The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1875-11-08
The spaniards Starving in Cubn.


The Spaniards Starving in Cubn.
Late arrivals from the interior of the
ever-faithful island afford us information
which easily explains the recent enormous
shipments Of provisions hence to Havana.
Acting upon the suggestion of Mr.. FISH,
contained in his note to the Madrid Gov
eminent, the Spanish authorities have for
warded to Cuba, as reinforcements TO the
army there, every Carlist prisoner ana
every other available or disposable man,
entirely Irrespective OF their capabilty or
udaptability MS combatants. The object
of the Spanish Government was to please
their agents fnther-in-law by furnishing
an array of numbers upon paper.
. OF these pseudo soldiers some eight thou
sand have landed in Cuba up TO this date.
The condition of these men, rs described
by eye witnesses of their Decentralization,
is represented as pitiable in the extreme.
out of the whole number some two
thousand are said 20 he cavalry; that is,
men intended TO be mounted But horses
are not to be had, and the character and
prospective use Of these so-called reinforce
menis were latterly aptly defined by a
1.-THE cavalry would have to go 10 the front
on foot and the infantry in OK carts"
The distance 10 this front has also been
considerably curtalled since the last cam
pnign. When the valiant Count NALMA-
sEDA left his headquarters at Villa Clara IN
June last, his departure for Havana was
virtual abandonment of the department
Of Las Villas TO the Cubaus. The front in
the approaching campaign means line
not further east than Bcmba or Colon, in
fact u distance Of not over eighty miles
from Havana. And the whole object Of
the Spaniards to-day is summed up in an
attempt to save from destruction the SUI
gar estates comprised in the Jurisdictions
of Colon, Cardenas, ana Matanzas.
But this, il appears. is likely to be no
easy task. Gen. GoMEz has long since
taken the prccautiou to collect and send
into Camaguey all horses not required for
his forces, and which might he available
for the only arm Of the spanish service
which could possibly harass his raiders in
their work OF devastation. And so hard
pressed has NAINAsEpA been for horses
for his lntcly arrived cavalry" that he
has seized the miserable little auimlls Of
the 0rricroS who daily take INTO Havana
vegetables ana provisions from their small
truck farms in tho vicinity. Havana alb
somtcly depended upon the loads OF these
0rraros for its daily susteuance; they
numbered over a thousand. aud brought
into the city poultry, plnntains, yams.
yuGa. eggs. fruit. and all sorts of vegeta-
blc>. Not only is this supply entirely cut
OF, but each Girc,0, by the coniiscation
Of his beast Of burden, has been ruined
and converted into warm and active
friend of the patriots.
In the interior of the island, at any rate
| in those sections eth occupied by the Span
iHrds, the commissariat is in an equally
dismal plight. Toward the close Of the
last campaign in the Villas, Gen. GOMEZ
| destroyed the small truck farms in the
| whole of that section of country. In Cuba
| very few sugar estates are self-suppOrting.
All the hands are occupied exclusively in
planting, hocing, cutting, carting, and
grinding the cane, and the planters are
dependent upon the neighboring small
farmers-SitiCgOS-fo the sustcnance OF
their slaves. 1t has been the policy of Gen.
GOMEZ TO deprive the planters of this sup
| ply ana To-Day tue nccessallcs OF HE hnN
to be imported from abroad.
The arrival of these late reinforcement
to the army has therefore only increased
the difficulties of the Spaniards in Cuba
The planters can no longer pay taxes, for
their expenses exceed the proceeds Of their
crops, and many to-day would willingly
abandon their estates but they are not al
lowed to do so. VALMAsEDA can neither pay
the troops nor feed them, and the cities OF
the island are so overcrowded with person.
driven III from the country, that famine
stares them in the face in the immediate
future.