fCUBA- 
 PORTORICO 
 
 AD.NALL
 
 ,CUBA, 
 
 IT'S PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE 
 
 BY 
 
 a! d. hall 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 STREET & SMITH, Publishers 
 8 I Fulton Street
 
 Copyrighted 
 
 1898 
 
 By Street & Smith.
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE. 
 
 I. — Discovery and Early History 7 
 
 n. — 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 
 
 XL — Two Methods of Warfare; The Spanish and the Cuban.. .110 
 
 XIL— 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 EARI^Y HISTORY. 
 
 ' ' The goodliest laud 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 hyper- 
 bole 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 indescrib- 
 ably 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 phil- 
 anthropy 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,
 
 8 DISCOVERY AND EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 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 im- 
 portant 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 Solo- 
 mon, 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 predeces- 
 sors 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 pub- 
 lished 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 b}' 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 
 i486, 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.
 
 DISCOVERY AND EALRY HISTORY. 9 
 
 It was after hearing the wonderful tales of these ex- 
 plorers 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 b}^ 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 Ferdi- 
 nand's death, it received the name of Fernandina. Sub- 
 sequently, 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 original- 
 ly bestowed upon it by the natives. Cuba means * ' the
 
 lO DISCOVERY AND EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 place of gold, ' ' and Spain has constantly kept this in 
 mind, both theoretically and practically. 
 
 At first, however, the answers received in Cuba in re- 
 ply to the questions of her discoverers as to the exist- 
 ence 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 in- 
 viting 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 ma- 
 jesties, 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 *o 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
 
 DISC0VE;RY and KARI^Y history. II 
 
 propert}' was put toegther iu 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 affection- 
 ate, 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 invad- 
 ing Spaniards were treated with the utmost kindness 
 and courtesy, while many generations later the descend- 
 ants of these same Spaniards, on this same island, 
 visited nothing but cruelty and oppression upon those 
 unfortunates who after all were of iheir 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
 
 ^ 
 
 12 DISCOVERY AND EARI,Y HISTORY. 
 
 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 un- 
 bridled greed ever overleap itself. 
 
 After its discovery, Cuba was twice visited by Co- 
 lumbus, in April, 1494, and again in 1502, but these 
 visits do not seem to have been productive of any par- 
 ticular results. 
 
 It was not until 15 II 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 un- 
 der 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 
 tc relate here as showing the Spanish character, which
 
 DISCOVERY AND EARLY HISTORY. 1 3 
 
 centuries have not changed, and which is as cruel and 
 bloodthirsty to-daj' 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 cap- 
 tured, 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 Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 Hatury, 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 them," answered the monk. 
 
 "Then," cried Hatury, "I will not go to a place 
 where I may meet one of that accursed race. I prefer to 
 go elsewhere." 
 
 Hatury'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.
 
 14 DISCOVERY AND EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 The first permanent settlement was made at Santiago 
 de Cuba, on the Southeastern coast, the scene of Ad- 
 miral Sampson's recent brilliant achievements, and this 
 was for a long time the capital of the colony. Then 
 came Trinidad, and in 15 15 a town was started called 
 San Cristoval de la Habana, which name was trans- 
 ferred 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 re- 
 sult of this short sighted policy on the part of Spain 
 was that agriculture declined to an enormous extent, 
 and Cuba became virtually a pastoral countr}^ 
 
 In 1537, the king appointed as captain-general Her- 
 nando 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 govern- 
 ors, 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 ineffec- 
 tual, 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.
 
 DISCOVERY AND EARLY HISTORY, 1 5 
 
 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 popu- 
 lation, 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 ihe 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 abol- 
 ish 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
 
 1 6 DlSCOV:eRY AND BARI,Y HiSTORV. 
 
 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 Span- 
 iards 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 por- 
 tions of America. Then arose a body of men, who were
 
 DISCOVBJRY AND BARI.Y HIST^ORY. I'J 
 
 productive of most important results. These were known 
 as buccaneers, and were practically a band of piratical 
 adventurers of different nationalities, united in their op- 
 position 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 every- 
 thing Spanish. 
 
 Gradually, the ranks of the buccaneers were re- 
 cruited. They were given assistance and encourage- 
 ment, 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.
 
 l8 DISCOVERY AND EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 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 11., the "gallant" Sir Henry Morgan. 
 
 But in 1697, the European powers generally con- 
 demned the buccaneers. 
 
 In spite of the lessons they had received, and the uni- 
 versal protest of other nations, the Spaniards, obstinate 
 then as ever, refused to change their policy. The)' per- 
 sisted in closing the magnificent harbors of Cuba to the 
 commerce of the rest of the w^orld, 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 alwaj's 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.
 
 THE BRITISH OCCUPATION — SPAIN'S GRATITUDE. 1 9 
 
 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 degener- 
 ate mother of a far more honorable daughter, would al- 
 low her to be at peace, and she increased in population, 
 and, to a certain extent, in material prosperity. 
 
 But in 17 17, 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 to- 
 bacco 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 upris- 
 ing 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
 
 20 THE BRITISH OCCUPATION — SPAIN'S GRATITUDE. 
 
 they grind exceeding small. And in the light of recent 
 events, this seems to be, and in fact, so far as human in- 
 telligence 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 con- 
 structed 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 sixt}^ 
 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-build- 
 ing industry was peremptorily stopped. During the 
 present century, in Cuba only the machinery of one 
 steamer, the Saqua, has been constructed, and two
 
 THK BRITISH OCCUPATION — SPAIN'S GRATITUDE. 21 
 
 ships, one a war steamer and one a merchant steamer, 
 have been built at Havana. 
 
 What a commentary on the dominating and destruc- 
 tive policy — self -destructive policy, too — of Spain ! 
 
 In 1739, there arose in England a popular excite- 
 ment 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 him- 
 self, according to his own declaration, put to the tor- 
 ture. The Spaniards, however, could find little or noth- 
 ing of which to convict him, and, irritated at this they 
 committed a most foolish act, a deed of childish venge- 
 ance. 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 be- 
 fore the House of Commons and exhibited it to that 
 bod)'. 
 
 The excitement ensuing upon the proof of this outrage 
 to a British subject beggars description. 
 
 Walpole was at that time prime minister, and, al- 
 though essentially a man of peace, he found it impossi- 
 ble to stem the tide, and public sentiment compelled 
 him to declare war against Spain.
 
 22 THE) BRITISH OCCUPATION — SPAIN'S GRATITUDE. 
 
 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 king- 
 dom 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 four- 
 teen 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 L,yman, 
 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) BRITISH OCCUPATION — ^SPAIN'S GRATITUDE. 23 
 
 the Spanish bullets succumbed to the rigors of the tropi- 
 cal 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 won- 
 derful 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 some- 
 thing like six months, and during that time instituted 
 n:any 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 primi- 
 tive days of hygiene, was vastly improved. All over the 
 island, roads were opened. During the time of the Eng-
 
 24 THK BRITISH OCCUPATION — SPAIN'S GRATITUD:^. 
 
 lish occupation, over nine hundred loaded vessels en- 
 tered 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 con- 
 tented, 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 un- 
 fortunately 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 L^ouisiana 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
 
 THB BRITISH OCCUPATION — SPAIN'S GRATITUDE. 25 
 
 than ordinary ability and humanity, both of whom had 
 her interests at heart, and they caused a period of un- 
 wonted prosperity, most grateful to the Cubans, to fol- 
 low. 
 
 The first of these governors, or to give them their 
 rightful title, captain-generals, was L,uis de I^as 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 news- 
 papers, 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 en- 
 slaved 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 re- 
 bellion in Hayti, and this in face of the fact that strenu- 
 ous efforts were made by the French, to form a conspir- 
 acy 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 
 b)' all Americans — it was through his efforts that the 
 body of Columbus was removed from Hayti where it had
 
 26 THK BRITISH OCCUPATION — SPAIN'S GRATITUDE). 
 
 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 Ha- 
 vana, 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, accord- 
 ing 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 conti- 
 nent. 
 
 Spain was by no means to escape his greed for con- 
 quest and power.
 
 The; British occupation — Spain's gratitude;. 27 
 
 Her country was overrun and ravaged by his victori- 
 ous armies. Her reigning family was driven away. 
 Napoleon deposed the descendant of a long line of Bour- 
 bons, 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 voluntar)' 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 mag- 
 nificent fidelity rewarded. 
 
 The answer is as brief as it is true. In no way what- 
 ever. 
 
 Many promises were made at the time bj' the Pro- 
 visional Government at Seville, chief among them be- 
 ing 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
 
 28 TH^ BRITISH OCCUPATION — SPAlN*S GRATITUDE. 
 
 political, civil and religious liberty, an exclusion of the 
 islanders from all public ofl&ces, and a heavy and in- 
 iquitous 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 ofl&ce as a rule having been 
 sought (and this was distinctly realized by the Spanish 
 government) only as an end and means to acquire a per- 
 sonal fortune. 
 
 To realize the practically absolute authority given to 
 the captain-generals, it is only necessar)' 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 inter- 
 ferences and prerogatives of the respective officers : for 
 the important end of preserving in that precious island 
 his legitimate sovereign authority and the public tran- 
 quility, through proper means, has resolved, in accord- 
 ance 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 con- 
 sequence 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
 
 THE BRITISH OCCUPATION — SPAIN'S GRATlTUDEj. 29 
 
 their occupation, rank, class or condition, whose con- 
 tinuance therein your excellency may deem injurious, 
 or whose conduct, public or private, may alarm you, re- 
 placing 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, chival- 
 rous Spain began to reward ' ' The Ever Faithful Isle' ' 
 for its unparalleled loyalty and devotion. 
 
 And Heaven save the mark ! this was only the begin- 
 ning. 
 
 " That precious island," says the royal decree. Pre- 
 cious ! 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 in the case of Midas, this love has event- 
 ually led to her destruction.
 
 3© Cuba's kari.y struggles for liberty. 
 
 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 ig- 
 nored 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 suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining complete independence from Span- 
 ish authority. 
 
 From all these countries, swarms of Spanish loyalists 
 made their way to Cuba, and were ordered to be main- 
 tained 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 re- 
 conquer the new republic. This plan was vehemently 
 opposed by the Cubans. 
 
 Discontent rapidly fomented and increased through- 
 out the island. Numerous secret political societies were 
 formed, and there arose two great opposing factions, the
 
 CUBA'S EARLY STRUGGLES FOR LIBERTY. 3I 
 
 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 182 1, 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 offences, but 
 particularly of all offenses against disloyalty. 
 
 An attempt at revolution, the purpose being the estab 
 lishment 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 govern- 
 ment 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 independ- 
 ence. 
 
 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 Co- 
 lombia, but it came to nothing, owing to the impossi- 
 bility 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 free-
 
 32 CUBA'S KARLY STRUGGI^KS FOR I^IBBRTY. 
 
 dom. A secret society, known as the "Black Eagle" 
 was organized, with headquarters at Mexico, but with a 
 branch ofl5ce 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 is- 
 land 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 consider-
 
 Cuba's barly struggIvKs for liberty, 33 
 
 ationof 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 
 efiForts to regain possession of the South American re- 
 publics, 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 promul- 
 gated 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 por- 
 tion 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 fric- 
 tion 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 posi- 
 tion 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 ener- 
 getic efforts of Captain-General Valdez, But the in-
 
 34 CUBA'S KARLY STRUGGLES FOR LIBERTY. 
 
 creased 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 re- 
 quired 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, four- 
 teen 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 annex- 
 ing Cuba and dividing it up into slave states. President
 
 Cuba's eari.y sf RUGGi.:es for liberty, 35 
 
 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 after- 
 ward in the Senate, but after a debate it was with- 
 drawn. 
 
 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 move- 
 ment 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 popula- 
 tion as dissatisfied with Spanish rule, and eager for re- 
 volt 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 fol- 
 lowing year, he succeeded in effecting another organiza- 
 tion and sailed from New Orleans on the steamer 
 Pampero, with a force which has been variously esti-
 
 36 Cuba's early struggles for liberty. 
 
 mated at from three to six hundred men, the latter prob- 
 ably being nearer the truth. 
 
 The second in command was W. S. Crittenden, a gal- 
 lant 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 IvOpez 
 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 before- 
 hand 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, be- 
 ing 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,
 
 Cuba's karly sTrugglks for i^ibkrty. 37 
 
 there was no doubt whatever as to the nature of the ex- 
 pedition, 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 sur- 
 viving comrades were shot beneath the walls of the fort- 
 ress 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 bodi-^s of the victims were muti- 
 lated in a horrible manner. 
 
 Theie 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 honor- 
 able 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 indig- 
 nation 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
 
 38 CUBA'S KARLY STRUGGLES FOR UBKRTY. 
 
 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 Mo- 
 bile. It was her custom both on her outward and home- 
 ward 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 oflficers ; 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. Cap- 
 tain 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
 
 Cuba's eari,y strugglks for liberty. 39 
 
 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 fol- 
 lows: 
 
 "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 reli- 
 able 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 organ- 
 ized within the limits of the island, and the tyranny and
 
 40 CUBA'S EARLY STRUGGLES FOR LIBERTY. 
 
 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 jBnancial 
 embarrassments, it may never come again. 
 
 "Extreme oppression, it is now universally admitted, 
 justifies any people in endeavoring to free themselves 
 from the j^oke of their oppressors. The sufferings which 
 the corrupt, arbitrary and unrelenting local administra- 
 tion necessaril}'- 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 terri- 
 tory 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 or- 
 ganize an insurrection against the Spanish government, 
 no human power could, in our opinion, prevent the 
 people and government of the United States from tak- 
 ing part in such a civil war in support of their neigh- 
 bors and friends, ' '
 
 CUBA'S EARLY STRUGGLES FOR LIBERTY. 4 1 
 
 We have quoted thus largely from the Ostend mani- 
 festo, 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 an- 
 nexation 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 en- 
 joy. 
 
 Moreover, the manifesto clearly shows that the causes 
 of Cuban uprising are of no recent date; and that, be- 
 fore 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 be- 
 ing 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 dis- 
 armed 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.
 
 42 Cuba's early struggles for liberty. 
 
 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 opportun- 
 ity to strike. 
 
 Long before this, Spain had entered upon the down- 
 ward 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 pos- 
 sessions, 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 Co- 
 lumbus for his magnificent achievements was to cover 
 his reputation with obloquy and load his person with 
 chains.
 
 the; ten years' war. 43 
 
 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 be- 
 fore. She had learned her lesson. She knew now how 
 Spanish sovereigns rewarded loyalty, and the fall of Isa- 
 bella, 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 in- 
 auguration of political reforms, or to an attempt to shake 
 off the pressing yoke of Spain. At first it was thought 
 that the new government would ameliorate the condi- 
 tion 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 ad-
 
 44 THE TEN YKARS' WAR. 
 
 vanced 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 re- 
 spect 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 los- 
 ing 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 free- 
 dom, up to that time. 
 
 It is certain that the grievances of the islanders were 
 many, and this was even recongized 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 con- 
 tinent. All have ended in conquering their indepen- 
 dence. Let Spain not forget the lesson; let the govern - 
 ment be just to the colonies that remain. Thus she will 
 consolidate her dominion over people who only aspire 
 to be good sous of a worthy mother, but who are not 
 willing to live as slaves under the sceptre of a tyrant."
 
 THK TEN years' WAR. 45 
 
 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 
 contrar}', it was expended in a manner which was 
 simply maddening to the Cubans. 
 
 The officials of the island, be it understood, were in- 
 variably Spaniards. The captain-general received a sal- 
 ary 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 sympathj'- 
 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 tiie 
 native planters under the guise of taxes and also by the 
 most flagrant blackmail. 
 
 By a system of differential duties, Spain still man- 
 aged 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
 
 46 th:^ ten years' war. 
 
 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 con- 
 sumption 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 twen- 
 t3^-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,
 
 THS TEN years' WAR. 47 
 
 L,a 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 at- 
 tracting 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 an5'thing but well provided with arms and ammu- 
 nition. Among them were many of Cespedes' former 
 slaves whom the general promptly liberated. 
 
 Attacks were made on lyas Tunas, Cauto Embarcar- 
 dero, Jiguana, La Guisa, El Datil and Santa Rita, in 
 almost every case victory remaining with the insur- 
 gents. 
 
 On the 15th of October it was decided to attack Bay- 
 amo, an important town of ten thousand inhabitants. 
 On the 1 8th 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 captulate. 
 
 For the relief of Bayamo, a Spanish force under Colo- 
 nel 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 at-
 
 48 The; te;n ye;ars' war. 
 
 tacked 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 re- 
 ceived a severe check at Saladillo, but eventually suc- 
 ceeded in crossing the Cauto. The Cubans saw the hope- 
 lessness 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 des- 
 perate 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 is- 
 land and some forty thousand volunteers organized for 
 the defense of the cities. These latter were in many re- 
 spects analogous to the National Guard of the United 
 States. They were raised from Spanish immigrants, be- 
 tween 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 be-
 
 the; ten years' war. 49 
 
 ing 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 pris- 
 oners were treated with the utmost treachery and 
 cruelt}'. 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 sis- 
 ters 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 pos- 
 sible 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: 
 
 ist. Every man, from the age of fifteen years, up- 
 ward, 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
 
 50 TH^ TEN YKARS' WAR. 
 
 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 par- 
 doned. 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 dis- 
 gusted. 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.
 
 the; ten years' war. 51 
 
 It has even been acknowledged recently by a repre- 
 sentative 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 lyOme (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 Ouesada, and, in ad- 
 dition 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-ofhcer 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 resist- 
 ance. 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 ar- 
 tillery, was attacked at Camalito and again at El 
 Ramon ; he succeeded in repulsing the enemy and reach- 
 ing his destination. 
 
 Soon after, as General Quesada demanded extraordi- 
 nary powers, he was deposed by the Cuban congress, 
 and General Jordan was appointed commander-in-chief 
 in his stead.
 
 52 th:^ ten ykars' war. 
 
 In August, 1870, the United States government off 
 ered to Spain their good offices for a settlement of the 
 strife. Mr. Fish, who was then secretar}^ of State, pro- 
 posed 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 rej)laced by 
 Valmaseda, again at the dictation of the volunteers. 
 
 Speaking of these volunteers, who it will be remem- 
 bered 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 187 1. 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 stu- 
 dents of the university. The volunteers made a com- 
 plaint and forty-three of the young students were ar- 
 rested 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.
 
 THK TEN years' WAR. 53 
 
 They demanded and obtained from the captain-general, 
 who was a man of weak character, the convening of an- 
 other court-martial two-thirds of which was to be com- 
 posed 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 re- 
 sources 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, Gen- 
 eral 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.
 
 54 THE TEN years' WAR. 
 
 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 lat- 
 ter deprived of political, civil and religious liberty. 
 Hence the unfortunate Cubans being illegally prose- 
 cuted and sent into exile, or executed by militarj^ com- 
 missions 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 aiSict them being looked on as the proceed- 
 ings 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 them- 
 selves 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
 
 THETKN YKARS' WAR. 55 
 
 that Cuba should remain a state of the Spanish repub- 
 lic, 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 no- 
 bility who renounced his titles and had his estates con- 
 fiscated when he joined the revolution. He was and is 
 distinguished for his patriotism, intelligence and nobil- 
 ity of character. It was his daughter, Evangelina Cis- 
 neros, 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 Span- 
 iards, and put to death, according to their usual policy •. 
 "Slay and spare not." 
 
 The war dragged on, being more a guerrila warfare 
 than anything else. The losses were heavy on both sides. 
 There is no data from which to obtain the losses of the Cu- 
 bans, 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 de- 
 creased a ad 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 strug- 
 gle and ready to compromise.
 
 56 THE TEN years' WAR. 
 
 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 des- 
 tined later to attain even more prominence. Gomez lis- 
 tened to what was proposed, and after certain delibera- 
 tions, 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.
 
 THE VIRGINIUS EMBROGLIO. 57 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE VIRGINIUS EMBROGLIO. 
 
 There was one event of the ten years' war which de- 
 serves 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, b)' 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 Eng- 
 land during the civil war, and was used as a blockade- 
 runner. She was captured and brought to the Washing- 
 ton 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,
 
 58 THE VIRGINIUS EMBROGLIO. 
 
 As all the requisities 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 Patter- 
 son was not the real owner of the vessel, but that, as a 
 matter of fact, the money for her purchase had been fur- 
 nished by Cuban sympathizers, and that she was virtu- 
 ally controlled by them. 
 
 From the day of her clearance in New York, she cer- 
 tainly 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 prac- 
 tice 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 com- 
 mitted 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 regu- 
 larly documented vessels registered as part of our com- 
 mercial marine. 
 
 Still quoting President Grant, no state of war existed 
 conferring upon a maritime power the right to molest
 
 THE VIRGINIUS EMBROGLIO. 59 
 
 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 fraud- 
 ulent, and frankly they probablj- 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 fol- 
 lowing 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 demand-
 
 60 THK VIRGINIUS EMBROGLIO. 
 
 ing that he should be allowed to see the prisoners, in 
 order to obtain from them information which should en- 
 able him to protect those who might be American citi- 
 zens, 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 sem- 
 blance of a trial and had been shot. 
 
 Meanwhile England, who even her worst enemies can- 
 not 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 lyambton Lorraine, was dispatched to Santiago with 
 instructions to stop the massacre. 
 
 The Niobe arrived at Santiago on the eighth, and Lor- 
 raine threatened to bombard the town unless the execu- 
 tions were immediately stopped. 
 
 This threat evidently frightened the bloodthirsty gov- 
 ernor, 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 pro-
 
 THE VIRGINIUS EMBROGLIO. 6 1 
 
 posed 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 pre- 
 sented to him, upon the face of which was inscribed: 
 ' ' Blood is thicker than water. Santiago de Cuba, No- 
 vember, 1873. To Sir Lambton Lorraine, from the Com- 
 stock Mines, Virginia City, Nevada, U. S. A." 
 
 President Grant, through General Daniel E. Sickles, 
 who then represented the United States at Madrid, di- 
 rected that a demand should be made upon Spain for the 
 restoration of the Virginius, for the return of the sur- 
 vivors to the protection of the United States, for a sa- 
 lute 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 repar- 
 ation 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 tele- 
 gram from Cuba, and without reference to any interna- 
 tional question, for that indeed had not occurred to him, 
 he at once sent a message to the captain-general, admon- 
 ishing him that the death penalty must not be imposed 
 upon any non-combatant, without the previous approval
 
 62 the; VIRGINIUS EMBROGLIO, 
 
 of the Cortes, nor upon any person taken in arms 
 against the government without the sanction of the ex- 
 ecutive." 
 
 About that time, a writer of some celebrity, who was 
 also a war correspondent, named Ralph Keeler, myster- 
 iously disappeared. Although it was never proven, there 
 is little doubt but that he was assassinated by the Span- 
 iards. 
 
 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 as- 
 saulted 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 be- 
 tween 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.
 
 THB VIRGINIUS EMBROGLIO. 63 
 
 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 Car- 
 vajal, with the aid of that serenity that is unmoved by- 
 slaughter, and that energy that rejects the voice of hu- 
 manity, which even the humblest may utter and the 
 most powerful cannot hush, this government is success- 
 ful in restoring order and peace and liberty where hither- 
 to, 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 dis- 
 covered by Columbus is the home of freemen and not 
 that of slaves." 
 
 About this time, Spain asked the good oflBces of Eng- 
 land as an intervener, but to his glory be it spoken and 
 to the nation which he represented, Lord Granville de- 
 clined, "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
 
 64 I'HE VIRGINIUS EMBROGWO. 
 
 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 Ad- 
 miral 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 ques- 
 tions which are properly subjects of reference." 
 
 On the i6th 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
 
 THK VIRGINIUS EMBROGIJO. 65 
 
 order and she was leaking badl3^ 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 San- 
 tiago de Cuba on the i8th, 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 cen- 
 sured 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 wnth. 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 Cap- 
 tain Fry's words in a letter to his wife just before his 
 execution : 
 
 ' 'There is to be a fearful sacrifice of life from the Vir- 
 ginius, and, as I think, a needless one, as the poorpeople 
 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
 
 66 THE VIRGINIUS EMBROGI.TO. 
 
 allowed to rule, the results would have been fatal; and 
 the very men who were most abused, in the light of fu- 
 ture 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 digni- 
 fied, 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 de- 
 graded because we did not indulge in a policy of venge- 
 ance. "
 
 AGAIN SPAIN'S PERFIDY. 67 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 AGAIN SPAIN'S PERFIDY. 
 
 Before proceeding further, it is necessary to call at- 
 tention to one very important matter which was the di- 
 rect result of the Ten Years' War. If the insurgents ac- 
 complished nothing else, thej' ma}'' 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 ad- 
 mitted 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 falsi- 
 fied by her deeds. Spanish diplomac}' up to the present 
 day has only been another name for lies. For, notwith- 
 standing the mildness of the code, its provisions were 
 constantl)' 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.
 
 68 AGAIN SPAIN'S PERFIDY, 
 
 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 de- 
 stroyed every year by the slow torture of overwork and 
 insufl&cient sleep and rest. 
 
 In 1792 the slave population of the island was esti- 
 mated 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 v/ar, 
 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 3'et 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 ap- 
 prentices 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
 
 AGAIN SPAIN'S PE^RFIDY. 69 
 
 honorable opponent and not a trickster, that the condi- 
 tion of Cuba would be greatly improved. 
 
 The treaty, in the first place, guaranteed Cuba repre- 
 sentation 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, ob- 
 tained complete control of the polls, and, by unparal- 
 lelled 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 representa- 
 tion whatever in the Cortes. 
 
 The cities of Cuba were hopelessly in debt and they 
 were not able to provide money for any municipal ser- 
 vices. 
 
 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 is- 
 land, 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 amouncs to the
 
 70 AGAIN SPAIN'S PERFIDYo 
 
 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 mat- 
 ters 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 govern- 
 ment 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 govern- 
 ment 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 Kslara 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
 
 AGAIN SPAIN'S PKRFIDY. 7 1 
 
 they have anj^; it will not be rash to venture the asser- 
 tion 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 dis- 
 courage 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 ghast- 
 ly 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 pa}^ the high sal 
 aries of the horde of Spanish officials, nothing of which 
 accrued to her advantage. 
 
 There can he no doubt but that the treaty of El Zanjon 
 was a cheat, and its administration a gigantic scandal.
 
 72 AGAIN SPAIN'S PERFIDY, 
 
 Can auy 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, de- 
 termined this time to fight to the death or to obtain 
 their freedom?
 
 some; CUBAN HEROES. 73 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SOME CUBAN HEROES. 
 
 Although the natural resources of Cuba are remark- 
 able, as will be demonstrated later, and more than suflB- 
 cient for all her people, a large number of Cubans have, 
 either of their own free ,vill 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 Souih 
 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? Be- 
 sides she has had no just cause for grievance, as the 
 right for foreign countries to furnish asylums to politi- 
 cal 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.
 
 74 some; CUBAN hkroks. 
 
 In spite of her protests she has never done anything 
 for Cuba, all her aim being to replenish her own ex- 
 hausted treasury and to enrich the functionaries of the 
 Spanish government. 
 
 While Cuba is a producing country, she has been re- 
 fused the right to dispose of her produce to other coun- 
 tries 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 practi- 
 cally 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.
 
 SOME CUBAN HEROES. 75 
 
 At last patience ceased to be a virtue. The present 
 rising in Cuba was begun toward the close of 1894. ^^^ 
 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 personal- 
 ity, 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. After- 
 wards, 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 contribu- 
 tions, 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 visionar)' 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.
 
 76 SOM:^ CUBAN HBIROBS. 
 
 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. 
 
 I,ater, 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 insur- 
 gents 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 Span- 
 iard. 
 
 The Maceo brothers have been particularly distin- 
 guished. They were born of colored parents, and were 
 of the type of the mulatto. Both were men of indom- 
 itable 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
 
 SOMK CUBAN HEROES. 77 
 
 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 
 the)'' 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 cf the best Havana 
 families and graduates of the universi*^y. He was very 
 much like the "Swamp Fox" of our Revolution in the 
 way he would undertake some daring raid, and then
 
 78 SOME CUBAN HKROKS. 
 
 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 insur- 
 gents, and he was condemned to death. Of him, Aran- 
 guren 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 auton- 
 omy, peace is not only possible, but probable; but, if 
 she should persevere in her false colors, she wall 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 in- 
 surrection 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 thou-
 
 SOME CUBAN HEROES. 79 
 
 sand 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 s)''mpathy and the universal criti- 
 cism that met the little band of revolutionists unques- 
 tionably 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 wher- 
 ever 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.
 
 8o SOMK CUBAN HKROSS. 
 
 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 Ha- 
 vana, he issued the most elaborate instructions to ever)^ 
 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 1 8th 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, pro- 
 tected by a fort. 
 
 The insurgents numbered about seven hundred cav- 
 alrymen, under the command of Marti and Gomez. 
 
 The next morning they came upon the Spanish out- 
 post. 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 pene- 
 trate 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 chldren!" and
 
 SOME) CUBAN HEROES. 8 1 
 
 ■'Viva Cuba Libre," he dashed upon the Spanish, fol- 
 lowed 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 de- 
 cent burial, and one of the Spanish officers even pro- 
 nounced a sort of eulogy over the remains. 
 
 There was a report that Gomez had also been killed, 
 but this was a mistake. About a month 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
 
 82 SOME^ CUBAN HKROES, 
 
 were afterwards erected, but they have not proved of 
 any extraordinary advantage in the present insurrec- 
 tion. 
 
 An assembh^ composed of representatives of all the 
 bands that were under arras, 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 Span-
 
 some; CUBAN HEROES. 83 
 
 ish outposts, capture their arms if possible setting at 
 libert}' 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 po- 
 sition to fight the enemy at great advantage; to destroy 
 Spanish forts and other buildings where any resistance 
 was made b}^ 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 ; convo^rs of provisions to be sent to such 
 towns as needed them. 
 
 Everything was now in readiness for a fierce cam- 
 paign, and one that threatened to be protracted. It 
 was not long before operations commenced in earnest. '
 
 84 CUBAN TACTICS. 
 
 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, out- 
 side the three mile limit, she was fired upon by a Span- 
 ish gunboat. President Cleveland declared this to be an 
 unwarrantable interference by Spain with passing 
 American ships. Protest w^as 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 prop- 
 erty. This act was disavowed by Spain, with full ex- 
 pression 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,
 
 CUBAN TACTICS. 85 
 
 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, vi^hile 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 Span- 
 iards was'over three hundred. 
 
 It is impossible to tell much from the Spanish ac- 
 counts, 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 atti- 
 tude 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:
 
 86 CUBAN TACTICS. 
 
 "Had I known it, I would have sacrificed five hun- 
 dred 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 gen- 
 erally 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 ad- 
 vantage 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:
 
 CUBAN TACTICS. 87 
 
 "To His Excellency, the General Martinez Campos: 
 
 ' ' Dear Sir — Anxious to give careful and efficient at- 
 tendance 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 demonstra- 
 tions 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 prov- 
 inces of Puerto Principe and Santiago de Cuba had 
 risen almost to a man, and the movement was well un- 
 der way in the province of Santa Clara. 
 
 Several encounters took place, the most important be- 
 ing 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 Span- 
 ish 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,
 
 88 CUBAN TACTICS. 
 
 and commanded by Antonio Maceo, Aguerre, Lacret, 
 Carillo, Suarez and Jose MaceOo 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 guer- 
 illa stamp. In fact, it was the only species of warfare 
 possible. 
 
 He therefore instructed his lieutenants to have re- 
 course 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!"
 
 CUBAN TACTICS. 89 
 
 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 head- 
 quarters 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.
 
 90 CUBAN TACTICS. 
 
 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 be- 
 tween Coliseo and lyUmidero. 
 
 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 connec- 
 tion 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, Matan- 
 zas and Havana. These lines Gomez destroyed as well 
 as ever}^ sugar plantation upon his route. 
 
 As to the destruction of the sugar fields and the rea- 
 son 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 Christ- 
 mas Day. 
 
 His reception in the capital was anything but a pleas- 
 ant 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
 
 CUBAN TACTlCSo 9 1 
 
 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 Con- 
 servatives, the Reformists and the Autonomists. Cam- 
 pos met the leaders of these parties in an interview, and 
 asked for their opinions. The consultation was very un- 
 satisfactory, and as a result Campos proposed his resig- 
 nation to which the ministry made no objection. 
 
 Shortly after, his resignation was sent in and ac- 
 cepted. 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 in- 
 surrection, nothing but the greatest sj'mpathy and re- 
 spect 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, in- 
 cluding, 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 mon- 
 archy. At an advanced age, when he should have been 
 enjo)'ing 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 patriot- 
 ism, his unswerving rectitude, his magnanimity and his 
 exalted ideas of honor! This praise even the enemies of 
 his country cannot refuse to him.
 
 92 WBYLER THE BUTCHER. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 WEYLER THE BUTCHER. 
 
 No greater contrast to Campos could possibly be 
 imagined than his successor, General Valerian© Weyler, 
 known, and with the utmost 'ustice, 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 com- 
 mitted 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 indig- 
 nation 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 !
 
 WEYIvER THE BUTCHER. 93 
 
 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, Cali- 
 gula 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 care- 
 less observer is impressed instantly, and yet, taken al- 
 together, 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 di- 
 versions, he is nevertheless the embodiment of mental 
 acuteness, crafty, unscrupulous, fearless and of indomit- 
 able 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, shriv- 
 eled, 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, unlov- 
 ing, exalted."
 
 94 WEYIvKR THE BUTCHER. 
 
 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 en- 
 tered. 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 exe- 
 cution, is strongly developed." 
 
 Mrs. Kate Masterson, another American journalist, 
 was, we believe, the only one, except Mr. Rappelj'e, 
 who obtained an interview with Weyler. 
 
 Among other things that he said, Mrs. Masterson re- 
 ports 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."
 
 WBYLER the; butcher. 95 
 
 *' The Spanish columns attend to their prisoners just 
 as well as any other country in times of war, ' ' An 
 obvious'y 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 humanita- 
 rian 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 niatter 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 be- 
 little the Cubans, sneering at them as being generaled 
 by negroes, half breeds and illiterate to a degree. Be- 
 yond 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 mainl}' 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
 
 96 W:eYI,BR THE BUTCHER. 
 
 from his own following egotistical statement, which is 
 well-authenticated : 
 
 "I care not for America, England, or any other coun- 
 tr)', 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 un- 
 less 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 ma- 
 chete warm, and we will yet free Cuba." 
 
 Gomez, by the way, at one time, served under Wey- 
 ler, 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 extermina- 
 tion, 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
 
 WEYLER THE BUTCHER. 97 
 
 active operations until November (he arrived in Febru- 
 ar}'), 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 thej' 
 should not be able to give any aid to the insurgents. 
 
 Read carefully the text of his famous reconcehtrado 
 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 : 
 
 " ' , 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 da3^s 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 b}^ 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.
 
 98 WEYLER THK BUTCHKR. 
 
 ' ' 4. When the period of eight days, which shall be 
 reckoned in each district from the day of the publica- 
 tion of this proclamation in the country town of the dis- 
 trict, shall have expired, all insurgents who may pre- 
 sent 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 recom- 
 mendation 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 wo- 
 men 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 "concen- 
 tration," 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.
 
 WKYI^KR THE BUTCHBR. 99 
 
 The deaths have occurred in ghastly numbers. More 
 than two hundred thousand have perished from starva- 
 tion and starvation alone, with no hand from the gov- 
 ernment stretched out to aid them. The record made 
 b}' 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 be- 
 longed, 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 Bonsai, 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 starva- 
 tion stations and a prey to all kinds of epidemic dis- 
 eases. They are without means and without food, and 
 with only the shelter that the dried palm-leaves of their 
 hastily erected boliios 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
 
 lOO WEYLER THK BUTCHKR. 
 
 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 pas- 
 sing generation remember. No, they are simply attempt- 
 ing to get beyond the starvation lines, to dig their po- 
 tatoes 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 bear- 
 ing the mutilated bodies of those who have been pun- 
 ished 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 blood- 
 thirsty and yet so exquisite, that the human mind re- 
 fuses to believe it, and revolts at the suggestion that it 
 was conceived, planned and plotted by a man. And yet
 
 wkyi.br the butcher. ioi 
 
 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 Vv^ork is effective, 
 and we never rest until our aim is accomplished.
 
 I02 THK CRIME OF THE CENTURY, 
 
 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 sup- 
 plying 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 miser- 
 able 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 parefits, the husband, 
 his family. They have seen them die. Often they have
 
 THK CRIME OF THE CENTURY. I03 
 
 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 be- 
 tween Havana and this town had been captured by the 
 insurgents, and the next day the Spanish authorities ar- 
 rested a large number of persons in Guanabacoa, charg- 
 ing them with giving information which enabled the 
 troops, under their enterprising young leader, Aran- 
 guren, to make the capture; and among these persons
 
 I04 THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY. 
 
 arrested was this American. He was a strougly built, 
 athletic man, who confined himself strictl}' to the prac- 
 tice 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 investi- 
 gate 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 con- 
 dition of affairs there had been greatly exaggerated by 
 the press, and my own efforts were directed in the first
 
 THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY. I05 
 
 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 impos- 
 sible. The pictures in the American newspapers of the 
 starving reconcentrados are true. They can all be dupli- 
 cated by the thousands. I never saw, and please God I 
 may never see again, so deplorable a sight as the recon- 
 centrados in the suburbs of Mantanzas. I can never for- 
 get to my dying day the hopeless anguish in their de- 
 spairing 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 spec- 
 tacle ! 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 ofiF. ' 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 vSpanish Cortes, sums up the situa- 
 tion as follows : 
 
 "Spain denies to the Cubans all effective powers in 
 their own country. Spain condemns the Cubans to a 
 political inferiority in the land where they were born. 
 Spain confiscates the product of the Cubans' labor with-
 
 Io6 THK CRIME OP THE CENTURY. 
 
 out giving them in return either safety, prosperity or 
 education. Spain has shown itself utterly incapable of 
 governing Cuba. Spain exploits, impoverishes and de- 
 moralizes 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 in- 
 variably been treated as if they were pirates. The tiger- 
 ish 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 pol- 
 icy, and starvation too of those, whatever their sympa- 
 thies 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 in- 
 stant death ? 
 
 The Butcher could not conquer this valiant people in 
 honorable warfare, and therefore, worthy scion of his
 
 THE CRIMK OF THE CENTURY. 107 
 
 blood, he, without one qualm of conscience, determined 
 to exterminate them. Young boys, not more than fif- 
 teen 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 Span- 
 iard, 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 any- 
 thing are laid on too thin. 
 
 Although the so-called rebels were not conquered and 
 never could be conquered, Weyler was constantly send- 
 ing reports home of the ' 'pacification" of first this and 
 then that portion of the island. This he probably sup- 
 posed was necessary to placate the Spaniards, who are 
 divided amongst themselves and ever ready to rise 
 against the existing government whatever it may 
 be
 
 Io8 THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY. 
 
 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 Bonsai, 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 Wejder 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 exter- 
 minated and we consider no measure too ruthless to be 
 adopted to secure this end. 
 
 ' ' I read in an American paper the other day that Gen- 
 eral 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 per- 
 verted ! 
 
 The whole matter of Cuba under Spani.sh rule is a 
 disgrace to the age we live in.
 
 THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY. I09 
 
 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 pos- 
 sibility of its recurrence.
 
 no TWO METHODS OP WARFARE. 
 
 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 firs't 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 lieuten- 
 ants 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
 
 TWO METHODS OF WARFARE. 1 1 1 
 
 take awaj' 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 in- 
 surrection, 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 consid- 
 ered 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 burntclose 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 avithority equally 
 potent, when the country is reorganized, the sugar in- 
 dustry 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
 
 112 TWO METHODS OF WARFARE. 
 
 cane. He knew that those who were thrown out of em- 
 ployment 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 de- 
 stroying 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 retali- 
 ated. 
 
 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 not- 
 able instance of this being their recent refusal to ex- 
 change the gallant Hobson and his comrades. To be 
 sure, according to international law the}' are not com- 
 pelled to do this, but it is doubtful if there is another
 
 TWO METHODS OF WARFARE. II3 
 
 civilized nation (by the way, it is an undeserved com- 
 pliment 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 ex- 
 plicit orders of those leaders; and whenever the offend- 
 ers 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 inde- 
 pendence 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 Span- 
 iards behave toward the insurgent wounded ? When not 
 killed at once and their sufferings ended immediately, 
 they were cast into loathsome dungeons, with insuffi- 
 cient 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
 
 114 TWO METHODS OF WARFAR:^. 
 
 present has been proved be3'0nd any question of a 
 doubt. 
 
 The charge refers to an action which, with the ex- 
 ception 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 Span- 
 iards 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 5'ou 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 Ha- 
 vana, 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
 
 TWO METHODS OP WARFARE. II5 
 
 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 re- 
 lated where they retaliated in kind. And this was when 
 it is said that they sent a Spanish soldier back to Ha- 
 vana 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 un- 
 mentionable 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 condi- 
 tion 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 re- 
 search, fill up the hiatus. 
 
 And the Spaniards cannot claim in this latter in- 
 stance, if indeed they can in any other, that these bar- 
 barities were committed by irregular and irresponsible 
 troops. It is beyond question that by far the greater
 
 Il6 Two METHODS OF WARFARE. 
 
 portion of the troops employed against Colonel Hunt- 
 ington (we are referring now to the affair at Guanta- 
 namo) belonged to the regular army, under the com- 
 mand of General Liuares. 
 
 The New York Herald, in an editorial on the subject, 
 remarks most justly and forcibly : ' ' What sort of a de- 
 graded spectacle, then, does Spain present, going whin- 
 ing through Europe in search of intercession or inter- 
 vention, 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 re- 
 public, France, sympathize with the monsters who dis- 
 grace the very name of soldier? 
 
 ' 'Not so! All Europe will join with our own govern- 
 ment, 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
 
 TWO METHODS OF WARFARE. llj 
 
 ree themselves from the Spanish government. Expe- 
 rience has taught them that they have nothing to envy 
 in the Spaniards; that in fact, they feel themselves su- 
 perior to them, and can expect from Spain no improve- 
 ment, no better education. 
 
 Slavery is ended in Cuba, and the white and the col- 
 ored live together in perfect harmony, fighting side by 
 side, to obtain political liberty. 
 
 Senor Palma, by the wa}', asserts, with how much 
 authority we are unable to state, that the colored popu- 
 lation 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, 
 the}' have attained remarkable intellectual development. 
 
 There are certain utterances of Senor Palma in this 
 manifesto which deserve to be quoted in full, so preg- 
 nant 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, free- 
 dom of speech, libertj' 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
 
 Il8 TWO METHODS OF WARFARE. 
 
 arbitrary powers, who, at his will could imprison them, 
 deport them to penal colonies, or order their execu- 
 tion even without the semblance of a court-martial. 
 They did not have to pay a permanent army and navj' 
 in order that they might be kept in subjection, nor to 
 feed a swarm of hungry employees yearly sent over 
 from the metropolis to pre}'- 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 pur- 
 pose of defraying the expenses of the army and navy of 
 the oppressor, to pay the salaries of thousands of worth- 
 less 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-
 
 TWO METHODS OF WARFARE. II9 
 
 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 inde- 
 pendent 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 insur- 
 rection 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 di- 
 minishing 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 in- 
 surrection, in whose ranks are many physicians, law- 
 yers, druggists, professors, artists, business men, engi- 
 neers 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
 
 I20 TWO METHODS OF WARFARB. 
 
 both sides, but affirms that the insurgents began by de- 
 stroying 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 repub- 
 lic 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 smok- 
 ing 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 lib- 
 erty ; 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 interfer- 
 ence of the United States was unwarrantable; that there
 
 TWO METHODS OF WARFARE. 121 
 
 was no real reason for the present Spanish-American 
 war; that a stronger country took advantageof a weaker; 
 and other arguments add nauseam. 
 
 But is there one of our readers who would see a wom- 
 an, or a weak though honorable man, attacked by a sav- 
 age 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 care- 
 fully and judiciously. 
 
 At your own doors, is a poor, miserable, starving 
 wretch, starving from no fault of his, and with a bull- 
 dog, not your own, but belonging to a neighbor (a 
 neighbor, grant you with whom j^ou 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 evi- 
 dence. The case is in your hands. 
 
 What is your verdict?
 
 122 THE butcher's CAMPAIGN, 
 
 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 strongl)' roused with indig- 
 nation at the state of affairs in Cuba, and there was con- 
 siderable excitement when the news of Weyler 's appoint- 
 ment 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 char- 
 acter, 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 inter- 
 vene. 
 
 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,
 
 THE butcher's campaign. I23 
 
 Gomez to advance in the direction of Havana, and 
 Maceo to invade Piuar del Rio, which is in the extreme 
 west of the island. 
 
 Gomez succeeded in burning several more or less im- 
 portant suburbs of Havana. 
 
 Almost the first military movement that Weyler made 
 was an attempt to cut off Maceo and prevent his com- 
 munication 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 
 treacherj'. 
 
 In emulation of his predecessor, Wej'ler 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 al- 
 low 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.
 
 124 THE butcher's CAMPAIGN. 
 
 We5'ler prided himself greatl)' 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 nar- 
 row 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 cap- 
 ture 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 bul- 
 lets of the foe. Added to this, their wages are greatly in
 
 THK butcher's campaign. 1 25 
 
 arrears and the rations provided for them are unwhole- 
 some and insufficient. The surgeons have a very small 
 supply of quinine and antiseptics, both of which are ab- 
 solutely essential. 
 
 The strength of the two armies, at the time of . Wey- 
 ler's arrival in Cuba was about as follows: The govern- 
 ment 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 thirtj^-four colonels, twenty-seven 
 were white, five were black, and two were mulattoes. 
 
 The record of the mortality among the Spanish sol- 
 diers is an appalling one, something simply ghastly to 
 contemplate. 
 
 Harper's Weekl}' 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 dis-
 
 126 the; butchbr's campaign. 
 
 eases, 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 thou- 
 sand, 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 un- 
 known 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 posses- 
 sion 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,
 
 the; butcher's campaign. 127 
 
 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 suffer- 
 ing 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: "Fir- 
 ing 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, fol- 
 lowed 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 under- 
 brush, 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 Span- 
 iards were driven away, Maceo's body was found
 
 128 the; butcher's campaign. 
 
 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 kind- 
 ness and consideration. 
 
 Afterwards Zertucha attempted to blacken Maceo's 
 memory by declaring that he was disheartened and des- 
 perate, 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 mili- 
 tary 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 sand 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 ;
 
 TH^ butcher's campaign. 129 
 
 Dim to thine ear be the roar of the battle above thee. 
 
 Set now is thy sun, going down in darkness and men- 
 ace, 
 
 While through the thick-gathering clouds one red ray 
 of vengeance 
 
 Streams up to heaven, blood red, from the place where 
 thou liest. 
 
 Through 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 Rivera, who 
 does not seem to have been in any way the equal of his 
 ■oredecessor. 
 
 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
 
 130 THE butcher's campaign. 
 
 Garcia captured the fortified post of Tuuas 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 trans- 
 parently absurd and false. He even immediately fol- 
 lowed 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 con- 
 vinced 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 ar- 
 rived 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 wit- 
 ness such a shameful and shameless exhibition as was 
 his administration. 
 
 Before dismissing him from these pages, let us quote
 
 THE butcher's campaign, I3I 
 
 from Stephen Bonsai, with whose words no unprejudiced 
 person can quarrel. 
 
 Mr. Bonsai 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."
 
 132 America's charity and Spain's diplomacy. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 AMKRICA S CHARITY AND SPAIN'S DIPI^OMACY. 
 
 The new governor-general of Cuba was Don Ramon 
 Blanco, as to whose character accounts differ. It is prob- 
 able that while he is not the high-minded, honorable 
 gentleman that Campos was, he is far, very far from be- 
 ing such an unmitigated beast as his predecessor. 
 
 Before he reached Cuba, which was the last of Octo- 
 ber, 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 ex- 
 pressed 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
 
 AMIBRICA'S CHARITY AND SPAIN'S DIPLOMACY. 1 33 
 
 attention. Their experience in such matters in the past 
 had been too stern to be forgotten. 
 
 In the field, Blanco was also most unsuccessful, gain- 
 ing 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 con- 
 dition 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 
 reconceutration. Citizens of the United States, a large 
 number of them being naturalized Americans, were con- 
 stantly 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 
 ' ' incomunicado. ' ' 
 
 No writing materials were allowed them and nothing 
 "vhatever 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. More-
 
 134 America's charity and Spain's dipi^omacy, 
 
 over, 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 regu- 
 larly. More often than not, thej' were left for long hours 
 to suffer the pangs of hunger and thirst. 
 
 A notable instance of Americans being seized and im- 
 prisoned 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 Vir- 
 ginius, had it not been for the prompt intervention of 
 the United States, spurred thereto by General Fitz 
 Hugh L,ee. 
 
 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 or- 
 ganization, 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.
 
 AMERICA'S CHARITY AND SPAIN'S DIPI^OMACY. 1 35 
 
 Spaiu, instead of showing gratitude, rather resented 
 tliis, and there \^as considerable difhculty to prosecute 
 the labor of charit}^ Still, the efforts, in the interests of 
 suffering humanity were by no means unavailing. 
 
 President McKinley speaks of the movement as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 "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 suc- 
 cor 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 is- 
 sued an appeal to the American people, inviting contri- 
 butions, 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 Cen- 
 tral 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 accom- 
 plished much. Arrangements for free tran.sportation to 
 Cuba have greatly aided the charitable work. The presi- 
 dent of the American Red Cross and representatives of 
 other contributory organizations have generousl}^ visited 
 Cuba and co-operated with the consul-general and the 
 local authorities to make effective disposition of the re-
 
 136 AMERICA'S CHARITY AND SPAIN'S DIPLOMACY. 
 
 lief collected through the efforts of the Central Com- 
 inittee. Nearly $200,000 in money and'supplies has al- 
 ready 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 recog- 
 nized in the Spanish government." 
 
 And 3'et Spain resented these charitable efforts, as be- 
 ing 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 any- 
 thing 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
 
 America's charity and Spain's diplomacYo 137 
 
 piece takeii 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, rescind- 
 ing 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 Span- 
 ish 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 de- 
 ceive, but too flimsy in its fabric to deceive any one. It 
 was rotten clean through, and was opposed by everyone
 
 138 AMERICA'S CHARITY AND SPAIN'S DIPLOMACY. 
 
 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 as- 
 sured that the provisions would have been followed out 
 loyally and without fraud, now rejected the autonomis- 
 tic 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 con- 
 trol of the island, and, if the question could be nar- 
 rowed 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 un- 
 der the United States flag than under the Cuban banner. 
 On the other hand, the Cubans in arms would not
 
 America's charity and Spain's diplomacy. 139 
 
 touch it, because they were fighting for free Cuba. Aud 
 the Cubau citizens and sympathizers were opposed to it 
 also." 
 
 Seuor 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 aud Cuba there is no 
 commercial intercourse of any kind? Spain is not and 
 cannot be, a market for Cuban products, and is more- 
 over unable to provide Cuba with the articles in need 
 by the latter. The natural market for the Cuban pro- 
 ducts is the United States, from which in exchange 
 Cuba buys with great advantage flour, provisions, ma- 
 chinery, 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 in- 
 terest of a reciprocal commerce." 
 
 Murat Halstead, who is invariably logical and cor- 
 rect, 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 anima- 
 tion and to which they ascribe the greatest excellence, 
 to take place after the insurgents have surrenderd their
 
 140 AMERICA'S CHARITY AND SPAIN'S DIPI^OMACY. 
 
 arms. Spain is, as always, incapable of changing hei 
 fatal colonial policy, that never has been or can be re- 
 formed. ' ' 
 
 Spain's fatal colonial policy. Could there be truer 
 words ? 
 
 Let us pause for a moment to contempliate 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.
 
 America's charity and Spain's diplomacy. 141 
 
 1672. Still more cities and towns iu Flanders 
 
 1704. Gibraltar. 
 
 1704. Majorca, Minorca and Ivizza. 
 
 1 79 1. The Nootka Sound settlements. 
 
 1794. St. Domingo. 
 
 1800. Louisiana. 
 
 1802. Trinidad. 
 
 18 1 9. Florida. 
 
 1 8 10-2 1. Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, 
 Peru, Bolivia, Chili, Argentina, Urugua)', Paraguay, 
 Patagonia, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, San Sal- 
 vador, Hayti and numerous other islands. 
 
 Spain has now not a foot of territory on the Ameri- 
 can 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 oflfered 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."
 
 142 AMERICA'S CHARITY AND SPAIN'S DIPLOMACY. 
 
 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 sub- 
 jection 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 Un. ted 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 human- 
 it}', 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 h. Woodford, our minister to Spain,
 
 America's charity and Spain's diplomacy. 143 
 
 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 be- 
 cause 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 possi- 
 bility of refutation. More than two millions of dollars 
 had been expended by the United States in Spain's in- 
 terest. Certainly, gratitude or its equivalent is a word 
 that does not appear in the Spanish lexicon.
 
 144 '^^'^ LAST DAYS OF PEACE). 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THK IvAST DAYS OF PKACE). 
 
 Then came the De lyome incident which served to in- 
 flame further passions already aroused. 
 
 Senor Enrique Depuy De I^ome was the Spanish min- 
 ister to this country. 
 
 He wrote a letter, strongly denunciatory of the presi- 
 dent's message, and of the president himself; with the 
 worst taste possible, he alluded to Mr. McKinley asa 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 be- 
 fore Minister Woodford could make a "representation," 
 De lyome 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 re- 
 sentment 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 I.AST DAYS OF PKACK. 145 
 
 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 vil- 
 lain 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 Ha- 
 vana. 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 affec- 
 tionately and gratefully by the American people. 
 
 All on board behaved in the most heroic manner. Cap- 
 tain 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 dan- 
 gers 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
 
 146 THE LAST DAYS OF PKACE). 
 
 to the last. It was evident that the old naval spirit ex- 
 isted, 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 thor- 
 ough investigation had been made, was followed, and 
 the people behaved with admirable and remarkable con- 
 trol. 
 
 A naval board of inquiry was at once organized by 
 the United States government. This board consisted of 
 experienced officers, who were greatl)'' 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 unanirnous verdict. 
 The report was most voluminous, embracing some 
 twelve thousand pages. 
 
 The verdict was practically that "the loss of t*he 
 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 sub- 
 marine 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 de- 
 struction of the Maine upon any person or persons. ' '
 
 THEJ LAST DAYS OF PEACE. 147 
 
 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 anj'- 
 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. 
 
 lyike "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 II, the president sent his famous message 
 to Congress.
 
 148 THE LAST DAYS OF PEACE. 
 
 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 capi- 
 tal 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 peril- 
 ous unrest among our own citizens. 
 
 The President, also, made some strong arguments 
 against both belligerency and recpgnition, 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 govern- 
 ment ; 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 con- 
 stituted 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 gov- 
 ernment, a policy which has secured us respect and in- 
 fluence 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
 
 the; last days of pkace. 149 
 
 praised by all future historians, as it well deserves to be. 
 
 He says: 
 
 "The spirit of all our acts hitherto has been an ear- 
 nest, 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 in- 
 volves, 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 interven- 
 tion may be briefly summarized as follows: 
 
 " I. In the cause of humanity and to put an end to 
 the barbarities, bloodshed, starvation and horrible mis- 
 eries now existing there, and which the parties to the 
 conflict are either unable or unwilling to stop or miti- 
 gate. 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 aff"ord 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
 
 150 th:^ last days op peack. 
 
 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 pres- 
 ent 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 expeditions 
 of filibustering that we are powerless to prevent alto- 
 gether, and the irritating questions and entanglements 
 thus arising — all these and others that I need not men- 
 tion, 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 onh' hope of relief and repose from a condition 
 which cannot longer be endured is the enforced pacifica- 
 tion of Cuba.
 
 THE LAST DAYS OF PEACE. 15I 
 
 "In the name of hiimanit}', in the name of civiliza- 
 tion, 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 Con- 
 gress to decide as that body may think best. 
 
 A somewhat acrimonious debate, of several days dur- 
 ation followed, chiefly over the side issue of the recog- 
 nition 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 independ- 
 ence of the people of Cuba, demanding that the govern- 
 ment 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 ex- 
 isted 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 b}^ the Presi- 
 dent of the United States in his message to Congress of
 
 152 THB LAST DAYS OF PEACE). 
 
 April II, 189S, 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, 
 
 " I. 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 de- 
 mand, 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 dis- 
 position or intention to exercise sovereigntj^ jurisdic- 
 tion or control over said island except for the pacification 
 thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is ac- 
 complished, to leave the government and control of the 
 island to its people." 
 
 The President set his seal of approval upon these reso- 
 lutions the following day, and the same day an ultima- 
 tum 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.
 
 THE LAST DAYS OP PEACE. 153 
 
 Within forty-eight hours the ultimatum was rejected 
 by the Spanish Cortes. 
 
 The ministers and representatives of the two coun- 
 tries were immediately recalled from their various posts, 
 and a state of warfare proclaimed. 
 
 The United States now stood pledged to aid and suc- 
 cor 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.
 
 154 '^HK TOPOGRAPHY AND RKSOURCES OF CUBA. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE TOPOGRAPHY AND RESOURCES OP 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 San- 
 tiago 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 Torginno, 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 resem- 
 blance 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.
 
 Th:b topography and resources of CUBA. 155 
 
 Naturally tlie rivers are small, but they are numer- 
 ous. The principal one, and the only one that can 
 properly be called navigable, is the Canto. Schooners 
 ascend this for about sixt)' 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 saN's: 
 
 "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 
 varietv 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
 
 156 THK TOPOGRAPHY AND RESOURCEJS OF CUBA. 
 
 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 exporta- 
 tion. 
 
 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 culti- 
 vation of sugar and tobacco, both of which are famous 
 the world over. 
 
 The soil of Cuba is simply a marvel of richness, prac- 
 tically unrivalled in any other part of the world. Ex- 
 cept 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 coun- 
 tries. 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 govern- 
 ment almost trebled the cost to the planter. 
 
 In times of peace, the sugar production of Cuba aver- 
 aged a million of tons a year, but this is nothing like
 
 THE TOPOGRAPHY AND RESOURCES OF CUBA, 1 57 
 
 what the island might be made to yield under a decent 
 government and proper enterprise. It has been esti- 
 mated that if all the land suitable to the growth of 
 sugar cane were devoted to that industry, Cuba might 
 supply the entire western hemisphere w'ith 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 extremel)' 
 profitable undertakings, and the reasons for their pros- 
 perity may be stated as: 
 
 "i. 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 irriga- 
 tion 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 
 
 967,612 271,888 
 
 Local consumption 50,000 40,000 
 
 1,017,612 311,888
 
 158 THK TOPOGRAPHY AND RESOURCES OF CUBA. 
 
 Stock on January i 
 
 (previous crop) . 13,348 86,667 
 
 Total production . 1,004,264 225,221 
 
 Tlie 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 revolution- 
 ists. 
 
 The mineral riches of the island have never been ex- 
 ploited 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 ob- 
 tained, 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 favor-
 
 THE TOPOGRAPHY AND RKSOURCES OF CUBA. I59 
 
 able. 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 bv the bureau of statistics, Treasury 
 Department : 
 
 Imports. Exports. 
 
 1891 .... $61,714,395 $12,224,888 
 
 1892 . . c . 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 man- 
 aged, while the roads are in a deplorable condition, 
 sometimes, in wet weather, being almost impassible. 
 
 In regard to the future commercial prosperity of
 
 i6o The; topography and rksources of cuba. 
 
 Cuba, Mr. Hyatt, who until recently was our consul at 
 Santiago, gives the following opinion: 
 
 ' ' Railroads and other highways, improved machin- 
 ery 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 coun- 
 tries, 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 prob- 
 lem." 
 
 When the tropical position of Cuba is taken into con- 
 sideration, 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, not- 
 ably 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
 
 THE TOPOGRAPHY AND RKSOURCES OF CUBA. l6l 
 
 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 
 ufternoon. 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 isl- 
 and 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, 
 unsuitaljle 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, unaccli- 
 matized men in the lowlands of a reputed unhealthy 
 coast at the beginning of the rainy season is an experi- 
 ment that must from the very nature of things be at- 
 tended 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.
 
 1 52 THE TOPOGRAPHY AND RESOURCES OF CUBA. 
 
 The next point to be considered is the population of 
 Cuba. There has been no official census taken since 
 18^7. 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 proba- 
 bility not more than one-fourth of the entire population. 
 
 Per 
 Year. White. 
 
 1804 . . . , 234,000 
 1819 . , , , 239,830 
 
 1830 .... 332,352 
 1841 .... 418,291 
 
 1850 .... 479,490 
 i860 .... 632,797 
 
 1869 .... 797,596 
 
 1877 .... 985,325 
 
 1887 .... 1,102,689 
 
 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 popula- 
 tion by provinces, as well as the density of population 
 (number of inhabitants per square kilometer.) 
 
 Negro. 
 
 Cent. 
 
 198,000 
 
 45-8 
 
 213,203 
 
 47- 
 
 423,343 
 
 56. 
 
 589,333 
 
 58.4 
 
 494.252 
 
 50.75 
 
 566,632 
 
 47- 
 
 602,215 
 
 43. 
 
 492,249 
 
 33- 
 
 485,188 
 
 30.55
 
 THS TOPOGRAPHY AND RKSOURCES OP CUBA. 1 63 
 
 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 
 3^ear. 
 
 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 barbar- 
 ism. 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
 
 164 THK TOPOGRAPHY AND RESOURCKS OF CUBA, 
 
 thousand, but these come almost without exception 
 from the ranks of the well-to-do. 
 
 Ivcss 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 ad- 
 ministrative officers of the island (civil, military, mari- 
 time, 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 nar- 
 row, is wide and deep, and a thousand ships could 
 easily ride there at anchor. 
 
 It has alwaj's 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 Batterj-. 
 
 The population of Havana, from the last official esti- 
 mate, is about 220,000.
 
 THE TOPOGRAPHY AND RESOURCES OF CUBA. 1 65 
 
 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 scarcel}^ a city in Europe which, to the 
 American seemed so foreign as Havana. The whole ap- 
 pearance of the place, its manners and customs, were all 
 totally different to what the American had been accus- 
 tomed. 
 
 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 hol- 
 lowed 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 beau- 
 tiful within, but situated on dark and dirty alleys, are 
 all built' about a central courtway. There are no fire- 
 places anywhere, nor a window shielded with glass in 
 the whole city. The windows have iron bars, and with- 
 in those of the first stor}^ is the inevitable row of 
 American rocking chairs. Through these bars the 
 Cuban lover interviews hisn iamorata. 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 fiont 
 of your own door, when 5'ou desire the lacteal fluid. 
 This custom is, at all events, a safeguard against adul- 
 teration.
 
 1 66 THK TOPOGRAPHY AND RESOURCES OF CUBA. 
 
 lyadies 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 car- 
 riage 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 car 
 riage 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 coun- 
 try are for the most part, mere tracks through fields and 
 open land. Ox carts and pack mules are used for con- 
 veying 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 re- 
 gard to theatres, there is one peculiar custom in Ha- 
 vana: 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 archi- 
 tecture, although it is badly situated, but it is very in- 
 teresting because there is an urn within its walls which
 
 THK TOPOGRAPHY AND RESOURCEJS OP CUBA. 1 67 
 
 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 sa}', that it was and will be 
 again, under far happier conditions too, one of the most 
 delightful cities in the world. 
 
 The cit}' 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) 5'ellow fever and malaria would 
 be almost unknown. If it should ever come under 
 American enterprise, the city would develop into a su- 
 perb pleasure resort and be a fatal rival to the Florida 
 towns. We cannot forbear to mention the Caves of Bel- 
 lamar. These are not far from Matanzas and are sub- 
 terranean 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 citj^ 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 har- 
 bor 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.
 
 i68 THEJ TOPOGRAPHY AND RESOURCES OF CUBA. 
 
 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 dis- 
 tinctly 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 citj^ 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 I, 2 and 3, between the American troops 
 under General Shaffer 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 Sundaj', 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 15 14, and is exceedingly quaint and mediaeval. 
 
 Its chief fortifications are the Castillo of I,a 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
 
 THE) TOPOGRAPHY AND RESOURCES OF CUBA, 1 69 
 
 romance. The harbor itself, around which so much in- 
 terest 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 *he most beautiful and fer- 
 tile 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.
 
 170 WHAT WII,!, the; future BE) J* 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 WHAT wii.iv the; future bf? 
 
 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 cf humanity and with no thought what- 
 ever 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 re- 
 sponded to from all parts of the country. Sectional 
 differences, such as they were, vanished like mist be- 
 fore 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 at- 
 tempted a diplomacy which was nothing more nor less
 
 WHAT WILL THE FUTURE BE? 17I 
 
 than absurd, and when Cervera, on the eve of the sur- 
 render of the citv, 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, dis- 
 played a heroism that has never been surpassed. And 
 on land, General Shafter's achievements have been bril- 
 liant in the extreme. 
 
 It is interesting here to examine for a moment the at- 
 titude 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 be- 
 tween us and our sister republic, the country who gave 
 us Lafayette and presented us with the Statue of Lib- 
 erty. 
 
 The press of Germany has unquestionably said some
 
 172 WHAT WILL THE FUTURE BE? 
 
 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 repre- 
 sentative 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 re- 
 joicing 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 pos- 
 sibly 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 him- 
 self: 
 
 ' 'There could be no more inspiring ideal than an un- 
 derstanding between two nations sprung from the same 
 race and having so many common interests, nations 
 which, together, are predominant in the world's com- 
 merce and industry. 
 
 "Is there anything preposterous in the hope that
 
 WHAT WILI. THE FUTURE BE? 1 73 
 
 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 un- 
 reserved 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 be- 
 tween 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 ex- 
 isting situation. The author is Richard Mansfield, the 
 eminent actor: 
 
 THE EAGIvE'S SONG. 
 
 BY RICHARD M A N S F I E ly D . 
 
 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 I"
 
 174 WHAT WILL THE FUTURE BE? 
 
 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 I 
 
 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 I 
 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 ter- 
 rible and yet necessary things, also, such as the opera- 
 tions of surgery and the infliction of the death penalty. 
 
 War is justifiable, when waged, as the present one un- 
 questionably is, from purely unselfish motives, simply 
 from a determination to rescue a people whose suffer-
 
 WHAT WILI. THK FUTUR:^ BE? 1 75 
 
 ings 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 fore- 
 fathers, 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 govern- 
 ment becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right 
 of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new 
 government, la5'ing its foundation on such principles, 
 and organizing its powers in such form, as to them 
 shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happi- 
 ness. ' ' 
 
 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 them- 
 selves, 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,
 
 176 WHAT WILIv The: future BE? 
 
 where mistakes must of necessity be made, but most cer- 
 tainly 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 
 wa5% are not a people who love trouble. Though revo- 
 lution 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 emanci- 
 pation 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 
 
 I
 
 WHAT* WII.lv THEJ future; BB? 1 77 
 
 will have a right, under a republican government, to 
 exact, then we may have to stand by while Cuba en- 
 gages in an internal struggle important enough to 
 cripple or, to say the least, seriously hinder, her devel- 
 opment. 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 adher- 
 ence 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 ex- 
 iles 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
 
 lyS WHAT WILI, THS futur:^ bs? 
 
 ■will it be known how strong to endure torment and sor- 
 row, 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 politi- 
 cal 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 les- 
 son, 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 
 L,ee, 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.)
 
 PORTO RICO
 
 
 fHsi!l?fffi|lififffBI|l|f||fifflpjif|| fliMHifiiif I! 3 'I 
 
 2 ( ori 3 
 
 1 2 (67 ) 
 
 ylTL.il 
 
 jr !r I c 
 
 c i: d :^' 
 
 
 fv.....v.4-''' -^'l. 
 
 AGUAO. t:, 
 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ,...„fe4 
 
 ty^ I 2^<^<^v' ^-^ii^^^Silj:??^ 
 
 .^ y? / /y i' /; d .? 
 
 s j: .^ 
 
 SCALES. 
 
 n a^Z_' 
 
 o
 
 PORTO RICO. 
 
 Its History, Products 
 And Possibilities . . 
 
 BY 
 
 A. D. HALL, 
 
 Author of "Cuba" and "The Philippines" 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 STREET & SMITH, Publishers 
 8 1 Fulton Street
 
 Copyrighted 1898 
 
 BY 
 
 Street & Smith.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER FAGK 
 
 I — The Aborigines of Porto Rico . . , , 7 
 
 II — Struggles of the Past ..00., 18 
 
 III — Topography and Climate 00000 27 
 
 IV — Population and Towns .0000, 36 
 
 V — Resources <> . . o <, o , » 42 
 
 VI — Manners and Customs . . . . ^ c 53 
 
 VII— The Dawn of Freedom . . o , ^ ^ 69 
 
 VIII — Naval Lessons Taught by the War o c . 77 
 
 IX — What Our Army Achieved .0000 88 
 
 X — How the Porto Ricans Received Us » <, „ 104 
 
 XI — Our Claim to Porto Rico . . . » . 128 
 
 XII — What the Possession of Porto Rico Will Mean 143
 
 PORTO RICO. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THK ABORIGINES OF PORTO RICO. 
 
 Porto Rico, or Puerto Rico, as it is sometimes called, 
 has lately become of the first importance in the eyes of 
 the world. To Americans it has assumed special inter- 
 est, as it is now practically in the possession of the 
 United States, and sooner or later will be represented by 
 a new star in our beautiful flag, that flag which recently, 
 by the magnificent exploits ot our navy and army, has 
 assumed a greater importance than ever among the 
 standards of the universe. 
 
 Uncle Sam will certainly find this beautiful and fer- 
 tile island a most valuable possession, every foot of 
 which he could sell at a large substantial price, if he 
 chose to do so. 
 
 Until recently there has been an impression in the 
 United States that Porto Rico did not amount to much, 
 that Cuba was the only island in the West Indies which 
 was of any especial value. But this is the most grievous 
 error, as we shall endeavor to show in the course of this 
 little book. 
 
 The island, without much exaggeration, can really be 
 called the garden spot of the world, and there is no 
 doubt but that when the Stars and Stripes wave per-
 
 8 THE ABORIGINES OF PORTO RICO. 
 
 manently over it, and there is an influx of American en- 
 terprise and wealth, there will be a marvelous increase 
 in values of all kinds. 
 
 Like all Spanish colonies, Porto Rico has been 
 wofully mismanaged. The Spaniards have looked upon 
 it in the light of a more or less valuable cow from which 
 every drop of milk must be squeezed. But now, under 
 more fortuitous circumstances, under a more beneficent 
 rule, the charming little island will undoubtedly 
 ' ' blossom as a rose' ' ; for those who have looked into 
 the subject have declared that more can be raised on an 
 acre of land in Porto Rico than in any other portion of 
 the globe. Later on we shall examine in detail the truth 
 or falsehood of this statement. 
 
 Porto Rico is older than the United States, for it was 
 discovered by Columbus on November i6, 1493, during 
 his second voyage to America. The great discoverer re- 
 mained there only two days in the port of Aquadilla, 
 but he did not come in contact with any of the ingenu- 
 ous natives, for they fled in terror when they saw his 
 ship. 
 
 During their subsequent conquests in the West 
 Indies, the Spaniards paid no attention to Porto Rico 
 until 1509. At this time Ponce de Leon, then governor 
 of Hispaniola, afterward known as Hayti, determined 
 to extend his dominion. With the idea of obtaining 
 fresh supplies of gold, he went to Porto Rico and made 
 a long visit to the chief of the natives, by whom he was 
 received and entertained with the greatest kindness and 
 hospitality. The chief willingly pointed out to his
 
 THE ABORIGINES OF PORTO RICO, 9 
 
 Spanish guests all the great resources of the island, and 
 when, with the greed which has ever distinguished the 
 men of their countr)^ they asked for gold, he took them 
 to streams where the sands were loaded with the pre- 
 cious metal. 
 
 Ponce de Leon was so delighted with the beauty and 
 fertility of the island that he imagined he could find 
 there the fountain of perpetual youth for which he so 
 long sought in vain. In this chimerical idea, however, 
 as in Florida, he was doomed to disappointment. 
 
 The original name of the island is said to have been 
 Borinquen, and the population of the natives, who were 
 of the same race as the inhabitants of the other islands 
 of the Greater Antilles, has been estimated at six hun- 
 dred thousand. 
 
 Dr. C. T. Bed well, recently British consul at Porto 
 Rico, has published a most interesting report in regard 
 to the aborigines, and from this report we have ob- 
 tained considerable of the information which follows. 
 
 Among the Sibaros, or sallow people of to-day, one 
 rarely sees a physical trace of Indian descent, although 
 in their mode of living much of Indian character exists, 
 Fra5' Inigo Abbad, who wrote a work on Porto Rico, 
 published in Madrid in 1878, says that when the Span- 
 iards first came to Porto Rico "it was as thickly popu- 
 lated as a beehive, and so beautiful that it resembled a 
 garden." Fray Inigo says that the color of the Indians 
 of Porto Rico was the copper color known to the aborig- 
 ines of America, though they were of a sallow and 
 somewhat darker complexion. They were shorter in
 
 lo THE ABORIGINES OF PORTO RICO. 
 
 Stature than the Spaniards, stout and well-proportioned. 
 They had flat noses with wide nostrils, bad teeth and 
 narrow foreheads. Their heads were flat, both in front 
 and at the back, "because," says the author, "they 
 were pressed into this shape at the time of their birth." 
 They had long, thin, coarse hair, and, according to 
 Fray Inigo, they were without hair on their face or on 
 other parts of their body. This, however, is disputed 
 by some writers. 
 
 The small quantity and little substance of the food 
 they used, the facility with which they supplied ma- 
 terial wants without labor, the excessive heat of the cli- 
 mate, and the absence of quadrupeds for the exercise of 
 hunting, caused them, he says, to be weak and indolent, 
 and averse to labor of all kinds. Anything that was not 
 necessary to satisfy the pangs of hunger, or that did not 
 afford amusement, such as hunting or fishing, was re- 
 garded with indifference. Neither the hope of reward 
 nor the fear of punishment would tempt them to, seek 
 the one or to avoid the other. 
 
 Fray Inigo admits, however, that there were some ex- 
 ceptions among them, and says that some of the Indians 
 displayed much bravery and strength in the contests 
 with the Spanish soldiers. 
 
 Their forms were light and free, and there were no 
 cripples among them. 
 
 They were governed by Caciques, whose eldest sons 
 inherited the succession. In the absence of a son the 
 chief was succeeded by the eldest son of his sister, that 
 there might be no doubt as to true descent.
 
 THE ABORIGINES OF PORTO RICO. ii 
 
 The tutelary deity was Cerni, who was made to speak 
 by the Buhitis or medicine men, who were at the same 
 time the priests. The Buhites hid themselves behind 
 the statue of Cerni and declared war or peace, arranged 
 the seasons, granted sunshine or rain, or whatever was 
 required, according to the will of the Cacique. When 
 announcements were not fulfilled the Buhites declared 
 that the Cerni had changed his mind for wise reasons of 
 his own, "without on this account," says Fray Inigo, 
 "the power or credit of the pretended deity, or his men- 
 dacious ministers being doubted, such being the sim- 
 plicity and ignorance of the Indians." 
 
 The chiefdoms were divided into small provinces, 
 which for the most part only comprised the inhabitants 
 of a valley ; but all were subject to the head Cacique, 
 who at the time of the conquest was Aqueynoba. He 
 was actually governor-in-chief, the others being his lieu- 
 tenants, who carried out his orders in their respective 
 districts. 
 
 Men and unmarried women wore no clothing, but 
 painted their bodies abundantly, and with much skill, 
 drawing upon them many varieties of figures with the 
 ores, gums and resins which they extracted from trees 
 and plants. In this uniform they presented themselves 
 i»n their military expeditions, public balls, and other 
 assemblies. To be, well painted was to be well dressed, 
 and they learned from experience besides that the resin- 
 ous matter and vegetable oils with which they painted 
 their bodies served to preserve them from excessive heat 
 and superabundant perspiration. The paint also served
 
 12 THR ABORIGINES OF PORTO RICO. 
 
 to protect them from the changes of atmosphere, the 
 dampness of climate, and the plague of the numerous 
 varieties of mosquitoes and other insects, which, with- 
 out this precaution, constantly annoyed them. They 
 wore headdresses made of feathers with exquisite colors. 
 They put small plates of gold on their cheeks, and hung 
 shells, precious stones and relics from their ears and 
 noses, and the image of their god Cerni was never for- 
 gotten. The chiefs used as a distinctive emblem a large 
 golden plate worn on their breasts. Married women 
 wore an apron which descended to about half their leg; 
 but no clothing was worn on the rest of the body. The 
 wives of the Caciques wore their aprons to their ankles'^ 
 except at the national game of ball, when they also wore 
 short ones. 
 
 The men took two, three or more wives, according to 
 their ability to support them. The chiefs possessed a 
 larger number of wives than their subjects, but one of 
 them was generally preferred over all others. The wo- 
 men, besides their domestic duties, had charge of the 
 agricultural pursuits and worked in the fields. Those 
 best loved were buried alive with their husband on his 
 demise. The men did not intermarry with relatives of 
 the first degree, from a belief that such marriages re- 
 sulted in a bad death. 
 
 Their huts were similar in structure and in character 
 to those of the North American Indians. 
 
 The hammock was the chief article of furniture of the 
 aborigines, and the calabash shell their only cooking 
 utensil.
 
 THE ABORIGINES OF PORTO RICO. 13 
 
 Their arms were a bow and arrow, in the use of which 
 they were very skilful. They had canoes both for fish- 
 ing and sea voyages. These were hewn out of the timber 
 of enormous trees, the like of which, owing to fires and 
 seasons of drouth, no longer exist upon the island. 
 Some of the canoes were large enough to hold forty or 
 fifty men. 
 
 When the Indians saw that the sick were near to 
 death they suffocated them. Even the chiefs did not 
 escape. 
 
 After death they opened and dried the body by fire, 
 and buried it in a large cave, in which were interred 
 also some live women, the arms of the deceased and 
 provisions for the journey to the other world. Sticks 
 and branches of trees were then placed on the top, and 
 the whole was covered with earth, which was thus kept 
 from the bodies of those interred. 
 
 They were accustomed to perform a national dance 
 which was called the areito. At the conclusion of this 
 dance, all became intoxicated with drinks made by the 
 women of fruit, maize and other ingredients, and with 
 the smoke of tobacco which they inhaled in their nos- 
 trils. 
 
 As has been said, at the time of the conquest the 
 
 name of the native chief was Aqueynoba. He was 
 friendly to the Spaniards at first and lived peaceably 
 with them for some time. 
 
 There is no douVjt but that the aborigines were con- 
 fiding, generous and peaceful. But, like all savages, 
 they were very superstitious. They worshipped a vast
 
 14 THE ABORIGINES OF PORTO RICO. 
 
 quantity of idols, but believed in one superior deity. 
 With the exception of the Caribs, who occupied the 
 eastern part of the island, they were not cannibals. 
 They were in the habit of practicing quite a large num- 
 ber of domestic arts, such as the cultivation of the soil, 
 the carving in wood and stone, and the manufacture of 
 pottery and furniture. 
 
 The Spaniards have ever been treacherous, selfish and 
 a nation of money-grubbers. 
 
 Now followed an instance which is only one of many 
 to prove the truth of this statement. 
 
 After Ponce de Leon had won the confidence and had 
 been the recipient of boundless hospitality from the 
 islanders, he returned to Hayti and at once commenced 
 to fit out an expedition for the invasion and subjugation 
 of Porto Rico. From a purely selfish point of view, this 
 was a most senseless proceeding on his part. He could 
 have done much better without having any recourse to 
 force, for at first the natives regarded the Spaniards as 
 immortal visitors from Heaven, as superior beings 
 whom they could not kill. 
 
 But they speedily recognized their mistake and dis- 
 covered the abominable character of the invaders. 
 
 De Leon killed off all the natives that he could and 
 made the rest slaves to work in the gold mines of 
 Hayti. 
 
 When any one resisted he was killed, and if he at- 
 tempted to escape he was hunted down by bloodhounds. 
 
 It is related that Ponce de Leon had a dog which 
 became noted as a slave catcher. So valuable was he in
 
 THE ABORIGINES OF PORTO RICO. 15 
 
 this respect that his name was actually carried ou the 
 army payroll for the benefit of his master. 
 
 When the natives found that they were being slain or 
 deprived of their liberty they naturally became exas- 
 perated and turned against their dastardly oppressors. 
 But from their point of view it was absolutely necessary 
 to find out if the Spaniards were mortal. If they were 
 not, it would be an act of impiety to resist them. 
 
 This vital question must be settled, and therefore one 
 of the native chiefs was detailed to try if he could kill a 
 Spaniard. The trial was eminently successful. A 
 young man named Salzedo was found alone and was 
 drowned by the natives. 
 
 The action is thus related in the words of a competent 
 authority : 
 
 "The guides conducted Salzedo to the bank of a small 
 river through which they must pass, and to prevent his 
 being exposed to the water one of the Indians kindly 
 offered to take him on his shoulders and carry him over. 
 Salzedo mounted to his high seat and was borne into 
 the middle of the stream, when the Indian and his bur- 
 den fell into the water. The other Indians immediately 
 rushed into the river with the apparent purpose of res- 
 cuing their guest, but contrived, while professing to 
 offer him assistance, to keep his head continually under 
 water. The result of this practical biological experiment, 
 so adroitly conducted, brought hope and joy to the de- 
 spairing natives. The body was kept immersed until 
 long after every sign of life had gone, but they 
 still feared animation might return. Carrying the
 
 i6 THE ABORIGINES OF PORTO RICO. 
 
 body to the bank, a new farce was acted; they, 
 lamented over him, they begged his pardon for the 
 accident, and they protested their innocence of any 
 design. In every way they provided themselves with a 
 plausible defense in case he should recover or they 
 should be suspected. After several days, putrefaction 
 happily settled all their doubts about the mortality of 
 their conquerors, and the glad news was communicated 
 to their people." 
 
 The natives then at once commenced to massacre the 
 Spaniards. But this did not last long. Ponce de Leon 
 immediately sent for reinforcements, and the Indians 
 believed that these newcomers were the resurrected 
 bodies of those they had killed. This idea caused them 
 to lose all hope and courage, and they fell an easy prey 
 to their enemies. It was not many years before the 
 aboriginal population, large as it was originally, was 
 completely exterminated. 
 
 The Spaniards now began to colonize the island and 
 the town of Capana was the first one settled b}^ them. 
 Its site was found, however, to be too high and inacces- 
 sible. It was therefore abandoned and in 151 1 the pres- 
 ent city of San Juan was founded. 
 
 In this city Ponce de I^eon built the governor's palace 
 called Casa Blanca, a structure which is still in use. 
 
 After de Leon's unsuccessful expedition to Florida, 
 where he received a mortal wound at the hands of the 
 Indians, his remains were brought to Porto Rico and 
 interred in the Dominican church. 
 
 The inscription upon his monument reads as follows:
 
 THE ABORIGINES OF PORTO RICO. 17 
 
 Mole snb hac fortis reqiiicscunt ossa Leonis 
 Qui vicit fadis noniina magna suis. 
 
 These words may be translated into English as follows : 
 "This narrow grave contains the remains of a man 
 who was a Lion by name, and much more so by his 
 deeds." 
 
 His cruel treatment of the gentle natives, inspired 
 though it may have been and probably was by the home 
 government, by no means causes him to deserve so flat- 
 tering an epitaph.
 
 i8 STRUGGLES OP THE PAST, 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 STRUGGLES OF THE PAST. 
 
 Ever since the days of Ponce de Leon, Porto Rico has 
 been a Spanish possession. It has never been captured, 
 although many attempts have been made to take it both 
 by external and internal forces. 
 
 None of these attacks seriously affected Spanish 
 authority on the island. 
 
 But although the island has never been taken, it has 
 been sacked. It may be said that it vi^as pirates who 
 did this, for while the commanders of several of the ex- 
 peditions against the island bore great names, they 
 were really little more or less than pirates. 
 
 The first to attack was no less than the famous Eng- 
 lish commander, Sir Francis Drake, who had Elizabeth 
 behind him. This was in 1595, and Drake then scored 
 his first failure, in spite of the fact that when he left 
 his ballast consisted of ducatoons, and the shops of San 
 Juan were in ruins. 
 
 It is rather a strange coincidence that Drake's failure 
 was due to the fact that the Spaniards had recourse to 
 the same scheme that was so daringly and successfully 
 carried out by Lieutenant Hobson in the harbor of San- 
 tiago. 
 
 They sunk a ship in the neck of San Juan harbor, 
 thereby preventing Drake's fleet from obtaining an en- 
 trance.
 
 • STRUGGLES OF THE PAST. 19 
 
 Dr. Griffin, the accomplished assistant librarian of the 
 Congressional lyibrary in Washington, has recently been 
 making a study of Porto Rican literature which has 
 been pregnant with interesting results. 
 
 Dr. Griffin discovered the following in an old English 
 chronicle: 
 
 "Confession of John Austin, mariner of London, of 
 the late company of Sir Francis Drake and Sir John 
 Hawkins. 
 
 "Directions were given that if any of the fleet lost 
 company they should make for Guadaloupe in the 
 Indies; his ship did so, but having lost her rudder 
 failed, and was taken by five Spanish frigates and the 
 crew imprisoned in the Isle of St. John de Porto Rico. 
 Sir Francis, who lost company of Sir John Hawkins, 
 was told of this by a bark which saw the fight. The 
 prisoners were examined and threatened with torture 
 to tell what the English forces were. The Spaniards 
 sunk ships in the harbor to hinder their entrance. Sir 
 Francis summoned the town, and on their refusing to 
 yield sent fifteen vessels to burn the frigates in the har- 
 bor. Two were fired, but the light thus made enabled 
 the Spaniards to fire on the English ships and drive 
 them away. The English attacked the fort, but Sir 
 John Hawkins was killed. Sir Francis sent back to the 
 governor five prisoners whom he had taken, and begged 
 that the English might be well treated and sent home, 
 in which there was an improvement in their diet, etc. 
 Sir Francis then went to the south of the island, got 
 provisions and water and went to Carthagena. This was
 
 20 STRUGGLES OF THE PAST. 
 
 reported by two frigates that watched him, and then the 
 treasure ships in Porto Rico with $4,000,000 on board 
 sailed for Spain, and reached St. Lucas, bringing the 
 English prisoners, who still remain in prison, but the 
 examinante escaped. Two fleets, each of twenty-five 
 ships, and 5,000 men, are said to be sent out to follow 
 Sir Francis Drake, March 25, 1599." 
 
 In Barrow's "Life of Drake," there are further par- 
 ticulars given of this unsuccessful attack on San Juan, 
 which was under the command of Sir Francis Drake and 
 Sir John Hawkins, the two greatest British naval com- 
 manders then living. Barrow says: 
 
 "The fitting out and equipment of this grand expedi- 
 tion were not surpassed by that of 1585 to the West 
 Indies under Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral Forbesher 
 and Rear Admiral Knolles. Its destination, in the first 
 place, was intended for Porto Rico, where the queen 
 had received information that a vast treasure had been 
 brought, and intended to be sent home from thence for 
 the use of the King of Spain in completing the third 
 grand armament (the second having been destroyed by 
 Drake) which he had in contemplation for the invasion 
 of England. The object of the present fleet was to in- 
 tercept the treasure and thereby cut off the main supply 
 of his navy and army destined for that purpose. 
 
 "Their first intention, however, had been to land at 
 Nombre de Dios and proceed direct from thence over the 
 Isthmus of Panama in order to seize the treasure gener- 
 ally brought thither from the mines of Mexico and 
 Peru ; but in a few days before their departure from
 
 STRUGGLES OF THE PAST. 21 
 
 Plymouth they received letters sent by order of the 
 queen informing them that advices had been received 
 from Spain announcing the arrival of the West Indian or 
 Plata fleet, but that one of them, a very valuable ship, 
 had lost her mast and put into the Island of Puerto 
 Rico, and it was therefore her majesty's recommenda- 
 tion that they should proceed direct to that island to 
 secure the ship and treasure which was on her." 
 
 The expedition left Plymouth, August 28, 1595. Be- 
 fore going to Porto Rico, Drake, against the protest of 
 Hawkins, tried to take the Canaries and failed. The 
 voyage was then continued. 
 
 "On the 30th of September," the historian continues, 
 "Captain Wegnot, on the Francis, a bark of thirty -five 
 tons, being the sternmost of Sir John Hawkins' division, 
 was chased by five of the king's frigates, or zobras, be- 
 ing ships of two hundred tons, which came with three 
 other zobras for the treasure at San Juan de Puerto Rico. 
 The Francis, mistaking them for companions, was taken 
 in sight of our caraval. The Spaniards, indifferent to 
 human suffering, left the Francis driving in the sea 
 with three or four hurt and sick men, and took the rest 
 of her people into their ships and returned to Porto 
 Rico. 
 
 "The squadron now intended to pass through the 
 Virgin Islands, but 'here,' says Hakluyt, 'Sir John 
 Hawkins was extreme sick, which his sickness began 
 upon neues of the taking of the Francis.' Remaining 
 here two days, they tarried two days more in a sound, 
 which Drake, in his barge had discovered. They then
 
 22 STRUGGLES OF THE PAST. 
 
 stood for the eastern end of Porto Rico, where Sir John 
 Hawkins breathed his last. 
 
 "Sir Thomas Baskerville now took possession of the 
 Garland as second in command. The fleet came to 
 anchor at a distance of two miles, or less, at the eastern 
 side of the town of San Juan de Porto Rico, where, says 
 Hakluj't, 'we received from their forts and places, 
 where they planted ordnance, some twenty-eight great 
 shot, the last of which stroke the admiral's ship through 
 the misen, and the last but one stroke through her quar- 
 ter into the steerage, the general being there at supper, 
 and stroke the stool from under him, but hurt him not, 
 but hurt at the same table Sir Nicholas Clifford, Mr. 
 Browne, Captain Stratford, with one or two more. Sir 
 Nicholas Clifford, and Master Browne died of their 
 hurts.' 
 
 "Drake," continues Barrow, "was certainly impru- 
 dent in suffering the squadron to take up anchorage so 
 near to the means of annoyance ; but his former visit 
 had no doubt taught the enemy the prudence of being 
 better prepared for any future occasion, and it is some- 
 what remarkable that Drake should not have observed 
 his usual caution. Browne was an old and particular 
 favorite of Drake. 
 
 "The following morning the whole fleet came to 
 anchor before the point of the harbor without the town, 
 a little to the westward, where they remained til' night- 
 fall, and then twenty-five pinnaces, boats and shallops, 
 well manned, and furnished with fireworks and small 
 shot, entered the road. The great castle, or galleon
 
 STRUGGLES OF THE PAST. 23 
 
 the object of the present enterprise, had been completely 
 repaired, and was on the point of sailing, v-hen certain 
 intelligence of the intended attack by Drake reached 
 the island. Every preparation had been made for the 
 defense of the harbor and the town ; the whole of the 
 treasure had been landed; the galleon was sunk in the 
 mouth of the harbor; a floating bairier of masts and 
 spars was laid on each side of her, near to the forts and 
 castles, so as to render the entrance impassable; within 
 this breakwater were the five zabras, moored, their 
 treasure also taken out ; all the women and children 
 and infirm people were moved to the interior, and those 
 only left in the town who were able to aid in its defense. 
 A heavy fire was opened on the English ships, but the 
 adventurers persisted in their desperate attempt, until 
 they had lost, by their own account, some forty or fifty 
 men killed, and as many wounded; but there was conso- 
 lation in thinking that by burning, drowning and kill- 
 ing, the loss of the Spaniards could not be less; in fact, 
 a great deal more; for the five zabras and a large ship 
 of 400 tons were burned, and their several cargoes of 
 silk, oil and wine destroyed." 
 
 After thus being defeated in his main object, Drake 
 did not return to San Juan. He contented himself with 
 laying tribute upon Porto Rico, and burning the towns 
 on the Caribbean side of the island. 
 
 He then sailed for Worn bee de Dios, and, when the 
 fleet was off the South American coast, he died on the 
 28th of January and was buried at sea. Drake was suc- 
 ceeded in command by Sir Thomas Baskerville.
 
 J4 STRUGGLES OF THE PAST. 
 
 When the latter was on his way back to England he 
 encountered a Spanish fleet and engaged in battle off 
 the Isle of Pines. The victory was decidedly with the 
 English, but the Spaniards were apparently the same 
 then as they are to-day. Everybody remembers Blanco's 
 famous dispatches, famous for their absurd falseness. So 
 then the Spanish admiral issued a bulletin in which he 
 claimed a magnificent triumph. Baskerville was so 
 angry that he publicly declared the admiral to be a liar 
 and challenged him to a duel. Nothing, however, ever 
 resulted from this challenge. 
 
 Three years later the Duke of Cumberland, who might 
 also be called a corsair, but a private one, as he acted on 
 his own hook, attacked San Juan, and after three days' 
 fighting, laid the city in ruins. He was unable to fol- 
 low up his victory, however, as the fever killed his men 
 by the hundreds. 
 
 The English tried to take it in 1615, and again in 
 1678. 
 
 Once more in 1795, seeing the great advantage of 
 owning the harbor of San Juan, the English attempted 
 to capture it, but they were repulsed with great 
 slaughter. 
 
 Spain has never given as much attention to Porto 
 Rico as she has to her other colonies, and therefore the 
 government, while practically of the same character, 
 has not been so intolerable as in Cuba and the Philip- 
 pines. 
 
 For nearly three hundred years the island was 
 neglected. During all that time it was used chiefly as a
 
 STRUGGLES OF THE PAST. 25 
 
 watering station for ships and as a penal colony. In 
 1815 it was thrown open to colonization, and land was 
 given free to all Spaniards who went there to settle. 
 As a consequence a host of adventurers hastened to 
 Porto Rico, as well as a number of Spanish loyalists, 
 belonging to the better classes, who had been expelled 
 by the decrees of other and rebellious colonies. 
 
 About this time there was a large importation of 
 negro slaves to work on the sugar plantations. For these 
 reasons the wealth and population rapidly increased. 
 
 Nevertheless there has been a large number of revo- 
 lutions against the home government. 
 
 As early as 1820, long before Cuba had made any at- 
 tempt to throw off the Spanish yoke, the Porto Ricans 
 made an effort to obtain their independence. After a 
 short guerilla war, this first rebellion was suppressed, 
 as were also several other abortive attempts. 
 
 In 1868, the year of the great uprising in Cuba, the 
 most formidable outbreak occurred in Porto Rico. 
 
 After two months of severe fighting the Spanish regu- 
 lars were victorious, and the leader of the rebels, Dr. 
 Ramon E. Bentances, who has since resided most of the 
 time in Paris, was captured, as was also J. J. Henna, 
 afterward a New York physician. All the prisoners were 
 sentenced to be shot, November 4, 1868. 
 
 On the very day preceding that date news came to 
 the island that Queen Isabella had been deposed, 
 and in consequence the political prisoners were 
 released. 
 
 But they were afterward banished, and in their exile
 
 26 STRUGGIvES OF THE PAST, 
 
 they have ever since been active in devising measures 
 for the freedom of the island. 
 
 There is no reason whatever to think that there will 
 be any discontent in the future under the liberal and 
 beneficent government of the United States.
 
 TOPOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE. 27 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE. 
 
 Now that there is no doubt of the acquisition of 
 Porto Rico by the United States, many of our people 
 will be going there, and it is therefore of great interest 
 to note how its general features will please and its cli- 
 mate be adapted to Americans. 
 
 The island is most eastern of the Greater Antilles, 
 and it is the fourth in size and importance of all the 
 islands of the West Indies. In fact, in point of density 
 of population and general prosperity, it takes the first 
 place. On the east, the Lesser Antilles extend in a 
 curve toward Trinidad, on the South American coast, 
 inclosing on the westward the Caribbean sea. A strait 
 of seventy miles separates Porto Rico from Hayti on the 
 west, and the distances from San Juan, the capital, to 
 other points are 2,100 miles to the Cape Verde Islands, 
 1,050 miles to Key West and 1,420 milea to Hampton 
 Roads. 
 
 Porto Rico lies near enough to the Gulf of Mexico to 
 receive the benefit of the soft Gulf breezes and the very 
 best and most desirable of the trade winds. 
 
 The island is almost a rectangle in shape. Its length 
 from east to west is 108 miles and its breadth from north 
 to south about 37 miles. Its area, including its de- 
 pendencies, the isles of Vieques, Culebra and Mona is 
 3,530 square miles.
 
 28 TOPOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE. 
 
 The coasts are generally regular, but there are a large 
 number of bays and inlets, and the north coast is full of 
 navigable lagoons. 
 
 The principal capes are San Juan, Mala Pascua, Rojo 
 and Bruquen. 
 
 Generally speaking, the conformation of the island is 
 slightly undulating, with the exception of a mountain 
 range which traverses it from east to west, running 
 through nearly its whole length in a zig-zag course, and 
 on the average about twenty-five miles distant from the 
 north coast. . 
 
 This range divides the island into two unequal por- 
 tions. The largest is on the north, and the rivers flow- 
 ing through that section are much the longer. A part of 
 the main range is called Sierra Grande or Barros. 
 The northeast spur is known as the Sierra de lyUquillo 
 and the northwest as the Sierra Larea. The general 
 height of these mountains is about 1,500 feet above the 
 sea, but there is one peak, Yuuque, which reaches a 
 height of 3,678 feet. This can be seen seventy miles at 
 sea, and would be a magnificent place for a shore signal 
 for the benefit of the ships that sail the South Atlantic 
 seas. 
 
 It is noticeable that there are no extensive lakes in the 
 highlands of the interior, but there are many interest- 
 ing caves in the mountains, the principal ones being 
 those of Aguas Buenos and Ciales. 
 
 The elevated ridge which crosses the island intercepts 
 the northeast trade winds which blow from the Atlantic 
 and deprives them of their moisture. The consequence
 
 TOPOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE. 29 
 
 of this is that the rainfall in the northern portion of the 
 island is very copious. It also has the effect of reducing 
 the rain south of the mountains, so that there is a 
 prevalence of droughts in that section and agriculture 
 can be advantageously carried on by irrigation. Up to 
 the present, however, this work of irrigation has been 
 very imperfect and unsystematic, and the results on the 
 whole have not been satisfactory. 
 
 The Luquillo range ends ten miles from San Juan. 
 The capital is, therefore, to a certain degree sheltered 
 by a mountain wall from the rain-bearing winds, which, 
 in the warmest months blow mainly from easterly points. 
 Still all the northern adjacent shores and lowlands are 
 subject to flooding by torrents of rain. 
 
 Taking it as a whole, the island is approximately 
 roof-shaped, so that the rainfall is rapidly drained off. 
 
 In the interior are extensive plains and there are level 
 tracts from five to ten miles wide on the coast. 
 
 The soil of Porto Rico is exceedingly fertile. In the 
 mountains it is a red clay, colored with peroxide of iron, 
 ia the valleys it is black and less compact, and on the 
 coasts it is sandy, but capable of some culture. 
 
 The pasture lands in the northern and eastern parts 
 of the island are superior to any others in the West 
 Indies. 
 
 Porto Rico is essentially a land of rivers and streams. 
 Of course none of them are of any great length, but of 
 the entire number, some thirteen hundred, forty are 
 navigable for more or less distances for commercial pur- 
 poses.
 
 30 TOPOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE. 
 
 Mr. John Beggs, a former planter of Porto Rico, says 
 that the island is perfectly adapted for commerce. 
 Sugar, coffee, cotton, corn and potatoes are constantly 
 shipped down the navigable rivers, and were Porto Rico 
 to be fully cultivated, many more streams could be 
 opened and communication made between others by 
 means of canals, so that the entire island would present 
 a system of water ways which would make it an ideal 
 place for the shipping of useful articles to the United 
 States. 
 
 The water of the rivers and brooks and lakes is re- 
 markably pure, and there is quite an industry in its 
 shipment for sale to other West India islands. It is 
 stated that more than twenty of these islands send to 
 Porto Rico for water. Little boats sail up the harbor of 
 San Juan, fill their tanks with water and sail away 
 again. Havana's chief scourge is the lack of fresh water, 
 but Porto Rico has all the water it can use and enough 
 to supply islands hundreds of miles awa3\ 
 
 The anchorages can not be said to be the best in the 
 world, although a few of them are excellent, and most 
 of them sufficiently deep for ordinary craft. 
 
 Mayaguez Bay on the west coast admits vessels of any 
 size and is the best anchorage on the island. Guanica is 
 the best on the south coast, of which it is the most 
 western port. It was here that the American troops first 
 landed. Still Guanica is not visited by much shipping. 
 The district immediately surrounding it is low and 
 swamp}', and the roads leading from it are not good. 
 Guanica has been the outlet for the produce of San Ger-
 
 TOPOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE. 31 
 
 man Sabana Grande and, to some extent, of Yanco, 
 which is on the railroad. The western and southwestern 
 parts of the island have been particularly over-run by 
 the Porto Rican rebels, and this has undoubtedly done 
 much to injure its commerce. But with the advent of the 
 A^roericans all this will be changed. 
 
 The eastern coast is fairly indented and washed by a 
 sea which is usually smooth. 
 
 On the rugged north side, where the ocean currents set 
 to southward, there are no good anchorages between 
 Arecibo and San Juan. The port of San Juan, however, 
 affords good shelter and will be an important centre for 
 merchant shipping as well as an attractive rendezvous 
 for yachts on a pleasure cruise. The harbor is deep 
 enough to admit large vessels, but its channel communi- 
 cating with the sea is winding and difficult, and can be 
 navigated safely only with the aid of a pilot. 
 
 One of the leading seaports of the island is Aquadilla 
 on the west coast. This has the advantage of a spacious 
 bay, which is sheltered from the trade winds. From this 
 place are shipped the sugar and coffee produced in the 
 northwest part of the island. 
 
 There are seven or eight ot^er ports of minor impor- 
 tance. 
 
 The main highway of central Porto Rico runs from 
 Ponce to San Juan, in a northeasterly direction, through 
 Juana Diaz, Coamo and Abonito. From the latter place 
 it proceeds almost eastward to Cayey, and there it takes 
 a winding course to the north as far as Caquas. Thence 
 it turns west Aquas Buenos, and then goes straight
 
 32 TOPOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE. 
 
 north through Guaynola and Rio Piedras to San Juan. 
 The entire length of this highway is about eightj'-five 
 miles. 
 
 The distance from Ponce to San Juan, as the bird flies, 
 is only forty-five miles. 
 
 And now to take up a most important point — the cli- 
 mate. Of this much can be said in favor. 
 
 On the whole, it may be stated that Porto Rico, for 
 a tropical region, is very healthful; in fact, by far the 
 most so of any of the West India islands. 
 
 There have been no climatic observations which cover 
 the whole of the Porto Rican territory, but the Spanish 
 Weather Bureau has published certain observations 
 which show the general conditions prevailing in San 
 Juan and the vicinity. 
 
 The climate, though hot, is agreeably tempered by 
 the prevailing northeast winds. At night there is always 
 a pleasant breeze which carries sweet fragrance along 
 the northern coast. A temperature as high as 117 de- 
 grees has been recorded, but this is most unusual. At 
 San Juan, the average temperature in August is about 
 81 degrees Fahrenheit; in September, 80.5 degrees, and 
 in October, 79.3 degrees. At night it sinks to 68 or 69 
 degrees, which is more than it frequently does in New 
 York or Chicago during heated spells. The most marked 
 feature of the climate is that the summer's heat and 
 rainfall keep up until late autumn. In the hottest 
 months the calm days average not far from ten a 
 month, and these have a very relaxing effect. For this 
 reason it is advisable for residents of temperate climes
 
 TOPOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE. 33 
 
 not to visit Porto Rico until November, when the 
 weather becomes beautifully fine and settled, and almost 
 always continues good during the winter and early 
 spring. 
 
 The rainfall in San Juan, which can betaken as a fair 
 index of that along the northeastern coast, averages 
 about 6.65 inches during August, 5.30 during Septem- 
 ber and 7.10 during October. But in some years the 
 heaviest fall was in September. Not infrequently the 
 cultivated fields and plantations are inundated, and 
 swamps are formed. As has been intimated, the southern 
 part of the island is relatively much drier than the 
 northern, though the former is apt to experience exces- 
 sive rains during the passage of a hurricane. 
 
 It is fortunate for Porto Rico that it does not lie 
 directly in the track of West Indian cyclones. It has 
 been visited, however, at long intervals by devastating 
 hurricanes, notably those of 1742 and 1825, which de- 
 stroyed a vast deal of property, and during the passage 
 of which many lives were lost. The terrible tornadoes 
 of the tropics are very erratic in their course, and are so 
 apt to be deviated from their accustomed paths that it 
 is unsafe to assume that danger has passed for Porto 
 Rico until late in the autumn. Captains of all vessels 
 during the summer months should therefore exercise ex- 
 traordinary vigilance to avoid being caught in a hurri- 
 cane. 
 
 The prevailing diseases of the island are yellow fever, 
 elephantiasis, tetanus, March fever and dysentery. 
 There is no question but that a lack of proper sanitary
 
 34 TOPOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE. 
 
 measures is responsible for much of the illness. Even 
 the most to be dreaded of these diseases, yellow fever, 
 could in all probability be rooted out if proper precau- 
 tions were taken and every available means employed to 
 prevent its recurrence. As it is, yellow fever never 
 scourges Porto Rico as it does parts of Cuba. 
 
 In the winter and early spring Porto Rico is less sub- 
 ject than Cuba to those chilling winds that blow from 
 the freezing anticyclones moving east from the Ameri- 
 can coast toward Bermuda. Under American auspices 
 and enlightened systems of sanitation, there will doubt- 
 less spring up a number of attractive winter resorts, 
 which will prove formidable rivals to those of Florida, 
 especially if, as is not unlikely, San Juan Bay becomes 
 the headquarters of the North Atlantic naval station 
 from November until April. 
 
 In this regard, the manager of a prominent life insur- 
 ance company has spoken as follows: 
 
 * ' Let me raise my voice in prophecy and then wait 
 and see if events do not bear me out. I want to prophesy 
 right now that five years from date that island will be 
 a great popular winter resort. No one can appreciate its 
 natural attractions unless he has been there, and when 
 to them have been added a few good American hotels it 
 is bound to become a popular resort. 
 
 I was in Porto Rico several years ago, and I 
 then expressed surprise that it was not boomed as a 
 winter resort. The Porto Ricans to whom I spoke 
 shrugged their shoulders and smiled. The ground is 
 high, the climate is fine, and the place is healthful.
 
 TOPOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE. 35 
 
 It has many attractions of its own that are lacking 
 in the other West Indies, 
 
 Close on the heels of the army will march some en- 
 terprising American hotel man, and then look out for 
 results."
 
 36 POPULATION AND TOWNS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 POPULATION AND TOWNS. 
 
 Accordiug to the latest statistics, the entire popula- 
 tion of the island of Porto Rico is estimated at 900,000. 
 Of these about 140,000 are peninsulares^ as the natives 
 of Spain have been termed throughout her former col- 
 onies. From 12,000 to 14,000 are foreigners, mostly 
 Frenchmen, Germans, Italians, Englishmen and Ameri- 
 cans. Other nationalities have little or no representation. 
 The so-called native population is composed of two- 
 chirds whites who are descendants of Spaniards and 
 people of other European countries, and one-third 
 negroes and mulattoes or those of mixed blood, half 
 castes, as thej' are denominated. 
 
 It is valuable to note the large proportion of whites, 
 which is very unusual for a tropical country. 
 
 The census, which was taken December 31, 1887, 
 states that the women outnumbered the men by about 
 one thousand. As the immigrants from Spain are mostly 
 men, however, the actual ratio between the two sexes, 
 as far as the native populacion is concerned, would be 
 greatly in favor of the feminine. 
 
 The area of Cuba is thirteen times larger than that of 
 Porto Rico, and yet even before the butcher Weyler ex- 
 terminated a third of the native Cubans, it contained 
 not quite double as many people as the smaller island.
 
 POPULATION AND TOWNS. 37 
 
 This will give some idea of the density of the popula- 
 tion of Porto Rico. 
 
 Thirt}' per cent, of the whites and seventy-five per 
 cent, of the negfoes were classed in the census of 1887 
 as laborers. 
 
 The western part of the island is far more densely 
 populated than the eastern. The reason for this proba- 
 bly lies in the fact that the east coast is on the wind- 
 ward side, and offers less protection for shipping. Con- 
 sequently it is not so conveniently situated for trade. 
 All the larger towns of the east are situated inland, or, 
 at least, some distance from the coast. They are in the 
 hilly portion of the island and surrounded by rich coffee 
 plantations and grazing lands of large extent. 
 
 The inhabitants of Porto Rico are scattered all over the 
 country, and the land is greatly subdivided. The Span- 
 ish authorities have made many efforts to collect the 
 people into villages, but the people themselves have 
 frequently resisted a change which the)' considered 
 would not suit the conditions of their lives or tend to 
 improve their finances. 
 
 Still, in the last fifty years more than half of the 
 population has gravitated to and around the towns, 
 especially those which are situated on the seashore. 
 Most of these people live in comfortable houses, and 
 have the means to provide themselves with all the 
 necessities and many of the luxuries of life. 
 
 The population, by the way, has been steadily in- 
 creasing since the beginning of the present century. 
 
 Ponce, named after Ponce de Leon, is the largest city
 
 38 POPULATION AND TOWNS. 
 
 and the one of the most commercial importance upon the 
 island. It is beautifully situated about three miles north 
 of the port of Ponce, in a fertile plain, and is sur- 
 rounded by plantations and gardens. It is the ter- 
 minus of one of the three short railroads which have 
 been constructed, and along the beach in front of the 
 port are large warehouses, where the produce, forwarded 
 through Ponce, which is the trading centre, is stored 
 for shipment. The population of Ponce has been esti- 
 mated at 44,500 inhabitants, and this is probably not 
 far from the actual truth. 
 
 Ponce has quite a number of fine buildings, including 
 the town hall, the theatre, two churches, the charity and 
 the woman's asylums, the barracks, the Cuban House 
 and the market. Between the city and the seashore is an 
 excellent road which forms a beautiful promenade. 
 
 Near Ponce are hot springs which are quite famous 
 and held in high estimation by invalids. 
 
 The capital of Porto Rico is San Juan, which in many 
 respects has always been the most important cit3^ It is 
 on the north coast, and as has already been stated, was 
 founded by Ponce de Leon in 15 10. It now has a popu- 
 lation of 31,250 inhabitants, which includes the town 
 and its suburbs. 
 
 The situation of San Juan is somewhat peculiar, as it 
 is built on a high and narrow peninsula, which is sepa- 
 rated from the mainland by shallow water spanned by 
 a bridge known as the San Antonio. 
 
 The town is about half a mile wide, inclosed by high 
 walls of masonry, which are very picturesque, and with
 
 POPULATION AND TOWNS. 39 
 
 their portcullis gates and battlements recall vividly to 
 one's mind the description of mediaeval times. 
 
 The bluff is crowned by Morro Castle, rendered 
 familiar to Americans in the recent war. 
 
 San Juan is really quite a beautiful place with straight 
 and narrow streets and many imposing buildings. It has 
 a number of public institutions and colleges, several 
 churches, and seven small parks. Among the latter may 
 be mentioned the Plazuela de Santiago, in which is an 
 excellent statue of Columbus. 
 
 It was on the western end of the island that Ponce de 
 Leon built the governor's palace, which is enclosed 
 within the vSauta Catalina fortifications, where are also 
 the cathedral, town house and theatre. This portion of 
 the city is now known as Pueblo Viego, and is the seat 
 of an Episcopal see, which is subordinate to the bishop 
 of Santiago de Cuba. 
 
 The city is lighted b)'' gas, which is controlled by an 
 English company, and it also has an electric plant 
 under local management. 
 
 There is a local telephone company. 
 
 There are eleven newspapers of various descriptions, 
 the chief one being La Correspondencia, a local political 
 paper, which has a circulation of seven thousand copies, 
 more than that of all the other papers put together. 
 
 The water is obtained entirely from cisterns. About 
 fifty years ago a project was formed to build a reservoir, 
 and the plans were approved by the government. But, 
 with that spirit of procrastination so characteristic of 
 the Spanish, in all public and private walks of life, and
 
 40 POPULATION AND TOWNS. 
 
 which is known as manana, the reservoir has never been 
 completed. 
 
 The harbor of San Juan is in almost all respects a 
 very fine one. On the east and south it is surrounded 
 by swamps, and on the west it is protected by the 
 islands of Cabra and Cabrita, which are practically con- 
 nected to the mainland by sandbars. There are strong 
 fortifications which guard the entrance to the outer 
 harbor. 
 
 The inner harbor is spacious and landlocked. It has 
 been dredged to a uniform depth of twenty-nine feet 
 from the docks to the anchorage. 
 
 The old city is divided into four wards, three of which 
 are outside of the fortifications. The houses are of stone, 
 or brick, and from the roofs beautiful sea views may be 
 obtained. In the patio or court of almost every house 
 there is a garden. 
 
 Besides Ponce and San Juan, the largest towns on the 
 island are Arecibo (30,000 inhabitants), Utuado 
 (31,000), Mauaguez (28,000), San German (20,000) 
 Yanco (25,000), and Juana Diaz (21,000). There are 
 also about a dozen other towns with a population of 15,- 
 000 or over. 
 
 These figures are only approximate, as no regular cen- 
 sus has been taken in ten years, and even then the Span- 
 ish ofiicials were none too correct. 
 
 Railways on the island can as yet be said to be only 
 in their infancy. There is only about 150 miles of rail- 
 road, with about as much more in construction. It is 
 intended to have stretches of railroad parallel with the
 
 POPULATION AND TOWNS. 41 
 
 coast, which shall make the entire circuit of the island. 
 From these there will be short branches to all the sea- 
 ports and inland markets. 
 
 The cart roads are very primitive, some of them being 
 little better than cattle tracks. There is, however, be 
 it remembered, one fine road, which extends across the 
 island from San Juan to Ponce. 
 
 The telegraph system is also in a very incomplete 
 state and is poorly managed. 
 
 There is one line of cable which runs to Cuba, 
 Mexico, Panama and the coasts of the South American 
 continent, and another which connects the island with 
 St. Thomas, Jamaica, and thus the rest of the world.
 
 42 RESOURCES, 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 RESOURCES. 
 
 It is somewhat difficult to tell exactly what is the 
 commercial value of the new colonial possessions which 
 the Spanish-American war has placed at the disposal of 
 the United States. The figures are naturally based upon 
 the conditions which prevailed under Spanish rule. 
 
 But, all for all, it may be said that Porto Rico, taking 
 into consideration its area, has been the most valuable 
 of all Spain's colonial possessions. 
 
 For some reason, which seems to be inscrutable, 
 Spain has given the inhabitants of Porto Rico far better 
 treatment than she accorded to the natives of Cuba. She 
 dealt with the island more as if it were a Spanish 
 province than a colony to be bled to the fullest extent 
 possible for the financial benefit of Spanish officials and 
 the mother country. Quite the contrary has been the 
 case in Cuba and the Philippines. 
 
 It may be stated that, as a matter of fact, Porto Rico 
 has been, in a political sense, a province of Spain for 
 the past twenty years. 
 
 Spain has paid but little attention to internal im- 
 provements, but this has been an advantage. For with 
 her heav}' hand relaxed, the people have had a certain 
 opportunity to develop such spirit of enterprise as they 
 possessed. 
 
 Porto Rico, in proportion to its size, is immensely
 
 RESOURCES. 43 
 
 wealthy. It is very doubtful if the Philippines can 
 equal it in richness, square foot for square foot. 
 
 With the island in the possession of the United States 
 and with the abolishment of the differential duties in favor 
 of the Spanish government, its geographical position will 
 undoubtedly cause most of its commerce to flow to and 
 from the ports of the United States. 
 
 There will be a market furnished for great quantities 
 of food products, textile fabrics, iron, steel and coal. 
 From the island the United States will chiefly receive 
 coffee, tobacco and sugar. Indeed it may be said that in 
 the line of coffee cultivation, the greatest development 
 of Porto Rico may be expected in the near future. 
 
 Mr. John Beggs, whom we have quoted before, says 
 that Porto Rico is one of the finest pieces of property 
 on the earth's surface. May it prove so in the hands 
 of the United States ! 
 
 The soil of Porto Rico is of remarkable fertility. Its 
 dominant industries may be said to be agriculture and 
 lumbering. 
 
 In the elevated regions, most of the vegetable produc- 
 tions of the temperate zone can be grown. 
 
 More than five hundred varieties of trees can be found 
 in the forests of the island, many of which are very 
 valuable, and the plains are full of palms, oranges and 
 other fruit-bearing trees. There are several very inter- 
 esting trees, especially a beautiful Talauvia, with im- 
 mense white odorous flowers and silvery leaves. This 
 tree is exceedingly ornamental. It is used for lumber 
 and called Sabino. A Kirttlla with crimson flowers is
 
 44 RESOURCES. 
 
 also rather common. A tree which is called Ortegon by 
 the natives is found at high altitudes, but chiefly near 
 the coast. It has immense purple spikes, more than a 
 yard long, and is very striking. It seeiris to be confined 
 to Porto Rico and Hayti. There are man}' varieties of 
 cabinet and dye woods, including mahogany, ebony, 
 lignum vitae, cedar and logwood. Plants valuable in 
 the arts and pharmacy abound. Tropical fruits grow 
 everywhere to perfection. 
 
 The chief products of Porto Rico, outside of lumber, 
 may be said to be sugar, coffee, tobacco, rice, honey 
 and wax, and these have greatly enriched the island, 
 making many of the people well-to-do. 
 
 Sugarcane is cultivated on the fertile plains, yielding 
 three hogsheads on an average per acre without any 
 manure. 
 
 An excellent grade of coffee is produced, and it does 
 not appear that as yet any blight has perceptibly affected 
 the shrubs. 
 
 Rice is very commonly cultivated on the hills in the 
 Sierra. It must be a kind of mountain variety, as no 
 inundation or other kind of watering is used. 
 
 Rice and plaintain are in fact the staple food of the 
 natives. 
 
 Cotton and maize are also raised to a certain extent. 
 
 There should in the future be an industry from the 
 manufacture of tannin extracts from the bark of Cocco- 
 lala, Rhizophora and the pods of various acacias, the 
 latter of which are a great nuisance on account of their 
 rapid growth.
 
 RESOURCES. 45 
 
 There are a long number of fruits on the island, such 
 as cherries, guava plums, juicy mangoes and bell apples. 
 
 Edwin Emerson, Jr., a war correspondent, speaks of 
 some of the fruits as follows: 
 
 "The most astonishing and the best of all was a fruit 
 called pulmo — in our language, sour-sap. It is about as 
 large as a quart bowl, and so nourishing and full that a 
 single fruit was enough for a good meal, although that 
 did not deter my horse from eating four. Later I found 
 that they are also relished by dogs. Of springs and 
 streams there were so many that I had no fear of dying 
 of thirst. If water was not hand}', I could always climb 
 a cocoanut tree and throw down the green nuts, which 
 were filled with an abundance of watery milk, more 
 than I could drink at one time. Other nuts there were 
 in plenty ; but many were more curious than edible, 
 even to my willing appetite. One had a delicious odor. 
 I tasted a little, and thought it ideal for flavoring candy. 
 But it soon dissolved in my mouth in a fine dust, ab- 
 sorbing all the moisture, so that I had to blow it out 
 like flour. Nothing ever made me so thirsty in my life, 
 and even after rinsing out my mouth I felt for a long 
 time as if I were chewing punk or cotton. The fruit of 
 the tamarind only added to my torments by setting all 
 my teeth on edge. When we reached the next spring I 
 fell off my horse for fear he would get all the water. 
 Only after I had satisfied my thirst would I let him 
 drink." 
 
 The poverty of the fauna and flora is remarkable, 
 there being scarcely any wild animals, birds or flowers .
 
 46 RESOURCES. 
 
 There is a great deficiency of what may be called 
 native animals of any sort. 
 
 The most troublesome quadruped is the wild dog, 
 which chiefly attack pigs and other small domestic ani- 
 mals. Mice are probably the greatest pest of the island, 
 but they are considerably kept down by their natural 
 enemies, the snakes. The latter not infrequently reach 
 a length of from six to nine feet. There are a good 
 many mosquitoes, but they are no worse than they are 
 in New Jersey. Numerous species of ants and bees exist 
 as well as fireflies. The latter occasionally fly in great 
 masses, producing beautiful effects in the tropical nights. 
 
 It may be stated that, on the whole, Porto Rico is 
 singularly free from those noxious reptiles and insects 
 which seem to inherit the rest of the West Indies as 
 their peculiar possession. 
 
 Immense pastures occupy a part of the lowland, and 
 feed large herds of cattle of an excellent quality. St. 
 Thomas and the French ivSlands all obtain their butcher's 
 meat from Porto Rico. Even Barbadoes comes there for 
 cattle. Sheep always thrive in a hot country, and they 
 grow big and fat in Porto Rico. Fresh lamb and mut- 
 ton are constantly shipped from there. A very numerous 
 class of the people are shepherds, and these live upon 
 mutton and the kind of highland rice, already alluded 
 to, which is very easily prepared for food. 
 
 Poultry is most abundant, and the seas and rivers are 
 full of the finest fish. 
 
 Agriculture has hitherto been almost exclusively in 
 the hands of the natives, but most of the business and
 
 RESOURCES. 47 
 
 commerce have been controlled by foreigners and Span- 
 iards from the Peninsula. 
 
 Although the island is certainly well developed agri- 
 culturally, it certainly admits of considerable expansion 
 in this direction. Under a different political system, and 
 when it is freed from the oppressive and vexatious taxa- 
 tion, Porto Rico will certainly become far more produc- 
 tive and prosperous even than it is now. 
 
 There is no question but that the island, richly en- 
 dowed as it is by Nature, has been miserably governed. 
 
 But agriculture in the near future will certainly not 
 be the main industry of the island. For there are knonn 
 to be gold, copper, iron, zinc and coal mines, which 
 have never been developed. In fact, strange as it may 
 appear, none of these valuable mines is worked at all. 
 The vegetable productions have been considered so 
 valuable that in order to cultivate them the minerals 
 have been neglected. There are also extensive sponge 
 fields, which are very valuable, but which have not been 
 touched, owing to several causes, chiefly the lack of 
 capital. The same can also be said of the quarries of 
 white stone, granite and marble. 
 
 Then there is the question of salt, which is sure to be 
 of importance. There are large quantities of salt ob- 
 tained from the lakes. Salt works have been established 
 at Guanica and Salinas, on the south coast, and at Cape 
 Rojo, on the west. This constitutes the principal min- 
 eral industry of Porto Rico. 
 
 Hot springs and mineral waters are found at Juan 
 Diaz, San Sebastian, San Lorenzo and Ponce, but the
 
 48 RESOURCES. 
 
 most famous are at Coamo, near the town of Santa Isa- 
 bella. 
 
 It is now interesting to see what the trade of Porto 
 Rico has been with other countries, and especially the 
 United States during recent years. 
 
 A very large part of the island's trade has been car- 
 ried on with the United States, where corn, flour, salt- 
 meat, fish and lumber have been imported in return for 
 sugar, molasses and coffee. 
 
 The natives are not a sea faring people, and care little 
 or nothing for ships of their own. Therefore, by far the 
 larger part of their trade with other countries has been 
 carried on by the means of foreign ships. 
 
 Porto Rico has paid into the Spanish treasury about 
 4,000,000 pesos annually, which is equivalent to about 
 $800,000. 
 
 In normal years, that is, when no war was going on, 
 the total value of imports into the island amounted to 
 about $8,000,000, and the exports to about $16,000,000. 
 
 The latest Spanish statistics, that is, during 1896, 
 give the importations into Porto Rico as amounting to 
 $18,945,793, and the exports to $17,295,535- 
 
 The average entrances of ships into the ports have 
 been 1919 vessels of an aggregate of 327,941 tons, of 
 which 544 of 81,966 tons were British. Articles of im- 
 port have been distributed by countries as follows: 
 
 From Spain come wines, rice, oils, flour and textiles; 
 from England, machinery, textiles, salted provisions, 
 rice and coal ; from France, a small amount of textiles, 
 some jewelry and perfumery, and some fine wines and 
 
 i
 
 RESOURCES. 49 
 
 liquors; from Italy, wines, vermicelli and rice; from 
 Germany, glass and porcelain wares, textiles, paper, 
 cheese, candied fruits, beer and liquors; from Holland, 
 cheese; from Cuba, rum, sugar and tobacco; from the 
 United States, petroleum, ironware, glassware, chemi- 
 cals, textiles, paper, lumber, barrels, machinery, car- 
 riages, dried and salted meats, butter, grease, codfish, 
 flour, coal, fruits, vermicelli and cheese. 
 
 A commercial arrangement was entered into between 
 the United States and Spain in 1895, in consequence of 
 which the following proclamation was issued by the 
 Spanish Government: 
 
 PROCI.AMATION: 
 
 The executive is authorized to apply to the products 
 and manufactures of the United States which coming 
 from the ports of the United States be admitted into 
 the ports of Cuba and Porto Rico, the benefits of the 
 second column of the tariffs in said islands ; provided 
 that the United States, in their turn apply their lowest 
 rates of duty to the products of the soil and of the in- 
 dustry of Cuba and Porto Rico. 
 
 This modus vivendi shall be in force until a perma- 
 nent commercial treaty between the two parties con- 
 cerned is concluded, or until one of them gives notice 
 to the other, three months in advance of the day on 
 which it wishes to put an end of it. 
 
 Therefore, I command all the courts, justices, chiefs, 
 governors and other authorities, civil, military and 
 ecclesiastical, of all classes and dignities, to observe
 
 so E.ESOURCBS. 
 
 and cause to be observed, obeyed and executed this pres- 
 ent law in all its parts. Given in the palace, February 4, 
 1895. I, the Queen Regent. 
 
 Alejandro Groizard, Secretary of State. 
 
 The above is translated from the Gaceta de Madrid of 
 February 6, 1895. 
 
 This agreement, if so it can be called, is of course 
 now at an end. Hereafter Porto Rico will enjoy all the 
 privileges of a colony of the United States. 
 
 But still it is interesting to note the duty on the lead- 
 ing articles of export from the United States to Porto 
 Rico, as expressed in the second column of the Spanish 
 tariff. 
 
 This was as follows: 
 
 Wheat flour, rice flour, buckwheat flour, corn- 
 meal, oatmeal, barleymeal, ryemeal, per 100 
 
 kilograms, gross, . $4 00 
 
 Pork, per 100 kilograms, net 9 90 
 
 Beef and all other meats, per 100 kilograms, net . 6 50 
 
 Sausage, per 100 kilograms, gross 20 
 
 Hay, per 100 kilograms, gross 80 
 
 Pig iron, per 100 kilograms, net 50 
 
 Bar iron, per 100 kilograms, net 215 
 
 Barb wire (for fencing), per 100 kilograms, net . 40 
 
 Coal, per 100 kilograms, net 60 
 
 Patent medicines, including weight of container 
 
 and wrapper 35 
 
 One hundred kilograms amounts to something over j 
 two hundred pounds.
 
 RESOURCES. 51 
 
 The people on the island are rather luxurious, so 
 much so that in one year five million dollars worth of 
 goods were carried there. These goods consisted prin- 
 cipally of manufactured products, such as clothing and 
 household wares. 
 
 The principal exports from the United States have 
 been flour, pork, lard, lumber and shocks. 
 
 But, of course, all this will be largely increased now 
 that Porto Rico is practically a portion of the United 
 States, and the increased commerce will be to the ad- 
 vantage of both. 
 
 During the five years from 1893 to 1897, the trade of 
 Porto Rico with the United States has been as follows: 
 
 Imports 
 Exports to from 
 
 United United 
 
 States: States: 
 
 1893 o . . $4,008,623 $2,510,007 
 
 1894 ........ 3,135.634 2,720,508 
 
 1895 ........ 1,506,512 1,833,544 
 
 1896 .,..=... 2,296,653 2,102,094 
 
 1897 2,181,024 1,988,888 
 
 Whatever disadvantages Porto Rico may possess, and 
 
 when all is said and done, they are beyond question few, 
 it is certainly lovely enough and prolific enough to 
 make one forget them all. 
 
 A writer in Ainslee's Magazine concludes his very 
 clever article as follows, and undoubtedly ever}'' word he 
 says is tnie : 
 
 "Unfortunately for the development of Spanish coun-
 
 52 RESOURCESo 
 
 tries the mental activity of the people is principally 
 manifested in an exuberant imagination which finds ex- 
 pression in superlative and poetical language. If there 
 were any corresponding creative genius and executive 
 ability in material affairs such a fertile and well-watered 
 land as Puerto Rico would be the home of one of the 
 richest communities on the globe. By her situation she 
 is adapted to become the centre of a flourishing com- 
 merce whose goods might be carried down dozens of 
 navigable rivers from the interior of the island. Under 
 a good government, with enterprising colonists, the 
 natural resources of the island, some of which have been 
 scarcely touched, would bring comfort and wealth to a 
 large population.
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMSo 53 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MANNKRS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 Let US examine briefly in the first place what has 
 been the management of Porto Rico under Spanish rule, 
 or, rather, perhaps we should call it mismanagement, 
 for no one of Spain's colonies has ever been properly 
 directed. 
 
 Porto Rico has been governed under a constitution 
 voted by the Spanish Cortes in 1869. The government 
 has been administered by a captain-general, assisted by 
 an administrative council appointed at Madrid. 
 
 The revenue has been about four millions of dollars a 
 year, considerably more than half of which has been de- 
 rived from customs, and the rest from taxation, direct 
 and indirect. 
 
 The captain-general was president of the superior tri- 
 bunals of justice and of the superior juntas of the capi- 
 tal ; but the fiscal administration had a special chief 
 called intendant. The supreme judicial power lay in a 
 royal audience. Justice was administered in the cities 
 and in the country by judges of the first instance and by 
 alcaldes. There were nine special tribunals: civil, 
 ecclesiastical, war, marine, artillery, engineers, admin- 
 istration, probate and commerce. 
 
 Ecclesiastical affairs were presided over by a bishop 
 chosen by the crown and approved by the pope. 
 
 For administrative purposes the island and its depen-
 
 54 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 dencies were divided into nine districts: Porto Rico, 
 Bayamon, Arecibo, Aquadilla, Mayaguez, Ponce, 
 Humacoa, Guayama and Vieques. 
 
 The Spanish administration in Porto Rico, although 
 not so bad as in other colonies, has, nevertheless, been 
 one of cruelty and oppression. The Spaniards, as will 
 be remembered, began by exterminating the native In- 
 dian population in less than a century. 
 
 There was not a branch of the administration which 
 was not conducted under a system of corruption. The 
 law was constantly violated by the Spaniards, and the 
 natives deprived of their rights. 
 
 When elections took place the Spanish or Conservative 
 party always won, and this in spite of the fact that this 
 party was in a large minorit}'. No more corrupt and 
 farcical elections have even been known to take 
 place. 
 
 Such a thing as liberty of the press was utterly un- 
 known. Articles that had been printed in the Madrid 
 or other Spanish papers attacking the government could 
 not be reproduced in any Porto Rican papers, without 
 the editors being arrested and punished. And this 
 occurred even if the article in question had not been 
 considered as offering ground for the prosecution by the 
 authorities in Spain. 
 
 The papers, by the way, were ridiculously inadequate 
 in every sense of the word. Only one attempt was ever 
 made to establish a magazine. This was about eleven 
 years ago. It was called the Revista Puertorriquena 
 and was intended ' ' to carry the highest expression of
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 55 
 
 our intellectual culture to all the people of Europe and 
 America where the magnificent Castilian language is 
 spoken." 
 
 The magazine was conducted by a committee com- 
 posed of a director, two editors, "and other illustrious 
 persons" elected by the subscribers. The founder of the 
 magazine lamented that the "race of artists" who first 
 settled in Puerto Rico ' ' were so overwhelmed by the 
 exuberant and pompous beauty of the tropics that the 
 natural means of artistic expression were exaggerated 
 to the detriment of ideas," and that the crying evil of 
 the periodical press of the island was ' 'the abundance of 
 sonorous and high-sounding articles having nothing to 
 say to the understanding." 
 
 The founder of the magazine was Don Manuel Juncos, 
 who is the author of several books of travel. He speaks 
 of the Brooklyn bridge as "a magic vision of the Thou- 
 sand and One Nights," while the smoke that rose from 
 myriads of New York chimneys "formed the holy and 
 blessed incense of a mighty and busy population, rising 
 directly up to God from the fecund altar of labor." In 
 the streets he was amazed at the ' ' incessant avalanche 
 of men, all having the purpose of certain or probable 
 utility." 
 
 No more than nineteen persons, under the old regime, 
 were allowed to meet in any place of the island, without 
 special permission from the government, and the ma5'or 
 of the town was obliged to attend the meetings to see 
 that nothing was said or done against ' 'the integrity of 
 the nation. ' '
 
 56 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 Licenses were required for everything, even for an 
 ordinary dancing party. 
 
 The manner of life in the large towns of Porto Rico 
 is not dissimilar from that of European countries, with 
 the exception of some slight differences due to the heat 
 of the climate. The fashions for men and women alike 
 are imported, especially from Paris and London. Those 
 who are in comfortable circumstances dress just like 
 people in European countries. The men wear woolen 
 clothes all the year round. The young women dress 
 very elaborately and all wear hats, the Spanish mantilla 
 being adopted by elderly women only. 
 
 In the small towns, men dress after the fashion of the 
 cities, except that their clothes are made of linen. 
 Woolen fabrics are uncomfortable, and they are consid- 
 ered a luxury to be donned only on Sundays and holi- 
 days. 
 
 Laborers and farm hands wear neither coats nor shoes. 
 They do not care to do so, in the first place, and, in the 
 second, they could not afford to, as their earnings are 
 very small. 
 
 In San Juan the streets are rectangular and are closely 
 built with brick houses usually two or three stories, 
 stuccoed on the outside, and painted in different colors." 
 In one house live several families, and the degree of 
 rent, as well as of social position, rises with the height 
 of the floor above the ground. 
 
 The lower floors, as a rule, are very dirty, and are 
 crowded in a most unhealthful way by negroes and the 
 servants of those who live above.
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 57 
 
 Sanitary conditions, by the way, as in all Spanish 
 possessions, are the very worst possible, and much will 
 have to be done in this respect when the United States 
 takes permanent possession. 
 
 There is one feature which strikes every foreigner, 
 and that is the roof gardens. In many parts of the 
 island, especially in the smaller towns, the whole popu- 
 lation enjoys itself at night on the housetops. The 
 houses are built a little off the ground, and they look 
 not unlike castles in the air which have been built for 
 pleasure rather than for living purposes. 
 
 In all tropical countries people have the habit of 
 sleeping in the daytime, and do their shopping and 
 attend to their social duties in the evening. In Porto 
 Rico this custom is almost universal. 
 
 Every man of any means is the possessor of two 
 houses, a town house and a country house. At carnival 
 times, or when any special celebration is going on, he 
 takes his family to town and brings them back again 
 when the sport is over. 
 
 Poverty is almost unknown in Porto Rico, for almost 
 every man owns his horse and every woman is the pos- 
 sessor of chickens. Horseback riding is an almost uni- 
 versal pastime. There are many fine horses on the 
 island, and they are used daily by men and women. 
 
 The inhabitants have but few wants which are not 
 satisfied by Nature without any effort on their part. They 
 lead a dolee far nicnte existence, swinging to and fro in 
 their hammocks all day long, smoking cigarettes and 
 strumming guitars.
 
 58 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 lyife at San Juan and the other principal towns is 
 more or less monotonous, amusements being few. There 
 is a retreta or concert by the military bands twice a 
 week and theatrical performances three or four evenings 
 a week. Matinees are very seldom given. The theatres 
 are owned by the cities and rented to European and 
 American companies traveling through the island at so 
 much an evening. 
 
 Unlike Cuba, there are no bull fights, but cock fight- 
 ing may be called the national sport, and is universally 
 indulged in. Game cocks are the greatest attraction of 
 the markets. Every Sunday there are public fights in 
 the cockpit, and these are invariably accompanied by 
 betting, often very large amounts being involved. 
 
 Gambling, by the way, may be said to be universal. 
 Every one, from the rich planter down to the lowest 
 laborer and beggar, is given up to this vice, and will 
 squander away every dollar if the mood takes him. 
 
 There is nothing but hospitality on the island. The 
 people are exceedingly polite to strangers, and the trav- 
 eler who offers money deeply offends his host. 
 
 A curious feature of the streets is the milk delivery, 
 which is not unlike that prevailing in Cuba. 
 
 This takes place before and during the noon, or break- 
 fast, hour, breakfast being taken here between 12 and 2 
 o'clock. Sometimes the milk is still being sold at 4 or 5 
 o'clock. The milkman drives from door to door from 
 one to four or five cows, each branded with a number 
 and usually one or more of them accompanied by a calf. 
 The driver cries his approach, and the customer fetches
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 59 
 
 cr sends out a pan, pail, bottle, or cup, which he hands 
 to the milkman. The milkman puts into the receptacle 
 the quantity of milk paid for, which he induces the cow 
 to yield after the usual manner. 
 
 Mr. W. G. Morrisey gives an interesting description 
 of how funerals are conducted in Porto Rico. He says 
 that when a native dies preparations are immediately 
 made for the burial. 
 
 No women are allowed to attend the funeral and the 
 casket is carried on the shoulders of four natives. The 
 cemetery being reached, the remains are deposited in 
 one of the many vaults in the place, provided the sum 
 of four pesos per year is paid to the authorities. If this 
 sum is not forthcoming the corpse is placed in a corner 
 of the graveyard and left there to decay. Mr. Morrisey 
 said it was a common occurrence to see seven or eight 
 funerals pass by every day. 
 
 Another thing that struck Mr. Morrisey was the rail- 
 road that runs from Ponce to Playo. The train is made 
 up of an old-fashioned engine and three cars. There are 
 first, second and third class coaches, the only difference 
 between the first and second class being the seats in the 
 first class coach, which are cushioned. It is first class in 
 name only, and very few of the visitors and the better 
 class of natives use it, because of the fact that the 
 cushions are full of vermin. Everything seems to be 
 filthy, from the Hotel Ingleterra, which is considered 
 the best house in Ponce, to the most miserable of huts 
 on the outskirts of the city. 
 
 Mr. Morrisey said that it is not a question of one place
 
 So MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 being cleaner than the other, but one place not being as 
 filthy as another. 
 
 The facilities for lighting the city at night were in- 
 vestigated, and it was found that very little light is 
 used. The stores are lighted with one or two incan- 
 descent lights, which are put in by the managers of a 
 small electric light plant that has been in operation for 
 some time. Kerosene oil cannot be bought for less than 
 forty cents a pint, and consequently is not used to any 
 great extent. An ice plant has also been established in 
 Ponce, where they manufacture ice in small cakes about 
 the size of a brick. This sells at $1.50 per hundred- 
 weight. 
 
 There is no public school system, and a large number 
 of even the white population can neither read nor write. 
 The daughters of the well-to-do are sent to convents on 
 the island, while the sons go abroad to be educated. 
 Among this latter class there is considerable culture and 
 refinement, and most of them speak English. 
 
 The women are of medium size, but exquisitely 
 formed. They have all the coquetry which is typical of 
 the women of the tropics, and no one who visits Porto 
 Rico can fail to be impressed with their beauty, deli- 
 cacy and grace. 
 
 It has been affirmed that Porto Rico has been in the 
 past a perfect Mecca for fugitives from justice. At one 
 time no less than one hundred of this description were 
 traced there. 
 
 It is really possible to live on very little money there, 
 and lives are prolonged to an incredible period. Fugi-
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 6l 
 
 tives therefore find it a haven in which to turn over a 
 new leaf and begin a better life. 
 
 The Porto Ricans are naturally Roman Catholics and 
 are very devout. 
 
 The manner of keeping Sunday would be apt to shock 
 our New Englanders of Puritan descent. 
 
 A correspondent of the New York Sun, who was with 
 the army in Porto Rico speaks of this as follows: 
 
 "Sunday at Ponce, if it continues as at present, will 
 add still further variety to the somewhat different ob- 
 servances of the day which now characterize the terri- 
 tory of the United States. 
 
 " * To-morrow,' said a native last Saturday, 'to-mor- 
 row I shall go to the theatre. ' 
 
 *' 'It's Sunday,' said his American soldier companion. 
 'You should be going to church.' 
 
 ' ' An elevation of the shoulders. 
 
 ' ' 'The same thing,' said the native. 
 
 "The show at the theatre that day, by the way, was 
 given by an American troupe that has been touring the 
 Indies. 
 
 ' ' There is, of course, nothing new in the custom in 
 Catholic countries of giving Sunday mornings to church 
 and Sunday afternoons to pleasure. In Ponce the mer- 
 chants are not willing to close their stores for the re- 
 ligious observances of the day, but hold that it would be 
 wholly wrong to mar the hours of pleasure by business 
 attentions. The stores are all open Sunday mornings as 
 on other days, but shut tight Sunday afternoons. Vesper 
 services are all but unknown. There may be a change
 
 62 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 regarding services presently. The priests have not been 
 paid since the arrival of the American army. It was the 
 Spanish custom to pay them from the customs receipts. 
 Colonel Hill has refused to give them any money since 
 he has been in charge of the custom-house, and has told 
 them that hereafter their people will have to support 
 them voluntarily. What the people will say to this at 
 the start it is hard to guess. They may not wholly un- 
 derstand it. Under existing laws they are taxed for the 
 support of the church. What their voluntary support of 
 it will be remains to be seen. Protestants have almost 
 a clear field for mission work here. The only Protestant 
 church on the island is at Ponce, and that was opened 
 on the Sunday after the Americans' arrival, for the first 
 time, it is said, in ten years. 
 
 "The chief service at the cathedral is held at 9 o'clock 
 Sunday mornings, mass being said hourly from 5 o'clock 
 until then. At the 9 o'clock service many Americans 
 drift in. Even the Catholics among the soldiers who 
 have attended have appeared to drift in rather than go 
 with the purpose of doing their devotions. It may be 
 that there seemed something inconsistent in kneeling 
 before the altar with a row of cartridges girded around 
 the body. One man crept into the nave behind the seats, 
 took off his cartridge belt and laid it beside him, and, 
 kneeling, bowed his head ver}' low, while he joined in 
 the prayers. When the service was over he carried the 
 war belt in his hand to the door and there stopped and 
 buckled it on. Fifty yards from the door a company of 
 the Nineteenth Infantry was encamped on guard duty in
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 63 
 
 the principal public square, ou one end of which the 
 cathedral stands. 
 
 * * While the services were going on late comers of the 
 nativecongregationedged their way in at the rear doors, 
 and, passing round the screen beneath the choir loft, 
 dropped to their knees on the marble floor, there remain- 
 ing until the close. Noticeable among these worshippers 
 were the old and widowed and the very poor. The last 
 recked little or not at all of the filthy floor, trailed with 
 dirt and spotted with tobacco juice. Some of the others 
 brought with them prayer rugs, even though they were 
 but ragged strips of carpeting." 
 
 The same correspondent has also this to say about 
 the shops, which is interesting: 
 
 ' ' One of the things revealed by a shopping tour is 
 the absence from the shops of anything distinctly char- 
 acteristic of Porto Rico. The tourist has not made the 
 island a favorite stopping place, and the people seem to 
 prefer when buying anything not edible to buy foreign- 
 made articles. The only things that even bore a stamp 
 indicative of Porto Rico found by several hunters after 
 curios were fit relics of a Spanish city — case knives in- 
 scribed "Viva Ponce." Fortunate seekers after memen- 
 toes secured a few of the peculiar native musical instru- 
 ments called guiros. It is straining courtesy as well as 
 language to call them musical instruments, but they are 
 used by the natives to make what to the natives is music, 
 and one of them is included in each group of street or 
 cafe musicians. The instrument is a gourd shaped like 
 some of our long-necked squashes, hollowed out through
 
 64 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 two vents cut in one side, and the surface over half the 
 perimeter slashed or furrowed so as to offer a file-like 
 resistance to a metal trident, which is scraped over it 
 in time to the music made by the guitar, or whatever 
 other instrument or instruments make up the orchestra. 
 There are times when the result is suggestive of the 
 couchee-couchee music and scratching." 
 
 For nearly three centuries slavery existed in Porto 
 Rico, but it was finally abolished by the Spanish Cortes 
 in March 1873. 
 
 The New York Herald in its special correspondence 
 has much to say about the inhabitants that is of un- 
 doubted interest, and from this article we have culled 
 considerable that follows. The article in question was 
 written after the virtual surrender of Porto Rico. 
 
 These people have been accustomed to military rule 
 all their lives, and to withdraw it in toto and tell them 
 to go in and govern themselves is an experience which 
 many regard as dangerous. Of a race excitable, with 
 blood that courses quickly and with wrongs of many 
 years' standing, the natives are intoxicated with their 
 freedom. Their delirium has but one course — revenge — 
 and when the entire population is fully awake to the 
 opportunity offered there may come a break from all re- 
 straint, and then it may be shown that the depletion of 
 our army was a blunder. 
 
 Without the menaceof the Spanish soldiery, without 
 the fear of the Church, and without the guiding hand of 
 a good American officer and wisely-located American 
 army of occupation, there may be trouble ahead.
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 65 
 
 With the going of the soldiers comes the influx of 
 the mercantile classes. Salesmen are arriving in large 
 numbers and promoters and speculators abound. Every- 
 thing is being boosted from its former lethargic tropical 
 calm. Prices of commodities are rising. L,and has 
 quadrupled in value in the owners' minds, and even the 
 street gamins now demand twenty-five cents American 
 money for a single button alleged to be cut from the 
 coat of a Spanish soldier, which they formerly had 
 trouble at disposing of at the rate of twelve and one-half 
 cents per dozen. 
 
 These commercial avant couriers are bright, active 
 ' hustlers, ' who make the native nabobs gasp at their 
 breezy ways, but, all the same, these nabobs are pretty 
 shrewd persons and know how to buy closely. 
 
 There is one thing the native merchants have to 
 learn, and that is to display their goods and wares. Not 
 a single show window exists, and if some enterprising 
 Yankee will just tear out the forbidding front of one of 
 these business houses, replace it with one on the show- 
 case style and set forth a dazzling array of merchandize, 
 arranged by the deft hand of the artistic window deco- 
 rator, there will be a revolution in trade in this place. 
 
 Another portion of the business life to be renovated 
 is the sugar industry. The crudest system exists for the 
 transformation of the juice of the cane into the saccha- 
 rine crystals of commerce. Machinery so ponderous that 
 it requires a volume of steam all out of proportion to the 
 energy actually needed, and wasteful methods in the 
 extraction of the syrup residue after crystallization,
 
 66 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 obtain. Yankee machinery, coupled with Yankee push, 
 will cause a wonderful difference in the cost of the fin- 
 ished product. 
 
 ' ' At the same time the manner of herding the hangs 
 on these huge plantations must surely be changed. Such 
 conditions exist in the quarters that a mere recital 
 would be unprintable, and from an examination I made 
 of the quarters of a very large estate I came away ill 
 mentally and physically." 
 
 Members of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty 
 to Animals have a great field before them in this island. 
 The inhabitants are the most cruel in their handling of 
 beasts of burden and, in fact, of all living creatures be- 
 low the grade of mankind that could be imagined. 
 
 Oxen and bulls furnish the principal means of mer- 
 chandise transportation. They are yoked together with 
 a huge horn rising upon the neck just back of the horns 
 and held in place by bandages around the forehead. The 
 driver carries a goad about five feet in length, in the 
 end of which is inserted a sharp steel point about one 
 inch long. This is used so freely that it is common to 
 see streams of blood running down the sides'of the poor 
 maltreated beasts. Not satisfied with using the sharp 
 end, the inhuman drivers frequently deliver terrific 
 blows with the butt across the tender noses of their 
 charges. 
 
 Many an American soldier has knocked down these 
 cruel drivers for their abuse of the patient beasts, but 
 the drivers do not improve with the thrashing. The 
 American military authorities have imported several
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 67 
 
 American yokes and an effort is to be made to compel 
 their use instead of the timber of torture which now 
 obtains. 
 
 An author of the last century has this to say about 
 the Porto Ricans: 
 
 ' ' They are well proportioned and delicately organized ; 
 at the same time they lack vigor, ate slow and indolent, 
 possess vivid imaginations, are vain and inconstant, 
 though hospitable to strangers, and ardent lovers of 
 liberty." 
 
 Referring to the mixture of races, the same author 
 continues: 
 
 "From this variety of mixture has resulted a charac- 
 ter equivocal and ambiguous, but peculiarly Porto 
 Rican. The heat of the climate has made them lazy, to 
 which end also the fertility of the soil has conduced ; 
 the solitary life of the country residents has rendered 
 them morose and disputatious." 
 
 A writer of more recent times declares that they are 
 "affable, generous, hospitable to a fault, loyal to their 
 sovereign, and will to the last gasp defend their island 
 from invasion. The fair sex are sweet and amiable, 
 faithful as wives, loving as sisters, sweethearts and 
 daughters, ornaments to anj^ society, tasteful in dress, 
 graceful in deportment, and elegant in carriage. In fact, 
 visitors from old Spain have frequently remarked their 
 resemblance to the doncellas of Cadiz, who are world- 
 renowned for their grace and loveliness." 
 
 "The truth is that they all have the Spanish co7- 
 tesia,'^ says Frederick A. Ober, in the Century Maga-
 
 68 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 zine, when commenting upon the above opinions, "and 
 are more like the polite Audalusiaus of the south of 
 Spain than the boorish Catalans of the northeast. Even 
 the lowliest laborer, unless he be one of the four hun- 
 dred thousand illiterates, signs his name with a rnbrica, 
 or elaborate flourish and styles himself 'Don,' after 
 the manner of the Spanish grandees, and the humblest 
 innkeeper, when receipting a bill, will admit he 'avails 
 himself with intense pleasure of this occasion for offer- 
 ing so such a distinguished gentleman the assurance of 
 his most distinguished consideration!' 
 
 ' 'This need not imply affectation, nor even insincerity, 
 but merely a different conception of the social amenities 
 from that of the all-conquering American, who, it is to 
 be hoped, will not treat this foible with the contempt 
 which, in his superior wisdom, he may think it merits."
 
 THE DAWN OF FREEDOM. 69 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 T H K DAWN OP FREEDOM. 
 
 When the United States declared war against Spain 
 for the purpose of freeing Cuba from Spanish misrule 
 under which she had suffered for so long, and also with 
 the desire to avenge the dastardly blowing up of the 
 Maine, but little or no thought was given to Porto Rico. 
 That island was an unknown quantity, but still one 
 which was destined to play a considerable part in the 
 near future. 
 
 This was in the natural sequence of events. After the 
 terrible havoc wrought by our navy at Manila and at 
 Santiago de Cuba, attention was turned toward Porto 
 Rico. 
 
 The feeling became widespread throughout the United 
 States that the war would fail in its object if Spain were 
 not driven from the possession of all her colonies in the 
 West Indies. Even those who in the beginning thought 
 that the war was unnecessary, gradually came round to 
 this point of view. It was quite sure that the expulsion 
 of Spain from the western hemisphere would prevent 
 the provoking of another war of the same character, and 
 this desirable result could not be achieved so long as 
 Spanish rule was maintained in any part of the West 
 Indies. 
 
 The demand for the freeing of Cuba, the possession of
 
 70 THE DAWN OF FREEDOM. 
 
 Porto Rico, as well as a protectorate over the Philip- 
 pines, was just, and the nation demanded it. 
 
 The Boston Herald aptly remarked : 
 
 ' 'This may well stand in the place of any exaction of 
 money. The United States is much too rich to desire to 
 compel money payment from an exhausted and practi- 
 cally beggared nationality. Such a course would be be- 
 littling the war in the eyes of the nations of the world, 
 and it is not at all in accordance with ideas of our own 
 national dignity. Here is the substantial concession of 
 Spain, and it involves all and more than all for which 
 the war was declared." 
 
 The invasion of Porto Rico was not commenced until 
 after the result of the war had been definitely decided. 
 
 But the Spaniards with that unfailing belief in 
 "manana" (to-morrow) behaved like true Orientals, as 
 they are in part, and acted as if time gained was half- 
 way toward victory. With scarc^y an exception, they 
 are all indolent and fatalists. 
 
 The prime minister, Senor Sagasta, put off everything 
 with that word which has proved so fatal to Spain, 
 which undoubtedly precipitated the war, and which was 
 at the bottom of all Senor Sagasta's policy — "manana." 
 
 It is related that one day in the Cortes, a deputy criti- 
 cized the idleness and indolence of Senor Sagasta, and 
 the latter replied: 
 
 '^ A nadie le ha sucedido nado por no hacer nada.''* 
 
 A free translation of this is: "Nothing happens to 
 him who does nothing." 
 
 Both Sagasta and the Spaniards have doubtless found
 
 THE DAWN OF FREEDOM, 71 
 
 out by this time the falsity of the saying. To show the 
 feeling prevailing in Spain, it may be well to quote a 
 Madrid correspondent of the London Times : 
 
 "Though peace is regarded as assured, it may not be 
 attained so quickly as is generally expected. Senor 
 Sagasta objects to be hustled, and insists upon every- 
 thing being done in a quiet, orderly and dignified man- 
 ner. He considers it necessary to have full and satisfac- 
 tory explanations as to all doubtful points, in order to 
 enable him best to protect the national interests against 
 the aggressive tendencies of the Washington Cabinet. 
 
 ' ' He has also to examine very minutely the exigencies 
 of the internal situation and home politics, so as to 
 avoid popular dissatisfaction and political unrest. The 
 Spanish people, though sincerely desirous of peace, are 
 disposed to admire this hesitancy and tenacious holding 
 out till the last, although aware that it implies greater 
 sacrifices. 
 
 "As an illustration of this feeling, while General 
 Toral is blamed for capitulating at Santiago, Captain- 
 General Augustin, in continuing a hopeless resistance 
 at Manila, bids fair to be a popular hero." 
 
 About this time, before any attack by the Americans, 
 Macias, captain-general of Porto Rico, discovered a con- 
 spiracy, which if it had not been quickly checked would 
 have placed the island in a state of insurrection. 
 
 Eduardo Baselge and Danian Castillo, both prominent 
 Porto Ricans, were active leaders in the incipient insur- 
 rection. 
 
 The Spanish postal authorities discovered the con-
 
 72 THE DAWN OF FREEDOM. 
 
 spiracy through a letter written by Castillo to Baselga. 
 General Macias was informed of this discovery, and a 
 quiet investigation disclosed the fact that there were 
 involved in it all of the most prominent residents of the 
 city of San Juan, both native and foreign. 
 
 The headquarters of the conspirators were located 
 and a quantity of dynamite, arms and provisions was 
 found. 
 
 It was the intention of the leaders, after their plans 
 had been perfected, to give wide publication to a procla- 
 mation calling upon all native and patriotic Porto 
 Ricans who hold liberty dearer than life, to join them 
 and accomplish the overthrow of the Spanish govern- 
 ment and the death of the governor and his officials. 
 The plans of the conspirators were so carefully laid that 
 had it not been for the accidental discovery of Castillo's 
 letter, they would unquestionably have been carried out. 
 
 The discovery of the conspiracy occurred about the 
 time of the visit to Washington of Dr. J. J. Henna and 
 Ramon Todd, both prominent Porto Ricans, of whom 
 we have had occasion to speak before, and whose pur- 
 pose in going there was to hold a conference with Presi- 
 dent McKinley relative to the establishment of a provi- 
 sional United States government in the island after the 
 Spaniards had been driven out. 
 
 Within twenty-four hours after the arrest the two 
 leaders, Baselga and Castillo, were shot. 
 
 The residents became very much excited over the 
 affair, and feeling against the Spanish officials ran high. 
 
 From the very beginning the real Porto Ricans, as we
 
 THE DAWN OF FREEDOM. 73 
 
 shall see hereafter, were in favor of the Americans. 
 The Spaniards, however, were most bitter, and as 
 had been the case in Havana and Manila, kept up an 
 absurd show of superior strength. This is well mani- 
 fested by a proclamation which, signed by Jose Reyes, 
 Celestins Dominguez and Genara Cautino, was issued 
 to the people of Guayama on May 20, 1898. As one of 
 the curiosities or the war, it can only be compared to 
 the celebrated and laughable manifesto which Captain- 
 General Augustin issued at Manila just before the ap- 
 pearance of Admiral Dewey's fleet. 
 
 The Porto Rican proclamation ran as follows: 
 
 "To the people of Guayama. Hurra for Spain! 
 
 " A nation that is our enemy, by its history, by its 
 race, and because she is the principal cause of our mis- 
 fortunes in Cuba, having fomented in this island that 
 is our sister a war in which she supplied all kinds of re- 
 sources, taking away at last the mask with which she 
 concealed her fictitious friendship, has excited us to-day 
 to vowed war. 
 
 "There is a deep abyss between the manner of being 
 of that people and ours, which established antagonism 
 that we should never be able to remove. Our sonorous 
 language, our habits, the religion of our ancestors, and 
 our necessities are conditions of our life so different from 
 those of that race, so opposite to those of that people, 
 that we are frightened in thinking that we should be 
 constrained to accept a manner of being that is repug- 
 nant to our origin, our heart and our feelings. We are a
 
 74 THE DAWN OF FREEDOM. 
 
 people entirely Spanish, and we were born to a civilized 
 life under a flag that was, and we hope ever will be, that 
 of our wives and children. For four hundred years the 
 warmth of the mother of our native country has given 
 life to our organisms, ideas to our brains, majestic 
 thoughts to our souls, and generous undertakings to 
 our hearts, and in those four centuries the glories of the 
 Spanish house have been our glories, her gayeties our 
 gayeties, and her misfortunes our own misfortunes. 
 
 "We have been full of haughtiness when, being con- 
 sidered as the Conqueror's sons, we know that we had 
 participation in the heroic actions of our brothers, and 
 that the laurels with which they crowned their hero's 
 front were also our laurels. When in tranquil hours 
 We heard in our hearths our predecessors' epopee, de- 
 scribing as superfluously exact their achievements; 
 giving them lively color that always inspires our tropi- 
 cal fancy, our nerves felt the thrill produced by enthu- 
 siasm ; at those moments, our being all affected, our 
 breast with its strong aspirations and our fiery tears 
 rolling down the cheeks reminded us, obliging the cords 
 of patriotism to vibrate, that we were Spaniards, and 
 we neither could nor would like any other thing than 
 to remain Spaniards. 
 
 "As if it could be that the country of Sergeant Diaz, 
 of Andino, and Vascarrondo's, and all those conspicu- 
 ous countrymen that irrigated with their blood Martin 
 Pena and Rio Piedras camps could measure either the 
 vigor or the haughtiness of an enemy who has not yet 
 exhibited his face after so many ostentatious and angry
 
 THE DAWN OF FREEDOM. 75 
 
 vociferations. No ! and thousand times no ! The light 
 fishermen of Porto Rico's shores, merchants, lawyers, 
 musicians, mechanics, journeymen, all persons who 
 may have strength to grasp a gun must ask for it. All 
 united, with a solid front we shall go to intercept the 
 invader. Behind us and as a reserve legion will come 
 down from the highlands like a raging storm, if it is 
 necessary, the Jibafos, our fields' brothers, the most 
 accomplished exemplar of abstinence, probity and brav- 
 er}'; the same that formed the urban militia; the same 
 that were sent to Santo Domingo to defend gentile 
 honor; they, who in number of more than 16,000, cov- 
 ered the plains of the north shore of the island, and 
 compelled the Englishmen in 1797 to re-embark hastily, 
 leaving their horses and artillery park. 
 
 "Porto Ricans! the moment is rising when not a sin- 
 gle man of this country gives a step backwards, as it is 
 said commonly ; the hour of organizing ourselves for 
 defense is sounded. The Spanish lion has shaken his 
 dishevelled mane, and our duties calls us around him. 
 Our temper is to fighL, and we shall fight. Our fate is to 
 overpower, "and we shall overpower. Honor imposes 
 upon us the obligation of saving home, and we shall 
 save it in this land of our loves. Before North American 
 people carry their boldness so far as to tread our sea- 
 coasts it is necessary that we must be ready to receive 
 them ; that they may find in every Porto Rican an in- 
 exorable enemy, in every heart a rock, in each arm a 
 weapon to drive them away; that that people feels 
 that here it is detested intensely, and that Porto Rico's
 
 76 THE DAWN OF FREEDOM. 
 
 Spirit is Spanish, and she will ever be so; therefore, 
 inhabitants of Guayama, we invite you for a meeting at 
 the Town House next Tuesday and offer our kind ofl&ces 
 to the government, who will give us arms. 
 
 ' ' It would be unworthy of our so gentle history, we 
 should deny our blood, if in these moments of struggle 
 we should endure indifferently. Let our enemies know 
 that we are a brave people, and that if we are soft in 
 peace days, we are also fit for war chances ; that all his 
 command, all his pride, and all his arrogance may fall 
 out with a wall composed of all Porto Rican breasts. " 
 
 In the light of ulterior and posterior events, this 
 document is really as comical as anything in opera- 
 bouffe. 
 
 "We have no means of knowing," says the New 
 York Sun, in commenting upon this precious effusion, 
 "whether Senor Jose Reyes, Senor Celestino Do- 
 minguez and Senor Genaro Cautino actually grasped 
 their guns and immolated themselves upon the altar of 
 four centuries and in the presence of the ostentatious 
 and vociferous invader; or whether they prudently 
 joined the light fishermen, merchants, lawyers, musi- 
 cians and jibaros of Porto Rico, to whom they had 
 vainly appealed in the name of Spain in yelling them- 
 selves hoarse as the Stars and Stripes went up in town 
 after town. Perhaps they took the latter course. Per- 
 haps they will turn out good Americans. In Porto 
 Rico, as elsewhere, times change, and men's minds 
 change with the changes of time and destiny."
 
 NAVAI, LESSONS TAUGHT BY THE WAR. 77 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 NAVAL LESSONS TAUGHT BY THE WAR. 
 
 After the remarkable victory at Santiago de Cuba, 
 where Admiral Cervera's fleet, which attempted to steal 
 out of the harbor, with the loss of but one man on the 
 American side. Admiral Sampson, with a portion of his 
 fleet, proceeded to San Juan in Porto Rico. This city he 
 bombarded, directing his principal fire against Morro 
 Castle. 
 
 What followed bears strong testimony to the remark- 
 able gunnery of our ' 'jackies." 
 
 Morro Castle and the buildings on the high ground 
 in its rear were simply riddled. Great holes were in 
 places blown out by our large shells and the walls were 
 pitted by the hail of the smaller ones. 
 
 There was one entire building which was blown to 
 pieces, and a whole section of the Cuartel was laid in 
 ruins. To be sure, many of our shells were wasted in 
 the sea wall, but this is not to be wondered at, as the 
 parapet had embrasures for guns, and from where our 
 ships were lying, thCvSe would naturally be mistaken for 
 a sea battery. 
 
 Neither in Morro Castle nor in the more pretentious 
 fortifications known as San Cristobal, were there any 
 great number of modern guns. There were a few Krupp 
 guns, but the remainder consisted of muzzleloaders of 
 an ancient pattern; most of the latter were mounted
 
 78 NAVAL LESSONS TAUGHT BY THE WAR. 
 
 Upon parapets of masonry. It may be said that the de- 
 fences of San Juan were opposed to every theory of 
 modern military science. The defenses might have been 
 considered impregnable some fifty years or so ago, but 
 to-day they are by no means formidable. 
 
 Our marvelous naval victories have taught a lesson to 
 the entire world, and America to-day stands stronger 
 than she ever did before. In fact, there is not a nation 
 that does not respect us and fear us, which possibly 
 could not have been said before the American-Spanish 
 war. Prior to that, it was rather the fashion to sneer at 
 the Yankee army and navy, but that will never be done 
 again. 
 
 Foreign nations know now what the United States 
 really is. 
 
 "Dewey's and Sampson's victories must be very de- 
 pressing to French, German and Russian naval aspira- 
 tions, " observes a gentleman of Washington, who is a 
 most competent authority. ' ' For years they have been 
 measuring up against England, and quietly calculating 
 what combinations they could make to overthrow Brit- 
 ish sea power. France, particularly, has been building 
 a navy which she hoped, in spite of past experience, 
 might cope with England's. She has spent immense 
 sums upon it, and relative to the interests it has to 
 guard, it is larger and stronger than England's. But 
 Spain's experience reiterates the old story that it is not 
 so much the ships as the men on them who win vic- 
 tories. Had the Americans been on Spanish ships and 
 the Spanish on the American there would have been a
 
 NAVAIv LESSONS TAUGHT BY THE WAR. 79 
 
 very different story to tell. While the French are very 
 superior to the Spanish, they are of the same Latin 
 blood, and there is just enough siniiliarity between the 
 two peoples to hint at the success French ships would 
 have in encountering with Anglo-Saxons, either sailing 
 under the Star Spangled Banner or the Cross of St. 
 George. Germany is likely to have the same sort of a 
 chill. The Germans have never been a maritime nation. 
 A German war vessel has never fired a hostile shot, and 
 Germans may well have solicitous thoughts as to the 
 result of a struggle with men who have shown them- 
 selves past masters in the art of naval warfare. Russia is 
 in the same situation. She has never actually fought 
 anybody at sea but the Turks. The wiser among these 
 peoples are very likely to begin thinking that their 
 dreams of sea power are vain illusions, and that they 
 had better save the money they have been spending on 
 navies and resign the dominion of the sea to the Eng- 
 lish-speaking races." 
 
 There is no doubt that our naval victories have 
 taught many and valuable lessons, and it is perhaps 
 proper to make a slight digression here and show what 
 some of these lessons are. 
 
 lyCt us then consider the deliberations of a board of 
 naval officers, some of the ablest experts in the service, 
 appointed by Admiral Sampson, after the battle of San- 
 tiago de Cuba, to report upon the condition of Cervera's 
 sunken fleet, the extent of damages done by American 
 shells and the lessons to be learned therefrom to guide 
 the United States in its future ship construction.
 
 8o NAVAL LESSONS TAUGHT BY THE WAR. 
 
 The conclusions reached by the board were as follows : 
 
 The use of wood in the construction and equipment of 
 war ships should be reduced to the utmost minimum 
 possible. 
 
 Loaded torpedoes above the water line are a serious 
 menace to the vessels carrying them, and they should not 
 be so carried by vessels other than torpedo boats. 
 
 The value of rapid-fire batteries cannot be too highly 
 estimated. 
 
 All water and steam pipes should be laid beneath the 
 protective deck and below the water line and fitted 
 with risers at such points as maj^ be considered neces- 
 sary. 
 
 The board also found that the ships Infanta Maria 
 Teresa, Almirante Oquendo and Viscaya were destroyed 
 by conflagration, caused by the explosion of shells in 
 the interior, which set fire to the woodwork. The upper 
 deck and all other woodwork on their ships was entirel)' 
 consumed except the extremities. This shows the im- 
 portance of fireproofing all woodwork on board ships. 
 
 Many of the guns on board the burned ships were 
 found loaded at the time of the board's visit, indicating 
 the haste with which the crews were driven from the 
 guns. 
 
 With talks with experts the following was developed 
 as to what the war showed : 
 
 First — That the gun is still the dominating factor in 
 war. 
 
 Second — That rapid-fire guns are especially valuable, 
 but that it is advisable to retain guns of large calibres 
 
 i
 
 NAVAL LESSONS TAUGHT BY THK WAR. 8i 
 
 Third — That smokeless powder is absolutely essential 
 for modern warfare. 
 
 Fouith — That there should be a great reduction intlie 
 amount of woodwork on board ship and that that left on 
 l)oard should be fireproof, some going so far as to sa}' 
 that woodwork should be eliminated entirely, its place 
 to be taken by some other substance. 
 
 Fifth — That armor should be distributed over the en- 
 tire ship rather than be limited lo the section where its 
 vitals are located. 
 
 Sixth — That monitors are useless for cruising purposes 
 or for fighting in rough waters. 
 
 Seventh — That the United States should have a larger 
 navy, with speedier battleships and fast armored 
 cruisers, and with coaling stations in different sections 
 of the globe, where men-of-war can procure supplies 
 and make repairs if necessary. 
 
 Captain Charles O'Neil, chief of the bureau of 
 ordnance, gave his opinion as follows: 
 
 " I do not think the battle off Santiago de Cuba dem- 
 onstrated that we should abandon the heavy calibres of 
 guns. Serious injury to an enemy's thickly-armored 
 battleships can be inflicted only by large-calibre guns. 
 
 "It is possible that with rapid-fire guns you may 
 shoot away the lightly armored superstructure, but as 
 long as the vitals are protected and the turret armor is 
 intact the guns in the turret will be able to do execu- 
 tion, and large-calibred guns will be necessary to per- 
 forate the armor and disable those weapons. Even with 
 her 1 2-inch guns the Texas can fire at the rate of one
 
 82 NAVAL LESSONS TAUGHT BY THE WAR. 
 
 round per minute, and this record is as good as that 
 made b}' any foreign ships. Rapid fire consists in good 
 facilities for handling ammunition and loading the gun 
 with a quick-working breech mechanism. 
 
 ' ' We are now building at the Washington gun factory 
 an experimental 6-inch rapid-fire gun, different from 
 the rapid-fire guns we have now in service, which are 
 supplied with what is termed fixed ammunition. The 
 powder and projectile to be used in the experimental 
 gun will be separate, and two operations consequentl)' 
 will have to be employed in loading. This can be done 
 so quickl}' that it is expected that a very rapid fire will 
 be obtained. 
 
 "It is the policy of the Department to have our ships 
 a little ahead of those of any other nation, to have 
 them equipped with armor of greater resistive power, 
 and guns eapable of doing more execution. The 13-inch 
 gun, as at present designed, is a more destructive gun 
 than a 12 -inch ordinarily, and its energy is very much 
 greater, the result naturally being that it has superior 
 armor-piercing powers. 
 
 "I think we should keep the 13-inch gun on board of 
 our battleships. On account of the light armor which 
 protected the Spanish men-of-war, it is difficult to com- 
 pare the ships and the effect of their fire, or to draw 
 conclusions. We would have learned more if the Span- 
 ish fleet had been made up of battleships, and the fire 
 of their gunners had been more accurate. As it is, the 
 value of the secondary battery was certainly demon- 
 strated.
 
 NAVAL LESSONS TAUGHT BY THE WAR. 83 
 
 "The necessity of eliminating wood to the greatest 
 extent possible and fireproofing what remains, was 
 shown by the destruction of the Spanish men-of-war. 
 Fire mains should be kept below the protective deck. 
 The battle proved that ships moving rapidly can attack 
 other vessels also under w^ay and inflict serious injury. 
 
 "The excellent gunnery of the American sailors is 
 entirely due to the practice which they had undergone, 
 but the target fired at was stationary, while their ship 
 was moving. The conditions were different in action. 
 The Spanish were under way, yet the American gunners 
 fiired as well as if they were merely practising. ' ' 
 
 The New York Herald speaks as follows of our naval 
 victories: 
 
 ' ' Ramming, that expedient of despair, was not at- 
 tempted. Torpedoing, despite the opportunities afforded, 
 was estopped by the quick service of rapid-fire guns on 
 board an inferior but superbly handled construction, 
 and that final effort, a 'charge through,' was never 
 allowed to challenge the combined energies of our fleet. 
 If audacity could have merited success, these Spaniards 
 deserved much, but here the marrow of the war 
 proverb was not with them. 
 
 "Pitted against similar ships, even in superior num- 
 bers, some of the fleeing cruisers might have slipped 
 seaward in hot haste for the breaking of the Havana 
 blockade. Failing that, all might have concentrated an 
 assault upon certain selected vessels and found consola- 
 tion for final defeat in the foundering hulls of their 
 enemy. But audacity did not count, individual bravery
 
 84 NAVAL LESSONS TAUGHT BY THE WAR. 
 
 went for naught; because, while heavier constructions 
 barred the way, and superior guns smashed the pathways 
 of escape, energized skill overcame untrained courage 
 and patient discipline crushed unorganized effort. 
 
 "The battleships not only fought the armored cruisers 
 in a long, stern chase down the shore, but destroying as 
 chey ran, finally forced them blazing in their own wrecks 
 upon a hostile coast. The torpedo boat destroyers en- 
 gaged single handed by the Gloucester succumbed so 
 quickly to inferior armament and speed that their value 
 in a day attack, or, indeed, their value at any time save 
 as weapons of surprise, need no longer be reckoned 
 with. This will be a rude awakening to the zealots 
 who had seen in this weapon the downfall of the ship of 
 the fighting line, but it will be a heart-cheering con- 
 firmation to the loyal seamen who in season and out 
 have never ceased to proclaim that the integrity of sea 
 nations rests on battleships and the well-served guns of 
 a fleet." 
 
 "I think sometimes if it had not been for the work of 
 the Oregon the Colon might have got away," was the 
 statement made by an admiral on the retired list. "I 
 am not sure that the Brooklyn, with all her speed, could 
 have stopped the Colon, but I think it quite likely that 
 the New York would have finally overtaken the Colon 
 and stopped her." 
 
 More emphasis was laid upon the speed of the Oregon 
 and the closeness of her position than upon her 13-inch 
 shells, one of which played such havoc. The admiral 
 was not seemingly impressed with the difference in
 
 NAVAIv LESSONS TAUGHT BY THE WAR. 85 
 
 effectiveness between the guns of large and small calibre, 
 but continued to lay stress on the admirable speed of 
 the Oregon. 
 
 "But," he continued, "the war has proved nothing 
 so far as the navy is concerned. The Spaniards showed 
 no enterprise. If we had come up against the navy of 
 England there would have been some basis for a con- 
 clusion, but shooting in the air, as the Spaniards did, 
 proves nothing. They had a fine fleet, with most modern 
 equipment, and yet they could kill only one man in the 
 whole encounter." 
 
 Admiral Sir George Elliot, of the British Navy, con- 
 siders that at least five important lessons have been 
 taught by the war. His opinions are as follows: 
 
 "First, in state of peace be fully prepared for war in 
 every respect; second, the value of adequately-protected 
 coaling stations; third, the value of superior speed for 
 the cruiser class, and especially for the more weakly- 
 armored vessels; fourth, the naval defense of seaports 
 by gunboats and the raising of the naval volunteer 
 corps as an integral portion of the naval reserve forces; 
 fifth, that great importance be attached to a steady gun 
 platform for quick-firing guns, looking to the small 
 number of hits compared with numerous shots fired. 
 
 "In this connection," said Sir George Elliot, "I 
 am informed that the Americans are likely to adopt 
 Captain Hodgett's form of bottom for their new ships, 
 which must give greater steadiness than bilge keels." 
 
 Admiral Sir Henry Nicholson, who was captain of 
 the Temeraire at the bombardment of Alexandria, and
 
 86 NAVAIv LESSONS TAUGHT BY THE WAR. 
 
 has since been commander in chief at the Cape of Good 
 Hope and at the Nore, has spoken thus: 
 
 "This war has taught us nothing. The state of the 
 Spanish navy has been for years so hopelessly rotten 
 that when the moment for action arrived its military 
 value was nil. The Spanish gunners hardly seem to have 
 got a hit in on any American ship. Nothing is taught 
 us as to the relative value of the belt or deck armor." 
 
 As regards ships versus forts, he said : 
 
 "The Spanish forts seem to have been, probably from 
 various reasons, as inefficient as their ships. Both the 
 Spaniards and the Americans in their use of torpedo 
 craft have shown very remarkable absence of dash. 
 Practically neither side has made any use of this 
 dreaded arm." 
 
 Captain Montagu Burrow, who is professor of modern 
 history at the University of Oxford, had this opinion 
 to offer: 
 
 "There are no new lessons to be learned, but only 
 confirmation of some that are very old. The state of 
 unreadiness in Spain when the war suddenly, broke out 
 might, from the unfortunate circumstances of that 
 country, have been expected, but if the United States 
 had had to deal with a Power anything like its own 
 strength it would have found its own position intensely 
 difficult. The war will probably have the effect of in- 
 ducing their government to keep up a standing army 
 and navy of a very superior kind to that of their present 
 S5'stem. The recent warning of their admirable writer, 
 Captain Mahan, will now have a chance of being 
 
 i
 
 NAVAL, LESSONS TAUGHT BY THE WAR. 87 
 
 listened to, but the Americans have only to expand 
 what is already proved to be good. The training of 
 their officers and men must have been of a superior kind 
 to enable them to handle their ships and point their 
 guns with such excellent effect. It was at one time con- 
 sidered doubtful whether modern guns could be as ac- 
 curately filed at great distances as the old armament at 
 shorter ranges, but they were laid quite as accurately, 
 and were far more destructive. ' ' 
 
 As the New York Herald declared at the time, the 
 United States had now attained their majority. They 
 were now of age, and their voice must be heard in the 
 council of nations. 
 
 There were misgivings all over Europe, especially in 
 Germany and France, old and bitter foes though they 
 are. 
 
 A prominent Parisian thus summed up these misgiv- 
 ings: 
 
 "The young American giant," he said, "is only try- 
 ing his strength on Spain, but what if he should use it 
 against us?"
 
 88 WHAT OUR ARMY ACHIEVED. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 WHAT OUR ARMY ACHIEVKD. 
 
 Now to turn from the navy to the arni)^, and see what 
 the latter achieved in Porto Rico. 
 
 On July 21, 1898, General Miles sailed from Guan- 
 tanarao Bay with a force of 3,415 men. General Wilson 
 had sailed the day before from Charleston with 4,000 
 men, and General Scliwan and his command sailed from 
 Port Tampa two days later. 
 
 The entire army of invasion numbered about eleven 
 thousand men. 
 
 The hardships on the transports were very great. 
 
 The Massachusetts carried three troops of cavalry 
 from New York and Pennsylvania to Porto Rico and the 
 events of the voyage have been thus narrated by an eye- 
 witness: 
 
 ' ' With the penetrating of the tropics come days of 
 languor and nights of inactivity so delicious it seems 
 profanation to move. More than one thousand men, who 
 boarded the Massachusetts with the vigor of the North 
 in their veins, have succumbed, one by one, to the 
 lethargy of the soft breeze of the Bahamas. 
 
 But an awakening is at hand. Pumps that have been 
 running steadily day and night slow down and stop. 
 Troopers had become so accustomed to the quick beat- 
 ing of the smaller machines that the cessation of throbs 
 between the slower pulsations of the heavier engines is
 
 WHAT OUR ARMY ACHIEVED. 89 
 
 noticed instantly. A quick inquiry as to the cause 
 brings the answer from one less well-informed: ' 'Only 
 the water pumps broken down. ' ' That is all , only eleven 
 hundred parched horses awaiting the answer to the 
 bugle call they had learned so well — "Water horses!" — 
 which sounded at the moment of the fatal break in the 
 pumps. Only a transport carrying ten hundred and 
 thirty men, and no means of extinguishing a fire! 
 
 Twenty minutes; one-half hour, and Captain Read, 
 who has gone down into ' ' the hole, ' ' asks for five Troop 
 Amen. "No hurry," so the order said. Somebody 
 knew better, and the troopers go, hand over hand, down 
 into the ship's hold, A few bales of hay come up and 
 over the side of the ship, and sizzle as they strike the 
 water. The troopers nurse a few burned fingers, and 
 Captain Read reappears on deck, smoked, wet with per- 
 spiration, and makes his usual answer to a question, 
 "What's the trouble?" with "Nothing at all." But 
 five men of Troop A and Captain Read knows that a 
 dangerous fire has been extinguished for the third time 
 in one day with men's bare hands. 
 
 "Three-quarters of an hour, and no sound from the en- 
 gine-room, except the steady throb of the propeller. 
 
 " 'Thirty men from Troop A, thirty men from City 
 Troop, and thirty men from Troop C!' and ninety men 
 in three squads silently are lined around that entrance 
 to Hades — the hole. 'Another fire,' was the quick 
 alarm, but it was worse than that. 'Water! water! 
 water!' the cry comes from the sunken eyes that look 
 pleadingly at men; from harsh breathing; from parched
 
 go WHAT OUR ARMY ACHIEVED. 
 
 throats ; from hanging heads of eleven hundred horses 
 and mules that had not been watered since receiving a 
 scant quart eighteen hours before. 'Let's see,' said the 
 United States cavalrymen, quietly, 'the pumps are 
 hopeless, but we can draw up one bucketful every minute 
 from the hold aft, and one every minute from the for- 
 ward hatch. We ought to water all in ten hours. Form 
 lines and water solid. The horse you skip will be dead 
 .in the morning.' 
 
 "The horses stand with swollen legs far apart, in- 
 stinctively to prevent a fall. Once down, they know 
 they never can get up. Their heads hang low and their 
 breathing comes in a whistle from parched lungs 
 through a long, dry throat and dusty mouth. There is 
 an occasional form in the black galleys. It is some 
 trooper, his big arms around the neck of his beloved 
 dying mount, with tears in his eyes, but petting and 
 talking to the animal as if it understood. Then ropes 
 over blocks begin to draw buckets of water from sixty 
 feet below. Immediately each horse or mule has its 
 draught, it is bathed in perspiration, and skin dry and 
 shriveled becomes soft and pliable. One can feel in the 
 dark, whether a horse has been missed or not. 
 
 ' 'There is a delay and an anxious inquiry from above: 
 'What's the matter?' 'Haul away,' is the response, and 
 the bucket comes heavy this time. Oh, it's only a man, 
 stark naked, fainting, with a rope beneath his arms, 
 and head away to one side. ' Hospital case, overcome, 
 haul away,' and another bucket swings upward." 
 
 Qf course the objective point of the whole campaign
 
 WHAT OUR ARMY ACHIEVED. 91 
 
 was the capital, San Juan, on the northeastern coast of 
 the island. Nevertheless the troops were mostly landed 
 on the southern coast not far from the southwestern 
 corner. The plan was to drive all the Spanish troops 
 upon the island into San Juan, where they could be cap- 
 tured upon the surrender of that city. 
 
 The Spaniards abandoned precipitately the whole 
 southern coast line, and this seemed to promise an easy 
 march for the Americans across Porto Rico. 
 
 But this was not exactly the case, as we shall proceed 
 to demonstrate. 
 
 There were several causes why the Spaniards fled be- 
 fore the invading Americans. 
 
 One was that in the beginning the Spanish forces, 
 from lack of knowledge as to where the Americans 
 would land, were widely scattered. B3' retreating, the 
 coast garrisons were brought together in bodies of more 
 or less magnitude. More than this in the interior could 
 be found stronger positions for defense, and there only 
 land forces would have to be dealt with. 
 
 It is probable that the Spaniards in Porto Rico, know- 
 ing as they must have, that the war was virtually over, 
 hoped by a show of resistance at the end to come out 
 with a certain degree of credit, and had resolved to give 
 up the fight only when they received an order to do so 
 from Madrid. 
 
 At all events, the Spanish troops disputed the Ameri- 
 can advance at several points. At Fajardo the American 
 forces raised the Stars and Stripes, but the Spaniards, 
 several hundred in number, pulled it down and even
 
 92 WHAT OUR ARMY ACHIEVED. 
 
 sought to drive away the lauding party that held the 
 lighthouse on the shore. This attempt was most mani- 
 festly absurd, as in the harbor was a squadron, consist- 
 ing of the monitor Amphitrite, the protected cruiser 
 Cincinnati and the Leyden. No time was lost in land- 
 ing men to support the lighthouse force, and to open 
 fire from the ships. The Spaniards were driven back 
 and suffered much from their foolish temerity. 
 
 In the beginning the plan of campaign included an 
 advance along three lines. 
 
 The first division, under General Schwan, was to ad- 
 vance along the western coast to Aguadilla, in the north- 
 western corner of the island, and then to push to the 
 east until Arecibo, on the northern coast and about half- 
 way between Aguadilla and San Juan, was reached. 
 The second division, under General Henry, was to push 
 directly to the north from Ponce, forming a union with 
 Schwan at Arecibo. The main advance was to be along 
 the military road from Ponce to San Juan. As this road 
 runs for some distance parallel to the southern coast, a 
 division was dispatched under General Brooke to land 
 at Arroyo and capture Guayama, an important city on 
 the military road, about forty miles east of Ponce. By 
 this means, whatever detachments of Spanish troops 
 might be stationed on the road between these two 
 points were exposed to attack from both front and 
 rear. 
 
 Before any of these movements could be completed, 
 however, came the armistice and the consequent cessa- 
 tion of hostilities.
 
 WHAT OUR ARMY ACHIEVED. 93 
 
 Much, though, had been accomplished before this, 
 enough to show what American arms were capable of. 
 
 In the east. General Brooke, after landing at Arroyo, 
 had taken Guayama ; in the centre. General Wilson had 
 advanced on the military road, occupied Coamo, and 
 had made a demonstration before Aibonito, w^here there 
 was a large Spanish force; further to the west. General 
 Henry had marched to within fifteen miles of Arecibo; 
 in the extreme west, General Schwan had marched along 
 the coast and taken Mayaguez, the principal port in that 
 end of the island, after a sharp skirmish with a force 
 that outnumbered his own. The slight opposition met 
 by General Brooke at Guayama, General Wilson at 
 Coamo, and General Schwan near Mayaguez, indicated 
 that there would be little difficulty in reaching the capi- 
 tal, and officers and men alike felt that the capture of 
 San Juan was a matter of but a few days. 
 
 The third landing of American troops in Porto Rico 
 took place on August 2, at Arroyo, from the St. Louis 
 and the St. Paul. The army then took the place of the 
 navy and accepted the surrender of the town. There 
 was no defense and no Spanish flag was flying. The 
 surrender of Arroyo was important, as there were a 
 large number of manufacturing enterprises there. 
 
 The attitude of the civil authorities and the ineffec- 
 tive character of the defense made by the Spanish 
 troops, says the San Francisco Argonaut, was illus- 
 trated by the advance made by General Henry's division. 
 General Roy Stone was sent in advance with a small 
 body of about one hundred men to reconnoiter the road
 
 94 WHAT OUR ARMY ACHIEVED. 
 
 and determine its fitness for military operations. The 
 character of the expedition may be gathered from the 
 fact that General Stone and his officers rode in carriages. 
 Yet town after town surrendered to these outposts until 
 they were encamped before Arecibo, on the northern 
 coast of the island. The main body had nothing to do 
 but follow and furnish flags for the surrendered munici- 
 palities. 
 
 One of the most extraordinary things in the whole 
 campaign was the surrender of the city of Ponce. This 
 was done in response to a telephone communication from 
 Ensign Curtin. Not a single shot was fired. 
 
 After the surrender of Ponce it was reported that a 
 large Spanish force had gathered about ten miles in the 
 interior. Two companies of soldiers were sent out by 
 General Ernst to see what this meant. On the outskirts 
 of the town a party of Spanish soldiers, loaded down 
 with guns and swords, was met with. As soon as the 
 Spaniards caught sight of the Americans they ran 
 toward them crying, "Don't shoot!" 
 
 They declared that they were coming in to surrender. 
 Although the party was small, they had arms enough to 
 stock a regiment. They were taken before General Wil- 
 son, gave up their arms and signed a parole. 
 
 There was quite a strong resistance made at Coamo, a 
 town on the main military road between Juana Diaz and 
 the Spanish mountain stronghold at Aibonito. General 
 Wilson effected the capture of this place with the most 
 consummate skill. His plan was simple enough. It was 
 nothing more nor less than an ordinary flank movement,
 
 WHAT OUR ARMY ACHIEVED. 95 
 
 such as Graut aud Sherman used so successfully during 
 the Civil War. 
 
 General Wilson advanced against the town on the 
 main road with sufficient infantry, cavalry and artillery 
 to drive out the Spanish garrison. But when the latter 
 attempted to retreat they found their way blocked by 
 the Sixteenth Pennsylvania, under Colonel Hulings, 
 which General Wilson had sent round to the rear of the 
 town the night before. 
 
 The attack in front was timed so as to allow this force 
 to get into position. 
 
 The Battle of Coamo, if indeed, it can be so called, 
 for it was nothing more than a lively skirmish, has been 
 thus described: 
 
 "Just as darkness fell, the regiment left the military 
 road and struck at a right angle for the hills to the 
 northward. Porto Rican guides led the way over paths 
 so rough and narrow that the men could move only in 
 single file. It was toilsome progress. Absolute silence 
 was enjoined ; no smoking was permitted lest the fitful 
 flash of a match should betray the movement to the 
 watchful Spaniards on the hills. For hours the men 
 toiled on. The officers were compelled to walk and lead 
 their horses. Creeks and rivulets were waded; lofty 
 hills were climbed or skirted; j'awning ravines were 
 crossed. The men dripped with perspiration, although 
 the night air was chilly. 
 
 * ' At dawn both General Wilson and General Ernest 
 were in the saddle, and long before the shadows lifted 
 from the valleys the main body of the army was in mo-
 
 96 WHAT OUR ARMY ACHIEVED. 
 
 tion to drive the enemy out of the town and into Hill- 
 ing's net. Nearer than the village and off to the right 
 was the blockhouse of Llamo de Coamo. The block- 
 house was the first place attacked. There was a heavy, 
 jarring rumble over the macadam of the military road. 
 Anderson's battery came along at a sharp trot. At a 
 turn in the road where the blockhouse came into view it 
 halted. Two minutes later the fight opened. For a few 
 minutes the Spanish returned the fire with Mausers, but 
 as shell after shell crashed through the blockhouse, they 
 abandoned it and fell back toward Coamo. Soon flames 
 leaped upward from the roof, and an hour later the fort 
 was but a smoldering ruin. 
 
 Meanwhile the infantry was pressing rapidly forward. 
 General Wilson was wondering what had become of 
 Hulings. Not a warlike sound came from the village, a 
 mile and a half away. Had the garrison escaped ? Sud- 
 denly from beyond the town came the rattle of mus- 
 ketry. Soon the sound swelled into a steady roar, which 
 the mountains echoed again and again." 
 
 The same writer tells a story in regard to one whom 
 he terms a real hero of the war, and he calls attention to 
 the callous manner in which Spanish soldiers were sac- 
 rificed to protect political adventurers at home. To 
 quote his own words: 
 
 ' ' His name was Don Rafael Martinez. There was no 
 military justification for attempting to hold Coamo 
 under the circumstances. Yet Major Martinez stayed. 
 He was still in the prime of youth and in fine health. 
 In Spain his family is aristocratic and influential, and
 
 WHAT OUR ARMY ACHIEVED. 97 
 
 could have protected liiiu fioni the consequences of a 
 quixotic court-martial. Martinez knew that resistance 
 was utterly hopeless. But Colonel San Martian had 
 been practically disgraced by Governor-General Macias 
 for evacuating Ponce, and all commanders of garrisons 
 in the path of the American army were ordered to fight. 
 So Major Martinez kissed his young wife and children 
 good-by one day last week and sent them into San Juan 
 for safety. His scouts brought word that an American 
 column of double the garrison's strength was slowly 
 creeping around to his rear. Then Martinez knew that he 
 was trapped, and decided to go out and meet the eneni}'. 
 He rode in advance of his slender column until he 
 sighted Hulings's men, who were immediately apprised 
 of the enemy's presence by a volley. Soon bullets were 
 flying like hail. Martinez, mounted upon a gray horse, 
 rode up and down in front of his troops, uttering en- 
 couraging words. The soldier's death which Martinez 
 sought was not long coming. For a while he reeled in 
 his saddle, maintaining his seat with evident difficulty. 
 Then his horse went to his knees, and Martinez slowly 
 slid from the saddle, a lifeless form. When Major Mar- 
 tinez was found, five wounds, three of which were mor- 
 tal, were discovered. His horse was shot in four places." 
 The result of the attack on Coamo was the capture of 
 about one hundred and eighty men, or most of the gar- 
 rison except the cavalry who took to the mountains by 
 paths better known to them than to the Americans. Of 
 General Wilson's force, none was killed and only a few 
 were wounded.
 
 98 WHAT OUR ARMY ACHIEVED. 
 
 The whole affair was splendidly managed. As has 
 been said before, all General Miles's plans could be put 
 into action, the war was practically ended. 
 
 On the afternoon of August 12, Secretary of State Day 
 and M. Cambon, the French ambassador, who was rep- 
 resenting Spain, affixed their signatures to duplicate 
 copies of a protocol establishing a basis upon which the 
 two countries, acting through their respective commis- 
 sioners, could negotiate terms of peace. 
 
 The provisions of the protocol were practically as 
 follows : 
 
 1. That Spain will relinquish all claim of sovereignty 
 over and title to Cuba. 
 
 2. That Porto Rico and other Spanish islands in the 
 West Indies, and an island in the Ladrones, to be se- 
 lected by the United States, shall be ceded to the latter. 
 
 3. That the United States will occupy and hold the 
 city, bay and harbor of Manila, pending the conclusion 
 of a treaty of peace which shall determine the control, 
 disposition and government of the Philippines. 
 
 4. That Cuba, Porto Rico and other Spanish islands in 
 the West Indies shall be immediately evacuated, and that 
 commissioners, to be appointed within ten days, shall, 
 within thirty days from the signing of the protocol, 
 meet at Havana and San Juan respectively, to arrange 
 and execute the details of the evacuation. 
 
 5. That the United States and Spain will each appoint 
 not more than five commissioners to negotiate and con- 
 clude a treaty of peace. The commissioners are to meet 
 at Fans not later tlian OctoDer 1.
 
 WHAT OUR ARMY ACHIEVED. 99 
 
 6. On the signing of the protocol, hostilities will be 
 suspended and notice to that effect will be given as soon 
 as possible by each Government to the commanders of 
 its military and naval forces. 
 
 The President at once signed the following proclama- 
 tion, declaring an armistice: 
 
 "By the President of the United States of America: 
 
 "A PROCLAMATION. 
 
 "Whereas, By a protocol concluded and signed 
 August 12, 1898, by William R. Day, Secretary of State 
 of the United States, and his Excellency Jules Cambon, 
 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the 
 republic of France at Washington, respectively repre- 
 senting for this purpose the Government of the United 
 States and the Government of Spain, the United States 
 and Spain have formally agreed upon the terms on 
 which negotiations for the establishment of peace be- 
 tween the two countries shall be undertaken; and, 
 
 ' ' Whereas, It is in said protocol agreed that upon its 
 conclusion and signature hostilities between the two 
 countries shall be supended, and that notice to that 
 effect shall be given as soon as possible by each govern- 
 ment to the commanders of its militar}^ and naval forces; 
 
 "Now, therefore, I, William McKinley, President of 
 the United States, do, in accordance with the stipula- 
 tions of the protocol, declare and proclaim on the part of 
 the United States a suspension of hostilities, and do 
 hereby command that orders be immediatel}' given 
 through the proper channels to the commanders ol ti.e
 
 loo WHAT OUR ARMY ACHIEVED. 
 
 military and naval forces of the United States to abstain 
 from all acts inconsistent with this proclamation. 
 
 "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand 
 and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. 
 
 "Done at the city of Washington, this 12th day of 
 August, in the year of our lyord one thousand eight hun- 
 dred and ninety-eight, and of the independence of the 
 United States the one hundred and twenty-third. 
 
 "William McKinley. 
 
 "By the President. William R. Day, Secretary of State." 
 It may be interesting to pause here for a moment and 
 note what the London press had to say as to this sus- 
 pension of hostilities. It will be observed that the com- 
 ments were extraordinarily favorable to the United 
 States. 
 
 The Standard, commenting on the signing of the 
 protocol by the representatives of Spain and the United 
 States, said : ' ' Thus ends one of the most swiftly de- 
 cisive wars in history. Spanish rule disappears from the 
 West. The conquerors have problems of great difficulty 
 before them. Doubtless they will face them with patriotic 
 resolution." 
 
 The Daily News said: "August 12, 1898, will be a 
 memorable day in the histor^^ of the world. It is the 
 day which witnessed the death of one famous empire 
 and the birth of another, destined perhaps to more en- 
 during fame. It must be admitted that the results 
 achieved are a substantial record for four months of 
 war."
 
 WHAT OUR ARMY ACHIEVED. loi 
 
 The Morning Post said that the protocol leaves open 
 the two questions regarding which future difficulties 
 that may not concern the United States and Spain alone 
 are likely to arise. It advises Spain, assuming that the 
 United States only holds Manila, to sell the Philippines. 
 
 The Daily Telegraph was impressed by the indiffer- 
 ence of the bulk of the Spanish nation to the sentiment 
 of national pride, which seems to be extinct. For this 
 reason national life, in the true sense of the word, must 
 sooner or later cease to exist. 
 
 The paper discussed the decadence of Spain in con- 
 nection with the contention that France and Italy have 
 become stationary, and predicts the ultimate disappear- 
 ance of the Latin race as a factor in the human drama. 
 
 The Chronicle said that the American people will 
 never regret the sacrifices they have made to remove the 
 Spanish colonies from the map. 
 
 It added that many more difficulties and sacrifices 
 await them, but the result will be the growth of freedom 
 and the extension of human happiness and prosperity. 
 
 The Times said it hoped it was not a violation of 
 neutrality to express the satisfaction felt by a great ma- 
 jority of Knglishmen at the success of the United States. 
 It added : 
 
 ' ' Historians will wrangle for a long time respecting 
 the propriety of the methods by which the war was 
 brought about, but once begun it was eminently desira- 
 ble for the interests of the world, and even, perhaps, 
 ultimately to the interests of Spain herself, that it 
 should result in the success of the Americans.
 
 I02 WHAT OUR ARMY ACHIEVED. 
 
 The factor in the situation which is of the greatest 
 immediate importance to ourselves is the fate of the 
 Philippines." 
 
 The Times thought it very remarkable that the New 
 York newspapers discovered on the same day that the 
 United States were bound to put themselves in the best 
 possible position for defending the common interests of 
 themselves and Great Britain in China. It concluded: 
 
 ' ' Providence in the nick of time has given them the 
 Philippines." 
 
 The armistice proclamation was followed at once by 
 orders from the War Department to the several com- 
 manding generals in the field directing that all military 
 operations be suspended. 
 
 This was the text of the message to General Miles: 
 
 "Adjutant-General's Office, 
 Washington, Aug. 12, 1898. 
 "Major-General Miles, Ponce, Porto Rico: 
 
 "The President directs that all military operations 
 against the enemy be suspended. Peace negotiations are 
 nearing completion, a protocol having just been signed 
 by representatives of the two countries. You will in- 
 form the commander of the Spanish forces in Porto Rico 
 of these instructions. Further orders will follow. 
 Acknowledge receipt. 
 
 * ' By order Secretary of War. 
 
 "H. C. Corbin, Adjutant-General." 
 
 These orders, coming as they did, undoubtedly pre- 
 vented the sacrifice of manj^ valuable lives before San
 
 WHAT OUR ARMY ACHIEVED. 103 
 
 Juan. But they were anything but popular among the 
 American troops, for they reached the various divisions 
 just as each was about to strike a decisive blow. 
 
 The Spaniards, however, it is said, received the news 
 with loud manifestations of delight. 
 
 In General Brook's division, a battery had just been 
 advanced to position and the order to fire was about to 
 be given, when a courier, his steed panting and covered 
 with foam, dashed upon the field and informed the gen- 
 eral that an armistice had been concluded. 
 
 General Brooke's sole repl}' was: 
 
 ' 'Ivieutenant, you arrived five minutes too soon. You 
 should have been more considerate of your horse." 
 
 While our army did not have a chance to show all 
 that it was capable of accomplishing, it was proven con- 
 clusively that the Yankees are good and brave fighters. 
 
 The sight of an army springing up out of nothing, 
 the spectacle of the monumental work of military 
 organization being pushed on to success in spite of mis- 
 takes, arrested the attention of all European nations. 
 
 One thing is certain — a noble victory has been nobly 
 won; and won, happily at a cost, which, deplorable 
 though it actually was, was relatively small, as must be 
 acknowledged by every student of the warfare of the 
 past.
 
 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US- 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 HOW the; PORTO RICANS RECKIVKD US. 
 
 Whatever may have been the attitude and feelings of 
 the Spanish officials and Spanish troops, there can be no 
 doubt that the Porto Ricaus themselves welcomed most 
 enthusiastically the advent of the Americans and the 
 dawn of a new era. The joy manifested at the sight of 
 invaders in a conquered country was most extraordin- 
 ary, and we can affirm with truth that it has no parallel 
 in history. 
 
 It was most fortunate that little or no fighting took 
 place, as thus many valuable lives were saved. There 
 was no question whatever as to the result. 
 
 The number and location of the Spanish troops on the 
 island just before the armistice was declared were as 
 follows : 
 
 Aibonito, i, 800 men, and two 4-inch field cannon; 
 Cavey, 700 men; Caguas, 600; Rio Piedras, 180; 
 Carolite, 320; Arecibo, 320, and two 4-inch field can- 
 non; Aguadilla, 320; Crab Island, 100; Bayamon, 395; 
 San Juan, 1,706, making a total of 5,441, to which ma3' 
 be added approximately 500 of the Guardia Civil, doing 
 duty in their own villages all over the island, and 200 
 of the Orden Publico, doing similar police duty in San 
 Juan. Many members of the Guardia Civil in or near 
 the territory held by the American troops joined the 
 Americans.
 
 HOW the; PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. 105 
 
 It cannot be told with any certainty how much re- 
 sistance the Spaniards would have offered had hostilities 
 continued, but most of the fighting would have un- 
 doubtedly taken place within sight of San Juan. The 
 Spaniards themselves believed this, as the preparations 
 they made sufficiently indicated. 
 
 The native people generally were thoroughly de- 
 lighted with the news that the island was likely to be 
 ceded to the United States. Wherever the American flag 
 went up, it was cheered with a vigor that probably was 
 never given to the Spanish flag during all the centuries 
 it has been in evidence. 
 
 Everywhere, the people rushed forward to welcome 
 the invaders, and showered them with hospitable atten- 
 tions. Pretty women dressed themselves in their richest 
 garments and smiled their sweetest smiles to charm the 
 conquerors. 
 
 Food, cigars and wines were pressed upon the soldiers; 
 the civil authorities issued florid proclamations over the 
 glad event of becoming "Americanos," and the whole 
 country blossomed with Star-Spangled banners. The 
 only reason why even more of them were not displayed 
 was because more of them could not be obtained. 
 
 It was one of the most unlooked-for and surprising 
 things of this most surprising war, as a writer in the 
 National Tribune of Washington observes. 
 
 The same writer goes on to say that really there is 
 good reason for all this. 
 
 "The substantial people of Puerto Rico know that it 
 is immensely to their interest to cut loose from Spain,
 
 To6 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. 
 
 and be grafted on to the United States, The greater 
 part of their trade is with this country, and Spain has 
 been bleeding them for the privilege of carrying it on. 
 Now they can send their coffee, sugar, tobacco, tropical 
 fruits, etc., directl}' to this market, get American prices 
 for them, and buy American goods in return at regular 
 American prices. 
 
 "They ought to be mighty glad to get into this coun- 
 try, but, being Spaniards, we hardly expected them to 
 have so much sense." 
 
 Guanica was the first town taken by our soldiers. 
 
 The enthusiasm was unbounded, and numbers of 
 the citizens called to pay their respects to the leading 
 officers. 
 
 At Guanica the following proclamation was issued to 
 the people of the island under the signature of General 
 Miles: 
 
 "Guanica, Porto Rico, July 27, 1898. 
 "To the Inhabitants of Porto Rico: 
 
 "In the prosecution of the war against the Kingdom 
 of Spain by the people of the United States, in the cause 
 of libert}', justice and humanity, its military forces have 
 come to occupy the islands of Porto Rico. They come 
 bearing the banners of freedom, inspired by noble pur- 
 poses, to seek the enemies of our government and of 
 yours, and to destro}' 01 capture all in armed resistance. 
 
 ' ' They bring you the fostering arms of a free people, 
 whose greatest power is justice and humanity to all liv- 
 ing within their fold. Hence they release you from
 
 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. 107 
 
 your former political relations, and it is hoped this will 
 be followed by the cheerful acceptance of the govern- 
 ment of the United States. 
 
 "The chief object of the American military forces 
 will be to overthrow the armed authority of Spain and 
 give the people of your beautiful island the largest 
 measure of liberty consistent with this military occu- 
 pation. 
 
 "They have not come to make war on the people of 
 the country, who for centuries have been oppressed ; but, 
 on the contrary, they bring protection, not only to your- 
 selves, but to your property, promote your prosperity 
 and bestow the immunities and blessings of our enlight- 
 enment and liberal institutions and government. It is 
 not their purpose to interfere with the existing laws 
 and customs, which are wholesome and beneficial to 
 the people, so long as they conform to the rules of the 
 military administration, order and justice. This is not 
 a war of devastation and dissolution, but one to give all 
 within the control of the military and naval forces the 
 advantages and blessings of enlightened civilization." 
 
 The mayor of Guanica also issued a proclamation, 
 which was thus worded : 
 
 "Citizens: God, who rules the destinies of nations, 
 has decreed that the Eagle of the North, coming from 
 the waters of a land where liberty first sprang forth to 
 life, should extend to us his protecting wings. Under 
 his plumage, sweetly reposing, the Pearl of the An- 
 tilles, called Porto Rico, will remain from Jul)' 25. 
 
 ' ' The starry banner has floated gayly in the valleys of
 
 io8 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. 
 
 Guanica, the most beautiful port of this downtrodden 
 land. This city was selected by General Miles as the 
 place in which to officially plant his flag in the name of 
 his government, the United States of America. It is the 
 ensign of grandeur and the guarantee of order, morality 
 and justice. Let us join together to strengthen, to sup- 
 port and to further a great work. Let us clasp to our 
 bosoms the great treasure which is generously offered to 
 us while saluting with all our hearts the name of the 
 great Washington. 
 
 ' ' Augustin Barrenecha, Alcalde. 
 "Guanica, Porto Rico, U. S. A., July 26, 1898." 
 
 Yauco was the next to surrender. 
 When the troops took possession of the town the 
 mayor promptly issued this proclamation : 
 
 ''Citizens: 
 
 ' ' To-da}^ the citizens of Porto Rico assist in one of 
 her most beautiful festivals. The sun of America shines 
 upon our mountains and valleys this day of July, 1898. 
 It is a day of glorious remembrance for each .son of this 
 beloved isle, because for the first time there waves over 
 it the flag of the Stars, planted in the name of the Gov- 
 ernment of the United States of America by the major- 
 general of the American Army, General Miles. 
 
 "Porto Ricans, we are by tlie miraculous intervention 
 of the God of the just given back to the bosom of our 
 mother America, in whose waters Nature placed us as 
 people of America, To her we are given back in the 
 name of her government by General Miles, and we must
 
 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. 109 
 
 send her our most expressive salutation of generous 
 affection through our conduct toward the valiant troops 
 represented by distinguished officers and commanded b)' 
 the illustrious General Miles. 
 
 "Citizens: Long live the Government of the United 
 States of America! Hail to their valiant troops! Hail 
 Porto Rico, always American ! 
 
 " Yauco. Porto Rico, United States of America. 
 
 ' ' El Alcalde, Francisco Megia. ' ' 
 
 The alcalde is the judge who administers justice, and 
 he also presides as mayor over the City Council. 
 
 The citizens of the town hugged the Americans, and 
 some fell upon their knees and embraced the legs of the 
 soldiers. It was a most remarkable spectacle. 
 
 On July 29, Ponce was formally given over to the 
 Americans, without the firing of a single shot. The 
 populace received the troops and saluted the flag with 
 enthusiasm. When General Miles entered the city he 
 was welcomed by the mayor, cheered to the echo by the 
 citizens and serenaded by a band of music. 
 
 The mayor of Ponce issued a proclamation of the same 
 tenor as that of the mayor of Yauco, although not quite 
 so enthusiastic. 
 
 General Wilson was made military governor of Ponce. 
 
 A day or two after the taking of Ponce several local 
 judges were sworn intoofiice. This was the first time in 
 the history of the United States that the judges of a 
 foreign, hostile but conquered country, swore to support 
 the Constitution of the United States.
 
 no HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. 
 
 The following was the form sworn to by the various 
 officials: 
 
 "I declare under oath that, during the occupation of 
 the island of Porto Rico by the United States, I will re- 
 nounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to every 
 foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, particu- 
 larly the Queen Regent and the King of Spain, and will 
 support the constitution of the United States against all 
 enemies, foreign or domestic, and will bear true faith 
 and allegiance to the same. 
 
 ' ' Further, I will faithfully support the Government of 
 the United States, established by the military authorities 
 in the island of Porto Rico, will yield obedience to the 
 same and take the obligation freely, without mental 
 reservation or with the purpose of evasion, so help me 
 God." 
 
 On July 31, the commanding general sent a message 
 to the War Department, the first official one received 
 from Ponce. It read as follows: 
 
 "Secretary of War, Washington, D. C. : 
 
 ' ' Your telegrams 27th received and answered by let- 
 ter. Volunteers are surrendering themselves with arms 
 and ammunition ; four-fifths of the people are overjoyed 
 at the arrival of the army. Two thousand from one place 
 have volunteered to serve with it. They are bringing in 
 transportation, beef, cattle and other needed supplies. 
 
 "The Custom House has already yielded $14,000. 
 
 "As soon as all the troops are disembarked they will 
 be in readiness to move.
 
 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. iii 
 
 ''Please send any national colors that can be spared, 
 to be given to the different municipalities. 
 
 * 'I request that the question of the tariff rates to be 
 charged m the parts of Porto Rico occupied by our 
 forces be submitted to the President for his action, the 
 previously existing tariff remaining meanwhile in force. 
 As to the government under military occupation, I have 
 already given instructions based upon the instructions 
 issued by the President in the case of the Philippine 
 Islands, and similar to those issued at Santiago de Cuba. 
 
 "Miles." 
 
 When the soldiers entered Ponce the people sang the 
 "Star-Spangled Banner" in a mixture of Spanish and 
 English, and every time this tune was heard the police 
 forced everybody to remove his hat ! 
 
 "The natives are, upon the whole, exceedingly 
 friendly," says a correspondent of the New York Sun, 
 "and almost all of them welcome the American army. 
 The ilag is voluntarily displayed from many of the 
 principal stores. If there are any Spanish flags in the 
 city they are kept carefully concealed. In the stores 
 American goods are sometimes to be found, particularly 
 in hardware stores. All fabrics, foods, and luxuries, 
 however, have been imported from Europe, mostly from 
 Spain. The Spanish Government forces its colonies to 
 import from home by levying a heavy discriminating 
 duty upon all goods not Spanish. Prices are very high, 
 notwithstanding which fact business is brisk. 
 
 The soldiers are good customers and buy all sorts of
 
 112 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. 
 
 curios as souvenirs for friends at home. The officers, 
 too, buy considerable quantities of light underclothing. 
 It is safe to say that there has never before been as 
 much money in circulation here. All the merchants 
 favor annexation." 
 
 In an article in the National Magazine the following 
 is said : 
 
 "The Porto Ricans have taken very quickly and kind- 
 ly to American occupation. Some have been so quick in 
 changing that their conversion may be doubted. For 
 instance, the editor of La Nueva Era, a daily which in 
 two scraggy leaves purports to be a 'journal of news, 
 travel, science, literature and freedom,' was only a few 
 weeks ago raving at the ' American Pigs' ; while now 
 he luxuriates under the eagle's aegis and writes eulogies 
 upon Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and Wil- 
 liam McKinley. Nor is he alone in his devotion to the 
 American idea. The small boy curses his neighbor by 
 calling him 'un Espanol,' and treats you with disdain if 
 you suggest that he is simply a poor Porto Rican. 'No, 
 no,' he says, pointing at himself. 'No, Espanol, Porto- 
 Rican Americano. ' His motives are not, however, always 
 of the sincerest, for the boys have learned a trick of say- 
 ing to the passing Yankee, 'Viva America,' and then 
 putting up the forefinger with this half-asked question, 
 'one cent?' " 
 
 A brilliant writer in one of the magazines says that in 
 speaking with a leading merchant of Ponce, he asked 
 him if the people were really so delighted with the new 
 regime.
 
 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. 113 
 
 " 'Well, frankly, no,' he replied, 'the mass will wel- 
 come any change, but it is quite a question whether we 
 shall gain by annexation to the United States. I 
 have lived in America. Now the Spaniards taxed us 
 heavily, but when they got their money they went off 
 and let us alone. The custom-house officers stole nearly 
 everything from the government. But then we have yet 
 to see how the American custom-house officers will act. 
 Spain knew us and we knew Spain ; there were few 
 complaints. The church tax was not heavy, and I never 
 went to service. We do not want the negroes enfran- 
 chised till they are better educated. Then the money 
 question is going to be bad for many of us here. We 
 shall suffer dreadfully if the American government 
 makes our dollar worth only fifty cents. ' 
 
 "The man who uttered these words is a highly 
 respected citizen, speaks English well, and understands 
 America as well as Spain. 
 
 "While we were looking over the town we came upon 
 the jail where there are about one hundred and sixty 
 Spanish prisoners," the same writer goes on to say. 
 ' ' Many of these men were selling their chevrons and 
 buttons and other marks of rank with an alacrity worthy 
 of a better cause. One of our party, however, experi- 
 enced a chill when upon asking one of the prisoners 
 how much he would sell his chevrons for he got this 
 reply, 'No, por el dinero en globo.' 'Not for all the 
 money on earth." 
 
 "There spoke the true spirit of Spain. The Spain 
 which sent armies to Jerusalem, patronized Columbus,
 
 114 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. 
 
 conquered the half of America with a handful of men — 
 that Spain, with all her black tragedies, never sold her 
 chevrons. Let us be merciful to a fallen foe ; at least, let 
 us be truthful. Thank God Spain's power in this hemis- 
 phere is crushed. Yet there was chivalry in the old 
 regime. We can afford to be magnanimous now; he who 
 bends above the fallen forever stands erect." 
 
 On August 4, when rumors of Spain's submission 
 reached Porto Rico, the editor of L,a Nueva Era wound 
 up his leading editorial with these words: 
 
 "Hurra por la anexion a los Estados Unidos!" 
 
 He also gave this excellent sanitary advice to the in- 
 vading army : 
 
 "TO THE BOYS! 
 
 "Keep away from fruit of every description and Rum, 
 if you wish to keep your health in this climate." 
 
 Moreover, he published this: 
 
 "It is an undeniable fact that wherever the American 
 forces have landed they have been welcomed by the peo- 
 ple as liberators amid the greatest enthusiasm. 
 
 "A new era has dawned for this country and is the 
 advent of happier times. 
 
 "The spectre of suspicion with which we were men- 
 aced has disappeared forever. We are now sure that the 
 air we breathe is ours and we can breathe it to our fill. 
 
 "The labor accomplished by the people of the United 
 States in taking this island, and we say accomplished, 
 as nothing can oppose their arms, is truly a labor of 
 humanity and redemption, and will be one of the great- 
 est glories of the great republic.
 
 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. 115 
 
 "'Let us render thauks to the Almighty for the bless- 
 ing, and let us be well assured that Porto Rico has be- 
 fore it a future of unlimited progress and well-being." 
 
 The most rabid Spanish publication of all, La Demo- 
 cracia, issued an address to the public announcing the 
 demise of the paper under its former name, and giving 
 notice that it would reappear under the name of the 
 Courier with a portion printed in English. 
 
 In making this announcement the editor promised in 
 the new edition: 
 
 " To explain our ideas of brothership and harmony, 
 answering to the ideas proclaimed to the press by our 
 new military authority, such as that the American army 
 has not come as our enemies, but with the purpose of 
 harmonizing with the citizens of Porto Rico. We are 
 pleased to make known that thase ideas have been re- 
 spected, and that all the acts of the forces occupying 
 our city have been characterized by the most exquisite 
 correctness, and»that the American troops fraternize with 
 our people." 
 
 At all events, these extracts serve to show the trend 
 of public opinion. 
 
 ' ' Mr. Morrisey in speaking of the Ponce of to-day says 
 that 'the city is in a horrible sanitary condition, and 
 I wondered how the United States troops stood it. I 
 learned there had been an improvement since the sol- 
 diers' arrival, but there is room for considerable more, I 
 think. I went to the Hotel Ingleterra, which is consid- 
 ered the best one in Ponce, and engaged a room. My 
 first meal there was breakfast, which was served at 1 1
 
 Ii6 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. 
 
 o'clock. My meal consisted of rice, black beans and 
 coffee, all of which was fair. At dinner, which is always 
 served at 6 o'clock, I had the same fare. I tried to get 
 eggs after the first day, but was successful on only two 
 occasions, and then had to pay 7 cents each for them. I 
 learned that the soldiers had made a corner in eggs and 
 had bought nearly all of them, which, of course, made 
 them scarce at the hotels and eating places. All the 
 water used in the hotel is filtered through a huge block 
 of brownstone and even then it is pretty poor. ' 
 
 "Mr, Morrisey visited the place known as the market 
 in the heart of the city of Ponce, and saw some very 
 interesting scenes. A few of the better class of the 
 natives visited the market several times during the day 
 and made their purchases. There are no butchers in the 
 city, and it is a queer sight, Mr. Morrisey said, to see 
 the way the merchants deliver meat to the purchasers. 
 This article is bought by the penny and a piece about 
 as long as one's finger is sold for 2 cents. The meat is 
 not cut into steaks but in huge lumps. Another thing 
 in reference to the meat is that it is all killed the day 
 before used, which, of course, makes it very tough. The 
 beer on the island is kept in a warm place without any 
 ice and is served in that state. Most of the beer is im- 
 ported from Germany, and it is only recently that 
 American beer has found its way in the country. This 
 is kept in bottles and when it is served to a customer a 
 small piece of ice is dropped into it. The beer drinker 
 may imagine the rest. The natives do not use much of 
 the beer, but are .satisfied with the black coffee and wine.
 
 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. I17 
 
 * ' The money question has not assumed any large pro- 
 portions in Porto Rico. Very little money is in circula- 
 tion on the island. The better class of the natives who 
 are supposed to have some money, spend most of their 
 time and money in Spain, and the stores and merchants, 
 as a result, do not get much of their money. These 
 stores are plentifully supplied with goods, but there is 
 no one to buy them. As soon as the United States sol- 
 diers arrived on the island the shopkeepers saw visions 
 of money rolling into their pockets. The price on every 
 article in the stores was increased, and what a native 
 would buy for ten cents the American would be com- 
 pelled to pay one dollar for the same article. The fare 
 on the railroad running from Ponce to Playo, a distance 
 of about three miles, is one dollar for an excursion trip. 
 The natives make the same trip for twelve cents. Every 
 scheme that can be thought of is practiced b}" the natives 
 in order to get money from the Americans. In the street 
 and at the entrances to the hotels numerous beggars can 
 be found, all asking for money. Nearly all the inhabi- 
 tants seemed to be engaged in this sort of work, and the 
 sight of them lounging around, even inside the hotels, 
 is disgusting, says Mr. Morrisey, It is a hard matter to 
 get them to work, and their appearance in scarcely any 
 clothes on the streets is.a sight. 
 
 ' ' The women go about the roads and plantations smok- 
 ing large cigars, and are not affected in any manner by 
 the weed. Children of both sexes up to the age of twelve 
 years are permitted to roam about the streets naked, 
 while their parents are not much better off. Nothing
 
 ii8 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. 
 
 but a skirt is worn by the women and the men wear 
 ragged shirts and trousers. Shoes are rarely seen in 
 Porto Rico and a native who is lucky enough to have 
 them is the cynosure of all eyes. The women do not 
 know what silks and satins are, and, it seems, are not 
 desirous of knowing. When night comes the men pre 
 pare themselves for bed. This is not hard work, and 
 takes very little time. They tie their heads up in large 
 towels to protect them from the sting of the mosquito, 
 and then lie down in the streets or roads and sleep. 
 These people live mainly on the milk from the cocoanut. 
 Bread is a stranger to them, and very little food is con- 
 sumed by them,, except the wild fruits and vegetables 
 which abound in the outskirts of the cities. 
 
 ' ' Mr. Morrisey said the soldiers at Ponce were in a 
 fairly good condition, but it is his opinion that it is no 
 fit place for them under the present condition of the 
 country. He said when the soldier is taken down with 
 typhoid malaria or dysentery he loses flesh rapidly, and 
 he can never regain it as long as he stays in that 
 climate." 
 
 All this, although it is in some respects different from 
 some of the opinions we have quoted, is very interesting 
 as it is from a recent eye witness, and shows how Porto 
 Rico of the present impressed a very intelligent man. 
 
 The fourth town to surrender, previous to the news of 
 the armistice and therefore the general capitulation of 
 the island, was Juan Diaz. There was a report that 
 there were some Spanish soldiers there, and four com- 
 panies of the Sixteenth Pennsylvania were sent to find
 
 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. 119 
 
 them. Couriers announced the coming of the Americans 
 to the people of the town, and a brass band came out to 
 meet them. The vast majority of the citizens assembled 
 on the outskirts of the town and as the American volun- 
 teers appeared the band played "Yankee Doodle" and 
 other patriotic American airs, wdiile the people cried: 
 "Vivan los Americanos." 
 
 A large number had presents of cigars, cigarettes, to- 
 bacco and various fruits which tliey loaded upon the sol- 
 diers, and many insisted upon taking the visitors to 
 their homes. Everywhere, the American flag was wav- 
 ing. In the public square the mayor made a speech, in 
 which he said that all the people of Juan Diaz were 
 Americans now, and the crowd shouted ; 
 
 "Death to the Spaniards!" 
 
 While speaking of Juan Diaz, perhaps it will prove of 
 interest to insert the opinion of a correspondent of one 
 of the New York papers as to the women of that town 
 and of Porto Rico in general. He says: 
 
 "No one ever walks in Porto Rico. The mule's the 
 thing here. The women ride a great deal. The better 
 class use the English side saddle, although a few prefer 
 the more picturesque and safer, but less graceful, Span- 
 ish saddle. In the country districts the pillion is occa- 
 sionally employed, while among the lower classes many 
 women ride astride without exciting comment. When 
 the natives are both pretty and good riders they display 
 considerable coquetry in the saddle. 
 
 ' ' I noticed one rider near Juan Diaz who took my mind 
 back to the old days of chivalry. She was a lovely girl
 
 I20 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US, 
 
 of about fifteen or sixteen, with a face like a Madonna 
 and a figure like an artist's model. One little foot crept 
 out beneath her silk riding skirt, and to my surprise it 
 was devoid of hosiery. The skin was like polished vel- 
 vet, and was of a pinkish gold of an exquisite tint. It 
 was shod with a slipper of satin or silk, embroidered in 
 color and had an arched instep which made the foot all 
 the more charming by its setting. 
 
 ' ' The time to see the women at their best is on Sunday 
 morning, when they ride from their homes to mass in 
 the nearest church or cathedral. On one Sunday morn- 
 ing, while riding leisurel}' into a small village on my 
 way to this town, I met a crowd of worshippers on their 
 way to mass. Nearly all the women were on mule back, 
 and sat or lolled as if they were in an easy chair in their 
 own homes. A few, probably wealthier than the others, 
 or else delicate in health, were accompanied by little 
 darky boys, who held over them a parasol or an um- 
 brella. 
 
 "On Sunday each woman wears a huge rosary, some- 
 times so large as to be uncomfortable. I saw several that 
 were so unwieldy that they went over the shoulders and 
 formed a huge line, larger indeed than a string of sleigh 
 bells. These are ornamental rosaries and are not used 
 for pra3'er. Tlie praying rosary is as small and dainty as 
 those used by fashionable women in our own Roman 
 Catholic churches. Besides the fan and the rosary every 
 woman was provided with a neat and often handsomely- 
 bound prayer book and a huge lighted cigar or 
 cigarette.
 
 HOW THE rORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. 121 
 
 ''This is indeed the land for women who love the weed. 
 A few smoke cigarettes and pipes, but the majority like 
 partajas, perfectos, Napoleons and other rolls of the 
 weed larger than those usually seen in our own land. 
 They smoke them at home and in the streets, at the 
 table or on the balcony, lying in hammocks, or lolling 
 on their steeds, and only desist when within the sacred 
 walls of the church. The moment mass is over and they 
 emerge into the sunlight the first thing the women do is 
 to light a fresh cigar and then climb into the saddle. 
 
 "They make a beautiful picture upon the roads. Im- 
 agine an intensely blue sky above, with below rich green 
 vegetables and startling dashes of scarlet, crimson, Ver- 
 million, orange and white from the flowers which seem 
 to bloom the year through, setting off the bright hues 
 of the costumes. It combines the picturesque side of 
 New Orleans life, of Florida scenery, of the Maine lake 
 country, and of the New Hampshire hills." 
 
 At Guayama there was even a greater reception than 
 at Juan Diaz. In fact, everywhere, as soon as the people 
 heard of the landing of our soldiers, the American flag 
 was hoisted and kept hoisted, while the Spaniards were 
 driven from the towns where soldiers were stationed. 
 
 A large number of Porto-Rican refugees now began to 
 return to the island. These were men who had been en- 
 gaged in revolution, and had been deported by the Span- 
 ish Government. Their progress to their homes was a 
 continual ovation. 
 
 The returned refugees had a conference with the lead- 
 ing citizens and there was no doubt in any one's mind
 
 122 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. 
 
 but that ninety per cent, of the people was in favor oi 
 annexation. They felt that the United States was their 
 deliverer, and they would rather join the American Re- 
 public than have self-government. 
 
 There was also a conference between the most promi- 
 nent citizens of Ponce, and Mr. Hanna, the American 
 consul at San Juan. 
 
 The Porto Ricans had views which they wished to 
 have presented to the United States, and were anxious 
 to play some part in the new order of things and to hold 
 some of the offices themselves. They were particularly 
 desirous to know about the American school system and 
 as to the possibility of introducing it into the island. 
 They wished that their children should learn to speak 
 English. Mr. Hanna explained the public school system 
 of the United States, and the Porto Ricans were greatly 
 pleased at what they heard. Then they again brought 
 up the question of how they could participate in the re- 
 organization of the island. 
 
 "Gentlemen," said Mr. Hanna, "the best thing you 
 can do is to get together and find out just what you 
 want. You have, of course, very good ideas as to what 
 the American system of government is. You no doubt 
 by this time know whether you desire to be attached to 
 the United States as a territory, with a representative 
 in our Congress. You may differ on the point of having 
 Americans for your own officials here during the time 
 that the government that is to prevail here is being put 
 into shape. But you can safely leave your wishes in the 
 hands of President McKinley."
 
 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. 123 
 
 A New York Herald correspondent has some interest- 
 ing things to say as to the new Ponce, a town which is 
 representative of the entire island: 
 
 ' * Ponce, only yesterday the base for our military in- 
 vasion, is to-day the American capital in the West 
 Indies. Ponce is deep in the second stage of political 
 evolution. 
 
 "Ponce is learning the English language. Ponce is 
 mastering the mysteries of American money. Ponce is 
 inquiiing into the methods of American politics. Ponce 
 is preparing to abandon the church schools and adopt 
 our system of education. Papeti, the chambermaid in 
 the Hotel Francais, has alread}' been taught to say, 
 "Vive r Americano!" Papeti's brother was shot by the 
 Spanish a few years ago. 
 
 "El Capitan," the head waiter at the Hotel Ingla- 
 terra, has already mastered one hundred words of Eng- 
 lish, and his fortune is made. Passing down the street 
 just now I heard a Porto Rican mother crooning her 
 naked babe to sleep to the tune of 'Marching Through 
 Georgia.' The Porto Ricans think that 'Marching 
 Through Georgia' is a national anthem. 
 
 "As I write the advance guard of the American pros- 
 pector to this tropical Klondike of ours are pouring up 
 the broad highway from the play a to the town. They 
 came on the Sylvia, the first merchant ship to reach 
 Ponce from the United States since the town surrendered. 
 They seem to have come literally by hundreds. 
 
 "I saw many familiar faces among the newcomers. 
 
 "Nearly all these men have come here on commercial
 
 124 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. 
 
 enterprises. Porto Rico is a fruitful field. Her^agricul- 
 tural resources, taking the American standard, are as 
 little developed as those of Ohio seventy-five years ago. 
 I imagine the coffee production of the island will be 
 doubled in two years. 
 
 ' ' Much American capital will be put into sugar, 
 tobacco and fruits. Many of these men are inquiring 
 about estates in the interior that can be purchased or 
 leased, and about facilities for transportation to the sea- 
 board. This means the building of railroads. Banks are 
 also to be opened in Ponce under our national banking 
 law, and I fancy there will be the liveliest sort of race 
 between rival capitalists as to who shall get the electric 
 railway franchise for the city of Ponce. 
 
 "The leading citizens of the island are as wideawake 
 to American enterprise as are these eager gentlemen of 
 the pocketbook who came on the Sylvia." 
 
 Colonel Hill of General Wilson's staff was appointed 
 Collector of the Port of Ponce, and he went very care- 
 fully into the subject of the probable resources of the 
 island and what the new tariff .should be. 
 
 In an interview with the Herald, he said: 
 
 ' ' Most of my statistics are still incomplete, but I can 
 give you a few facts, which will unquestionably be of 
 great interest to the business men of the States. In 
 Porto Rico everything is taxed, and most articles are 
 taxed in several different ways. There is an impost duty 
 on flour of $4. a barrel. I think that will be knocked off 
 at once. As you know, this island paid no direct money 
 to the former government of Spain. Everything in the
 
 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. 125 
 
 way of salaries, pensions, etc., is paid directly out of 
 the Custom House. The commander of the military 
 forces on the island is a lieutenant-general, sent here 
 from Spain. He gets an enormous salary. Many Spanish 
 pensioners of prominence and rank have been sent to 
 the island, and these pensions are paid by the island. 
 Dignitaries of the church and priests are sent here in 
 large numbers. They are paid out of the Custom House. 
 
 "Only yesterday I had an application from the widow 
 of a Spanish general, who is pensioned, for the payment 
 of her usual stipend. I had to take that matter under 
 advisement. The priests here in Ponce applied for their 
 usual salary for July. This, under the Spanish law, is a 
 fixed charge. The matter came before me in my capacity 
 of judge-advocate on General Wilson's staff. I had to 
 report that inasmuch as we were operating under the 
 Spanish civil law, which made the salaries of the padres 
 a proper payment from the customs funds, the money 
 was due and should be paid or else the Spanish civil 
 law in that respect should be annulled or suspended. 
 
 "General Wilson refused to authorize the payment of 
 the priests' salaries, and the matter went to General 
 Miles, who sustained General Wilson. Now here is a 
 very interesting and unprecedented question. As a mat- 
 ter of policy it might be well to pay these salaries for 
 the present. The padres, of course, the next time they 
 address the congregation will say : ' Here is this new 
 American|^Government which you welcomed with such 
 pleasure refusing to pay your priests. You thought you 
 were going to be relieved of taxation. We must ask you
 
 126 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RECEIVED US. 
 
 to go into your pockets and pay us yourselves. Thus 
 you have an additional tax placed upon you.' " 
 
 But still the clergy, as a rule, were in favor of the 
 United States. 
 
 Father Janices, a well-known and most intelligent 
 
 priest, had this to say in regard to the attitude of the 
 
 Catholic Church in Porto Rico toward the United 
 States : 
 
 ' ' We are neither cowards nor liars. We do not deny 
 that we have always been loyal Spanish subjects, but it 
 is the duty of the Church to save souls and not to min- 
 gle in international quarrels. 
 
 "With all our hearts we welcome the Americans. 
 Your constitution protects all religions. We ask only 
 for the protection of our Church. The Archbishop of 
 Porto Rico is now in Spain, and the Vicar General of 
 San Juan is acting head of the Church in the island. 
 But we no longer look to him as our ecclesiastical head; 
 but as soon as possible we shall communicate with Car- 
 dinal Gibbons and we await his wishes. 
 
 "Should any American soldier desire the administra- 
 tions of a priest, they always shall be at his service. We 
 have determined to become loyal Americans." 
 
 Moreover, on September 23, Captain Gardner, in 
 company of General Wilson, called upon the President 
 and made a report in which he elaborated upon the rela- 
 tion of the Church to the government. He stated that 
 while a large majority of the Porto Ricans were Cath- 
 olics, by profession, they were not offensively zealous. 
 He placed the number of priests at 240, and the annual
 
 HOW THE PORTO RICANS RFXEIVED US. 127 
 
 cost to the public treasury of their support at about 
 $120,000 in American money. 
 
 Colonel Gardner, in addition to his report, also pre- 
 sented to President McKinley, an address signed by 
 many of the leading Porto Ricans. The signers ex- 
 pressed their pleasure at the prospect of becoming citi- 
 zens of the United States, and announced their hope 
 that the Porto Rican people might some day become 
 worthy to organize a State of the Union. 
 
 In this hope we are sure all Americans will most 
 heartily join.
 
 t28 OUR CLAIM TO PORTO RICO. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 OUR CI.AIM TO PORTO RICO. 
 
 One great question raised by the recent war was that 
 of territorial expansion, and this question called forth 
 many expressions of opinion both for and against. 
 
 There is no doubt, however, but that Porto Rico is 
 ours by the right of conquest, and that it would be a 
 crime from every point of view for us not to retain it. 
 
 That we shall retain it, too, now seems certain. 
 
 Let us now, in the first place, look back and see what 
 two of our most prominent statesmen have said in the 
 past. They may be looked upon almost as prophets. 
 
 The idea of territorial expansion is not a new one. In 
 fact, it dates back half a century, and the thought of 
 this expansion has been silently hatched ever since. 
 
 In 1846, William H. Seward, afterward Secretary of 
 State under the administration of Abraham Lincoln, 
 published an open letter under the title, "We Should 
 Carry Out Our Destiny." 
 
 To carry out that destiny, said Mr. Seward in this 
 letter, the United States should prepare themselves for 
 their mission by getting rid of the Old World which 
 still continued with ideas of another age upon portions 
 of the American soil. 
 
 In the same letter Mr. Seward also said that the mon- 
 archies of Europe could have neither peace nor truce as
 
 OUR CLAIM TO TORTO RICO. 129 
 
 long as there remained to them one colony upon this 
 continent. 
 
 This Mr. Seward called buying out the foreigners. In 
 1S46 he counted the ruler of Cuba and Porto Rico among 
 the foreigners which should sell out their possessions to 
 the United States. 
 
 It was he who during his term of office purchased 
 Alaska from the Czar of Russia for the sum of $7,200,- 
 000. He also negotiated for the acquisition of the Danish 
 Antilles, but this project fell through, chiefly for the 
 reason that at that time the President was opposed to it. 
 
 In politics Mr. Seward favored a system which he 
 compared to the ripe pear that detaches itself and falls 
 into your hand. 
 
 One thing seemed to him certain, and that was that 
 the United States could not help annexing by force the 
 people who would be too slow to come to them of their 
 own free will. 
 
 "I abhor war," he wrote. "I would not give one 
 single human life for any portion of the continent which 
 remains to be annexed ; but I cannot get rid of the con- 
 viction that popular passion for territorial aggrandize- 
 ment is irresistible. Prudence, justice and even timidity 
 may restrain it for a time, but its force will be aug- 
 mented by compression." 
 
 It was a half century before the explosion occurred, 
 but when it came its echoes resounded all over the world, 
 carrying joy to some and fear to others, fear of this 
 young giant of the New World. 
 
 Again in 1852, in a speech made before the Senate
 
 I30 OUR CLAIM TO PORTO RICO. 
 
 upon the question of American commerce in the Pacific, 
 Mr. Seward thus addressed his colleagues: 
 
 "The discovery of this continent and of those islands 
 and the organization upon their soil of societies and 
 governments have been great and important events. 
 After all, they are merely preliminaries, a preparation 
 by secondary incidents, in comparison with the sublime 
 result which is about to be consummated — the junction 
 of the two civilizations upon the coast and in the 
 islands of the Pacific. There certainl}' never happened 
 upon this earth any purely human event which is com- 
 parable to that in grandeur and in importance. It will 
 be followed by the levelling of social conditions and by 
 the re-establishment of the unity of the human family. 
 We now see clearly why it did not come about sooner 
 and why it is coming now." 
 
 At a reception given to his honor in Paris, just after 
 the close of the Franco-Prussian war, Mr. Seward found 
 himself the centre of a group, mostly composed of 5'oung 
 Americans. 
 
 He had just almost completed a tour around the 
 world, and in answer to a question as to what had im- 
 pressed him most during his travels, he answered prac- 
 tically as follows: 
 
 ' ' Boys, the fact is the Americans are the onl}' nation 
 that has and understands liberty. With us a man is a 
 man, absolutely free and politicall)' equal with all, with 
 special privileges for none. Every one has a chance, 
 whereas, wherever I have been I was impressed with 
 the subjugation and oppression of the people. I had all
 
 OUR CLAIM TO PORTO RICO. 131 
 
 my life talked in public and private of the greatness of 
 our mission of civilization and progress, of the ideas we 
 represented, and the lessons we were teaching the world, 
 but I never realized how true it was that we were of all 
 others the representatives of human progress. Now I 
 know it. I am sure now, from what I have myself seen, 
 that nothing I have ever said or others have said, as to 
 the destiny of our country was exaggerated. I am an 
 old man now and may not see it, but some of you boys 
 may live to see American ideas and principles and civiliz- 
 ation spread around the world, and lift up and regenerate 
 mankind." 
 
 The opinion of another old-time statesman, given 
 some quarter of a century ago, is of vivid interest to- 
 day. 
 
 In 1872, when the Geneva Convention was holding its 
 deliberations, Mr. William M. Evarts spoke words of 
 wisdom to a company of distinguished guests at a 
 luncheon given by him at the house in which he was 
 then living. 
 
 Among others present were Charles Francis Adams, 
 Caleb Cushing, Morrison R. Waite, afterward Chief 
 Justice; J. Bancroft Davis, Charles C. Beaman, and 
 others of the American Commission. 
 
 What Mr. Evarts said was in substance as follows: 
 
 "Gentlemen, God has America in his direct keeping, 
 and lets it work out its destinies in accordance with 
 His own wishes and for His own purpose. When the 
 time came and Europe needed an outlet for its surplus 
 energy, God let down the bars and America was discov-
 
 132 OUR CLAIM TO PORTO RICO. 
 
 ered. Then little colonies of enterprising and progressive 
 men, seeking freedom from troubles and oppressions of 
 their native land, founded homes along the Atlantic coast. 
 He had let down the bars again for his own purposes, 
 Thes2 men struggled and fought and progressed in 
 civilization and liberty until the time came when 
 again the bars were let down and we had the Revolu- 
 tion, and the colonies became a nation. Again the bars 
 went down, and then came the Mexican war, giving the 
 nation the room necessary for its expansion, the space 
 necessary for the homes of the millions from the Old 
 World who sought the freedom of the New. From 
 Atlantic to Pacific that little fringe of people of the 
 colonial times had evolved until they were a great 
 nation. We needed the precious metals, and gold and 
 silver were found sufficient for our purposes. God had 
 let down the bars. But one thing remained, one canker 
 and sore, one great evil which threatened and worried 
 and troubled, but God in His own good time again let 
 down the bars and it was forever swept away, for He 
 allowed the rebellion. He gave humanity and justice 
 and right the victory. He restored the Union, He will 
 heal the sores. He \t7ill lead the people to its final des- 
 tiny as the advance guard of civilization, progress and 
 the upbuilding and elevation of mankind, and in good 
 time the bars will be again let down for the benefit of 
 humanity — when or why we know not, but He knows." 
 In the light of recent events, the utterances of these 
 two great men are certainly deserving of the utmost con- 
 sideration. Both of them really seem to be seers, who,
 
 OUR CLAIM TO PORTO RICO. 133 
 
 ftom their observations of the past, saw visions of the 
 future for the native land they loved so well. 
 
 The Paris Figaro, in a remarkable article, says that, 
 willingly or forcibly, America must belong to the Ameri- 
 cans. The New World must gird up its loins and be 
 ready to fulfill its mission. And this must be done by 
 force when persuasion is not sufiScient. And wdien the 
 Americans shall have rejoined Europe in some portion 
 of Asia, concludes the Figaro, and closed the ring of 
 white civilization around the globe, will they stop or 
 can the}' stop? That is the secret of the future. Its solu- 
 tion will depend upon what they will find before them — ■ 
 a Europe torn and divided, or, as it has been said, the 
 United States of Europe. At all events, they wnll have 
 the right to be proud, because they will have carried out 
 their destiny. 
 
 Now to turn to an opinion by an Englishman, and be 
 it remembered that England stood by us in a remarkable 
 way from the very beginning of the Spanish-American 
 war and undoubtedly prevented the other European 
 nations from interfering. 
 
 The opinion we are about to give is from the pen of 
 Mr. Henry Norman, the special commissioner of the 
 Eondon Chronicle. 
 
 Among other things, Mr. Norman says in an article 
 entitled "A War-Made New America" : 
 
 ' 'The vision of a new Heaven and a new earth is still 
 unfulfilled, but there is a new America. The second 
 American Revolution has occurred, and its consequences 
 may be as great as those of the first. The American
 
 134 OUR CLAIM TO PORTO RICO. 
 
 people are as sensitive to emotional or intellectual stimu- 
 lus as a photographic film is to light, but they are also 
 to a remarkable degree, a people of second thoughts. 
 Their nerves are quick, but their convictions are slow. 
 The apparent change was so great and so unexpected 
 that at first I could not bring myself to believe in its 
 realit}' or its endurance. Unless all signs fail, however, 
 or I fail to interpret them, the old America, the America 
 obedient to the traditions of the founders of the republic, 
 is passing away, and a new America, an America stand- 
 ing armed, alert and exigent in the arena of the world- 
 struggle, is taking its place. 
 
 ' 'The change is three-fold: 
 
 "I. The United States is about to take its place 
 among the great armed powers of the world. 
 
 "II. By the- seizure and retention of territory not only 
 not contiguous to the borders of the republic, but remote 
 from them, the United States becomes a colonizing 
 nation, and enters the field of international rivalries. 
 
 "III. The growth of good will and mutual under- 
 standing between Great Britain and the United States 
 and the settlement of all pending disputes between 
 Canada and America, now virtually assured, constitute 
 a working union of the English-speaking people against 
 the rest of the world for common ends, whether any 
 formal agreement is reached or not." 
 
 Mr. Norman goes on to say, after speaking of the 
 possible American army and navy of the present and the 
 future : 
 
 "And look at the display of American patriotism.
 
 OUR CLAIM TO PORTO RICO. 135 
 
 When the volunteers were summoned by the President 
 they walked on the scene as if they had been waiting in 
 the wings. They were subjected to a physical examina- 
 tion as searching as that of a life insurance companj'. A 
 man was rejected for two or three filled teeth. They 
 came from all ranks of life. Young lawyers, doctors, 
 bankers, well-paid clerks are marching by thousands in 
 the ranks. The first surgeon to be killed at Guantanamo 
 left a New York practice of $10,000 a year to volunteer. 
 As I was standing on the steps of the Arlington Hotel 
 one evening a tall, thin man, carrying a large suitcase, 
 walked out and got on the street car for the railway 
 station on his way to Tampa. It was John Jacob Astor, 
 the possessor of a hundred millions of dollars. Theodore 
 Roosevelt's rough riders contain a number of the smart- 
 est young men in New York society. A Harvard class- 
 mate of mine, a rising young lawyer, is working like a 
 laborer at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, not knowing when 
 he may be ordered to Cuba or Manila. He is a naval 
 reserve man and sent in his application for any post 
 'from the stoke hole upward.' The same is true of wo- 
 men. When I called to say good-bj' to Mrs. John Addi- 
 son Porter, the wife of the Secretary to the President, 
 whose charming hospitality I had enjoyed, she had gone 
 to Tampa to ship as a nurse on the Red Cross steamer 
 for the coast of Cuba. And all this, be it remembered, 
 is for a war in which the country is not in the remotest 
 danger, and when the ultimate summons of patriotism 
 is unspoken. Finally, consider the reference to the war 
 loan. A New York syndicate offered to take half of it at
 
 136 OUR CLAIM TO PORTO RICO. 
 
 a premium which would have given the Government a 
 clear profit of $1 ,000,000. But the loan was wisely offered 
 to the people and the small investor gets all he can buy 
 before the capitalist is even permitted to invest. And 
 from Canada to the Gulf, from Long Island to Seattle, 
 the money of the people is pouring in." 
 
 Mr. Norman concludes his article with these pregnant 
 words, words which will force every man of any brains 
 whatever to pause and think : 
 
 ' ' Here, then, is the new America in one aspect — 
 armed for a wider influence and a harder fight than any 
 she has envisaged before. And what a fight she will 
 make! Dewey, with his dash upon Manila; Hobson and 
 his companions, going quietly to apparently certain 
 death, and ships offering the whole muster roll as volun- 
 teers to accompany him ; Rowan, with his life in his 
 hand at every minute of his journey to Gomez and back, 
 worse than death awaiting him if caught; Blue, making 
 his 70-mile reconnoissance about Santiago; Whitney, 
 with compass and notebook in pocket, dishwashing his 
 perilous way round to Porto Rico — this is the old dar- 
 ing of our common race. If the old lion and the young 
 lion should ever go hunting side by side !" 
 
 Mr. Norman wisely leaves his last sentence unfin- 
 ished. For no man can predict what the result would be. 
 Would it be the subjugation of the entire world to the 
 Anglo-Saxon race ? 
 
 After considering what the French and the English 
 have to say, now let us turn to the utterances of the ■ 
 Hon. Andrew H. Green, who spoke purely in the inter-
 
 OUR CLAIM TO PORTO RICO. 137 
 
 I 
 ests of a private citizen, one who desired the retention 
 
 of the territory acquired by the American Government 
 solely because he wished that the people of the United 
 States should not underestimate the value of their grand 
 opportunities for national enrichment. 
 
 ' ' War with Spain, ' ' said Mr. Green, in the beginning of 
 his interview in the Sun, "was declared by the author- 
 ized authorities, whether wisel}' or otherwise, it is not 
 now of much profit to discuss. It has been prosecuted 
 with vigor and brought to a successful issue with a dis- 
 patch unprecedented in conflicts of equal magnitude. 
 What shall be done with its results? What, in this age 
 of enlightenment and progress, shall we do with the ter- 
 ritories and with their peoples and property that the 
 fate of war has placed under our control and guardian- 
 ship?" 
 
 Mr. Green concludes his interview as follows: 
 "As occasion offered heretofore the American people 
 have insisted upon acquiring and holding territory when 
 the interests of the country required it. Looking at all 
 the precedents, at the present situation, at the signs 
 and needs of the times, there is but little room to doubt 
 that the permanent retention of all territory acquired 
 from Spain will, in the interest of humanity and duty, 
 be demanded with equal firmness. We shall go on in the 
 same course of expansion which we have pursued from 
 our earliest historj' as an independent nation. We have 
 'hoisted the mainsail' of the ship of state and started 
 her about the world. While heeding Washington's 
 warnings and the popular interpretation of the Monroe
 
 138 OUR CLAIM TO PORTO RICO. 
 
 doctrine to keep the people of other nations from get- 
 ting a foothold on this continent, we shall not pervert 
 their spirit by stubbornly refusing to improve an oppor- 
 tunity to extend and increase our power and our com- 
 merce. Every extension of our territory hitherto made 
 has been resisted by a spirit the same in essence as that 
 which now timidly opposes our improving the wonder- 
 ful opportunities put in our hands by the happy fortune 
 of war; but such opposition has failed of its purpose in- 
 variably hitherto, and it will fail now with the Ameri- 
 can people. The sacrifices of the war will not have been 
 in vain and the victories won by the valor of our navy 
 and army will not fail of their legitimate and well- 
 earned points." 
 
 We are a practical people. There can be no doubt 
 about that, but still we are occasionally moved by senti- 
 ment, as when we undertook to free Cuba from oppres- 
 sion, but at the bottom of every national action there is 
 a sound practical idea. 
 
 It was a pure and unselfish sentiment, however, that 
 impelled us to prevent the extermination of the people 
 of Cuba, a country so near to our own doors, and to de- 
 mand for them by force of arms, the freedom and inde- 
 pendence which was and is most unquestionably their 
 right. 
 
 With Cuba freed, the rule of Spaniards in Porto Rico 
 would be both absurd and dangerous. It would be a 
 menace to the perpetual peace between Spain and the 
 United States, which the latter are determined on for 
 the future.
 
 OUR CLAIM TO PORTO RICO. 139 
 
 Moreover, as we have seen, Porto Rico wishes most 
 strongl)' to become an integral portion of the Union, and 
 we desire to receive her as such. 
 
 The rule of common sense should be applied, and both 
 sentiment and practicality are united in calling for the 
 conditions which the American Government has de- 
 manded as to the former Spanish possessions in the 
 Western Hemisphere. 
 
 The war against Spain was inevitable, was just and 
 necessary for the sake of humanity and the progress of 
 the world. Both our army and navy have shown glori- 
 ous bravery and heroism, and their marvelous achieve- 
 ments must not be allowed to bring forth no results. 
 
 By the fortunes of war a great responsibility has 
 been placed in the hands of the United States, and it 
 would be criminal to shirk in any respect this responsi- 
 bility. We must not give back to Spain any portion of 
 the earth in which to continue her abominable misrule. 
 Let the United States move forward to its manifest 
 destiny. 
 
 In a powerful editorial the New York Sun declares 
 that our success will make for the world's peace. We 
 alone were the nation to free Cuba and the other Span- 
 ish colonies. No one of the European powers could have 
 come forward to the rescue of the colonies without pro- 
 voking the enmity and jealousy of the other powers. If 
 we had neglected to discharge our duty, then that duty 
 would probably have fallen to a commission of the 
 European nations. The consequence would have been 
 that Spain would have been superseded in the Spanish
 
 I40 OUR CLAIM TO PORTO RICO. 
 
 Antilles by a strong European power, which would have 
 led sooner or later to a partition of Spanish America. 
 The United States alone could upset Spanish colonial 
 rule without exciting an uncontrollable outburst of envy 
 and greed in Europe, and occasion a general scramble 
 for the spoils of the New World. 
 
 Neither Cuba nor Porto Rico could have been kept by 
 Spain with any assurance of the general safety of 
 nations. So long as the so-called mother country exer- 
 cised any power there, both the islands would have been 
 firebrands, which, if not aflame, would surely have been 
 smouldering. 
 
 The Sun concludes its editorial with these words: 
 "It is, in a word, Tor the interest of the whole civil- 
 ized world that all of Spain's colonies, with the possible 
 exception of the Canaries, should be turned over to us. 
 It is for the world's interests because, in her hands, 
 they always have been, and always would be, a menace 
 to the general peace. If this be true, and that it is can- 
 not be gainsaid, the sooner the transfer is made the bet- 
 ter. The fire, which now is localized, should be put out 
 quickly, lest it spread. A thousand accidents, contin- 
 gencies, inadvertencies, may lead to the very complica- 
 tions which all of the European powers, except Spain, 
 are anxious to avoid. We except Spain because, in put- 
 ting off the evil day and in postponing submission to 
 the terms which our duty to mankind compels us to im- 
 pose, she can have no other hope, no other purpose, 
 than to bring about such international entanglements as 
 may cause a general war. Spain alone has anything tc
 
 OUR CLAIM TO PORTO RICO. 141 
 
 gain from such a contest ; in it she would at least have 
 allies, and would expect to see her thirst for revenge 
 upon us gratified. The great powers of Europe, however, 
 do not mean to risk an oecumenical convulsion for the 
 sake of a decadent monarchy, which, considered as the 
 trustee of colonies, has been tried in the balance and 
 found wanting. They recognize that, in seeking to 
 evade the sentence of rigorous isolation which the con- 
 science of mankind has passed upon her, she is jeopard- 
 izing the peace of the world. For that reason they are 
 exerting and will continue to exert all the means of moral 
 pressure at their command to induce the Spaniards to 
 accept promptly such terms as our Government may 
 offer." 
 
 The people of the United States, after the armistice 
 was declared, were united in one thing, and that was, 
 that apart from the question of indemnity, the one condi- 
 tion of peace, final and unvariable, would in the nature 
 of the case be this: 
 
 The surrender and cession to the United States, now 
 and forever, of all Spain's possessions in the western 
 waters of both Atlantic and Pacific. 
 
 The fortune of a war begun for the liberation of one 
 people has put it into the power of the United States to 
 liberate several peoples. All this territory, which 
 is ours by right, must henceforth be consecrated to 
 freedom. 
 
 Colonel Alexander McClure, in an address at the lay- 
 ing of the cornerstone of the new State Capitol of Penn- 
 sylvania, expressed most eloquently the true American
 
 142 OUR CLAIM TO PORTO RICO. 
 
 feeling in regard to the possessions which our naval and 
 militar)' prowess won from Spain : 
 
 "The same supreme power that demanded this war 
 will demand the complete fulfillment of its purpose. It 
 will demand, in tones which none can misunderstand 
 and which no power or party can be strong enough to 
 disregard, that the United States' flag shall never be 
 furled in any Spanish province where it has been 
 planted by the heroism of our army and nav)'. 
 
 "Call it imperialism if you will; but it is not the im- 
 perialism that is inspired by the lust of conquest. 
 It is the higher and nobler imperialism that voices 
 the sovereign power of this nation and demands 
 the extension of our flag and authority over the 
 provinces of Spain, solely that 'government of the peo- 
 ple by the people, and for the people shall not perish 
 from the earth.' 
 
 "Such is the imperialism that has become interwoven 
 with the destiny of our great free Government, and it 
 will be welcomed by our people regardless of party lines, 
 and will command the commendation of the enlightened 
 powers of the Old World, as it rears, for the guidance 
 of all, the grandest monuments of freedom as the pro- 
 claimed policy and purpose of the noblest Government 
 ever reared by a man or blessed by Heaven."
 
 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 143 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 WHAT the; possession op PORTO RICO WILL MEAN. 
 
 The heading of this chapter presents a most difficult 
 problem at this time. It would require an inspired 
 prophet to answer the question, and all that we can do 
 is to look at it as dispassionately as possible, and to 
 show the opinions of those who are more or less in- 
 formed upon the subject. From these opinions the 
 reader must of necessity draw his own conjectures. 
 
 Of course, from the very nature of conditions the land 
 is at the present time of writing in a most unsettled 
 state, from a political, commercial and social point of 
 view. 
 
 A new element has entered into the lives of the Porto 
 Ricans, and this new element naturally brings with it 
 an unknown future. 
 
 The Spaniards and Porto Ricans have but little idea 
 of political tolerance. They are enemies, now, and both 
 seem to think that the opposite party is to be abused, 
 persecuted and even tortured. 
 
 Many of the Porto Ricans, on the word of a compe- 
 tent authority, believe that violence to the persons or 
 propert}' of the Spaniards will be acceptable to the 
 Americans. The Spaniards, sharing this belief, live in a 
 constant state of terror, fearing for their possessions 
 and even for their lives.
 
 144 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 
 
 The withdrawal to an extent of the Spanish troops 
 gave the guerillas full license, and they burned a num- 
 ber of plantations before our forces were put in charge. 
 
 Both natives and Spanish, it might be said, were busy 
 in cutting each other's throats. The people became more 
 or less terrorized, and begged for American protection. 
 
 About the first of September, Major-General Wilson 
 met at dinner a large number of prominent islanders, 
 and in response to a toast, he made a rather long speech. 
 As this speech was and is of great interest, we make no 
 apology for reproducing almost in full here. 
 
 General Wilson said: 
 
 "The great Republic, unlike the governments of 
 Europe, has no subjects. It extends its rights and 
 privileges freely and equally to all men, regardless of 
 race or color or previous condition, who reside within 
 its far-reaching dominions. It makes citizens of all who 
 forswear their allegiance to foreign Powers, princes and 
 potentates, and promise henceforth to bear true faith 
 and allegiance to the United States. 
 
 ' 'The expulsion of the Spanish power from your beau- 
 tiful and long-suffering island and the hoisting of the 
 American flag will be followed shortly, let us hope, by 
 the establishment of a stable civil administration, based 
 on the American principle of local self-government. 
 
 "The government now exercising supreme authority 
 in the island, you will understand, is a government of 
 conquest, in which the will of the military commander 
 is substituted for that of the Spanish king and Cortes. 
 It does not pretend to interfere with the local laws, ex-
 
 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 145 
 
 cept in so far as may be necessary to protect the army 
 of the United States and maintain peace and good order 
 among the people of the island. It looks to the local 
 courts to do justice as between man and man, and to the 
 moderation and good sense of the people themselves for 
 the maintenance of public tranquility, and for the cul- 
 tivation of that perfect respect for the rights of persons 
 and property which constitutes the foundation of the 
 American system of government. 
 
 ' ' It has been wisely said by one of the fathers of the 
 republic that ' That government is best which governs 
 least,' and this is the principle which Porto Rico should 
 keep constantly in view. Government interference is 
 necessary only when the people, instead of confining 
 themselves exclusively to their own particular affairs, 
 presume to interfere with the affairs of their neighbors. 
 
 ' ' If every one, high and low, rich and poor, Porto Rican 
 and Spaniard, devotes himself strictly and exclusvely 
 to his own private or official business, eschewing politics 
 and public affairs, for the next year, everybody will 
 find at the end of that time that the island has been well 
 governed and prosperous, and your American fellow 
 citizens will proclaim you worthy of the good fortune 
 which has united your destinies to those of the great 
 Republic. 
 
 "Permit me to add that as soon as the Spaniards have 
 evacuated the island, and the sovereignty of the United 
 States is fully established, a military governor will be 
 appointed by the President, and he will govern in the 
 main in accordance with the principles I have indicated.
 
 146 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 
 
 How long this military government will last must de- 
 pend largely upon the people of Porto Rico them- 
 selves. 
 
 ' ' In the natural and regular course of events the mili- 
 tary government should be followed by a territorial gov- 
 ernment established by act of Congress, and this in time 
 should be followed in a few years by a government 
 which shall make Porto Rico a sovereign State of the 
 great Republic, and give it all the rights guaranteed by 
 the constitution of the United States. 
 
 "Permit me to add, before concluding, that you are 
 likely to meet with delay in the realization of your 
 hopes from two principal causes. 
 
 " It is well known in the United States that Porto 
 Rico is a Roman Catholic country, and there is grave 
 objection on the part of many good people against the 
 admission of a purely Roman Catholic State into the 
 Union. This is based not so much on opposition to 
 that particular religion as on the feeling that the 
 domination of any sect would be prejudicial to our prin- 
 ciples of government. We have, perhaps, ten millions 
 of Roman Catholics in the United States, but they are 
 scattered throughout the various States, and inter- 
 mingled everywhere with the Protestant sects, so that 
 no one has a majority. We have no established Church, 
 and under our policy Congress can pass no act concern- 
 ing religion or limiting the right of any citizen to wor- 
 ship God as he pleases. 
 
 "The result is that all the churches are absolutely 
 free, and none concerns itself with politics. Each
 
 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 147 
 
 watches to see that the other does not get control of the 
 
 State. 
 
 ' ' Now that the Spanish government has been ex- 
 pelled, it can no longer support the Church in this 
 island, hence the Church will necessarily have a hard 
 struggle till it can establish itself on the basis of volun- 
 tary parochial support. Meanwhile the Protestant de- 
 nominations in the United States will have the right to 
 send their missionaries into this inviting field, where 
 they will doubtless receive a hearty welcome, but still 
 the advantage will remain with the Roman Catholic 
 Church, in which the people have been born, married 
 and buried for the last four hundred years. 
 
 ' ' Besides, it must not be forgotten that the Church, 
 like every other institution of the island, will surely 
 realize its full share of the benefits arising from the 
 union of the island with the great Republic. It will, 
 therefore, become more liberal and independent, as well 
 as more powerful than it has ever been. 
 
 "Fortunately for you, however, every other Christian 
 denomination will from this time forth be free to make 
 converts, establish churches, open schools and circulate 
 religious books and newspapers, and generally to show 
 that it is a worthy teacher and guide to a higher and 
 better civilization than ever prevails where one Church 
 holds undisputed sway. 
 
 ' ' The second great menace to the future of the Porto 
 Rican people is the danger of an outbreak of violence 
 and intolerance on the part of one section of your people 
 against another; the danger of insular turning against
 
 148 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 
 
 penisular; of Porto Rican turning against Spaniard, 
 with the torch and dagger, to avenge himself for the 
 wrongs and oppressions, real or imaginary, which have 
 so long characterized the Spanish domination in this 
 beautiful island. 
 
 ' ' It needs no argument to show that such an outbreak 
 if it becomes general, cannot fail to bring discredit on 
 your countrymen as a turbulent and law-breaking people 
 who cannot be intrusted with the precious privilege of 
 self-government, and must therefore be ruled by a mili- 
 tary commander. 
 
 ' ' I firmly believe that the Porto Ricans are a docile, 
 orderly and kindly people, w^ell prepared for a better 
 government than they have ever enjoyed, but you must 
 lose no opportunity to impress upon the United States 
 that you are tolerant and magnanimous as well. 
 
 ' ' Your wrongs, whatever they were, have been 
 avenged by the expulsion of the Spanish flag and the 
 Spanish dominion, without exertion or cost on your 
 part, and the least you can do in return is to repress the 
 spirit of revenge and resolve to live in peace and 
 quietude with j^our Spanish neighbors, respecting their 
 rights of persons and property, as you desire to have 
 your own respected. 
 
 "In this way, and in this way only, can you show 
 3'ourselves to be worthy of the great destiny which has 
 overtaken you, and which, let us hope, is to speedily 
 clothe your island with sovereignty as a member of the 
 great continental Republic. 
 
 "Thus, and thus only, can we become fellow citizens
 
 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 149 
 
 indeed in perpetual enjoyment of our common and inesti- 
 mable heritage as citizens of the freest, richest and most 
 powerful nation in the world." The Hon. A. H. Green 
 speaks as follows of the present condition of Porto Rico: 
 * ' The problems that force themselves upon the atten- 
 tion at the outset are those of government and of finance. 
 The first question that naturally arises is, what shall be 
 done with these possessions? How shall they, with 
 their unassimilated populations, be cared for? The pres- 
 ence of a military force will doubtless be an immediate 
 necessity. It should be administered in the mildest 
 form, unless riot and disorder otherwise require, and be 
 controlled by officers humane and intelligent, inclined 
 to encourage at the earliest practical time the inaugura- 
 tion of a civil rule which shall gradually and as rapidly 
 as may be found wise invite an official participation of 
 representatives of the indigenous populations. Can this 
 be done? Let the doubting and the timid recall what 
 has been done, and is now doing toward improving the 
 conditions of the peoples of the East and ask themselves 
 whether America is not likely to be equally successful 
 in caring for those whose destinies she has assumed to 
 direct; whether it is not her duty to enforce order and 
 to keep the peace among peoples who by her acts have 
 been left disorganized and defenseless, a prey to the in- 
 ternecine strifes of barbarous chiefs and to the intrigues 
 of roaming banditti ? And have not experiences in as- 
 similating Spanish territories hitherto successfully an- 
 nexed or conquered proved abundantly our ability to 
 do all this?
 
 150 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 
 
 "It is natural enough that conservative minds should 
 adhere to the traditions of the past, but times are 
 changed, and the wisest of our forefathers were not able 
 to foresee what the workings of centuries might effect. 
 The atrocities to which the inhabitants of Cuba have 
 been subjected in the past two or more years aroused 
 the indignation of the civilized world. 
 
 ' * ' Their moans, the vales redoubled to the hills, 
 And they to Heav'n.' 
 
 "The financial problem, which is already command 
 ing the serious attention of the Government, is next in 
 order. How are the great expenditures of the war to be 
 recouped? Shall we, in addition to territory acquired, 
 demand cash indemnity ? If the care of these acquisi- 
 tions is to be as costly as some suppose, it would not be 
 an unreasonable requirement. While we shall lose the 
 revenues derived from imposts upon importations into 
 the United States from these possessions, which were 
 not large, this will be more than compensated by the 
 duties which we can impose upon importations from 
 other nations into them. In making up the estimates of 
 the whole financial situation it will be safe to assume 
 that at first our Government outlays will exceed in- 
 come; our people, however, will have the profit of fur- 
 nishing products of the United States to an added popu- 
 lation of 10,000,000 to 12,000,000, freed from the duty 
 that we can impose upon the imports of other nations. 
 Of the $10,000,000 in value of imports into the Philip- 
 pines from all countries, we supplied less than $200,- 
 oco, while we took from them nearl}' $5,000,000.
 
 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 151 
 
 ^' The interests of the people who gain their living 
 and manual labor are among the first to be considered 
 and jealousl}' guarded. Fortunately the far greater part 
 of these in America are engaged in employments, which 
 will be benefited by annexation. A fresh and unre- 
 strained market is to be opened for our products, and the 
 indigenous products of these regions are to be brought 
 here free of duty to give added employment to our fac- 
 tories. No competitions of labor are to arise. ' ' 
 
 As to our new acquisition of new colonies by the 
 United States, Theodore S. Wolsey, Professor of Inter- 
 national Law at Yale University, has this to say, and 
 every word he utters is pregnant with meaning, for no 
 one could be a more capable judge: 
 
 ' ' It has already been said that England learned the 
 lesson of the American Revolution, while Spain has 
 never heeded it nor the loss of her own colonies. Yet 
 it really was not until fifty years ago that their methods 
 sharply diverged. As early as 1778 Spain had begun to 
 open her dependencies to foreign trade, and early in 
 this century they were allowed to trade with one 
 another. So, likewise, although great changes had been 
 earlier made in the 'English colonies, the spirit of 
 monopoly and of a restrictive policy was in force until 
 about 18 15. So far as relates to the evils of the colonial 
 system, then, the two were not very unlike. But into 
 the field of administrative reform and the grant of 
 autonomous powers to her colonies, Spain never has en- 
 tered. The abuses of the early part of the century char- 
 acterize also its later years. Discrimination against the
 
 152 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 
 
 native-born, even of the purest Spanish stock; officials 
 who regard the colony as a mine to be worked, not a 
 trust to be administered; forced dependence upon the 
 mother country for manufactures, even for produce, so 
 far as duties can effect it; self-government stifled; rep- 
 resentation in the Cortes denied or a nullity ; a civil ser- 
 vice unprogressive, ignorant, sometimes corrupt — com- 
 pare these handicaps w^ith the growth, the prosperity, 
 the independence, above all, the decent and orderly ad- 
 ministration, of the- colonies of England. One of the 
 wonderful things in this half century is that army of 
 British youth, with but little special training or genius, 
 or even, perhaps, conscious sympathy for the work, 
 learning to administer the great and growing Indian 
 and colonial empire honestly and wisely and well, with 
 courage and judgment equal to emergencies, animated 
 by an every-day working sense of duty and honor, but 
 not very often making any fuss or phrases about it. It 
 is not that Spanish colonial government is worse than 
 formerly, which is costing it now so dear, but that it is 
 no better, while the world's standard has advanced and 
 condemns it. Never yet has Spain looked at her colo- 
 nies with their own welfare uppermost in her mind. She 
 has never outgrown the old mistaken theories. Her 
 fault is medievalism, alias ignorance. 
 
 "It is not a cause for wonder, therefore, quite apart 
 from special sources of discontent, that Cuba, which, by 
 position is thrown into contact with progressive peo- 
 ples, should chafe at her leading strings. Without refer- 
 ence to the corruption and cruelty, arrogance, injustice
 
 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 155 
 
 and repression which are alleged against the mother 
 country, without rhetoric and without animosity, we 
 may fairly say that Spain is losing Cuba, perhaps all 
 her colonies, simpl}' because she has not conformed to 
 the standard of the time in the matter of colonial gov- 
 ernment. If England had not altered her own methods, 
 her colonies would long since have abandoned her as 
 opportunity offered. The wonder really is that Spain 
 has held hers so long; for Cuba, at least, owing to its 
 exceptional fertility and position, has relatively out- 
 stripped its declining mother. 
 
 "There remains the moral of the story. 
 
 ' 'If w^e are not mistaken as to the fundamental causes 
 of Spain's colonial weakness, other colonial powers 
 must take warning also, and the United States in par- 
 ticular, if it yields to the temptations, or, as many say, 
 assumes the divinely-ordered responsibilities, of the 
 situation. For its protective system is a derivative of 
 the mercantile system, as the colonial system was. If it 
 becomes a colonial power, but attempts by heavy duties 
 to limit the foreign trade of its colonies, if it administers 
 those colonies through officials of the spoils type, if it 
 fails to enlarge the local liberties and privileges of its 
 dependencies up to the limit of their receptive powers — • 
 if, in short, it holds colonies for its own aggrandize- 
 ment, instead of their well-being — it will be but repeat- 
 ing the blunders of Spain, and the end will be disaster." 
 
 Colonel Hill has declared that the heavy burdens 
 under-which the business world of Porto Rico has been 
 staggering in the past have been almost inconceivable.
 
 154 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 
 
 Something of this has already been said, but it may be 
 well to give Colonel Hill's views, as he is certainly a 
 most competent judge. The colonel says that in the first 
 place there has been a tax on ever)^ ship that comes in 
 and goes out. There has been a heavy tax on all articles 
 of impost and a special tax on all articles not enumer- 
 ated in the tariff. In addition to that, an additional tax 
 of ten per cent, on the bill was added. Each hackman 
 who plied between the port and the town of Ponce had 
 to pay a tax of eight dollars a month. No person could 
 write a letter to an official without first going to the 
 collector and purchasing a certain kind of official paper, 
 for which he must pay fifty cents to one dollar a sheet. 
 The price was regulated by the rank of the official who 
 had to be written to. 
 
 The effect of all this was rather to increase the num- 
 ber of complaints from citizens than to increase the 
 revenues of the island. 
 
 To General Ernst, who was the officer in command of 
 the territory of Coamo, a large number of protests were 
 made. In especial, a delegation of twelve to fifteen citi- 
 zens called upon the general to request the removal of 
 the alcalde, on the ground that he had been an officer in 
 the Spanish volunteer army, and was unsatisfactory 
 because of his former connections. The gentleman, 
 however, had gracefully accepted the new condition 
 of affairs and was performing the duties of his office 
 earnestly and faithfully. These facts General Ernst 
 was in possession of and he was forced in consequence 
 to deny the request of the delegation.
 
 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILI. MEAN. 155 
 
 For his own protection and to remove any false im- 
 pression there might be in the public mind, General 
 Ernst issued the following proclamation, which was 
 printed in both English and Spanish: 
 
 "Headquarters ist Brigade, ist Div., 
 I St Army Corps, Camp Near Coamo, 
 
 Porto Rico, September 3, 1898. 
 To the People of Coamo and Neighboring Districts: 
 
 * ' To prevent misunderstanding as to the rights and 
 duties of the various members of this community, you 
 are respectfully informed : 
 
 "i. That no change has been made in the civil laws 
 of Porto Rico, and that none can be made except by the 
 Congress of the United States. The present civil authori- 
 ties are to be obeyed and respected. 
 
 "2. That no prejudice rests against any citizen, 
 whether in office or not, for having served as a volun- 
 teer, if he now frankly accepts the authority of the 
 United States. 
 
 "3. That the persecution of persons simply because 
 they are Spaniards, or Spanish sympathizers, will not be 
 tolerated. They, as well as the Porto Ricans, are all ex- 
 pected to become good American citizens, and, in any 
 event, they are entitled to the protection of the law until 
 they violate it. O. H. Ernst, 
 
 ' 'Brigadier-General Commanding." 
 
 About this time President McKinley promulgated 
 through the War Department the revised customs tariif
 
 156 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 
 
 and regulations to be enforced by the military authori- 
 ties in the ports of Porto Rico, 
 
 In general, the regulations for Porto Rico were practi- 
 cally the same as those promulgated for Cuba and the 
 Philippines. The one important difference was that 
 trade between ports in the United States and ports and 
 places in the possession of the United States in Porto 
 Rico be restricted to registered vessels of the United 
 States and prohibited to all others. It was provided that 
 any merchandise transported in violation of this regu- 
 lation should be subject to forfeiture, and that for every 
 passenger transported and landed in violation of this 
 regulation the transporting vessel should be subject to a 
 penalty of f 200. 
 
 This regulation should not be construed to forbid the 
 sailing of other than registered vessels of the United 
 States with cargo and passengers between the United 
 States and Porto Rico, provided that they were not 
 landed, but were destined for some foreign port or place. 
 
 Ii was further provided thai this regulation should 
 not be construed to authorize lower tonnage taxes or 
 other navigation charges on American vessels entering 
 the ports of Porto Rico from the United States than were 
 paid by foreign vessels from foreign countries, nor to 
 authorize an)' lower customs charges or tariff charges 
 on the cargoes of American vessels entering from the 
 United States than were paid on the cargoes of foreign 
 vessels entering from foreign ports. 
 
 The regulations as to entering and clearing vessels 
 and the penalties for the violation were the same as
 
 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 157 
 
 those fixed for Cubau ports in the possession of the 
 United States. The tonnage dues were reduced, as in 
 Cuba, to twenty cents per ton on vessels entering from 
 ports other than Porto Rican ports in the possession of 
 the United States, and two cents a ton on vessels from 
 other ports in Porto Rico. The landing charge of $1 per 
 ton was abolished, and the special tax of fifty cents on 
 each ton of merchandise landed at San Juan and Maya- 
 guez for harbor improvement was continued. 
 
 As in Cuba, the Spanish minimum tariff was to be 
 collected. On most articles, however, this was much 
 higher than the minimum tariff which was imposed by 
 Spain in Cuba. The differential in Porto Rico imposed 
 on goods imported from countries other than Spain was 
 much smaller than in Cuba, so that under Spanish rule 
 there was not a wide difference between duties on goods 
 from countries other than Spain imported into the two 
 islands. Under the operation of the President's orders 
 imposing the minimum tariffs in both islands the effect 
 wouldbe to tax most articles much higher in Porto Rico 
 than in Cuba. As in Cuba, a tariff was imposed on to- 
 bacco, manufactured tobacco, cigars and cigarettes 
 equivalent to the internal revenue taxes imposed in the 
 United States. 
 
 Richard Harding Davis says that there will be no 
 such complications in Porto Rico as those which exist 
 in Cuba for the United States troops there were not 
 allies. They were men who came, were seen and con- 
 quered. The revolutionary leaders had no share or 
 credit in their triumphal progress.
 
 158 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 
 
 Now to examine into what Porto Rico offers for 
 American enterprise and capital. 
 
 In the first place, United States Consul Hanna has 
 been flooded with letters from fortune hunters. He 
 strongly advised all of them to remain at home until the 
 Americans were in complete control. Now, let us ex- 
 amine what one or two competent authorities have to 
 say of Porto Rico, so far as American enterprise is con- 
 cerned. 
 
 Here is the opinion of a man who has lived in Porto 
 Rico for several years and who knows of what he is 
 speaking : 
 
 ' 'We take Porto Rico, too, at a time when everything 
 favors increased prosperity. It has not been ravaged 
 and wrecked, like Cuba, by war. Its foreign trade in 
 1896, amounting to $36,624, 120, was the largest in its 
 history, the value of the exports then, for the first time 
 in over ten years, exceeding that of the imports. Of 
 course the main trade has always been with Spain, but 
 the trade with us stands next, and during the year in 
 question was over two-thirds of that with Spain. Of late, 
 it is true, our trade with Porto Rico has been relatively 
 declining, being far less than it was a quarter of a cen- 
 tury ago. During the reciprocity period of a few years 
 since it increased somewhat, but after that it fell off 
 again. It is important to note, however, that our ex- 
 ports to Porto Rico have kept well up of late 5'ears, the 
 falling off in total trade being due to the decline of our 
 imports, so that now the exports are not far from equal 
 to the imports, instead of being much inferior as former-
 
 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 159 
 
 \y. It is a noteworthy fact that the exchange from both 
 countries is mostly of products of the soil. That is the 
 case with ninety-nine hundredths of Porto Rico's ex- 
 ports to us, sugar and molasses comprising 85 per cent., 
 with coffee coming next, and it is also true of over 
 three-fifths of our exports to Porto Rico, among which 
 breadstuffs and meat foods are prominent. 
 
 "But with Porto Rico fully ours, and the discrimina- 
 tions enforced by past laws in favor of Spanish trade 
 wiped out, there must be a change in the currents of 
 her commerce. We shall expect to furnish the chief 
 markets for her products, and on the other hand to send 
 to the island more food products than ever, more ma- 
 chinery, textile fabrics, iron and steel. Her capabilities 
 will be developed, perhaps notably in coffee cultivation. 
 Her peaceful and industrious people will welcome 
 American enterprise and capital, American progressive 
 methods, and free institutions. Indeed one of the most 
 striking events of this year was the extraordinary en- 
 thusiasm with which American troops were greeted all 
 along the southern shores of the island. It was as if the 
 people could already forecast the great future in store 
 for them, under American laws and the American flag." 
 
 A correspondent of the New York Evening Post, who 
 signs himself by the initials A. G. R., speaks with 
 authority as follows: 
 
 ' 'The prominence given to the island bj' the events of 
 recent months has led many of our people to think it of 
 vastly greater importance, commercially, than it really 
 is. Consul Hauna, who is back in his old quarters in
 
 i6o WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 
 
 San Juan, has a small wheelbarrow load of letters from 
 all parts of the United States, asking detailed informa- 
 tion upon all conceivable lines of trade, manufacture 
 and profession. To answer them according to the terms 
 of their requests would be the work of a short lifetime. 
 But they indicate the widespread interest of American 
 business men in Porto Rican mercantile affairs. Every 
 steamer arriving here brings its group of American pas- 
 sengers. Some are visitors who make the trip only 
 through curiosity. The majority come with an idea of 
 some form of business, either in the shape of a specu- 
 lative flyer, permanent investment, or a commercial or 
 industrial establishment. 
 
 "A large percentage of those who come are young 
 men, who have just about enough money to get them 
 here, to keep them here for a week or two, and then get 
 them home again. These come in the hope of finding 
 immediate employment, of catching on to something 
 which will maintain them. They invariabl)^ go home 
 again. The island is no place for such. None but the 
 capitalist, the investor, or the business man with money 
 for his business, should come to Porto Rico with any- 
 thing more in view than an outing or a vacation. As 
 things are at present, there is little enough to interest 
 the capitalist or the investor. The man who is looking 
 for a job should look for it at home; his chances are in- 
 finitely better than they are here. There is absolutely 
 nothing for the position hunter, for the clerk, or for the 
 workman. In time there may be something, but it will 
 be, at the least, many months before such opportunities
 
 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. i6i 
 
 are open, and even then they will be few. Until then 
 the case is hopeless, and those who come will but do as 
 their predecessors have done — go home again, poorer 
 and wiser men. If a young man can afford to spend a 
 couple of hundred dollars in the purchase of that par- 
 ticular form of wisdom, the opportunity is open to him 
 here on this island. If he cannot afford it, he will do 
 better not to risk it. 
 
 ' ' Merchants will find nothing to do here, except to 
 glean a certain amount of information of rather doubt- 
 ful accuracy, until the question of tariff rates shall have 
 been definitely settled. There is now nothing on which 
 to base any plans or calculations for business operations. 
 The native merchants are complaining seriously. They 
 are waiting to place orders for hundreds of thousands of 
 dollars' worth of goods to replenish stocks which have 
 been depleted through many months of uncertain trade 
 conditions, and are losing business which they have 
 been led to expect would be open to them almost imme- 
 diately after the American occupation of the different 
 cities in which they are located. Nor is it at all easy for 
 an American to obtain any definite information or ac- 
 curate details regarding any particular line of business 
 and its possibilities. lyocal commercial methods are not 
 reduced to the system which prevails among American 
 business men. The Porto Rican merchant buys and sells, 
 but I fail to find evidence of that close study of business 
 and business methods by which the American merchant 
 increases his trade and his profits. 
 
 * ' The entire trade of the island is of no very great
 
 1 62 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 
 
 magnitude. The local trade in local products is chiefly 
 confined to the morning market for table supplies, 
 which is held in all the cities and larger towns. The 
 total imports and exports hardly reach a gross amount 
 of thirty millions of dollars a year, and the imports ex- 
 ceed the exports by a couple of millions. I have been 
 unable to find any statistics which I was willing to 
 accept as wholly reliable. So far as I can learn, no com- 
 plete report has been submitted by the United States 
 Consul, and there are discrepancies which I cannot 
 reconcile in the published reports of the English Consul 
 and those of the Dutch Consul. I can, therefore, only 
 give figures which are approximate, though they are 
 sufiiciently close for general purposes. 
 
 ' * Cotton goods appear to be the largest item among the 
 imports, and they represent a trade of two or three mil- 
 lions of dollars, varying from year to year, according to 
 the prices and the success or failure of the crop pro- 
 ducts of the island. Rice is imported to the value of one 
 and a half to two millions of dollars. Flour, chiefly from 
 the United States, approximates three-quarters of a mil- 
 lion dollars. Dried, salt and pickled fish, of which 
 Canada seems to obtain the lion's share of the trade, 
 represents a million to a million and a quarter. The 
 United States has the major portion of a trade in pork 
 and pork products which about equals the fish business. 
 
 ' ' Woollen goods are, naturally, of but limited consump- 
 tion in so warm a climate, and the trade is probably less 
 than $150,000 in amount. Agricultural implements rep- 
 resent a business of three to four hundred thousand dol-
 
 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 163 
 
 lars. Boots and shoes, almost exclusively from Spain, 
 represent some five or six hundred thousand. Chinaware, 
 gla.ssware, lumber, coal, soap, furniture and other arti- 
 cles of general use and consumption represent amounts 
 varying from one to three or four hundred thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 "The most astonishing thing in the whole list of im- 
 portations is the item of vegetable and garden products. 
 These are imported into this country, which is in itself 
 but a natural garden in which can and should be raised 
 every form of vegetable necessary or desirable for con- 
 sumption, and the annual value of the imports approxi- 
 mates $400,000 and the weight 7,000 tons. The island 
 uses $150,000 worth of imported candles and $50,000 
 worth of imported butter yearly. It uses two to three 
 hundred thousand dollars' worth of cheese, of which the 
 Netherlands have, for the last few years, furnished 
 much the greater part. Uruguay and the Argentine sup- 
 ply it with one to three thousand tons of jerked beef 
 annually. Wines, beers, and liquors take something 
 more than a half a million a year out of the country. 
 
 "Among Porto Rican exports coffee is the heaviest 
 item. This reaches an average valuation of some $10,- 
 000,000 a j^ear. Sugar ranks next, and approximates 
 three to four million dollars. Tobacco goes to the extent 
 of some half a million, and molasses touches about the 
 same figure. Hides, cattle, timber and fruit are repre- 
 sented in the list, but their value is comparatively in- 
 considerable. Guano to the extent of half a million a 
 year appears in the reports for some years, but I am un-
 
 i64 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 
 
 able to account for either the article or the amount. 
 Some corn has been sent to Cuba, some native rum to 
 Spain, and some bay rum to France and to the United 
 States. 
 
 "It will thus be seen that, as yet, the island offers 
 but a comparatively limited amount of business, either 
 in buying or selling. Under wise laws, and a just and 
 equitable system of taxation, with a suitable railway 
 system and improved highways, and with the ports of 
 the United States and of the islands open to the ex- 
 change of commodities, free of duty, a very material in- 
 crease of the business of the island will inevitably fol- 
 low. It is quite possible to double the trade within the 
 next ten or fifteen years. There will be some wild-cat 
 speculation, some unwise investment and some loss to 
 investors. The schemer and the promoter will find vic- 
 tims who will put their money into companies whose 
 future is wholly hopeless. But along with that there 
 may reasonably be expected a steady growth and im- 
 provement. But it will come by gradual increase and de- 
 velopment, and not by a sudden bound." 
 
 According to Mr. William J. Morrise)', a prominent 
 real estate dealer of Brooklyn, who spent some time in 
 Porto Rico, the island is no place for an American to 
 invest any money at present. He says that the place can 
 be made to pay, provided the United States Government 
 clears the entire island of Spaniards and fills the towns 
 and cities with the American people. 
 
 Mr. Morrisey also states that the natives of the cities 
 are desirous of becoming American citizens, but that
 
 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 165 
 
 out in the country, it is far different. These people are 
 constantly in fear of the Americans, and their sole desire 
 is to dispose of their property as soon as possible and 
 return to Spain. The more enlightened of them are of 
 the opinion that the United States Government will 
 banish all the Spaniards from the island and thereby 
 make it more agreeable for the residents. 
 
 A dispatch of the Evening Post sa^-s that in view of 
 representations made to the War Department that the 
 municipal councils in Porto Rico were making hay while 
 the sun shines, and granting business franchises right 
 and left under the Spanish law empowering them to do 
 so, orders were recently issued to General Brooke to put 
 a stop to the practice forthwith, and the announcement 
 was given out that on the evacuation by the Spaniards, 
 and our assumption of military authority in the island, 
 no more of these loose grants would be made. Mean- 
 while American shippers were in a state of mind over a 
 lack of ships with which to conduct the normal com- 
 merce of this country with Porto Rico. The change of 
 status for the island, from being a foreign possession to 
 a port of the United States coast, had made the rigid 
 regulations of our coasting trade applicable to it, and 
 the purchase of so many of our coasting vessels by the 
 government for use as transports, coalers, and the like, 
 had embarrassed the progress of coast commerce not a 
 little. The regulations had to be suspended on two or 
 ^ three occasions to let in ships which seemed absolutel}' 
 necessary, and now the question came up whether it 
 would be best to suspend the regulations altogether or
 
 i66 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 
 
 to have each separate vessel which needed American 
 papers apply to Congress for special legislation. 
 
 There was another question, and a very important 
 one, which came up, and that was how far Louisiana 
 and other sugar-producing States would be affected by 
 the annexation of Porto Rico. 
 
 In no State in the Union does a single interest play 
 so important and so peculiar a part as the sugar industry 
 in Louisiana. Fully two-fifths of the inhabitants of the 
 vState are more or less interested in sugar, and any great 
 disaster to the crop would injure ninety per cent, of the 
 population in southern Louisiana. 
 
 So far as Porto Rico goes, it is very doubtful if it will 
 injure Louisiana in any way. As has been said before, 
 the island is densely populated, small in area, and with 
 little additional land available for sugar. It is by no 
 means probable that it will increase materially in its 
 sugar production. American laws will militate against 
 the importation of contract labor, and will therefore 
 prevent any undue competition. As the New York Sun 
 very justly observes, the bugbear of the Louisiana sugar 
 planter is not territorial expansion, but the war taxes 
 and the possibility of their permanent adoption, bring- 
 ing with it the reopening of the old tariff agitation, 
 which they supposed was permanently closed. 
 
 Taking it all in all, territorial expansion has certain- 
 ly no terrors for the Louisiana planters. 
 
 With the evidence we have given, it is easy to see 
 what Porto Rico has to offer, or not to offer, to Ameri- 
 cans.
 
 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 167 
 
 With their usual manana, the Spaniards have been 
 slow to evacuate the island, but a decisive stand has 
 been taken by the President. 
 
 The chief intent of the administration is to clear the 
 island of Spaniards, put at work American methods in 
 sanitary, civic and economic administration, and, for 
 the purpose of doing this without annoyance, to have 
 forces enough for police duty. 
 
 The day fixed for the hoisting of the American flag 
 over San Juan and the complete and permanent occupa- 
 tion of Porto Rico by the military forces of the United 
 States was October 18. 
 
 It was possible for the Administration of the United 
 States to take this step by virtue of war powers and of 
 the establishment of the fact that Porto Rico is to be 
 wholly and permanently American. 
 
 At the present time of writing Porto Rico is still a 
 foreign country, so far as the laws of the United States 
 are concerned, and until changed by Congress, customs 
 duties will be collected on imports from the island. So, 
 too, with the navigation laws, and American ship- 
 owners are warned to secure registers for foreign com- 
 merce before entering the Porto Rico trade, as vessels 
 with only coasting enrollments and licenses will 
 be subject to penalty on their return to the United 
 States. 
 
 On the 1 8th of October, promptly at noon, the flag 
 was raised over San Juan. 
 
 An excellent description of the proceedings has been 
 given in the Boston Herald, and reads as follows:
 
 168 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 
 
 "The ceremony was quiet and dignified, unmarred by 
 disorder of any kind. 
 
 "The nth regular infantry, with two batteries of the 
 5th artillery, landed. The latter proceeded to the fort, 
 while the infantry lined up on the docks. It was a holi- 
 day for San Juan, and there were many people in the 
 streets. 
 
 "Rear Admiral Schley and General Gordon, accom- 
 panied by their staffs, proceeded to the palace in car- 
 riages. The nth infantry regiment and band, with troop 
 H of the 6th U. S. cavalry, then marched through the 
 streets, and formed in the square opposite the palace. 
 At 11.40 A. M. General Brooke, Admiral Schley and 
 General Gordon, the United States evacuation commis- 
 sioners, came out of the palace with many naval officers, 
 and formed on the right side of the square. The street 
 behind the soldiers was thronged with townspeople, 
 who stood waiting in dead silence, 
 
 "At last the city clock struck the hour of 12, and the 
 crowds, almost breathless, and with eyes fixed upon the 
 flag pole, watched for developments. At the sound of 
 the first gun from Fort Morro, Major Dean and Lieuten 
 ant Castle of General Brooke's staff hoisted the stars 
 and stripes, while the bland played the 'Star Spangled 
 Banner. ' 
 
 All heads were bared, and the crowds cheered. Fort 
 Morro, Fort San Cristobal and the United States rev- 
 enue cutter Manning, lying in the harbor, fired 21 guns 
 each, 
 
 "Senor Munoz Rivera, who was president of the
 
 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 169 
 
 recent autouomist council of secretaries, and other offi- 
 cials of the late insular government were present at the 
 proceedings 
 
 ' ' Congratulations and handshaking among the Ameri- 
 can officers followed. Ensign King hoisted the stars and 
 stripes on the Intendencia, but all other flags on the 
 various public buildings were hoisted by military officers. 
 Simultaneously with the raising of the flag over the cap- 
 tain-general's palace many others were hoisted in differ- 
 ent parts of the city. 
 
 ' ' The work of the United States' evacuation commis- 
 sion was now over. The labors of both parties ter- 
 minated with honor for all concerned." 
 
 After the parade the bauds and various trade organiz- 
 ations went to General Henry's headquarters. General 
 Henry in a speech said: 
 
 "Alcalde and Citizens: To-day the flag of the United 
 States floats as an emblem of undisputed authority over 
 the island of Porto Rico, giving promise of protection 
 to life, of libert)-, prosperity and the right to worship 
 God in accordance with the dictates of conscience. The 
 forty five States represented by the stars emblazoned 
 on the blue field of that flag unite in vouchsafing to you 
 prosperity and protection as citizens of the American 
 Union. 
 
 ' ' Your future destiny rests largely with yourselves. 
 Respect the rights of each other. Do not abuse the gov- 
 ernment which accords opportunities to the individual 
 for advancement. Political animosities must be forgot- 
 ten in unity and in the recognition of common interests.
 
 I70 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN. 
 
 I congratulate 3'OU all on beginning j'our public life 
 under new auspices, free from governmental oppression, 
 and with liberty to advance your own country's interests 
 by your united efforts." 
 
 General Henry then introduced Colonel John B. 
 Castleman, who spoke with great effect as an old Con- 
 federate. 
 
 The alcalde replied in part: 
 
 * ' We hope soon to see another star symbolic of our. 
 prosperity and of our membership in the great republic 
 of States. Porto Rico has not accepted American domi- 
 nation on account of force. She suffered for many years 
 the evils of error, neglect and persecution, but she had 
 men who studied the question of government, and who 
 saw in America her redemption and a guarantee of life, 
 liberty and justice. 
 
 * ' Then we came willingly and freely, hoping, hand 
 in hand with the greatest of all republics, to advance 
 in civilization and progress, and to become part of the 
 republic to which we pledge our faith forever." 
 
 When the Spanish fiag was hauled down all over the 
 island and the Stars and Stripes raised in its place. 
 General Brooke became the chief executive of Porto 
 Rico. Actually, but not in name, he was the military 
 governor of the island. The plan of a military governor 
 for Porto Rico, to hold until the Washington authori- 
 ties deem it wise to substitute a purely civil adminis- 
 tration, has not been fully arranged. From October i8 
 until the plan of the Government has been put into 
 effect, General Brooke, or the military officer who will
 
 WHAT THE POSSESSION WILL MEAN, 171 
 
 succeed him if he asks for detachment, will be in 
 supreme control of civil and military affairs. It is the 
 intention, however, of the Government here to have as 
 little of the militarj' element as possible in the adminis- 
 tration of affairs, and so to all intents and purposes a 
 civil administration will be in operation from the time 
 the Spaniards surrendered authority. 
 
 Still, when all has been said, it is perfectly sure that 
 in the end Porto Rico will become one of the most im- 
 portant of our possessions. Superstition and tyranny 
 will be driven from this most fertile island, and hope 
 and peace, under the Stars and Stripes, will be brought 
 to the thousands so long under foot. 
 
 Hail, therefore to Porto Rico ! And some day may it 
 become a bright star in the flag that brings protection 
 and freedom to all ! 
 
 (the end.)
 
 F 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 Santa Barbara 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW. 
 
 Series 9482
 
 Illllliil null lil II! ilili I III III! 
 
 3 1205 02531 3311 
 
 UC SOUTHERN Rf GIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 AA 000 918 238 7