Our War with Spain for Cuba's Freedom

by Trumbull White

CHAPTER XXIX.

AMERICAN INDIGNATION GROWING.

The American People Favor Cuba—Influence of the Press—Hatred of
Weyler—General Lee's Reports of the Horrors of the War—The
Question of Annexation—Spanish Soldiers Oppose American Aid for
the Suffering—Consular Reports From the Island.

The people of the United States, from the commencement of the war, have been deeply interested in the success of the Cuban cause. The leading journals, with hardly an exception, have upheld the revolutionists, and have been largely instrumental in arousing our government to action. The following editorial is one of many on the subject which voiced the popular feeling, and gave hope to the struggling band of patriots, both in the United States and Cuba:

"Cuba bleeds at every pore, and Liberty goes weeping through a land desolated by cruel war and throttled by the iron hand of a foreign despotism. We hold that this government would be justified not only in recognizing Cuban belligerency, but also in recognizing Cuban independence, on the sole ground of the rights and claims of outraged humanity. … In consequence of Weyler's barbarous decrees the most harrowing scenes of savagery and brutality are of almost daily occurrence in this beautiful island, which is situated a hundred miles from our Florida coast line. In the midst of these horrifying and terrorizing spectacles Cuba extends her hand in supplication to this land of boasted freedom, asking only for a kindly glance of friendly recognition.

"Shall we refuse this small crumb of comfort from our bounteous board? Spain may have the right to expect American neutrality, but she has no right to demand indifference on our part to the fate of a brave people, whose territory almost touches our own, and is nearer to our national capital than are a number of the States of the Union, and whose heroic struggle for liberty was largely inspired by our glorious example of beneficent free institutions and successful self-government.

"Spanish rule in Cuba has been characterized by injustice, oppression, extortion, and demoralization. She has fettered the energies of the people, while she has fattened upon their industry. She smiled but to smite, and embraced but to crush. She has disheartened exertion, disqualified merit, and destroyed patience and forbearance, by supporting in riotous luxury a horde of foreign officials at the expense of native industry and frugality.

"Irritated into resistance, the Cubans are now the intended victims of increased injustice. But the inhuman design will fail of accomplishment. Cuban patriotism develops with the growth of oppression. The aspiration for freedom increases in proportion to the weight of its multiplied chains. The dawn of Cuban liberty is rapidly approaching."

CONSULAR REPORTS OF SUFFERING IN THE ISLAND.

General Lee's reports cover the period from November 17, 1897, to April 1, 1898. Much of the correspondence is marked confidential. Only excerpts are given in many instances. General Lee's first dispatch related to the modifying of General Weyler's concentration order by General Blanco. In his communication he says:

"First. The insurgents will not accept autonomy.

"Second. A large majority of the Spanish subjects who have commercial and business interests and own property here will not accept autonomy, but prefer annexation to the United States rather than an independent republic or genuine autonomy under the Spanish flag."

The remainder of the letter is devoted to plans for the relief of the reconcentrados.

"In this city," he writes, "matters are assuming better shape under charitable committees. Large numbers are now cared for and fed by private subscriptions. I witnessed many terrible scenes and saw some die while I was present. I am told General Blanco will give $100,000 to the relief fund."

ANNEXATION DESIRED.

General Lee writes on December 13:

"The contest for and against autonomy is most unequal. For it there are five or six of the head officers at the Palace and twenty or thirty other persons here in the city. Against it, first, are the insurgents, with or without arms, and the Cuban non-combatants; second, the great mass of the Spaniards bearing or not bearing arms—the latter desiring, if there must be a change, annexation to the United States. Indeed, there is the greatest apathy concerning autonomy in any form. No one asks what it will be, or when or how it will come.

"I do not see how it could even be put into operation by force, because as long as the insurgents decline to accept it, so long, the Spanish authorities say, the war must continue."

General Lee then describes the efforts to form an autonomistic cabinet in Cuba and the public disapprobation of the people.

On January 8 General Lee makes the following report:

"Sir—I have the honor to state, as a matter of public interest, that the reconcentrado order of General Weyler, formerly governor-general of this island, transformed about four hundred thousand self-supporting people, principally women and children, into a multitude to be sustained by the contributions of others, or die of starvation or of fevers resulting from a low physical condition and being massed in large bodies, without change of clothing and without food.

"Their homes were burned, their fields and plant beds destroyed, and their live stock driven away or killed.

"I estimate that probably two hundred thousand of the rural population in the provinces of Pinar del Rio, Havana, Matanzas, and Santa Clara have died of starvation or from resultant causes, and the deaths of whole families almost simultaneously, or within a few days of each other, and of mothers praying for their children to be relieved of their horrible sufferings by death are not the least of the many pitiable scenes which were ever present. In the provinces of Puerto Principe and Santiago de Cuba, where the 'reconcentrado order' could not be enforced, the great mass of the people are self-sustaining. …

"A daily average of ten cents' worth of food to two hundred thousand people would be an expenditure of $20,000 per day, and, of course, the most humane efforts upon the part of our citizens cannot hope to accomplish such a gigantic relief, and a great portion of these people will have to be abandoned to their fate." …

On January 12, 13, 14 and 15 General Lee sent brief cablegrams to the department in regard to those rioting and the demonstrations against autonomy and Blanco and the three newspaper offices.

January 13 he said some of the rioters threatened to go to the United States consulate. "Ships," he said, "are not needed, but may be later. If Americans are in danger ships should move promptly for Havana. Uncertainty and excitement widespread." The rioting ceased the next day and General Lee reported all quiet.

On March 1 General Lee reports that the distribution of food, medicines, and clothing to the destitute is proceeding satisfactorily. The work, he says, has been well organized and systematized under the supervision and direction of Miss Clara Barton, president of the Red Cross of the United States, and her active, able, and experienced assistant. He inclosed a letter on March 14 from Consul Barker, of Sagua, who requests him to transmit the following letter, which is addressed to him (General Lee):

"Dear Sir—I will thank you to communicate to the department as quickly as possible the fact that military commander and other military officers positively refuse to allow the reconcentrados, to whom I am issuing food in its raw state, to procure fuel with which to cook the food.

"In addition, they prohibited this class of people (I am only giving food to about one-fifth of the destitute—the authorities have quit altogether) from gathering vegetables cultivated within the protection of the forts, telling them 'the Americans propose to feed you, and to the Americans you must look.'"

General Lee reports on March 28 that "instructions have been given, by the civil government of Havana that the alcaldes and other authorities shall not give out any facts about the reconcentrados, and if any of the American relief committees should make inquiries concerning them, all such inquiries must be referred to him."

General Lee's dispatches end with a dispatch under date of April 1, transmitting the decree of the governor-general terminating the concentration order.

CONSUL BARKER'S REPORT.

Consul Barker covers the conditions existing in Santa Clara province in several communications, beginning on November 20, 1897, and closing on March 24 last. His letters constitute one long story of distress, of sickness, destitution and death, until, indeed, the picture, even as drawn in the plain language of official communications, is revolting.

Mr. Barker devoted comparatively little space to political questions. Only one or two of his letters are along these lines. Probably the most notable of these is his communication of January 10 last:

"When Spain will admit defeat," he writes, "no mortal, in my humble judgment, dare predict. That her plan of settlement— autonomy—is a failure, and that with this failure passes from under her dominion the island, is not to be questioned. Pending this admission on her part thousands of human beings, guiltless of bringing on or having any part in the insurrection, are dying for want of sustenance."

Mr. Barker then suggests that residents in Cuba be allowed to take out first papers under the naturalization laws before a consul in Cuba, and that by this scheme, he thinks, Spain will be rebuked and change her laws.

He adds that the relief from the United States must be continued or the people must starve, so long as there is an armed Spanish soldier in the country, "since these people, for fear of being murdered, do not go to their country homes."

On January 15 Mr. Barker writes: "In this consular district a reign of terror and anarchy prevails, which the authorities, if so disposed, are utterly powerless to control or in any measure to subdue. Aside from the suffering and desperation caused by the unparalleled destitution, I regard the situation as rapidly assuming a critical stage. As stated heretofore, in no way have the authorities departed from the policy pursued by the late, but not lamented, General Weyler. Spanish troops, as well as the guerrillas under the cruel chiefs Carreraz, Clavarrietta, and Lazo, continue to despoil the country and drench it with the blood of non-combatants. Although the 'bando' of the captain-general provides that laborers may return to estates, it restricts their operations to those having a garrison. Last week a number belonging to the 'Sta. Ana' estate, located within a league of Sagua, and owned by George Thorndike of Newport, were driven off after returning, and refused a permit as a protection by the military commander, Mayor Lemo, one of the trusted officers under the Weyler regime."

Mr. Barker says that from February 15 to March 12 he cared for twelve hundred persons, increasing the number on the relief list after that date to two thousand.

On March 24 Mr. Barker increased his estimate as to the amount of food necessary to keep life in the people of that province. He said that one hundred and fifty tons a month were needful for that time, and that the distress was far greater than his former reports had shown. In the letter of this date he recounts the particulars of a visit to Santa Clara, where, he says, he learned from his own agents and also from the governor of the province that the number of persons in actual want exceeded any estimate which he had previously sent to the government He had said only three days before that he thought twenty tons a month should be added to the eighty tons previously suggested. In a communication of March 20 Mr. Barker says: "The distress is simply heart-rending. Whole families without clothing to hide nakedness are sleeping on the bare ground, without bedding of any kind, without food, save such as we have been able to reach with provisions sent by our own noble people; and the most distressing feature is that fully 50 per cent are ill, without medical attendance or medicine."

SOLDIERS OPPOSE AID.

Mr. Barker adds that if $5,000 could be sent to Consul General
Lee, blankets, cots, and medicines could be purchased in Santa
Clara, and thus save thousands who must die if compelled to await
the sending of these supplies from the United States.

"I have," he says, "found the civil governor willing to lend every aid in his power, but he admits that he can do nothing but assist with his civil officers in expediting relief sent by the United States. The military obstruct in every way possible."

CONSUL HYATT'S REPORT.

Writing on December 5, Mr. Hyatt said: "The reconcentration order is relaxed, but not removed; but many people have reached a point where it is a matter of entire indifference to them whether it is removed or not, for they have lost all interest in the problem of existence. A census of the island taken to-day, as compared with one taken three years ago, I feel confident would show that two-thirds of the residents are missing, and the Spanish army would make no better showing."

On December 14 Mr. Hyatt wrote: "The order of reconcentration practically has been wiped out, and, so far as the Spanish government is concerned, men go about nearly as they please. The insurgents and their sympathizers will unquestionably take advantage of the revocation to get from the towns and cities what they need and otherwise strengthen their cause. The effects on agricultural pursuits will be disappointing, because the great majority of those who would or should take up the work joined the insurgent forces when compelled to leave their homes, and the portion which came within the lines of reconcentration are women, children, old and sickly people, most of whom seem to have little interest in the problem of life. There is no one to take these people back to the fields and utilize their remaining strength. Their houses are destroyed, the fields are overgrown with weeds, they have no seeds to plant, and, if they had, they could not live sixty or eighty days until the crop matured; which, when grown, would more than likely be taken by one or the other of the contending parties."

DYING AT HIS DOOR.

"As I write," Mr. Hyatt closes this communication, "a man is dying in the street in front of my door, the third in a comparatively small time."

Mr. Hyatt's letter of December 21 deals largely with the sickness and the death rate on the island, which he characterizes as appalling. "Statistics," he says, "make a grievous showing, but come far short of the truth. The disease is generally brought on by insufficient food. It is sometimes called paludal fever, and at others la grippe, and it is epidemic rather than contagious. From 30 to 40 per cent of the people were afflicted with it."

He also reported smallpox and yellow fever as prevailing, and said that out of a total of sixteen thousand soldiers recently sent to Manzanillo, nearly five thousand were in hospitals or quartered on the people. He says that Dr. Gaminero, United States sanitary inspector, reported at that time that there were more than twelve thousand people sick in bed, not counting those in military hospitals. This is at least 35 per cent of the present population. Mr. Hyatt adds that quinine, the only remedy of avail, is sold ten times higher than in the United States. He says that steamers coming into port give out soup once a day to the waiting throngs, and that fresh meat sells at from 50 cents to $1 a pound.

CONDEMNED TO A LIVING DEATH.

Every ten days or so crowds of handcuffed men are driven through the streets of Havana, which they will never tread again, on their way to the transport ship which will convey them to the penal settlements on the African coast. Many of these men represent the elite of Cuban society. Seldom is a direct charge brought against them. Police spies denounce them as Cuban sympathizers. They are given no trial, that they may prove the charges false. On administrative order they are sentenced to exile for life, and frequently the source of their misfortune can be traced to private revenge or personal feeling. Since the beginning of the war at least ten thousand prominent citizens have been torn from their native island, families and friends, and sent to life exile in the filthy, overcrowded, deadly swamps of Fernando Po. With a little money and good health it is possible to survive in Ceuta, but none ever returns from Fernando Po. On the 23d of March a large party of citizens of the Matanzas district passed through Havana on their way to the transport. It was a sad procession. Hopeless, jaded, despairing men, with arms tied behind them and feet shackled, forced to leave Cuba and face a slow, horrible death. On the train from Matanzas two of these unfortunates were literally shot to pieces. The guards reported they tried to escape and were shot in the attempt. Their fellow-prisoners told a different story. "The two men were deliberately taken out on the platform between the cars and fired upon. And the soldiers would give no reason." The action could likely be traced to personal revenge.

For three-quarters of a century the misgovernment of Spain in Cuba was a neighborhood shame and scandal to the people of the United States. Warning off the interference of any other foreign nation, under the policy known as the "Monroe Doctrine," the American people witnessed the repeated efforts of a less favored nation of this hemisphere to release itself from the grasp of the oppressor. They witnessed at the periods of each of these revolts their own ships of war patroling the southern coast and the waters adjacent to Cuba to intercept any young Americans whose sympathies might lead them to join the Cuban cause, and they acquiesced, because the law as it stood exacted it. They witnessed in more than one of these revolts, when some young Americans, who had eluded the vigilance of United States cruisers, landed on the island and were captured by Spanish troops. These young men stood against the walls of Morro Castle and were shot like dogs, because their government was powerless under the law to aid them. They witnessed the offers on the part of their government at various times to terminate the continued scandal upon civilized government at one of the doorways of their country by the purchase of the island for a generous sum of money, and the rejections of such propositions by Spain.

The American people finally realized that peace could never come to Cuba until it was imposed by the action of the United States, and the opinion gradually grew that neither international obligations nor a desire for the maintenance of friendly relations with Spain could justify our government in permitting these outrages to continue at our doors.