

CUBA. 



off. called zones of cultivation, ami. as the name 



i..- laml was allot 

 who chose to cultivate it. Kight days were . 



r in which everybody out-ide the lines 

 r or come in. at th. . -nd of which 

 . remaining in the field would be 

 treated as enemies to Spain. ' plans were 



carried out with more or lew faithfulness by hi- 

 various officers. Gen. Mogui/ . with his head- 

 quarter* at I'mar del Kio. Allied out with his troops 

 to destroy and kill, cutting a swath of deva>: 

 and fire' through the fertile OOOI ' the 



r* he had no meiw. proclaiming them all 

 rebek On the other hand. <on. Ib -rnamle/ 

 latco pursue,! more mode- i of conoui 



foes, absolutely refusing to kill his prisoners, 

 and endeavoring to induce them to see the hope- 

 lessness of their struggle against Spain. 

 officer* operating under Weyler in Las Villas pur- 

 sued a contradictory policy, some generals i 



/ants, others killing all whom 

 they rou hi find \,- |.t women and child: 



The result was about the same, for hundreds of 



nonoombatants were crowded into the towns and 



g naturallv an improvident |>eople, 



ami probably -: k for their homes mid the green fields 



of the country, they refused to cultivate the zones 



allotted to them, and their situation was appalling 



in th- *d of pestilential diseases, 



Scn-at i< urn! rc|K>rts were spread 



in the I" nited States that many of them were Amer- 

 ican citizens, and on May 17 the President appealed 

 Mgress to pass an immediate appropriation of 

 $50.000 for their relief. Congress voted the sum. 



and three months later Consul-General I at Ha 



vana reported that he had fed every distressed 

 American that he could find, and had furnished 

 transportation to those who wished it. of the -urn 

 Toted he had not eluded $10,000. Of the whole 

 niimU-r of sufferers whom he had assisted 9.~> pi -r 

 were naturalized Americans, most of them 

 unable to speak Knglish, and never having lived in 

 the Unite.; v being the wives and children 



of men naturalized in' this country. 



he l>eginning of the present year our Govern- 

 ment issued an appeal to our citizens for contribu- 

 tions to aid the suffering people in Cuba, and Min- 

 ister Dupuy <le Lome announced that all supplies 

 for the purpose would be admitted at Havana free 

 toms duties. The steamers plying between 

 New York and Havana agreed to transport the sup- 

 plies free of charge, and the authorities in Cuba 

 announced that while they would accept such aid 

 from the people of the United States as an i: 

 mable benefit, they would not accept it as interven- 

 tion in thi- internal affair* of Spain. 



form Measures. Although the insurgent 

 leaders never claimed to be battling for reform, 

 the position was taken at once that Cuba was very 

 much in need of reform laws. Campos well under- 

 stood that it was not the laws that needed reform- 

 it the administration, and it was this that he 

 set out to do. Weyler was known to i,, an en.-r- 

 ntic officer of the media-val type, and by his reso- 

 lute, hard campaigning he had won rank after 

 rank ami badge after badge, although it is said 

 that hi- work was always marked with blood, fire, 

 and desolation. Sei illowasa 



firm believer in the generalship of \\YvN-r. and his 

 noiicy wa* to put down the Insurrection by the 

 force of arms, and talk of reforms after the : 



.tin had made itself manifest, d.n. Weyler 

 was the officer to cam- out th; ut instead 



of carrying it out by skilled military mami-uvres 

 and practical force of arms against the undisci- 

 plined bands that were surging over the i-lan 

 policy was one of destruction, starvation, and blood- 



shed. If it ha for the . rnity 



of the ( 'ul tan >hores to the I' nited Slate-, it i- prob- 

 able that he would I. , ; mue 

 hi- \\ork. Hut the lards in Cuba who 

 had rejoiced uj : '- arrival a: I lax ami. be- 

 lieving him ! an "I" iv-olmioii needed to 

 put down the u; illy prole-led at his ruth- 

 less V va-. nevertheless, was deter- 

 mined th. -h.-uld remain to the tini-h. 



: niie .Mmi-ter was assassiii 

 by an teda, Her M. 



then intrusted the presidency raga, 



Mini-t. r <f War. but u was understood th 



definite change would -'.n be made. Nolhin. 

 pears to have been done in tin- respect until 

 29, when the resignation of the Spanish Cabin. M 

 was announced. .iga was request, d by the 



(^uei-n t> remain in I'llicc till the m-w mini.-tr\ 

 could IH- formed, headed by Sa^a-ta. who t"k I he 

 oalh of otlice i fior Sagnsta wa 



I, literal leader in Spanish politioa, and, though he 

 was a linn friend of Canovas, his oolicy r ^anlin^ 

 Cuba was more on the line- of that pursui 

 Mar-lial Canij" i\'iit to power was well 



'd throughout the penin-ula. and (Jen. l.laiieo 

 was appointed to succeed Weyler. Mia; 

 sailing, announced hi- policy to be tin- granting >f 

 reform-, fully as outlined by the Saga-la inn 

 Upon his arrival at Havana he found tie 

 tin- i-land in the most deplorable state. Not only 

 were the -tarviiig /iiiririri,.*. whom Weyler had hud- 

 dled together in the tow us and who had not al 

 succumbed to their fate, crying out for relief, but 

 NO had not been paid for month-. 

 were scarcely in a In-tter plight. (Jen. Blanco im- 

 mediately gave orders to abolish the concentration 

 plan, declaring thai it would never be hi- n.* 

 of warfare, as he only ii.i.-nded to light the enemy, 

 and not the women and children, ms Government 

 authorized him to sign u credit <>f $100,000 to be 

 devoted to the relief of the suffering peasant-, and 

 the work of recon-truct ion was begun. All Ameri- 

 can citizens who were in prison, including the 

 "Competitor" pri-oiiers. were ivlra.-ed, I.. 

 many others who had already been sentenced to 

 death. A circular was issued asking all Cuban 

 emigrants, whether they had exiled themselv> 

 political motive- or not. to return to the island. 

 Mea-ure* ,,f relief were actively pu-hed by I',., 

 who ten day- after his arrival. Nov. 11. signed a d< - 

 affording every facility for sugar-making and 

 authori/.ing agricultural and industrial labor. The 

 surcharge of 20 per cent, imposed by the railway 

 companies was suppressed, as also the military i 



< oncerning agricultural implements, which 



ally prohibited the Cuban peasant the D 

 his knife and nmr/,- 



> ler left Havana immediately upon tin- 

 arrival of Gen. Blanco and i to Spain. 

 where his | j-.-ated -"ine atritalion. but e\ i- 

 dently In- had failed to satisfy all his Spani-h ad- 

 herents, for several attempts to get up demon- 

 strations in his favor met with poor n-ults. Upon 

 the publication of President McKinley's annual 

 message to Congress. - NT addressed a pro- 

 test to th . which he allow..) to be 

 f.ublished in the paper adherent to his policy. 

 this act the papers were prosecuted and Weyler was 

 -umrnonjed before the Supreme Court and afterward 

 to the Captain General of Madrid. 



The present year find- (Jen. lilanco actively en- 

 gaged in putting into effect the scheme of autono- 



'. ith the home Government sinn-rei;. 

 him. Native Cubans have been appointed to the 

 offices of civil mag: ! a council has also 



f-.rmed of prominent Cubans to assist in the 

 government of the island. Another $100,000 have 



