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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/33739-h.zip b/33739-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..78dde21 --- /dev/null +++ b/33739-h.zip diff --git a/33739-h/33739-h.htm b/33739-h/33739-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9d101b2 --- /dev/null +++ b/33739-h/33739-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5489 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"> + <head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> +<title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Cuba; Its Past, Present, and Future by A. D. Hall. +</title> +<style type="text/css"> + p {margin-top:.75em;text-align:justify;margin-bottom:.75em;text-indent:2%;} + +.c {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;} + +.cb {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;font-weight:bold;} + +.nind {text-indent:0%;} + +.r {text-align:right;margin-right:5%;} + +.transcribe {margin-top:10%; border:1px solid gray;background-color:#FCFCE9;padding:1%;} + + h2,h4 {text-align:center;clear:both;} + + h1,h3 {margin-top:15%;text-align:center;clear:both;} + +.top5 {margin-top:5%;} + + hr {width:10%;margin:2em auto 2em auto;clear:both;color:black;} + + hr.full {width:50%;margin:5% auto 5% auto;border:2px solid gray;} + + table {margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;border:none;text-align:left;} + + body{margin-left:10%;margin-right:10%;background:#fdfdfd;color:black;font-family:"Times New Roman", serif;font-size:medium;} + +.un {text-decoration:underline;} + +a:link {background-color:#ffffff;color:blue;text-decoration:none;} + + link {background-color:#ffffff;color:blue;text-decoration:none;} + +a:visited {background-color:#ffffff;color:purple;text-decoration:none;} + +a:hover {background-color:#ffffff;color:#FF0000;text-decoration:underline;} + +.smcap {font-variant:small-caps;font-size:95%;} + +div.image {border:none;margin:auto;text-align:center;padding:3%;} +</style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cuba, by Arthur D. Hall + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Cuba + Its Past, Present, and Future + +Author: Arthur D. Hall + +Release Date: September 16, 2010 [EBook #33739] +[This file last updated September 29, 2010] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CUBA +ITS PAST; PRESENT, AND FUTURE *** + + + + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material at +the Internet Archive.) + + + + + + +</pre> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<div class="image"><img src="images/cover.jpg" +id="coverpage" +width="397" +height="550" +title="book cover" +alt="book cover" +/></div> + +<div class="image"> +<img src="images/map_of_cuba-small.png" +width="600" +height="400" +alt="Map of Cuba" +title="Map of Cuba" +/><br />Click here to view the map enlarged: +<a href="images/map_of_cuba-medium.jpg">Medium size, (3MB).</a> <a href="images/map_of_cuba-large.jpg">Large size, (5MB).</a></div> + + +<h1>CUBA</h1> + +<h2>ITS PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE</h2> + +<p class="cb">BY</p> + +<p class="cb">A. D. HALL</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 192px;"> +<img src="images/ill_logo.png" width="100" height="101" alt="logo" title="logo" /> +</div> + +<p class="cb">NEW YORK +STREET & SMITH, <span class="smcap">Publishers</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">81 Fulton Street</span></p> + +<p><a name="page_004" id="page_004"></a></p> + +<p class="cb"><small>Copyrighted<br />1898<br />By <span class="smcap">Street & Smith</span>.</small></p> + +<p><a name="page_005" id="page_005"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h3> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="contents"> +<tr><td align="right"><small>CHAPTER</small></td><td> </td><td align="left"><small>PAGE</small>.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">I</a>.</td><td>—Discovery and Early History</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_007">7</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">II</a>.</td><td>—The British Occupation—Spain's Gratitude</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_019">19</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">III</a>.</td><td>—Cuba's Early Struggles for Liberty</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_030">30</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">IV</a>.</td><td>—The Ten Years' War</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_043">43</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">V</a>.</td><td>—The Virginius Embroglio</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_059">59</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI</a>.</td><td>—Again Spain's Perfidy</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_067">67</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII</a>.</td><td>—Some Cuban Heroes</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_073">73</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII</a>.</td><td>—Cuban Tactics</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_084">84</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX</a>.</td><td>—Weyler the Butcher</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_092">92</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">X</a>.</td><td>—The Crime of the Century</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_102">102</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">XI</a>.</td><td>—Two Methods of Warfare; The Spanish and the Cuban</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_110">110</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">XII</a>.</td><td>—The Butcher's Campaign</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_122">122</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">XIII</a>.</td><td>—America's Charity and Spain's Diplomacy</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_132">132</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">XIV</a>.</td><td>—The Last Days of Peace</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_144">144</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">XV</a>.</td><td>—The Topography and Resources of Cuba</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_154">154</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">XVI</a>.</td><td>—What Will the Future Be?</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_170">170</a></td></tr> +</table> +<p><a name="page_006" id="page_006"></a></p> + +<p><a name="page_007" id="page_007"></a></p> + +<h3>CUBA<br />ITS PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE</h3> + +<hr /> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h3> + +<h4>DISCOVERY AND EARLY HISTORY.</h4> + +<p>"The goodliest land that eye ever saw, the sweetest thing in the world."</p> + +<p>Such was Columbus' opinion of Cuba, just after he first beheld it, and, +after the lapse of four hundred years, the words, making due allowance +for the hyperbole of enthusiasm, still hold good. And this, too, in +spite of all the trials and tribulations which the fair "Pearl of the +Antilles" has been forced to undergo at the hands of her greedy and +inhuman masters.</p> + +<p>The eyes of all the world are now upon this indescribably beautiful and +fertile country. Like Andromeda, she has been shuddering and gasping in +the power of a monster, but at last a Perseus has come to her rescue. +Somewhat tardily perhaps the United States, united now in every meaning +of the word, has from pure philanthropy embraced her cause—the United +States whose watchword, with a sturdy hatred of the oppressor, has ever +been and always will be "freedom." The star of hope, symbolized by the +lone star upon the Cuban flag, and so long concealed by gloomy, +threatening clouds,<a name="page_008" id="page_008"></a> is now shining clear and bright; and all +civilization is waiting with happy confidence for the day, God willing +not far distant, when "Cuba Libre" shall be not only an article of +creed, but an established fact.</p> + +<p>The island of Cuba, the largest and richest of the West Indian Islands, +and up to the present the most important of Spain's colonial +possessions, not so vast as they once were but still of no +inconsiderable value, was discovered by Columbus during his first voyage +to the far west.</p> + +<p>For many centuries, even back to the time of Solomon, the chief object +of explorers had been a discovery of a passage to India and the fabulous +wealth of the East. In the thirteenth century, Marco Polo, the famous +Venetian explorer, went far beyond any of his predecessors and succeeded +in reaching Pekin. He also heard of another empire which was called +Zipangri, the same that we now know as Japan. When he returned and +published what we are sorry to say was none too veracious an account, +Polo being only too ready to draw upon his imagination, other nations +were fired by emulation.</p> + +<p>The Portuguese were the first to achieve any positive result. Early in +the fifteenth century, inspired by an able and enterprising sovereign, +they doubled Cape Non, discovered Madeira, occupied the Azores and +reached the Senegal and the Cape Verde Islands. In 1486, Bartholomew +Diaz sighted the Cape of Good Hope, which some ten years later Vasco da +Gama, the most famous of all Portuguese explorers, rounded, and then +proceeded some distance toward India.<a name="page_009" id="page_009"></a></p> + +<p>It was after hearing the wonderful tales of these explorers that +Columbus became inspired with the idea of sailing westward on the +unknown waters, expecting thus to reach India. After untold +discouragements, and finally by the generosity of Queen Isabella, who +was brought to believe in his conjectures, he set sail from Palos, +August 3, 1492, with three small vessels manned by about ninety sailors. +The following 12th of October he first sighted the western hemisphere, +which, however, he thought to be Asia, and by the way, lived and died in +that belief. This land was one of the Bahama Islands, called by the +natives Guanahani, but christened by Columbus as San Salvador. It is now +known as Cat Island.</p> + +<p>The 28th of the same month Columbus discovered Cuba, entering the mouth +of a river in what he believed to be that "great land," of which he had +heard so much.</p> + +<p>From the very beginning, it was as it has existed to the present +day—the Spaniards looked for gold and were determined to exploit their +new possessions to the very last peseta that could be wrung from them.</p> + +<p>The island was first called Juana, in honor of Prince John, son of +Ferdinand and Isabella; but, after Ferdinand's death, it received the +name of Fernandina. Subsequently, it was designated, after Spain's +patron saint, Santiago, and still later Ave Maria, in honor of the +Virgin.</p> + +<p>Finally it received its present name, the one originally bestowed upon +it by the natives. Cuba means "the<a name="page_010" id="page_010"></a> place of gold," and Spain has +constantly kept this in mind, both theoretically and practically.</p> + +<p>At first, however, the answers received in Cuba in reply to the +questions of her discoverers as to the existence of gold were not +satisfactory. It seemed as if this ne plus ultra to the Spaniards was to +be found in a neighboring and larger island, which has been known by the +various names of Hayti, Hispaniola and Santo Domingo. The prospect of +enrichment here was so inviting that the first settlement of Spain in +the New World was made in Hayti.</p> + +<p>The aborigines seem to have made no resistance to the coming among them +of a new race of people. They were apparently peaceful and kindly, +dwelling in a state of happy tranquillity among themselves.</p> + +<p>Their character is best demonstrated by an extract from a letter written +by Columbus to their Catholic majesties, Ferdinand and Isabella:</p> + +<p>"The king having been informed of our misfortune expressed great grief +for our loss and immediately sent aboard all the people in the place in +many large canoes; we soon unloaded the ship of everything that was upon +deck, as the king gave us great assistance; he himself, with his +brothers and relations, took all possible care that everything should be +properly done, both aboard and on shore. And, from time to time, he sent +some of his relations weeping, to beg of me not to be dejected, for he +would give me all that he had. I can assure your highnesses that so much +care would not have been taken in securing our effects in any part of +Spain, as all our<a name="page_011" id="page_011"></a> property was put together in one place near his +palace, until the houses which he wanted to prepare for the custody of +it were emptied. He immediately placed a guard of armed men, who watched +during the whole night, and those on shore lamented as if they had been +much interested in our loss. The people are so affectionate, so +tractable and so peaceable, that I swear to your highnesses that there +is not a better race of men nor a better country in the world. They love +their neighbor as themselves, their conversation is the sweetest and +mildest in the world, cheerful and always accompanied by a smile. And +although it is true that they go naked, yet your highnesses may be +assured that they have many very commendable customs; the king is served +with great state, and his behavior is so decent that it is pleasant to +see him, as it is likewise the wonderful memory which these people have, +and their desire of knowing everything which leads them to inquire into +its causes and effects."</p> + +<p>Strange and far from pleasant reading this in the light of future +events. By so-called savages the invading Spaniards were treated with +the utmost kindness and courtesy, while many generations later the +descendants of these same Spaniards, on this same island, visited +nothing but cruelty and oppression upon those unfortunates who after all +were of their own flesh and blood.</p> + +<p>As has been said, the first settlement of the Spaniards was made on the +island of Hayti. But the dreams of enormous revenue were not realized, +in spite of the fact<a name="page_012" id="page_012"></a> that the natives were men, women and children +reduced to slavery, and all the work that was possible, without regard +to any of the dictates of humanity, was exacted from them. In spite of +the fact, did we say? No, rather because of it. For, owing to the +hardships inflicted upon them, the native population, which originally +was considerably over a million, was reduced to some fifty thousand, and +it was therefore impossible to extract from the earth the riches it +contained. Thus, does unbridled greed ever overleap itself.</p> + +<p>After its discovery, Cuba was twice visited by Columbus, in April, 1494, +and again in 1502, but these visits do not seem to have been productive +of any particular results.</p> + +<p>It was not until 1511 that the Spaniards thought it worth while to +colonize Cuba, and only then because they believed that they had +exhausted the resources of Hayti, in other words, that that particular +orange had been sucked dry.</p> + +<p>Therefore they sent a band of three hundred men under Diego Velasquez, +who had accompanied Columbus on his second voyage, to make a settlement +on the island.</p> + +<p>Velasquez and his companions found the natives peaceful and happy, ruled +over by nine independent chiefs. They met with but little resistance, +and that little was easily overcome. Soon the weak and guileless Indians +were completely subjugated.</p> + +<p>There was one instance which it is well worth while to relate here as +showing the Spanish character, which<a name="page_013" id="page_013"></a> centuries have not changed, and +which is as cruel and bloodthirsty to-day as it was then.</p> + +<p>There was one native chief, a refugee from Hayti, named Hatuey, who had +had previous dealings with the Spaniards, and knew what was to be +expected from them. He had strongly opposed their invasion, was +captured, and sentenced to be burned alive at the stake. As the flames +curled about him, a Franciscan monk held up a crucifix before him, +urging him to abjure the impotent gods of his ancestors and embrace +Christianity.</p> + +<p>Hatuey, knowing well that his conversion would not save him from a +horrible death, and remembering all the atrocities he had seen +committed, asked where Heaven was and if there were many Spaniards +there.</p> + +<p>"A great many of then," answered the monk.</p> + +<p>"Then," cried Hatuey, "I will not go to a place where I may meet one of +that accursed race. I prefer to go elsewhere."</p> + +<p>Hatuey's death ended all rebellion, if struggling for one's rights can +be rebellion, and the iron hand of tyranny, whose grasp has never since +been relaxed, closed firmly upon the beautiful island.</p> + +<p>Three hundred of the natives were given as slaves to each Spaniard, but, +as in Hayti, it was found that they were not strong enough for the +enormous tasks their masters would have imposed upon them. So negro +slaves were imported from the mother country, and their descendants +remained in the bonds of serfdom for centuries.<a name="page_014" id="page_014"></a></p> + +<p>The first permanent settlement was made at Santiago de Cuba, on the +Southeastern coast, the scene of Admiral Sampson's recent brilliant +achievements, and this was for a long time the capital of the colony. +Then came Trinidad, and in 1515 a town was started called San Cristoval +de la Habana, which name was transferred four years later to the present +capital, the first named place being rechristened Batabana.</p> + +<p>The natives were treated with the utmost cruelty, so cruelly, in fact, +that they were practically exterminated. Only a comparatively few years +after the settlement of the island there were scarcely any of them left. +The result of this short sighted policy on the part of Spain was that +agriculture declined to an enormous extent, and Cuba became virtually a +pastoral country.</p> + +<p>In 1537, the king appointed as captain-general Hernando de Soto, the +picturesque adventurer, who was afterwards famous as the discoverer of +the Mississippi and for his romantic search for the fountain of eternal +youth.</p> + +<p>All powers, both civil and military, were vested in the captain-general, +the title bestowed upon the governors, although many of them were +civilians.</p> + +<p>Shortly after this appointment, Havana was reduced to ashes by a French +privateer, and De Soto built for the city's protection the Castillo de +la Fuerza, a fortress which still exists. But this precaution proved +ineffectual, as in 1554, the city which had gained considerably in +importance, as it had now become the capital, was again attacked and +partially destroyed by the French.<a name="page_015" id="page_015"></a> Two other fortresses were then +constructed, the Punta and the Morro.</p> + +<p>The discovery of Mexico and other countries drew away from the island +the majority of its working population, and the government passed a law +imposing the penalty of death upon all who left it.</p> + +<p>Spain also imposed the heaviest trade restrictions upon Cuba. It was +exploited in every direction for the benefit of the mother country and +to the exclusion of every one else. All foreigners, and even Spaniards +not natives of Castile, were prohibited from trading with the island or +settling in it.</p> + +<p>The consequence was that the increase of population was slow, the +introduction of negroes, whose labor was most essential for prosperity, +was gradual, and the progress and growth of the island were almost +stopped.</p> + +<p>Moreover, Spain was ruler of the greater part of the Atlantic, and a +most despotic ruler she proved herself to be. Numerous tales are told of +the atrocities committed upon navigators, especially those of England.</p> + +<p>When Cromwell, who caused many liberal ideas to be introduced into +England, tried to induce Spain to abolish the Inquisition and to allow +the free navigation of the Atlantic, the Spanish ambassador replied:</p> + +<p>"For my master to relinquish those prerogatives would be the same as to +put out both his eyes."</p> + +<p>One instance of Spain's cruelty, for which, however, she suffered a +well-merited retribution, may be related here. In 1564, a party of +French Huguenots settled in Florida near the mouth of the river St. +John. A certain<a name="page_016" id="page_016"></a> Menendez, who was sailing under orders to "gibbet and +behead all Protestants in those regions," fell upon the colonists and +massacred all he could find. Some of the settlers, who happened to be +away at the time, shortly afterward fell into the hands of Menendez, who +hanged them all, placing this inscription above their heads: "Not as +Frenchmen, but as heretics." In 1567, however, a French expedition +surprised a body of Spaniards who had undertaken to found St. Augustine, +and in their turn hanged these settlers, "Not as Spaniards, but as +murderers."</p> + +<p>Hampered and oppressed as they were, deprived of a free and convenient +market for the produce of the soil by reason of the monopolies imposed +by the mother country, it is not strange that the Cubans had recourse to +smuggling, and this was especially the case after the British conquest +of Jamaica in 1655. So universal did the practice become, that when +Captain-General Valdez arrived, he found that nearly all the Havanese +were guilty of the crime of illicit trading, the punishment of which was +death. At the suggestion of Valdez, a ship was freighted with presents +for the king, and sent to Spain with a petition for pardon, which was +finally granted.</p> + +<p>But the whole of Europe was against Spain in her arrogant assumption of +the suzerainty of the New World. Especially were her pretensions +condemned and resisted by the English, French, Portuguese and Dutch, all +of whom were engaged in colonizing different portions of America. Then +arose a body of men, who were<a name="page_017" id="page_017"></a> productive of most important results. +These were known as buccaneers, and were practically a band of piratical +adventurers of different nationalities, united in their opposition to +Spain.</p> + +<p>Hayti, as has already been intimated, had been almost depopulated by the +oppressive colonial policy of Spain. The island had become the home of +immense herds of wild cattle, and it was the custom of the smugglers to +stop there to provision their ships.</p> + +<p>The natives, which were still left, had learned to be skilled in +preserving the meat by means of fire and smoke, and they called their +kilns "boucans." The smugglers, besides obtaining what they desired for +their own use of this preserved meat, established an extensive illicit +trade in it. Hence, they obtained the name of buccaneers.</p> + +<p>Spanish monopolies were the pest of every port in the New World, and +mariners of the western waters were filled with a detestation, quite +natural, of everything Spanish.</p> + +<p>Gradually, the ranks of the buccaneers were recruited. They were given +assistance and encouragement, direct and indirect, by other nations, +even in some cases being furnished with letters-of-marque and reprisal +as privateers.</p> + +<p>The commerce of Spain had been gradually dwindling since the defeat of +the so-called Invincible Armada, and the buccaneers commenced now to +seize the returning treasure ships and to plunder the seaboard cities of +Cuba and other Spanish possessions.<a name="page_018" id="page_018"></a></p> + +<p>Even Havana itself was not spared by them.</p> + +<p>The buccaneers, indefensible though many of their actions were, had a +great influence upon the power and colonial tactics of Spain.</p> + +<p>Beyond this, they opened the eyes of the world to the rottenness of the +whole system of Spanish government and commerce in America, and +undoubtedly did much to build up the West Indian possessions of England, +France and Holland.</p> + +<p>It is curious to note here the career of one of their most famous +leaders, an Englishman named Morgan. He was barbarous in the extreme and +returned from many expeditions laden with spoil. But, finally, he went +to Jamaica, turned respectable and was made deputy-governor of the +island. He died, by favor of Charles II., the "gallant" Sir Henry +Morgan.</p> + +<p>But in 1697, the European powers generally condemned the buccaneers.</p> + +<p>In spite of the lessons they had received, and the universal protest of +other nations, the Spaniards, obstinate then as ever, refused to change +their policy. They persisted in closing the magnificent harbors of Cuba +to the commerce of the rest of the world, and that, too, when Spain +could not begin to use the products of the island. Still she could not +and would not allow one bit of gold to slip from between her fingers. +She has always held on with eager greed to all that she could lay her +hands on. It is certainly food for the unrestrained laughter of gods and +men that she has recently been sneering at the United States as a nation +of traders and money grubbers.<a name="page_019" id="page_019"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h3> + +<h4>THE BRITISH OCCUPATION—SPAIN'S GRATITUDE.</h4> + +<p>In the early years of the eighteenth century, Cuba was more or less at +peace, that is so far as Spain, a degenerate mother of a far more +honorable daughter, would allow her to be at peace, and she increased in +population, and, to a certain extent, in material prosperity.</p> + +<p>But in 1717, a revolt broke out, a revolt which was thoroughly +justified.</p> + +<p>Spain felt that the agricultural wealth of the island was increasing, +and she desired for herself practically the whole of the advantages +which accrued from it.</p> + +<p>Therefore, she demanded a royal monopoly of the tobacco trade. This +demand was strenuously and bitterly opposed by the Cubans.</p> + +<p>The Captain-General, Raja, was obliged to flee, but finally the trouble +was ended, and Spain, by might far rather than by right, had her way. +The monopoly was established.</p> + +<p>But the oppressive government led to another uprising in 1723, which +again was quickly quelled. Twelve of the leaders were hanged by Guazo, +who was at that time the captain-general.</p> + +<p>Twice, therefore, did the one who was in the wrong conquer, simply from +the possession of superior force.</p> + +<p>It is said that the mills of God grind slowly, but<a name="page_020" id="page_020"></a> they grind exceeding +small. And in the light of recent events, this seems to be, and in fact, +so far as human intelligence can determine, it is true.</p> + +<p>Richard Le Galliene, to-day, toward the end of the nineteenth century, +speaks in clarion tones, as follows:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">"Spain is an ancient dragon,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> That too long hath curled</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Its coils of blood and darkness</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> About the new-born world.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Think of the Inquisition</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> Think of the Netherlands!</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Yea! think of all Spain's bloody deeds</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> In many times and lands.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">And let no feeble pity</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> Your sacred arms restrain;</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">This is God's mighty moment</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> To make an end of Spain."</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>About this time, that is, from 1724 to 1747, Cuba, chiefly, if not +almost entirely, at Havana, became a ship building centre, of course, +once more, at least for a time, to the advantage of Spain. In all, there +were constructed some one hundred and twenty-five vessels, carrying +amongst them four thousand guns. These ships comprised six ships of the +line, twenty-one of seventy to eighty guns each, twenty-six of fifty to +sixty guns, fourteen frigates of thirty to forty guns and fifty-eight +smaller vessels.</p> + +<p>But then Spain became jealous—imagine a parent jealous of the success +of its child!—and the ship-building industry was peremptorily stopped. +During the present century, in Cuba only the machinery of one steamer, +the Saqua, has been constructed, and two<a name="page_021" id="page_021"></a> ships, one a war steamer and +one a merchant steamer, have been built at Havana.</p> + +<p>What a commentary on the dominating and destructive +policy—self-destructive policy, too—of Spain!</p> + +<p>In 1739, there arose in England a popular excitement for a war against +Spain. One of the chief incidents which led to this was an episode which +caused Thomas Carlyle to call the strife that followed "The War of +Jenkins' Ear."</p> + +<p>The English had persisted in maintaining a trade with Cuba in spite of +Spain's prohibition.</p> + +<p>A certain Captain Jenkins, who was in command of an English merchantman, +was captured by a Spanish cruiser. His ship was subjected to search, and +he himself, according to his own declaration, put to the torture. The +Spaniards, however, could find little or nothing of which to convict +him, and, irritated at this they committed a most foolish act, a deed of +childish vengeance. They cut off one of his ears and told him to take it +back to England and show it to the king.</p> + +<p>Jenkins preserved his mutilated ear in a bottle of spirits, and, in due +course of time, appeared himself before the House of Commons and +exhibited it to that body.</p> + +<p>The excitement ensuing upon the proof of this outrage to a British +subject beggars description.</p> + +<p>Walpole was at that time prime minister, and, although essentially a man +of peace, he found it impossible to stem the tide, and public sentiment +compelled him to declare war against Spain.<a name="page_022" id="page_022"></a></p> + +<p>This war, however, was productive of but little result one way or the +other.</p> + +<p>But before long another struggle ensued, which was far more reaching in +its consequences.</p> + +<p>In 1756, what is known in history as the Seven Years War, broke out. +This seems to have been a mere struggle for territory, and, besides a +duel between France and England, involved Austria, with its allies, +France, Russia and the German princes against the new kingdom of +Prussia.</p> + +<p>This naturally led to an alliance between England and Prussia.</p> + +<p>Towards the end of the war, early in 1762, hostilities were declared +against Spain.</p> + +<p>An English fleet and army, under Lord Albemarle, were sent to Cuba. The +former consisted of more than two hundred vessels of all classes, and +the latter of fourteen thousand and forty-one men.</p> + +<p>The opposing Spanish force numbered twenty-seven thousand six hundred +and ten men.</p> + +<p>With the English, were a large number of Americans, some of whom figured +later more or less prominently in the war of the Revolution. Israel +Putnam, the hero of the breakneck ride at Horseneck, and General Lyman, +under whom Putnam eventually served, were among these, as was also +Lawrence Washington, a brother of "The Father of His Country."</p> + +<p>By the way, the American loss in Cuba during this campaign was heavy. +Very few, either officers or men, ever returned home. Most of those who +were spared by<a name="page_023" id="page_023"></a> the Spanish bullets succumbed to the rigors of the +tropical climate, to which they were unaccustomed and ill-prepared for.</p> + +<p>May this experience of our forefathers in the last century not be +repeated in the persons of our brothers of the present!</p> + +<p>The defense of Havana was excessively obstinate, and the Cuban +volunteers covered themselves with glory.</p> + +<p>But, in spite of the superior force of the Spanish, the English were +finally successful.</p> + +<p>Taking all things into consideration, it was a wonderful feat of arms, +one of which only the Anglo-Saxon race is capable.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, it was only after a prolonged struggle that the victory +was complete.</p> + +<p>At last, on the 30th of July, Morro Castle surrendered, and about two +weeks afterward, the city of Havana capitulated.</p> + +<p>The spoil divided among the captors amounted to about four million seven +hundred thousand dollars.</p> + +<p>The English remained in possession of Cuba for something like six +mouths, and during that time instituted many important and far-reaching +reforms, so much so in fact that when the Spaniards regained possession, +they found it very difficult to re-establish their former restrictive +and tyrannous system.</p> + +<p>For instance, the sanitary condition of Havana, which was atrocious even +in those comparatively primitive days of hygiene, was vastly improved. +All over the island, roads were opened. During the time of the English<a name="page_024" id="page_024"></a> +occupation, over nine hundred loaded vessels entered the port of Havana, +more than in all the previous entries since the discovery.</p> + +<p>The commerce of the island improved to a remarkable extent, and for the +first time the sugar industry began to be productive.</p> + +<p>If the British had remained in possession of Cuba, it is probable that +that unhappy island would have been spared much of its misery and would +have been as contented, prosperous and loyal as Canada is to-day.</p> + +<p>It really seemed as if an era of prosperity had begun, when by the +treaty of Paris, in February, 1763, most of the conquests made during +the Seven Years' War were restored to their original owners, and among +them unfortunately in the light of both past and future events, Cuba to +the misrule of the Spaniards.</p> + +<p>England, however, was eminently the gainer by this treaty, as she +received from France all the territory formerly claimed by the latter +east of the Mississippi, together with Prince Edward's Island, Cape +Breton, St. Vincent, Dominica, Minorca and Tobago. In return for Cuba, +Spain ceded to England Florida, while the Spanish government received +Louisiana from France. On the other hand, Martinique, Guadeloupe, +Pondicherry and Goree were returned to France.</p> + +<p>It was impossible for the Spanish to undo in a day all the good that the +English rule, short though it was, had accomplished.</p> + +<p>Moreover, it was more than fortunate for Cuba that there followed not +long after two governors of more<a name="page_025" id="page_025"></a> than ordinary ability and humanity, +both of whom had her interests at heart, and they caused a period of +unwonted prosperity, most grateful to the Cubans, to follow.</p> + +<p>The first of these governors, or to give them their rightful title, +captain-generals, was Luis de Las Casas, who was appointed in 1790.</p> + +<p>Now, for the first time in her history, Cuba really made rapid progress +in commercial prosperity as well as in public improvements. Las Casas +developed all branches of industry, allowed the establishment of +newspapers, and gave his aid to the patriotic societies.</p> + +<p>He also introduced the culture of indigo, removed as far as his powers +permitted the old trammels, which an iniquitous system had placed upon +trade, and made noble efforts to bring about the emancipation of the +enslaved Indian natives.</p> + +<p>His attitude toward the newly established republic of the United States +was most generous, and this helped largely to develop the industry of +the island.</p> + +<p>By his judicious administration, the tranquillity of Cuba remained +undisturbed during the time of the rebellion in Hayti, and this in face +of the fact that strenuous efforts were made by the French, to form a +conspiracy and bring about an uprising among the free people of color in +Cuba.</p> + +<p>Another thing that will redound forever to the credit of Las Casas and +which should make his memory beloved by all Americans—it was through +his efforts that the body of Columbus was removed from Hayti where it +had<a name="page_026" id="page_026"></a> been entombed and deposited in its present resting-place in the +Cathedral of Havana.</p> + +<p>In 1796, Las Casas was succeeded by another just and philanthropic +governor, the Count of Santa Clara. The latter greatly improved the +fortifications which then guarded the island and constructed a large +number of others, among them the Bateria de Santa Clara, just outside +Havana, and named in his honor.</p> + +<p>It was undoubtedly due in a very great measure to the kindly policies of +these two noble and far seeing men that Cuba at that time became +confirmed in her allegiance to the mother country; and had they been +followed by men of equal calibre of both mind and heart, it is more than +probable that the history of Cuba would have been devoid of stirring +events. For, as the old saying has it: "Happy nations have no history."</p> + +<p>In 1795 a number of French emigrants arrived from San Domingo, and +proved a valuable acquisition.</p> + +<p>In 1802, a disastrous fire occurred in a suburb of Havana, called Jesu +Maria, and over eleven thousand four hundred people were rendered +destitute and homeless.</p> + +<p>About this time, the star of Napoleon Bonaparte, the greatest of heroes +or the greatest of adventurers, according to the point of view, was in +the ascendant. Almost without exception there was not a country in +Europe that had not felt the weight of his heavy hand, and, to all +intents and purposes, he was the master of the continent.</p> + +<p>Spain was by no means to escape his greed for conquest and power.<a name="page_027" id="page_027"></a></p> + +<p>Her country was overrun and ravaged by his victorious armies. Her +reigning family was driven away. Napoleon deposed the descendant of a +long line of Bourbons, Ferdinand VII., and placed his own brother, +Joseph Bonaparte, upon the throne.</p> + +<p>Then the attitude and the action of Cuba were superb. Her loyalty was +unwavering. Every member of the provincial council declared his fidelity +to the old dynasty, and took an oath to defend and preserve the island +for its legitimate sovereign.</p> + +<p>More than this—the Cubans followed this declaration up by deeds, which +ever speak louder than mere words. They made numerous voluntary +subscriptions, they published vehement pamphlets, and they sent their +sons to fight and shed their blood for the agonized mother country.</p> + +<p>For this, Cuba received the title of "The Ever Faithful Isle," by which +it has been known ever since.</p> + +<p>A very pretty compliment truly! But let us see in what other and more +substantial ways was Cuba's magnificent fidelity rewarded.</p> + +<p>The answer is as brief as it is true. In no way whatever.</p> + +<p>Many promises were made at the time by the Provisional Government at +Seville, chief among them being that all Spanish subjects everywhere +should have equal rights. But not one of these promises was ever kept.</p> + +<p>On the contrary, it was not long before the oppression became greater +than ever. There were deprivation of<a name="page_028" id="page_028"></a> political, civil and religious +liberty, an exclusion of the islanders from all public offices, and a +heavy and iniquitous taxation to maintain the standing army and navy.</p> + +<p>Clothed as they were with the powers of an Oriental despot, most of the +captain-generals from Spain covered themselves with infamy, the office +as a rule having been sought (and this was distinctly realized by the +Spanish government) only as an end and means to acquire a personal +fortune.</p> + +<p>To realize the practically absolute authority given to the +captain-generals, it is only necessary to read the royal decree +promulgated after Joseph Bonaparte had been deposed and the Bourbon +king, Ferdinand, restored to the throne.</p> + +<p>A portion of this amazing document is as follows:</p> + +<p>"His majesty, the king our Lord, desiring to obviate the inconveniences +that might, in extraordinary cases, result from a division of command, +and from the interferences and prerogatives of the respective officers: +for the important end of preserving in that precious island his +legitimate sovereign authority and the public tranquility, through +proper means, has resolved, in accordance with the opinion of his +council of ministers, to give to your excellency the fullest authority, +bestowing upon you all the powers which by the royal ordinances are +granted to the governors of besieged cities. In consequence of this his +majesty gives to your excellency the most ample and unbounded power, not +only to send away from the island any persons in office, whatever<a name="page_029" id="page_029"></a> their +occupation, rank, class or condition, whose continuance therein your +excellency may deem injurious, or whose conduct, public or private, may +alarm you, replacing them with persons faithful to his majesty, and +deserving of all the confidence of your excellency; but also to suspend +the execution of any order whatsoever, or any general provision made +concerning any branch of the administration as your excellency may think +most suitable to the royal service."</p> + +<p>For over one hundred and seventy years these orders have received little +or no change, and they still remain practically the supreme law of Cuba.</p> + +<p>This was the way that magnanimous, grateful, chivalrous Spain began to +reward "The Ever Faithful Isle" for its unparalleled loyalty and +devotion.</p> + +<p>And Heaven save the mark! this was only the beginning.</p> + +<p>"That precious island," says the royal decree. Precious! There was never +a truer word spoken. For Spain has always loved Cuba with a fanatical, +gloating passion, as the fox loves the goose, as Midas loved gold, and +as in the case of Midas, this love has eventually led to her +destruction.<a name="page_030" id="page_030"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h3> + +<h4>CUBA'S EARLY STRUGGLES FOR LIBERTY.</h4> + +<p>It was in 1813 that the Bonapartist regime came to an end in Spain, and +Ferdinand VII. reascended the throne. In the very beginning he paid no +attention to the Constitution; he dissolved the Cortes and did his best +to make his monarchy an absolute one.</p> + +<p>Again, as has been said, Cuba felt the yoke of his despotism, all +previous promises, when the aid of the island was to his advantage, +being as completely ignored as if they had never been made.</p> + +<p>In Spanish America, revolutionary movements had been begun some three +years before, and after stubborn warfare, Buenos Ayres, Venezuela and +Peru finally succeeded in obtaining complete independence from Spanish +authority.</p> + +<p>From all these countries, swarms of Spanish loyalists made their way to +Cuba, and were ordered to be maintained at the expense of the island.</p> + +<p>Spain also desired to make of Cuba a military station, whence she could +direct operations in her efforts to reconquer the new republic. This +plan was vehemently opposed by the Cubans.</p> + +<p>Discontent rapidly fomented and increased throughout the island. +Numerous secret political societies were formed, and there arose two +great opposing factions, the<a name="page_031" id="page_031"></a> one insisting that the liberal +constitution granted by the Provisional Government of Seville at the +time the Bourbon king was deposed should be the fundamental law of Cuba, +while the other proclaimed its partisanship of rigid colonial control.</p> + +<p>In 1821, Hayti declared its independence of Spain, and in the same year +Florida passed into the possession of the United States.</p> + +<p>Both these events increased the feeling of unrest and discontent in +Cuba, and this was further augmented by the establishment of a permanent +military commission, which took cognizance of even ordinary offenses, +but particularly of all offenses against disloyalty.</p> + +<p>An attempt at revolution, the purpose being the establishment of a +republic, was made in 1823 by the "Soles de Bolivar" association. It was +arranged that uprisings should take place simultaneously in several of +the Cuban cities, but the plans became known to the government and the +intended revolution was nipped in the bud, all the leaders being +arrested and imprisoned the very day on which it had been arranged to +declare independence.</p> + +<p>In 1826 Cuban refugees in Mexico and in some of the South American +republics planned an invasion of Cuba to be led by Simon Bolivar, the +great liberator of Colombia, but it came to nothing, owing to the +impossibility of securing adequate support both of men and money.</p> + +<p>A year or two later these same men attempted another uprising in the +interests of greater privileges and freedom.<a name="page_032" id="page_032"></a> A secret society, known as +the "Black Eagle" was organized, with headquarters at Mexico, but with a +branch office and recruiting stations in the United States.</p> + +<p>This invasion, however, also proved abortive, owing chiefly to the +determined opposition displayed by the slave-holders both in the United +States and Cuba. The ringleaders were captured and severely punished by +the Spanish authorities.</p> + +<p>The struggles for freedom had attracted the attention of the people of +the United States and were viewed by them with ever-increasing interest +and sympathy.</p> + +<p>After the acquisition of Florida, the future of the island of Cuba +became of more or less importance to the people of the United States and +has remained so to the present day. As President Cleveland said in his +message of December, 1896: "It is so near to us as to be hardly +separated from our own territory." The truth of this is apparent when it +is remembered that the straits of Florida can be crossed by steamer in +five hours.</p> + +<p>It began to be feared that Cuba might fall into the hands of England or +France and the governments of those countries as well as that of Spain +were informed that such a disposition of it would never be consented to. +Its position at the entrance of the gulf of Mexico could not be +disregarded. The American government declared its willingness that it +should remain a Spanish colony, but stated it would never permit it to +become the colony of another country.</p> + +<p>In 1825 Spain made a proposition that, in consideration<a name="page_033" id="page_033"></a> of certain +commercial concessions the United States should guarantee to her the +possession of Cuba; but this proposition was declined on the ground that +such a thing would be contrary to the established policy of the United +States.</p> + +<p>One of the most important consequences of Spain's efforts to regain +possession of the South American republics, the independence of which +had been recognized by the United States, was the formulation of what +has since been known as the "Monroe Doctrine." In his message of +December 2, 1823, President Monroe promulgated the policy of neither +entangling ourselves in the broils of Europe, nor suffering the powers +of the old world to interfere with the affairs of the new. He further +declared that any attempt on the part of the European powers "to extend +their system to any portion of this hemisphere" would be regarded by the +United States as "dangerous to our peace and safety," and would +accordingly be opposed.</p> + +<p>Although since then there has been more or less friction with England +over the Monroe doctrine, at that time she greatly aided in its becoming +established as a feature of international law, and strengthened the +position of the United States, by her recognition of the South American +republics.</p> + +<p>The Spanish slave code, by which the slave trade, which had formerly +been a monopoly, was made free, had given a great stimulus to the +importation of slaves. It was almost brought to an end, however, by the +energetic efforts of Captain-General Valdez. But the increased<a name="page_034" id="page_034"></a> +consumption of sugar in Great Britain, owing to reduction of duty and +the placing of foreign and British sugars on the same basis gave a new +stimulus to the traffic; and, in their own pecuniary interest, ever more +prominent with them than any question of humanity, the Spanish relaxed +their efforts, and the slave trade attained greater dimensions than ever +before.</p> + +<p>In 1844 there occurred an uprising which was more serious than any which +had preceded it. The slaves on the sugar plantations in the neighborhood +of Matanzas were suspected of being about to revolt. There was no real +proof of this, and in order to obtain evidence a large number of slaves +were tortured. It was evident that Spain was still ready, if in her +opinion occasion required it, to have recourse to the barbarities of the +old Inquisitorial days. By evidence manufactured by such outrageous +methods, one thousand three hundred and forty-six persons were tried and +convicted, of whom seventy-eight were shot, and the others punished with +more or less severity. Of those declared guilty, fourteen were white, +one thousand two hundred and forty-two free colored persons, and +fifty-nine slaves.</p> + +<p>The project of annexation to the United States was first mooted in 1848, +after the proclamation of the French republic. The people of the slave +States, in view of the increasing population and the anti-slavery +feeling of the North and West were beginning to feel alarmed as to the +safety of the "peculiar institution," and there was a strong sentiment +among them in favor of annexing Cuba and dividing it up into slave +states. President<a name="page_035" id="page_035"></a> Polk, therefore, authorized the American minister at +Madrid to offer one hundred million dollars for Cuba; but the +proposition was rejected in the most peremptory manner. A similar +proposal was made ten years afterward in the Senate, but after a debate +it was withdrawn.</p> + +<p>The next conspiracy, rebellion or revolution (it has been called by all +these names according to the point of view and the sympathies of those +speaking or writing of it) broke out in 1848. It was headed by Narciso +Lopez, who was a native of Venezuela, but who had served in the Spanish +army, and had attained therein the rank of major-general.</p> + +<p>This was of considerable more importance than any of the outbreaks that +had preceded it.</p> + +<p>The first attempt of Lopez at an insurrectionary movement was made in +the centre of the island. It proved to be unsuccessful, but Lopez, with +many of his adherents, managed to escape and reached New York, where +there were a large number of his sympathizers.</p> + +<p>Lopez represented the majority of the Cuban population as dissatisfied +with Spanish rule, and eager for revolt and annexation to the United +States.</p> + +<p>In 1849, with a party small in numbers, he attempted to return to Cuba, +but the United States authorities prevented him accomplishing his +purpose.</p> + +<p>He was undaunted by failure, however, and the following year, he +succeeded in effecting another organization and sailed from New Orleans +on the steamer Pampero, with a force which has been variously estimated<a name="page_036" id="page_036"></a> +at from three to six hundred men, the latter probably being nearer the +truth.</p> + +<p>The second in command was W. S. Crittenden, a gallant young Kentuckian, +who was a graduate of West Point, and who had earned his title of +colonel in the Mexican war.</p> + +<p>They landed at Morillo in the Vuelta Abajo. Here the forces were +divided; one hundred and thirty under Crittenden remained to guard the +supplies, while Lopez with the rest pushed on into the interior.</p> + +<p>There had been no disguise in the United States as to the object of this +expedition. Details in regard to it had been freely and recklessly +published, and there is a lesson to be learned even from this +comparatively trivial attempt to obtain freedom as to a proper +censorship of the press in time of warfare.</p> + +<p>The Spanish government was fully informed beforehand as to all the +little army's probable movements. The consequence was that Lopez was +surrounded and his whole force captured by the Spanish.</p> + +<p>The expected uprising of the Cuban people, by the way, had not taken +place.</p> + +<p>Hearing no news of his superior officer, Crittenden at first made a +desperate attempt to escape by sea, but, being frustrated in this, he +took refuge in the woods.</p> + +<p>At last he and his little force, now reduced to fifty men, were forced +to capitulate.</p> + +<p>The United States Consul was asked to interfere in the case of +Crittenden, but refused to do so. It was said at the time that there +were two reasons for this: First,<a name="page_037" id="page_037"></a> there was no doubt whatever as to the +nature of the expedition, and secondly, the consul, who does not appear +to have been particularly brave, was alarmed for his personal safety.</p> + +<p>The trial, if trial it can be called, and condemnation followed with the +utmost, almost criminal, celerity.</p> + +<p>In batches of six, Crittenden and his fifty brave surviving comrades +were shot beneath the walls of the fortress of Alara.</p> + +<p>When the Spaniards ordered Crittenden, as was the custom, to kneel with +his back to the firing party, the heroic young Kentuckian responded:</p> + +<p>"No! I will stand facing them! I kneel only to my God!"</p> + +<p>It is stated that the bodies of the victims were mutilated in a horrible +manner.</p> + +<p>There was no inconsiderable number of Cubans who sympathized with Lopez, +but, held as they were under a stern leash, they did not dare to +intercede for him.</p> + +<p>He was garroted at Havana, being refused the honorable death of a +soldier. Some others of his comrades were shot, but most of them were +transported for life.</p> + +<p>The sad fate of Crittenden aroused the greatest indignation and +bitterness in the United States, but the tenets of international law +forbade anything to be done in the case.</p> + +<p>During the administration of President Pierce, there occurred an +incident which threatened at one time to lead to hostilities, and which +was one of the first of<a name="page_038" id="page_038"></a> the many incidents that have embittered the +United States against Spain as regards its administration of Cuba.</p> + +<p>This was the firing on the American steamer, Black Warrior, by a Spanish +man-of-war.</p> + +<p>The Black Warrior was a steamer owned in New York, and plying regularly +between that city and Mobile. It was her custom both on her outward and +homeward bound trips to touch always at Havana. The custom laws were +then very stringent, and she ought each time to have exhibited a +manifest of her cargo. But still this was totally unnecessary, as no +portion of her cargo was ever put off at Havana.</p> + +<p>She was therefore entered and cleared under the technical term of "in +ballast." This was done nearly thirty times with full knowledge and +consent of the Spanish revenue officers; and, moreover the proceeding +was in accordance with a general order of the Cuban authorities.</p> + +<p>But in February, 1850, the steamer was stopped and fired upon in the +harbor of Havana. The charge brought against her was that she had an +undeclared cargo on board. This cargo was confiscated, and a fine of +twice its value imposed. The commander of the vessel, Captain Bullock, +refused to pay the fine, and declared that the whole proceeding was +"violent, wrongful and in bad faith."</p> + +<p>But, obtaining no redress, he hauled down his colors, and, carrying them +away with him, left the vessel as a Spanish capture. With his crew and +passengers, he<a name="page_039" id="page_039"></a> made his way to New York, and reported the facts to the +owners.</p> + +<p>The latter preferred a claim for indemnity of three hundred thousand +dollars. After a tedious delay of five years, this sum was paid, and so +the matter ended.</p> + +<p>The affair of the Black Warrior was one of the cases that led to the +celebrated Ostend Conference.</p> + +<p>This conference was held in 1854 at Ostend and Aix-la-Chapelle by +Messrs. Buchanan, Mason and Soule, United States ministers at London, +Paris and Madrid, and resulted in what is known as the Ostend manifesto.</p> + +<p>The principal points of this manifesto were as follows:</p> + +<p>"The United States ought if possible to purchase Cuba with as little +delay as possible.</p> + +<p>"The probability is great that the government and Cortes of Spain will +prove willing to sell it because this would essentially promote the +highest and best interests of the Spanish people.</p> + +<p>"The Union can never enjoy repose nor possess reliable securities as +long as Cuba is not embraced within its boundaries.</p> + +<p>"The intercourse which its proximity to our coast begets and encourages +between them (the inhabitants of Cuba) and the citizens of the United +States has, in the progress of time, so united their interests and +blended their fortunes that they now look upon each other as if they +were one people and had but one destiny.</p> + +<p>"The system of immigration and labor lately organized within the limits +of the island, and the tyranny and<a name="page_040" id="page_040"></a> oppression which characterize its +immediate rulers, threaten an insurrection at every moment which may +result in direful consequences to the American people.</p> + +<p>"Cuba has thus become to us an unceasing danger, and a permanent cause +for anxiety and alarm.</p> + +<p>"Should Spain reject the present golden opportunity for developing her +resources and removing her financial embarrassments, it may never come +again.</p> + +<p>"Extreme oppression, it is now universally admitted, justifies any +people in endeavoring to free themselves from the yoke of their +oppressors. The sufferings which the corrupt, arbitrary and unrelenting +local administration necessarily entails upon the inhabitants of Cuba +cannot fail to stimulate and keep alive that spirit of resistance and +revolution against Spain which has of late years been so often +manifested. In this condition of affairs it is vain to expect that the +sympathies of the people of the United States will not be warmly +enlisted in favor of their oppressed neighbors.</p> + +<p>"The United States has never acquired a foot of territory except by fair +purchase, or, as in the case of Texas, upon the free and voluntary +application of the people of that independent State, who desired to +blend their destinies with our own.</p> + +<p>"It is certain that, should the Cubans themselves organize an +insurrection against the Spanish government, no human power could, in +our opinion, prevent the people and government of the United States from +taking part in such a civil war in support of their neighbors and +friends."<a name="page_041" id="page_041"></a></p> + +<p>We have quoted thus largely from the Ostend manifesto, because it seems +to us, with one exception, to be so pertinent to the present status of +affairs.</p> + +<p>The one exception is: We no longer desire the annexation of Cuba. The +present war is a holy war. It has been entered into wholly and entirely +from motives of philanthropy, to give to a suffering and downtrodden +people the blessings of freedom which we ourselves enjoy.</p> + +<p>Moreover, the manifesto clearly shows that the causes of Cuban uprising +are of no recent date; and that, before the United States rose in its +wrath, it was patient and long-suffering.</p> + +<p>Although the Senate debated the questions raised by the manifesto for a +long time, nothing resulted from the deliberations.</p> + +<p>Questions of extraordinary moment were arising in our own country, from +which terrible results were to ensue, and for the time being, indeed for +years to come, everything else sank into insignificance.</p> + +<p>Meantime, the question of independence was still being agitated in Cuba.</p> + +<p>General Jose de la Concha, in anticipation of a rising of the Creole +population threatened to turn the island into an African dependency. He +formed and drilled black troops, armed the native born Spaniards and +disarmed the Cubans. Everything was got in readiness for a desperate +defense. The Cuban junta in New York had enlisted a large body of men +and had made ready for an invasion. Under the circumstances, however,<a name="page_042" id="page_042"></a> +the attempt was postponed. Pinto and Estrames, Cubans taken with arms in +their hands, were executed, while a hundred others were either condemned +to the galleys or deported. General de la Concha's foresight and +vigilance unquestionably prevented a revolution, and for his services he +was created Marquis of Havana.</p> + +<p>Then ensued a period of comparative quiet, but the party of independence +was only awaiting an opportunity to strike.</p> + +<p>Long before this, Spain had entered upon the downward path. "A whale +stranded upon the coast of Europe," some one designated her. She had +been accumulating a debt against her, a debt which can never be repaid.</p> + +<p>And she has no one to blame for her wretched feeble, exhausted condition +but herself—her own obstinacy, selfishness and perversity.</p> + +<p>Truly, Spain has changed but little, and that only in certain outward +aspects, since the time of Torquemada and the Inquisition. She is the +one nation of Europe that civilization does not seem to have reached.</p> + +<p>The magnificent legacy left her by her famous son, Christopher Columbus, +has been gradually dissipated; the last beautiful jewel in the crown of +her colonial possessions, the "Pearl of the Antilles" is about to be +wrested from her.</p> + +<p>Her case is indeed a pitiable one, and yet sympathy is arrested when we +remember that her reward to Columbus for his magnificent achievements +was to cover his reputation with obloquy and load his person with +chains.<a name="page_043" id="page_043"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h3> + +<h4>THE TEN YEARS' WAR.</h4> + +<p>For about fourteen years after 1854, the outbreaks in Cuba were +infrequent, and of little or no moment. To all intents and purposes, the +island was in a state of tranquility.</p> + +<p>In September, 1868, a revolution broke out in the mother country, the +result of which was that Queen Isabella was deposed from the throne and +forced to flee the country.</p> + +<p>This time Cuba did not proclaim her loyalty to the Bourbon dynasty, as +she had done some sixty years before. She had learned her lesson. She +knew now how Spanish sovereigns rewarded loyalty, and the fall of +Isabella, instead of inspiring the Cubans with sympathy, caused them to +rush into a revolution, an action which, paradoxical as it may seem, was +somewhat precipitate, although long contemplated.</p> + +<p>All Cuba had been eagerly looking forward to the inauguration of +political reforms, or to an attempt to shake of the pressing yoke of +Spain. At first it was thought that the new government would ameliorate +the condition of Cuba, and so change affairs that the island might +remain contentedly connected with a country of which she had so long +formed a part.</p> + +<p>But these hopes were soon dissipated, and the advanced<a name="page_044" id="page_044"></a> party of Cuba at +once matured their plans for the liberation of the island from the +military despotism of Spain.</p> + +<p>A declaration of Cuban independence was issued at Manzanillo in October, +1868, by Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, a lawyer of Bayamo.</p> + +<p>This declaration began as follows:</p> + +<p>"As Spain has many a time promised us Cubans to respect our rights, +without having fulfilled her promises; as she continues to tax us +heavily, and by so doing is likely to destroy our wealth; as we are in +danger of losing our property, our lives and our honor under further +Spanish dominion, therefore, etc., etc."</p> + +<p>Thus was inaugurated what was destined to prove the most protracted and +successful attempt at Cuban freedom, up to that time.</p> + +<p>It is certain that the grievances of the islanders were many, and this +was even recognized to a certain extent in Spain itself.</p> + +<p>In a speech delivered by one of the Cuban deputies to the Cortes in 1866 +occurs this passage:</p> + +<p>"I foresee a catastrophe near at hand, in case Spain persists in +remaining deaf to the just reclamations of the Cubans. Look at the old +colonies of the American continent. All have ended in conquering their +independence. Let Spain not forget the lesson; let the government be +just to the colonies that remain. Thus she will consolidate her dominion +over people who only aspire to be good sons of a worthy mother, but who +are not willing to live as slaves under the sceptre of a tyrant."<a name="page_045" id="page_045"></a></p> + +<p>In 1868 the annual revenue exacted from Cuba by Spain was in the +neighborhood of twenty-six million dollars; and plans were in progress +by which even this great revenue was to be largely increased. Not one +penny of this was applied to Cuba's advantage. On the contrary, it was +expended in a manner which was simply maddening to the Cubans.</p> + +<p>The officials of the island, be it understood, were invariably +Spaniards. The captain-general received a salary of fifty thousand +dollars a year; at this time, this sum was twice as much as that paid to +the President of the United States. The provincial governors obtained +twelve thousand dollars each, while the Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba +and the Bishop of Havana were paid eighteen thousand dollars apiece. In +addition to these large salaries, there were perquisites which probably +amounted to as much again.</p> + +<p>Even the lowest offices were filled by friends of Spanish politicians. +These officials had no sympathy with Cuba, and cared nothing for her +welfare, save in so far as they were enabled to fill their own pockets.</p> + +<p>The stealing in the custom houses was enormous. It has been estimated at +over fifty per cent of the gross receipts. Every possible penny was +forced from the native planters under the guise of taxes and also by the +most flagrant blackmail.</p> + +<p>By a system of differential duties, Spain still managed to retain a +monopoly of the trade to Cuba while the colonists were forced to pay the +highest possible rates for all they received from the mother country.<a name="page_046" id="page_046"></a></p> + +<p>The rates of postage were absurdly outrageous. For instance there was an +extra charge for delivery. When a native Cuban received a prepaid letter +at his own door, he was obliged to pay thirty-seven and a half cents +additional postage.</p> + +<p>The taxes on flour were so high that wheaten bread ceased to be an +article of ordinary diet. The annual consumption of bread in Spain was +four hundred pounds for each person, while in Cuba, it was only +fifty-three pounds, nine ounces. In fact, all the necessaries of life +were burdened with most iniquitous taxation.</p> + +<p>Then again there was the interest on the national debt. While the +Spaniards paid three dollars and twenty-three cents per capita, six +dollars and thirty-nine cents, nearly double, was exacted from the +Cubans.</p> + +<p>All these were the chief causes of the revolution which began in 1868, +and many of them still existed a few years ago and led to the last +revolution. By the way, there is but little chance but that it will +prove the last, bringing as its consequence, what has been struggled for +so long—the freedom of Cuba.</p> + +<p>The standard of revolt in the Ten Years War, as has been stated, was +raised by Carlos Manuel de Cespedes. He was well known as an able lawyer +and a wealthy planter. In the very beginning, he was unfortunately +forced to take action before he had intended to do so, by reason of news +of the projected outbreak reaching the authorities in Havana.</p> + +<p>A letter carrier, who from his actions gave rise to suspicions, was +detained at Cespedes' sugar plantation,<a name="page_047" id="page_047"></a> La Demajagua, and it was found +that he was the bearer of an order for the arrest of the conspirators.</p> + +<p>With this information, immediate action became necessary. Cespedes +deemed it expedient to strike at once, and with only two hundred poorly +equipped men, he commenced the campaign at Yara.</p> + +<p>This place was defended by a Spanish force too strong for the +insurgents. But Cespedes was not long in attracting to himself a most +respectable following.</p> + +<p>At the end of a few weeks he found himself at the head of fifteen +thousand men. The little army, however, was anything but well provided +with arms and ammunition. Among them were many of Cespedes' former +slaves whom the general promptly liberated.</p> + +<p>Attacks were made on Las Tunas, Cauto Embarcardero, Jiguana, La Guisa, +El Datil and Santa Rita, in almost every case victory remaining with the +insurgents.</p> + +<p>On the 15th of October it was decided to attack Bayamo, an important +town of ten thousand inhabitants. On the 18th the town was captured. The +governor, with a small body of men, shut himself up in the fort, but a +few days after was forced to capitulate.</p> + +<p>For the relief of Bayamo, a Spanish force under Colonel Quiros, +numbering, besides cavalry and artillery, about eight hundred infantry, +started out from Santiago de Cuba, but was defeated and driven back to +Santiago with heavy losses.</p> + +<p>The Spanish general, Count Valmaseda, was sent from Havana into the +insurrectionary district, but was attacked<a name="page_048" id="page_048"></a> and forced to return, +leaving his dead on the field.</p> + +<p>Afterwards Valmaseda, who had increased his force to four thousand men, +marched on Bayamo. He received a severe check at Saladillo, but +eventually succeeded in crossing the Cauto. The Cubans saw the +hopelessness of defending the place against such superior numbers, and, +rather than have it fall into the hands of the enemy, burned the city.</p> + +<p>In December, General Quesada, who afterward played a most prominent part +in the war, landed a cargo of arms and took command of the army at +Camarguey.</p> + +<p>Before the close of the year, Spain, realizing how desperate was to be +the struggle, had under arms nearly forty thousand troops which had been +sent from Europe, besides twelve thousand guerillas recruited on the +island and some forty thousand volunteers organized for the defense of +the cities. These latter were in many respects analogous to the National +Guard of the United States. They were raised from Spanish immigrants, +between whom and the native Cubans have always existed a bitter enmity +and jealousy.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1869, the revolutionists drew up a constitution, which +provided for a republican form of government, an elective president and +vice-president, a cabinet and a single legislative chamber. It also made +a declaration in favor of the immediate abolition of slavery. Cespedes +was elected president and Francisco Aquilero vice-president.</p> + +<p>It is said that at the beginning of the war, before being<a name="page_049" id="page_049"></a> driven to +reprisals, the Cubans behaved with all humanity. They took many Spanish +prisoners of war, but paroled them. On the other hand, the Cuban +prisoners were treated with the utmost treachery and cruelty. In all +parts of the island, no Cuban taken a prisoner of war was spared; to a +man they were shot on the spot as so many dogs.</p> + +<p>Valmaseda, the Spanish general, in April, 1869, issued the following +proclamation, which speaks for itself:</p> + +<p>"Inhabitants of the country! The re-enforcements of troops that I have +been waiting for have arrived; with them I shall give protection to the +good, and punish promptly those that still remain in rebellion against +the government of the metropolis.</p> + +<p>"You know that I have pardoned those that have fought us with arms; that +your wives, mothers and sisters have found in me the unexpected +protection that you have refused them. You know, also, that many of +those I have pardoned have turned against us again.</p> + +<p>"Before such ingratitude, such villainy, it is not possible for me to be +the man I have been; there is no longer a place for a falsified +neutrality; he that is not for me is against me, and that my soldiers +may know how to distinguish, you hear, the orders they carry:</p> + +<p>1st. Every man, from the age of fifteen years, upward, found away from +his habitation and not proving a justified motive therefor, will be +shot.</p> + +<p>2d. Every unoccupied habitation will be burned by the troops.</p> + +<p>3d. Every habitation from which does not float a<a name="page_050" id="page_050"></a> white flag, as a +signal that its occupants desire peace, will be reduced to ashes.</p> + +<p>"Women that are not living at their own homes, or at the house of their +relatives, will collect in the town of Jiguana or Bayamo, where +maintenance will be provided. Those who do not present themselves will +be conducted forcibly."</p> + +<p>The second paragraph was flagrantly untrue. Those who had fought against +the Spaniards had not been pardoned. On the contrary, they had been put +to death. Fearful atrocities had been committed in Havana and elsewhere. +To cite only a few instances: The shooting of men, women and children at +the Villanuesa Theatre, at the Louvre, and at the sack of Aldama's +house.</p> + +<p>Valmaseda's proclamation raised a storm of protest from all civilized +nations, and the Spaniards, stiff and unbending, never wavered, but the +policy embodied in Valmaseda's proclamation remained their tactics until +the end of the war.</p> + +<p>The United States was especially roused and disgusted. Secretary Fish, +in a letter to Mr. Hale, then Minister to Spain, protested "against the +infamous proclamation of general, the Count of Valmaseda."</p> + +<p>Even a Havanese paper is quoted as declaring that,</p> + +<p>"Said proclamation does not even reach what is required by the +necessities of war in the most civilized nations."</p> + +<p>The revolutionists were victorious in almost every engagement for the +first two years, although their losses were by no means inconsiderable.<a name="page_051" id="page_051"></a></p> + +<p>It has even been acknowledged recently by a representative of Spain to +the United States that the greater and better part of the Cubans were in +sympathy with the insurrection. This opinion appeared in a statement +made by Senor De Lome (whose reputation among Americans is now somewhat +unsavory) in the New York Herald of February 23, 1896.</p> + +<p>The Cubans were recognized as belligerents by Chili, Bolivia, Guatemala, +Peru, Columbia and Mexico.</p> + +<p>There were two important expeditions of assistance sent to the Cubans in +the early part of the war. One was under the command of Rafael Quesada, +and, in addition to men, brought arms and ammunition, of which the +insurgents were sadly in need. The other was under General Thomas +Jordan, a West Point graduate and an ex-officer in the Confederate +service. By the way, the South, with its well-known chivalry, has always +evinced warm sympathy for the unfortunate Cubans. To their glory be it +spoken and remembered!</p> + +<p>Quesada managed to reach the interior without resistance. But Jordan, +with only one hundred and seventy-five men, but carrying arms and +ammunition for two thousand six hundred men, besides several pieces of +artillery, was attacked at Camalito and again at El Ramon; he succeeded +in repulsing the enemy and reaching his destination.</p> + +<p>Soon after, as General Quesada demanded extraordinary powers, he was +deposed by the Cuban congress, and General Jordan was appointed +commander-in-chief in his stead.<a name="page_052" id="page_052"></a></p> + +<p>In August, 1870, the United States government offered to Spain their +good offices for a settlement of the strife. Mr. Fish, who was then +secretary of State, proposed terms for the cession of the island to the +Cubans, but the offer was declined. This is only one of the many times +when Spain, in her suicidal policy, has refused to listen to reason.</p> + +<p>About this time the volunteers expelled General Dulce, and General de +Rodas was sent from Spain to replace him with a re-enforcement of thirty +thousand men.</p> + +<p>General de Rodas, however, remained in command only about six months, he +in his turn being replaced by Valmaseda, again at the dictation of the +volunteers.</p> + +<p>Speaking of these volunteers, who it will be remembered were recruited +from Spanish immigrants and who were peculiarly obnoxious to Cubans of +all classes, it will not be out of place to relate here an act of wanton +cruelty upon their part.</p> + +<p>This took place in the autumn of 1871. One of the volunteers had died, +and his body had been placed in a public tomb in Havana. Later it was +discovered that the tomb had been defaced, by some inscription placed +upon it, no more, no less. Suspicion fell upon the students of the +university. The volunteers made a complaint and forty-three of the young +students were arrested and tried for the misdemeanor. An officer of the +regular Spanish army volunteered to defend them, and through his +efforts, they were acquitted.</p> + +<p>This verdict did not satisfy the volunteers, however.<a name="page_053" id="page_053"></a> They demanded and +obtained from the captain-general, who was a man of weak character, the +convening of another court-martial two-thirds of which was to be +composed of volunteers. Was there ever such a burlesque of justice? The +accusers and the judges were one and the same persons. Of course, there +could be but one result. All the prisoners were found guilty and +condemned, eight to be shot, and the others to imprisonment and hard +labor.</p> + +<p>The day after the court-martial (?) fifteen hundred volunteers turned +out under arms and executed the eight boys.</p> + +<p>This incident filled the whole of the United States with horror and +indignation. The action was censured by the Spanish Cortes, but the +matter ended there. No attempt whatever was made to punish the +offenders.</p> + +<p>The insurgents waged an active warfare until the spring of 1871. They +had at that time a force of about fifty thousand men, but they were +badly armed and poorly supplied with necessities of all sorts. The +resources of the Spaniards were infinitely greater. About this time the +Cuban soldiers who had been fighting in the district of Camaguey +signified a desire to surrender and cease the conflict, provided their +lives were spared. The proposition was accepted. Their commander, +General Agramonte refused to yield, and he was left with only about +thirty-five men who remained loyal to him. He formed a body of cavalry, +and continued fighting for some two years longer, when he was killed on +the field of battle.<a name="page_054" id="page_054"></a></p> + +<p>In January, 1873, the Edinburg Review contained a very strong article on +the condition of affairs in Cuba, in the course of which it said:</p> + +<p>"It is well known that Spain governs Cuba with an iron and blood-stained +hand. The former holds the latter deprived of political, civil and +religious liberty. Hence the unfortunate Cubans being illegally +prosecuted and sent into exile, or executed by military commissions in +time of peace; hence their being kept from public meeting, and forbidden +to speak or write on affairs of State; hence their remonstrances against +the evils that afflict them being looked on as the proceedings of +rebels, from the fact that they are bound to keep silence and obey; +hence the never-ending plague of hungry officials from Spain, to devour +the product of their industry and labor; hence their exclusion from +public stations, and want of opportunity to fit themselves for the art +of government; hence the restrictions to which public instruction with +them is subjected, in order to keep them so ignorant as not to be able +to know and enforce their rights in any shape or form whatever; hence +the navy and the standing army, which are kept in their country at an +enormous expenditure from their own wealth, to make them bend their +knees and submit their necks to the iron yoke that disgraces them; hence +the grinding taxation under which they labor, and which would make them +all perish in misery but for the marvelous fertility of their soil."</p> + +<p>In July, 1873, Pieltain, then captain-general, sent an envoy to +President Cespedes to offer peace on condition<a name="page_055" id="page_055"></a> that Cuba should remain +a state of the Spanish republic, but this offer was declined.</p> + +<p>In December of the same year, Cespedes was deposed by the Cuban +Congress, and Salvador Cisneros elected in his place. The latter was a +scion of the old Spanish nobility who renounced his titles and had his +estates confiscated when he joined the revolution. He was and is +distinguished for his patriotism, intelligence and nobility of +character. It was his daughter, Evangelina Cisneros, who was rescued +from the horrors of a Spanish dungeon by Americans, and brought to the +United States.</p> + +<p>After his retirement, Cespedes was found by the Spaniards, and put to +death, according to their usual policy: "Slay and spare not."</p> + +<p>The war dragged on, being more a guerrilla warfare than anything else. +The losses were heavy on both sides. There is no data from which to +obtain the losses of the Cubans, but the records in the War Office at +Madrid show the total deaths in the Spanish land forces for the ten +years to have been over eighty thousand. Spain had sent to Cuba one +hundred and forty-five thousand men, and her best generals, but while +they kept the insurgents in check they were unable to subdue them. The +condition of the island was deplorable, her trade had greatly decreased +and her crops were ruined.</p> + +<p>For years there had been a constant waste of men and money, with no +perceptible gain on either side.</p> + +<p>By 1878, both parties were heartily weary of the struggle and ready to +compromise.<a name="page_056" id="page_056"></a></p> + +<p>General Martinez de Campos was then in command of the Spanish forces, +and he opened negotiations with the Cuban leader, Maximo Gomez, the same +who was destined later to attain even more prominence. Gomez listened to +what was proposed, and after certain deliberations, terms of peace were +concluded in February, 1878, by the treaty of El Zanjon.</p> + +<p>This treaty guaranteed Cuba representation in the Spanish Cortes, +granted a free pardon to all who had taken part directly or indirectly, +in the revolution, and permitted all those who wished to do so to leave +the island.</p> + +<p>At first glance these terms seem fair. But, as we shall see later, Spain +in this case as in all others was true to herself, that is, false to +every promise she made.<a name="page_057" id="page_057"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h3> + +<h4>THE VIRGINIUS EMBROGLIO.</h4> + +<p>There was one event of the ten years' war which deserves to be treated +somewhat in detail, as the universal excitement in the United States +caused by the affair for a time appeared to make a war between the +United States and Spain inevitable. And the Cubans hoped that this +occurrence would lead to the immediate expulsion of the Spaniards from +Cuba.</p> + +<p>The hopes thus raised, however, were doomed to meet with disappointment, +as the diplomatic negotiations opened between the United States and +Spain led to a peaceable settlement of the whole difficulty.</p> + +<p>The trouble was this: On the 31st of October, 1873, the Virginius, a +ship sailing under the American flag, was captured on the high seas, +near Jamaica, by the Spanish steamer Tornado, on the ground that it +intended to land men and arms in Cuba for the insurgent army.</p> + +<p>The Virginius was a steamer which was built in England during the civil +war, and was used as a blockade-runner. She was captured and brought to +the Washington Navy Yard. There she was sold at auction. The purchaser +was one John F. Patterson, who took an oath that he was a citizen of the +United States. On the 26th of September, 1870, the Virginius was +registered in the custom house of New York.<a name="page_058" id="page_058"></a></p> + +<p>As all the requisites of the statute were fulfilled in her behalf, she +cleared in the usual way for Curacoa, and sailed early in September for +that port.</p> + +<p>It was discovered a good many years after that Patterson was not the +real owner of the vessel, but that, as a matter of fact, the money for +her purchase had been furnished by Cuban sympathizers, and that she was +virtually controlled by them.</p> + +<p>From the day of her clearance in New York, she certainly did not return +within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, she preserved her American papers, and whenever she +entered foreign ports, she made it a practice to put forth a claim to +American nationality, which claim was always recognized by the +authorities in those ports.</p> + +<p>There is no evidence whatever to show that she committed any overt act, +or did anything that was contrary to international law.</p> + +<p>She cleared from Kingston, Jamaica, on the 23rd of October, 1873, for +Costa Rica.</p> + +<p>As President Grant said in his message to Congress, January 5th, 1874, +she was under the flag of the United States, and she would appear to +have had, as against all powers except the United States, the right to +fly that flag and to claim its protection as enjoyed by all regularly +documented vessels registered as part of our commercial marine.</p> + +<p>Still quoting President Grant, no state of war existed conferring upon a +maritime power the right to molest<a name="page_059" id="page_059"></a> and detain upon the high seas a +documented vessel, and it could not be pretended that the Virginius had +placed herself without the pale of all law by acts of piracy against the +human race. (And yet this very thing is what the Spaniards, without +rhyme or reason, did claim. Ever since they have been claiming what was +false, as for instance their reports of the victories (!) in the +American-Spanish war. By so doing they have made themselves the +laughing-stock of nations, for, although they never hesitate to lie, +they do not know how to lie with a semblance of truth, which might be, +far be it from us to say would be, a saving grace).</p> + +<p>If the papers of the Virginius were irregular or fraudulent, and frankly +they probably were, the offense was one against the laws of the United +States, justifiable only in their tribunals. However, to return to +facts, on the morning of the 31st of October, the Virginius was seen +cruising near the coast of Cuba. She was chased by the Spanish +man-of-war Tornado, captured, and brought into the harbor of Santiago de +Cuba on the following day.</p> + +<p>One hundred and fifty-five persons were on board, many of whom bore +Spanish names. This was made a great point of by the Spanish +authorities, although as a matter of fact it proved nothing.</p> + +<p>This action was not only in violation of international law, but it was +in direct contravention of the provisions of the treaty of 1795.</p> + +<p>Mr. E. G. Schmitt was at that time the American vice-consul at Santiago, +and he lost no time in demanding<a name="page_060" id="page_060"></a> that he should be allowed to see the +prisoners, in order to obtain from them information which should enable +him to protect those who might be American citizens, and also whatever +rights the ship should chance to have.</p> + +<p>Mr. Schmitt was treated with the utmost discourtesy by the authorities, +who practically told him that they would admit of no interference on his +part, and insisted that all on board the Virginius were pirates and +would be dealt with as such.</p> + +<p>And indeed they were.</p> + +<p>The Virginius was brought into Santiago late in the afternoon of the +first of November, and a court-martial was convened the next morning to +try the prisoners.</p> + +<p>Within a week fifty-three men had received the semblance of a trial and +had been shot.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile England, who even her worst enemies cannot deny, is always on +the side of humanity, intervened.</p> + +<p>Reports of the barbarous proceedings had reached Jamaica, and H. M. S. +Niobe, under the command of Sir Lambton Lorraine, was dispatched to +Santiago with instructions to stop the massacre.</p> + +<p>The Niobe arrived at Santiago on the eighth, and Lorraine threatened to +bombard the town unless the executions were immediately stopped.</p> + +<p>This threat evidently frightened the bloodthirsty governor, for no more +shooting took place.</p> + +<p>It was a noble act on the part of Sir Lambton Lorraine, and the American +public appreciated it. On his way home to England, he stopped in New +York. It was proposed<a name="page_061" id="page_061"></a> to tender him a public reception, but this Sir +Lambton declined. But by way of telling what a "brick" he was +considered, a silver brick from Nevada was presented to him, upon the +face of which was inscribed: "Blood is thicker than water. Santiago de +Cuba, November, 1873. To Sir Lambton Lorraine, from the Comstock Mines, +Virginia City, Nevada, U. S. A."</p> + +<p>President Grant, through General Daniel E. Sickles, who then represented +the United States at Madrid, directed that a demand should be made upon +Spain for the restoration of the Virginius, for the return of the +survivors to the protection of the United States, for a salute to the +flag, and for the punishment of the offending parties.</p> + +<p>When the news of the massacre reached Washington, the Secretary of State +telegraphed Minister Sickles:</p> + +<p>"Accounts have been received from Havana of the execution of the captain +and thirty-six of the crew and eighteen others. If true, General Sickles +will protest against the act as brutal and barbarous, and ample +reparation will be demanded."</p> + +<p>Minister Sickles replied:</p> + +<p>"President Castelar received these observations with his usual kindness, +and told me confidentially that at seven o'clock in the morning, as soon +as he read the telegram from Cuba, and without reference to any +international question, for that indeed had not occurred to him, he at +once sent a message to the captain-general, admonishing him that the +death penalty must not be imposed upon any non-combatant, without the +previous approval<a name="page_062" id="page_062"></a> of the Cortes, nor upon any person taken in arms +against the government without the sanction of the executive."</p> + +<p>About that time, a writer of some celebrity, who was also a war +correspondent, named Ralph Keeler, mysteriously disappeared. Although it +was never proven, there is little doubt but that he was assassinated by +the Spaniards.</p> + +<p>Then, as now, there was an intense hatred in the Spanish breast against +every citizen of the United States.</p> + +<p>As Murat Halstead expresses it, there seemed to be a blood madness in +the air.</p> + +<p>Mr. Halstead, by the way, tells an anecdote of a madman, who seized a +rifle with sabre attached and assaulted a young man who had asked him an +innocent question. He knocked him down and stabbed him to death with a +bayonet, sticking it through him a score of times as he cried:</p> + +<p>"Cable my country that I have killed a rebel!"</p> + +<p>The murderer was adjudged insane. Further comment is unnecessary.</p> + +<p>To return to the controversy over the Virginius between the United +States and Spain.</p> + +<p>General Sickles, as he had been instructed, made a solemn protest +against the barbarities perpetrated at Santiago.</p> + +<p>The Spanish Minister of State replied in a rather ill-humored way, and +amongst other things, he said that the protest of America was rejected +with serene energy.<a name="page_063" id="page_063"></a></p> + +<p>This somewhat ridiculous expression gave General Sickles a chance to +rejoin, which he did, as follows:</p> + +<p>"And if at last under the good auspices of Senor Carvajal, with the aid +of that serenity that is unmoved by slaughter, and that energy that +rejects the voice of humanity, which even the humblest may utter and the +most powerful cannot hush, this government is successful in restoring +order and peace and liberty where hitherto, and now, all is tumult and +conflict and despotism, the fame of the achievement, not confined to +Spain, will reach the continents beyond the seas and gladden the hearts +of millions who believe that the new world discovered by Columbus is the +home of freemen and not that of slaves."</p> + +<p>About this time, Spain asked the good offices of England as an +intervener, but to his glory be it spoken and to the nation which he +represented, Lord Granville declined, "unless on the basis of ample +reparation made to the United States."</p> + +<p>Spain continued to dilly-dally and evade the question of her +responsibility.</p> + +<p>On the 25th of November Mr. Fish telegraphed to Minister Sickles:</p> + +<p>"If no accommodation is reached by the close of to-morrow, leave. If a +proposition is submitted, you will refer it to Washington, and defer +action."</p> + +<p>This was just after Minister Sickles had informed the authorities at +Washington that Lord Granville regarded the reparation demanded as just +and moderate.</p> + +<p>On the 26th, however, just as the American minister<a name="page_064" id="page_064"></a> was preparing to +ask for his passports, close the legation and leave Spain, he received a +note from Senor Carvajal which conceded in part the demands of the +United States.</p> + +<p>This proposition was virtually that the Virginius and the survivors +should be given up, but the salute was to be dispensed with, in case +Spain satisfied the United States within a certain time that the +Virginius had no right to carry the flag.</p> + +<p>After considerable correspondence an arrangement was finally arrived at, +Spain further agreeing to proceed against those who had offended the +sovereignty of the United States, or who had violated their treaty +rights.</p> + +<p>In his message, President Grant says:</p> + +<p>"The surrender of the vessel and the survivors to the jurisdiction of +the tribunals of the United States was an admission of the principles +upon which our demand had been founded. I therefore had no hesitation in +agreeing to the arrangement which was moderate and just, and calculated +to cement the good relations which have so long existed between Spain +and the United States."</p> + +<p>The following words, spoken by Secretary Fish to Admiral Polo, in an +interview during the progress of the negotiations, are worthy to be +quoted:</p> + +<p>"I decline to submit to arbitration the question of an indignity to the +flag. I am willing to submit all questions which are properly subjects +of reference."</p> + +<p>On the 16th of December the Virginius, with the American flag flying, +was delivered to the United States at Bahia Honda.</p> + +<p>The vessel was unseaworthy. Her engines were out of<a name="page_065" id="page_065"></a> order and she was +leaking badly. On the passage to New York she encountered a severe +storm, and, in spite of the efforts of her officers and men, she sank +off Cape Fear. The survivors of the massacre were surrendered at +Santiago de Cuba on the 18th, and reached New York in safety.</p> + +<p>About eighty thousand dollars were paid by Spain as compensation to the +families of the American and British victims who perished at Santiago. +But no punishment was ever visited upon the governor who ordered the +executions. There was a tremendous amount of feeling aroused in the +United States over the Virginius affair, and the government was severely +criticized and censured for not avenging the inhuman butcheries and the +insults to the flag.</p> + +<p>But it must be remembered that the government had a very hard task to +deal with. There was little or no doubt but that the Virginius, at the +time of her capture was intended for an unlawful enterprise, in spite of +Captain Fry's words in a letter to his wife just before his execution:</p> + +<p>"There is to be a fearful sacrifice of life from the Virginius, and, as +I think, a needless one, as the poor people are unconscious of crime and +even of their fate up to now. I hope God will forgive me, if I am to +blame for it."</p> + +<p>The clamor of the American people for revenge was fiery in its +intensity, but the government did not yield to it, in which it was +right. There has been more than one time in our history when if public +opinion had been<a name="page_066" id="page_066"></a> allowed to rule, the results would have been fatal; +and the very men who were most abused, in the light of future events, +have been praised for their wisdom and moderation.</p> + +<p>Murat Halstead sums up the whole matter in a clear and just manner. He +says in his admirable book, "The Story of Cuba:"</p> + +<p>"It is not, we must say, a correct use of words to say that the United +States was degraded by the Virginius incident. In proportion as nations +are great and dignified, they must at least obey their own laws and +treaties. When Grant was President of the United States and Castelar was +President of Spain, there was a reckless adventure and shocking +massacre, but we were not degraded because we did not indulge in a +policy of vengeance."<a name="page_067" id="page_067"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h3> + +<h4>AGAIN SPAIN'S PERFIDY.</h4> + +<p>Before proceeding further, it is necessary to call attention to one very +important matter which was the direct result of the Ten Years' War. If +the insurgents accomplished nothing else, they may well be proud of this +achievement.</p> + +<p>Their own freedom they failed to obtain, but they were the cause of +freedom being bestowed upon others.</p> + +<p>We refer to the manumission of the slaves.</p> + +<p>The Spanish slave code, promulgated in 1789, is admitted everywhere to +have been very humane in its character. So much so that when Trinidad +came into the possession of the English, the anti-slavery party resisted +successfully the attempt of the planters of that island to have the +Spanish law replaced by the British.</p> + +<p>Once again, however, were the words of Spain falsified by her deeds. +Spanish diplomacy up to the present day has only been another name for +lies. For, notwithstanding the mildness of the code, its provisions were +constantly and glaringly violated.</p> + +<p>In 1840, a writer, who had personal knowledge of the affairs of Cuba, +declared that slavery in Cuba was more destructive to human life, more +pernicious to society, degrading to the slave and debasing to the +master, more fatal to health and happiness than in any other +slave-holding country on the face of the habitable globe.<a name="page_068" id="page_068"></a></p> + +<p>It was in Cuba that the slaves were subjected to the coarsest fare and +the most exhausting and unremitting toil. A portion of their number was +even absolutely destroyed every year by the slow torture of overwork and +insufficient sleep and rest.</p> + +<p>In 1792 the slave population of the island was estimated at eighty-four +thousand; in 1817, one hundred and seventy-nine thousand; in 1827, two +hundred and eighty-six thousand; in 1843, four hundred and thirty-six +thousand; in 1867, three hundred and seventy-nine thousand, five hundred +and twenty-three, and in 1873, five hundred thousand, or about one-third +of the entire population.</p> + +<p>In 1870, two years after the beginning of the war, in which the colored +people, both free and slaves, took a prominent part, the Spanish +legislature passed an act, providing that every slave who had then +passed, or should thereafter pass, the age of sixty should be at once +free, and that all yet unborn children of slaves should also be free. +The latter, however, were to be maintained at the expense of the +proprietors up to their eighteenth year, and during that time to be kept +as apprentices at such work as was suitable to their age. Slavery was +absolutely abolished in Cuba in 1886. Spain was therefore the last +civilized country to cling to this vestige of barbarism, and she +probably would not have abandoned it then had she not been impelled to +by force and her self-interest.</p> + +<p>After the treaty of El Zanjon, it was supposed by the Cubans, and +rightly too, had they been dealing with an<a name="page_069" id="page_069"></a> honorable opponent and not a +trickster, that the condition of Cuba would be greatly improved.</p> + +<p>The treaty, in the first place, guaranteed Cuba representation in the +Cortes in Madrid. This was kept to the letter, but the spirit was +abominably lacking.</p> + +<p>The Peninsulars, that is, the Spaniards in Cuba, obtained complete +control of the polls, and, by unparalleled frauds, always managed to +elect a majority of the deputies. The deputies, purporting to come from +Cuba, might just as well have been appointed by the Spanish crown.</p> + +<p>In other and plainer words, Cuba had no representation whatever in the +Cortes.</p> + +<p>The cities of Cuba were hopelessly in debt and they were not able to +provide money for any municipal services.</p> + +<p>There were no funds to keep up the schools, and in consequence they were +closed.</p> + +<p>As for hospitals and asylums, they scarcely existed. There was only one +asylum for the insane in all the island, and that was wretchedly +managed. This asylum was in Havana. Elsewhere, the insane were confined +in the cells of jails.</p> + +<p>The public debt of Spain was something enormous, and Cuba was forced to +pay a part of the interest on this which was out of all proportion.</p> + +<p>Perez Castaneda spoke of this in the Spanish Cortes in the following +terms:</p> + +<p>"The debt of Cuba was created in 1864 by a simple issue of three million +dollars, and it now amounts to the<a name="page_070" id="page_070"></a> fabulous sum of one hundred and +seventy-five million dollars. What originated the Cuban debt? The wars +of Santo Domingo, of Peru and of Mexico. But are not these matters for +the Peninsula? Certainly they are matters for the whole of Spain. Why +must Cuba pay that debt?"</p> + +<p>Again, Senor Robledo, in a debate at Madrid, after speaking of the +fearful abuses existent in the government of Havana, said:</p> + +<p>"I do not intend to read the whole of the report; but I must put the +House in possession of one fact. To what do these defalcations amount? +They amount to twenty-two million, eight hundred and eleven thousand, +five hundred and sixteen dollars. Did not the government know this? What +has been done?"</p> + +<p>In 1895 it was alleged that the custom house frauds in Cuba, since the +end of the Ten Years War, amounted to over one hundred millions of +dollars. It is enough to make one hold one's breath in horror. And, +remember well, there was absolutely no redress for the suffering Cubans +by peaceful means.</p> + +<p>One more quotation. Rafael de Eslara of Havana, when speaking of the +misery of the island, thus summed up the situation:</p> + +<p>"Granted the correctness of the points which I have just presented, it +seems to be self-evident that a curse is pressing upon Cuba, condemning +her to witness her own disintegration, and converting her into a prey +for the operation of those swarms of vampires that are so cruelly +devouring us, deaf to the voice of conscience, if<a name="page_071" id="page_071"></a> they have any; it +will not be rash to venture the assertion that Cuba is undone; there is +no salvation possible."</p> + +<p>Taxation on all sides was enormous, the two chief products of the +island, sugar and tobacco, suffering the most. While other countries +gave encouragement to their colonies, Spain did everything she could to +discourage her well-beloved "Ever Faithful Isle."</p> + +<p>The Cuban planter had to struggle along with a heavy tax on his crop, an +enormous duty on his machinery, and an additional duty at the port of +destination.</p> + +<p>America once rose in wrath against unjust taxation, but her grievances +were as nothing in comparison with those of—we had almost written—her +sister republic. May the inadvertency prove a prophecy!</p> + +<p>To show how the products of Cuba, under this ghastly extortion have +declined, we make the following statement, based on the most reliable +statistics.</p> + +<p>In 1880 Cuba furnished twenty-five per cent. of all the sugar of the +world. In 1895 this had declined to ten and a half per cent. In 1889, +the export of cigars rated at forty dollars per one thousand amounted to +ten millions, nineteen thousand and forty dollars. In 1894 it was five +millions, three hundred and sixty-eight thousand, four hundred dollars, +a loss of nearly one-half in five years.</p> + +<p>Then besides all this, Cuba had to pay the high salaries of the horde of +Spanish officials, nothing of which accrued to her advantage.</p> + +<p>There can be no doubt but that the treaty of El Zanjon was a cheat, and +its administration a gigantic scandal.<a name="page_072" id="page_072"></a></p> + +<p>Can any fair-minded person think then that the Cubans were wrong, when +driven to the wall, oppressed beyond measure, goaded to madness by an +inhuman master, they broke out once again into open revolt, determined +this time to fight to the death or to obtain their freedom?<a name="page_073" id="page_073"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h3> + +<h4>SOME CUBAN HEROES.</h4> + +<p>Although the natural resources of Cuba are remarkable, as will be +demonstrated later, and more than sufficient for all her people, a large +number of Cubans have, either of their own free will or by force become +exiles.</p> + +<p>Besides over forty thousand in the United States, there are a large +number in the islands under British control, as well as throughout the +West Indies and in the South American republics.</p> + +<p>It is perfectly natural that these exiles should feel the deepest +interest in their native land, and although Spain has complained +frequently of being menaced from beyond her borders, what else could she +expect after the way in which she treated these exiled sons of hers? +Besides she has had no just cause for grievance, as the right for +foreign countries to furnish asylums to political offenders has been +recognized from time immemorial, and, unless some overt act be +committed, there can be no responsibility on the part of such foreign +countries.</p> + +<p>Enough perhaps has been said to show that the Cubans had every reason to +once again rise in revolt, but in order that there may be no doubt as to +the justice of their cause, let us recapitulate:</p> + +<p>Spain has invariably drawn from the island all that could be squeezed +out of it.<a name="page_074" id="page_074"></a></p> + +<p>In spite of her protests she has never done anything for Cuba, all her +aim being to replenish her own exhausted treasury and to enrich the +functionaries of the Spanish government.</p> + +<p>While Cuba is a producing country, she has been refused the right to +dispose of her produce to other countries except at ruinous rates, in +spite of the fact that Spain herself could not begin to consume all that +Cuba had to offer. The market of the island, by the way, from the very +nature of things, is the United States, and not Spain.</p> + +<p>The rules which limit importation have been most rigid. For instance, +American flour cannot enter Cuba free of duty, while it enters as a free +product into Spain.</p> + +<p>Spain has governed Cuba with a most arbitrary hand. The island has had +nothing whatever to say as to the management of its own affairs.</p> + +<p>The Cubans have purposely been kept in a state of ignorance, the system +of education amounting practically to nothing.</p> + +<p>The Spaniards have never kept one promise made, but after each promise +have increased their oppression and tyranny.</p> + +<p>In 1894 Senor Sagasta laid before the Cortes a project for reform in +Cuba; but the sense of this project was confused in the extreme; there +was little hope that a reform planned with such little method could meet +with any degree of successful realization. In fact there was little or +no possibility that the abuses under which the island groaned would be +removed.<a name="page_075" id="page_075"></a></p> + +<p>At last patience ceased to be a virtue. The present rising in Cuba was +begun toward the close of 1894. The leader was Jose Marti, a poet and +orator, who was then in New York. He at the outset, was the very soul of +the revolutionary movement, and he held in his hands the threads of the +conspiracy.</p> + +<p>He was a man of charming and captivating personality, strong in his own +convictions and devoted body, heart and soul to the interests of his +country.</p> + +<p>He was the son of a Spanish colonel and when quite young was condemned, +for what reason has never been known, to ten years imprisonment in +Havana. Afterwards, he was sentenced to the galleys for life.</p> + +<p>When the amnesty was declared, after the Ten Years War, he was given +back his freedom, but his resentment still continued and he vowed his +life to obtaining the liberty of Cuba.</p> + +<p>He went first to Central America, and afterwards took up his residence +in the United States.</p> + +<p>Everywhere he preached what he considered a holy war. Here and there he +gathered together contributions, which he sent to Cuba for the secret +purchase of arms and ammunition. He met with many rebuffs and +disappointments, but not for one moment did he doubt the justice of his +cause or its ultimate success. He was not a visionary man, but there +were those even among the ones he had won over by his impassioned words +who looked upon him as the victim of hallucinations. That this was not +true, the events of the past few years have fully proven.<a name="page_076" id="page_076"></a></p> + +<p>Marti organized his first expedition in New York, and set sail for Cuba +with three vessels, the Lagonda, the Amadis and the Baracoa, containing +men and war materials. This expedition was stopped, however, by the +United States authorities.</p> + +<p>Later, Marti joined Gomez, Cromlet, Cebreco and the Maceo brothers, all +of whom had fought in the Ten Years War, at Santo Domingo, which was +Gomez' home.</p> + +<p>Some description of these men, all of whom have done magnificent work +for the freedom of their country, may not be out of place.</p> + +<p>Maximo Gomez is about seventy-five years of age, and he may perhaps be +termed the "Washington" of the fight for liberty. It will be remembered +that he was a leader in the Ten Years War. He is a man of excellent +judgment, and, in spite of his years, of marvelous mental and physical +activity. No better man could the insurgents have selected as their +general-in-chief.</p> + +<p>Flor Cromlet was a guerilla of unquestioned valor, who lost his life +early in the campaign, but his name will live in the annals of free and +independent Cuba. His mother was a mulatto, but his father was a +Spaniard.</p> + +<p>The Maceo brothers have been particularly distinguished. They were born +of colored parents, and were of the type of the mulatto. Both were men +of indomitable courage. Antonio Maceo was born at Santiago de Cuba in +1848. At the beginning of the Ten Years War, he was a mule driver, and +could neither read nor write. He was one of the first to enlist in the +Cuban army, and<a name="page_077" id="page_077"></a> soon showed his courage and intelligence. He was +rapidly promoted to superior rank and became a terror to the Spanish +army. Their one idea seemed to be to capture him, but apparently he +possessed a charmed life. During his leisure moments, which it can be +imagined were but few, he managed to learn to read and write. He was one +of the last combatants to lay down his arms in the former war, and then +only because he saw that further struggle would only end in loss of life +without the winning of liberty.</p> + +<p>He was exiled and then travelled through America, studying constantly +and ever endeavoring to improve himself. Here was a poor, obscure, +descendant of slaves who by sheer perseverance, of course coupled with +natural ability, afterward held the armies of a great nation at bay.</p> + +<p>Antonio Maceo was killed in Havana province in 1896, probably through +the treachery of one of his followers, and his brother died, but not +until both had accomplished wonderful deeds of valor. It is a pity that +they could not have lived to see the results of their unselfish +patriotism.</p> + +<p>Another mulatto who has won fame in the cause of "Free Cuba" is Augustin +Cebreco.</p> + +<p>The "Marion of Cuba," as he was called, Nestor Aranguren, must not be +forgotten. He was at the head of a little band of men, all members of +the best Havana families and graduates of the university. He was very +much like the "Swamp Fox" of our Revolution in the way he would +undertake some daring raid, and then<a name="page_078" id="page_078"></a> retreat into the long grass of the +Manigua to rest his tired horses and recruit his men. One of his most +famous exploits was the capture of a train at the very gates of Havana. +Aranguren treated his captives most kindly, with one exception, and in +this he was justified. A man named Barrios had often informed against +the insurgents, and he was condemned to death. Of him, Aranguren said: +"That Cuban must die. I must rid my country of such an unnatural son. +Thank God, there are few such traitors!"</p> + +<p>The rest were allowed to go free.</p> + +<p>To one of the Spaniards who were on the train, Aranguren said:</p> + +<p>"If Spain should grant a generous and liberal autonomy, peace is not +only possible, but probable; but, if she should persevere in her false +colors, she will not regain control of this island, until every true +soldier of Cuba is dead, and that will take a long time."</p> + +<p>The ill-fated Aranguren died at the age of twenty-four.</p> + +<p>It was not until May, 1895, that Marti and the other leaders thought it +wise to go to Cuba. When they reached there, they found that the +insurgents had already commenced the rebellion and had even gained some +ground.</p> + +<p>At first the Spanish authorities looked upon the insurrection as a +trivial matter, nothing more serious than a negro riot.</p> + +<p>They believed that it would be speedily suppressed as Spain had then in +the island an army of nineteen thousand<a name="page_079" id="page_079"></a> men, besides the fifty thousand +volunteers, who could be called on in case of need. But, to make all +sure, seven thousand more soldiers were sent over from Spain.</p> + +<p>In addition to this, many men, who afterward were among the leaders of +the insurgent party expressed their unqualified disapproval of the +movement. And in this, they were undoubtedly sincere, as they had not +the slightest idea that it could succeed.</p> + +<p>The general lack of sympathy and the universal criticism that met the +little band of revolutionists unquestionably contributed much toward the +relaxation of the vigilance of the government.</p> + +<p>But the government was soon to be undeceived. The insurrection became a +very serious matter indeed. The insurgents pursued very much the same +tactics that they had followed in the Ten Years War, that is, they would +seldom risk an open battle, and the Spaniards could gain but little +ground against the guerilla methods of their opponents.</p> + +<p>The Cubans were very badly equipped; in fact they had scarcely any war +material whatever. They began by appropriating indiscriminately any fire +arms wherever they could find them, from the repeating rifle to the shot +gun with the ramrod. Many of them were armed only with revolvers, and +the majority of them had simply the "machete," a knife about nineteen +inches in length.</p> + +<p>Recruits constantly came to their ranks, however, and it was not long +before they numbered over six thousand.<a name="page_080" id="page_080"></a></p> + +<p>A political crisis now took place in Spain, and the conservative party +came into power. Premier Canovas then appointed as governor-general of +Cuba, Martinez Campos, who had been so successful, by diplomacy rather +than by anything else, in ending the Ten Years War.</p> + +<p>He landed at Guantanamo, and before visiting Havana, he issued the most +elaborate instructions to every department of the military service, +which now had been largely reinforced.</p> + +<p>In the early part of the war, a great misfortune befell the Cubans, and +that was in the loss of their beloved leader, Jose Marti.</p> + +<p>On the 18th of May, a part of the insurgent army camped upon the plains +of Dos Rios, where they learned that the enemy was in the neighborhood, +in safety, protected by a fort.</p> + +<p>The insurgents numbered about seven hundred cavalrymen, under the +command of Marti and Gomez.</p> + +<p>The next morning they came upon the Spanish outpost. Gomez, who has +always shown himself to be a prudent general, thought it would be wiser +not to risk a battle, but to continue their route, as the object of the +expedition was not skirmishing, but to attempt to penetrate into the +Province of Puerto Principe.</p> + +<p>But Jose Marti, in his fiery enthusiasm longed to fall upon the enemy; +he declared that not to do so would be dishonor. Gomez yielded.</p> + +<p>Marti was mounted upon a very spirited horse. He was told that it was +unmanageable, but he would not listen to reason. Crying, "Come on, my +children!" and<a name="page_081" id="page_081"></a> "Viva Cuba Libre," he dashed upon the Spanish, followed +by his men.</p> + +<p>Before this onslaught, the Spaniards retreated, but in good order. Gomez +cried to his troops to rally, but Marti, dragged on by his horse which +he was unable to control, disappeared among the ranks of the enemy. He +received a bullet above the left eye, another in the throat, and several +bayonet thrusts in the body.</p> + +<p>Led by Gomez, who was heart broken at the fate of his old companion and +friend, the insurgents charged upon the Spaniards, but it was of no +avail. The latter retained possession of the corpse of the gallant +soldier, whose only fault was a too reckless bravery.</p> + +<p>And now it is a pleasure to be able to recount one noble act on the part +of the Spaniards, perhaps the only one in the whole course of the war.</p> + +<p>General Campos, who was a just and honorable man, ordered the body of +the illustrious patriot to receive decent burial, and one of the Spanish +officers even pronounced a sort of eulogy over the remains.</p> + +<p>There was a report that Gomez had also been killed, but this was a +mistake. About a mouth afterward he crossed the trocha and entered the +province of Puerto Principe, more commonly known as the Camaguey.</p> + +<p>The trocha, by the way, was an invention of Campos in the preceding war, +and was found to be of great value. It was practically a line of forts +extending across the island between the provinces of Puerto Principe and +Santa Clara, and it was intended that the insurgents should not be +allowed to cross this line. Other trochas<a name="page_082" id="page_082"></a> were afterwards erected, but +they have not proved of any extraordinary advantage in the present +insurrection.</p> + +<p>An assembly, composed of representatives of all the bands that were +under arms, met and elected the officers of the revolutionary +government.</p> + +<p>Salvador Cisneros, otherwise known as the Marquis of Santa Lucia, was +elected president, the same office he had filled during the Ten Years +War.</p> + +<p>The other officers were:</p> + +<p>Vice-President, Bartolomeo Maso.</p> + +<p>Secretary of State, Rafael Portuondo y Tamayo.</p> + +<p>Secretary of War, Carlos Roloff.</p> + +<p>Secretary of the Treasury, Severo Pina.</p> + +<p>General-in-Chief, Maximo Gomez.</p> + +<p>Lieutenant-General, Antonio Maceo.</p> + +<p>Afterwards, at another election, as officers, according to the Cuban +constitution, only serve two years, there were replaced by the +following:</p> + +<p>President, Bartolomeo Maso. Vice-President, Mendez Capote.</p> + +<p>Secretary of State, Andres Moreno de la Torres.</p> + +<p>Secretary of War, Jose B. Alemon.</p> + +<p>Secretary of the Treasury, Ernesto Fons Sterling.</p> + +<p>Maximo Gomez still remained general-in-chief.</p> + +<p>Gomez and Campos were now pitted once more against each other, as they +had been in the previous war.</p> + +<p>Both men issued orders to their respective commands.</p> + +<p>Gomez ordered the Cubans to attack the small Spanish<a name="page_083" id="page_083"></a> outposts, capture +their arms if possible setting at liberty every man who should deliver +them up; to cut all railway and telegraph lines; to keep on the +defensive and retreat in groups, unless the Cubans were in a position to +fight the enemy at great advantage; to destroy Spanish forts and other +buildings where any resistance was made by the enemy; to destroy all +sugar crops and mills, the owners of which refused to contribute to the +Cuban war fund; and, finally to forbid the farmers to send any food to +the cities unless upon the payment of certain taxes.</p> + +<p>On his part, Campos issued the following commands:</p> + +<p>Several regiments to protect the sugar estates; other detachments to be +placed along the railroads, and on every train in motion; to attack +always, unless the enemy's numbers were three to one; all rebels, except +officers, who surrendered, to be allowed to go free and unmolested; +convoys of provisions to be sent to such towns as needed them.</p> + +<p>Everything was now in readiness for a fierce campaign, and one that +threatened to be protracted. It was not long before operations commenced +in earnest.<a name="page_084" id="page_084"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h3> + +<h4>CUBAN TACTICS.</h4> + +<p>There was one incident which occurred in the early part of the +disturbances which caused a certain amount of excitement in the United +States, as it was thought that it would prove to be a repetition of the +Virginius affair.</p> + +<p>On the 8th of March, 1895, the ship Allianca was bound from Colon to New +York. She was following the usual track of vessels near the Cuban shore. +But, outside the three mile limit, she was fired upon by a Spanish +gunboat. President Cleveland declared this to be an unwarrantable +interference by Spain with passing American ships. Protest was promptly +made by the United States against this act as not being justified by a +state of war; nor permissible in respect of a vessel on the usual paths +of commerce, nor tolerable in view of the wanton peril occasioned to +innocent life and property. This act was disavowed by Spain, with full +expression of regret, and with an assurance that there should not be +again such just cause for complaint. The offending officer was deposed +from his command. All this was eminently satisfactory, and the United +States took no further action in the matter.</p> + +<p>The chief battle of the campaign, while Campos still remained +governor-general, was that fought at Bayamo,<a name="page_085" id="page_085"></a> in July, 1895. Campos +himself commanded in person, and for the first time the Spaniards, ever +vain-glorious and self-confident, became aware of the mettle of the men +arrayed against them.</p> + +<p>The Spanish forces numbered some five thousand men, while the Cubans had +not much more than half that number. It was the Spanish strategy, +however, to divide their men into detachments, and the Cubans were quick +to take advantage of this. The fight was a long and bloody affair, but +finally the victory, although not pronounced, remained with the Cubans.</p> + +<p>The Spanish forces were more or less demoralized, and their loses were +heavy. Thirteen Spanish officers were killed, while the Cubans lost two +colonels. The Cubans admitted that fifty of their number were killed or +disabled, but they claimed that the loss of the Spaniards was over three +hundred.</p> + +<p>It is impossible to tell much from the Spanish accounts, as they were +far from being complete and were highly colored. It has been the same +way in the present war, as witness the laughable "one mule" report, with +which all are familiar.</p> + +<p>In this engagement, General Santocildes was killed. It is said that +Santocildes sacrificed his own life to save that of his friend and +superior, Campos.</p> + +<p>There are two very different stories told of the attitude of Antonio +Maceo toward Campos in this battle. One is to the effect that he did not +know that Campos was commanding in person, but when he was told of it +the following day, he said:<a name="page_086" id="page_086"></a></p> + +<p>"Had I known it, I would have sacrificed five hundred more of my men, +and I would have taken him dead or alive! Thus with one blow I would +have ended the war."</p> + +<p>The other is quite different, and has been very generally believed +amongst the Cubans. It is to the effect that, during the fight, Maceo +recognized Campos, and, pointing him out to his men, ordered them not to +harm him, as he was a soldier who made war honorably.</p> + +<p>Murat Halstead relates two incidents of the battle of Bayamo, which, +however, he declares must be taken with a large grain of salt. One, +which comes from an insurgent authority is as follows:</p> + +<p>"Campos only saved himself by a ruse. Taking advantage of the Cubans' +well-known respect for the wounded, he had himself placed in a covered +stretcher, which they allowed to pass, without looking inside the cover. +When outside of the Cuban lines he was obliged to walk on foot to +Bayamo, through six miles of by-paths, under cover of the darkness, only +accompanied by a colored guide."</p> + +<p>The other tells that a son of Campos, who was a lieutenant, was +captured, but released with a friendly message to his father, who of +course, was expected to follow so admirable an example.</p> + +<p>Whether these anecdotes are true or not, one thing is certain. After the +battle, Maceo collected the wounded, whom the Spaniards left upon the +field in their retreat, and treated them in the most humane manner +possible. He wrote to Campos the following letter:<a name="page_087" id="page_087"></a></p> + +<p class="top5"> +"To His Excellency, the General Martinez Campos:<br /> +</p> + +<p>"Dear Sir—Anxious to give careful and efficient attendance to the +wounded Spanish soldiers that your troops left behind on the +battle-field, I have ordered that they be lodged in the houses of the +Cuban families that live nearest to the battle-ground, until you send +for them.</p> + +<p>"With my assurance that the forces you may send to escort them back will +not meet any hostile demonstrations from my soldiers, I have the honor +to be, sir,</p> + +<p class="r"> +<span style="margin-right:5%;">"Yours respectfully,</span><br /> +"Antonio Maceo."<br /> +</p> + +<p class="top5">While Maceo was thus maneuvering in the eastern part of the island, the +general-in-chief, Maximo Gomez, was fighting in Camaguey. The population +in the provinces of Puerto Principe and Santiago de Cuba had risen +almost to a man, and the movement was well under way in the province of +Santa Clara.</p> + +<p>Several encounters took place, the most important being the attack upon +the little city of Cascorro, which Gomez succeeded in capturing. He +found there a large quantity of arms and ammunition, of which the Cubans +were greatly in need.</p> + +<p>Gomez proved himself quite as magnanimous as Maceo. The wounded were all +cared for to the best of his ability, and the prisoners were returned to +the Spanish leaders. This example, however, seems to have been utterly +lost upon the Spaniards.</p> + +<p>The insurgent forces, under Gomez, were at this time divided into six +portions, operating in the six provinces,<a name="page_088" id="page_088"></a> and commanded by Antonio +Maceo, Aguerre, Lacret, Carillo, Suarez and Jose Maceo. Suarez was +afterwards cashiered for cowardice, and replaced by Garcia.</p> + +<p>In August, 1895, Maceo joined his chief at a place called Jimaguaya, +where Gomez had called to him a large proportion of the Cuban forces, +which numbered at that time about thirty thousand.</p> + +<p>And against these undisciplined soldiers was arrayed a regular army of +over eighty-five thousand men, not counting the armed volunteers.</p> + +<p>The odds were terribly against the Cubans, but Gomez and Maceo were +confident of success.</p> + +<p>It should be mentioned here that there were quite a number of women +fighting under Maceo, and these women did heroic service. In fact, the +Cuban women have given innumerable proofs of their devotion, body and +soul, to the cause of "Cuba Libre."</p> + +<p>Gomez' objective point was Havana, and between Jimaguaya and Havana, +there were over fifty thousand Spanish soldiers.</p> + +<p>When Gomez started, he had about twelve thousand men, which he divided +into three columns. He was quite well aware that the fighting must be of +the guerilla stamp. In fact, it was the only species of warfare +possible.</p> + +<p>He therefore instructed his lieutenants to have recourse to strategy, to +foil the enemy at every point. The one object was to reach Havana.</p> + +<p>"In the event of a forced battle," he said finally, "overthrow them! +Pass over them and on to Havana!"<a name="page_089" id="page_089"></a></p> + +<p>The march was begun, the instructions being followed to the letter. +Actual combat was everywhere avoided. The Spanish papers constantly had +reports like this: "After a few shots the rebels ran away." They did not +understand that this was exactly Gomez' tactics, and he was succeeding, +too.</p> + +<p>Every day the insurgents advanced further and further west. At the end +of a fortnight they reached the trocha of Jaruco, which had been +constructed in the centre of the island. This trocha was occupied by a +large and important Spanish force.</p> + +<p>Gomez ordered Maceo to make a feigned attack upon the northern portion +of the trocha. The Spaniards rushed there in a body, and Gomez, who had +counted upon this very thing, crossed the southern part, which was left +unprotected, without striking a blow.</p> + +<p>As soon as Maceo knew that Gomez had passed over in safety, he +immediately disappeared with his men, and soon after managed to rejoin +his chief.</p> + +<p>It was a very clever ruse, and Campos, whose headquarters were then in +Santa Clara realized that he had been outgeneralled. He ordered a +hurried march to Cienfuegos, and there took command.</p> + +<p>The evasive movements of the insurgents continued, and again and again +was Campos outflanked.</p> + +<p>With but little difficulty the Cubans crossed two other trochas, and +finally entered the Province of Matanzas, which Campos had felt positive +could never be invaded; the Spaniards meanwhile constantly retreating, +nearer and nearer to the capital.<a name="page_090" id="page_090"></a></p> + +<p>At last, Campos determined to force an open conflict. He told his +lieutenants where they were to meet him.</p> + +<p>This was in December, 1895.</p> + +<p>Campos lay in wait for Maceo's forces at a point between Coliseo and +Lumidero.</p> + +<p>It seemed at first as if the insurgents were caught in a trap, and would +be forced to accept a battle in the open, which could not fail to be +disastrous to them.</p> + +<p>But a happy thought came to Maceo, and, in connection with this plan, he +issued his orders.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, the cane-fields which surrounded the camp of the Spaniards +burst into flame, and on each side was a great blazing plain. Campos +knew that he had once more been foiled, and he gave the order to retreat +at once.</p> + +<p>This battle, if battle it can be called, had important results. It +enabled Gomez to reach Jovellanos, a city which commanded the railroad +lines of Cardenas, Matanzas and Havana. These lines Gomez destroyed as +well as every sugar plantation upon his route.</p> + +<p>As to the destruction of the sugar fields and the reason therefor, we +shall have something to say later on.</p> + +<p>Campos, completely outwitted and vanquished in his attempts to stop the +onward progress of the insurgents, now fell back upon Havana, which he +reached Christmas Day.</p> + +<p>His reception in the capital was anything but a pleasant one. The +Spaniards there had clamored from the very beginning for revenge without +mercy, and they looked upon the successive checks which the army had<a name="page_091" id="page_091"></a> +received as little less than criminal. They demanded of the +governor-general the reason for his repeated defeats, and even +threatened him personally.</p> + +<p>There were three political parties in Cuba, the Conservatives, the +Reformists and the Autonomists. Campos met the leaders of these parties +in an interview, and asked for their opinions. The consultation was very +unsatisfactory, and as a result Campos proposed his resignation to which +the ministry made no objection.</p> + +<p>Shortly after, his resignation was sent in and accepted. He sailed for +Spain the 17th of January, his place being temporarily filled by General +Sabas Marin.</p> + +<p>In spite of Martinez Campos' failure to subdue the insurrection, nothing +but the greatest sympathy and respect can be felt for him, at least out +of Spain, where, speaking in a general manner, humanity has no place, +and gratitude is an unknown quantity.</p> + +<p>Campos' services to his country had been great, including, as they did, +the pacification of Cuba in the Ten Years War, the quelling of a revolt +in Spain itself, and the restoration and support of the Spanish +monarchy. At an advanced age, when he should have been enjoying a well +deserved rest, he was sent away to fight a difficult war, and to risk +the tarnishing of his laurels as a military commander.</p> + +<p>All praise to Martinez Campos for his pure patriotism, his unswerving +rectitude, his magnanimity and his exalted ideas of honor! This praise +even the enemies of his country cannot refuse to him.<a name="page_092" id="page_092"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h3> + +<h4>WEYLER THE BUTCHER.</h4> + +<p>No greater contrast to Campos could possibly be imagined than his +successor, General Valeriano Weyler, known, and with the utmost justice, +throughout Cuba and the United States as "The Butcher."</p> + +<p>During his official life in Cuba, he proved again and again the truth of +his reputation for relentless cruelty.</p> + +<p>There is no doubt that during former wars he committed the most +atrocious crimes.</p> + +<p>It is not claimed that he ever showed any brilliant qualifications as a +military leader, and it was precisely because he lacked the +characteristics of General Campos, that Spain appointed him +governor-general, hoping that his severity (no, severity is too mild a +word, his savage brutality) would accomplish what Campos had failed to +do.</p> + +<p>In the light of events following his appointment, events which filled +the whole civilized world with indignation and horror, it has been +pretended by Spain that her ministry specially instructed him to +"moderate his ardor."</p> + +<p>Moderate his ardor, indeed! Granted that he obeyed instructions, if, +indeed such instructions ever existed, just think for a moment what +would have happened if he had not!<a name="page_093" id="page_093"></a></p> + +<p>It is very hard to write in a temperate vein when Weyler is the subject. +But where is the case for the plaintiff? Where are their defenders, when +Nero, Caligula or Judas is in question?</p> + +<p>Let us now contemplate a pen picture of "The Butcher," painted by Mr. +Elbert Rappleye, a very clever American newspaper correspondent:</p> + +<p>"General Weyler is one of those men who creates a first impression, the +first sight of whom can never be effaced from the mind, by whose +presence the most careless observer is impressed instantly, and yet, +taken altogether, he is a man in whom the elements of greatness are +concealed under a cloak of impenetrable obscurity. Inferior physically, +unsoldierly in bearing, exhibiting no trace of refined sensibilities nor +pleasure in the gentle associations that others live for, or at least +seek as diversions, he is nevertheless the embodiment of mental +acuteness, crafty, unscrupulous, fearless and of indomitable +perseverance.</p> + +<p>"Campos was fat, good-natured, wise, philosophical, slow in his mental +processes, clear in his judgment, emphatic in his opinions, outspoken +and withal, lovable, humane, conservative, constructive, progressive, +with but one object ever before him, the glorification of Spain as a +motherland and a figure among peaceful, enlightened nations. Weyler is +lean, diminutive, shriveled, ambitious for immortality, irrespective of +its odor, a master of diplomacy, the slave of Spain for the glory of +sitting at the right of her throne, unlovable, unloving, exalted."<a name="page_094" id="page_094"></a></p> + +<p>After telling of how he was admitted to Weyler's presence, Mr. Rappleye +continues his vivid description.</p> + +<p>"And what a picture! A little man. An apparition of blacks—black eyes, +black hair, black beard, dark—exceedingly dark—complexion; a plain +black attire. He was alone and was standing facing the door I entered. +He had taken a position in the very centre of the room, and seemed lost +in its immense depths. His eyes, far apart, bright, alert and striking, +took me in at a glance. His face seemed to run to chin, his lower jaw +protruding far beyond any ordinary indication of firmness, persistence +or will power. His forehead is neither high nor receding; neither is it +that of a thoughtful or philosophic man. His ears are set far back; and +what is called the region of intellect, in which are those mental +attributes that might be defined as powers of observation, calculation, +judgment and execution, is strongly developed."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Kate Masterson, another American journalist, was, we believe, the +only one, except Mr. Rappleye, who obtained an interview with Weyler.</p> + +<p>Among other things that he said, Mrs. Masterson reports the following:</p> + +<p>"I have shut out the Spanish and Cuban papers from the field as well as +the American. In the last war the correspondents created much jealousy +by what they wrote. They praised one and rebuked the other. They are a +nuisance."</p> + +<p>"I have no time to pay attention to stories. Some of them are true and +some of them are not."<a name="page_095" id="page_095"></a></p> + +<p>"The Spanish columns attend to their prisoners just as well as any other +country in times of war." An obviously false statement, by the way. "War +is war. You cannot make it otherwise, try as you will."</p> + +<p>True to a certain extent, General Weyler, but not from your point of +view. There are certain humanitarian principles, of which you seem to be +ignorant that can be practiced in time of war as well as in time of +peace.</p> + +<p>Weyler declared to Mrs. Masterson that women, if combatants, would be +treated just the same as men. As a matter of fact, whether combatants or +non-combatants, he treated them worse than men.</p> + +<p>He sneered at the Cuban leaders, at Maceo for being a mulatto, and for +having, as he asseverated, no military instruction. And at Gomez, whom +he declared was not a brave soldier and had never distinguished himself +in any way.</p> + +<p>It has always been the policy of the Spaniards to belittle the Cubans, +sneering at them as being generaled by negroes, half breeds and +illiterate to a degree. Beyond the fact that this is contemptibly false, +they do not stop to think how they are dishonoring their own troops +which have made such little headway against them.</p> + +<p>When the Spaniards have forced the insurgents to surrender in all the +revolts that have taken place, it has been mainly through false +representations and lying promises, promise that they knew, when they +made them, were never intended to be carried out.</p> + +<p>Weyler's character may perhaps be best understood<a name="page_096" id="page_096"></a> from his own +following egotistical statement, which is well-authenticated:</p> + +<p>"I care not for America, England, or any other country, but only for the +treaties we have with them. They are the law. I know I am merciless, but +mercy has no place in war, I know the reputation which has been built up +for me. I care not what is said about me unless it is a lie so grave as +to occasion alarm. I am not a politician. I am Weyler."</p> + +<p>Contrast with these utterances, the words of Maximo Gomez, the grand old +man of Cuba, in his instructions to his men:</p> + +<p>"Do not risk your life unnecessarily. You have only one and can best +serve your country by saving it. Dead men cannot fire guns. Keep your +head cool, your machete warm, and we will yet free Cuba."</p> + +<p>Gomez, by the way, at one time, served under Weyler, the former a +captain, the latter as a colonel. The noble Cuban leader certainly did +not obtain his views of modern warfare from his then superior officer.</p> + +<p>When Weyler arrived in Cuba he had at his command at least one hundred +and twenty thousand regulars, fifty thousand volunteers and a large +naval coast guard. Rather a formidable force to subdue what has been +characterized as a handful of bandits.</p> + +<p>His policy from the beginning was one of extermination, and he made war +upon those who were not in arms against Spain as well as those who were, +upon women and children as well as upon men.</p> + +<p>Although Weyler did not begin what may be called<a name="page_097" id="page_097"></a> active operations +until November (he arrived in February), still he persecuted by every +means in his power the pacificos, that is, those who did not take arms +for or against either side.</p> + +<p>He conceived what General Fitzhugh Lee calls "the brilliant idea" of +ruining the farmers so that they should not be able to give any aid to +the insurgents.</p> + +<p>Read carefully the text of his famous reconcentrado order, which brought +misery, ruin and death to the peaceable inhabitants of the island:</p> + +<p>"I, Don Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, Marquis of Tenerife, +Governor-General, Captain-General of this island and Commander-in-Chief +of the Army, etc., etc., hereby order and command:</p> + +<p>"1. That all inhabitants of the country districts, or those who reside +outside the lines of fortifications of the towns, shall within a delay +of eight days enter the towns which are occupied by the troops. Any +individual found outside the lines in the country at the expiration of +this period shall be considered a rebel and shall be dealt with as such.</p> + +<p>"2. The transport of food from the towns, and the carrying of food from +one place to another by sea or by land, without the permission of the +military authorities of the place of departure, is absolutely forbidden. +Those who infringe upon the order will be tried and punished as aiders +and abettors of the rebellion.</p> + +<p>"3. The owners of cattle must drive their herds to the towns, or the +immediate vicinity of the towns, for which purposes proper escorts will +be given them.<a name="page_098" id="page_098"></a></p> + +<p>"4. When the period of eight days, which shall be reckoned in each +district from the day of the publication of this proclamation in the +country town of the district, shall have expired, all insurgents who may +present themselves will be placed under my orders for the purpose of +designating a place in which they may reside. The furnishing of news +concerning the enemy, which can be availed of with advantage, will serve +as a recommendation to them; also, when the presentation is made with +firearms in their possession, and when, and more especially, when the +insurgents present themselves in numbers.</p> + +<p class="r">Valeriano Weyler."</p> + +<p>Was there ever a more damnable—there is no other word for it—a more +damnable proclamation issued?</p> + +<p>And the result? Words can scarcely do justice to it. It was the +death-sentence of thousands and thousands of innocent people, the large +majority of whom were women and children.</p> + +<p>The peasant farmers, with their families, were only allowed to bring +with them what they could carry on their backs, when they were forced to +leave all that they had in the world, and remove to the places of +"concentration," where it was impossible for them to make a living.</p> + +<p>Before leaving they saw their houses and crops burned, and their live +stock, be it much or little, that they possessed, confiscated.</p> + +<p>Starvation was before them, and starve they did. And let the reader bear +this fact well in mind—these were non-combatants, women and children.<a name="page_099" id="page_099"></a></p> + +<p>The deaths have occurred in ghastly numbers. More than two hundred +thousand have perished from starvation and starvation alone, with no +hand from the government stretched out to aid them. The record made by +the butcher and the butcher's emissaries is without parallel in all +history. No wonder that the United States held its breath in horror, +before raising its mailed hand to strike forever the chains from this +suffering people.</p> + +<p>General Weyler did not care how deeply he should wade in blood, nor to +what age or sex this blood belonged, so long as he should attain his +ends.</p> + +<p>Talk as you please about the atrocities of the Turks, but they pale +before those of the Spaniards in Cuba; acts committed, too, not in +secret, but openly and by public proclamation.</p> + +<p>Read what Stephen Bonsal, who was an eye-witness, says in his book: "The +Real Condition of Cuba To-day."</p> + +<p>"In the western provinces, we find between three and four hundred +thousand people penned up in starvation stations and a prey to all kinds +of epidemic diseases. They are without means and without food, and with +only the shelter that the dried palm-leaves of their hastily erected +bohios afford, and in the rainy season that is now upon them, there is +no shelter at all. They have less clothing than the Patagonian savages, +and, half naked, they sleep upon the ground, exposed to the noxious +vapors which these low-lying swamp-lands emit. They have no prospect +before them but to die, or, what is more cruel, to see those of their +own flesh and<a name="page_100" id="page_100"></a> blood dying about them, and to be powerless to succor and +to save. About these starvation stations the savage sentries pace up and +down with ready rifle and bared machete, to shoot down and to cut up any +one who dares to cross the line. And yet, who are these men who are shot +down in the night like midnight marauders? And why is it they seek, with +all the desperate courage of despair, to cross that line where death is +always awaiting their coming, and almost invariably overtakes them? They +are attempting nothing that history will preserve upon its imperishable +tablets, or even this passing generation remember. No, they are simply +attempting to get beyond the starvation lines, to dig their potatoes and +yams, to bring home again to the hovel in which their families are +housed with death and hunger all about them. And they do their simple +duty, not blinded as to the danger, or without warning as to their +probable fate, for hardly an hour of their interminable day passes +without their hearing the sharp click of the trigger and the hoarse cry +of the sentry which precede the murderous volley; and every morning, +through the narrow, filthy lanes upon which the huts have been erected +the guerillas, drive along the pack-mules bearing the mutilated bodies +of those who have been punished cruelly for the crime of seeking food to +keep their children from starvation. This colossal crime, with all the +refinement of slow torture, is so barbarous, so bloodthirsty and yet so +exquisite, that the human mind refuses to believe it, and revolts at the +suggestion that it was conceived, planned and plotted by a man. And yet<a name="page_101" id="page_101"></a> +this crime, this murder of thousands of innocent men, women and +children, is now being daily committed in Cuba, at our very doors and +well-nigh in sight of our shores, and we are paying very little heed to +the spectacle."</p> + +<p>These words were written before the United States came to the rescue, +and the criticism in the last sentence is, thank Heaven, no longer +applicable. We are slow to act perhaps, but when we do act, our work is +effective, and we never rest until our aim is accomplished.<a name="page_102" id="page_102"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h3> + +<h4>THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY.</h4> + +<p>To enlarge upon the sufferings of the Cubans is a painful task, but it +is a task that must be accomplished, in the interests of justice and +humanity, and also that the reader may clearly understand why it was the +bounden duty of the United States to interfere.</p> + +<p>Let us therefore proceed with the evidence.</p> + +<p>Julian Hawthorne gives his testimony as follows:</p> + +<p>"These people have starved in a land capable of supplying tens of +millions of people with abundant food. The very ground on which they lie +down to breathe their last might be planted with produce that would feed +them to repletion. But so far from any effort to save them having been +made by Spain, she has wilfully and designedly compassed their +destruction. She has driven them in from their fields and plantations +and forbidden them to help themselves; the plantations themselves have +been laid waste, and should the miserable reconcentrados attempt under +the pretended kindly dispensation of Blanco to return to their +properties they would find the Spanish guerillas lying in wait to +massacre them. No agony of either mind or body has been wanting. The +wife has lost her husband, the mother, her children; the child its +parents, the husband, his family. They have seen them die. Often they +have<a name="page_103" id="page_103"></a> seen them slaughtered wantonly as they lay helpless, waiting a +slower end. The active as well as the passive cruelties of the Spaniards +toward these people have been well-nigh unimaginable."</p> + +<p>Call Richard Harding Davis to the stand!</p> + +<p>"In other wars men have fought with men, and women have suffered +indirectly because the men were killed, but in this war it is the women +herded together in the towns like cattle who are going to die, while the +men camped in the fields and mountains will live."</p> + +<p>General Fitz Hugh Lee says:</p> + +<p>"General Weyler believes that everything is fair in war and every means +justifiable that will ultimately write success on his standards. He did +not purpose to make war with velvet paws, but to achieve his purpose of +putting down the insurrection, if he had to wade through, up to the +visor of his helmet, the blood of every Cuban, man, women and child, on +the island."</p> + +<p>Now hear General Lee relate the following incident, an incident which +created much discussion and feeling in the United States:</p> + +<p>"Dr. Ruiz, an American dentist, who was practicing his profession in a +town called Guanabacoa, some four miles from Havana, was arrested. A +railroad train between Havana and this town had been captured by the +insurgents, and the next day the Spanish authorities arrested a large +number of persons in Guanabacoa, charging them with giving information +which enabled the troops, under their enterprising young leader, +Aranguren, to make the capture; and among these persons<a name="page_104" id="page_104"></a> arrested was +this American. He was a strongly built, athletic man, who confined +himself strictly to the practice of his profession and let politics +alone. He had nothing to do with the train being captured, but that +night was visiting a neighbor opposite, until nine or ten o'clock, when +he returned to his house and went to bed. He was arrested by the police +the next morning; thrown into an incommunicado cell; kept there some +fifty or sixty hours, and was finally (when half crazed by his horrible +imprisonment and calling for his wife and children) struck over the head +with a 'billy' in the hands of a brutal jailer and died from the +effects. Ruiz went into the cell an unusually healthy and vigorous man, +and came out a corpse."</p> + +<p>James Creelman, a brilliant newspaper correspondent, gives his +testimony:</p> + +<p>"Everywhere the breadwinners of Cuba are fleeing in terror before the +Spanish columns, and the ranks of life are being turned into the ranks +of death, for the Cuban who has seen his honest and harmless neighbors +tied up and shot before his eyes, in order that some officer may get +credit for a battle, takes his family to the nearest town or city for +safety, and then goes out to strike a manly blow for his country."</p> + +<p>Senator Thurston, who was sent to Cuba to investigate and report the +condition of affairs, in a passionate address to the United States +Senate testifies:</p> + +<p>"For myself I went to Cuba firmly believing the condition of affairs +there had been greatly exaggerated by the press, and my own efforts were +directed in the first<a name="page_105" id="page_105"></a> instance to the attempted exposure of these +supposed exaggerations. Mr. President, there has undoubtedly been much +sensationalism in the journalism of the time, but as to the condition of +affairs in Cuba, there has been no exaggeration, because exaggeration +has been impossible. The pictures in the American newspapers of the +starving reconcentrados are true. They can all be duplicated by the +thousands. I never saw, and please God I may never see again, so +deplorable a sight as the reconcentrados in the suburbs of Mantanzas. I +can never forget to my dying day the hopeless anguish in their +despairing eyes. Huddled about their little bark huts, they raised no +voice of appeal to us for alms as we went among them. The government of +Spain has not and will not appropriate one dollar to save these people. +They are now being attended and nursed and administered to by the +charity of the United States. Think of the spectacle! We are feeding +these citizens of Spain; we are nursing their sick; we are saving such +as can be saved, and yet there are those who still say: 'It is right for +us to send food, but we must keep our hands off.' I say that the time +has come when muskets ought to go with the food."</p> + +<p>Finally, Senor Enrique Jose Verona, who was at one time a deputy to the +Spanish Cortes, sums up the situation as follows:</p> + +<p>"Spain denies to the Cubans all effective powers in their own county. +Spain condemns the Cubans to a political inferiority in the land where +they were born. Spain confiscates the product of the Cubans' labor +without<a name="page_106" id="page_106"></a> giving them in return either safety, prosperity or education. +Spain has shown itself utterly incapable of governing Cuba. Spain +exploits, impoverishes and demoralizes Cuba."</p> + +<p>This is only a very small portion of the testimony which might be +offered, but can the opinions of men of undoubted honor and veracity be +impeached?</p> + +<p>Not a tithe of the horrors which has existed in the island of Cuba has +been told, and probably never will be told. Because a large proportion +of the sufferers did not, like Du Barri, shriek upon the scaffold, but, +like De Rohan, died mute.</p> + +<p>But still something further can be said as to "The Butcher's" methods, +and, worse still, as to the putting into practice of those methods. The +insurgents have invariably been treated as if they were pirates. The +tigerish nature of Weyler spared no one. Refugees, that is those who did +not obey his barbarous proclamation, were shot down in cold blood. +Starvation was his policy, and starvation too of those, whatever their +sympathies might have been, had never raised a finger against the +existing government. The reconcentrados, harassed beyond all measure, +saw nothing before them but death, and the happiest among them were +those who died first.</p> + +<p>How would you, reader, like to be shut off, with no means of +subsistence, for yourself, your wife and your children, within military +lines, to cross which meant instant death?</p> + +<p>The Butcher could not conquer this valiant people in honorable warfare, +and therefore, worthy scion of his<a name="page_107" id="page_107"></a> blood, he, without one qualm of +conscience, determined to exterminate them. Young boys, not more than +fifteen or sixteen years of age, were charged with the crime of +"rebellion and incendiarism" (that was the favorite charge of Weyler), +and sometimes with the pretence of a trial, sometimes with no trial at +all, were shot down in cold blood by the score. Poor little starving +babies clung to their mothers' breasts from which no substance was to be +obtained. Weyler knew all this, and in his palace in Havana simply +laughed, content so long as each day the death rate of the Cubans +increased, and he himself was gaining favor with his government, and +meanwhile had all that he wanted to eat and drink.</p> + +<p>The merciless wretch, by the way, was ever careful not to expose his own +precious person to bullet or machete.</p> + +<p>But what could be expected of him? He was a Spaniard, a man after +Spain's own heart, and one whom it was her delight to honor.</p> + +<p>This picture is not over-painted. The colors if anything are laid on too +thin.</p> + +<p>Although the so-called rebels were not conquered and never could be +conquered, Weyler was constantly sending reports home of the +"pacification" of first this and then that portion of the island. This +he probably supposed was necessary to placate the Spaniards, who are +divided amongst themselves and ever ready to rise against the existing +government whatever it may be.<a name="page_108" id="page_108"></a></p> + +<p>In spite of all this, brute Weyler has been and still is the idol of a +certain class of Spaniards. In spite of all? No, we should have said, +because of all.</p> + +<p>One of his adherents, among other things, said to Stephen Bonsal, and +this is the sort of utterance that the majority of Spain applauds:</p> + +<p>"The only way to end this Cuban question is the way General Weyler is +going about it. The only way for Spain to retain her sovereignty over +these islands is to exterminate—butcher if you like—every man, woman +and child upon it who is infected with the contagion and dreams of Cuba +Libre. These people must be exterminated and we consider no measure too +ruthless to be adopted to secure this end.</p> + +<p>"I read in an American paper the other day that General Weyler was +poisoning the streams from which the insurgents drink in Matanzas +province. It was not true, but I only wish it had been.</p> + +<p>"General Weyler is our man. We feel sure of him. He will not be +satisfied until every insurgent lies in the ditch with his throat cut, +and that is all we want."</p> + +<p>Stop a moment and think! These words were spoken at the end of the +nineteenth century by the representative of a professed Christian +country. How have the teachings of Christ, who always and primarily +advocated charity, been forgotten or perverted!</p> + +<p>The whole matter of Cuba under Spanish rule is a disgrace to the age we +live in.<a name="page_109" id="page_109"></a></p> + +<p>But (call it spread-eagleism if you like) the United States now has the +affair in hand. It can and will right this wrong, and so effectively +that there will be no possibility of its recurrence.<a name="page_110" id="page_110"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h3> + +<h4>TWO METHODS OF WARFARE: THE SPANISH AND THE CUBAN.</h4> + +<p>Now let us turn to the one crime, so-called, that has been alleged +against the Cubans.</p> + +<p>We refer to the burning of the sugar crops.</p> + +<p>That this has been done on each and every occasion, no one will deny. At +first glance, it seems an act of vandalism. But is it so? Let us examine +carefully into the causes and reasons for it.</p> + +<p>The Spaniards claim that it is a notable example of the reckless and +uncivilized methods of the insurgents. On the contrary, it is a policy +which was carefully planned and systematically carried out by Gomez and +the other Cuban leaders.</p> + +<p>In a proclamation by Gomez, he ordered his lieutenants to burn the sugar +plantations, but he did not tell them to destroy the mills, because he +did not wish, in case of his succeeding in his purpose of liberating +Cuba, to lay the producers flat upon their backs, from which position +they could never, or, only with the utmost difficulty, arise.</p> + +<p>The destruction of the sugar cane was a necessity of war. It must be +remembered that from the sugar crop Spain has received her largest +revenue from Cuba, and to cut off this source of revenue is to cripple +Spain and<a name="page_111" id="page_111"></a> take away from her a large sum of money with which she might +otherwise wage warfare.</p> + +<p>To show that the damage wrought is by no means irreparable, we cannot do +better than quote Baron Antomarchi, a Frenchman who lived for a long +time in Cuba, was there during the early part of the present +insurrection, and knows of what he is speaking:</p> + +<p>"Since the suppression of slavery, and as a result of the high price of +labor the work of sugar making had been modified. In former times a +sugar planter considered his plantation his most necessary possession. +After the process of manufacture was modified, it was his sugar mill +upon which he depended; his plantation was less important. So in burning +the sugar crop, Gomez did not strike a death-blow at the producer. It is +a well known fact that when the cane growth is cut by fire and the +fields are burnt close to the ground, the yield of the following season +is increased and improved; so we see that Gomez did not ruin the country +when he burned the plantations. True, the fields have been burned, but +they will spring up with a more vigorous luxuriance after the rest which +was one of the conditions imposed upon the first agricultural community +of which we have any reliable record, and if the mills which Gomez has +left intact are not destroyed by some authority equally potent, when the +country is reorganized, the sugar industry may flourish to a degree +undreamed of before the Cuban war for liberty."</p> + +<p>Besides depriving Spain of her revenue, Gomez had another though a +lesser reason, for burning the sugar<a name="page_112" id="page_112"></a> cane. He knew that those who were +thrown out of employment would flock to his standard, and his forces +thereby be greatly augmented.</p> + +<p>On the whole, we do not see that the criticism and blame which have been +given to the insurgents for destroying the crops and for the time being +laying waste the land, are deserved. It was a measure of war, and one, +which it seems to us, under the circumstances, was thoroughly justified.</p> + +<p>Now let us contrast, for a moment, the different methods of the +Spaniards and the Cubans in waging warfare.</p> + +<p>In the first place, we do not mean to affirm that the insurgents have +not committed actions, which, in the light of civilization, are +indefensible, but they are few and far between, and they were forced +upon them. After all the horrors to which they were subjected, they +would have been less than human if they had not retaliated.</p> + +<p>The Cubans, both in the Ten Years' War and in the present one, have been +merciful to those of the enemy who fell into their hands. The latter +have been almost invariably treated with kindness and allowed to go free +and unmolested.</p> + +<p>But the Spaniards never reciprocated. It has been their invariable +policy not to exchange prisoners, a notable instance of this being their +recent refusal to exchange the gallant Hobson and his comrades. To be +sure, according to international law they are not compelled to do this, +but it is doubtful if there is another<a name="page_113" id="page_113"></a> civilized nation (by the way, it +is an undeserved compliment to intimate that Spain is civilized), which +would have acted as the country which boasts of its chivalry has done.</p> + +<p>Just here, let us say that those acts of cruelty which have been +committed by the Cuban army have been very far from receiving the +sanction of their leaders. On the contrary, they have been done in +violation of the explicit orders of those leaders; and whenever the +offenders have been discovered, they have been hanged as bandits to the +limb of the nearest tree.</p> + +<p>The hatred and barbarity which the Spaniards have without exception, +evinced toward the Cubans have done much to alienate the latter, have +been the chief causes why peace could not be maintained, and have made +only one outcome possible—the freedom and independence of the island.</p> + +<p>We have already seen the humanity with which Gomez, Maceo and the other +Cuban chiefs treated the wounded of the enemy who chanced to fall into +their hands.</p> + +<p>But how was it on the other side? How did the Spaniards behave toward +the insurgent wounded? When not killed at once and their sufferings +ended immediately, they were cast into loathsome dungeons, with +insufficient food and with no medical attendance whatever.</p> + +<p>Now to a charge which has more than once been brought against Spain, +which has been brought against her recently, which her government has +indignantly denied, but which both in the past and the<a name="page_114" id="page_114"></a> present has been +proved beyond any question of a doubt.</p> + +<p>The charge refers to an action which, with the exception of Spain, has +never been committed but by the most savage tribes, the Indians of North +America and the inhabitants of darkest Africa. We do not think that even +the Turks were ever accused of such an atrocious, unspeakable act.</p> + +<p>We mean the mutilation of the dead bodies (often in a horrible, obscene +way) left upon the battlefield.</p> + +<p>It is with regret and loathing that we approach the subject. But facts +must be spoken.</p> + +<p>There has been scarcely a combat between the Spaniards and the Cubans, +in all the revolutions which have occurred, where the former have not +been guilty of the revolting practice of the mutilation of dead bodies.</p> + +<p>Indeed the most savage of tribes have never gone further in the demoniac +wreaking of vengeance upon the fallen bodies of the enemy than the +Spaniards have.</p> + +<p>It has been a common custom with them to disfigure, mangle and commit +nameless indignities upon the dead.</p> + +<p>When Nestor Aranguren, who you will remember was one of the bravest of +the Cuban leaders, the "Marion," the "Swamp Fox" of the insurrection, +was killed, his body, covered with honorable wounds was taken to Havana, +and paraded before the citizens, subject to their jeers and curses.</p> + +<p>When another insurgent leader, Castillo, was killed, the same frightful +spectacle was witnessed.</p> + +<p>Indeed, it has been the rule among the Spaniards<a name="page_115" id="page_115"></a> whenever the body of a +so-called rebel leader fell into their hands, to drag his nude and +mutilated body, tied at the end of a horse's tail, throughout the +nearest town, and the excuse for this was—what? That the body might be +fully identified.</p> + +<p>Among the Cubans, there is only one instance related where they +retaliated in kind. And this was when it is said that they sent a +Spanish soldier back to Havana with his tongue cut out. But even this +story, the only act of brutality alleged against them is not well +authenticated, resting as it does entirely upon Spanish evidence. And we +know well how much credence can be given to that evidence.</p> + +<p>To come down to more recent occurrences.</p> + +<p>When it was first reported that the bodies of our marines killed at +Guantanamo were subjected to unmentionable mutilations by the Spaniards, +we could not believe it. It was said that the condition of the bodies +was caused by shots fired from the Mauser rifle. But the Mauser rifle +inflicts a clean cut hole. It could not possibly have been responsible +for the horrible condition of the bodies. It is impossible for us to +explain further in print. Remember or look up what was done by the +Apaches in some of our Indian wars, and then from your knowledge, or the +knowledge gained by research, fill up the hiatus.</p> + +<p>And the Spaniards cannot claim in this latter instance, if indeed they +can in any other, that these barbarities were committed by irregular and +irresponsible troops. It is beyond question that by far the greater<a name="page_116" id="page_116"></a> +portion of the troops employed against Colonel Huntington (we are +referring now to the affair at Guantanamo) belonged to the regular army, +under the command of General Linares.</p> + +<p>The New York Herald, in an editorial on the subject, remarks most justly +and forcibly: "What sort of a degraded spectacle, then, does Spain +present, going whining through Europe in search of intercession or +intervention, with such a damnable record against her, made in the very +first engagement of troops?</p> + +<p>"We can hear good old John Bull sputter out his righteous indignation, +but will his Holiness the Pope recognize such degenerate child? Can the +punctilious Francis Joseph of Austria afford to condone crimes like +these? Will the Emperor William or the Czar of Russia lift his voice in +behalf of such fiends? Can our sister republic, France, sympathize with +the monsters who disgrace the very name of soldier?</p> + +<p>"Not so! All Europe will join with our own government, now thoroughly +aroused to the indignities put upon it, and voice the stern edict of +humanity and civilization:</p> + +<p>"Spain has now placed herself without the pale of the nations. Let her +meet the retribution she so justly deserves."</p> + +<p>Senor Estrado Palma, the representative of Cuba in the United States, +has declared in a manifesto that the Cubans threw themselves into the +struggle advisedly and deliberately, that they knew what they had to +face and decided unflinchingly to persevere until they should<a name="page_117" id="page_117"></a> free +themselves from the Spanish government. Experience has taught them that +they have nothing to envy in the Spaniards; that in fact, they feel +themselves superior to them, and can expect from Spain no improvement, +no better education.</p> + +<p>Slavery is ended in Cuba, and the white and the colored live together in +perfect harmony, fighting side by side, to obtain political liberty.</p> + +<p>Senor Palma, by the way, asserts, with how much authority we are unable +to state, that the colored population in Cuba is superior to that of the +United States. He says that they are industrious, intelligent and lovers +of learning; also, that, during the last fifteen years, they have +attained remarkable intellectual development.</p> + +<p>There are certain utterances of Senor Palma in this manifesto which +deserve to be quoted in full, so pregnant are they with truth, and so +full of food for thought to the average American citizen, whether he +agrees with them or not. Senor Palma says:</p> + +<p>"We Cubans have a thousandfold more reason in our endeavor to free +ourselves from the Spanish yoke than had the people of the thirteen +colonies, when, in 1775, they rose in arms against the British +government. The people of these colonies were in full enjoyment of all +the rights of man; they had liberty of conscience, freedom of speech, +liberty of the press, the right of public meeting and the right of free +locomotion. They elected those who governed them, they made their own +laws, and, in fact, enjoyed the blessings of self-government. They were +not under the sway of a captain-general with<a name="page_118" id="page_118"></a> arbitrary powers, who, at +his will could imprison them, deport them to penal colonies, or order +their execution even without the semblance of a court-martial. They did +not have to pay a permanent army and navy in order that they might be +kept in subjection, nor to feed a swarm of hungry employees yearly sent +over from the metropolis to prey upon the country. They were never +subjected to a stupid and crushing customs tariff which compelled them +to go to home markets for millions of merchandise annually which they +could buy much cheaper elsewhere; they were never compelled to cover a +budget of twenty-six or thirty millions a year without the consent of +the taxpayers and for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the army +and navy of the oppressor, to pay the salaries of thousands of worthless +European employees, the whole interest on a debt not incurred by the +colony, and other expenditures from which the island received no benefit +whatever; for, out of all those millions, only the paltry sum of seven +hundred thousand dollars was apparently applied for works of internal +improvement, and one-half of which invariably went into the pockets of +Spanish employees.</p> + +<p>"If the right of the thirteen British colonies to rise in arms in order +to acquire their independence has never been questioned because of the +attempt of the mother country to tax them by a duty upon tea, or by the +Stamp Act, will there be a single citizen in this great republic of the +United States, whether he be a public or private man, who will doubt the +justice, the necessity in which the Cuban people find themselves of +fighting to-day<a name="page_119" id="page_119"></a> and to-morrow and always, until they shall have +overthrown Spanish oppression and tyranny in their country, and formed +themselves into a free and independent republic?"</p> + +<p>Now, honestly, all prejudice aside, this is not a bad brief for the +plaintiff, is it?</p> + +<p>There is one more document to which we desire to call your attention. +And that is, a letter written to Professor Starr Jordan, of the Leland +Stanford, Jr., University of San Francisco, by a Havanese gentleman of +undoubted integrity and of Spanish origin.</p> + +<p>Professor Jordan declares that this letter seems to show that "the +rebellion is not a mere bandit outbreak of negroes and jailbirds, but +the effort of the whole people to throw off the yoke of a government +they find intolerable."</p> + +<p>The letter states, among other things, that the insurrection was begun +and is kept up by Cuban people; that the Spanish government has made +colossal and unheard-of efforts to put it down, but has not succeeded in +diminishing it; on the contrary, the insurrection has spread from one +extreme of the island to the other; that the flower of the Cuban youth +is in the army of the insurrection, in whose ranks are many physicians, +lawyers, druggists, professors, artists, business men, engineers and men +of that ilk.</p> + +<p>Professor Jordan's correspondent declares that this fact can be proved +by the excellent consular service of the United States.</p> + +<p>He admits that destruction has been carried on by<a name="page_120" id="page_120"></a> both sides, but +affirms that the insurgents began by destroying their own property, in +order to deprive the troops of the government of shelter and sustenance.</p> + +<p>He further declares that the insurgents will continue in their course +until they fulfill their purpose, carrying all before them by fire and +blood.</p> + +<p>He concludes as follows:</p> + +<p>"All eyes are directed toward the north, to the republic which is the +mother of all Americans. The people of the United States must bear +strongly in mind now, as never before, that profession is null and void, +if action does not affirm it."</p> + +<p>But action has come at last, as the fiendish Spaniards have already +found out to their cost.</p> + +<p>What is Cuba, the "Pearl of the Antilles," at the present time of +writing? The answer to that question is as follows:</p> + +<p>A land devastated and temporarily ruined; a gem besmirched almost beyond +recognition; a heap of smoking ashes; a population of starving men, +women and children, with an iron hand clutching remorselessly at their +hearts; a horrible, ghastly picture of what savage men are capable of in +the way of destruction.</p> + +<p>Now, Americans, people of the free and independent United States; you +who enjoy all the blessings of liberty; you who can pursue your +avocations without let or hindrance; you who are the jury in this +case—the evidence is before you.</p> + +<p>You have undoubtedly heard it said that the interference of the United +States was unwarrantable; that there<a name="page_121" id="page_121"></a> was no real reason for the present +Spanish-American war; that a stronger country took advantage of a +weaker; and other arguments ad nauseam.</p> + +<p>But is there one of our readers who would see a woman, or a weak though +honorable man, attacked by a savage foe, without interfering, and doing +the best he could to give life and freedom to the oppressed?</p> + +<p>Think it all over, Americans, and think it over carefully and +judiciously.</p> + +<p>At your own doors, is a poor, miserable, starving wretch, starving from +no fault of his, and with a bulldog, not your own, but belonging to a +neighbor (a neighbor, grant you with whom you have always hitherto been +at peace) about to fasten its fangs in the throat of this unhappy man.</p> + +<p>Would you hold your hands, saying that it was no affair of yours, or, +with your superior strength, would you fly to the rescue?</p> + +<p>Once more, Americans, you have heard the whole evidence. The case is in +your hands.</p> + +<p>What is your verdict?<a name="page_122" id="page_122"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h3> + +<h4>THE BUTCHER'S CAMPAIGN.</h4> + +<p>Now let us go back to the making of history, to the time when the +butcher Weyler came to Cuba to assume the governor-generalship.</p> + +<p>By this time the Cuban question had been brought authoritatively before +the United States Senate, the people were beginning to be strongly +roused with indignation at the state of affairs in Cuba, and there was +considerable excitement when the news of Weyler's appointment became +known.</p> + +<p>Strange to say, the insurgents rejoiced rather than grieved at this +appointment, the cause of which is not far to seek. They knew thoroughly +well Weyler's character, and what his policy was more than likely to be. +They thought that it would drive all the Cubans, who were wavering, into +their ranks and would at last force the United States, whose people, +when all is said and done, were their natural allies and defenders, to +intervene.</p> + +<p>After the battle of Coliseo, Gomez and Maceo made their way through +Madruga, Nueva-Paz and Guines. Then they destroyed, at a large number of +points, the very important railway which connected Havana with Batabano, +and also cut the telegraph wires. When they had accomplished this, the +two leaders separated,<a name="page_123" id="page_123"></a> Gomez to advance in the direction of Havana, and +Maceo to invade Pinar del Rio, which is in the extreme west of the +island.</p> + +<p>Gomez succeeded in burning several more or less important suburbs of +Havana.</p> + +<p>Almost the first military movement that Weyler made was an attempt to +cut off Maceo and prevent his communication with the other detachments +of the Cuban army. It seemed to be his chief purpose to compass the +death of the mulatto leader, a purpose which at last was most +unfortunately accomplished, but then only through treachery.</p> + +<p>In emulation of his predecessor, Weyler also tried his hand at trocha +building. He constructed a fence of this description across Cuba between +the port of Artemisa and the bay of Majana, about twenty-five miles from +Havana.</p> + +<p>It may be of interest to describe this particular trocha, as it was one +of, if not the most important, and a good example of the others.</p> + +<p>As its name, trocha, signifies, it was a ditch, or rather two ditches, +some three yards wide and the same in depth, with a road between them +broad enough to allow cavalry to pass. On each bank was a barbed wire +fence, to stop the assailants' progress. Beyond the two ditches, were +trous-de-loup, or wolf-traps, from twenty to seventy feet apart. At +every hundred yards or so there were fortifications. After night fell, +this fortified line was lighted by electricity. Twelve thousand men +comprised the garrison, besides outposts of half as many more.<a name="page_124" id="page_124"></a></p> + +<p>Weyler prided himself greatly upon this trocha, which was intended to +keep the rebels at a distance.</p> + +<p>But, in spite of all the precautions taken, the wily Maceo and his men +more than once crossed the trocha, and the Spanish were not the wiser +until it was too late to prevent them.</p> + +<p>Once, when they had passed the obstruction without a shot being fired, +the insurgents tore up some distance of a railway line on the further +side of the trocha, the Cuban leader remarking:</p> + +<p>"We did this just to show the enemy that we noticed their plaything."</p> + +<p>The headquarters of the insurgents was and is up to the present writing, +a place called Cubitas, the top of a mountain, something over a score of +miles from Puerto Principe. It is practically impregnable, only a very +narrow spiral path leading up to it. A handful of men could defend it +against a large army. The little plain on top of the mountain has an +area of more than a square mile. It is arable land, and many food +products are raised there. The insurgents have constructed here quite a +number of wooden buildings, and they have also a dynamite factory. It +would take a long time to capture the place by storm or to starve the +defenders out.</p> + +<p>The Cubans have had one great advantage, that is, they are acclimated. +Quite the contrary is true of the Spanish army of invasion, and their +ranks have suffered far more from the climate than they have from the +bullets of the foe. Added to this, their wages are greatly in<a name="page_125" id="page_125"></a> arrears +and the rations provided for them are unwholesome and insufficient. The +surgeons have a very small supply of quinine and antiseptics, both of +which are absolutely essential.</p> + +<p>The strength of the two armies, at the time of Weyler's arrival in Cuba +was about as follows: The government has 200,000 men, including the +60,000 volunteers, while the insurgents numbered not much more than a +fourth of this, some fifty or sixty thousand men, which were scattered +among the various provinces, the largest proportion being massed in +Santiago de Cuba.</p> + +<p>There were twenty-four generals in the Cuban army, nineteen being white, +three black, one a mulatto, and one an Indian; of the thirty-four +colonels, twenty-seven were white, five were black, and two were +mulattoes.</p> + +<p>The record of the mortality among the Spanish soldiers is an appalling +one, something simply ghastly to contemplate.</p> + +<p>Harper's Weekly has published statistics concerning Spanish losses in +Cuba, which were obtained from a source that it was forbidden to +disclose. In two years from March, 1895 to March, 1897, 1,375 were +killed in battle, 765 died of wounds, and 8,627 were wounded, but +recovered. Ten per cent. of the killed and fatally wounded were +officers, and 5 per cent. of the wounded died of yellow fever, while 127 +officers and about 40,000 men succumbed to other maladies.</p> + +<p>Another authority gives the following rates of losses: Out of every +thousand, ten were killed, sixty-six died of yellow fever, two hundred +and one died of other diseases,<a name="page_126" id="page_126"></a> while one hundred and forty-three were +sent home, either sick or wounded.</p> + +<p>Out of two hundred thousand men sent to Cuba in two years, only in the +neighborhood of ninety-six thousand, capable of bearing arms, were left +the first of March, 1897.</p> + +<p>During our own civil war one and sixty-five one-hundredths per cent. of +all those mustered into the United States service were killed in action +or died of their wounds; ten per cent. were wounded, and a little less +than two per cent. died of wounds and from unknown causes.</p> + +<p>That we lost during the civil war, 186,216 men from disease is terrible +enough, but to equal the percentage of the Spanish losses from the same +cause, during twice the time that our war lasted, would bring the total +up to a million and a half of men.</p> + +<p>From the very beginning, the insurgents held possession of the two +eastern provinces, Santiago and Puerto Principe. It was only by +unremitting efforts and the loss of many lives that the Spaniards +retained their hold on the district about Bayamo.</p> + +<p>Late in 1890 General Calixto Garcia, now second in rank to Gomez, and +playing an important part in the aiding of the American troops, landed +on the island with strong reinforcements. Garcia, who was also a veteran +of the Ten Years' War had several more or less important engagements +with the Spanish, in almost all of which he was victorious.</p> + +<p>Antonio Maceo, in order to consult with Gomez,<a name="page_127" id="page_127"></a> crossed the trocha on +the night of December 4, 1896. The next day, at the head of five hundred +men and within an hour's ride of Havana, he was killed in a skirmish, +just as he had made the declaration that all was going well. A young son +of Gomez, who was suffering from an old wound, and who refused to leave +the ground until his chief was carried away, was also killed.</p> + +<p>There is not the shadow of a doubt but that this double catastrophe was +due to the treachery of one of Maceo's companions, a certain Dr. +Zertucha.</p> + +<p>One of Maceo's aides tells the story as follows: "Firing was heard near +Punta Brava, and Zertucha, who had ridden off to one side of the road, +came galloping back, crying: "Come with me! Come with me! Quick! Quick!" +Maceo at once put spurs to his horse, and, followed by his five aids, +rode swiftly after the physician, who plunged into the thick growth on +the side of the road.</p> + +<p>The party had only ridden a few yards, when Zertucha, bent low in his +saddle, and swerved sharply to one side, galloping away like mad.</p> + +<p>Almost at the same moment, a volley was fired by a party of Spanish +soldiers hidden in the dense underbrush, and Maceo and four of his men +dropped out of their saddles, mortally wounded."</p> + +<p>The single survivor, the man whose words are quoted above, contrived to +get back to his own party and brought them to the scene of the tragedy. +The Spaniards were driven away, Maceo's body was found<a name="page_128" id="page_128"></a> stripped, and +young Gomez had been stabbed, and his skull was broken.</p> + +<p>The traitor Zertucha surrendered to the Spanish by whom naturally he was +treated with the utmost kindness and consideration.</p> + +<p>Afterwards Zertucha attempted to blacken Maceo's memory by declaring +that he was disheartened and desperate, and that his death was the +result of his own folly.</p> + +<p>Senor Palma says of this:</p> + +<p>"General Maceo was loved and supported by all men struggling for Cuban +independence, whether in a military or civil capacity. If a man was ever +idolized by his people, that man was General Maceo. Dr. Zertucha knows +that, but perhaps he has an object in making his false assertions."</p> + +<p>An object? Of course he had an object—the currying of favor with the +Spaniards, the saving of his own wretched carcass and the obtaining of +the blood-money due him.</p> + +<p>So perished the last of the Maceos, eight brothers, all having died +before him in the cause of Cuban liberty.</p> + +<p>The following poem on Maceo's death appeared in the New York Sun:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="center">Antonio Maceo.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Stern and unyielding, though others might bow to the tempest;</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Slain by the serpent who cowered in hiding behind thee;</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Slumber secure where the hands of thy comrades have laid thee;</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Dim to thine ear be the roar of the battle above thee.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Set now is thy sun, going down in darkness and menace,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">While through the thick-gathering clouds one red ray of vengeance</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Streams up to heaven, blood red, from the place where thou liest.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Though the sword of Death's angel lies cold on thy forehead,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Still to the hearts of mankind speaks the voice of thy spirit:</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Still does thine angry shade arrest the step of the tyrant.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">"V. B."</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>Maceo's death was a terrible blow to the insurgents, but, with +indomitable spirit they rallied and plunged with renewed energy into the +fray.</p> + +<p>Maceo was succeeded by General Rius Rivers, who does not seem to have +been in any way the equal of his predecessor.</p> + +<p>Having accomplished by low treachery what he had not succeeded in doing +by open, honorable warfare, Weyler increased his efforts to put down the +rebellion in Pinar del Rio, where Maceo had been in command.</p> + +<p>The trochas now became of advantage, and Weyler succeeded in confining +Rivera's scattered bands to the province. Early in 1897, Rivera was made +a prisoner, and since then nothing of importance, from a military +standpoint, has occurred in Pinar del Rio.</p> + +<p>In 1897 there were but few incidents of interest in the war. The Cubans +were holding back, evading conflicts wherever they could, and waiting +for the long-delayed interposition of the United States.</p> + +<p>Guines, however, was taken by them, and General<a name="page_130" id="page_130"></a> Garcia captured the +fortified post of Tunas after a fight of three days. The Spanish +commander and about forty per cent. of his force were killed. Finally +the remainder of the garrison surrendered. The spoils which fell into +the hands of the Cubans comprised a large amount of rifles and +ammunition, besides two Krupp guns.</p> + +<p>The victory was a notable one, especially as Weyler had cabled his +government that Tunas was impregnable. Its fall gave rise to much harsh +criticism and bitter feeling in Spain.</p> + +<p>Weyler was constantly proclaiming the "pacification" of certain +provinces, statements that were most transparently absurd and false. He +even immediately followed up his proclamations by the most severe and +brutal measures in those very provinces.</p> + +<p>Finally even Madrid, to whom it would have mattered little if the policy +had proved a success, became convinced that Weyler's savage procedure +was a failure.</p> + +<p>The butcher had gained absolutely no advantage, but had simply been the +cause of untold and undeserved suffering.</p> + +<p>The insurrection, taking it all for all, was just as strong, if not +stronger, than it was the day Weyler arrived in Cuba.</p> + +<p>So, in October, 1897, he was withdrawn from his post, and summoned back +to Spain.</p> + +<p>It is to be hoped that the world will never again witness such a +shameful and shameless exhibition as was his administration.</p> + +<p>Before dismissing him from these pages, let us quote<a name="page_131" id="page_131"></a> from Stephen +Bonsal, with whose words no unprejudiced person can quarrel.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bonsal says:</p> + +<p>"Should they be wise, and they will have a moment of clairvoyance soon, +or they will disappear as a nation, the Spaniards should seek to cast a +mantle of oblivion and forgetfulness about the wretched name of Weyler +and all the ignoble deeds that have characterized his rule. While it +cannot be expected that the bishop will be displaced by the butcher, +there is one whom Weyler will displace upon his unenviable pinnacle of +prominence in the temple of infamy, and that is Alva. His name is +destined to become in every tongue that is spoken by civilized people a +synonym of bloody, relentless and pitiless war waged upon American soil, +upon the long-disused methods of the Vandals and the Visigoths; and +Alva, who had the cruel spirit of his age and a sincere fanaticism as +his excuse, will step down and out into an oblivion which will doubtless +be grateful to his shade, and most certainly so to those who bear his +execrated name.</p> + +<p>"I could ask no more terrible punishment for him (Weyler) than many +years of life to listen to the voices of despair he has heard ring out +upon his path through Cuba; to hear again and ever the accusing voices +which no human power can hush, and to review the scenes of suffering +which he has occasioned which no human power can obliterate from his +memory."<a name="page_132" id="page_132"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h3> + +<h4>AMERICA'S CHARITY AND SPAIN'S DIPLOMACY.</h4> + +<p>The new governor-general of Cuba was Don Ramon Blanco, as to whose +character accounts differ. It is probable that while he is not the +high-minded, honorable gentleman that Campos was, he is far, very far +from being such an unmitigated beast as his predecessor.</p> + +<p>Before he reached Cuba, which was the last of October, 1897, he stated +in an interview:</p> + +<p>"My policy will never include concentration. I fight the enemy, not +women and children. One of the first things I shall do will be to allow +the reconcentrados to go out of the town and till the soil."</p> + +<p>This sounds very just and right, but, as a matter of fact, the policy +enounced was never carried out, not even in minor particulars. The +persecution of the pacificos remained as bitter and relentless as ever.</p> + +<p>Perhaps General Blanco is not entirely to blame for this, as the +pressure brought to bear against his expressed ideas both by the home +government and by the "peninsulars" in Havana, who had been in full +accord with the methods of the "Butcher," was so strong as scarcely to +be resisted.</p> + +<p>Blanco issued an amnesty proclamation soon after his arrival in Havana, +but the insurgents paid little or no<a name="page_133" id="page_133"></a> attention. Their experience in +such matters in the past had been too stern to be forgotten.</p> + +<p>In the field, Blanco was also most unsuccessful, gaining nothing but +petty victories of no value whatever. The pay of the Spanish soldiers +was terribly in arrears, and their rations were of the most meagre +description. No wonder that they were disheartened, and in no condition +to fight.</p> + +<p>In a word, Blanco absolutely failed, as completely as had his +predecessors, in quelling the rebellion.</p> + +<p>The people of the United States were becoming more and more enraged at +the atrocities committed at their very door, and more and more anxious +that the Cubans should have the independence which they themselves had +achieved.</p> + +<p>Moreover, there was a large number of Americans in the island who were +made to suffer from the policy of reconcentration. Citizens of the +United States, a large number of them being naturalized Americans, were +constantly being seized and imprisoned, on suspicion alone, no proof +whatever being advanced, of their furnishing aid and comfort to the +insurgents. They were placed in filthy cells, no communication with the +outside world being allowed them. This is what the Spaniards term +"incommunicado."</p> + +<p>No writing materials were allowed them and nothing whatever to read. The +windows were so high up that no view was to be obtained. The cells were +damp with the moisture of years and had rotten, disease-breeding floors, +covered with filth of every description. Moreover,<a name="page_134" id="page_134"></a> they were overrun +with cockroaches, rats and other vermin.</p> + +<p>The sustenance furnished the prisoners was wretched, and even such as it +was, it was not given to them regularly. More often than not, they were +left for long hours to suffer the pangs of hunger and thirst.</p> + +<p>A notable instance of Americans being seized and imprisoned in these +loathsome dungeons is the following:</p> + +<p>A little schooner called the "Competitor" attempted to land a +filibustering expedition. She was captured, after most of her passengers +had been landed, and her crew, numbering five, were tried by a court +which had been instructed to convict them, and sentenced to death. They +would undoubtedly have been executed, as some years before had been the +prisoners of the ill-fated Virginius, had it not been for the prompt +intervention of the United States, spurred thereto by General Fitz Hugh +Lee.</p> + +<p>The conviction was growing stronger and stronger in the United States +that something should be done to mitigate the terrible suffering in +Cuba.</p> + +<p>The Red Cross Association, a splendid charitable organization, at the +head of which was Miss Clara Barton, undertook this noble work of +relief. The government of the United States lent its assistance and +support. Large sums of money and tons of supplies of food were +contributed throughout the Union, both by public and private donations. +The newspapers everywhere, North, East, South and West, did magnificent +service in furthering the good work.<a name="page_135" id="page_135"></a></p> + +<p>Spain, instead of showing gratitude, rather resented this, and there was +considerable difficulty to prosecute the labor of charity. Still, the +efforts, in the interests of suffering humanity were by no means +unavailing.</p> + +<p>President McKinley speaks of the movement as follows:</p> + +<p>"The success which had attended the limited measure of relief extended +to the suffering American citizens of Cuba, by the judicious expenditure +through consular agencies, of money appropriated expressly for their +succor by the joint resolution approved May 24, 1897, prompted the +humane extension of a similar scheme of aid to the great body of +sufferers. A suggestion to this end was aquiesced in by the Spanish +authorities. On the twenty-fourth of December last, I caused to be +issued an appeal to the American people, inviting contributions, in +money or in kind, for the starving sufferers in Cuba, following this on +the eighth of January by a similar public announcement of the formation +of a Central Cuban Relief Committee, with headquarters in New York city, +composed of three members representing the American National Red Cross +Society, and the religious and business elements of the community. The +efforts of that committee have been untiring and have accomplished much. +Arrangements for free transportation to Cuba have greatly aided the +charitable work. The president of the American Red Cross and +representatives of other contributory organizations have generously +visited Cuba and co-operated with the consul-general and the local +authorities to make effective disposition of the relief<a name="page_136" id="page_136"></a> collected +through the efforts of the Central Committee. Nearly $200,000 in money +and supplies has already reached the sufferers and more is forthcoming. +The supplies are admitted duty free, and transportation to the interior +has been arranged, so that the relief, at first necessarily confined to +Havana and the larger cities, is now extended through most if not all of +the towns through which suffering exists. Thousands of lives have +already been saved. The necessity for a change in the condition of the +reconcentrados is recognized in the Spanish government."</p> + +<p>And yet Spain resented these charitable efforts, as being opposed to her +policy. The people of the United States, in sending this money and these +supplies, had nothing else in view but charity, a longing to do all that +they could to relieve the anguish of an oppressed and tortured people. +There was no ulterior motive whatever.</p> + +<p>A large amount of the sums contributed was diverted to a purpose very +different from that for which it had been intended.</p> + +<p>The Spanish government, more through fear of the condemnation of the +other European nations than anything else, voted about six hundred +thousand dollars for the relief of the starving reconcentradoes.</p> + +<p>But this was a ruse, a sum chiefly on paper. General Lee, and his +testimony is incontrovertible, says:</p> + +<p>"I do not believe six hundred thousand dollars, in supplies, will be +given to those people, and the soldiers left to starve. They will divide +it up here and there; a<a name="page_137" id="page_137"></a> piece taken off here and a piece taken off +there. I do not believe they have appropriated anything of the kind. The +condition of the reconcentrados out in the country is just as bad as in +General Weyler's day. It has been relieved a good deal by supplies from +the United States, but that has ceased now.</p> + +<p>"General Blanco published a proclamation, rescinding General Weyler's +bando, as they call it there, but it has had no practical effect. In the +first place, these people have no place to go; the houses have been +burned down; there is nothing but the bare land there, and it would take +them two months before they could raise the first crop. In the next +place, they are afraid to go out from the lines of the towns, because +the roving bands of the Spanish guerillas, as they are called, would +kill them. So they stick right in the edges of the town, just like they +did, with nothing to eat except what they can get from charity. The +Spanish have nothing to give."</p> + +<p>The government and people of Spain now became very much afraid of the +attitude of the United States. They knew that something had to be done, +so to speak, to throw a sop to Cerberus. Therefore Sagasta, the premier +of Spain, conceived the idea of granting to Cuba a species of autonomy. +But, with the usual Spanish diplomacy, it was not autonomy at all. It +purposed to be home rule, but every article gave a loop-hole for Spain +not to fulfill her obligations.</p> + +<p>It was a false and absurd proposition, intended to deceive, but too +flimsy in its fabric to deceive any one. It was rotten clean through, +and was opposed by everyone<a name="page_138" id="page_138"></a> except the framers of the autonomistic +papers, General Blanco, his staff and a few others, who hoped, but hoped +in vain, great things from the proclamation.</p> + +<p>The Cuban leaders, who at one time would have hailed with joy such a +concession, if they had been assured that the provisions would have been +followed out loyally and without fraud, now rejected the autonomistic +proposition with scorn and loathing.</p> + +<p>Their battle cry was now, and they were determined it ever should be: +"Independence or death!"</p> + +<p>It was too late. There was no possibility now of home rule under Spanish +domination.</p> + +<p>Gomez even went so far as to declare that any one who should attempt to +bring to his camp any offer of autonomy would be seized as a spy and +shot.</p> + +<p>General Lee, speaking of the proposed autonomy, says:</p> + +<p>"Blanco's autonomistic government was doomed to failure from its +inception. The Spanish soldiers and officers scorned it because they did +not desire Cuban rule, which such autonomy, if genuine, would insure. +The Spanish merchants and citizens were opposed to it because they too +were hostile to the Cubans having control of the island, and, if the +question could be narrowed down to Cuban control or annexation to the +United States, they were all annexationists, believing that they could +get a better government, and one that would protect in a greater measure +life and property under the United States flag than under the Cuban +banner. On the other hand, the Cubans in arms would not<a name="page_139" id="page_139"></a> touch it, +because they were fighting for free Cuba. And the Cuban citizens and +sympathizers were opposed to it also."</p> + +<p>Senor Palma sums up the question of autonomy as follows:</p> + +<p>"Autonomy would mean that the Cuban people will make their own laws, +appoint all their public officers, except the governor-general, and +attend to the local affairs with entire independence, without, of +course, interference by the metropolis. What then would be left to +Spain, since between her and Cuba there is no commercial intercourse of +any kind? Spain is not and cannot be, a market for Cuban products, and +is moreover unable to provide Cuba with the articles in need by the +latter. The natural market for the Cuban products is the United States, +from which in exchange Cuba buys with great advantage flour, provisions, +machinery, etc. What then, I repeat, is left to Spain but the big debt +incurred by her, without the consent and against the will of the people +of Cuba? We perfectly understand the autonomy of Canada as a colony of +Great Britain. The two countries are closely connected with each other +by the most powerful ties—the mutual interest of a reciprocal +commerce."</p> + +<p>Murat Halstead, who is invariably logical and correct, puts the whole +matter in a few trenchant words:</p> + +<p>"There is nothing to regard as possible in any of the reforms the +Spaniards are promising with much animation and to which they ascribe +the greatest excellence, to take place after the insurgents have +surrendered their<a name="page_140" id="page_140"></a> arms. Spain is, as always, incapable of changing her +fatal colonial policy, that never has been or can be reformed."</p> + +<p>Spain's fatal colonial policy. Could there be truer words?</p> + +<p>Let us pause for a moment to contemplate what this fatal colonial policy +has cost her.</p> + +<p>At one time she swayed the destinies of Europe and had possessions in +every continent. Samuel Johnson, in writing of her, said:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">"Are there no regions yet unclaimed by Spain?</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> Quick, let us rise, those unhappy lands explore,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> And bear oppression's insolence no more."</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>The whole reason of Spain's downfall is the ruthless and savage +character of the Spanish people.</p> + +<p>Due to her oppression, note the following list of colonies which she has +lost:</p> + +<p>1609. The Netherlands.</p> + +<p>1628. Malacca, Ceylon, Java and other islands.</p> + +<p>1640. Portugal.</p> + +<p>1648. Spain renounced all claim to Holland.</p> + +<p>1648. Brabant and other parts of Flanders.</p> + +<p>1649. Maestricht, Hetogenbosch, Breda, Bergen-of-Zoom, and many other +fortresses in the Low Countries. In this year also she practically +surrendered supremacy on the seas to Northern Europe.</p> + +<p>1659. Rousillon and Cardague. By the cession of these places to France, +the boundary line between France and Spain became the Pyrenees.</p> + +<p>1668. Other portions of Flanders.<a name="page_141" id="page_141"></a></p> + +<p>1672. Still more cities and towns in Flanders.</p> + +<p>1704. Gibraltar.</p> + +<p>1704. Majorca, Minorca and Ivizza.</p> + +<p>1791. The Nootka Sound settlements.</p> + +<p>1794. St. Domingo.</p> + +<p>1800. Louisiana.</p> + +<p>1802. Trinidad.</p> + +<p>1819. Florida.</p> + +<p>1810-21. Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chili, +Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Patagonia, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, +San Salvador, Hayti and numerous other islands.</p> + +<p>Spain has now not a foot of territory on the American continent, and +very shortly she will not have a foot anywhere except within the +confines of her own home.</p> + +<p>To return again to the proposed autonomy of Cuba.</p> + +<p>At the time it was offered Gomez, that grand old man of Cuba said:</p> + +<p>"This is a war to the death for independence, and nothing but +independence will we accept. To talk of home rule is to idle away time. +But I have hopes that the United States, sooner or later, will recognize +our belligerency. It is a question of mere justice, and, in spite of all +arts of diplomacy, justice wins in the long run. The day we are +recognized as belligerents, I can name a fixed term for the end of the +war.</p> + +<p>"With regard to paying an indemnity to Spain, that is a question of +amount. A year ago we could pay $100,000,000, and I was ready to agree +to that. Now that Spain owes more than $400,000,000, we will not pay so +much."<a name="page_142" id="page_142"></a></p> + +<p>It was too late now to speak of reforms or of home rule in any shape. +The Cubans were not willing to nurse illusions. They were resolved on +absolute freedom or nothing.</p> + +<p>Any form of Spanish rule would mean the entire subjection of the Cubans, +and, had they accepted the proposed autonomy, there is no doubt but that +the future would have been as bad, if not worse, than the past.</p> + +<p>Public opinion in the United States was never so deeply aroused as it +was now. Citizens in all ranks of life were calling loudly for +interference, which, in the name of civilization and humanity, should +end the horrible state of affairs in Cuba.</p> + +<p>The United States was Cuba's natural defender and protector, and now, +both press and public declared, was the time to act.</p> + +<p>The president was fully aware of the gravity of the situation, but with +rare discretion, for which future historians will give him due credit, +he bided his time, preferring, if possible, peace with honor.</p> + +<p>In his first message relating to the Cuban situation, President McKinley +said:</p> + +<p>"If it shall hereafter appear to be a duty imposed by our obligations to +ourselves, to civilization and humanity, to intervene with force, it +shall be without fault on our part, and only because the necessity of +such action will be so clear as to command the support and approval of +the civilized world."</p> + +<p>General Stewart L. Woodford, our minister to Spain,<a name="page_143" id="page_143"></a> behaved with the +utmost courtesy and did everything in the power of mortal man to avoid +hostilities.</p> + +<p>One cause of the American people's irritability, and in all justice +there was much reason for it, was Spain's pretence that the Cuban war +had been prolonged because of America's inability or non desire to +maintain neutrality. Nothing could be falser or more absurd, for the +United States had invariably, whenever possible, stopped all +filibustering expeditions to Cuba. The records will bear out this +statement, without any possibility of refutation. More than two millions +of dollars had been expended by the United States in Spain's interest. +Certainly, gratitude or its equivalent is a word that does not appear in +the Spanish lexicon.<a name="page_144" id="page_144"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h3> + +<h4>THE LAST DAYS OF PEACE.</h4> + +<p>Then came the De Lome incident which served to inflame further passions +already aroused.</p> + +<p>Senor Enrique Depuy De Lome was the Spanish minister to this country.</p> + +<p>He wrote a letter, strongly denunciatory of the president's message, and +of the president himself; with the worst taste possible, he alluded to +Mr. McKinley as a low politician, one who catered, for political +purposes, to the rabble.</p> + +<p>This letter was intercepted and a copy given to the press. The original +was sent to the State Department. Of course De Lome at once became +persona non grata, which the Spanish government recognized, and even +before Minister Woodford could make a "representation," De Lome was +recalled from his position and Senor Polo appointed in his place.</p> + +<p>President McKinley showed the most admirable self-poise through all this +affair, evincing outwardly no resentment for what was a personal insult +to himself.</p> + +<p>It was declared that we ought to have a ship of war in Havana harbor to +protect American citizens, and for that purpose, the Maine was sent +there.</p> + +<p>It was the visit of a friendly ship to, at that time, a friendly +country.<a name="page_145" id="page_145"></a></p> + +<p>The Maine was received by the Spanish officials with every outward show +of respect, the firing of salutes and the raising of the American and +Spanish flags on the vessels of different nationalities.</p> + +<p>And yet what was the result? Once more came an exhibition of Spain's +perfidy. We know it is very much like the Scotch verdict of "non +proven," but still there is no doubt among fair-minded men.</p> + +<p>A tragedy ensued, a tragedy in which Spain played the part of the +villain, and such an unconscionable villain as has never been seen upon +the boards of any stage.</p> + +<p>On the night of Tuesday, February 19, 1898, the United States battleship +Maine, presumably in friendly waters, was lying calmly anchored in the +harbor of Havana. Suddenly, with no warning whatever, for there was no +suspicion on the part of either officers or men, the magnificent +battleship was blown up. Two officers and two hundred and sixty of the +crew perished, but their names and memories will ever be cherished +affectionately and gratefully by the American people.</p> + +<p>All on board behaved in the most heroic manner, Captain Charles D. +Sigsbee, the commander being the last to leave the fated ship. The +famous naval historian, Captain Mahan, says:</p> + +<p>"The self-control shown in the midst of a sudden and terrible danger, of +which not one of the men on board knew, showed that in battle with known +dangers about them, and expecting every minute the fate that might +overtake them, the fellow sailors of the men of the Maine would stand to +their guns and their ship<a name="page_146" id="page_146"></a> to the last. It was evident that the old +naval spirit existed, and that the sailors of the new navy were as good +as those who manned the old-time ships."</p> + +<p>The Maine was one of the very best vessels in the American navy; with +her stores and ammunition, she represented an expenditure of close upon +five millions of dollars.</p> + +<p>The blowing up of the Maine and the loss of our brave men aroused the +most intense excitement throughout the United States, but the request of +Captain Sigsbee that public opinion should be suspended until thorough +investigation had been made, was followed, and the people behaved with +admirable and remarkable control.</p> + +<p>A naval board of inquiry was at once organized by the United States +government. This board consisted of experienced officers, who were +greatly assisted in their labors by a strong force of experts, wreckers +and divers.</p> + +<p>The investigation was most searching. The 21st of March, 1898, the board +presented a unanimous verdict. The report was most voluminous, embracing +some twelve thousand pages.</p> + +<p>The verdict was practically that "the loss of the Maine was not in any +respect due to fault or negligence on the part of any of the officers or +members of her crew; that the ship was destroyed by the explosion of a +submarine mine, which caused the partial explosion of two or more of her +forward magazines; and that no evidence has been obtainable fixing the +responsibility of the destruction of the Maine upon any person or +persons."<a name="page_147" id="page_147"></a></p> + +<p>Although it was not possible to obtain evidence which should convict the +guilty parties, there was not and never has been the faintest doubt in +the mind of any fair-minded person as to who was responsible for the +tragedy. When Congress afterward spoke of the crime or the criminal +negligence of the Spanish officials, the words found an ardent response +in the heart of every true American.</p> + +<p>There is no doubt but that the destruction of the Maine was the lever +that started the machinery of war.</p> + +<p>Like "Remember the Alamo!" "Remember the Maine!" is a clarion cry of +battle that will go echoing down the centuries.</p> + +<p>In Cuba we were most fortunate in having a superb representative in the +person of General Fitz Hugh Lee, a man of rare intellectual ability, +ever courteous but ever firm, a fine specimen of Southern chivalry.</p> + +<p>The Spaniards, as was but natural, hated him, but when his withdrawal +was suggested by the Spanish government President McKinley cabled to +Minister Woodford at Madrid that the services of General Lee at Havana +were indispensable and his removal could not be considered.</p> + +<p>The relations between Spain and the United States became every day more +and more strained. Every effort was made by the President to bring about +a peaceable solution of the Cuban question, but Spain, stiff necked and +suicidal, refused to cooperate with him.</p> + +<p>On April 11, the president sent his famous message to Congress.<a name="page_148" id="page_148"></a></p> + +<p>In it, he alluded to the way in which we had been forced to police our +own waters and watch our own seaports in prevention of any unlawful act +in aid of Cuba.</p> + +<p>He spoke of how our trade had suffered, how the capital invested by our +citizens in Cuba had been largely lost, and how the temperance and +forbearance of our own people had been so sorely tried as to beget a +perilous unrest among our own citizens.</p> + +<p>The President, also, made some strong arguments against both +belligerency and recognition, especially against the latter.</p> + +<p>He quoted Jackson's argument, on the subject of the recognition of +Texas, concluding as follows:</p> + +<p>"Prudence, therefore, seems to dictate that we should stand aloof, and +maintain our present attitude, if not until Mexico itself or one of the +great foreign powers shall recognize the independence of the new +government; at least until the lapse of time or the course of events +should have proved beyond cavil or dispute the ability of the people of +that country to maintain their separate sovereignty and to uphold the +government constituted by them. Neither of the contending parties can +justly complain of this course. By pursuing it we are but carrying out +the long established policy of our government, a policy which has +secured us respect and influence abroad and inspired confidence at +home."</p> + +<p>It is necessary to quote still further from President McKinley's +message, a message so fine, so just and so true, that we are sure it +will go down into history<a name="page_149" id="page_149"></a> praised by all future historians, as it well +deserves to be.</p> + +<p>He says:</p> + +<p>"The spirit of all our acts hitherto has been an earnest, unselfish +desire for peace and prosperity in Cuba, untarnished by differences +between us and Spain, and unstained by the blood of American citizens.</p> + +<p>"The forcible intervention of the United States as a neutral to stop the +war, according to the large dictates of humanity and following many +historical precedents where neighboring states have interfered to check +the hopeless sacrifice of life by internecine conflicts beyond their +borders, is justifiable on rational grounds. It involves, however, +hostile constraint upon both parties to the contest, as well as to +enforce a truce as to guide the eventual settlement. The grounds for +such intervention may be briefly summarized as follows:</p> + +<p>"1. In the cause of humanity and to put an end to the barbarities, +bloodshed, starvation and horrible miseries now existing there, and +which the parties to the conflict are either unable or unwilling to stop +or mitigate. It is no answer to say that this is all in another country, +belonging to another nation, and is, therefore, none of our business. It +is specially our duty, for it is right at our doors.</p> + +<p>"2. We owe to our citizens in Cuba to afford them that protection and +indemnity for life and property which no government there can or will +afford, and to that end to terminate the conditions that deprive them of +local protection.</p> + +<p>"3. The right to intervene may be justified by the<a name="page_150" id="page_150"></a> very serious injury +to the commerce, trade and business interest of our people, and by the +wanton destruction of property and devastation of the island.</p> + +<p>"4. And, what is of the utmost importance, the present condition of +affairs in Cuba is a constant menace to our peace and entails upon this +government an enormous expense. With such a conflict waged for years in +an island so near us, and with which our people have such trade and +business relations—when the lives and liberty of our citizens are in +constant dread, and their property destroyed and themselves +ruined—where our trading-vessels are liable to seizure and are seized +at our very door, by warships of a foreign nation, the expeditious of +filibustering that we are powerless to prevent altogether, and the +irritating questions and entanglements thus arising—all these and +others that I need not mention, with the resulting strained relations, +are a constant menace to our peace, and compel us to keep on a semi-war +footing with a nation with which we are at peace."</p> + +<p>In his message, the President also gives utterance to these notable and +memorable words:</p> + +<p>"The long trial has proved that the object for which Spain wages war +cannot be attained.</p> + +<p>"The fire of insurrection may flame or may smoulder with varying +seasons, but it has not been, and it is plain that it cannot be, +extinguished by present methods. The only hope of relief and repose from +a condition which cannot longer be endured is the enforced pacification +of Cuba.<a name="page_151" id="page_151"></a></p> + +<p>"In the name of humanity, in the name of civilization, in behalf of +endangered American interests, which give us the right and the duty to +speak and to act, the war in Cuba must stop."</p> + +<p>The President then refers the whole matter to Congress to decide as that +body may think best.</p> + +<p>A somewhat acrimonious debate, of several days duration followed, +chiefly over the side issue of the recognition of the Republic of Cuba.</p> + +<p>On April 19, 1898, by the way, the date of the first battle of the +Revolution at Concord, Massachusetts, the following joint resolution was +agreed upon.</p> + +<p>"Joint resolution for the recognition of the independence of the people +of Cuba, demanding that the government of Spain relinquish its authority +and government in the Island of Cuba, and withdraw its land and naval +forces from Cuba and Cuban waters, and directing the President of the +United States to use the land and naval forces of the United States to +carry these resolutions into effect.</p> + +<p>"Whereas, the abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than +three years in the Island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have shocked +the moral sense of the people of the United States, have been a disgrace +to Christian civilization, culminating, as they have, in the destruction +of a United States battleship, with two hundred and sixty-six of its +officers and crew, while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana, +and cannot longer be endured, as has been set forth by the President of +the United States in his message to Congress of<a name="page_152" id="page_152"></a> April 11, 1898, upon +which the action of Congress was invited; therefore,</p> + +<p>"Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the United +States of America in Congress assembled,</p> + +<p>"1. That the people of the Island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, +free and independent.</p> + +<p>"2. That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the +Government of the United States does hereby demand, that the Government +of Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the Island +of Cuba and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban +waters.</p> + +<p>"3. That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, +directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the +United States, and to call into the actual service of the United States +the militia of the several States to such extent as may be necessary to +carry these resolutions into effect.</p> + +<p>"4. That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention +to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction or control over said island except +for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination, when that +is accomplished, to leave the government and control of the island to +its people."</p> + +<p>The President set his seal of approval upon these resolutions the +following day, and the same day an ultimatum was sent to Spain, +practically the same as what has been quoted above.</p> + +<p>It was also stated that it was the President's duty to request an answer +within forty-eight hours.<a name="page_153" id="page_153"></a></p> + +<p>Within forty-eight hours the ultimatum was rejected by the Spanish +Cortes.</p> + +<p>The ministers and representatives of the two countries were immediately +recalled from their various posts, and a state of warfare proclaimed.</p> + +<p>The United States now stood pledged to aid and succor agonized Cuba, to +strike the shackles from off her bruised and bleeding limbs, and raise +her to a position which her valor had long deserved, amongst the free +and independent nations of the world.<a name="page_154" id="page_154"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h3> + +<h4>THE TOPOGRAPHY AND RESOURCES OF CUBA.</h4> + +<p>Cuba lies in the northern portion of the torrid zone, and immediately +south of Florida. From Key West to the nearest point on the Cuban coast, +the distance in 86 miles.</p> + +<p>The form of Cuba is an irregular crescent, with a large number of bays +or indentations. The coast line is about 2,200 miles, exclusive of the +indentations; or, if we include the latter, nearly 7,000 miles.</p> + +<p>The island is about 760 miles long. Its breadth varies from 127 miles at +a point some fifty miles west of Santiago to 28 miles from Havana to the +south.</p> + +<p>Its area is 43,314 square miles, which includes the Isle of Pines and +several smaller islands.</p> + +<p>Cuba is intersected by a range of mountains, more or less broken, which +extends across the entire island, from east to west, and from which the +rivers flow to the sea. This range is called the Sierra del Cobra, and +it includes the Pico de Turginuo, with an altitude of 7,670 feet, the +highest point on the whole island. There are other ranges, and the +eastern portion of the island is particularly hilly. We must not forget +the famous Pan of Matanzas which received its name from its resemblance +to a loaf of sugar. It is 1,300 feet high, and has been of great service +to mariners in enabling them to get their bearings.<a name="page_155" id="page_155"></a></p> + +<p>Naturally the rivers are small, but they are numerous. The principal +one, and the only one that can properly be called navigable, is the +Canto. Schooners ascend this for about sixty miles. It rises in the +Sierra del Cobre, and empties upon the south coast, a few miles from +Manzanillo. Mineral springs abound, and their medicinal qualities are in +high repute.</p> + +<p>Of lakes there are only a few, and most of these lie in the marsh lands.</p> + +<p>The Scientific American says:</p> + +<p>"The country may be broadly divided into the region of the plains the +rolling uplands and the forest lands. The lowlands form a practically +continuous belt around the island, and in them are to be found the great +sugar plantations. Above these and on the lower slopes are found the +grazing and farm lands, upon, which, among other things, is raised the +famous Havana tobacco. The remainder of the island, especially the +eastern portion is covered with a dense forest growth."</p> + +<p>The vegetation of Cuba is of the most luxuriant and beautiful +description. The forests are full of a large variety of trees, almost +all of them most valuable for mechanical purposes. Some of them are +almost as hard as iron. One of these is called the quiebra hacha (the +axe breaker). There are other woods such as the jucaro, which are +indestructible, even under water. Still others are lignum vitae, ebony, +rosewood, mahogany, cedar, lancewood and many other species. There are +over fifty varieties of palm, and the orange and lemon trees are +indigenous. Although the forests are so dense so to be<a name="page_156" id="page_156"></a> almost +impenetrable, there are no wild animals in them larger than the wild +dogs, which closely resemble wolves both in appearance and habits.</p> + +<p>The fruits are those natural to the tropics, but only oranges, +pineapples and bananas are raised for exportation.</p> + +<p>The land is not suited to the cultivation of cereals, and there is no +flour mill on the island. At one time, the coffee plantations were in a +flourishing condition, but the recent outbreak has largely interfered +with this industry.</p> + +<p>By far the chief industries in the island are the cultivation of sugar +and tobacco, both of which are famous the world over.</p> + +<p>The soil of Cuba is simply a marvel of richness, practically unrivalled +in any other part of the world. Except occasionally in the case of +tobacco, fertilizers are not used. Crops have been grown on the same +ground without an atom of fertilization for over a hundred years. This +superb soil gives the Cuban sugar planter an enormous advantage over his +competitors in other countries. For instance, in Jamaica, one to two +hogsheads of sugar is considered a good yield, but in Cuba, three +hogsheads are the average.</p> + +<p>The introduction of modern machinery, which is very expensive, has done +much to drive out the small planters, and the tax imposed by the Spanish +government almost trebled the cost to the planter.</p> + +<p>In times of peace, the sugar production of Cuba averaged a million of +tons a year, but this is nothing like<a name="page_157" id="page_157"></a> what the island might be made to +yield under a decent government and proper enterprise. It has been +estimated that if all the land suitable to the growth of sugar cane were +devoted to that industry, Cuba might supply the entire western +hemisphere with sugar.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gollan, the British consul general, says:</p> + +<p>"Until a very recent date the manufacture of sugar and the growing of +the cane in Cuba were extremely profitable undertakings, and the reasons +for their prosperity may be stated as:</p> + +<p>"1. The excellence of the climate and the fertility of the soil, which +allow of large crops of good cane. The rainfall, about 50 inches, is so +distributed that irrigation is not a necessity, though it would in many +cases be advisable.</p> + +<p>"2. The great movement toward the centralization of the estates which +took place in the early eighties, planters having understood the value +of large sugar houses and overcome their difficulty in this way.</p> + +<p>"3. The proximity of the United States, affording, as it does, a cash +market for the sugar."</p> + +<p>To show how the sugar trade has been injured by the Cuban uprising, the +following figures are of interest:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Description.</td><td align="center">Tons in 1895.</td><td align="center">Tons in 1896.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Exports</td><td align="right">832,431</td><td align="right">235,628</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Stocks</td><td align="right" class="un">135,181</td><td align="right" class="un">36,260</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right">967,612</td><td align="right">271,888</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Local consumption</td><td align="right" class="un">50,000</td><td align="right" class="un">40,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right">1,017,612</td><td align="right">311,888</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Stock on January 1(previous crop)</td><td align="right" class="un">13,348</td><td align="right" class="un">86,667</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Total production</td><td align="right">1,004,264</td><td align="right">225,221</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>The decrease in 1895-96 was 779,043 tons, equivalent to 77.574 per cent.</p> + +<p>While the tobacco crop of some portions of Cuba is unsurpassed, notably +that of Vuelta Alajo and of Mayari, it is of excellent quality all over +the island, the poorest of it being quite as good as that of Hayti. The +entire crop is estimated at $10,000,000 annually. Yet, owing to the +extortions of the government, which loaded it with restrictions and +exactions of every description, the tobacco industry has always been an +uncertain one. It is said that the tobacco growers, disgusted with their +treatment, have always been in favor of the revolutionists.</p> + +<p>The mineral riches of the island have never been exploited to any +considerable extent and yet it is known that they are by no means +unimportant. Gold and silver exist. Some specimens of the finest gold +have been obtained, but at an expense of time and labor that could not +remunerate the parties engaged in the enterprise. There are copper mines +near Santiago of large extent and very rich in ore. There are also +several iron mines. Numerous deposits of manganese have been found in +the Sierra Maestra range. As nearly all the manganese used in the United +States comes from the Black Sea, it is thought that these mines will +prove very valuable, when the conditions for operating them are more +favorable.<a name="page_159" id="page_159"></a> Bituminous coal is very abundant. Marble, jasper and slate +are also to be found in many parts of the island.</p> + +<p>The trade of the United States with Cuba since 1891 is given as follows +by the bureau of statistics, Treasury Department:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="2" summary="trade"> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="center">Imports.</td><td align="center">Exports.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1891</td><td align="right">$61,714,395</td><td align="right">$12,224,888</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1892</td><td align="right">77,931,671</td><td align="right">17,953,570</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1893</td><td align="right">78,706,506</td><td align="right">24,157,698</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1894</td><td align="right">75,678,261</td><td align="right">20,125,321</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1895</td><td align="right">52,871,259</td><td align="right">12,807,661</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1896</td><td align="right">40,017,730</td><td align="right">7,530,880</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1897</td><td align="right">18,406,815</td><td align="right">8,259,776</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>The commerce of Spain with Cuba since 1891, the figures up to 1895 being +taken from a compilation by the department of agriculture, and those for +1896 from a British foreign office report was:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="2" summary="trade"> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="center">Imports from<br />Cuba.</td><td align="center">Exports to<br />Cuba.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1891</td><td align="right">$7,193,173</td><td align="right">$22,168,050</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1892</td><td align="right">9,570,399</td><td align="right">28,046,636</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1893</td><td align="right">5,697,291</td><td align="right">24,689,373</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1894</td><td align="right">7,265,120</td><td align="right">22,592,943</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1895</td><td align="right">7,176,105</td><td align="right">26,298,497</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1896</td><td align="right">4,257,360</td><td align="right">26,145,800</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>The railways are insufficient and wretchedly managed, while the roads +are in a deplorable condition, sometimes, in wet weather, being almost +impassible.</p> + +<p>In regard to the future commercial prosperity of<a name="page_160" id="page_160"></a> Cuba, Mr. Hyatt, who +until recently was our consul at Santiago, gives the following opinion:</p> + +<p>"Railroads and other highways, improved machinery and more modern +methods of doing business are among the wants of Cuba; and with the +onward march of civilization these will doubtless be hers in the near +future. Cuba, like other tropical and semi-tropical countries, is not +given to manufacturing; her people would rather sell the products of the +soil and mines and buy manufactured goods. The possibilities of the +island are great, while the probabilities remain an unsolved problem."</p> + +<p>When the tropical position of Cuba is taken into consideration, it may +be stated that its climate is generally mild. In fact, we can say that +it is one of the best, if not the very best, of the countries lying +within the tropics; and, during the dry season, it is unsurpassable +anywhere. In this season, the days are delightful, and the nights, with +the clear, transparent air, and the sky spangled with myriads of stars +(many of which, notably the constellation known as "The Southern Cross," +are not visible in more northern countries), are veritable dreams of +beauty.</p> + +<p>The heat and cold are never extreme, and there is only a slight +difference in the temperature all the year round. The warmest month at +Havana is July, with an average temperature of 82 degrees Fahrenheit, +and the coldest is January, with an average temperature of 70 degrees.</p> + +<p>The rainy season lasts from the first of May till the<a name="page_161" id="page_161"></a> first of October. +The popular impression is that it rains pretty nearly all the time +during this season, but this is a mistake. On an average there are not +more than ten rainy days a month, and the rain generally comes in the +afternoon. The temperature of Havana in the summer is but little higher +than that of New Orleans, while its rainfall is infinitely less. Yellow +fever exists in the coast cities all the year round, but it rarely makes +its appearance in the interior. The western part of the island is as +habitable as is Ohio.</p> + +<p>It is certain that the effects of the climate upon the Spanish soldiers +has been disastrous, but much of the mortality among them have been due +not to the climate alone, but to a bad system of hygiene, wretched diet, +unsuitable clothing and a criminal disregard on the part of the military +authorities of the health of the men under their control.</p> + +<p>The Medical Record, in an article on the subject, says:</p> + +<p>"There is no evading the fact, however, that the landing of a large body +of more or less raw, unacclimatized men in the lowlands of a reputed +unhealthy coast at the beginning of the rainy season is an experiment +that must from the very nature of things be attended with much risk."</p> + +<p>But the danger to our own soldiers must also from the very nature of +things, be much less than it has proved to the Spaniards. Our army is +composed of a much higher class of men intellectually, and besides that, +they will be infinitely better taken care of.<a name="page_162" id="page_162"></a></p> + +<p>The next point to be considered is the population of Cuba. There has +been no official census taken since 1887. Then the entire population was +estimated at 1,631,687. Of these about one-fifth were natives of Spain, +10,500 were whites of foreign blood, 485,187 were free negroes, about +50,000 were Chinese and the rest native Cubans.</p> + +<p>It may be interesting to note the percentage of whites and blacks, and +to see how the negro element has been decreasing both relatively and +absolutely during late years. At the present time the negroes are in all +probability not more than one-fourth of the entire population.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" summary=""> +<tr valign="bottom"><td align="right">Year. </td><td align="right">White.</td><td align="right">Negro.</td><td align="center">Per<br />Cent.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1804 </td><td align="right">234,000</td><td align="right">198,000</td><td align="left">45.8</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1819 </td><td align="right">239,830</td><td align="right">213,203</td><td align="left">47.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1830 </td><td align="right">332,352</td><td align="right">423,343</td><td align="left">56.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1841 </td><td align="right">418,291</td><td align="right">589,333</td><td align="left">58.4</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1850 </td><td align="right">479,490</td><td align="right">494,252</td><td align="left">50.75</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1860 </td><td align="right">632,797</td><td align="right">566,632</td><td align="left">47.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1869 </td><td align="right">797,596</td><td align="right">602,215</td><td align="left">43.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1877 </td><td align="right">985,325</td><td align="right">492,249</td><td align="left">33.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">1887 </td><td align="right">1,102,689</td><td align="right">485,188</td><td align="left">30.55</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>The island is divided into six political divisions, each province taking +the name of its capital city: Havana, Matanzas, Santa Clara, Puerto +Principe, Santiago de Cuba and Pinar del Rio.</p> + +<p>The figures in the following table give the population by provinces, as +well as the density of population (number of inhabitants per square +kilometer.)<a name="page_163" id="page_163"></a></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="population"> +<tr valign="bottom"><td align="left">Provinces.</td><td align="center">Inhabitants.</td><td align="center">Square<br />Kilometers.</td><td align="right">Density.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Pinar del Rio</td><td align="right">225,891</td><td align="right">14,967</td><td align="right">15.09</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Habana</td><td align="right">451,928</td><td align="right">8,610</td><td align="right">52.49</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Matanzas</td><td align="right">259,578</td><td align="right">8,486</td><td align="right">30.59</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Santa Clara</td><td align="right">354,122</td><td align="right">23,083</td><td align="right">15.34</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Puerto Principe</td><td align="right">67,789</td><td align="right">32,341</td><td align="right">2.10</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Santiago de Cuba</td><td align="right" class="un">272,379</td><td align="right" class="un">35,119</td><td align="right" class="un">7.76</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Totals</td><td align="right">1,631,687</td><td align="right">122,606</td><td align="right">13.31</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>In Cuba, under Spanish rule, the Roman Catholic is the only religion +tolerated by the government. There are no Protestant or Jewish places of +worship. A decree promulgated in Madrid in 1892 declares that, while a +person who should comply with all other requirements might be permitted +to remain on the island, he would not be allowed to advance doctrines at +variance with those of the established church. As Catholicism is a state +religion, its maintenance is charged to the revenues of the island, and +amounts to something like $400,000 a year.</p> + +<p>Education in Cuba is, or has been, at a very low ebb. That is due, as +many other things are, to the wretched, short-sighted policy of Spain, +the country which has never completely emerged from the darkness of +barbarism. She was afraid to give education to the Cubans, thinking that +she could better dominate them in their ignorance. There is a royal +university in Havana, and a collegiate institute in each of the six +provinces, the number of students in all amounting to nearly three<a name="page_164" id="page_164"></a> +thousand, but these come almost without exception from the ranks of the +well-to-do.</p> + +<p>Less than one out of every forty-five of the children in Cuba attend the +public schools. There was a farcical law passed in 1880, making +education compulsory. How could such a law be of any effect when there +was neither the ability nor the desire to provide school-houses and +instructors? Now let us take a brief glance at some of the chief cities +of Cuba.</p> + +<p>Havana, the principal and capital city of the island, is situated on the +west side of the bay of Havana, on a peninsula of level land of +limestone formation.</p> + +<p>It is the seat of the general government and captain-generalcy, superior +court of Havana (audencia,) general direction of finance, naval station, +arsenal, observatory, diocese of the bishopric and the residence of all +the administrative officers of the island (civil, military, maritime, +judicial and economic).</p> + +<p>Its strategic position at the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico has aptly +given to the city the name of the Key of the Gulf; and a symbolic key is +emblazoned in its coat-of-arms. The harbor, the entrance to which is +narrow, is wide and deep, and a thousand ships could easily ride there +at anchor.</p> + +<p>It has always been supposed to be strongly fortified, its chief defences +being Morro Castle, the Cabana, the Castillo del Principe, Fort Atares, +the Punta and the Reina Battery.</p> + +<p>The population of Havana, from the last official estimate, is about +220,000.<a name="page_165" id="page_165"></a></p> + +<p>Before the present war, Havana was one of the most charming places in +the world for the tourist to visit, more especially during the winter +months.</p> + +<p>There is scarcely a city in Europe which, to the American seemed so +foreign as Havana. The whole appearance of the place, its manners and +customs, were all totally different to what the American had been +accustomed.</p> + +<p>The streets are so narrow that vehicles by law are obliged to pass down +one street and up another, while the sidewalks are not more than two +feet wide and hollowed down in the centre by the constant trampling of +feet. This applies to the city proper, for, outside the walls, there are +many broad and beautiful avenues. The streets are very noisy and, as a +rule, excessively unclean.</p> + +<p>The houses, many of them palaces, wonderfully beautiful within, but +situated on dark and dirty alleys, are all built about a central +courtway. There are no fireplaces anywhere, nor a window shielded with +glass in the whole city. The windows have iron bars, and within those of +the first story is the inevitable row of American rocking chairs. +Through these bars the Cuban lover interviews his inamorata. It would be +the height of indecorum for him to approach nearer, to seek to speak +with her within the walls of her own home, even in the presence of her +father and mother.</p> + +<p>Cows are driven about the streets and milked in front of your own door, +when you desire the lacteal fluid. This custom is, at all events, a +safeguard against adulteration.<a name="page_166" id="page_166"></a></p> + +<p>Ladies do not go into the shops to make purchases, but all goods are +brought out to them as they sit in their volantes.</p> + +<p>By the way, the volante (flyer) is the national carriage and no other, +practically, is used in the country. It consists of a two seated +vehicle, slung low down by leather straps from the axle of two large +wheels, and it has shafts fifteen feet long. The horse in the shafts is +led by a postillion, whose horse is harnessed on the other side of the +shafts in the same manner. The carriage is extremely comfortable to +travel in, and the height of the wheels and their distance apart prevent +all danger of turning over, although the roads in the country are for +the most part, mere tracks through fields and open land. Ox carts and +pack mules are used for conveying goods in the interior of the island +outside of the meagre railway lines.</p> + +<p>Havana has some beautiful public parks and some really fine statues, +chiefly those of Spain's former rulers.</p> + +<p>Its principal theatre, the Tacon, is celebrated throughout the world for +its size and beauty. In regard to theatres, there is one peculiar custom +in Havana: By the payment of a certain sum, beyond the price of +admission, one is allowed to go behind the scenes between the acts. This +privilege has caused great annoyance to many eminent artists.</p> + +<p>The cathedral of Havana is rather imposing in architecture, although it +is badly situated, but it is very interesting because there is an urn +within its walls which<a name="page_167" id="page_167"></a> is said, and with a large semblance of truth, to +contain the bones of Columbus.</p> + +<p>Space does not permit us to tell of all the charms of Havana, but, +suffice it to say, that it was and will be again, under far happier +conditions too, one of the most delightful cities in the world.</p> + +<p>The city of Cuba, next in commercial importance to Havana, is Matanzas. +It is beautifully situated on the north coast, about seventy miles from +Havana, and has a population of about fifty thousand. The climate is +fine, and Matanzas is considered the healthiest city on the island. With +proper drainage (something that has hitherto been almost unknown in Cuba +as are all other sanitary arrangements) yellow fever and malaria would +be almost unknown. If it should ever come under American enterprise, the +city would develop into a superb pleasure resort and be a fatal rival to +the Florida towns. We cannot forbear to mention the Caves of Bellamar. +These are not far from Matanzas and are subterranean caverns, of which +there are a number in Cuba. The walls and roofs are covered with +stalactites of every conceivable hue and shape, and forming pictures of +beauty far beyond anything conceived of, even in the Arabian Nights.</p> + +<p>The most modern city of importance is Cienfuegos (as its name signifies, +the City of a Hundred Fires). It has a population of about twenty-six +thousand and its harbor is one of the best on the southern coast, with a +depth of 27 feet at the anchorage, and from 14 to 16 feet at the +wharves.<a name="page_168" id="page_168"></a></p> + +<p>Cardenas is a seaport on the north coast about 135 miles east of Havana. +Its population is about the same as Cienfuegos. In the rainy season, its +climate is distinctly bad and its sanitary conditions worse. It has some +large manufactories, and carries on a flourishing trade.</p> + +<p>Santiago de Cuba, on the southeastern coast, is the second city of size +in Cuba (60,000 inhabitants), and the one on which all American eyes +have been fixed, for it is there that our brave Sampson bottled up +Cervera's illusive fleet, and on its suburbs a fierce battle was fought, +July 1, 2 and 3, between the American troops under General Shafter and +the Spanish army under General Linares, resulting in the defeat of the +latter and the subsequent surrender of the city to the United States' +forces on Sunday, July 17.</p> + +<p>It is very difficult, by the way, to find the entrance to the harbor of +Santiago. Approaching it from the sea, nothing is seen but lofty +mountains. When quite near, two mountains seem to suddenly part, and a +channel only 180 yards wide, but of good depth, is revealed.</p> + +<p>It is the oldest city in America, many years older than St. Augustine, +having been founded by Velasquez in 1514, and is exceedingly quaint and +mediaeval.</p> + +<p>Its chief fortifications are the Castillo of La Socapa and the Morro +Castle, the largest and most picturesque of the three of that name. The +latter was built about 1640, and is a fine specimen of the feudal +"donjon keep" with battlemented walls, moats, drawbridge, portcullis and +all the other paraphernalia of the days of<a name="page_169" id="page_169"></a> romance. The harbor itself, +around which so much interest has clustered, is naturally one of the +finest in the world, but no pains has been taken to improve it, the +funds appropriated for that purpose having been stolen by the Spanish +engineers and officials.</p> + +<p>Santiago is Spanish for St. James, who is the special patron saint of +Spain, on account of a myth that he once made a journey to that country.</p> + +<p>Cuba, in short, is one of the most beautiful and fertile countries on +the face of the globe, but man, in the shape of brutal Spain, has done +everything he could, to ruin the gifts Nature so lavishly bestowed.</p> + +<p>Let us hope and believe, as surely we have every reason to do, that upon +the "Pearl of the Antilles," the sun of prosperity will rise, driving +away the gloomy shadows of oppression, and that the dawn will be not +long postponed.<a name="page_170" id="page_170"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h3> + +<h4>WHAT WILL THE FUTURE BE?</h4> + +<p>It is unnecessary to refer except in a brief manner to the +Spanish-American war, as the struggle is at the present time of writing +only in its inception, and no one can tell how long it will last or what +reverses each side may experience before peace is declared.</p> + +<p>One thing is certain, however. The result is not problematical. It is +assured. The United States will be victorious in the end, be that end +near or distant, and Cuba must and shall be free.</p> + +<p>If ever there was a war that was entered into purely from motives of +humanity and with no thought whatever of conquest, it is this one. The +entire people of the United States were agreed that their purpose was a +holy one, and instantly the call of the President was responded to from +all parts of the country. Sectional differences, such as they were, +vanished like mist before the sun. There was no Easterner, no Westerner, +no Northerner, no Southerner, but "Americans all."</p> + +<p>We are proud of our army and navy, and justly so. Dewey destroyed a +large fleet, without the loss of a man, a feat unprecedented in the +annals of warfare, ancient or modern. Sampson bottled up Cervera's fleet +in the harbor of Santiago, after the wily admiral had attempted a +diplomacy which was nothing more nor less<a name="page_171" id="page_171"></a> than absurd, and when +Cervera, on the eve of the surrender of the city, attempted to escape +from his self-constituted trap, his four armored cruisers and two +torpedo boat destroyers were literally riddled and sunk outside the +harbor by the skilful gunners of the American fleet. Hobson, in sinking +the Merrimac, displayed a heroism that has never been surpassed. And on +land, General Shafter's achievements have been brilliant in the extreme.</p> + +<p>It is interesting here to examine for a moment the attitude of other +countries toward us since the declaration of war with Spain.</p> + +<p>Of course they all declared neutrality.</p> + +<p>At first France apparently was very bitter against us, declaring that it +was a war of aggression and one that was unjustified. We think we have +already shown in these pages how unwarrantable such an accusation was. +There was a reason for France's feeling, outside of the fact that her +people, like Spain's, belong to the Latin race, and that reason was that +a large proportion of Spanish bonds was held in France. Even the best of +us do not bear with equanimity anything which depletes our pockets. But +it was not long before a great change took place both in press and +public and a wave of French sympathy turned toward us. This is as it +should be and was inevitable. There could be no lasting rancor between +us and our sister republic, the country who gave us Lafayette and +presented us with the Statue of Liberty.</p> + +<p>The press of Germany has unquestionably said some<a name="page_172" id="page_172"></a> very harsh things. +But we are confident that the feeling is confined to the press and does +not represent the mass of the people. We do know that it is in no way +representative of the German government, which from the very beginning +has showed itself most friendly to us. The ties between Germany and the +United States are too strong ever to be severed, with the thousands and +thousands of Germans in this country who rank among our very best +citizens.</p> + +<p>Russia, who from time immemorial has been our friend and given us her +moral support in all our troubles, has treated us with the utmost +cordiality.</p> + +<p>But the pleasantest thing of all has been the attitude of Great Britain, +our once mother country. She has stood by us through thick and thin, +hurling defiance in the face of the world in her championship of us, and +rejoicing in our victories almost as if they were her own. This has done +more to bring the two great English-speaking nations together than +anything else could possibly have done, and will probably have far +reaching consequences in the future.</p> + +<p>The Marquis of Lansdowne, the British Secretary of State of War, in a +recent speech, thus expressed himself:</p> + +<p>"There could be no more inspiring ideal than an understanding between +two nations sprung from the same race and having so many common +interests, nations which, together, are predominant in the world's +commerce and industry.</p> + +<p>"Is there anything preposterous in the hope that<a name="page_173" id="page_173"></a> these two nations +should be found—I will not say in a hard and fast alliance of offense +and defense, but closely connected in their diplomacy, absolutely frank +and unreserved in their international councils, and ready wherever the +affairs of the world are threatened with disturbance to throw their +influence into the same scale?</p> + +<p>"Depend upon it, these are no mere idle dreams or hazy aspirations. The +change which has come over the sentiment of each country toward the +other during the last year or two is almost immeasurable. One can +scarcely believe they are the same United States with whom, only two +years ago, we were on the verge of a serious quarrel.</p> + +<p>"The change is not an ephemeral understanding between diplomatists, but +a genuine desire of the two peoples to be friends, and therefore it +cannot be laughed out of existence by the sort of comments we have +lately heard."</p> + +<p>There is a poem which we cannot forbear to quote here, it is so fine in +itself and so expressive of the existing situation. The author is +Richard Mansfield, the eminent actor:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="center">THE EAGLE'S SONG.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">—</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><small>BY RICHARD MANSFIELD.</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">—</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Lioness whelped, and the sturdy cub</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Was seized by an eagle and carried up</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">And homed for a while in an eagle's nest,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">And slept for a while on an eagle's breast,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">And the eagle taught it the eagle's song:</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"To be staunch and valiant and free and strong!"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Lion whelp sprang from the eerie nest,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">From the lofty crag where the queen birds rest;</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">He fought the King on the spreading plain,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">And drove him back o'er the foaming main.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">He held the land as a thrifty chief,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">And reared his cattle and reaped his sheaf,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Nor sought the help of a foreign hand,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Yet welcomed all to his own free land!</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Two were the sons that the country bore</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">To the Northern lakes and the Southern shore,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">And Chivalry dwelt with the Southern son,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">And Industry lived with the Northern one.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Tears for the time when they broke and fought!</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Tears was the price of the union wrought!</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">And the land was red in a sea of blood,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Where brother for brother had swelled the flood!</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">And now that the two are one again,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Behold on their shield the word "Refrain!"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">And the lion cubs twain sing the eagle's song,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"To be staunch and valiant and free and strong!"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">For the eagle's beak and the lion's paw,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">And the lion's fangs and the eagle's claw,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">And the eagle's swoop and the lion's might,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">And the lion's leap and the eagle's sight,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Shall guard the flag with the word "Refrain!"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Now that the two are one again!</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Here's to a cheer for the Yankee ships!</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">And "Well done, Sam," from the mother's lips!</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>War is unquestionably a terrible thing. As General Sherman put it, "war +is hell." But there are other terrible and yet necessary things, also, +such as the operations of surgery and the infliction of the death +penalty.</p> + +<p>War is justifiable, when waged, as the present one unquestionably is, +from purely unselfish motives, simply from a determination to rescue a +people whose sufferings<a name="page_175" id="page_175"></a> had become unbearable to them and to the +lookers-on. The United States, by its action, has set a lesson for the +rest of the world, which the latter will not be slow to learn and for +which future generations will bless the name of America.</p> + +<p>Nobly are we following out the precepts of our forefathers, who declared +in one of the most magnificent documents ever framed:</p> + +<p>"We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created +equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable +rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of +happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted +among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; +that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, +it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute +new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing +its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect +their safety and happiness."</p> + +<p>We fought for these principles, in our own interests, a century and a +quarter ago; in the interests of others, we are fighting for them +to-day.</p> + +<p>A question which has been universally asked is this: Can the Cubans, if +they obtain freedom, govern themselves, or will not a free Cuba become a +second Hayti with all the horrors of that island?</p> + +<p>To this our reply is: Most emphatically Cuba will be able to govern +herself; not in the beginning, perhaps,<a name="page_176" id="page_176"></a> where mistakes must of +necessity be made, but most certainly in the end.</p> + +<p>The Cuban leaders are men of high intelligence and lofty purposes, and +they know what reforms must be instituted. Some one has said that "love +of liberty is the surest guarantee of representative government."</p> + +<p>Surely these men have shown their love of liberty in the fullest degree +and have proved themselves in every way fitted for self-government.</p> + +<p>The Cubans, strange as the statement may seem to those who have studied +the matter only in a cursory way, are not a people who love trouble. +Though revolution after revolution has occurred in the island, the +Cubans have never taken up arms until every peaceful means of redress +had been resorted to.</p> + +<p>It has been feared that the negro element would be a disturbing +influence, but we can see little or no reason for this dread. The same +thing was said of the emancipation of the slaves in our own South, but +certainly, taken altogether, the behavior of the colored race in the +United States, since the Civil War, has been most praiseworthy.</p> + +<p>A Frenchman, Baron Antomarchi, who is naturally unprejudiced, says:</p> + +<p>"When the time for the settlement of the Cuban question shall have come +it will be an affair of give and take between the whites and the +negroes, and if the negro does not succeed in convincing the white man +that he is entitled to a full measure of civil authority, a measure +which by reason of his numerical strength he<a name="page_177" id="page_177"></a> will have a right, under a +republican government, to exact, then we may have to stand by while Cuba +engages in an internal struggle important enough to cripple or, to say +the least, seriously hinder, her development. Should the war come to an +end and should Cuba be free to develop the riches of the land for which +she is now battling, an American protectorate would prevent all dangers +of race conflict. The United States would be under a moral obligation to +avert disorder. Aside from all considerations of a commercial character +there would be the obligation resulting from an adherence to consistency +of conduct. The stand taken by the American legislators, or some of +them, to say nothing of the stand taken by the American people, would +make this latter obligation even still more binding.</p> + +<p>Not until her machetes shall have been returned to their original use +can Cuba develop the riches bestowed upon her by Nature. After the dawn +of peace, when her sons are free to settle down to the tranquil life of +the untrammeled husbandman, there will be no hunted exiles in the long +grass of her savannas. When Cuba has attained the quiet calm that her +younger generation has never known, she will show the world that it was +not for idle brigands that Maceo died. In the shadow of the feathered +cocoa palms in the deep shade of the drooping heavy leaves where Gilard +dreamed of liberty, great cities shall one day loom in the misty, tropic +twilight, and peace shall brood over the land that now, seamed with the +graves of Cuba's heroes, awaits the murdered bodies of Cuban victims. +Not until that day has come<a name="page_178" id="page_178"></a> will it be known how strong to endure +torment and sorrow, how brave in time of danger, were the men who won +the day for Cuban independence."</p> + +<p>It is absolutely certain that all the natural and political ties that +have bound "the Ever Faithful Isle" to the mother country have been so +completely severed that it is utterly impossible they should ever be +united again.</p> + +<p>The unique banner of Cuba, with its blue and white stripes and a single +star upon a red triangle, has cost more blood and treasure than any +revolutionary flag known to history.</p> + +<p>When this war is over, and Spain has learned her lesson, severe but +well-deserved, and we hope salutary, then shall that flag take its place +among the honored ones of other nations; then will the Cubans show their +ability to prize and cherish the liberty for which the blood of their +heroes has been spilled; then, under the protectorate of the United +States, but as an independent republic, will Cuba, in the words of our +own General Lee, emerge from the dark shadows of the past, and stand +side by side with those countries who have their place in the sunlight +of peace, progress and prosperity.</p> + +<p>Oh! Cuba Libre! as Longfellow said of our own Union, so do all +Americans, who are now fighting with you shoulder to shoulder, say to +you:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">"Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee;</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: .25em;">Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: .25em;">Our faith triumphant o'er our fears,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: .25em;">Are all with thee—are all with thee!"</span></td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="c">(THE END.)</p> + +<div class="image"><img src="images/back.jpg" +id="back" +width="352" +height="550" +title="back of book" +alt="back of book" +/></div> + +<hr /> + +<div class="transcribe"> +<p class="c">Transcriber's note:</p> + +<p class="nind">Both Hatury and Hatuey appear in the text. Due to the fact that there +were so many typographical errors in the printing, it is assumed that +Hatury is also one. Hatury has been changed to Hatuey which is the +original Spanish spelling of the Taino chief's name.</p> + +<p class="nind">The spelling of the country, Chile, remains spelled Chili.</p> + +<p class="nind">The spelling of reconcehtrado was changed to reconcentrado; add nauseam was changed to ad nauseam.</p> + +<p class="nind">The title page carried the error: IT'S PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE.<br />This +has been corrected: ITS PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="full" /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cuba, by Arthur D. 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Hall + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Cuba + Its Past, Present, and Future + +Author: Arthur D. Hall + +Release Date: September 16, 2010 [EBook #33739] +[This file last updated September 29, 2010] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CUBA +ITS PAST; PRESENT, AND FUTURE *** + + + + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material at +the Internet Archive.) + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: book's cover] + +[Illustration: map of Cuba] + + + + +CUBA + +ITS PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE + +BY + +A. D. HALL + +[Illustration: colophon] + +NEW YORK + +STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS + +81 FULTON STREET + +Copyrighted + +1898 + +By STREET & SMITH. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER PAGE. + +I.--Discovery and Early History 7 + +II.--The British Occupation--Spain's Gratitude 19 + +III.--Cuba's Early Struggles for Liberty 30 + +IV.--The Ten Years' War 43 + +V.--The Virginius Embroglio 59 + +VI.--Again Spain's Perfidy 67 + +VII.--Some Cuban Heroes 73 + +VIII.--Cuban Tactics 84 + +IX.--Weyler the Butcher 92 + +X.--The Crime of the Century 102 + +XI.--Two Methods of Warfare; The Spanish and the Cuban 110 + +XII.--The Butcher's Campaign 122 + +XIII.--America's Charity and Spain's Diplomacy 132 + +XIV.--The Last Days of Peace 144 + +XV.--The Topography and Resources of Cuba 154 + +XVI.--What Will the Future Be? 170 + + + + +CUBA ITS PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +DISCOVERY AND EARLY HISTORY. + + +"The goodliest land that eye ever saw, the sweetest thing in the world." + +Such was Columbus' opinion of Cuba, just after he first beheld it, and, +after the lapse of four hundred years, the words, making due allowance +for the hyperbole of enthusiasm, still hold good. And this, too, in +spite of all the trials and tribulations which the fair "Pearl of the +Antilles" has been forced to undergo at the hands of her greedy and +inhuman masters. + +The eyes of all the world are now upon this indescribably beautiful and +fertile country. Like Andromeda, she has been shuddering and gasping in +the power of a monster, but at last a Perseus has come to her rescue. +Somewhat tardily perhaps the United States, united now in every meaning +of the word, has from pure philanthropy embraced her cause--the United +States whose watchword, with a sturdy hatred of the oppressor, has ever +been and always will be "freedom." The star of hope, symbolized by the +lone star upon the Cuban flag, and so long concealed by gloomy, +threatening clouds, is now shining clear and bright; and all +civilization is waiting with happy confidence for the day, God willing +not far distant, when "Cuba Libre" shall be not only an article of +creed, but an established fact. + +The island of Cuba, the largest and richest of the West Indian Islands, +and up to the present the most important of Spain's colonial +possessions, not so vast as they once were but still of no +inconsiderable value, was discovered by Columbus during his first voyage +to the far west. + +For many centuries, even back to the time of Solomon, the chief object +of explorers had been a discovery of a passage to India and the fabulous +wealth of the East. In the thirteenth century, Marco Polo, the famous +Venetian explorer, went far beyond any of his predecessors and succeeded +in reaching Pekin. He also heard of another empire which was called +Zipangri, the same that we now know as Japan. When he returned and +published what we are sorry to say was none too veracious an account, +Polo being only too ready to draw upon his imagination, other nations +were fired by emulation. + +The Portuguese were the first to achieve any positive result. Early in +the fifteenth century, inspired by an able and enterprising sovereign, +they doubled Cape Non, discovered Madeira, occupied the Azores and +reached the Senegal and the Cape Verde Islands. In 1486, Bartholomew +Diaz sighted the Cape of Good Hope, which some ten years later Vasco da +Gama, the most famous of all Portuguese explorers, rounded, and then +proceeded some distance toward India. + +It was after hearing the wonderful tales of these explorers that +Columbus became inspired with the idea of sailing westward on the +unknown waters, expecting thus to reach India. After untold +discouragements, and finally by the generosity of Queen Isabella, who +was brought to believe in his conjectures, he set sail from Palos, +August 3, 1492, with three small vessels manned by about ninety sailors. +The following 12th of October he first sighted the western hemisphere, +which, however, he thought to be Asia, and by the way, lived and died in +that belief. This land was one of the Bahama Islands, called by the +natives Guanahani, but christened by Columbus as San Salvador. It is now +known as Cat Island. + +The 28th of the same month Columbus discovered Cuba, entering the mouth +of a river in what he believed to be that "great land," of which he had +heard so much. + +From the very beginning, it was as it has existed to the present +day--the Spaniards looked for gold and were determined to exploit their +new possessions to the very last peseta that could be wrung from them. + +The island was first called Juana, in honor of Prince John, son of +Ferdinand and Isabella; but, after Ferdinand's death, it received the +name of Fernandina. Subsequently, it was designated, after Spain's +patron saint, Santiago, and still later Ave Maria, in honor of the +Virgin. + +Finally it received its present name, the one originally bestowed upon +it by the natives. Cuba means "the place of gold," and Spain has +constantly kept this in mind, both theoretically and practically. + +At first, however, the answers received in Cuba in reply to the +questions of her discoverers as to the existence of gold were not +satisfactory. It seemed as if this ne plus ultra to the Spaniards was to +be found in a neighboring and larger island, which has been known by the +various names of Hayti, Hispaniola and Santo Domingo. The prospect of +enrichment here was so inviting that the first settlement of Spain in +the New World was made in Hayti. + +The aborigines seem to have made no resistance to the coming among them +of a new race of people. They were apparently peaceful and kindly, +dwelling in a state of happy tranquillity among themselves. + +Their character is best demonstrated by an extract from a letter written +by Columbus to their Catholic majesties, Ferdinand and Isabella: + +"The king having been informed of our misfortune expressed great grief +for our loss and immediately sent aboard all the people in the place in +many large canoes; we soon unloaded the ship of everything that was upon +deck, as the king gave us great assistance; he himself, with his +brothers and relations, took all possible care that everything should be +properly done, both aboard and on shore. And, from time to time, he sent +some of his relations weeping, to beg of me not to be dejected, for he +would give me all that he had. I can assure your highnesses that so much +care would not have been taken in securing our effects in any part of +Spain, as all our property was put together in one place near his +palace, until the houses which he wanted to prepare for the custody of +it were emptied. He immediately placed a guard of armed men, who watched +during the whole night, and those on shore lamented as if they had been +much interested in our loss. The people are so affectionate, so +tractable and so peaceable, that I swear to your highnesses that there +is not a better race of men nor a better country in the world. They love +their neighbor as themselves, their conversation is the sweetest and +mildest in the world, cheerful and always accompanied by a smile. And +although it is true that they go naked, yet your highnesses may be +assured that they have many very commendable customs; the king is served +with great state, and his behavior is so decent that it is pleasant to +see him, as it is likewise the wonderful memory which these people have, +and their desire of knowing everything which leads them to inquire into +its causes and effects." + +Strange and far from pleasant reading this in the light of future +events. By so-called savages the invading Spaniards were treated with +the utmost kindness and courtesy, while many generations later the +descendants of these same Spaniards, on this same island, visited +nothing but cruelty and oppression upon those unfortunates who after all +were of their own flesh and blood. + +As has been said, the first settlement of the Spaniards was made on the +island of Hayti. But the dreams of enormous revenue were not realized, +in spite of the fact that the natives were men, women and children +reduced to slavery, and all the work that was possible, without regard +to any of the dictates of humanity, was exacted from them. In spite of +the fact, did we say? No, rather because of it. For, owing to the +hardships inflicted upon them, the native population, which originally +was considerably over a million, was reduced to some fifty thousand, and +it was therefore impossible to extract from the earth the riches it +contained. Thus, does unbridled greed ever overleap itself. + +After its discovery, Cuba was twice visited by Columbus, in April, 1494, +and again in 1502, but these visits do not seem to have been productive +of any particular results. + +It was not until 1511 that the Spaniards thought it worth while to +colonize Cuba, and only then because they believed that they had +exhausted the resources of Hayti, in other words, that that particular +orange had been sucked dry. + +Therefore they sent a band of three hundred men under Diego Velasquez, +who had accompanied Columbus on his second voyage, to make a settlement +on the island. + +Velasquez and his companions found the natives peaceful and happy, ruled +over by nine independent chiefs. They met with but little resistance, +and that little was easily overcome. Soon the weak and guileless Indians +were completely subjugated. + +There was one instance which it is well worth while to relate here as +showing the Spanish character, which centuries have not changed, and +which is as cruel and bloodthirsty to-day as it was then. + +There was one native chief, a refugee from Hayti, named Hatuey, who had +had previous dealings with the Spaniards, and knew what was to be +expected from them. He had strongly opposed their invasion, was +captured, and sentenced to be burned alive at the stake. As the flames +curled about him, a Franciscan monk held up a crucifix before him, +urging him to abjure the impotent gods of his ancestors and embrace +Christianity. + +Hatuey, knowing well that his conversion would not save him from a +horrible death, and remembering all the atrocities he had seen +committed, asked where Heaven was and if there were many Spaniards +there. + +"A great many of then," answered the monk. + +"Then," cried Hatuey, "I will not go to a place where I may meet one of +that accursed race. I prefer to go elsewhere." + +Hatuey's death ended all rebellion, if struggling for one's rights can +be rebellion, and the iron hand of tyranny, whose grasp has never since +been relaxed, closed firmly upon the beautiful island. + +Three hundred of the natives were given as slaves to each Spaniard, but, +as in Hayti, it was found that they were not strong enough for the +enormous tasks their masters would have imposed upon them. So negro +slaves were imported from the mother country, and their descendants +remained in the bonds of serfdom for centuries. + +The first permanent settlement was made at Santiago de Cuba, on the +Southeastern coast, the scene of Admiral Sampson's recent brilliant +achievements, and this was for a long time the capital of the colony. +Then came Trinidad, and in 1515 a town was started called San Cristoval +de la Habana, which name was transferred four years later to the present +capital, the first named place being rechristened Batabana. + +The natives were treated with the utmost cruelty, so cruelly, in fact, +that they were practically exterminated. Only a comparatively few years +after the settlement of the island there were scarcely any of them left. +The result of this short sighted policy on the part of Spain was that +agriculture declined to an enormous extent, and Cuba became virtually a +pastoral country. + +In 1537, the king appointed as captain-general Hernando de Soto, the +picturesque adventurer, who was afterwards famous as the discoverer of +the Mississippi and for his romantic search for the fountain of eternal +youth. + +All powers, both civil and military, were vested in the captain-general, +the title bestowed upon the governors, although many of them were +civilians. + +Shortly after this appointment, Havana was reduced to ashes by a French +privateer, and De Soto built for the city's protection the Castillo de +la Fuerza, a fortress which still exists. But this precaution proved +ineffectual, as in 1554, the city which had gained considerably in +importance, as it had now become the capital, was again attacked and +partially destroyed by the French. Two other fortresses were then +constructed, the Punta and the Morro. + +The discovery of Mexico and other countries drew away from the island +the majority of its working population, and the government passed a law +imposing the penalty of death upon all who left it. + +Spain also imposed the heaviest trade restrictions upon Cuba. It was +exploited in every direction for the benefit of the mother country and +to the exclusion of every one else. All foreigners, and even Spaniards +not natives of Castile, were prohibited from trading with the island or +settling in it. + +The consequence was that the increase of population was slow, the +introduction of negroes, whose labor was most essential for prosperity, +was gradual, and the progress and growth of the island were almost +stopped. + +Moreover, Spain was ruler of the greater part of the Atlantic, and a +most despotic ruler she proved herself to be. Numerous tales are told of +the atrocities committed upon navigators, especially those of England. + +When Cromwell, who caused many liberal ideas to be introduced into +England, tried to induce Spain to abolish the Inquisition and to allow +the free navigation of the Atlantic, the Spanish ambassador replied: + +"For my master to relinquish those prerogatives would be the same as to +put out both his eyes." + +One instance of Spain's cruelty, for which, however, she suffered a +well-merited retribution, may be related here. In 1564, a party of +French Huguenots settled in Florida near the mouth of the river St. +John. A certain Menendez, who was sailing under orders to "gibbet and +behead all Protestants in those regions," fell upon the colonists and +massacred all he could find. Some of the settlers, who happened to be +away at the time, shortly afterward fell into the hands of Menendez, who +hanged them all, placing this inscription above their heads: "Not as +Frenchmen, but as heretics." In 1567, however, a French expedition +surprised a body of Spaniards who had undertaken to found St. Augustine, +and in their turn hanged these settlers, "Not as Spaniards, but as +murderers." + +Hampered and oppressed as they were, deprived of a free and convenient +market for the produce of the soil by reason of the monopolies imposed +by the mother country, it is not strange that the Cubans had recourse to +smuggling, and this was especially the case after the British conquest +of Jamaica in 1655. So universal did the practice become, that when +Captain-General Valdez arrived, he found that nearly all the Havanese +were guilty of the crime of illicit trading, the punishment of which was +death. At the suggestion of Valdez, a ship was freighted with presents +for the king, and sent to Spain with a petition for pardon, which was +finally granted. + +But the whole of Europe was against Spain in her arrogant assumption of +the suzerainty of the New World. Especially were her pretensions +condemned and resisted by the English, French, Portuguese and Dutch, all +of whom were engaged in colonizing different portions of America. Then +arose a body of men, who were productive of most important results. +These were known as buccaneers, and were practically a band of piratical +adventurers of different nationalities, united in their opposition to +Spain. + +Hayti, as has already been intimated, had been almost depopulated by the +oppressive colonial policy of Spain. The island had become the home of +immense herds of wild cattle, and it was the custom of the smugglers to +stop there to provision their ships. + +The natives, which were still left, had learned to be skilled in +preserving the meat by means of fire and smoke, and they called their +kilns "boucans." The smugglers, besides obtaining what they desired for +their own use of this preserved meat, established an extensive illicit +trade in it. Hence, they obtained the name of buccaneers. + +Spanish monopolies were the pest of every port in the New World, and +mariners of the western waters were filled with a detestation, quite +natural, of everything Spanish. + +Gradually, the ranks of the buccaneers were recruited. They were given +assistance and encouragement, direct and indirect, by other nations, +even in some cases being furnished with letters-of-marque and reprisal +as privateers. + +The commerce of Spain had been gradually dwindling since the defeat of +the so-called Invincible Armada, and the buccaneers commenced now to +seize the returning treasure ships and to plunder the seaboard cities of +Cuba and other Spanish possessions. + +Even Havana itself was not spared by them. + +The buccaneers, indefensible though many of their actions were, had a +great influence upon the power and colonial tactics of Spain. + +Beyond this, they opened the eyes of the world to the rottenness of the +whole system of Spanish government and commerce in America, and +undoubtedly did much to build up the West Indian possessions of England, +France and Holland. + +It is curious to note here the career of one of their most famous +leaders, an Englishman named Morgan. He was barbarous in the extreme and +returned from many expeditions laden with spoil. But, finally, he went +to Jamaica, turned respectable and was made deputy-governor of the +island. He died, by favor of Charles II., the "gallant" Sir Henry +Morgan. + +But in 1697, the European powers generally condemned the buccaneers. + +In spite of the lessons they had received, and the universal protest of +other nations, the Spaniards, obstinate then as ever, refused to change +their policy. They persisted in closing the magnificent harbors of Cuba +to the commerce of the rest of the world, and that, too, when Spain +could not begin to use the products of the island. Still she could not +and would not allow one bit of gold to slip from between her fingers. +She has always held on with eager greed to all that she could lay her +hands on. It is certainly food for the unrestrained laughter of gods and +men that she has recently been sneering at the United States as a nation +of traders and money grubbers. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE BRITISH OCCUPATION--SPAIN'S GRATITUDE. + + +In the early years of the eighteenth century, Cuba was more or less at +peace, that is so far as Spain, a degenerate mother of a far more +honorable daughter, would allow her to be at peace, and she increased in +population, and, to a certain extent, in material prosperity. + +But in 1717, a revolt broke out, a revolt which was thoroughly +justified. + +Spain felt that the agricultural wealth of the island was increasing, +and she desired for herself practically the whole of the advantages +which accrued from it. + +Therefore, she demanded a royal monopoly of the tobacco trade. This +demand was strenuously and bitterly opposed by the Cubans. + +The Captain-General, Raja, was obliged to flee, but finally the trouble +was ended, and Spain, by might far rather than by right, had her way. +The monopoly was established. + +But the oppressive government led to another uprising in 1723, which +again was quickly quelled. Twelve of the leaders were hanged by Guazo, +who was at that time the captain-general. + +Twice, therefore, did the one who was in the wrong conquer, simply from +the possession of superior force. + +It is said that the mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding +small. And in the light of recent events, this seems to be, and in fact, +so far as human intelligence can determine, it is true. + +Richard Le Galliene, to-day, toward the end of the nineteenth century, +speaks in clarion tones, as follows: + + "Spain is an ancient dragon, + That too long hath curled + Its coils of blood and darkness + About the new-born world. + + Think of the Inquisition + Think of the Netherlands! + Yea! think of all Spain's bloody deeds + In many times and lands. + + And let no feeble pity + Your sacred arms restrain; + This is God's mighty moment + To make an end of Spain." + +About this time, that is, from 1724 to 1747, Cuba, chiefly, if not +almost entirely, at Havana, became a ship building centre, of course, +once more, at least for a time, to the advantage of Spain. In all, there +were constructed some one hundred and twenty-five vessels, carrying +amongst them four thousand guns. These ships comprised six ships of the +line, twenty-one of seventy to eighty guns each, twenty-six of fifty to +sixty guns, fourteen frigates of thirty to forty guns and fifty-eight +smaller vessels. + +But then Spain became jealous--imagine a parent jealous of the success +of its child!--and the ship-building industry was peremptorily stopped. +During the present century, in Cuba only the machinery of one steamer, +the Saqua, has been constructed, and two ships, one a war steamer and +one a merchant steamer, have been built at Havana. + +What a commentary on the dominating and destructive +policy--self-destructive policy, too--of Spain! + +In 1739, there arose in England a popular excitement for a war against +Spain. One of the chief incidents which led to this was an episode which +caused Thomas Carlyle to call the strife that followed "The War of +Jenkins' Ear." + +The English had persisted in maintaining a trade with Cuba in spite of +Spain's prohibition. + +A certain Captain Jenkins, who was in command of an English merchantman, +was captured by a Spanish cruiser. His ship was subjected to search, and +he himself, according to his own declaration, put to the torture. The +Spaniards, however, could find little or nothing of which to convict +him, and, irritated at this they committed a most foolish act, a deed of +childish vengeance. They cut off one of his ears and told him to take it +back to England and show it to the king. + +Jenkins preserved his mutilated ear in a bottle of spirits, and, in due +course of time, appeared himself before the House of Commons and +exhibited it to that body. + +The excitement ensuing upon the proof of this outrage to a British +subject beggars description. + +Walpole was at that time prime minister, and, although essentially a man +of peace, he found it impossible to stem the tide, and public sentiment +compelled him to declare war against Spain. + +This war, however, was productive of but little result one way or the +other. + +But before long another struggle ensued, which was far more reaching in +its consequences. + +In 1756, what is known in history as the Seven Years War, broke out. +This seems to have been a mere struggle for territory, and, besides a +duel between France and England, involved Austria, with its allies, +France, Russia and the German princes against the new kingdom of +Prussia. + +This naturally led to an alliance between England and Prussia. + +Towards the end of the war, early in 1762, hostilities were declared +against Spain. + +An English fleet and army, under Lord Albemarle, were sent to Cuba. The +former consisted of more than two hundred vessels of all classes, and +the latter of fourteen thousand and forty-one men. + +The opposing Spanish force numbered twenty-seven thousand six hundred +and ten men. + +With the English, were a large number of Americans, some of whom figured +later more or less prominently in the war of the Revolution. Israel +Putnam, the hero of the breakneck ride at Horseneck, and General Lyman, +under whom Putnam eventually served, were among these, as was also +Lawrence Washington, a brother of "The Father of His Country." + +By the way, the American loss in Cuba during this campaign was heavy. +Very few, either officers or men, ever returned home. Most of those who +were spared by the Spanish bullets succumbed to the rigors of the +tropical climate, to which they were unaccustomed and ill-prepared for. + +May this experience of our forefathers in the last century not be +repeated in the persons of our brothers of the present! + +The defense of Havana was excessively obstinate, and the Cuban +volunteers covered themselves with glory. + +But, in spite of the superior force of the Spanish, the English were +finally successful. + +Taking all things into consideration, it was a wonderful feat of arms, +one of which only the Anglo-Saxon race is capable. + +Nevertheless, it was only after a prolonged struggle that the victory +was complete. + +At last, on the 30th of July, Morro Castle surrendered, and about two +weeks afterward, the city of Havana capitulated. + +The spoil divided among the captors amounted to about four million seven +hundred thousand dollars. + +The English remained in possession of Cuba for something like six +mouths, and during that time instituted many important and far-reaching +reforms, so much so in fact that when the Spaniards regained possession, +they found it very difficult to re-establish their former restrictive +and tyrannous system. + +For instance, the sanitary condition of Havana, which was atrocious even +in those comparatively primitive days of hygiene, was vastly improved. +All over the island, roads were opened. During the time of the English +occupation, over nine hundred loaded vessels entered the port of Havana, +more than in all the previous entries since the discovery. + +The commerce of the island improved to a remarkable extent, and for the +first time the sugar industry began to be productive. + +If the British had remained in possession of Cuba, it is probable that +that unhappy island would have been spared much of its misery and would +have been as contented, prosperous and loyal as Canada is to-day. + +It really seemed as if an era of prosperity had begun, when by the +treaty of Paris, in February, 1763, most of the conquests made during +the Seven Years' War were restored to their original owners, and among +them unfortunately in the light of both past and future events, Cuba to +the misrule of the Spaniards. + +England, however, was eminently the gainer by this treaty, as she +received from France all the territory formerly claimed by the latter +east of the Mississippi, together with Prince Edward's Island, Cape +Breton, St. Vincent, Dominica, Minorca and Tobago. In return for Cuba, +Spain ceded to England Florida, while the Spanish government received +Louisiana from France. On the other hand, Martinique, Guadeloupe, +Pondicherry and Goree were returned to France. + +It was impossible for the Spanish to undo in a day all the good that the +English rule, short though it was, had accomplished. + +Moreover, it was more than fortunate for Cuba that there followed not +long after two governors of more than ordinary ability and humanity, +both of whom had her interests at heart, and they caused a period of +unwonted prosperity, most grateful to the Cubans, to follow. + +The first of these governors, or to give them their rightful title, +captain-generals, was Luis de Las Casas, who was appointed in 1790. + +Now, for the first time in her history, Cuba really made rapid progress +in commercial prosperity as well as in public improvements. Las Casas +developed all branches of industry, allowed the establishment of +newspapers, and gave his aid to the patriotic societies. + +He also introduced the culture of indigo, removed as far as his powers +permitted the old trammels, which an iniquitous system had placed upon +trade, and made noble efforts to bring about the emancipation of the +enslaved Indian natives. + +His attitude toward the newly established republic of the United States +was most generous, and this helped largely to develop the industry of +the island. + +By his judicious administration, the tranquillity of Cuba remained +undisturbed during the time of the rebellion in Hayti, and this in face +of the fact that strenuous efforts were made by the French, to form a +conspiracy and bring about an uprising among the free people of color in +Cuba. + +Another thing that will redound forever to the credit of Las Casas and +which should make his memory beloved by all Americans--it was through +his efforts that the body of Columbus was removed from Hayti where it +had been entombed and deposited in its present resting-place in the +Cathedral of Havana. + +In 1796, Las Casas was succeeded by another just and philanthropic +governor, the Count of Santa Clara. The latter greatly improved the +fortifications which then guarded the island and constructed a large +number of others, among them the Bateria de Santa Clara, just outside +Havana, and named in his honor. + +It was undoubtedly due in a very great measure to the kindly policies of +these two noble and far seeing men that Cuba at that time became +confirmed in her allegiance to the mother country; and had they been +followed by men of equal calibre of both mind and heart, it is more than +probable that the history of Cuba would have been devoid of stirring +events. For, as the old saying has it: "Happy nations have no history." + +In 1795 a number of French emigrants arrived from San Domingo, and +proved a valuable acquisition. + +In 1802, a disastrous fire occurred in a suburb of Havana, called Jesu +Maria, and over eleven thousand four hundred people were rendered +destitute and homeless. + +About this time, the star of Napoleon Bonaparte, the greatest of heroes +or the greatest of adventurers, according to the point of view, was in +the ascendant. Almost without exception there was not a country in +Europe that had not felt the weight of his heavy hand, and, to all +intents and purposes, he was the master of the continent. + +Spain was by no means to escape his greed for conquest and power. + +Her country was overrun and ravaged by his victorious armies. Her +reigning family was driven away. Napoleon deposed the descendant of a +long line of Bourbons, Ferdinand VII., and placed his own brother, +Joseph Bonaparte, upon the throne. + +Then the attitude and the action of Cuba were superb. Her loyalty was +unwavering. Every member of the provincial council declared his fidelity +to the old dynasty, and took an oath to defend and preserve the island +for its legitimate sovereign. + +More than this--the Cubans followed this declaration up by deeds, which +ever speak louder than mere words. They made numerous voluntary +subscriptions, they published vehement pamphlets, and they sent their +sons to fight and shed their blood for the agonized mother country. + +For this, Cuba received the title of "The Ever Faithful Isle," by which +it has been known ever since. + +A very pretty compliment truly! But let us see in what other and more +substantial ways was Cuba's magnificent fidelity rewarded. + +The answer is as brief as it is true. In no way whatever. + +Many promises were made at the time by the Provisional Government at +Seville, chief among them being that all Spanish subjects everywhere +should have equal rights. But not one of these promises was ever kept. + +On the contrary, it was not long before the oppression became greater +than ever. There were deprivation of political, civil and religious +liberty, an exclusion of the islanders from all public offices, and a +heavy and iniquitous taxation to maintain the standing army and navy. + +Clothed as they were with the powers of an Oriental despot, most of the +captain-generals from Spain covered themselves with infamy, the office +as a rule having been sought (and this was distinctly realized by the +Spanish government) only as an end and means to acquire a personal +fortune. + +To realize the practically absolute authority given to the +captain-generals, it is only necessary to read the royal decree +promulgated after Joseph Bonaparte had been deposed and the Bourbon +king, Ferdinand, restored to the throne. + +A portion of this amazing document is as follows: + +"His majesty, the king our Lord, desiring to obviate the inconveniences +that might, in extraordinary cases, result from a division of command, +and from the interferences and prerogatives of the respective officers: +for the important end of preserving in that precious island his +legitimate sovereign authority and the public tranquility, through +proper means, has resolved, in accordance with the opinion of his +council of ministers, to give to your excellency the fullest authority, +bestowing upon you all the powers which by the royal ordinances are +granted to the governors of besieged cities. In consequence of this his +majesty gives to your excellency the most ample and unbounded power, not +only to send away from the island any persons in office, whatever their +occupation, rank, class or condition, whose continuance therein your +excellency may deem injurious, or whose conduct, public or private, may +alarm you, replacing them with persons faithful to his majesty, and +deserving of all the confidence of your excellency; but also to suspend +the execution of any order whatsoever, or any general provision made +concerning any branch of the administration as your excellency may think +most suitable to the royal service." + +For over one hundred and seventy years these orders have received little +or no change, and they still remain practically the supreme law of Cuba. + +This was the way that magnanimous, grateful, chivalrous Spain began to +reward "The Ever Faithful Isle" for its unparalleled loyalty and +devotion. + +And Heaven save the mark! this was only the beginning. + +"That precious island," says the royal decree. Precious! There was never +a truer word spoken. For Spain has always loved Cuba with a fanatical, +gloating passion, as the fox loves the goose, as Midas loved gold, and +as in the case of Midas, this love has eventually led to her +destruction. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +CUBA'S EARLY STRUGGLES FOR LIBERTY. + + +It was in 1813 that the Bonapartist regime came to an end in Spain, and +Ferdinand VII. reascended the throne. In the very beginning he paid no +attention to the Constitution; he dissolved the Cortes and did his best +to make his monarchy an absolute one. + +Again, as has been said, Cuba felt the yoke of his despotism, all +previous promises, when the aid of the island was to his advantage, +being as completely ignored as if they had never been made. + +In Spanish America, revolutionary movements had been begun some three +years before, and after stubborn warfare, Buenos Ayres, Venezuela and +Peru finally succeeded in obtaining complete independence from Spanish +authority. + +From all these countries, swarms of Spanish loyalists made their way to +Cuba, and were ordered to be maintained at the expense of the island. + +Spain also desired to make of Cuba a military station, whence she could +direct operations in her efforts to reconquer the new republic. This +plan was vehemently opposed by the Cubans. + +Discontent rapidly fomented and increased throughout the island. +Numerous secret political societies were formed, and there arose two +great opposing factions, the one insisting that the liberal +constitution granted by the Provisional Government of Seville at the +time the Bourbon king was deposed should be the fundamental law of Cuba, +while the other proclaimed its partisanship of rigid colonial control. + +In 1821, Hayti declared its independence of Spain, and in the same year +Florida passed into the possession of the United States. + +Both these events increased the feeling of unrest and discontent in +Cuba, and this was further augmented by the establishment of a permanent +military commission, which took cognizance of even ordinary offenses, +but particularly of all offenses against disloyalty. + +An attempt at revolution, the purpose being the establishment of a +republic, was made in 1823 by the "Soles de Bolivar" association. It was +arranged that uprisings should take place simultaneously in several of +the Cuban cities, but the plans became known to the government and the +intended revolution was nipped in the bud, all the leaders being +arrested and imprisoned the very day on which it had been arranged to +declare independence. + +In 1826 Cuban refugees in Mexico and in some of the South American +republics planned an invasion of Cuba to be led by Simon Bolivar, the +great liberator of Colombia, but it came to nothing, owing to the +impossibility of securing adequate support both of men and money. + +A year or two later these same men attempted another uprising in the +interests of greater privileges and freedom. A secret society, known as +the "Black Eagle" was organized, with headquarters at Mexico, but with a +branch office and recruiting stations in the United States. + +This invasion, however, also proved abortive, owing chiefly to the +determined opposition displayed by the slave-holders both in the United +States and Cuba. The ringleaders were captured and severely punished by +the Spanish authorities. + +The struggles for freedom had attracted the attention of the people of +the United States and were viewed by them with ever-increasing interest +and sympathy. + +After the acquisition of Florida, the future of the island of Cuba +became of more or less importance to the people of the United States and +has remained so to the present day. As President Cleveland said in his +message of December, 1896: "It is so near to us as to be hardly +separated from our own territory." The truth of this is apparent when it +is remembered that the straits of Florida can be crossed by steamer in +five hours. + +It began to be feared that Cuba might fall into the hands of England or +France and the governments of those countries as well as that of Spain +were informed that such a disposition of it would never be consented to. +Its position at the entrance of the gulf of Mexico could not be +disregarded. The American government declared its willingness that it +should remain a Spanish colony, but stated it would never permit it to +become the colony of another country. + +In 1825 Spain made a proposition that, in consideration of certain +commercial concessions the United States should guarantee to her the +possession of Cuba; but this proposition was declined on the ground that +such a thing would be contrary to the established policy of the United +States. + +One of the most important consequences of Spain's efforts to regain +possession of the South American republics, the independence of which +had been recognized by the United States, was the formulation of what +has since been known as the "Monroe Doctrine." In his message of +December 2, 1823, President Monroe promulgated the policy of neither +entangling ourselves in the broils of Europe, nor suffering the powers +of the old world to interfere with the affairs of the new. He further +declared that any attempt on the part of the European powers "to extend +their system to any portion of this hemisphere" would be regarded by the +United States as "dangerous to our peace and safety," and would +accordingly be opposed. + +Although since then there has been more or less friction with England +over the Monroe doctrine, at that time she greatly aided in its becoming +established as a feature of international law, and strengthened the +position of the United States, by her recognition of the South American +republics. + +The Spanish slave code, by which the slave trade, which had formerly +been a monopoly, was made free, had given a great stimulus to the +importation of slaves. It was almost brought to an end, however, by the +energetic efforts of Captain-General Valdez. But the increased +consumption of sugar in Great Britain, owing to reduction of duty and +the placing of foreign and British sugars on the same basis gave a new +stimulus to the traffic; and, in their own pecuniary interest, ever more +prominent with them than any question of humanity, the Spanish relaxed +their efforts, and the slave trade attained greater dimensions than ever +before. + +In 1844 there occurred an uprising which was more serious than any which +had preceded it. The slaves on the sugar plantations in the neighborhood +of Matanzas were suspected of being about to revolt. There was no real +proof of this, and in order to obtain evidence a large number of slaves +were tortured. It was evident that Spain was still ready, if in her +opinion occasion required it, to have recourse to the barbarities of the +old Inquisitorial days. By evidence manufactured by such outrageous +methods, one thousand three hundred and forty-six persons were tried and +convicted, of whom seventy-eight were shot, and the others punished with +more or less severity. Of those declared guilty, fourteen were white, +one thousand two hundred and forty-two free colored persons, and +fifty-nine slaves. + +The project of annexation to the United States was first mooted in 1848, +after the proclamation of the French republic. The people of the slave +States, in view of the increasing population and the anti-slavery +feeling of the North and West were beginning to feel alarmed as to the +safety of the "peculiar institution," and there was a strong sentiment +among them in favor of annexing Cuba and dividing it up into slave +states. President Polk, therefore, authorized the American minister at +Madrid to offer one hundred million dollars for Cuba; but the +proposition was rejected in the most peremptory manner. A similar +proposal was made ten years afterward in the Senate, but after a debate +it was withdrawn. + +The next conspiracy, rebellion or revolution (it has been called by all +these names according to the point of view and the sympathies of those +speaking or writing of it) broke out in 1848. It was headed by Narciso +Lopez, who was a native of Venezuela, but who had served in the Spanish +army, and had attained therein the rank of major-general. + +This was of considerable more importance than any of the outbreaks that +had preceded it. + +The first attempt of Lopez at an insurrectionary movement was made in +the centre of the island. It proved to be unsuccessful, but Lopez, with +many of his adherents, managed to escape and reached New York, where +there were a large number of his sympathizers. + +Lopez represented the majority of the Cuban population as dissatisfied +with Spanish rule, and eager for revolt and annexation to the United +States. + +In 1849, with a party small in numbers, he attempted to return to Cuba, +but the United States authorities prevented him accomplishing his +purpose. + +He was undaunted by failure, however, and the following year, he +succeeded in effecting another organization and sailed from New Orleans +on the steamer Pampero, with a force which has been variously estimated +at from three to six hundred men, the latter probably being nearer the +truth. + +The second in command was W. S. Crittenden, a gallant young Kentuckian, +who was a graduate of West Point, and who had earned his title of +colonel in the Mexican war. + +They landed at Morillo in the Vuelta Abajo. Here the forces were +divided; one hundred and thirty under Crittenden remained to guard the +supplies, while Lopez with the rest pushed on into the interior. + +There had been no disguise in the United States as to the object of this +expedition. Details in regard to it had been freely and recklessly +published, and there is a lesson to be learned even from this +comparatively trivial attempt to obtain freedom as to a proper +censorship of the press in time of warfare. + +The Spanish government was fully informed beforehand as to all the +little army's probable movements. The consequence was that Lopez was +surrounded and his whole force captured by the Spanish. + +The expected uprising of the Cuban people, by the way, had not taken +place. + +Hearing no news of his superior officer, Crittenden at first made a +desperate attempt to escape by sea, but, being frustrated in this, he +took refuge in the woods. + +At last he and his little force, now reduced to fifty men, were forced +to capitulate. + +The United States Consul was asked to interfere in the case of +Crittenden, but refused to do so. It was said at the time that there +were two reasons for this: First, there was no doubt whatever as to the +nature of the expedition, and secondly, the consul, who does not appear +to have been particularly brave, was alarmed for his personal safety. + +The trial, if trial it can be called, and condemnation followed with the +utmost, almost criminal, celerity. + +In batches of six, Crittenden and his fifty brave surviving comrades +were shot beneath the walls of the fortress of Alara. + +When the Spaniards ordered Crittenden, as was the custom, to kneel with +his back to the firing party, the heroic young Kentuckian responded: + +"No! I will stand facing them! I kneel only to my God!" + +It is stated that the bodies of the victims were mutilated in a horrible +manner. + +There was no inconsiderable number of Cubans who sympathized with Lopez, +but, held as they were under a stern leash, they did not dare to +intercede for him. + +He was garroted at Havana, being refused the honorable death of a +soldier. Some others of his comrades were shot, but most of them were +transported for life. + +The sad fate of Crittenden aroused the greatest indignation and +bitterness in the United States, but the tenets of international law +forbade anything to be done in the case. + +During the administration of President Pierce, there occurred an +incident which threatened at one time to lead to hostilities, and which +was one of the first of the many incidents that have embittered the +United States against Spain as regards its administration of Cuba. + +This was the firing on the American steamer, Black Warrior, by a Spanish +man-of-war. + +The Black Warrior was a steamer owned in New York, and plying regularly +between that city and Mobile. It was her custom both on her outward and +homeward bound trips to touch always at Havana. The custom laws were +then very stringent, and she ought each time to have exhibited a +manifest of her cargo. But still this was totally unnecessary, as no +portion of her cargo was ever put off at Havana. + +She was therefore entered and cleared under the technical term of "in +ballast." This was done nearly thirty times with full knowledge and +consent of the Spanish revenue officers; and, moreover the proceeding +was in accordance with a general order of the Cuban authorities. + +But in February, 1850, the steamer was stopped and fired upon in the +harbor of Havana. The charge brought against her was that she had an +undeclared cargo on board. This cargo was confiscated, and a fine of +twice its value imposed. The commander of the vessel, Captain Bullock, +refused to pay the fine, and declared that the whole proceeding was +"violent, wrongful and in bad faith." + +But, obtaining no redress, he hauled down his colors, and, carrying them +away with him, left the vessel as a Spanish capture. With his crew and +passengers, he made his way to New York, and reported the facts to the +owners. + +The latter preferred a claim for indemnity of three hundred thousand +dollars. After a tedious delay of five years, this sum was paid, and so +the matter ended. + +The affair of the Black Warrior was one of the cases that led to the +celebrated Ostend Conference. + +This conference was held in 1854 at Ostend and Aix-la-Chapelle by +Messrs. Buchanan, Mason and Soule, United States ministers at London, +Paris and Madrid, and resulted in what is known as the Ostend manifesto. + +The principal points of this manifesto were as follows: + +"The United States ought if possible to purchase Cuba with as little +delay as possible. + +"The probability is great that the government and Cortes of Spain will +prove willing to sell it because this would essentially promote the +highest and best interests of the Spanish people. + +"The Union can never enjoy repose nor possess reliable securities as +long as Cuba is not embraced within its boundaries. + +"The intercourse which its proximity to our coast begets and encourages +between them (the inhabitants of Cuba) and the citizens of the United +States has, in the progress of time, so united their interests and +blended their fortunes that they now look upon each other as if they +were one people and had but one destiny. + +"The system of immigration and labor lately organized within the limits +of the island, and the tyranny and oppression which characterize its +immediate rulers, threaten an insurrection at every moment which may +result in direful consequences to the American people. + +"Cuba has thus become to us an unceasing danger, and a permanent cause +for anxiety and alarm. + +"Should Spain reject the present golden opportunity for developing her +resources and removing her financial embarrassments, it may never come +again. + +"Extreme oppression, it is now universally admitted, justifies any +people in endeavoring to free themselves from the yoke of their +oppressors. The sufferings which the corrupt, arbitrary and unrelenting +local administration necessarily entails upon the inhabitants of Cuba +cannot fail to stimulate and keep alive that spirit of resistance and +revolution against Spain which has of late years been so often +manifested. In this condition of affairs it is vain to expect that the +sympathies of the people of the United States will not be warmly +enlisted in favor of their oppressed neighbors. + +"The United States has never acquired a foot of territory except by fair +purchase, or, as in the case of Texas, upon the free and voluntary +application of the people of that independent State, who desired to +blend their destinies with our own. + +"It is certain that, should the Cubans themselves organize an +insurrection against the Spanish government, no human power could, in +our opinion, prevent the people and government of the United States from +taking part in such a civil war in support of their neighbors and +friends." + +We have quoted thus largely from the Ostend manifesto, because it seems +to us, with one exception, to be so pertinent to the present status of +affairs. + +The one exception is: We no longer desire the annexation of Cuba. The +present war is a holy war. It has been entered into wholly and entirely +from motives of philanthropy, to give to a suffering and downtrodden +people the blessings of freedom which we ourselves enjoy. + +Moreover, the manifesto clearly shows that the causes of Cuban uprising +are of no recent date; and that, before the United States rose in its +wrath, it was patient and long-suffering. + +Although the Senate debated the questions raised by the manifesto for a +long time, nothing resulted from the deliberations. + +Questions of extraordinary moment were arising in our own country, from +which terrible results were to ensue, and for the time being, indeed for +years to come, everything else sank into insignificance. + +Meantime, the question of independence was still being agitated in Cuba. + +General Jose de la Concha, in anticipation of a rising of the Creole +population threatened to turn the island into an African dependency. He +formed and drilled black troops, armed the native born Spaniards and +disarmed the Cubans. Everything was got in readiness for a desperate +defense. The Cuban junta in New York had enlisted a large body of men +and had made ready for an invasion. Under the circumstances, however, +the attempt was postponed. Pinto and Estrames, Cubans taken with arms in +their hands, were executed, while a hundred others were either condemned +to the galleys or deported. General de la Concha's foresight and +vigilance unquestionably prevented a revolution, and for his services he +was created Marquis of Havana. + +Then ensued a period of comparative quiet, but the party of independence +was only awaiting an opportunity to strike. + +Long before this, Spain had entered upon the downward path. "A whale +stranded upon the coast of Europe," some one designated her. She had +been accumulating a debt against her, a debt which can never be repaid. + +And she has no one to blame for her wretched feeble, exhausted condition +but herself--her own obstinacy, selfishness and perversity. + +Truly, Spain has changed but little, and that only in certain outward +aspects, since the time of Torquemada and the Inquisition. She is the +one nation of Europe that civilization does not seem to have reached. + +The magnificent legacy left her by her famous son, Christopher Columbus, +has been gradually dissipated; the last beautiful jewel in the crown of +her colonial possessions, the "Pearl of the Antilles" is about to be +wrested from her. + +Her case is indeed a pitiable one, and yet sympathy is arrested when we +remember that her reward to Columbus for his magnificent achievements +was to cover his reputation with obloquy and load his person with +chains. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE TEN YEARS' WAR. + + +For about fourteen years after 1854, the outbreaks in Cuba were +infrequent, and of little or no moment. To all intents and purposes, the +island was in a state of tranquility. + +In September, 1868, a revolution broke out in the mother country, the +result of which was that Queen Isabella was deposed from the throne and +forced to flee the country. + +This time Cuba did not proclaim her loyalty to the Bourbon dynasty, as +she had done some sixty years before. She had learned her lesson. She +knew now how Spanish sovereigns rewarded loyalty, and the fall of +Isabella, instead of inspiring the Cubans with sympathy, caused them to +rush into a revolution, an action which, paradoxical as it may seem, was +somewhat precipitate, although long contemplated. + +All Cuba had been eagerly looking forward to the inauguration of +political reforms, or to an attempt to shake of the pressing yoke of +Spain. At first it was thought that the new government would ameliorate +the condition of Cuba, and so change affairs that the island might +remain contentedly connected with a country of which she had so long +formed a part. + +But these hopes were soon dissipated, and the advanced party of Cuba at +once matured their plans for the liberation of the island from the +military despotism of Spain. + +A declaration of Cuban independence was issued at Manzanillo in October, +1868, by Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, a lawyer of Bayamo. + +This declaration began as follows: + +"As Spain has many a time promised us Cubans to respect our rights, +without having fulfilled her promises; as she continues to tax us +heavily, and by so doing is likely to destroy our wealth; as we are in +danger of losing our property, our lives and our honor under further +Spanish dominion, therefore, etc., etc." + +Thus was inaugurated what was destined to prove the most protracted and +successful attempt at Cuban freedom, up to that time. + +It is certain that the grievances of the islanders were many, and this +was even recognized to a certain extent in Spain itself. + +In a speech delivered by one of the Cuban deputies to the Cortes in 1866 +occurs this passage: + +"I foresee a catastrophe near at hand, in case Spain persists in +remaining deaf to the just reclamations of the Cubans. Look at the old +colonies of the American continent. All have ended in conquering their +independence. Let Spain not forget the lesson; let the government be +just to the colonies that remain. Thus she will consolidate her dominion +over people who only aspire to be good sons of a worthy mother, but who +are not willing to live as slaves under the sceptre of a tyrant." + +In 1868 the annual revenue exacted from Cuba by Spain was in the +neighborhood of twenty-six million dollars; and plans were in progress +by which even this great revenue was to be largely increased. Not one +penny of this was applied to Cuba's advantage. On the contrary, it was +expended in a manner which was simply maddening to the Cubans. + +The officials of the island, be it understood, were invariably +Spaniards. The captain-general received a salary of fifty thousand +dollars a year; at this time, this sum was twice as much as that paid to +the President of the United States. The provincial governors obtained +twelve thousand dollars each, while the Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba +and the Bishop of Havana were paid eighteen thousand dollars apiece. In +addition to these large salaries, there were perquisites which probably +amounted to as much again. + +Even the lowest offices were filled by friends of Spanish politicians. +These officials had no sympathy with Cuba, and cared nothing for her +welfare, save in so far as they were enabled to fill their own pockets. + +The stealing in the custom houses was enormous. It has been estimated at +over fifty per cent of the gross receipts. Every possible penny was +forced from the native planters under the guise of taxes and also by the +most flagrant blackmail. + +By a system of differential duties, Spain still managed to retain a +monopoly of the trade to Cuba while the colonists were forced to pay the +highest possible rates for all they received from the mother country. + +The rates of postage were absurdly outrageous. For instance there was an +extra charge for delivery. When a native Cuban received a prepaid letter +at his own door, he was obliged to pay thirty-seven and a half cents +additional postage. + +The taxes on flour were so high that wheaten bread ceased to be an +article of ordinary diet. The annual consumption of bread in Spain was +four hundred pounds for each person, while in Cuba, it was only +fifty-three pounds, nine ounces. In fact, all the necessaries of life +were burdened with most iniquitous taxation. + +Then again there was the interest on the national debt. While the +Spaniards paid three dollars and twenty-three cents per capita, six +dollars and thirty-nine cents, nearly double, was exacted from the +Cubans. + +All these were the chief causes of the revolution which began in 1868, +and many of them still existed a few years ago and led to the last +revolution. By the way, there is but little chance but that it will +prove the last, bringing as its consequence, what has been struggled for +so long--the freedom of Cuba. + +The standard of revolt in the Ten Years War, as has been stated, was +raised by Carlos Manuel de Cespedes. He was well known as an able lawyer +and a wealthy planter. In the very beginning, he was unfortunately +forced to take action before he had intended to do so, by reason of news +of the projected outbreak reaching the authorities in Havana. + +A letter carrier, who from his actions gave rise to suspicions, was +detained at Cespedes' sugar plantation, La Demajagua, and it was found +that he was the bearer of an order for the arrest of the conspirators. + +With this information, immediate action became necessary. Cespedes +deemed it expedient to strike at once, and with only two hundred poorly +equipped men, he commenced the campaign at Yara. + +This place was defended by a Spanish force too strong for the +insurgents. But Cespedes was not long in attracting to himself a most +respectable following. + +At the end of a few weeks he found himself at the head of fifteen +thousand men. The little army, however, was anything but well provided +with arms and ammunition. Among them were many of Cespedes' former +slaves whom the general promptly liberated. + +Attacks were made on Las Tunas, Cauto Embarcardero, Jiguana, La Guisa, +El Datil and Santa Rita, in almost every case victory remaining with the +insurgents. + +On the 15th of October it was decided to attack Bayamo, an important +town of ten thousand inhabitants. On the 18th the town was captured. The +governor, with a small body of men, shut himself up in the fort, but a +few days after was forced to capitulate. + +For the relief of Bayamo, a Spanish force under Colonel Quiros, +numbering, besides cavalry and artillery, about eight hundred infantry, +started out from Santiago de Cuba, but was defeated and driven back to +Santiago with heavy losses. + +The Spanish general, Count Valmaseda, was sent from Havana into the +insurrectionary district, but was attacked and forced to return, +leaving his dead on the field. + +Afterwards Valmaseda, who had increased his force to four thousand men, +marched on Bayamo. He received a severe check at Saladillo, but +eventually succeeded in crossing the Cauto. The Cubans saw the +hopelessness of defending the place against such superior numbers, and, +rather than have it fall into the hands of the enemy, burned the city. + +In December, General Quesada, who afterward played a most prominent part +in the war, landed a cargo of arms and took command of the army at +Camarguey. + +Before the close of the year, Spain, realizing how desperate was to be +the struggle, had under arms nearly forty thousand troops which had been +sent from Europe, besides twelve thousand guerillas recruited on the +island and some forty thousand volunteers organized for the defense of +the cities. These latter were in many respects analogous to the National +Guard of the United States. They were raised from Spanish immigrants, +between whom and the native Cubans have always existed a bitter enmity +and jealousy. + +In the spring of 1869, the revolutionists drew up a constitution, which +provided for a republican form of government, an elective president and +vice-president, a cabinet and a single legislative chamber. It also made +a declaration in favor of the immediate abolition of slavery. Cespedes +was elected president and Francisco Aquilero vice-president. + +It is said that at the beginning of the war, before being driven to +reprisals, the Cubans behaved with all humanity. They took many Spanish +prisoners of war, but paroled them. On the other hand, the Cuban +prisoners were treated with the utmost treachery and cruelty. In all +parts of the island, no Cuban taken a prisoner of war was spared; to a +man they were shot on the spot as so many dogs. + +Valmaseda, the Spanish general, in April, 1869, issued the following +proclamation, which speaks for itself: + +"Inhabitants of the country! The re-enforcements of troops that I have +been waiting for have arrived; with them I shall give protection to the +good, and punish promptly those that still remain in rebellion against +the government of the metropolis. + +"You know that I have pardoned those that have fought us with arms; that +your wives, mothers and sisters have found in me the unexpected +protection that you have refused them. You know, also, that many of +those I have pardoned have turned against us again. + +"Before such ingratitude, such villainy, it is not possible for me to be +the man I have been; there is no longer a place for a falsified +neutrality; he that is not for me is against me, and that my soldiers +may know how to distinguish, you hear, the orders they carry: + +1st. Every man, from the age of fifteen years, upward, found away from +his habitation and not proving a justified motive therefor, will be +shot. + +2d. Every unoccupied habitation will be burned by the troops. + +3d. Every habitation from which does not float a white flag, as a +signal that its occupants desire peace, will be reduced to ashes. + +"Women that are not living at their own homes, or at the house of their +relatives, will collect in the town of Jiguana or Bayamo, where +maintenance will be provided. Those who do not present themselves will +be conducted forcibly." + +The second paragraph was flagrantly untrue. Those who had fought against +the Spaniards had not been pardoned. On the contrary, they had been put +to death. Fearful atrocities had been committed in Havana and elsewhere. +To cite only a few instances: The shooting of men, women and children at +the Villanuesa Theatre, at the Louvre, and at the sack of Aldama's +house. + +Valmaseda's proclamation raised a storm of protest from all civilized +nations, and the Spaniards, stiff and unbending, never wavered, but the +policy embodied in Valmaseda's proclamation remained their tactics until +the end of the war. + +The United States was especially roused and disgusted. Secretary Fish, +in a letter to Mr. Hale, then Minister to Spain, protested "against the +infamous proclamation of general, the Count of Valmaseda." + +Even a Havanese paper is quoted as declaring that, + +"Said proclamation does not even reach what is required by the +necessities of war in the most civilized nations." + +The revolutionists were victorious in almost every engagement for the +first two years, although their losses were by no means inconsiderable. + +It has even been acknowledged recently by a representative of Spain to +the United States that the greater and better part of the Cubans were in +sympathy with the insurrection. This opinion appeared in a statement +made by Senor De Lome (whose reputation among Americans is now somewhat +unsavory) in the New York Herald of February 23, 1896. + +The Cubans were recognized as belligerents by Chili, Bolivia, Guatemala, +Peru, Columbia and Mexico. + +There were two important expeditions of assistance sent to the Cubans in +the early part of the war. One was under the command of Rafael Quesada, +and, in addition to men, brought arms and ammunition, of which the +insurgents were sadly in need. The other was under General Thomas +Jordan, a West Point graduate and an ex-officer in the Confederate +service. By the way, the South, with its well-known chivalry, has always +evinced warm sympathy for the unfortunate Cubans. To their glory be it +spoken and remembered! + +Quesada managed to reach the interior without resistance. But Jordan, +with only one hundred and seventy-five men, but carrying arms and +ammunition for two thousand six hundred men, besides several pieces of +artillery, was attacked at Camalito and again at El Ramon; he succeeded +in repulsing the enemy and reaching his destination. + +Soon after, as General Quesada demanded extraordinary powers, he was +deposed by the Cuban congress, and General Jordan was appointed +commander-in-chief in his stead. + +In August, 1870, the United States government offered to Spain their +good offices for a settlement of the strife. Mr. Fish, who was then +secretary of State, proposed terms for the cession of the island to the +Cubans, but the offer was declined. This is only one of the many times +when Spain, in her suicidal policy, has refused to listen to reason. + +About this time the volunteers expelled General Dulce, and General de +Rodas was sent from Spain to replace him with a re-enforcement of thirty +thousand men. + +General de Rodas, however, remained in command only about six months, he +in his turn being replaced by Valmaseda, again at the dictation of the +volunteers. + +Speaking of these volunteers, who it will be remembered were recruited +from Spanish immigrants and who were peculiarly obnoxious to Cubans of +all classes, it will not be out of place to relate here an act of wanton +cruelty upon their part. + +This took place in the autumn of 1871. One of the volunteers had died, +and his body had been placed in a public tomb in Havana. Later it was +discovered that the tomb had been defaced, by some inscription placed +upon it, no more, no less. Suspicion fell upon the students of the +university. The volunteers made a complaint and forty-three of the young +students were arrested and tried for the misdemeanor. An officer of the +regular Spanish army volunteered to defend them, and through his +efforts, they were acquitted. + +This verdict did not satisfy the volunteers, however. They demanded and +obtained from the captain-general, who was a man of weak character, the +convening of another court-martial two-thirds of which was to be +composed of volunteers. Was there ever such a burlesque of justice? The +accusers and the judges were one and the same persons. Of course, there +could be but one result. All the prisoners were found guilty and +condemned, eight to be shot, and the others to imprisonment and hard +labor. + +The day after the court-martial (?) fifteen hundred volunteers turned +out under arms and executed the eight boys. + +This incident filled the whole of the United States with horror and +indignation. The action was censured by the Spanish Cortes, but the +matter ended there. No attempt whatever was made to punish the +offenders. + +The insurgents waged an active warfare until the spring of 1871. They +had at that time a force of about fifty thousand men, but they were +badly armed and poorly supplied with necessities of all sorts. The +resources of the Spaniards were infinitely greater. About this time the +Cuban soldiers who had been fighting in the district of Camaguey +signified a desire to surrender and cease the conflict, provided their +lives were spared. The proposition was accepted. Their commander, +General Agramonte refused to yield, and he was left with only about +thirty-five men who remained loyal to him. He formed a body of cavalry, +and continued fighting for some two years longer, when he was killed on +the field of battle. + +In January, 1873, the Edinburg Review contained a very strong article on +the condition of affairs in Cuba, in the course of which it said: + +"It is well known that Spain governs Cuba with an iron and blood-stained +hand. The former holds the latter deprived of political, civil and +religious liberty. Hence the unfortunate Cubans being illegally +prosecuted and sent into exile, or executed by military commissions in +time of peace; hence their being kept from public meeting, and forbidden +to speak or write on affairs of State; hence their remonstrances against +the evils that afflict them being looked on as the proceedings of +rebels, from the fact that they are bound to keep silence and obey; +hence the never-ending plague of hungry officials from Spain, to devour +the product of their industry and labor; hence their exclusion from +public stations, and want of opportunity to fit themselves for the art +of government; hence the restrictions to which public instruction with +them is subjected, in order to keep them so ignorant as not to be able +to know and enforce their rights in any shape or form whatever; hence +the navy and the standing army, which are kept in their country at an +enormous expenditure from their own wealth, to make them bend their +knees and submit their necks to the iron yoke that disgraces them; hence +the grinding taxation under which they labor, and which would make them +all perish in misery but for the marvelous fertility of their soil." + +In July, 1873, Pieltain, then captain-general, sent an envoy to +President Cespedes to offer peace on condition that Cuba should remain +a state of the Spanish republic, but this offer was declined. + +In December of the same year, Cespedes was deposed by the Cuban +Congress, and Salvador Cisneros elected in his place. The latter was a +scion of the old Spanish nobility who renounced his titles and had his +estates confiscated when he joined the revolution. He was and is +distinguished for his patriotism, intelligence and nobility of +character. It was his daughter, Evangelina Cisneros, who was rescued +from the horrors of a Spanish dungeon by Americans, and brought to the +United States. + +After his retirement, Cespedes was found by the Spaniards, and put to +death, according to their usual policy: "Slay and spare not." + +The war dragged on, being more a guerrilla warfare than anything else. +The losses were heavy on both sides. There is no data from which to +obtain the losses of the Cubans, but the records in the War Office at +Madrid show the total deaths in the Spanish land forces for the ten +years to have been over eighty thousand. Spain had sent to Cuba one +hundred and forty-five thousand men, and her best generals, but while +they kept the insurgents in check they were unable to subdue them. The +condition of the island was deplorable, her trade had greatly decreased +and her crops were ruined. + +For years there had been a constant waste of men and money, with no +perceptible gain on either side. + +By 1878, both parties were heartily weary of the struggle and ready to +compromise. + +General Martinez de Campos was then in command of the Spanish forces, +and he opened negotiations with the Cuban leader, Maximo Gomez, the same +who was destined later to attain even more prominence. Gomez listened to +what was proposed, and after certain deliberations, terms of peace were +concluded in February, 1878, by the treaty of El Zanjon. + +This treaty guaranteed Cuba representation in the Spanish Cortes, +granted a free pardon to all who had taken part directly or indirectly, +in the revolution, and permitted all those who wished to do so to leave +the island. + +At first glance these terms seem fair. But, as we shall see later, Spain +in this case as in all others was true to herself, that is, false to +every promise she made. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE VIRGINIUS EMBROGLIO. + + +There was one event of the ten years' war which deserves to be treated +somewhat in detail, as the universal excitement in the United States +caused by the affair for a time appeared to make a war between the +United States and Spain inevitable. And the Cubans hoped that this +occurrence would lead to the immediate expulsion of the Spaniards from +Cuba. + +The hopes thus raised, however, were doomed to meet with disappointment, +as the diplomatic negotiations opened between the United States and +Spain led to a peaceable settlement of the whole difficulty. + +The trouble was this: On the 31st of October, 1873, the Virginius, a +ship sailing under the American flag, was captured on the high seas, +near Jamaica, by the Spanish steamer Tornado, on the ground that it +intended to land men and arms in Cuba for the insurgent army. + +The Virginius was a steamer which was built in England during the civil +war, and was used as a blockade-runner. She was captured and brought to +the Washington Navy Yard. There she was sold at auction. The purchaser +was one John F. Patterson, who took an oath that he was a citizen of the +United States. On the 26th of September, 1870, the Virginius was +registered in the custom house of New York. + +As all the requisites of the statute were fulfilled in her behalf, she +cleared in the usual way for Curacoa, and sailed early in September for +that port. + +It was discovered a good many years after that Patterson was not the +real owner of the vessel, but that, as a matter of fact, the money for +her purchase had been furnished by Cuban sympathizers, and that she was +virtually controlled by them. + +From the day of her clearance in New York, she certainly did not return +within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States. + +Nevertheless, she preserved her American papers, and whenever she +entered foreign ports, she made it a practice to put forth a claim to +American nationality, which claim was always recognized by the +authorities in those ports. + +There is no evidence whatever to show that she committed any overt act, +or did anything that was contrary to international law. + +She cleared from Kingston, Jamaica, on the 23rd of October, 1873, for +Costa Rica. + +As President Grant said in his message to Congress, January 5th, 1874, +she was under the flag of the United States, and she would appear to +have had, as against all powers except the United States, the right to +fly that flag and to claim its protection as enjoyed by all regularly +documented vessels registered as part of our commercial marine. + +Still quoting President Grant, no state of war existed conferring upon a +maritime power the right to molest and detain upon the high seas a +documented vessel, and it could not be pretended that the Virginius had +placed herself without the pale of all law by acts of piracy against the +human race. (And yet this very thing is what the Spaniards, without +rhyme or reason, did claim. Ever since they have been claiming what was +false, as for instance their reports of the victories (!) in the +American-Spanish war. By so doing they have made themselves the +laughing-stock of nations, for, although they never hesitate to lie, +they do not know how to lie with a semblance of truth, which might be, +far be it from us to say would be, a saving grace). + +If the papers of the Virginius were irregular or fraudulent, and frankly +they probably were, the offense was one against the laws of the United +States, justifiable only in their tribunals. However, to return to +facts, on the morning of the 31st of October, the Virginius was seen +cruising near the coast of Cuba. She was chased by the Spanish +man-of-war Tornado, captured, and brought into the harbor of Santiago de +Cuba on the following day. + +One hundred and fifty-five persons were on board, many of whom bore +Spanish names. This was made a great point of by the Spanish +authorities, although as a matter of fact it proved nothing. + +This action was not only in violation of international law, but it was +in direct contravention of the provisions of the treaty of 1795. + +Mr. E. G. Schmitt was at that time the American vice-consul at Santiago, +and he lost no time in demanding that he should be allowed to see the +prisoners, in order to obtain from them information which should enable +him to protect those who might be American citizens, and also whatever +rights the ship should chance to have. + +Mr. Schmitt was treated with the utmost discourtesy by the authorities, +who practically told him that they would admit of no interference on his +part, and insisted that all on board the Virginius were pirates and +would be dealt with as such. + +And indeed they were. + +The Virginius was brought into Santiago late in the afternoon of the +first of November, and a court-martial was convened the next morning to +try the prisoners. + +Within a week fifty-three men had received the semblance of a trial and +had been shot. + +Meanwhile England, who even her worst enemies cannot deny, is always on +the side of humanity, intervened. + +Reports of the barbarous proceedings had reached Jamaica, and H. M. S. +Niobe, under the command of Sir Lambton Lorraine, was dispatched to +Santiago with instructions to stop the massacre. + +The Niobe arrived at Santiago on the eighth, and Lorraine threatened to +bombard the town unless the executions were immediately stopped. + +This threat evidently frightened the bloodthirsty governor, for no more +shooting took place. + +It was a noble act on the part of Sir Lambton Lorraine, and the American +public appreciated it. On his way home to England, he stopped in New +York. It was proposed to tender him a public reception, but this Sir +Lambton declined. But by way of telling what a "brick" he was +considered, a silver brick from Nevada was presented to him, upon the +face of which was inscribed: "Blood is thicker than water. Santiago de +Cuba, November, 1873. To Sir Lambton Lorraine, from the Comstock Mines, +Virginia City, Nevada, U. S. A." + +President Grant, through General Daniel E. Sickles, who then represented +the United States at Madrid, directed that a demand should be made upon +Spain for the restoration of the Virginius, for the return of the +survivors to the protection of the United States, for a salute to the +flag, and for the punishment of the offending parties. + +When the news of the massacre reached Washington, the Secretary of State +telegraphed Minister Sickles: + +"Accounts have been received from Havana of the execution of the captain +and thirty-six of the crew and eighteen others. If true, General Sickles +will protest against the act as brutal and barbarous, and ample +reparation will be demanded." + +Minister Sickles replied: + +"President Castelar received these observations with his usual kindness, +and told me confidentially that at seven o'clock in the morning, as soon +as he read the telegram from Cuba, and without reference to any +international question, for that indeed had not occurred to him, he at +once sent a message to the captain-general, admonishing him that the +death penalty must not be imposed upon any non-combatant, without the +previous approval of the Cortes, nor upon any person taken in arms +against the government without the sanction of the executive." + +About that time, a writer of some celebrity, who was also a war +correspondent, named Ralph Keeler, mysteriously disappeared. Although it +was never proven, there is little doubt but that he was assassinated by +the Spaniards. + +Then, as now, there was an intense hatred in the Spanish breast against +every citizen of the United States. + +As Murat Halstead expresses it, there seemed to be a blood madness in +the air. + +Mr. Halstead, by the way, tells an anecdote of a madman, who seized a +rifle with sabre attached and assaulted a young man who had asked him an +innocent question. He knocked him down and stabbed him to death with a +bayonet, sticking it through him a score of times as he cried: + +"Cable my country that I have killed a rebel!" + +The murderer was adjudged insane. Further comment is unnecessary. + +To return to the controversy over the Virginius between the United +States and Spain. + +General Sickles, as he had been instructed, made a solemn protest +against the barbarities perpetrated at Santiago. + +The Spanish Minister of State replied in a rather ill-humored way, and +amongst other things, he said that the protest of America was rejected +with serene energy. + +This somewhat ridiculous expression gave General Sickles a chance to +rejoin, which he did, as follows: + +"And if at last under the good auspices of Senor Carvajal, with the aid +of that serenity that is unmoved by slaughter, and that energy that +rejects the voice of humanity, which even the humblest may utter and the +most powerful cannot hush, this government is successful in restoring +order and peace and liberty where hitherto, and now, all is tumult and +conflict and despotism, the fame of the achievement, not confined to +Spain, will reach the continents beyond the seas and gladden the hearts +of millions who believe that the new world discovered by Columbus is the +home of freemen and not that of slaves." + +About this time, Spain asked the good offices of England as an +intervener, but to his glory be it spoken and to the nation which he +represented, Lord Granville declined, "unless on the basis of ample +reparation made to the United States." + +Spain continued to dilly-dally and evade the question of her +responsibility. + +On the 25th of November Mr. Fish telegraphed to Minister Sickles: + +"If no accommodation is reached by the close of to-morrow, leave. If a +proposition is submitted, you will refer it to Washington, and defer +action." + +This was just after Minister Sickles had informed the authorities at +Washington that Lord Granville regarded the reparation demanded as just +and moderate. + +On the 26th, however, just as the American minister was preparing to +ask for his passports, close the legation and leave Spain, he received a +note from Senor Carvajal which conceded in part the demands of the +United States. + +This proposition was virtually that the Virginius and the survivors +should be given up, but the salute was to be dispensed with, in case +Spain satisfied the United States within a certain time that the +Virginius had no right to carry the flag. + +After considerable correspondence an arrangement was finally arrived at, +Spain further agreeing to proceed against those who had offended the +sovereignty of the United States, or who had violated their treaty +rights. + +In his message, President Grant says: + +"The surrender of the vessel and the survivors to the jurisdiction of +the tribunals of the United States was an admission of the principles +upon which our demand had been founded. I therefore had no hesitation in +agreeing to the arrangement which was moderate and just, and calculated +to cement the good relations which have so long existed between Spain +and the United States." + +The following words, spoken by Secretary Fish to Admiral Polo, in an +interview during the progress of the negotiations, are worthy to be +quoted: + +"I decline to submit to arbitration the question of an indignity to the +flag. I am willing to submit all questions which are properly subjects +of reference." + +On the 16th of December the Virginius, with the American flag flying, +was delivered to the United States at Bahia Honda. + +The vessel was unseaworthy. Her engines were out of order and she was +leaking badly. On the passage to New York she encountered a severe +storm, and, in spite of the efforts of her officers and men, she sank +off Cape Fear. The survivors of the massacre were surrendered at +Santiago de Cuba on the 18th, and reached New York in safety. + +About eighty thousand dollars were paid by Spain as compensation to the +families of the American and British victims who perished at Santiago. +But no punishment was ever visited upon the governor who ordered the +executions. There was a tremendous amount of feeling aroused in the +United States over the Virginius affair, and the government was severely +criticized and censured for not avenging the inhuman butcheries and the +insults to the flag. + +But it must be remembered that the government had a very hard task to +deal with. There was little or no doubt but that the Virginius, at the +time of her capture was intended for an unlawful enterprise, in spite of +Captain Fry's words in a letter to his wife just before his execution: + +"There is to be a fearful sacrifice of life from the Virginius, and, as +I think, a needless one, as the poor people are unconscious of crime and +even of their fate up to now. I hope God will forgive me, if I am to +blame for it." + +The clamor of the American people for revenge was fiery in its +intensity, but the government did not yield to it, in which it was +right. There has been more than one time in our history when if public +opinion had been allowed to rule, the results would have been fatal; +and the very men who were most abused, in the light of future events, +have been praised for their wisdom and moderation. + +Murat Halstead sums up the whole matter in a clear and just manner. He +says in his admirable book, "The Story of Cuba:" + +"It is not, we must say, a correct use of words to say that the United +States was degraded by the Virginius incident. In proportion as nations +are great and dignified, they must at least obey their own laws and +treaties. When Grant was President of the United States and Castelar was +President of Spain, there was a reckless adventure and shocking +massacre, but we were not degraded because we did not indulge in a +policy of vengeance." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +AGAIN SPAIN'S PERFIDY. + + +Before proceeding further, it is necessary to call attention to one very +important matter which was the direct result of the Ten Years' War. If +the insurgents accomplished nothing else, they may well be proud of this +achievement. + +Their own freedom they failed to obtain, but they were the cause of +freedom being bestowed upon others. + +We refer to the manumission of the slaves. + +The Spanish slave code, promulgated in 1789, is admitted everywhere to +have been very humane in its character. So much so that when Trinidad +came into the possession of the English, the anti-slavery party resisted +successfully the attempt of the planters of that island to have the +Spanish law replaced by the British. + +Once again, however, were the words of Spain falsified by her deeds. +Spanish diplomacy up to the present day has only been another name for +lies. For, notwithstanding the mildness of the code, its provisions were +constantly and glaringly violated. + +In 1840, a writer, who had personal knowledge of the affairs of Cuba, +declared that slavery in Cuba was more destructive to human life, more +pernicious to society, degrading to the slave and debasing to the +master, more fatal to health and happiness than in any other +slave-holding country on the face of the habitable globe. + +It was in Cuba that the slaves were subjected to the coarsest fare and +the most exhausting and unremitting toil. A portion of their number was +even absolutely destroyed every year by the slow torture of overwork and +insufficient sleep and rest. + +In 1792 the slave population of the island was estimated at eighty-four +thousand; in 1817, one hundred and seventy-nine thousand; in 1827, two +hundred and eighty-six thousand; in 1843, four hundred and thirty-six +thousand; in 1867, three hundred and seventy-nine thousand, five hundred +and twenty-three, and in 1873, five hundred thousand, or about one-third +of the entire population. + +In 1870, two years after the beginning of the war, in which the colored +people, both free and slaves, took a prominent part, the Spanish +legislature passed an act, providing that every slave who had then +passed, or should thereafter pass, the age of sixty should be at once +free, and that all yet unborn children of slaves should also be free. +The latter, however, were to be maintained at the expense of the +proprietors up to their eighteenth year, and during that time to be kept +as apprentices at such work as was suitable to their age. Slavery was +absolutely abolished in Cuba in 1886. Spain was therefore the last +civilized country to cling to this vestige of barbarism, and she +probably would not have abandoned it then had she not been impelled to +by force and her self-interest. + +After the treaty of El Zanjon, it was supposed by the Cubans, and +rightly too, had they been dealing with an honorable opponent and not a +trickster, that the condition of Cuba would be greatly improved. + +The treaty, in the first place, guaranteed Cuba representation in the +Cortes in Madrid. This was kept to the letter, but the spirit was +abominably lacking. + +The Peninsulars, that is, the Spaniards in Cuba, obtained complete +control of the polls, and, by unparalleled frauds, always managed to +elect a majority of the deputies. The deputies, purporting to come from +Cuba, might just as well have been appointed by the Spanish crown. + +In other and plainer words, Cuba had no representation whatever in the +Cortes. + +The cities of Cuba were hopelessly in debt and they were not able to +provide money for any municipal services. + +There were no funds to keep up the schools, and in consequence they were +closed. + +As for hospitals and asylums, they scarcely existed. There was only one +asylum for the insane in all the island, and that was wretchedly +managed. This asylum was in Havana. Elsewhere, the insane were confined +in the cells of jails. + +The public debt of Spain was something enormous, and Cuba was forced to +pay a part of the interest on this which was out of all proportion. + +Perez Castaneda spoke of this in the Spanish Cortes in the following +terms: + +"The debt of Cuba was created in 1864 by a simple issue of three million +dollars, and it now amounts to the fabulous sum of one hundred and +seventy-five million dollars. What originated the Cuban debt? The wars +of Santo Domingo, of Peru and of Mexico. But are not these matters for +the Peninsula? Certainly they are matters for the whole of Spain. Why +must Cuba pay that debt?" + +Again, Senor Robledo, in a debate at Madrid, after speaking of the +fearful abuses existent in the government of Havana, said: + +"I do not intend to read the whole of the report; but I must put the +House in possession of one fact. To what do these defalcations amount? +They amount to twenty-two million, eight hundred and eleven thousand, +five hundred and sixteen dollars. Did not the government know this? What +has been done?" + +In 1895 it was alleged that the custom house frauds in Cuba, since the +end of the Ten Years War, amounted to over one hundred millions of +dollars. It is enough to make one hold one's breath in horror. And, +remember well, there was absolutely no redress for the suffering Cubans +by peaceful means. + +One more quotation. Rafael de Eslara of Havana, when speaking of the +misery of the island, thus summed up the situation: + +"Granted the correctness of the points which I have just presented, it +seems to be self-evident that a curse is pressing upon Cuba, condemning +her to witness her own disintegration, and converting her into a prey +for the operation of those swarms of vampires that are so cruelly +devouring us, deaf to the voice of conscience, if they have any; it +will not be rash to venture the assertion that Cuba is undone; there is +no salvation possible." + +Taxation on all sides was enormous, the two chief products of the +island, sugar and tobacco, suffering the most. While other countries +gave encouragement to their colonies, Spain did everything she could to +discourage her well-beloved "Ever Faithful Isle." + +The Cuban planter had to struggle along with a heavy tax on his crop, an +enormous duty on his machinery, and an additional duty at the port of +destination. + +America once rose in wrath against unjust taxation, but her grievances +were as nothing in comparison with those of--we had almost written--her +sister republic. May the inadvertency prove a prophecy! + +To show how the products of Cuba, under this ghastly extortion have +declined, we make the following statement, based on the most reliable +statistics. + +In 1880 Cuba furnished twenty-five per cent. of all the sugar of the +world. In 1895 this had declined to ten and a half per cent. In 1889, +the export of cigars rated at forty dollars per one thousand amounted to +ten millions, nineteen thousand and forty dollars. In 1894 it was five +millions, three hundred and sixty-eight thousand, four hundred dollars, +a loss of nearly one-half in five years. + +Then besides all this, Cuba had to pay the high salaries of the horde of +Spanish officials, nothing of which accrued to her advantage. + +There can be no doubt but that the treaty of El Zanjon was a cheat, and +its administration a gigantic scandal. + +Can any fair-minded person think then that the Cubans were wrong, when +driven to the wall, oppressed beyond measure, goaded to madness by an +inhuman master, they broke out once again into open revolt, determined +this time to fight to the death or to obtain their freedom? + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +SOME CUBAN HEROES. + + +Although the natural resources of Cuba are remarkable, as will be +demonstrated later, and more than sufficient for all her people, a large +number of Cubans have, either of their own free will or by force become +exiles. + +Besides over forty thousand in the United States, there are a large +number in the islands under British control, as well as throughout the +West Indies and in the South American republics. + +It is perfectly natural that these exiles should feel the deepest +interest in their native land, and although Spain has complained +frequently of being menaced from beyond her borders, what else could she +expect after the way in which she treated these exiled sons of hers? +Besides she has had no just cause for grievance, as the right for +foreign countries to furnish asylums to political offenders has been +recognized from time immemorial, and, unless some overt act be +committed, there can be no responsibility on the part of such foreign +countries. + +Enough perhaps has been said to show that the Cubans had every reason to +once again rise in revolt, but in order that there may be no doubt as to +the justice of their cause, let us recapitulate: + +Spain has invariably drawn from the island all that could be squeezed +out of it. + +In spite of her protests she has never done anything for Cuba, all her +aim being to replenish her own exhausted treasury and to enrich the +functionaries of the Spanish government. + +While Cuba is a producing country, she has been refused the right to +dispose of her produce to other countries except at ruinous rates, in +spite of the fact that Spain herself could not begin to consume all that +Cuba had to offer. The market of the island, by the way, from the very +nature of things, is the United States, and not Spain. + +The rules which limit importation have been most rigid. For instance, +American flour cannot enter Cuba free of duty, while it enters as a free +product into Spain. + +Spain has governed Cuba with a most arbitrary hand. The island has had +nothing whatever to say as to the management of its own affairs. + +The Cubans have purposely been kept in a state of ignorance, the system +of education amounting practically to nothing. + +The Spaniards have never kept one promise made, but after each promise +have increased their oppression and tyranny. + +In 1894 Senor Sagasta laid before the Cortes a project for reform in +Cuba; but the sense of this project was confused in the extreme; there +was little hope that a reform planned with such little method could meet +with any degree of successful realization. In fact there was little or +no possibility that the abuses under which the island groaned would be +removed. + +At last patience ceased to be a virtue. The present rising in Cuba was +begun toward the close of 1894. The leader was Jose Marti, a poet and +orator, who was then in New York. He at the outset, was the very soul of +the revolutionary movement, and he held in his hands the threads of the +conspiracy. + +He was a man of charming and captivating personality, strong in his own +convictions and devoted body, heart and soul to the interests of his +country. + +He was the son of a Spanish colonel and when quite young was condemned, +for what reason has never been known, to ten years imprisonment in +Havana. Afterwards, he was sentenced to the galleys for life. + +When the amnesty was declared, after the Ten Years War, he was given +back his freedom, but his resentment still continued and he vowed his +life to obtaining the liberty of Cuba. + +He went first to Central America, and afterwards took up his residence +in the United States. + +Everywhere he preached what he considered a holy war. Here and there he +gathered together contributions, which he sent to Cuba for the secret +purchase of arms and ammunition. He met with many rebuffs and +disappointments, but not for one moment did he doubt the justice of his +cause or its ultimate success. He was not a visionary man, but there +were those even among the ones he had won over by his impassioned words +who looked upon him as the victim of hallucinations. That this was not +true, the events of the past few years have fully proven. + +Marti organized his first expedition in New York, and set sail for Cuba +with three vessels, the Lagonda, the Amadis and the Baracoa, containing +men and war materials. This expedition was stopped, however, by the +United States authorities. + +Later, Marti joined Gomez, Cromlet, Cebreco and the Maceo brothers, all +of whom had fought in the Ten Years War, at Santo Domingo, which was +Gomez' home. + +Some description of these men, all of whom have done magnificent work +for the freedom of their country, may not be out of place. + +Maximo Gomez is about seventy-five years of age, and he may perhaps be +termed the "Washington" of the fight for liberty. It will be remembered +that he was a leader in the Ten Years War. He is a man of excellent +judgment, and, in spite of his years, of marvelous mental and physical +activity. No better man could the insurgents have selected as their +general-in-chief. + +Flor Cromlet was a guerilla of unquestioned valor, who lost his life +early in the campaign, but his name will live in the annals of free and +independent Cuba. His mother was a mulatto, but his father was a +Spaniard. + +The Maceo brothers have been particularly distinguished. They were born +of colored parents, and were of the type of the mulatto. Both were men +of indomitable courage. Antonio Maceo was born at Santiago de Cuba in +1848. At the beginning of the Ten Years War, he was a mule driver, and +could neither read nor write. He was one of the first to enlist in the +Cuban army, and soon showed his courage and intelligence. He was +rapidly promoted to superior rank and became a terror to the Spanish +army. Their one idea seemed to be to capture him, but apparently he +possessed a charmed life. During his leisure moments, which it can be +imagined were but few, he managed to learn to read and write. He was one +of the last combatants to lay down his arms in the former war, and then +only because he saw that further struggle would only end in loss of life +without the winning of liberty. + +He was exiled and then travelled through America, studying constantly +and ever endeavoring to improve himself. Here was a poor, obscure, +descendant of slaves who by sheer perseverance, of course coupled with +natural ability, afterward held the armies of a great nation at bay. + +Antonio Maceo was killed in Havana province in 1896, probably through +the treachery of one of his followers, and his brother died, but not +until both had accomplished wonderful deeds of valor. It is a pity that +they could not have lived to see the results of their unselfish +patriotism. + +Another mulatto who has won fame in the cause of "Free Cuba" is Augustin +Cebreco. + +The "Marion of Cuba," as he was called, Nestor Aranguren, must not be +forgotten. He was at the head of a little band of men, all members of +the best Havana families and graduates of the university. He was very +much like the "Swamp Fox" of our Revolution in the way he would +undertake some daring raid, and then retreat into the long grass of the +Manigua to rest his tired horses and recruit his men. One of his most +famous exploits was the capture of a train at the very gates of Havana. +Aranguren treated his captives most kindly, with one exception, and in +this he was justified. A man named Barrios had often informed against +the insurgents, and he was condemned to death. Of him, Aranguren said: +"That Cuban must die. I must rid my country of such an unnatural son. +Thank God, there are few such traitors!" + +The rest were allowed to go free. + +To one of the Spaniards who were on the train, Aranguren said: + +"If Spain should grant a generous and liberal autonomy, peace is not +only possible, but probable; but, if she should persevere in her false +colors, she will not regain control of this island, until every true +soldier of Cuba is dead, and that will take a long time." + +The ill-fated Aranguren died at the age of twenty-four. + +It was not until May, 1895, that Marti and the other leaders thought it +wise to go to Cuba. When they reached there, they found that the +insurgents had already commenced the rebellion and had even gained some +ground. + +At first the Spanish authorities looked upon the insurrection as a +trivial matter, nothing more serious than a negro riot. + +They believed that it would be speedily suppressed as Spain had then in +the island an army of nineteen thousand men, besides the fifty thousand +volunteers, who could be called on in case of need. But, to make all +sure, seven thousand more soldiers were sent over from Spain. + +In addition to this, many men, who afterward were among the leaders of +the insurgent party expressed their unqualified disapproval of the +movement. And in this, they were undoubtedly sincere, as they had not +the slightest idea that it could succeed. + +The general lack of sympathy and the universal criticism that met the +little band of revolutionists unquestionably contributed much toward the +relaxation of the vigilance of the government. + +But the government was soon to be undeceived. The insurrection became a +very serious matter indeed. The insurgents pursued very much the same +tactics that they had followed in the Ten Years War, that is, they would +seldom risk an open battle, and the Spaniards could gain but little +ground against the guerilla methods of their opponents. + +The Cubans were very badly equipped; in fact they had scarcely any war +material whatever. They began by appropriating indiscriminately any fire +arms wherever they could find them, from the repeating rifle to the shot +gun with the ramrod. Many of them were armed only with revolvers, and +the majority of them had simply the "machete," a knife about nineteen +inches in length. + +Recruits constantly came to their ranks, however, and it was not long +before they numbered over six thousand. + +A political crisis now took place in Spain, and the conservative party +came into power. Premier Canovas then appointed as governor-general of +Cuba, Martinez Campos, who had been so successful, by diplomacy rather +than by anything else, in ending the Ten Years War. + +He landed at Guantanamo, and before visiting Havana, he issued the most +elaborate instructions to every department of the military service, +which now had been largely reinforced. + +In the early part of the war, a great misfortune befell the Cubans, and +that was in the loss of their beloved leader, Jose Marti. + +On the 18th of May, a part of the insurgent army camped upon the plains +of Dos Rios, where they learned that the enemy was in the neighborhood, +in safety, protected by a fort. + +The insurgents numbered about seven hundred cavalrymen, under the +command of Marti and Gomez. + +The next morning they came upon the Spanish outpost. Gomez, who has +always shown himself to be a prudent general, thought it would be wiser +not to risk a battle, but to continue their route, as the object of the +expedition was not skirmishing, but to attempt to penetrate into the +Province of Puerto Principe. + +But Jose Marti, in his fiery enthusiasm longed to fall upon the enemy; +he declared that not to do so would be dishonor. Gomez yielded. + +Marti was mounted upon a very spirited horse. He was told that it was +unmanageable, but he would not listen to reason. Crying, "Come on, my +children!" and "Viva Cuba Libre," he dashed upon the Spanish, followed +by his men. + +Before this onslaught, the Spaniards retreated, but in good order. Gomez +cried to his troops to rally, but Marti, dragged on by his horse which +he was unable to control, disappeared among the ranks of the enemy. He +received a bullet above the left eye, another in the throat, and several +bayonet thrusts in the body. + +Led by Gomez, who was heart broken at the fate of his old companion and +friend, the insurgents charged upon the Spaniards, but it was of no +avail. The latter retained possession of the corpse of the gallant +soldier, whose only fault was a too reckless bravery. + +And now it is a pleasure to be able to recount one noble act on the part +of the Spaniards, perhaps the only one in the whole course of the war. + +General Campos, who was a just and honorable man, ordered the body of +the illustrious patriot to receive decent burial, and one of the Spanish +officers even pronounced a sort of eulogy over the remains. + +There was a report that Gomez had also been killed, but this was a +mistake. About a mouth afterward he crossed the trocha and entered the +province of Puerto Principe, more commonly known as the Camaguey. + +The trocha, by the way, was an invention of Campos in the preceding war, +and was found to be of great value. It was practically a line of forts +extending across the island between the provinces of Puerto Principe and +Santa Clara, and it was intended that the insurgents should not be +allowed to cross this line. Other trochas were afterwards erected, but +they have not proved of any extraordinary advantage in the present +insurrection. + +An assembly, composed of representatives of all the bands that were +under arms, met and elected the officers of the revolutionary +government. + +Salvador Cisneros, otherwise known as the Marquis of Santa Lucia, was +elected president, the same office he had filled during the Ten Years +War. + +The other officers were: + +Vice-President, Bartolomeo Maso. + +Secretary of State, Rafael Portuondo y Tamayo. + +Secretary of War, Carlos Roloff. + +Secretary of the Treasury, Severo Pina. + +General-in-Chief, Maximo Gomez. + +Lieutenant-General, Antonio Maceo. + +Afterwards, at another election, as officers, according to the Cuban +constitution, only serve two years, there were replaced by the +following: + +President, Bartolomeo Maso. Vice-President, Mendez Capote. + +Secretary of State, Andres Moreno de la Torres. + +Secretary of War, Jose B. Alemon. + +Secretary of the Treasury, Ernesto Fons Sterling. + +Maximo Gomez still remained general-in-chief. + +Gomez and Campos were now pitted once more against each other, as they +had been in the previous war. + +Both men issued orders to their respective commands. + +Gomez ordered the Cubans to attack the small Spanish outposts, capture +their arms if possible setting at liberty every man who should deliver +them up; to cut all railway and telegraph lines; to keep on the +defensive and retreat in groups, unless the Cubans were in a position to +fight the enemy at great advantage; to destroy Spanish forts and other +buildings where any resistance was made by the enemy; to destroy all +sugar crops and mills, the owners of which refused to contribute to the +Cuban war fund; and, finally to forbid the farmers to send any food to +the cities unless upon the payment of certain taxes. + +On his part, Campos issued the following commands: + +Several regiments to protect the sugar estates; other detachments to be +placed along the railroads, and on every train in motion; to attack +always, unless the enemy's numbers were three to one; all rebels, except +officers, who surrendered, to be allowed to go free and unmolested; +convoys of provisions to be sent to such towns as needed them. + +Everything was now in readiness for a fierce campaign, and one that +threatened to be protracted. It was not long before operations commenced +in earnest. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CUBAN TACTICS. + + +There was one incident which occurred in the early part of the +disturbances which caused a certain amount of excitement in the United +States, as it was thought that it would prove to be a repetition of the +Virginius affair. + +On the 8th of March, 1895, the ship Allianca was bound from Colon to New +York. She was following the usual track of vessels near the Cuban shore. +But, outside the three mile limit, she was fired upon by a Spanish +gunboat. President Cleveland declared this to be an unwarrantable +interference by Spain with passing American ships. Protest was promptly +made by the United States against this act as not being justified by a +state of war; nor permissible in respect of a vessel on the usual paths +of commerce, nor tolerable in view of the wanton peril occasioned to +innocent life and property. This act was disavowed by Spain, with full +expression of regret, and with an assurance that there should not be +again such just cause for complaint. The offending officer was deposed +from his command. All this was eminently satisfactory, and the United +States took no further action in the matter. + +The chief battle of the campaign, while Campos still remained +governor-general, was that fought at Bayamo, in July, 1895. Campos +himself commanded in person, and for the first time the Spaniards, ever +vain-glorious and self-confident, became aware of the mettle of the men +arrayed against them. + +The Spanish forces numbered some five thousand men, while the Cubans had +not much more than half that number. It was the Spanish strategy, +however, to divide their men into detachments, and the Cubans were quick +to take advantage of this. The fight was a long and bloody affair, but +finally the victory, although not pronounced, remained with the Cubans. + +The Spanish forces were more or less demoralized, and their loses were +heavy. Thirteen Spanish officers were killed, while the Cubans lost two +colonels. The Cubans admitted that fifty of their number were killed or +disabled, but they claimed that the loss of the Spaniards was over three +hundred. + +It is impossible to tell much from the Spanish accounts, as they were +far from being complete and were highly colored. It has been the same +way in the present war, as witness the laughable "one mule" report, with +which all are familiar. + +In this engagement, General Santocildes was killed. It is said that +Santocildes sacrificed his own life to save that of his friend and +superior, Campos. + +There are two very different stories told of the attitude of Antonio +Maceo toward Campos in this battle. One is to the effect that he did not +know that Campos was commanding in person, but when he was told of it +the following day, he said: + +"Had I known it, I would have sacrificed five hundred more of my men, +and I would have taken him dead or alive! Thus with one blow I would +have ended the war." + +The other is quite different, and has been very generally believed +amongst the Cubans. It is to the effect that, during the fight, Maceo +recognized Campos, and, pointing him out to his men, ordered them not to +harm him, as he was a soldier who made war honorably. + +Murat Halstead relates two incidents of the battle of Bayamo, which, +however, he declares must be taken with a large grain of salt. One, +which comes from an insurgent authority is as follows: + +"Campos only saved himself by a ruse. Taking advantage of the Cubans' +well-known respect for the wounded, he had himself placed in a covered +stretcher, which they allowed to pass, without looking inside the cover. +When outside of the Cuban lines he was obliged to walk on foot to +Bayamo, through six miles of by-paths, under cover of the darkness, only +accompanied by a colored guide." + +The other tells that a son of Campos, who was a lieutenant, was +captured, but released with a friendly message to his father, who of +course, was expected to follow so admirable an example. + +Whether these anecdotes are true or not, one thing is certain. After the +battle, Maceo collected the wounded, whom the Spaniards left upon the +field in their retreat, and treated them in the most humane manner +possible. He wrote to Campos the following letter: + +* * * + +"To His Excellency, the General Martinez Campos: + +"Dear Sir--Anxious to give careful and efficient attendance to the +wounded Spanish soldiers that your troops left behind on the +battle-field, I have ordered that they be lodged in the houses of the +Cuban families that live nearest to the battle-ground, until you send +for them. + +"With my assurance that the forces you may send to escort them back will +not meet any hostile demonstrations from my soldiers, I have the honor +to be, sir, + +"Yours respectfully, + +"Antonio Maceo." + +* * * + +While Maceo was thus maneuvering in the eastern part of the island, the +general-in-chief, Maximo Gomez, was fighting in Camaguey. The population +in the provinces of Puerto Principe and Santiago de Cuba had risen +almost to a man, and the movement was well under way in the province of +Santa Clara. + +Several encounters took place, the most important being the attack upon +the little city of Cascorro, which Gomez succeeded in capturing. He +found there a large quantity of arms and ammunition, of which the Cubans +were greatly in need. + +Gomez proved himself quite as magnanimous as Maceo. The wounded were all +cared for to the best of his ability, and the prisoners were returned to +the Spanish leaders. This example, however, seems to have been utterly +lost upon the Spaniards. + +The insurgent forces, under Gomez, were at this time divided into six +portions, operating in the six provinces, and commanded by Antonio +Maceo, Aguerre, Lacret, Carillo, Suarez and Jose Maceo. Suarez was +afterwards cashiered for cowardice, and replaced by Garcia. + +In August, 1895, Maceo joined his chief at a place called Jimaguaya, +where Gomez had called to him a large proportion of the Cuban forces, +which numbered at that time about thirty thousand. + +And against these undisciplined soldiers was arrayed a regular army of +over eighty-five thousand men, not counting the armed volunteers. + +The odds were terribly against the Cubans, but Gomez and Maceo were +confident of success. + +It should be mentioned here that there were quite a number of women +fighting under Maceo, and these women did heroic service. In fact, the +Cuban women have given innumerable proofs of their devotion, body and +soul, to the cause of "Cuba Libre." + +Gomez' objective point was Havana, and between Jimaguaya and Havana, +there were over fifty thousand Spanish soldiers. + +When Gomez started, he had about twelve thousand men, which he divided +into three columns. He was quite well aware that the fighting must be of +the guerilla stamp. In fact, it was the only species of warfare +possible. + +He therefore instructed his lieutenants to have recourse to strategy, to +foil the enemy at every point. The one object was to reach Havana. + +"In the event of a forced battle," he said finally, "overthrow them! +Pass over them and on to Havana!" + +The march was begun, the instructions being followed to the letter. +Actual combat was everywhere avoided. The Spanish papers constantly had +reports like this: "After a few shots the rebels ran away." They did not +understand that this was exactly Gomez' tactics, and he was succeeding, +too. + +Every day the insurgents advanced further and further west. At the end +of a fortnight they reached the trocha of Jaruco, which had been +constructed in the centre of the island. This trocha was occupied by a +large and important Spanish force. + +Gomez ordered Maceo to make a feigned attack upon the northern portion +of the trocha. The Spaniards rushed there in a body, and Gomez, who had +counted upon this very thing, crossed the southern part, which was left +unprotected, without striking a blow. + +As soon as Maceo knew that Gomez had passed over in safety, he +immediately disappeared with his men, and soon after managed to rejoin +his chief. + +It was a very clever ruse, and Campos, whose headquarters were then in +Santa Clara realized that he had been outgeneralled. He ordered a +hurried march to Cienfuegos, and there took command. + +The evasive movements of the insurgents continued, and again and again +was Campos outflanked. + +With but little difficulty the Cubans crossed two other trochas, and +finally entered the Province of Matanzas, which Campos had felt positive +could never be invaded; the Spaniards meanwhile constantly retreating, +nearer and nearer to the capital. + +At last, Campos determined to force an open conflict. He told his +lieutenants where they were to meet him. + +This was in December, 1895. + +Campos lay in wait for Maceo's forces at a point between Coliseo and +Lumidero. + +It seemed at first as if the insurgents were caught in a trap, and would +be forced to accept a battle in the open, which could not fail to be +disastrous to them. + +But a happy thought came to Maceo, and, in connection with this plan, he +issued his orders. + +Suddenly, the cane-fields which surrounded the camp of the Spaniards +burst into flame, and on each side was a great blazing plain. Campos +knew that he had once more been foiled, and he gave the order to retreat +at once. + +This battle, if battle it can be called, had important results. It +enabled Gomez to reach Jovellanos, a city which commanded the railroad +lines of Cardenas, Matanzas and Havana. These lines Gomez destroyed as +well as every sugar plantation upon his route. + +As to the destruction of the sugar fields and the reason therefor, we +shall have something to say later on. + +Campos, completely outwitted and vanquished in his attempts to stop the +onward progress of the insurgents, now fell back upon Havana, which he +reached Christmas Day. + +His reception in the capital was anything but a pleasant one. The +Spaniards there had clamored from the very beginning for revenge without +mercy, and they looked upon the successive checks which the army had +received as little less than criminal. They demanded of the +governor-general the reason for his repeated defeats, and even +threatened him personally. + +There were three political parties in Cuba, the Conservatives, the +Reformists and the Autonomists. Campos met the leaders of these parties +in an interview, and asked for their opinions. The consultation was very +unsatisfactory, and as a result Campos proposed his resignation to which +the ministry made no objection. + +Shortly after, his resignation was sent in and accepted. He sailed for +Spain the 17th of January, his place being temporarily filled by General +Sabas Marin. + +In spite of Martinez Campos' failure to subdue the insurrection, nothing +but the greatest sympathy and respect can be felt for him, at least out +of Spain, where, speaking in a general manner, humanity has no place, +and gratitude is an unknown quantity. + +Campos' services to his country had been great, including, as they did, +the pacification of Cuba in the Ten Years War, the quelling of a revolt +in Spain itself, and the restoration and support of the Spanish +monarchy. At an advanced age, when he should have been enjoying a well +deserved rest, he was sent away to fight a difficult war, and to risk +the tarnishing of his laurels as a military commander. + +All praise to Martinez Campos for his pure patriotism, his unswerving +rectitude, his magnanimity and his exalted ideas of honor! This praise +even the enemies of his country cannot refuse to him. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +WEYLER THE BUTCHER. + + +No greater contrast to Campos could possibly be imagined than his +successor, General Valeriano Weyler, known, and with the utmost justice, +throughout Cuba and the United States as "The Butcher." + +During his official life in Cuba, he proved again and again the truth of +his reputation for relentless cruelty. + +There is no doubt that during former wars he committed the most +atrocious crimes. + +It is not claimed that he ever showed any brilliant qualifications as a +military leader, and it was precisely because he lacked the +characteristics of General Campos, that Spain appointed him +governor-general, hoping that his severity (no, severity is too mild a +word, his savage brutality) would accomplish what Campos had failed to +do. + +In the light of events following his appointment, events which filled +the whole civilized world with indignation and horror, it has been +pretended by Spain that her ministry specially instructed him to +"moderate his ardor." + +Moderate his ardor, indeed! Granted that he obeyed instructions, if, +indeed such instructions ever existed, just think for a moment what +would have happened if he had not! + +It is very hard to write in a temperate vein when Weyler is the subject. +But where is the case for the plaintiff? Where are their defenders, when +Nero, Caligula or Judas is in question? + +Let us now contemplate a pen picture of "The Butcher," painted by Mr. +Elbert Rappleye, a very clever American newspaper correspondent: + +"General Weyler is one of those men who creates a first impression, the +first sight of whom can never be effaced from the mind, by whose +presence the most careless observer is impressed instantly, and yet, +taken altogether, he is a man in whom the elements of greatness are +concealed under a cloak of impenetrable obscurity. Inferior physically, +unsoldierly in bearing, exhibiting no trace of refined sensibilities nor +pleasure in the gentle associations that others live for, or at least +seek as diversions, he is nevertheless the embodiment of mental +acuteness, crafty, unscrupulous, fearless and of indomitable +perseverance. + +"Campos was fat, good-natured, wise, philosophical, slow in his mental +processes, clear in his judgment, emphatic in his opinions, outspoken +and withal, lovable, humane, conservative, constructive, progressive, +with but one object ever before him, the glorification of Spain as a +motherland and a figure among peaceful, enlightened nations. Weyler is +lean, diminutive, shriveled, ambitious for immortality, irrespective of +its odor, a master of diplomacy, the slave of Spain for the glory of +sitting at the right of her throne, unlovable, unloving, exalted." + +After telling of how he was admitted to Weyler's presence, Mr. Rappleye +continues his vivid description. + +"And what a picture! A little man. An apparition of blacks--black eyes, +black hair, black beard, dark--exceedingly dark--complexion; a plain +black attire. He was alone and was standing facing the door I entered. +He had taken a position in the very centre of the room, and seemed lost +in its immense depths. His eyes, far apart, bright, alert and striking, +took me in at a glance. His face seemed to run to chin, his lower jaw +protruding far beyond any ordinary indication of firmness, persistence +or will power. His forehead is neither high nor receding; neither is it +that of a thoughtful or philosophic man. His ears are set far back; and +what is called the region of intellect, in which are those mental +attributes that might be defined as powers of observation, calculation, +judgment and execution, is strongly developed." + +Mrs. Kate Masterson, another American journalist, was, we believe, the +only one, except Mr. Rappleye, who obtained an interview with Weyler. + +Among other things that he said, Mrs. Masterson reports the following: + +"I have shut out the Spanish and Cuban papers from the field as well as +the American. In the last war the correspondents created much jealousy +by what they wrote. They praised one and rebuked the other. They are a +nuisance." + +"I have no time to pay attention to stories. Some of them are true and +some of them are not." + +"The Spanish columns attend to their prisoners just as well as any other +country in times of war." An obviously false statement, by the way. "War +is war. You cannot make it otherwise, try as you will." + +True to a certain extent, General Weyler, but not from your point of +view. There are certain humanitarian principles, of which you seem to be +ignorant that can be practiced in time of war as well as in time of +peace. + +Weyler declared to Mrs. Masterson that women, if combatants, would be +treated just the same as men. As a matter of fact, whether combatants or +non-combatants, he treated them worse than men. + +He sneered at the Cuban leaders, at Maceo for being a mulatto, and for +having, as he asseverated, no military instruction. And at Gomez, whom +he declared was not a brave soldier and had never distinguished himself +in any way. + +It has always been the policy of the Spaniards to belittle the Cubans, +sneering at them as being generaled by negroes, half breeds and +illiterate to a degree. Beyond the fact that this is contemptibly false, +they do not stop to think how they are dishonoring their own troops +which have made such little headway against them. + +When the Spaniards have forced the insurgents to surrender in all the +revolts that have taken place, it has been mainly through false +representations and lying promises, promise that they knew, when they +made them, were never intended to be carried out. + +Weyler's character may perhaps be best understood from his own +following egotistical statement, which is well-authenticated: + +"I care not for America, England, or any other country, but only for the +treaties we have with them. They are the law. I know I am merciless, but +mercy has no place in war, I know the reputation which has been built up +for me. I care not what is said about me unless it is a lie so grave as +to occasion alarm. I am not a politician. I am Weyler." + +Contrast with these utterances, the words of Maximo Gomez, the grand old +man of Cuba, in his instructions to his men: + +"Do not risk your life unnecessarily. You have only one and can best +serve your country by saving it. Dead men cannot fire guns. Keep your +head cool, your machete warm, and we will yet free Cuba." + +Gomez, by the way, at one time, served under Weyler, the former a +captain, the latter as a colonel. The noble Cuban leader certainly did +not obtain his views of modern warfare from his then superior officer. + +When Weyler arrived in Cuba he had at his command at least one hundred +and twenty thousand regulars, fifty thousand volunteers and a large +naval coast guard. Rather a formidable force to subdue what has been +characterized as a handful of bandits. + +His policy from the beginning was one of extermination, and he made war +upon those who were not in arms against Spain as well as those who were, +upon women and children as well as upon men. + +Although Weyler did not begin what may be called active operations +until November (he arrived in February), still he persecuted by every +means in his power the pacificos, that is, those who did not take arms +for or against either side. + +He conceived what General Fitzhugh Lee calls "the brilliant idea" of +ruining the farmers so that they should not be able to give any aid to +the insurgents. + +Read carefully the text of his famous reconcentrado order, which brought +misery, ruin and death to the peaceable inhabitants of the island: + +* * * + +"I, Don Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, Marquis of Tenerife, +Governor-General, Captain-General of this island and Commander-in-Chief +of the Army, etc., etc., hereby order and command: + +"1. That all inhabitants of the country districts, or those who reside +outside the lines of fortifications of the towns, shall within a delay +of eight days enter the towns which are occupied by the troops. Any +individual found outside the lines in the country at the expiration of +this period shall be considered a rebel and shall be dealt with as such. + +"2. The transport of food from the towns, and the carrying of food from +one place to another by sea or by land, without the permission of the +military authorities of the place of departure, is absolutely forbidden. +Those who infringe upon the order will be tried and punished as aiders +and abettors of the rebellion. + +"3. The owners of cattle must drive their herds to the towns, or the +immediate vicinity of the towns, for which purposes proper escorts will +be given them. + +"4. When the period of eight days, which shall be reckoned in each +district from the day of the publication of this proclamation in the +country town of the district, shall have expired, all insurgents who may +present themselves will be placed under my orders for the purpose of +designating a place in which they may reside. The furnishing of news +concerning the enemy, which can be availed of with advantage, will serve +as a recommendation to them; also, when the presentation is made with +firearms in their possession, and when, and more especially, when the +insurgents present themselves in numbers. + +Valeriano Weyler." + +* * * + +Was there ever a more damnable--there is no other word for it--a more +damnable proclamation issued? + +And the result? Words can scarcely do justice to it. It was the +death-sentence of thousands and thousands of innocent people, the large +majority of whom were women and children. + +The peasant farmers, with their families, were only allowed to bring +with them what they could carry on their backs, when they were forced to +leave all that they had in the world, and remove to the places of +"concentration," where it was impossible for them to make a living. + +Before leaving they saw their houses and crops burned, and their live +stock, be it much or little, that they possessed, confiscated. + +Starvation was before them, and starve they did. And let the reader bear +this fact well in mind--these were non-combatants, women and children. + +The deaths have occurred in ghastly numbers. More than two hundred +thousand have perished from starvation and starvation alone, with no +hand from the government stretched out to aid them. The record made by +the butcher and the butcher's emissaries is without parallel in all +history. No wonder that the United States held its breath in horror, +before raising its mailed hand to strike forever the chains from this +suffering people. + +General Weyler did not care how deeply he should wade in blood, nor to +what age or sex this blood belonged, so long as he should attain his +ends. + +Talk as you please about the atrocities of the Turks, but they pale +before those of the Spaniards in Cuba; acts committed, too, not in +secret, but openly and by public proclamation. + +Read what Stephen Bonsal, who was an eye-witness, says in his book: "The +Real Condition of Cuba To-day." + +"In the western provinces, we find between three and four hundred +thousand people penned up in starvation stations and a prey to all kinds +of epidemic diseases. They are without means and without food, and with +only the shelter that the dried palm-leaves of their hastily erected +bohios afford, and in the rainy season that is now upon them, there is +no shelter at all. They have less clothing than the Patagonian savages, +and, half naked, they sleep upon the ground, exposed to the noxious +vapors which these low-lying swamp-lands emit. They have no prospect +before them but to die, or, what is more cruel, to see those of their +own flesh and blood dying about them, and to be powerless to succor and +to save. About these starvation stations the savage sentries pace up and +down with ready rifle and bared machete, to shoot down and to cut up any +one who dares to cross the line. And yet, who are these men who are shot +down in the night like midnight marauders? And why is it they seek, with +all the desperate courage of despair, to cross that line where death is +always awaiting their coming, and almost invariably overtakes them? They +are attempting nothing that history will preserve upon its imperishable +tablets, or even this passing generation remember. No, they are simply +attempting to get beyond the starvation lines, to dig their potatoes and +yams, to bring home again to the hovel in which their families are +housed with death and hunger all about them. And they do their simple +duty, not blinded as to the danger, or without warning as to their +probable fate, for hardly an hour of their interminable day passes +without their hearing the sharp click of the trigger and the hoarse cry +of the sentry which precede the murderous volley; and every morning, +through the narrow, filthy lanes upon which the huts have been erected +the guerillas, drive along the pack-mules bearing the mutilated bodies +of those who have been punished cruelly for the crime of seeking food to +keep their children from starvation. This colossal crime, with all the +refinement of slow torture, is so barbarous, so bloodthirsty and yet so +exquisite, that the human mind refuses to believe it, and revolts at the +suggestion that it was conceived, planned and plotted by a man. And yet +this crime, this murder of thousands of innocent men, women and +children, is now being daily committed in Cuba, at our very doors and +well-nigh in sight of our shores, and we are paying very little heed to +the spectacle." + +These words were written before the United States came to the rescue, +and the criticism in the last sentence is, thank Heaven, no longer +applicable. We are slow to act perhaps, but when we do act, our work is +effective, and we never rest until our aim is accomplished. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY. + + +To enlarge upon the sufferings of the Cubans is a painful task, but it +is a task that must be accomplished, in the interests of justice and +humanity, and also that the reader may clearly understand why it was the +bounden duty of the United States to interfere. + +Let us therefore proceed with the evidence. + +Julian Hawthorne gives his testimony as follows: + +"These people have starved in a land capable of supplying tens of +millions of people with abundant food. The very ground on which they lie +down to breathe their last might be planted with produce that would feed +them to repletion. But so far from any effort to save them having been +made by Spain, she has wilfully and designedly compassed their +destruction. She has driven them in from their fields and plantations +and forbidden them to help themselves; the plantations themselves have +been laid waste, and should the miserable reconcentrados attempt under +the pretended kindly dispensation of Blanco to return to their +properties they would find the Spanish guerillas lying in wait to +massacre them. No agony of either mind or body has been wanting. The +wife has lost her husband, the mother, her children; the child its +parents, the husband, his family. They have seen them die. Often they +have seen them slaughtered wantonly as they lay helpless, waiting a +slower end. The active as well as the passive cruelties of the Spaniards +toward these people have been well-nigh unimaginable." + +Call Richard Harding Davis to the stand! + +"In other wars men have fought with men, and women have suffered +indirectly because the men were killed, but in this war it is the women +herded together in the towns like cattle who are going to die, while the +men camped in the fields and mountains will live." + +General Fitz Hugh Lee says: + +"General Weyler believes that everything is fair in war and every means +justifiable that will ultimately write success on his standards. He did +not purpose to make war with velvet paws, but to achieve his purpose of +putting down the insurrection, if he had to wade through, up to the +visor of his helmet, the blood of every Cuban, man, women and child, on +the island." + +Now hear General Lee relate the following incident, an incident which +created much discussion and feeling in the United States: + +"Dr. Ruiz, an American dentist, who was practicing his profession in a +town called Guanabacoa, some four miles from Havana, was arrested. A +railroad train between Havana and this town had been captured by the +insurgents, and the next day the Spanish authorities arrested a large +number of persons in Guanabacoa, charging them with giving information +which enabled the troops, under their enterprising young leader, +Aranguren, to make the capture; and among these persons arrested was +this American. He was a strongly built, athletic man, who confined +himself strictly to the practice of his profession and let politics +alone. He had nothing to do with the train being captured, but that +night was visiting a neighbor opposite, until nine or ten o'clock, when +he returned to his house and went to bed. He was arrested by the police +the next morning; thrown into an incommunicado cell; kept there some +fifty or sixty hours, and was finally (when half crazed by his horrible +imprisonment and calling for his wife and children) struck over the head +with a 'billy' in the hands of a brutal jailer and died from the +effects. Ruiz went into the cell an unusually healthy and vigorous man, +and came out a corpse." + +James Creelman, a brilliant newspaper correspondent, gives his +testimony: + +"Everywhere the breadwinners of Cuba are fleeing in terror before the +Spanish columns, and the ranks of life are being turned into the ranks +of death, for the Cuban who has seen his honest and harmless neighbors +tied up and shot before his eyes, in order that some officer may get +credit for a battle, takes his family to the nearest town or city for +safety, and then goes out to strike a manly blow for his country." + +Senator Thurston, who was sent to Cuba to investigate and report the +condition of affairs, in a passionate address to the United States +Senate testifies: + +"For myself I went to Cuba firmly believing the condition of affairs +there had been greatly exaggerated by the press, and my own efforts were +directed in the first instance to the attempted exposure of these +supposed exaggerations. Mr. President, there has undoubtedly been much +sensationalism in the journalism of the time, but as to the condition of +affairs in Cuba, there has been no exaggeration, because exaggeration +has been impossible. The pictures in the American newspapers of the +starving reconcentrados are true. They can all be duplicated by the +thousands. I never saw, and please God I may never see again, so +deplorable a sight as the reconcentrados in the suburbs of Mantanzas. I +can never forget to my dying day the hopeless anguish in their +despairing eyes. Huddled about their little bark huts, they raised no +voice of appeal to us for alms as we went among them. The government of +Spain has not and will not appropriate one dollar to save these people. +They are now being attended and nursed and administered to by the +charity of the United States. Think of the spectacle! We are feeding +these citizens of Spain; we are nursing their sick; we are saving such +as can be saved, and yet there are those who still say: 'It is right for +us to send food, but we must keep our hands off.' I say that the time +has come when muskets ought to go with the food." + +Finally, Senor Enrique Jose Verona, who was at one time a deputy to the +Spanish Cortes, sums up the situation as follows: + +"Spain denies to the Cubans all effective powers in their own county. +Spain condemns the Cubans to a political inferiority in the land where +they were born. Spain confiscates the product of the Cubans' labor +without giving them in return either safety, prosperity or education. +Spain has shown itself utterly incapable of governing Cuba. Spain +exploits, impoverishes and demoralizes Cuba." + +This is only a very small portion of the testimony which might be +offered, but can the opinions of men of undoubted honor and veracity be +impeached? + +Not a tithe of the horrors which has existed in the island of Cuba has +been told, and probably never will be told. Because a large proportion +of the sufferers did not, like Du Barri, shriek upon the scaffold, but, +like De Rohan, died mute. + +But still something further can be said as to "The Butcher's" methods, +and, worse still, as to the putting into practice of those methods. The +insurgents have invariably been treated as if they were pirates. The +tigerish nature of Weyler spared no one. Refugees, that is those who did +not obey his barbarous proclamation, were shot down in cold blood. +Starvation was his policy, and starvation too of those, whatever their +sympathies might have been, had never raised a finger against the +existing government. The reconcentrados, harassed beyond all measure, +saw nothing before them but death, and the happiest among them were +those who died first. + +How would you, reader, like to be shut off, with no means of +subsistence, for yourself, your wife and your children, within military +lines, to cross which meant instant death? + +The Butcher could not conquer this valiant people in honorable warfare, +and therefore, worthy scion of his blood, he, without one qualm of +conscience, determined to exterminate them. Young boys, not more than +fifteen or sixteen years of age, were charged with the crime of +"rebellion and incendiarism" (that was the favorite charge of Weyler), +and sometimes with the pretence of a trial, sometimes with no trial at +all, were shot down in cold blood by the score. Poor little starving +babies clung to their mothers' breasts from which no substance was to be +obtained. Weyler knew all this, and in his palace in Havana simply +laughed, content so long as each day the death rate of the Cubans +increased, and he himself was gaining favor with his government, and +meanwhile had all that he wanted to eat and drink. + +The merciless wretch, by the way, was ever careful not to expose his own +precious person to bullet or machete. + +But what could be expected of him? He was a Spaniard, a man after +Spain's own heart, and one whom it was her delight to honor. + +This picture is not over-painted. The colors if anything are laid on too +thin. + +Although the so-called rebels were not conquered and never could be +conquered, Weyler was constantly sending reports home of the +"pacification" of first this and then that portion of the island. This +he probably supposed was necessary to placate the Spaniards, who are +divided amongst themselves and ever ready to rise against the existing +government whatever it may be. + +In spite of all this, brute Weyler has been and still is the idol of a +certain class of Spaniards. In spite of all? No, we should have said, +because of all. + +One of his adherents, among other things, said to Stephen Bonsal, and +this is the sort of utterance that the majority of Spain applauds: + +"The only way to end this Cuban question is the way General Weyler is +going about it. The only way for Spain to retain her sovereignty over +these islands is to exterminate--butcher if you like--every man, woman +and child upon it who is infected with the contagion and dreams of Cuba +Libre. These people must be exterminated and we consider no measure too +ruthless to be adopted to secure this end. + +"I read in an American paper the other day that General Weyler was +poisoning the streams from which the insurgents drink in Matanzas +province. It was not true, but I only wish it had been. + +"General Weyler is our man. We feel sure of him. He will not be +satisfied until every insurgent lies in the ditch with his throat cut, +and that is all we want." + +Stop a moment and think! These words were spoken at the end of the +nineteenth century by the representative of a professed Christian +country. How have the teachings of Christ, who always and primarily +advocated charity, been forgotten or perverted! + +The whole matter of Cuba under Spanish rule is a disgrace to the age we +live in. + +But (call it spread-eagleism if you like) the United States now has the +affair in hand. It can and will right this wrong, and so effectively +that there will be no possibility of its recurrence. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +TWO METHODS OF WARFARE: THE SPANISH AND THE CUBAN. + + +Now let us turn to the one crime, so-called, that has been alleged +against the Cubans. + +We refer to the burning of the sugar crops. + +That this has been done on each and every occasion, no one will deny. At +first glance, it seems an act of vandalism. But is it so? Let us examine +carefully into the causes and reasons for it. + +The Spaniards claim that it is a notable example of the reckless and +uncivilized methods of the insurgents. On the contrary, it is a policy +which was carefully planned and systematically carried out by Gomez and +the other Cuban leaders. + +In a proclamation by Gomez, he ordered his lieutenants to burn the sugar +plantations, but he did not tell them to destroy the mills, because he +did not wish, in case of his succeeding in his purpose of liberating +Cuba, to lay the producers flat upon their backs, from which position +they could never, or, only with the utmost difficulty, arise. + +The destruction of the sugar cane was a necessity of war. It must be +remembered that from the sugar crop Spain has received her largest +revenue from Cuba, and to cut off this source of revenue is to cripple +Spain and take away from her a large sum of money with which she might +otherwise wage warfare. + +To show that the damage wrought is by no means irreparable, we cannot do +better than quote Baron Antomarchi, a Frenchman who lived for a long +time in Cuba, was there during the early part of the present +insurrection, and knows of what he is speaking: + +"Since the suppression of slavery, and as a result of the high price of +labor the work of sugar making had been modified. In former times a +sugar planter considered his plantation his most necessary possession. +After the process of manufacture was modified, it was his sugar mill +upon which he depended; his plantation was less important. So in burning +the sugar crop, Gomez did not strike a death-blow at the producer. It is +a well known fact that when the cane growth is cut by fire and the +fields are burnt close to the ground, the yield of the following season +is increased and improved; so we see that Gomez did not ruin the country +when he burned the plantations. True, the fields have been burned, but +they will spring up with a more vigorous luxuriance after the rest which +was one of the conditions imposed upon the first agricultural community +of which we have any reliable record, and if the mills which Gomez has +left intact are not destroyed by some authority equally potent, when the +country is reorganized, the sugar industry may flourish to a degree +undreamed of before the Cuban war for liberty." + +Besides depriving Spain of her revenue, Gomez had another though a +lesser reason, for burning the sugar cane. He knew that those who were +thrown out of employment would flock to his standard, and his forces +thereby be greatly augmented. + +On the whole, we do not see that the criticism and blame which have been +given to the insurgents for destroying the crops and for the time being +laying waste the land, are deserved. It was a measure of war, and one, +which it seems to us, under the circumstances, was thoroughly justified. + +Now let us contrast, for a moment, the different methods of the +Spaniards and the Cubans in waging warfare. + +In the first place, we do not mean to affirm that the insurgents have +not committed actions, which, in the light of civilization, are +indefensible, but they are few and far between, and they were forced +upon them. After all the horrors to which they were subjected, they +would have been less than human if they had not retaliated. + +The Cubans, both in the Ten Years' War and in the present one, have been +merciful to those of the enemy who fell into their hands. The latter +have been almost invariably treated with kindness and allowed to go free +and unmolested. + +But the Spaniards never reciprocated. It has been their invariable +policy not to exchange prisoners, a notable instance of this being their +recent refusal to exchange the gallant Hobson and his comrades. To be +sure, according to international law they are not compelled to do this, +but it is doubtful if there is another civilized nation (by the way, it +is an undeserved compliment to intimate that Spain is civilized), which +would have acted as the country which boasts of its chivalry has done. + +Just here, let us say that those acts of cruelty which have been +committed by the Cuban army have been very far from receiving the +sanction of their leaders. On the contrary, they have been done in +violation of the explicit orders of those leaders; and whenever the +offenders have been discovered, they have been hanged as bandits to the +limb of the nearest tree. + +The hatred and barbarity which the Spaniards have without exception, +evinced toward the Cubans have done much to alienate the latter, have +been the chief causes why peace could not be maintained, and have made +only one outcome possible--the freedom and independence of the island. + +We have already seen the humanity with which Gomez, Maceo and the other +Cuban chiefs treated the wounded of the enemy who chanced to fall into +their hands. + +But how was it on the other side? How did the Spaniards behave toward +the insurgent wounded? When not killed at once and their sufferings +ended immediately, they were cast into loathsome dungeons, with +insufficient food and with no medical attendance whatever. + +Now to a charge which has more than once been brought against Spain, +which has been brought against her recently, which her government has +indignantly denied, but which both in the past and the present has been +proved beyond any question of a doubt. + +The charge refers to an action which, with the exception of Spain, has +never been committed but by the most savage tribes, the Indians of North +America and the inhabitants of darkest Africa. We do not think that even +the Turks were ever accused of such an atrocious, unspeakable act. + +We mean the mutilation of the dead bodies (often in a horrible, obscene +way) left upon the battlefield. + +It is with regret and loathing that we approach the subject. But facts +must be spoken. + +There has been scarcely a combat between the Spaniards and the Cubans, +in all the revolutions which have occurred, where the former have not +been guilty of the revolting practice of the mutilation of dead bodies. + +Indeed the most savage of tribes have never gone further in the demoniac +wreaking of vengeance upon the fallen bodies of the enemy than the +Spaniards have. + +It has been a common custom with them to disfigure, mangle and commit +nameless indignities upon the dead. + +When Nestor Aranguren, who you will remember was one of the bravest of +the Cuban leaders, the "Marion," the "Swamp Fox" of the insurrection, +was killed, his body, covered with honorable wounds was taken to Havana, +and paraded before the citizens, subject to their jeers and curses. + +When another insurgent leader, Castillo, was killed, the same frightful +spectacle was witnessed. + +Indeed, it has been the rule among the Spaniards whenever the body of a +so-called rebel leader fell into their hands, to drag his nude and +mutilated body, tied at the end of a horse's tail, throughout the +nearest town, and the excuse for this was--what? That the body might be +fully identified. + +Among the Cubans, there is only one instance related where they +retaliated in kind. And this was when it is said that they sent a +Spanish soldier back to Havana with his tongue cut out. But even this +story, the only act of brutality alleged against them is not well +authenticated, resting as it does entirely upon Spanish evidence. And we +know well how much credence can be given to that evidence. + +To come down to more recent occurrences. + +When it was first reported that the bodies of our marines killed at +Guantanamo were subjected to unmentionable mutilations by the Spaniards, +we could not believe it. It was said that the condition of the bodies +was caused by shots fired from the Mauser rifle. But the Mauser rifle +inflicts a clean cut hole. It could not possibly have been responsible +for the horrible condition of the bodies. It is impossible for us to +explain further in print. Remember or look up what was done by the +Apaches in some of our Indian wars, and then from your knowledge, or the +knowledge gained by research, fill up the hiatus. + +And the Spaniards cannot claim in this latter instance, if indeed they +can in any other, that these barbarities were committed by irregular and +irresponsible troops. It is beyond question that by far the greater +portion of the troops employed against Colonel Huntington (we are +referring now to the affair at Guantanamo) belonged to the regular army, +under the command of General Linares. + +The New York Herald, in an editorial on the subject, remarks most justly +and forcibly: "What sort of a degraded spectacle, then, does Spain +present, going whining through Europe in search of intercession or +intervention, with such a damnable record against her, made in the very +first engagement of troops? + +"We can hear good old John Bull sputter out his righteous indignation, +but will his Holiness the Pope recognize such degenerate child? Can the +punctilious Francis Joseph of Austria afford to condone crimes like +these? Will the Emperor William or the Czar of Russia lift his voice in +behalf of such fiends? Can our sister republic, France, sympathize with +the monsters who disgrace the very name of soldier? + +"Not so! All Europe will join with our own government, now thoroughly +aroused to the indignities put upon it, and voice the stern edict of +humanity and civilization: + +"Spain has now placed herself without the pale of the nations. Let her +meet the retribution she so justly deserves." + +Senor Estrado Palma, the representative of Cuba in the United States, +has declared in a manifesto that the Cubans threw themselves into the +struggle advisedly and deliberately, that they knew what they had to +face and decided unflinchingly to persevere until they should free +themselves from the Spanish government. Experience has taught them that +they have nothing to envy in the Spaniards; that in fact, they feel +themselves superior to them, and can expect from Spain no improvement, +no better education. + +Slavery is ended in Cuba, and the white and the colored live together in +perfect harmony, fighting side by side, to obtain political liberty. + +Senor Palma, by the way, asserts, with how much authority we are unable +to state, that the colored population in Cuba is superior to that of the +United States. He says that they are industrious, intelligent and lovers +of learning; also, that, during the last fifteen years, they have +attained remarkable intellectual development. + +There are certain utterances of Senor Palma in this manifesto which +deserve to be quoted in full, so pregnant are they with truth, and so +full of food for thought to the average American citizen, whether he +agrees with them or not. Senor Palma says: + +"We Cubans have a thousandfold more reason in our endeavor to free +ourselves from the Spanish yoke than had the people of the thirteen +colonies, when, in 1775, they rose in arms against the British +government. The people of these colonies were in full enjoyment of all +the rights of man; they had liberty of conscience, freedom of speech, +liberty of the press, the right of public meeting and the right of free +locomotion. They elected those who governed them, they made their own +laws, and, in fact, enjoyed the blessings of self-government. They were +not under the sway of a captain-general with arbitrary powers, who, at +his will could imprison them, deport them to penal colonies, or order +their execution even without the semblance of a court-martial. They did +not have to pay a permanent army and navy in order that they might be +kept in subjection, nor to feed a swarm of hungry employees yearly sent +over from the metropolis to prey upon the country. They were never +subjected to a stupid and crushing customs tariff which compelled them +to go to home markets for millions of merchandise annually which they +could buy much cheaper elsewhere; they were never compelled to cover a +budget of twenty-six or thirty millions a year without the consent of +the taxpayers and for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the army +and navy of the oppressor, to pay the salaries of thousands of worthless +European employees, the whole interest on a debt not incurred by the +colony, and other expenditures from which the island received no benefit +whatever; for, out of all those millions, only the paltry sum of seven +hundred thousand dollars was apparently applied for works of internal +improvement, and one-half of which invariably went into the pockets of +Spanish employees. + +"If the right of the thirteen British colonies to rise in arms in order +to acquire their independence has never been questioned because of the +attempt of the mother country to tax them by a duty upon tea, or by the +Stamp Act, will there be a single citizen in this great republic of the +United States, whether he be a public or private man, who will doubt the +justice, the necessity in which the Cuban people find themselves of +fighting to-day and to-morrow and always, until they shall have +overthrown Spanish oppression and tyranny in their country, and formed +themselves into a free and independent republic?" + +Now, honestly, all prejudice aside, this is not a bad brief for the +plaintiff, is it? + +There is one more document to which we desire to call your attention. +And that is, a letter written to Professor Starr Jordan, of the Leland +Stanford, Jr., University of San Francisco, by a Havanese gentleman of +undoubted integrity and of Spanish origin. + +Professor Jordan declares that this letter seems to show that "the +rebellion is not a mere bandit outbreak of negroes and jailbirds, but +the effort of the whole people to throw off the yoke of a government +they find intolerable." + +The letter states, among other things, that the insurrection was begun +and is kept up by Cuban people; that the Spanish government has made +colossal and unheard-of efforts to put it down, but has not succeeded in +diminishing it; on the contrary, the insurrection has spread from one +extreme of the island to the other; that the flower of the Cuban youth +is in the army of the insurrection, in whose ranks are many physicians, +lawyers, druggists, professors, artists, business men, engineers and men +of that ilk. + +Professor Jordan's correspondent declares that this fact can be proved +by the excellent consular service of the United States. + +He admits that destruction has been carried on by both sides, but +affirms that the insurgents began by destroying their own property, in +order to deprive the troops of the government of shelter and sustenance. + +He further declares that the insurgents will continue in their course +until they fulfill their purpose, carrying all before them by fire and +blood. + +He concludes as follows: + +"All eyes are directed toward the north, to the republic which is the +mother of all Americans. The people of the United States must bear +strongly in mind now, as never before, that profession is null and void, +if action does not affirm it." + +But action has come at last, as the fiendish Spaniards have already +found out to their cost. + +What is Cuba, the "Pearl of the Antilles," at the present time of +writing? The answer to that question is as follows: + +A land devastated and temporarily ruined; a gem besmirched almost beyond +recognition; a heap of smoking ashes; a population of starving men, +women and children, with an iron hand clutching remorselessly at their +hearts; a horrible, ghastly picture of what savage men are capable of in +the way of destruction. + +Now, Americans, people of the free and independent United States; you +who enjoy all the blessings of liberty; you who can pursue your +avocations without let or hindrance; you who are the jury in this +case--the evidence is before you. + +You have undoubtedly heard it said that the interference of the United +States was unwarrantable; that there was no real reason for the present +Spanish-American war; that a stronger country took advantage of a +weaker; and other arguments ad nauseam. + +But is there one of our readers who would see a woman, or a weak though +honorable man, attacked by a savage foe, without interfering, and doing +the best he could to give life and freedom to the oppressed? + +Think it all over, Americans, and think it over carefully and +judiciously. + +At your own doors, is a poor, miserable, starving wretch, starving from +no fault of his, and with a bulldog, not your own, but belonging to a +neighbor (a neighbor, grant you with whom you have always hitherto been +at peace) about to fasten its fangs in the throat of this unhappy man. + +Would you hold your hands, saying that it was no affair of yours, or, +with your superior strength, would you fly to the rescue? + +Once more, Americans, you have heard the whole evidence. The case is in +your hands. + +What is your verdict? + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE BUTCHER'S CAMPAIGN. + + +Now let us go back to the making of history, to the time when the +butcher Weyler came to Cuba to assume the governor-generalship. + +By this time the Cuban question had been brought authoritatively before +the United States Senate, the people were beginning to be strongly +roused with indignation at the state of affairs in Cuba, and there was +considerable excitement when the news of Weyler's appointment became +known. + +Strange to say, the insurgents rejoiced rather than grieved at this +appointment, the cause of which is not far to seek. They knew thoroughly +well Weyler's character, and what his policy was more than likely to be. +They thought that it would drive all the Cubans, who were wavering, into +their ranks and would at last force the United States, whose people, +when all is said and done, were their natural allies and defenders, to +intervene. + +After the battle of Coliseo, Gomez and Maceo made their way through +Madruga, Nueva-Paz and Guines. Then they destroyed, at a large number of +points, the very important railway which connected Havana with Batabano, +and also cut the telegraph wires. When they had accomplished this, the +two leaders separated, Gomez to advance in the direction of Havana, and +Maceo to invade Pinar del Rio, which is in the extreme west of the +island. + +Gomez succeeded in burning several more or less important suburbs of +Havana. + +Almost the first military movement that Weyler made was an attempt to +cut off Maceo and prevent his communication with the other detachments +of the Cuban army. It seemed to be his chief purpose to compass the +death of the mulatto leader, a purpose which at last was most +unfortunately accomplished, but then only through treachery. + +In emulation of his predecessor, Weyler also tried his hand at trocha +building. He constructed a fence of this description across Cuba between +the port of Artemisa and the bay of Majana, about twenty-five miles from +Havana. + +It may be of interest to describe this particular trocha, as it was one +of, if not the most important, and a good example of the others. + +As its name, trocha, signifies, it was a ditch, or rather two ditches, +some three yards wide and the same in depth, with a road between them +broad enough to allow cavalry to pass. On each bank was a barbed wire +fence, to stop the assailants' progress. Beyond the two ditches, were +trous-de-loup, or wolf-traps, from twenty to seventy feet apart. At +every hundred yards or so there were fortifications. After night fell, +this fortified line was lighted by electricity. Twelve thousand men +comprised the garrison, besides outposts of half as many more. + +Weyler prided himself greatly upon this trocha, which was intended to +keep the rebels at a distance. + +But, in spite of all the precautions taken, the wily Maceo and his men +more than once crossed the trocha, and the Spanish were not the wiser +until it was too late to prevent them. + +Once, when they had passed the obstruction without a shot being fired, +the insurgents tore up some distance of a railway line on the further +side of the trocha, the Cuban leader remarking: + +"We did this just to show the enemy that we noticed their plaything." + +The headquarters of the insurgents was and is up to the present writing, +a place called Cubitas, the top of a mountain, something over a score of +miles from Puerto Principe. It is practically impregnable, only a very +narrow spiral path leading up to it. A handful of men could defend it +against a large army. The little plain on top of the mountain has an +area of more than a square mile. It is arable land, and many food +products are raised there. The insurgents have constructed here quite a +number of wooden buildings, and they have also a dynamite factory. It +would take a long time to capture the place by storm or to starve the +defenders out. + +The Cubans have had one great advantage, that is, they are acclimated. +Quite the contrary is true of the Spanish army of invasion, and their +ranks have suffered far more from the climate than they have from the +bullets of the foe. Added to this, their wages are greatly in arrears +and the rations provided for them are unwholesome and insufficient. The +surgeons have a very small supply of quinine and antiseptics, both of +which are absolutely essential. + +The strength of the two armies, at the time of Weyler's arrival in Cuba +was about as follows: The government has 200,000 men, including the +60,000 volunteers, while the insurgents numbered not much more than a +fourth of this, some fifty or sixty thousand men, which were scattered +among the various provinces, the largest proportion being massed in +Santiago de Cuba. + +There were twenty-four generals in the Cuban army, nineteen being white, +three black, one a mulatto, and one an Indian; of the thirty-four +colonels, twenty-seven were white, five were black, and two were +mulattoes. + +The record of the mortality among the Spanish soldiers is an appalling +one, something simply ghastly to contemplate. + +Harper's Weekly has published statistics concerning Spanish losses in +Cuba, which were obtained from a source that it was forbidden to +disclose. In two years from March, 1895 to March, 1897, 1,375 were +killed in battle, 765 died of wounds, and 8,627 were wounded, but +recovered. Ten per cent. of the killed and fatally wounded were +officers, and 5 per cent. of the wounded died of yellow fever, while 127 +officers and about 40,000 men succumbed to other maladies. + +Another authority gives the following rates of losses: Out of every +thousand, ten were killed, sixty-six died of yellow fever, two hundred +and one died of other diseases, while one hundred and forty-three were +sent home, either sick or wounded. + +Out of two hundred thousand men sent to Cuba in two years, only in the +neighborhood of ninety-six thousand, capable of bearing arms, were left +the first of March, 1897. + +During our own civil war one and sixty-five one-hundredths per cent. of +all those mustered into the United States service were killed in action +or died of their wounds; ten per cent. were wounded, and a little less +than two per cent. died of wounds and from unknown causes. + +That we lost during the civil war, 186,216 men from disease is terrible +enough, but to equal the percentage of the Spanish losses from the same +cause, during twice the time that our war lasted, would bring the total +up to a million and a half of men. + +From the very beginning, the insurgents held possession of the two +eastern provinces, Santiago and Puerto Principe. It was only by +unremitting efforts and the loss of many lives that the Spaniards +retained their hold on the district about Bayamo. + +Late in 1890 General Calixto Garcia, now second in rank to Gomez, and +playing an important part in the aiding of the American troops, landed +on the island with strong reinforcements. Garcia, who was also a veteran +of the Ten Years' War had several more or less important engagements +with the Spanish, in almost all of which he was victorious. + +Antonio Maceo, in order to consult with Gomez, crossed the trocha on +the night of December 4, 1896. The next day, at the head of five hundred +men and within an hour's ride of Havana, he was killed in a skirmish, +just as he had made the declaration that all was going well. A young son +of Gomez, who was suffering from an old wound, and who refused to leave +the ground until his chief was carried away, was also killed. + +There is not the shadow of a doubt but that this double catastrophe was +due to the treachery of one of Maceo's companions, a certain Dr. +Zertucha. + +One of Maceo's aides tells the story as follows: "Firing was heard near +Punta Brava, and Zertucha, who had ridden off to one side of the road, +came galloping back, crying: "Come with me! Come with me! Quick! Quick!" +Maceo at once put spurs to his horse, and, followed by his five aids, +rode swiftly after the physician, who plunged into the thick growth on +the side of the road. + +The party had only ridden a few yards, when Zertucha, bent low in his +saddle, and swerved sharply to one side, galloping away like mad. + +Almost at the same moment, a volley was fired by a party of Spanish +soldiers hidden in the dense underbrush, and Maceo and four of his men +dropped out of their saddles, mortally wounded." + +The single survivor, the man whose words are quoted above, contrived to +get back to his own party and brought them to the scene of the tragedy. +The Spaniards were driven away, Maceo's body was found stripped, and +young Gomez had been stabbed, and his skull was broken. + +The traitor Zertucha surrendered to the Spanish by whom naturally he was +treated with the utmost kindness and consideration. + +Afterwards Zertucha attempted to blacken Maceo's memory by declaring +that he was disheartened and desperate, and that his death was the +result of his own folly. + +Senor Palma says of this: + +"General Maceo was loved and supported by all men struggling for Cuban +independence, whether in a military or civil capacity. If a man was ever +idolized by his people, that man was General Maceo. Dr. Zertucha knows +that, but perhaps he has an object in making his false assertions." + +An object? Of course he had an object--the currying of favor with the +Spaniards, the saving of his own wretched carcass and the obtaining of +the blood-money due him. + +So perished the last of the Maceos, eight brothers, all having died +before him in the cause of Cuban liberty. + +The following poem on Maceo's death appeared in the New York Sun: + + Antonio Maceo. + + "Stern and unyielding, though others might bow to the tempest; + Slain by the serpent who cowered in hiding behind thee; + Slumber secure where the hands of thy comrades have laid thee; + Dim to thine ear be the roar of the battle above thee. + Set now is thy sun, going down in darkness and menace, + While through the thick-gathering clouds one red ray of vengeance + Streams up to heaven, blood red, from the place where thou liest. + Though the sword of Death's angel lies cold on thy forehead, + Still to the hearts of mankind speaks the voice of thy spirit: + Still does thine angry shade arrest the step of the tyrant. + "V. B." + +Maceo's death was a terrible blow to the insurgents, but, with +indomitable spirit they rallied and plunged with renewed energy into the +fray. + +Maceo was succeeded by General Rius Rivers, who does not seem to have +been in any way the equal of his predecessor. + +Having accomplished by low treachery what he had not succeeded in doing +by open, honorable warfare, Weyler increased his efforts to put down the +rebellion in Pinar del Rio, where Maceo had been in command. + +The trochas now became of advantage, and Weyler succeeded in confining +Rivera's scattered bands to the province. Early in 1897, Rivera was made +a prisoner, and since then nothing of importance, from a military +standpoint, has occurred in Pinar del Rio. + +In 1897 there were but few incidents of interest in the war. The Cubans +were holding back, evading conflicts wherever they could, and waiting +for the long-delayed interposition of the United States. + +Guines, however, was taken by them, and General Garcia captured the +fortified post of Tunas after a fight of three days. The Spanish +commander and about forty per cent. of his force were killed. Finally +the remainder of the garrison surrendered. The spoils which fell into +the hands of the Cubans comprised a large amount of rifles and +ammunition, besides two Krupp guns. + +The victory was a notable one, especially as Weyler had cabled his +government that Tunas was impregnable. Its fall gave rise to much harsh +criticism and bitter feeling in Spain. + +Weyler was constantly proclaiming the "pacification" of certain +provinces, statements that were most transparently absurd and false. He +even immediately followed up his proclamations by the most severe and +brutal measures in those very provinces. + +Finally even Madrid, to whom it would have mattered little if the policy +had proved a success, became convinced that Weyler's savage procedure +was a failure. + +The butcher had gained absolutely no advantage, but had simply been the +cause of untold and undeserved suffering. + +The insurrection, taking it all for all, was just as strong, if not +stronger, than it was the day Weyler arrived in Cuba. + +So, in October, 1897, he was withdrawn from his post, and summoned back +to Spain. + +It is to be hoped that the world will never again witness such a +shameful and shameless exhibition as was his administration. + +Before dismissing him from these pages, let us quote from Stephen +Bonsal, with whose words no unprejudiced person can quarrel. + +Mr. Bonsal says: + +"Should they be wise, and they will have a moment of clairvoyance soon, +or they will disappear as a nation, the Spaniards should seek to cast a +mantle of oblivion and forgetfulness about the wretched name of Weyler +and all the ignoble deeds that have characterized his rule. While it +cannot be expected that the bishop will be displaced by the butcher, +there is one whom Weyler will displace upon his unenviable pinnacle of +prominence in the temple of infamy, and that is Alva. His name is +destined to become in every tongue that is spoken by civilized people a +synonym of bloody, relentless and pitiless war waged upon American soil, +upon the long-disused methods of the Vandals and the Visigoths; and +Alva, who had the cruel spirit of his age and a sincere fanaticism as +his excuse, will step down and out into an oblivion which will doubtless +be grateful to his shade, and most certainly so to those who bear his +execrated name. + +"I could ask no more terrible punishment for him (Weyler) than many +years of life to listen to the voices of despair he has heard ring out +upon his path through Cuba; to hear again and ever the accusing voices +which no human power can hush, and to review the scenes of suffering +which he has occasioned which no human power can obliterate from his +memory." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +AMERICA'S CHARITY AND SPAIN'S DIPLOMACY. + + +The new governor-general of Cuba was Don Ramon Blanco, as to whose +character accounts differ. It is probable that while he is not the +high-minded, honorable gentleman that Campos was, he is far, very far +from being such an unmitigated beast as his predecessor. + +Before he reached Cuba, which was the last of October, 1897, he stated +in an interview: + +"My policy will never include concentration. I fight the enemy, not +women and children. One of the first things I shall do will be to allow +the reconcentrados to go out of the town and till the soil." + +This sounds very just and right, but, as a matter of fact, the policy +enounced was never carried out, not even in minor particulars. The +persecution of the pacificos remained as bitter and relentless as ever. + +Perhaps General Blanco is not entirely to blame for this, as the +pressure brought to bear against his expressed ideas both by the home +government and by the "peninsulars" in Havana, who had been in full +accord with the methods of the "Butcher," was so strong as scarcely to +be resisted. + +Blanco issued an amnesty proclamation soon after his arrival in Havana, +but the insurgents paid little or no attention. Their experience in +such matters in the past had been too stern to be forgotten. + +In the field, Blanco was also most unsuccessful, gaining nothing but +petty victories of no value whatever. The pay of the Spanish soldiers +was terribly in arrears, and their rations were of the most meagre +description. No wonder that they were disheartened, and in no condition +to fight. + +In a word, Blanco absolutely failed, as completely as had his +predecessors, in quelling the rebellion. + +The people of the United States were becoming more and more enraged at +the atrocities committed at their very door, and more and more anxious +that the Cubans should have the independence which they themselves had +achieved. + +Moreover, there was a large number of Americans in the island who were +made to suffer from the policy of reconcentration. Citizens of the +United States, a large number of them being naturalized Americans, were +constantly being seized and imprisoned, on suspicion alone, no proof +whatever being advanced, of their furnishing aid and comfort to the +insurgents. They were placed in filthy cells, no communication with the +outside world being allowed them. This is what the Spaniards term +"incommunicado." + +No writing materials were allowed them and nothing whatever to read. The +windows were so high up that no view was to be obtained. The cells were +damp with the moisture of years and had rotten, disease-breeding floors, +covered with filth of every description. Moreover, they were overrun +with cockroaches, rats and other vermin. + +The sustenance furnished the prisoners was wretched, and even such as it +was, it was not given to them regularly. More often than not, they were +left for long hours to suffer the pangs of hunger and thirst. + +A notable instance of Americans being seized and imprisoned in these +loathsome dungeons is the following: + +A little schooner called the "Competitor" attempted to land a +filibustering expedition. She was captured, after most of her passengers +had been landed, and her crew, numbering five, were tried by a court +which had been instructed to convict them, and sentenced to death. They +would undoubtedly have been executed, as some years before had been the +prisoners of the ill-fated Virginius, had it not been for the prompt +intervention of the United States, spurred thereto by General Fitz Hugh +Lee. + +The conviction was growing stronger and stronger in the United States +that something should be done to mitigate the terrible suffering in +Cuba. + +The Red Cross Association, a splendid charitable organization, at the +head of which was Miss Clara Barton, undertook this noble work of +relief. The government of the United States lent its assistance and +support. Large sums of money and tons of supplies of food were +contributed throughout the Union, both by public and private donations. +The newspapers everywhere, North, East, South and West, did magnificent +service in furthering the good work. + +Spain, instead of showing gratitude, rather resented this, and there was +considerable difficulty to prosecute the labor of charity. Still, the +efforts, in the interests of suffering humanity were by no means +unavailing. + +President McKinley speaks of the movement as follows: + +"The success which had attended the limited measure of relief extended +to the suffering American citizens of Cuba, by the judicious expenditure +through consular agencies, of money appropriated expressly for their +succor by the joint resolution approved May 24, 1897, prompted the +humane extension of a similar scheme of aid to the great body of +sufferers. A suggestion to this end was aquiesced in by the Spanish +authorities. On the twenty-fourth of December last, I caused to be +issued an appeal to the American people, inviting contributions, in +money or in kind, for the starving sufferers in Cuba, following this on +the eighth of January by a similar public announcement of the formation +of a Central Cuban Relief Committee, with headquarters in New York city, +composed of three members representing the American National Red Cross +Society, and the religious and business elements of the community. The +efforts of that committee have been untiring and have accomplished much. +Arrangements for free transportation to Cuba have greatly aided the +charitable work. The president of the American Red Cross and +representatives of other contributory organizations have generously +visited Cuba and co-operated with the consul-general and the local +authorities to make effective disposition of the relief collected +through the efforts of the Central Committee. Nearly $200,000 in money +and supplies has already reached the sufferers and more is forthcoming. +The supplies are admitted duty free, and transportation to the interior +has been arranged, so that the relief, at first necessarily confined to +Havana and the larger cities, is now extended through most if not all of +the towns through which suffering exists. Thousands of lives have +already been saved. The necessity for a change in the condition of the +reconcentrados is recognized in the Spanish government." + +And yet Spain resented these charitable efforts, as being opposed to her +policy. The people of the United States, in sending this money and these +supplies, had nothing else in view but charity, a longing to do all that +they could to relieve the anguish of an oppressed and tortured people. +There was no ulterior motive whatever. + +A large amount of the sums contributed was diverted to a purpose very +different from that for which it had been intended. + +The Spanish government, more through fear of the condemnation of the +other European nations than anything else, voted about six hundred +thousand dollars for the relief of the starving reconcentradoes. + +But this was a ruse, a sum chiefly on paper. General Lee, and his +testimony is incontrovertible, says: + +"I do not believe six hundred thousand dollars, in supplies, will be +given to those people, and the soldiers left to starve. They will divide +it up here and there; a piece taken off here and a piece taken off +there. I do not believe they have appropriated anything of the kind. The +condition of the reconcentrados out in the country is just as bad as in +General Weyler's day. It has been relieved a good deal by supplies from +the United States, but that has ceased now. + +"General Blanco published a proclamation, rescinding General Weyler's +bando, as they call it there, but it has had no practical effect. In the +first place, these people have no place to go; the houses have been +burned down; there is nothing but the bare land there, and it would take +them two months before they could raise the first crop. In the next +place, they are afraid to go out from the lines of the towns, because +the roving bands of the Spanish guerillas, as they are called, would +kill them. So they stick right in the edges of the town, just like they +did, with nothing to eat except what they can get from charity. The +Spanish have nothing to give." + +The government and people of Spain now became very much afraid of the +attitude of the United States. They knew that something had to be done, +so to speak, to throw a sop to Cerberus. Therefore Sagasta, the premier +of Spain, conceived the idea of granting to Cuba a species of autonomy. +But, with the usual Spanish diplomacy, it was not autonomy at all. It +purposed to be home rule, but every article gave a loop-hole for Spain +not to fulfill her obligations. + +It was a false and absurd proposition, intended to deceive, but too +flimsy in its fabric to deceive any one. It was rotten clean through, +and was opposed by everyone except the framers of the autonomistic +papers, General Blanco, his staff and a few others, who hoped, but hoped +in vain, great things from the proclamation. + +The Cuban leaders, who at one time would have hailed with joy such a +concession, if they had been assured that the provisions would have been +followed out loyally and without fraud, now rejected the autonomistic +proposition with scorn and loathing. + +Their battle cry was now, and they were determined it ever should be: +"Independence or death!" + +It was too late. There was no possibility now of home rule under Spanish +domination. + +Gomez even went so far as to declare that any one who should attempt to +bring to his camp any offer of autonomy would be seized as a spy and +shot. + +General Lee, speaking of the proposed autonomy, says: + +"Blanco's autonomistic government was doomed to failure from its +inception. The Spanish soldiers and officers scorned it because they did +not desire Cuban rule, which such autonomy, if genuine, would insure. +The Spanish merchants and citizens were opposed to it because they too +were hostile to the Cubans having control of the island, and, if the +question could be narrowed down to Cuban control or annexation to the +United States, they were all annexationists, believing that they could +get a better government, and one that would protect in a greater measure +life and property under the United States flag than under the Cuban +banner. On the other hand, the Cubans in arms would not touch it, +because they were fighting for free Cuba. And the Cuban citizens and +sympathizers were opposed to it also." + +Senor Palma sums up the question of autonomy as follows: + +"Autonomy would mean that the Cuban people will make their own laws, +appoint all their public officers, except the governor-general, and +attend to the local affairs with entire independence, without, of +course, interference by the metropolis. What then would be left to +Spain, since between her and Cuba there is no commercial intercourse of +any kind? Spain is not and cannot be, a market for Cuban products, and +is moreover unable to provide Cuba with the articles in need by the +latter. The natural market for the Cuban products is the United States, +from which in exchange Cuba buys with great advantage flour, provisions, +machinery, etc. What then, I repeat, is left to Spain but the big debt +incurred by her, without the consent and against the will of the people +of Cuba? We perfectly understand the autonomy of Canada as a colony of +Great Britain. The two countries are closely connected with each other +by the most powerful ties--the mutual interest of a reciprocal +commerce." + +Murat Halstead, who is invariably logical and correct, puts the whole +matter in a few trenchant words: + +"There is nothing to regard as possible in any of the reforms the +Spaniards are promising with much animation and to which they ascribe +the greatest excellence, to take place after the insurgents have +surrendered their arms. Spain is, as always, incapable of changing her +fatal colonial policy, that never has been or can be reformed." + +Spain's fatal colonial policy. Could there be truer words? + +Let us pause for a moment to contemplate what this fatal colonial policy +has cost her. + +At one time she swayed the destinies of Europe and had possessions in +every continent. Samuel Johnson, in writing of her, said: + + "Are there no regions yet unclaimed by Spain? + Quick, let us rise, those unhappy lands explore, + And bear oppression's insolence no more." + +The whole reason of Spain's downfall is the ruthless and savage +character of the Spanish people. + +Due to her oppression, note the following list of colonies which she has +lost: + +1609. The Netherlands. + +1628. Malacca, Ceylon, Java and other islands. + +1640. Portugal. + +1648. Spain renounced all claim to Holland. + +1648. Brabant and other parts of Flanders. + +1649. Maestricht, Hetogenbosch, Breda, Bergen-of-Zoom, and many other +fortresses in the Low Countries. In this year also she practically +surrendered supremacy on the seas to Northern Europe. + +1659. Rousillon and Cardague. By the cession of these places to France, +the boundary line between France and Spain became the Pyrenees. + +1668. Other portions of Flanders. + +1672. Still more cities and towns in Flanders. + +1704. Gibraltar. + +1704. Majorca, Minorca and Ivizza. + +1791. The Nootka Sound settlements. + +1794. St. Domingo. + +1800. Louisiana. + +1802. Trinidad. + +1819. Florida. + +1810-21. Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chili, +Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Patagonia, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, +San Salvador, Hayti and numerous other islands. + +Spain has now not a foot of territory on the American continent, and +very shortly she will not have a foot anywhere except within the +confines of her own home. + +To return again to the proposed autonomy of Cuba. + +At the time it was offered Gomez, that grand old man of Cuba said: + +"This is a war to the death for independence, and nothing but +independence will we accept. To talk of home rule is to idle away time. +But I have hopes that the United States, sooner or later, will recognize +our belligerency. It is a question of mere justice, and, in spite of all +arts of diplomacy, justice wins in the long run. The day we are +recognized as belligerents, I can name a fixed term for the end of the +war. + +"With regard to paying an indemnity to Spain, that is a question of +amount. A year ago we could pay $100,000,000, and I was ready to agree +to that. Now that Spain owes more than $400,000,000, we will not pay so +much." + +It was too late now to speak of reforms or of home rule in any shape. +The Cubans were not willing to nurse illusions. They were resolved on +absolute freedom or nothing. + +Any form of Spanish rule would mean the entire subjection of the Cubans, +and, had they accepted the proposed autonomy, there is no doubt but that +the future would have been as bad, if not worse, than the past. + +Public opinion in the United States was never so deeply aroused as it +was now. Citizens in all ranks of life were calling loudly for +interference, which, in the name of civilization and humanity, should +end the horrible state of affairs in Cuba. + +The United States was Cuba's natural defender and protector, and now, +both press and public declared, was the time to act. + +The president was fully aware of the gravity of the situation, but with +rare discretion, for which future historians will give him due credit, +he bided his time, preferring, if possible, peace with honor. + +In his first message relating to the Cuban situation, President McKinley +said: + +"If it shall hereafter appear to be a duty imposed by our obligations to +ourselves, to civilization and humanity, to intervene with force, it +shall be without fault on our part, and only because the necessity of +such action will be so clear as to command the support and approval of +the civilized world." + +General Stewart L. Woodford, our minister to Spain, behaved with the +utmost courtesy and did everything in the power of mortal man to avoid +hostilities. + +One cause of the American people's irritability, and in all justice +there was much reason for it, was Spain's pretence that the Cuban war +had been prolonged because of America's inability or non desire to +maintain neutrality. Nothing could be falser or more absurd, for the +United States had invariably, whenever possible, stopped all +filibustering expeditions to Cuba. The records will bear out this +statement, without any possibility of refutation. More than two millions +of dollars had been expended by the United States in Spain's interest. +Certainly, gratitude or its equivalent is a word that does not appear in +the Spanish lexicon. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE LAST DAYS OF PEACE. + + +Then came the De Lome incident which served to inflame further passions +already aroused. + +Senor Enrique Depuy De Lome was the Spanish minister to this country. + +He wrote a letter, strongly denunciatory of the president's message, and +of the president himself; with the worst taste possible, he alluded to +Mr. McKinley as a low politician, one who catered, for political +purposes, to the rabble. + +This letter was intercepted and a copy given to the press. The original +was sent to the State Department. Of course De Lome at once became +persona non grata, which the Spanish government recognized, and even +before Minister Woodford could make a "representation," De Lome was +recalled from his position and Senor Polo appointed in his place. + +President McKinley showed the most admirable self-poise through all this +affair, evincing outwardly no resentment for what was a personal insult +to himself. + +It was declared that we ought to have a ship of war in Havana harbor to +protect American citizens, and for that purpose, the Maine was sent +there. + +It was the visit of a friendly ship to, at that time, a friendly +country. + +The Maine was received by the Spanish officials with every outward show +of respect, the firing of salutes and the raising of the American and +Spanish flags on the vessels of different nationalities. + +And yet what was the result? Once more came an exhibition of Spain's +perfidy. We know it is very much like the Scotch verdict of "non +proven," but still there is no doubt among fair-minded men. + +A tragedy ensued, a tragedy in which Spain played the part of the +villain, and such an unconscionable villain as has never been seen upon +the boards of any stage. + +On the night of Tuesday, February 19, 1898, the United States battleship +Maine, presumably in friendly waters, was lying calmly anchored in the +harbor of Havana. Suddenly, with no warning whatever, for there was no +suspicion on the part of either officers or men, the magnificent +battleship was blown up. Two officers and two hundred and sixty of the +crew perished, but their names and memories will ever be cherished +affectionately and gratefully by the American people. + +All on board behaved in the most heroic manner, Captain Charles D. +Sigsbee, the commander being the last to leave the fated ship. The +famous naval historian, Captain Mahan, says: + +"The self-control shown in the midst of a sudden and terrible danger, of +which not one of the men on board knew, showed that in battle with known +dangers about them, and expecting every minute the fate that might +overtake them, the fellow sailors of the men of the Maine would stand to +their guns and their ship to the last. It was evident that the old +naval spirit existed, and that the sailors of the new navy were as good +as those who manned the old-time ships." + +The Maine was one of the very best vessels in the American navy; with +her stores and ammunition, she represented an expenditure of close upon +five millions of dollars. + +The blowing up of the Maine and the loss of our brave men aroused the +most intense excitement throughout the United States, but the request of +Captain Sigsbee that public opinion should be suspended until thorough +investigation had been made, was followed, and the people behaved with +admirable and remarkable control. + +A naval board of inquiry was at once organized by the United States +government. This board consisted of experienced officers, who were +greatly assisted in their labors by a strong force of experts, wreckers +and divers. + +The investigation was most searching. The 21st of March, 1898, the board +presented a unanimous verdict. The report was most voluminous, embracing +some twelve thousand pages. + +The verdict was practically that "the loss of the Maine was not in any +respect due to fault or negligence on the part of any of the officers or +members of her crew; that the ship was destroyed by the explosion of a +submarine mine, which caused the partial explosion of two or more of her +forward magazines; and that no evidence has been obtainable fixing the +responsibility of the destruction of the Maine upon any person or +persons." + +Although it was not possible to obtain evidence which should convict the +guilty parties, there was not and never has been the faintest doubt in +the mind of any fair-minded person as to who was responsible for the +tragedy. When Congress afterward spoke of the crime or the criminal +negligence of the Spanish officials, the words found an ardent response +in the heart of every true American. + +There is no doubt but that the destruction of the Maine was the lever +that started the machinery of war. + +Like "Remember the Alamo!" "Remember the Maine!" is a clarion cry of +battle that will go echoing down the centuries. + +In Cuba we were most fortunate in having a superb representative in the +person of General Fitz Hugh Lee, a man of rare intellectual ability, +ever courteous but ever firm, a fine specimen of Southern chivalry. + +The Spaniards, as was but natural, hated him, but when his withdrawal +was suggested by the Spanish government President McKinley cabled to +Minister Woodford at Madrid that the services of General Lee at Havana +were indispensable and his removal could not be considered. + +The relations between Spain and the United States became every day more +and more strained. Every effort was made by the President to bring about +a peaceable solution of the Cuban question, but Spain, stiff necked and +suicidal, refused to cooperate with him. + +On April 11, the president sent his famous message to Congress. + +In it, he alluded to the way in which we had been forced to police our +own waters and watch our own seaports in prevention of any unlawful act +in aid of Cuba. + +He spoke of how our trade had suffered, how the capital invested by our +citizens in Cuba had been largely lost, and how the temperance and +forbearance of our own people had been so sorely tried as to beget a +perilous unrest among our own citizens. + +The President, also, made some strong arguments against both +belligerency and recognition, especially against the latter. + +He quoted Jackson's argument, on the subject of the recognition of +Texas, concluding as follows: + +"Prudence, therefore, seems to dictate that we should stand aloof, and +maintain our present attitude, if not until Mexico itself or one of the +great foreign powers shall recognize the independence of the new +government; at least until the lapse of time or the course of events +should have proved beyond cavil or dispute the ability of the people of +that country to maintain their separate sovereignty and to uphold the +government constituted by them. Neither of the contending parties can +justly complain of this course. By pursuing it we are but carrying out +the long established policy of our government, a policy which has +secured us respect and influence abroad and inspired confidence at +home." + +It is necessary to quote still further from President McKinley's +message, a message so fine, so just and so true, that we are sure it +will go down into history praised by all future historians, as it well +deserves to be. + +He says: + +"The spirit of all our acts hitherto has been an earnest, unselfish +desire for peace and prosperity in Cuba, untarnished by differences +between us and Spain, and unstained by the blood of American citizens. + +"The forcible intervention of the United States as a neutral to stop the +war, according to the large dictates of humanity and following many +historical precedents where neighboring states have interfered to check +the hopeless sacrifice of life by internecine conflicts beyond their +borders, is justifiable on rational grounds. It involves, however, +hostile constraint upon both parties to the contest, as well as to +enforce a truce as to guide the eventual settlement. The grounds for +such intervention may be briefly summarized as follows: + +"1. In the cause of humanity and to put an end to the barbarities, +bloodshed, starvation and horrible miseries now existing there, and +which the parties to the conflict are either unable or unwilling to stop +or mitigate. It is no answer to say that this is all in another country, +belonging to another nation, and is, therefore, none of our business. It +is specially our duty, for it is right at our doors. + +"2. We owe to our citizens in Cuba to afford them that protection and +indemnity for life and property which no government there can or will +afford, and to that end to terminate the conditions that deprive them of +local protection. + +"3. The right to intervene may be justified by the very serious injury +to the commerce, trade and business interest of our people, and by the +wanton destruction of property and devastation of the island. + +"4. And, what is of the utmost importance, the present condition of +affairs in Cuba is a constant menace to our peace and entails upon this +government an enormous expense. With such a conflict waged for years in +an island so near us, and with which our people have such trade and +business relations--when the lives and liberty of our citizens are in +constant dread, and their property destroyed and themselves +ruined--where our trading-vessels are liable to seizure and are seized +at our very door, by warships of a foreign nation, the expeditious of +filibustering that we are powerless to prevent altogether, and the +irritating questions and entanglements thus arising--all these and +others that I need not mention, with the resulting strained relations, +are a constant menace to our peace, and compel us to keep on a semi-war +footing with a nation with which we are at peace." + +In his message, the President also gives utterance to these notable and +memorable words: + +"The long trial has proved that the object for which Spain wages war +cannot be attained. + +"The fire of insurrection may flame or may smoulder with varying +seasons, but it has not been, and it is plain that it cannot be, +extinguished by present methods. The only hope of relief and repose from +a condition which cannot longer be endured is the enforced pacification +of Cuba. + +"In the name of humanity, in the name of civilization, in behalf of +endangered American interests, which give us the right and the duty to +speak and to act, the war in Cuba must stop." + +The President then refers the whole matter to Congress to decide as that +body may think best. + +A somewhat acrimonious debate, of several days duration followed, +chiefly over the side issue of the recognition of the Republic of Cuba. + +On April 19, 1898, by the way, the date of the first battle of the +Revolution at Concord, Massachusetts, the following joint resolution was +agreed upon. + +"Joint resolution for the recognition of the independence of the people +of Cuba, demanding that the government of Spain relinquish its authority +and government in the Island of Cuba, and withdraw its land and naval +forces from Cuba and Cuban waters, and directing the President of the +United States to use the land and naval forces of the United States to +carry these resolutions into effect. + +"Whereas, the abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than +three years in the Island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have shocked +the moral sense of the people of the United States, have been a disgrace +to Christian civilization, culminating, as they have, in the destruction +of a United States battleship, with two hundred and sixty-six of its +officers and crew, while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana, +and cannot longer be endured, as has been set forth by the President of +the United States in his message to Congress of April 11, 1898, upon +which the action of Congress was invited; therefore, + +"Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the United +States of America in Congress assembled, + +"1. That the people of the Island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, +free and independent. + +"2. That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the +Government of the United States does hereby demand, that the Government +of Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the Island +of Cuba and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban +waters. + +"3. That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, +directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the +United States, and to call into the actual service of the United States +the militia of the several States to such extent as may be necessary to +carry these resolutions into effect. + +"4. That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention +to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction or control over said island except +for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination, when that +is accomplished, to leave the government and control of the island to +its people." + +The President set his seal of approval upon these resolutions the +following day, and the same day an ultimatum was sent to Spain, +practically the same as what has been quoted above. + +It was also stated that it was the President's duty to request an answer +within forty-eight hours. + +Within forty-eight hours the ultimatum was rejected by the Spanish +Cortes. + +The ministers and representatives of the two countries were immediately +recalled from their various posts, and a state of warfare proclaimed. + +The United States now stood pledged to aid and succor agonized Cuba, to +strike the shackles from off her bruised and bleeding limbs, and raise +her to a position which her valor had long deserved, amongst the free +and independent nations of the world. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE TOPOGRAPHY AND RESOURCES OF CUBA. + + +Cuba lies in the northern portion of the torrid zone, and immediately +south of Florida. From Key West to the nearest point on the Cuban coast, +the distance in 86 miles. + +The form of Cuba is an irregular crescent, with a large number of bays +or indentations. The coast line is about 2,200 miles, exclusive of the +indentations; or, if we include the latter, nearly 7,000 miles. + +The island is about 760 miles long. Its breadth varies from 127 miles at +a point some fifty miles west of Santiago to 28 miles from Havana to the +south. + +Its area is 43,314 square miles, which includes the Isle of Pines and +several smaller islands. + +Cuba is intersected by a range of mountains, more or less broken, which +extends across the entire island, from east to west, and from which the +rivers flow to the sea. This range is called the Sierra del Cobra, and +it includes the Pico de Turginuo, with an altitude of 7,670 feet, the +highest point on the whole island. There are other ranges, and the +eastern portion of the island is particularly hilly. We must not forget +the famous Pan of Matanzas which received its name from its resemblance +to a loaf of sugar. It is 1,300 feet high, and has been of great service +to mariners in enabling them to get their bearings. + +Naturally the rivers are small, but they are numerous. The principal +one, and the only one that can properly be called navigable, is the +Canto. Schooners ascend this for about sixty miles. It rises in the +Sierra del Cobre, and empties upon the south coast, a few miles from +Manzanillo. Mineral springs abound, and their medicinal qualities are in +high repute. + +Of lakes there are only a few, and most of these lie in the marsh lands. + +The Scientific American says: + +"The country may be broadly divided into the region of the plains the +rolling uplands and the forest lands. The lowlands form a practically +continuous belt around the island, and in them are to be found the great +sugar plantations. Above these and on the lower slopes are found the +grazing and farm lands, upon, which, among other things, is raised the +famous Havana tobacco. The remainder of the island, especially the +eastern portion is covered with a dense forest growth." + +The vegetation of Cuba is of the most luxuriant and beautiful +description. The forests are full of a large variety of trees, almost +all of them most valuable for mechanical purposes. Some of them are +almost as hard as iron. One of these is called the quiebra hacha (the +axe breaker). There are other woods such as the jucaro, which are +indestructible, even under water. Still others are lignum vitae, ebony, +rosewood, mahogany, cedar, lancewood and many other species. There are +over fifty varieties of palm, and the orange and lemon trees are +indigenous. Although the forests are so dense so to be almost +impenetrable, there are no wild animals in them larger than the wild +dogs, which closely resemble wolves both in appearance and habits. + +The fruits are those natural to the tropics, but only oranges, +pineapples and bananas are raised for exportation. + +The land is not suited to the cultivation of cereals, and there is no +flour mill on the island. At one time, the coffee plantations were in a +flourishing condition, but the recent outbreak has largely interfered +with this industry. + +By far the chief industries in the island are the cultivation of sugar +and tobacco, both of which are famous the world over. + +The soil of Cuba is simply a marvel of richness, practically unrivalled +in any other part of the world. Except occasionally in the case of +tobacco, fertilizers are not used. Crops have been grown on the same +ground without an atom of fertilization for over a hundred years. This +superb soil gives the Cuban sugar planter an enormous advantage over his +competitors in other countries. For instance, in Jamaica, one to two +hogsheads of sugar is considered a good yield, but in Cuba, three +hogsheads are the average. + +The introduction of modern machinery, which is very expensive, has done +much to drive out the small planters, and the tax imposed by the Spanish +government almost trebled the cost to the planter. + +In times of peace, the sugar production of Cuba averaged a million of +tons a year, but this is nothing like what the island might be made to +yield under a decent government and proper enterprise. It has been +estimated that if all the land suitable to the growth of sugar cane were +devoted to that industry, Cuba might supply the entire western +hemisphere with sugar. + +Mr. Gollan, the British consul general, says: + +"Until a very recent date the manufacture of sugar and the growing of +the cane in Cuba were extremely profitable undertakings, and the reasons +for their prosperity may be stated as: + +"1. The excellence of the climate and the fertility of the soil, which +allow of large crops of good cane. The rainfall, about 50 inches, is so +distributed that irrigation is not a necessity, though it would in many +cases be advisable. + +"2. The great movement toward the centralization of the estates which +took place in the early eighties, planters having understood the value +of large sugar houses and overcome their difficulty in this way. + +"3. The proximity of the United States, affording, as it does, a cash +market for the sugar." + +To show how the sugar trade has been injured by the Cuban uprising, the +following figures are of interest: + + Description. Tons in 1895. Tons in 1896. + + Exports 832,431 235,628 + Stocks 135,181 36,260 + ---------- ---------- + + Local consumption 967,612 271,888 + 50,000 40,000 + ---------- ---------- + 1,017,612 311,888 + + Stock on January 1 + (previous crop) 13,348 86,667 + --------- ------- + Total production 1,004,264 225,221 + +The decrease in 1895-96 was 779,043 tons, equivalent to 77.574 per cent. + +While the tobacco crop of some portions of Cuba is unsurpassed, notably +that of Vuelta Alajo and of Mayari, it is of excellent quality all over +the island, the poorest of it being quite as good as that of Hayti. The +entire crop is estimated at $10,000,000 annually. Yet, owing to the +extortions of the government, which loaded it with restrictions and +exactions of every description, the tobacco industry has always been an +uncertain one. It is said that the tobacco growers, disgusted with their +treatment, have always been in favor of the revolutionists. + +The mineral riches of the island have never been exploited to any +considerable extent and yet it is known that they are by no means +unimportant. Gold and silver exist. Some specimens of the finest gold +have been obtained, but at an expense of time and labor that could not +remunerate the parties engaged in the enterprise. There are copper mines +near Santiago of large extent and very rich in ore. There are also +several iron mines. Numerous deposits of manganese have been found in +the Sierra Maestra range. As nearly all the manganese used in the United +States comes from the Black Sea, it is thought that these mines will +prove very valuable, when the conditions for operating them are more +favorable. Bituminous coal is very abundant. Marble, jasper and slate +are also to be found in many parts of the island. + +The trade of the United States with Cuba since 1891 is given as follows +by the bureau of statistics, Treasury Department: + + Imports. Exports. + 1891 $61,714,395 $12,224,888 + 1892 77,931,671 17,953,570 + 1893 78,706,506 24,157,698 + 1894 75,678,261 20,125,321 + 1895 52,871,259 12,807,661 + 1896 40,017,730 7,530,880 + 1897 18,406,815 8,259,776 + +The commerce of Spain with Cuba since 1891, the figures up to 1895 being +taken from a compilation by the department of agriculture, and those for +1896 from a British foreign office report was: + + Imports from Exports to + Cuba. Cuba. + 1891 $7,193,173 $22,168,050 + 1892 9,570,399 28,046,636 + 1893 5,697,291 24,689,373 + 1894 7,265,120 22,592,943 + 1895 7,176,105 26,298,497 + 1896 4,257,360 26,145,800 + +The railways are insufficient and wretchedly managed, while the roads +are in a deplorable condition, sometimes, in wet weather, being almost +impassible. + +In regard to the future commercial prosperity of Cuba, Mr. Hyatt, who +until recently was our consul at Santiago, gives the following opinion: + +"Railroads and other highways, improved machinery and more modern +methods of doing business are among the wants of Cuba; and with the +onward march of civilization these will doubtless be hers in the near +future. Cuba, like other tropical and semi-tropical countries, is not +given to manufacturing; her people would rather sell the products of the +soil and mines and buy manufactured goods. The possibilities of the +island are great, while the probabilities remain an unsolved problem." + +When the tropical position of Cuba is taken into consideration, it may +be stated that its climate is generally mild. In fact, we can say that +it is one of the best, if not the very best, of the countries lying +within the tropics; and, during the dry season, it is unsurpassable +anywhere. In this season, the days are delightful, and the nights, with +the clear, transparent air, and the sky spangled with myriads of stars +(many of which, notably the constellation known as "The Southern Cross," +are not visible in more northern countries), are veritable dreams of +beauty. + +The heat and cold are never extreme, and there is only a slight +difference in the temperature all the year round. The warmest month at +Havana is July, with an average temperature of 82 degrees Fahrenheit, +and the coldest is January, with an average temperature of 70 degrees. + +The rainy season lasts from the first of May till the first of October. +The popular impression is that it rains pretty nearly all the time +during this season, but this is a mistake. On an average there are not +more than ten rainy days a month, and the rain generally comes in the +afternoon. The temperature of Havana in the summer is but little higher +than that of New Orleans, while its rainfall is infinitely less. Yellow +fever exists in the coast cities all the year round, but it rarely makes +its appearance in the interior. The western part of the island is as +habitable as is Ohio. + +It is certain that the effects of the climate upon the Spanish soldiers +has been disastrous, but much of the mortality among them have been due +not to the climate alone, but to a bad system of hygiene, wretched diet, +unsuitable clothing and a criminal disregard on the part of the military +authorities of the health of the men under their control. + +The Medical Record, in an article on the subject, says: + +"There is no evading the fact, however, that the landing of a large body +of more or less raw, unacclimatized men in the lowlands of a reputed +unhealthy coast at the beginning of the rainy season is an experiment +that must from the very nature of things be attended with much risk." + +But the danger to our own soldiers must also from the very nature of +things, be much less than it has proved to the Spaniards. Our army is +composed of a much higher class of men intellectually, and besides that, +they will be infinitely better taken care of. + +The next point to be considered is the population of Cuba. There has +been no official census taken since 1887. Then the entire population was +estimated at 1,631,687. Of these about one-fifth were natives of Spain, +10,500 were whites of foreign blood, 485,187 were free negroes, about +50,000 were Chinese and the rest native Cubans. + +It may be interesting to note the percentage of whites and blacks, and +to see how the negro element has been decreasing both relatively and +absolutely during late years. At the present time the negroes are in all +probability not more than one-fourth of the entire population. + + Per + Year. White. Negro. Cent. + 1804 234,000 198,000 45.8 + 1819 239,830 213,203 47. + 1830 332,352 423,343 56. + 1841 418,291 589,333 58.4 + 1850 479,490 494,252 50.75 + 1860 632,797 566,632 47. + 1869 797,596 602,215 43. + 1877 985,325 492,249 33. + 1887 1,102,689 485,188 30.55 + +The island is divided into six political divisions, each province taking +the name of its capital city: Havana, Matanzas, Santa Clara, Puerto +Principe, Santiago de Cuba and Pinar del Rio. + +The figures in the following table give the population by provinces, as +well as the density of population (number of inhabitants per square +kilometer.) + + Square + Provinces. Inhabitants. Kilometers. Density. + Pinar del Rio 225,891 14,967 15.09 + Habana 451,928 8,610 52.49 + Matanzas 259,578 8,486 30.59 + Santa Clara 354,122 23,083 15.34 + Puerto Principe 67,789 32,341 2.10 + Santiago de Cuba 272,379 35,119 7.76 + --------- ------- ----- + Totals 1,631,687 122,606 13.31 + +In Cuba, under Spanish rule, the Roman Catholic is the only religion +tolerated by the government. There are no Protestant or Jewish places of +worship. A decree promulgated in Madrid in 1892 declares that, while a +person who should comply with all other requirements might be permitted +to remain on the island, he would not be allowed to advance doctrines at +variance with those of the established church. As Catholicism is a state +religion, its maintenance is charged to the revenues of the island, and +amounts to something like $400,000 a year. + +Education in Cuba is, or has been, at a very low ebb. That is due, as +many other things are, to the wretched, short-sighted policy of Spain, +the country which has never completely emerged from the darkness of +barbarism. She was afraid to give education to the Cubans, thinking that +she could better dominate them in their ignorance. There is a royal +university in Havana, and a collegiate institute in each of the six +provinces, the number of students in all amounting to nearly three +thousand, but these come almost without exception from the ranks of the +well-to-do. + +Less than one out of every forty-five of the children in Cuba attend the +public schools. There was a farcical law passed in 1880, making +education compulsory. How could such a law be of any effect when there +was neither the ability nor the desire to provide school-houses and +instructors? Now let us take a brief glance at some of the chief cities +of Cuba. + +Havana, the principal and capital city of the island, is situated on the +west side of the bay of Havana, on a peninsula of level land of +limestone formation. + +It is the seat of the general government and captain-generalcy, superior +court of Havana (audencia,) general direction of finance, naval station, +arsenal, observatory, diocese of the bishopric and the residence of all +the administrative officers of the island (civil, military, maritime, +judicial and economic). + +Its strategic position at the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico has aptly +given to the city the name of the Key of the Gulf; and a symbolic key is +emblazoned in its coat-of-arms. The harbor, the entrance to which is +narrow, is wide and deep, and a thousand ships could easily ride there +at anchor. + +It has always been supposed to be strongly fortified, its chief defences +being Morro Castle, the Cabana, the Castillo del Principe, Fort Atares, +the Punta and the Reina Battery. + +The population of Havana, from the last official estimate, is about +220,000. + +Before the present war, Havana was one of the most charming places in +the world for the tourist to visit, more especially during the winter +months. + +There is scarcely a city in Europe which, to the American seemed so +foreign as Havana. The whole appearance of the place, its manners and +customs, were all totally different to what the American had been +accustomed. + +The streets are so narrow that vehicles by law are obliged to pass down +one street and up another, while the sidewalks are not more than two +feet wide and hollowed down in the centre by the constant trampling of +feet. This applies to the city proper, for, outside the walls, there are +many broad and beautiful avenues. The streets are very noisy and, as a +rule, excessively unclean. + +The houses, many of them palaces, wonderfully beautiful within, but +situated on dark and dirty alleys, are all built about a central +courtway. There are no fireplaces anywhere, nor a window shielded with +glass in the whole city. The windows have iron bars, and within those of +the first story is the inevitable row of American rocking chairs. +Through these bars the Cuban lover interviews his inamorata. It would be +the height of indecorum for him to approach nearer, to seek to speak +with her within the walls of her own home, even in the presence of her +father and mother. + +Cows are driven about the streets and milked in front of your own door, +when you desire the lacteal fluid. This custom is, at all events, a +safeguard against adulteration. + +Ladies do not go into the shops to make purchases, but all goods are +brought out to them as they sit in their volantes. + +By the way, the volante (flyer) is the national carriage and no other, +practically, is used in the country. It consists of a two seated +vehicle, slung low down by leather straps from the axle of two large +wheels, and it has shafts fifteen feet long. The horse in the shafts is +led by a postillion, whose horse is harnessed on the other side of the +shafts in the same manner. The carriage is extremely comfortable to +travel in, and the height of the wheels and their distance apart prevent +all danger of turning over, although the roads in the country are for +the most part, mere tracks through fields and open land. Ox carts and +pack mules are used for conveying goods in the interior of the island +outside of the meagre railway lines. + +Havana has some beautiful public parks and some really fine statues, +chiefly those of Spain's former rulers. + +Its principal theatre, the Tacon, is celebrated throughout the world for +its size and beauty. In regard to theatres, there is one peculiar custom +in Havana: By the payment of a certain sum, beyond the price of +admission, one is allowed to go behind the scenes between the acts. This +privilege has caused great annoyance to many eminent artists. + +The cathedral of Havana is rather imposing in architecture, although it +is badly situated, but it is very interesting because there is an urn +within its walls which is said, and with a large semblance of truth, to +contain the bones of Columbus. + +Space does not permit us to tell of all the charms of Havana, but, +suffice it to say, that it was and will be again, under far happier +conditions too, one of the most delightful cities in the world. + +The city of Cuba, next in commercial importance to Havana, is Matanzas. +It is beautifully situated on the north coast, about seventy miles from +Havana, and has a population of about fifty thousand. The climate is +fine, and Matanzas is considered the healthiest city on the island. With +proper drainage (something that has hitherto been almost unknown in Cuba +as are all other sanitary arrangements) yellow fever and malaria would +be almost unknown. If it should ever come under American enterprise, the +city would develop into a superb pleasure resort and be a fatal rival to +the Florida towns. We cannot forbear to mention the Caves of Bellamar. +These are not far from Matanzas and are subterranean caverns, of which +there are a number in Cuba. The walls and roofs are covered with +stalactites of every conceivable hue and shape, and forming pictures of +beauty far beyond anything conceived of, even in the Arabian Nights. + +The most modern city of importance is Cienfuegos (as its name signifies, +the City of a Hundred Fires). It has a population of about twenty-six +thousand and its harbor is one of the best on the southern coast, with a +depth of 27 feet at the anchorage, and from 14 to 16 feet at the +wharves. + +Cardenas is a seaport on the north coast about 135 miles east of Havana. +Its population is about the same as Cienfuegos. In the rainy season, its +climate is distinctly bad and its sanitary conditions worse. It has some +large manufactories, and carries on a flourishing trade. + +Santiago de Cuba, on the southeastern coast, is the second city of size +in Cuba (60,000 inhabitants), and the one on which all American eyes +have been fixed, for it is there that our brave Sampson bottled up +Cervera's illusive fleet, and on its suburbs a fierce battle was fought, +July 1, 2 and 3, between the American troops under General Shafter and +the Spanish army under General Linares, resulting in the defeat of the +latter and the subsequent surrender of the city to the United States' +forces on Sunday, July 17. + +It is very difficult, by the way, to find the entrance to the harbor of +Santiago. Approaching it from the sea, nothing is seen but lofty +mountains. When quite near, two mountains seem to suddenly part, and a +channel only 180 yards wide, but of good depth, is revealed. + +It is the oldest city in America, many years older than St. Augustine, +having been founded by Velasquez in 1514, and is exceedingly quaint and +mediaeval. + +Its chief fortifications are the Castillo of La Socapa and the Morro +Castle, the largest and most picturesque of the three of that name. The +latter was built about 1640, and is a fine specimen of the feudal +"donjon keep" with battlemented walls, moats, drawbridge, portcullis and +all the other paraphernalia of the days of romance. The harbor itself, +around which so much interest has clustered, is naturally one of the +finest in the world, but no pains has been taken to improve it, the +funds appropriated for that purpose having been stolen by the Spanish +engineers and officials. + +Santiago is Spanish for St. James, who is the special patron saint of +Spain, on account of a myth that he once made a journey to that country. + +Cuba, in short, is one of the most beautiful and fertile countries on +the face of the globe, but man, in the shape of brutal Spain, has done +everything he could, to ruin the gifts Nature so lavishly bestowed. + +Let us hope and believe, as surely we have every reason to do, that upon +the "Pearl of the Antilles," the sun of prosperity will rise, driving +away the gloomy shadows of oppression, and that the dawn will be not +long postponed. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +WHAT WILL THE FUTURE BE? + + +It is unnecessary to refer except in a brief manner to the +Spanish-American war, as the struggle is at the present time of writing +only in its inception, and no one can tell how long it will last or what +reverses each side may experience before peace is declared. + +One thing is certain, however. The result is not problematical. It is +assured. The United States will be victorious in the end, be that end +near or distant, and Cuba must and shall be free. + +If ever there was a war that was entered into purely from motives of +humanity and with no thought whatever of conquest, it is this one. The +entire people of the United States were agreed that their purpose was a +holy one, and instantly the call of the President was responded to from +all parts of the country. Sectional differences, such as they were, +vanished like mist before the sun. There was no Easterner, no Westerner, +no Northerner, no Southerner, but "Americans all." + +We are proud of our army and navy, and justly so. Dewey destroyed a +large fleet, without the loss of a man, a feat unprecedented in the +annals of warfare, ancient or modern. Sampson bottled up Cervera's fleet +in the harbor of Santiago, after the wily admiral had attempted a +diplomacy which was nothing more nor less than absurd, and when +Cervera, on the eve of the surrender of the city, attempted to escape +from his self-constituted trap, his four armored cruisers and two +torpedo boat destroyers were literally riddled and sunk outside the +harbor by the skilful gunners of the American fleet. Hobson, in sinking +the Merrimac, displayed a heroism that has never been surpassed. And on +land, General Shafter's achievements have been brilliant in the extreme. + +It is interesting here to examine for a moment the attitude of other +countries toward us since the declaration of war with Spain. + +Of course they all declared neutrality. + +At first France apparently was very bitter against us, declaring that it +was a war of aggression and one that was unjustified. We think we have +already shown in these pages how unwarrantable such an accusation was. +There was a reason for France's feeling, outside of the fact that her +people, like Spain's, belong to the Latin race, and that reason was that +a large proportion of Spanish bonds was held in France. Even the best of +us do not bear with equanimity anything which depletes our pockets. But +it was not long before a great change took place both in press and +public and a wave of French sympathy turned toward us. This is as it +should be and was inevitable. There could be no lasting rancor between +us and our sister republic, the country who gave us Lafayette and +presented us with the Statue of Liberty. + +The press of Germany has unquestionably said some very harsh things. +But we are confident that the feeling is confined to the press and does +not represent the mass of the people. We do know that it is in no way +representative of the German government, which from the very beginning +has showed itself most friendly to us. The ties between Germany and the +United States are too strong ever to be severed, with the thousands and +thousands of Germans in this country who rank among our very best +citizens. + +Russia, who from time immemorial has been our friend and given us her +moral support in all our troubles, has treated us with the utmost +cordiality. + +But the pleasantest thing of all has been the attitude of Great Britain, +our once mother country. She has stood by us through thick and thin, +hurling defiance in the face of the world in her championship of us, and +rejoicing in our victories almost as if they were her own. This has done +more to bring the two great English-speaking nations together than +anything else could possibly have done, and will probably have far +reaching consequences in the future. + +The Marquis of Lansdowne, the British Secretary of State of War, in a +recent speech, thus expressed himself: + +"There could be no more inspiring ideal than an understanding between +two nations sprung from the same race and having so many common +interests, nations which, together, are predominant in the world's +commerce and industry. + +"Is there anything preposterous in the hope that these two nations +should be found--I will not say in a hard and fast alliance of offense +and defense, but closely connected in their diplomacy, absolutely frank +and unreserved in their international councils, and ready wherever the +affairs of the world are threatened with disturbance to throw their +influence into the same scale? + +"Depend upon it, these are no mere idle dreams or hazy aspirations. The +change which has come over the sentiment of each country toward the +other during the last year or two is almost immeasurable. One can +scarcely believe they are the same United States with whom, only two +years ago, we were on the verge of a serious quarrel. + +"The change is not an ephemeral understanding between diplomatists, but +a genuine desire of the two peoples to be friends, and therefore it +cannot be laughed out of existence by the sort of comments we have +lately heard." + +There is a poem which we cannot forbear to quote here, it is so fine in +itself and so expressive of the existing situation. The author is +Richard Mansfield, the eminent actor: + + THE EAGLE'S SONG. + + BY RICHARD MANSFIELD. + + The Lioness whelped, and the sturdy cub + Was seized by an eagle and carried up + And homed for a while in an eagle's nest, + And slept for a while on an eagle's breast, + And the eagle taught it the eagle's song: + "To be staunch and valiant and free and strong!" + + The Lion whelp sprang from the eerie nest, + From the lofty crag where the queen birds rest; + He fought the King on the spreading plain, + And drove him back o'er the foaming main. + + He held the land as a thrifty chief, + And reared his cattle and reaped his sheaf, + Nor sought the help of a foreign hand, + Yet welcomed all to his own free land! + + Two were the sons that the country bore + To the Northern lakes and the Southern shore, + And Chivalry dwelt with the Southern son, + And Industry lived with the Northern one. + + Tears for the time when they broke and fought! + Tears was the price of the union wrought! + And the land was red in a sea of blood, + Where brother for brother had swelled the flood! + + And now that the two are one again, + Behold on their shield the word "Refrain!" + And the lion cubs twain sing the eagle's song, + "To be staunch and valiant and free and strong!" + For the eagle's beak and the lion's paw, + And the lion's fangs and the eagle's claw, + And the eagle's swoop and the lion's might, + And the lion's leap and the eagle's sight, + Shall guard the flag with the word "Refrain!" + Now that the two are one again! + Here's to a cheer for the Yankee ships! + And "Well done, Sam," from the mother's lips! + +War is unquestionably a terrible thing. As General Sherman put it, "war +is hell." But there are other terrible and yet necessary things, also, +such as the operations of surgery and the infliction of the death +penalty. + +War is justifiable, when waged, as the present one unquestionably is, +from purely unselfish motives, simply from a determination to rescue a +people whose sufferings had become unbearable to them and to the +lookers-on. The United States, by its action, has set a lesson for the +rest of the world, which the latter will not be slow to learn and for +which future generations will bless the name of America. + +Nobly are we following out the precepts of our forefathers, who declared +in one of the most magnificent documents ever framed: + +"We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created +equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable +rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of +happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted +among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; +that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, +it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute +new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing +its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect +their safety and happiness." + +We fought for these principles, in our own interests, a century and a +quarter ago; in the interests of others, we are fighting for them +to-day. + +A question which has been universally asked is this: Can the Cubans, if +they obtain freedom, govern themselves, or will not a free Cuba become a +second Hayti with all the horrors of that island? + +To this our reply is: Most emphatically Cuba will be able to govern +herself; not in the beginning, perhaps, where mistakes must of +necessity be made, but most certainly in the end. + +The Cuban leaders are men of high intelligence and lofty purposes, and +they know what reforms must be instituted. Some one has said that "love +of liberty is the surest guarantee of representative government." + +Surely these men have shown their love of liberty in the fullest degree +and have proved themselves in every way fitted for self-government. + +The Cubans, strange as the statement may seem to those who have studied +the matter only in a cursory way, are not a people who love trouble. +Though revolution after revolution has occurred in the island, the +Cubans have never taken up arms until every peaceful means of redress +had been resorted to. + +It has been feared that the negro element would be a disturbing +influence, but we can see little or no reason for this dread. The same +thing was said of the emancipation of the slaves in our own South, but +certainly, taken altogether, the behavior of the colored race in the +United States, since the Civil War, has been most praiseworthy. + +A Frenchman, Baron Antomarchi, who is naturally unprejudiced, says: + +"When the time for the settlement of the Cuban question shall have come +it will be an affair of give and take between the whites and the +negroes, and if the negro does not succeed in convincing the white man +that he is entitled to a full measure of civil authority, a measure +which by reason of his numerical strength he will have a right, under a +republican government, to exact, then we may have to stand by while Cuba +engages in an internal struggle important enough to cripple or, to say +the least, seriously hinder, her development. Should the war come to an +end and should Cuba be free to develop the riches of the land for which +she is now battling, an American protectorate would prevent all dangers +of race conflict. The United States would be under a moral obligation to +avert disorder. Aside from all considerations of a commercial character +there would be the obligation resulting from an adherence to consistency +of conduct. The stand taken by the American legislators, or some of +them, to say nothing of the stand taken by the American people, would +make this latter obligation even still more binding. + +Not until her machetes shall have been returned to their original use +can Cuba develop the riches bestowed upon her by Nature. After the dawn +of peace, when her sons are free to settle down to the tranquil life of +the untrammeled husbandman, there will be no hunted exiles in the long +grass of her savannas. When Cuba has attained the quiet calm that her +younger generation has never known, she will show the world that it was +not for idle brigands that Maceo died. In the shadow of the feathered +cocoa palms in the deep shade of the drooping heavy leaves where Gilard +dreamed of liberty, great cities shall one day loom in the misty, tropic +twilight, and peace shall brood over the land that now, seamed with the +graves of Cuba's heroes, awaits the murdered bodies of Cuban victims. +Not until that day has come will it be known how strong to endure +torment and sorrow, how brave in time of danger, were the men who won +the day for Cuban independence." + +It is absolutely certain that all the natural and political ties that +have bound "the Ever Faithful Isle" to the mother country have been so +completely severed that it is utterly impossible they should ever be +united again. + +The unique banner of Cuba, with its blue and white stripes and a single +star upon a red triangle, has cost more blood and treasure than any +revolutionary flag known to history. + +When this war is over, and Spain has learned her lesson, severe but +well-deserved, and we hope salutary, then shall that flag take its place +among the honored ones of other nations; then will the Cubans show their +ability to prize and cherish the liberty for which the blood of their +heroes has been spilled; then, under the protectorate of the United +States, but as an independent republic, will Cuba, in the words of our +own General Lee, emerge from the dark shadows of the past, and stand +side by side with those countries who have their place in the sunlight +of peace, progress and prosperity. + +Oh! Cuba Libre! as Longfellow said of our own Union, so do all +Americans, who are now fighting with you shoulder to shoulder, say to +you: + + "Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee; + Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, + Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, + Are all with thee--are all with thee!" + + +(THE END.) + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: book's back cover] + +Transcriber's note: + +Both Hatury and Hatuey appear in the text. Due to the fact that there +were so many typographical errors in the printing, it is assumed that +Hatury is also one. Hatury has been changed to Hatuey which is the +original Spanish spelling of the Taino chief's name. + +The spelling of the country, Chile remains spelled Chili. + +The spelling of reconcehtrado was changed to reconcentrado; +add nauseam.=>ad nauseam. + +The title page carrie the error: IT'S PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. +This has been corrected: ITS PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cuba, by Arthur D. 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