THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 406 U.S. MILITARY SURGEON IN CAMP, TAKING NOTES OF CASES.

independence. Cuba, in ceasing to be a colony of Spain, has placed itself in the position of a colonv of the United States. When yearshence it is admitted to full State rights, it will only be after immigrants fromAmerica have completely changed the character of its population, and when the old estates and the palatial countryhouses arethepropertyof"go-a-head" American men of business. It is not a very poetical outcome of the " war of liberation." But then we live inpractical,unpoetical days.

ever, a few notable exceptions. The palatial residences and large estates remain ; but the families, if in possession at all, exist only in name. Their fortunesweredissipatedinHavana, New York, Saratoga, Paris and Madrid. The present generationof those familiesareprofligate, idle, and more or less vicious, and, in consequence, a disturbing element in the island."

The want of a native educated class, fit to act as the magistrates and administrators of the country, is one that is fatal to any idea of its