Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1873-11-25
NUMBER 8.

Spain has no worse enemy than her colony, be-
cause she has always treated it as a servant and
! a vassal.
sits (the Governments trade is to make
money, and not to govern, or cause the. laws
to be respected. Deep and continuous bleed
ing is he only possible system of this antiquat-
ed mechanism. Its solitary function is to hold
In docile sum jec lon the siempre ie isla de Cuba
] (the Spaniards, who are detested in Cuba, and
who feel themselves that their empire in the
cllony is threatened, still persist in calling the
island the ever faithful, } and to turn into the
public treasury all the streams of its riches
The fuuctionaries are like hungry leeches who,
from the stagnant marshes of the mother-cOun-
try, come to fatten on the fresh blood of the
colony. police, an army. custom house,
revenue, multlfarous aud inexOrabe imposts,
justice sold to every one-such is the Govern
ment The leading idea is the old monarchical
one, that authority should be profit and means
| OF extOrtion.
All these officers are Spaniards, carpet bag
gers,) who fatten and batten on the people
whom they govern. Not single native Cuban
is permitted to hold an official position. From
time to time, the Cubans have petitioned for
a redress of grievances and a more liberal and
tolerant government; but without success. It
was this failure to hearken to their Just demands
| that drove them to revolt in 1868, and keeps
up the spirit of resistance to the Spanish DOW
er, of which we shall have more to say present.
| ly. When the insurrection broke out, as we
are told:
''The provincial officials were ordered to raise
the National Guard, or Volunteer Militia, and
care was to be taken to exclude from its ranks
all but Spanlards from the mother country
This body consisting solely of Spanish emf
grants-men who have come to the colony to
seek their fortunes, and between whom and the
native Cubans there is and has long been Bit
ter enmity-has played an important part in
the recent history of Cuba. Its numbers have
been variously stated, but they probably exceed
sixty thousand. In enrolling these Volunteers,
as they are named, the Captain-G General was
| calling into existence a body which was eventu-
ally to control the master who had created it.
The conduct of these Volunteers 1.-THE men
who murdered the crew of the Virginius) has
been OVerbearing, lnsoent and cruel They
actually drove from the island the Captain Gen
eral Dulce, the best and most liberal ruler Cuba
has had for many years, and have perpetrated
numerous crimes at which humanity revolts.-
These several instances, that ante date the late
luhuman massacre, may be cited here. Soon
after the outbreak, the citizens of Havana, held
| In close surveillance by the Spanish authorities,
and unable to assist the struggling patriots in
any other way than By making contributions of
money, did contribute largely to this end. 1t
was given out on one occasion that the pro-
ceeds OF an entertainment at the Theatre of
Villanuvea would be appropriated In this way.
The theatre was crowded with an enthusiastic
audience, many OF whom shouted the watch
words viva Cuba libre !" The performance
was repeated the next night with like result,
though it is not certain to this day that it was
not managers trick to secure large audience
w nile the play was going on, two regiments of
the Volunteers secreted themselves In some
mined Notifications near by and, causing an
alarm to be made that induced the pIay-goers
to rush out OF the building In dense masses,
Immediately commenced firing upon them. For
one hour and a half the massacre of unarmed
and unsuspectlGg citizens went on, until the
iends, weary of their aturnalia or because there
Was no aim left for their murderous rifles, with
drew. The people of Havana, and those of
other nalions on board ships lying in the har-
boz, were hOrror-stTickeD. Al ambiguous pro-
olamatlon was issued by The Gap an General,
alleging that great cglme had been committed
which must be punished. But the punishment
neDer came!
Yet this brutal outrage did not appease the
vengeance of the bood-thirsty volunteers. On
Easter Sunday following, the Captain General
had to review the volunteers on the Compo de
Marte, not far from the Vilanueva theatre, ard
the Il iinburgh reviewer says:
''ln the ueighborhood stands the Cafe del
Lourre since the tide of fashion has flowed
without the walls aud deserted the once favorite
Domenica, the most fashionable and frequent
ed cafe In the city. 1t was crowded With people
refreshing themselves after the review. A body
of volunteers, said to belong to the battalion
known as the 'Lersundi Guards, began to fire
on the defenceless loungers of the cafe The
immediate cause of this cruel massacre is still
unexplained. The 'Voz de Cuba, the uncom-
promising organ in the Havana press of the
volunteers usually sanguinary enough in its de-
mands against the Cubans, was even moved to
call it "a deplorable mistake 1t had, at all
events, one important effect-the Captain Gen
eral surrendered at discretion. Thenceforth the
volunteers ruled In Cuba"
And this outrage, too, was condoned, for the
guilty perpetrators went unwhipt of Justice
The massacre of the Havana students, which
occurred in the cemetery, is fresh In the me-
mory of all our readers and need not be more
| than cited here. It was the work of the same
| inhuman wretches that actually govern Cuba
and are too strong for the Spanish Government
to punish, if it even had the disposition to ex-
0ASioO oUOh pO"Cis AAOoO lOpOdtcQ UutCueTleS
perpetrated by the fends that now control the
destinies of that fair island crimes against our
common humanity, at which the whole civiliz-
ed world cried out, shows how little hope can
be INDUCED of retribution at the hands of the
Spanish Government, upon the authors of these
bloody deeds 1t is powerless. The United
States must therefore undertake to chastise
these wretches and show them that they may
not longer defy the civilization of this age. Our
own interests and the interests of humanity de-
mand Intervention of some kind.
|
The fun-monger of the Danbury Neoos takes
the following apple-tart method of informing
the girls that he's bachelor, and sleeps cold
o'nights: Major Wood leaves us an apple, a
pippln, which measures 13f inches about the
waist, and weighs Is ounces 1t casts shad-
ow large enough for clearinghouse bed
quilt.
| 1t is not true, what the physicians say, that
an egg and glass of wine are capable of sup
porting a man twenty-four hours. A tipsy fel-
low, reeing out of wine-cellar, remarked, Il
have eaten sixteen eggs and drank thirty glasses
of wine, and have the greatest difficulty in the
world to support myself on my legs for single
moment"
/