Mr. Magoon spent the larger part of the money found in the treasury on public works, the building of roads, and various enterprises for the best interests of the island. It is claimed that in some instances the contracts became a source of graft, and that the roads were not built according to specifications. At any rate, they were built, and were sorely needed, and the results on the whole were excellent. Of the $26,000,000 left by the Palma administration nearly every dollar was expended at that time.
Although the second Government of Intervention was theoretically and nominally, and doubtless meant to be actually, quite non-political and impartial as between the Cuban parties, the very circumstances of its origin made it appear to favor the Liberals. It had come into power by accepting the resignation of the Palma administration, which was practically Conservative, at the demand of the Liberals. The Liberals thus enjoyed all through its duration the prestige of victory, without having to bear any of the responsibility of being in office, or incurring any of the odium which is almost inevitable to every human government which has not learned to achieve the impossible task of pleasing everybody. There was no such foundation work to do as had been done under the first Intervention, and the American government busied itself principally with routine matters, and with making it possible for the Cubans to resume control of their own affairs.
One of the most important undertakings at this time from a non-political point of view was the taking of a new census. This was not done on so elaborate a scale as the preceding census of 1899, but was more strictly an enumeration of the people, for purposes of apportionment, etc. It was taken under the direction of the American Government of Intervention in 1907, the actual work on it being done by a staff of Cuban canvassers and statisticians, and it was believed to have been accurately and comprehensively done.
The work of compiling the new census of Cuba which was taken in 1907 was continued in the early part of 1908 and was completed and results were published at the end of March of that year. The total population of the island was reported to be 2,048,980, and out of this number 419,342 were citizens and entitled to vote. It was then arranged to hold municipal and provincial elections on August 1, and a national election on November 14. These elections would be essential parts of the processes by which the United States government would bring its second intervention to a close and restore the island to the control and government of its own people. The electoral law under which they were to be conducted was promulgated for the August election on April 1 and for the November election on September 11, 1908.