year the last of the Cuban troops had received their proportion of the money appropriated by the United States and the last vestige of the organization had disappeared. From that time the problem confronting the government in this department has been purely a civil and economical one, as there has been no occasion requiring the employment of any military force whatever.

At the beginning of the fiscal year the towns and cities of the department found themselves burdened with debts accumulated in the past months which they had no sufficient revenues to cover, as real estate, from which their revenues had formerly been derived, had been exempted from taxation in order to enable them to recover more rapidly from the effects of war and from the commercial depression resulting therefrom.

Before the insular government could limit this indebtedness the budget of these municipalities had to be put in proper shape. The disorder existing in their accounts had resulted from the unsettled conditions following the war and the uncertainty as to whether the bookkeepers and clerks, or even the mayors themselves, would receive compensation for their labor.

The proper indebtedness of all the municipalities from the date of the American occupation to the 1st of January, 1900, having been finally worked out and passed upon, their deficits were paid by funds allotted from the insular treasury, and they were thus enabled to start afresh with their expenses under the new régime definitely limited by the intervening government. The number and pay of the police was fixed and the number and salaries of other municipal officers regulated by order of the Governor-General in accordance with the necessities of the place and conditions. The schools, charities, hospitals, and prisons were looked after by the general government, and the only thing for which the municipality still had to provide an income was for the needs of the town for salaries, light, water, and conveniences, and in towns not occupied by United States troops, for sanitation also. The municipalities were able, from the small revenues obtained by licenses and taxes on business stands, street vendors, public conveyances, etc., to meet these small necessities. In some cases they availed themselves of the rent of buildings belonging to the municipality, such as market houses and other property suitable for stores. Hospitals, charities, and jails during the first part of the year required a large outlay of money to put them in such a condition that proper cleanliness and discipline could be required of their custodians.

Some of the charitable institutions had up to the time the intervening government began to aid them been supported by substantial contributions from bequests, investments, and private charity, or from the treasuries of the religious orders which controlled them. It has been found that, once the institution was known to be in receipt of government assistance, all private contributions ceased, the people acting on the theory that the government would now look out for such institutions, leaving them at liberty to bestow their charity otherwise. As it was not the policy of the government to give absolute control of an institution supported by public funds to any religious order, these orders in several cases withdrew not only their financial assistance, but also their personal aid in their management and conduct. All the asylums are now in excellent condition as to buildings and equipment, but the need of trained managers is felt. It is thought

that if managers of experience from the United States could be employed in the principal institutions for a limited time-say one year the Cuban superintendents under their instruction would thereafter be able to carry on the work upon approved methods, so as to secure healthful employment of the children under their care and break up the system of merely killing time, upon which theory the management of these institutions seems to have been carried on under the Spaniards. While much good is expected from the asylums as they are developed into manual training and agricultural schools, yet it is believed that the number of inmates is at present entirely too large, and that systematic effort would result in returning many of these children to the care of relatives who are now or may hereafter become able and willing to support and properly care for them.

The civil hospitals, on which great attention has been bestowed, have been in many cases reconstructed and are now in excellent condition. Great benefit has been derived from the presence in these hospitals, as well as in some of the asylums, of trained nurses and kindergartners from the United States. The results of their training as nurses and instructors will become more evident in the near future, as they are just now finding themselves supplied with appliances and the means for carrying out their ideas of management.

These hospitals would offer to the young medical student great opportunities for practice and experience, but it would seem that there is no great competition for the positions as ward physicians, there being difficulty, it is said, in finding such as are willing to undergo the inconvenience of being on duty at night. It is believed that if these opportunities for practice were offered to the more ambitious and energetic young medical graduates, this difficulty would disappear. The condition of the jails from the time of our entering the island was a source of much trouble and concern. In spite of decrees aimed at hastening the administration of justice, and in spite of the fact that a large number of prisoners under sentence for political and military offences had been released by military order soon after our occupation, the jails continued rapidly to fill up and the number of prisonersalmost all awaiting trial-continued to increase from day to day. The situation was frequently brought to the attention of those in higher authority, and the jails were again cleared by a commission appointed by the Governor-General. The methods of legal procedure were also modified in such a way as to compel the attendance of witnesses and to secure the payment of their fees. Under these conditions and with the assistance of the correctional or police courts, which have just been organized, it is not anticipated that the problem of the jails will occur again.

In connection with the jails it is to be noted that there was no provision for the care of the violently insane, who, under Spanish practice, were confined in cells of the regular jails for observation. The sight of these poor creatures, like caged wild animals, was one of the most revolting spectacles to be seen in Cuba. These insane people are at this time sent to Habana, where they are kept in separate institutions for observation and treatment.

For further details as to the hospitals, asylums, and jails, special attention is invited to the full and able reports submitted from time to time on these subjects by Maj. Frank J. Ives, chief surgeon, and to his final report submitted herewith, marked "Exhibit M."

WAR 1900-VOL 1, PT HI- -18

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