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Position of the United States military authorities in Cuba circa 1899

The position of the United States military authorities in Cuba, before the Spanish authorities abandoned the island in 1899, was one of military occupation, pure and simple; after that event, it was military occupation of a particular kind -- namely, wherein the dominant military power exercised authority over the island as trustee for a Cuban nation not yet in existence, but the creation of which was promised and which was to have the assistance of the United States in establishing itself.

During the former period the dominant military power exercised the authority of a conqueror in all his plenitude. During the latter period the United States military authorities governed, indeed, wholly by the rights of war, yet at no time did they lose sight of the fact that they were acting in the interests of the future Cuban nation. The government might be styled civil, but it was military for every necessary purpose . . . . .