The Fragile Republic 43to intervention in the event of insurrection. "There may be,"
Bryce wrote, "civil strife, or disorders, which, though scarcely
amounting to war, the Executive cannot suppress." Inter
vention then would be necessary to maintain the guarantees
of the Platt Amendment, and intervention would resurrect the
question of annexation, a latent hope of many living in Cuba.^44
The formal withdrawal of the Military Government on May
20, 1902, marked the end of Wood's reform program. The
principle of leadership by example and government by
morality disappeared with the United States Army. Wood was
hailed as a great colonial governor by such knowledgeable
judges as Lord Cromer and General H. H. Kitchener, who
credited him with the regeneration of Cuba, "an accomplish
ment unequaled by any race in any age."^45
Wood's rationale for change was based on an absolute
moral code, free enterprise economics, the theory of the
public interest, and a just social order through law, all alien
concepts to the Cuban people. He realized that radical change
was necessary in Cuba, but, however ambitious his Americani
zation program, his reforms were half-measures. He missed
the crux of General Wilson's argument: the economic con
ditions in Cuba so prejudiced political stability that a radical
and rapid change in the island's economic structure was
mandatory. Private enterprise, particularly foreign invest
ment, would simply deepen the woes of an already exploitative
colonial economy. To keep the Cubans from turning to the
government as a source of personal income, the government
itself would have to act to provide other economic alternatives.
It is true that Wood, much to his disappointment, did not
win enough time to institutionalize his Puritan revolution. He
was never able to find enough educated Cubans who were
willing to compromise their personal prestige and their sense
of nationality to serve in an American government. In the
case of the conservative commercial and planter elite, Wood
found it practically impossible to interest them in holding
office. They were unwilling to surrender their social exclusive
ness and international business connections, both of which