Evening star., 1895-09-13
1t is of a Guerrilla Character and
Very Effective.
SPANIARDS CONSTANTLY HARAOSED
All the Natives Sympathize With
the insurgents.
UN SATISFACTORY NEWS

"An American can hardly be expected to
look upon the struggle now going on in
Cuba with as much hope for the ultimate
success of the insurgents and for the inde-
pendence of the country as does Spaniard
In sympathy with the cause or a native of
the island, and of course. all natives SYM
pathze with the war for liberty now going
on
This was the remark of Cuban gentle
man to a Star reporter today.
only a Spaniard, or one of Spanish
descent, and well acquainted with the his
tory of the mother country. can realize the
effectiveness of the character of war being
waged in Cuba" continued The Stars in
formant. 1T was guerrilla warfare waged
by comparatively few people who had the
sympathy of every one in the vicinity of the
struggle that resulted in driving out the
armies of Napoleon from Spain in 1863. 1t
was also guerrilla warfare waged on the
part of the Spaniards that secured to them
their country from the hands of the Moors.
Again. in Mexico, when the French under
took to control the government there, the
Mexfcans adopted the same style of fight
ing, and although they did not succeed in
driving out the enemy solely because of
theF own acts yet they made splendid
fight.
Effect of the Guerrilla Warfare.
1T is just this warfare that the Cubans
are now waging against their Spanish in
vaders, and the Spanish understand the
great disadvantage at which this war
places them The Cubans do not care to
capture any large city in Cuba, for that is
rot a part of their program If they
should capture city of any size they
would be beseged by the Spanish and
would run great risks in the battles that
would ensue. AS it is, they can form them
selves into small bands. attack the Span
iards at their weak points, get in their
deadly shots, and then before the enemy Is
fully aware of their presence they are OF.
This Kind of tactics results in keeping the
Spanish soldiers always filled with feel
ing Of unrest and alarm. If the Cubans
would amass their entire force in one body
and meet Gen. Campos in equal battle of
course they would be wiped out and the in
surrection would come to an end in short
time We frequently read in the papers
here that Spanish troop has met body
OF TIE insurgents, and after a short fight
disrerse them. AS a matter of fact, 1t is
the policy of the Cuban guerrilla bands to
diSperse whenever the enemy is aware of
II cir presence and makes an effort to at
tack them. So that the reports about dis
peising the Insurgents, while they appear
to give victories to the Spanish, are really
very misleading.
sympathy of the Natives.
1.-The Cuban soldiers have the full SYM
pathy of nearly every native of the island,
and the very few who might not sympa-
thize with them show every evidence of
sympathy, as they fear the consequences of
Going otherwise. A band of fifty or hum
dred Cubans will attack party of Spanish
soldiers, and when the latter is prepared to
return their fight the Cubans are off. 1t
would be impossible for the Spanish to fol-
low and run them down, because they would
Gisperse and find shelter in the homes of
the natives.
This is real Spanish warfare, ard no
one knows better tran Gen. Ca1npos how
effective it Is. 1 remember that in he
Mexican war; when the republicans of shat
country were fighting the French, Don
Carlos Iejia, then bearing the title of gen
eral was offered large body of men with
which to annoy the enemy. He had been
doing immense damage, and only had about
fifty men in his company. He was told
that as he had proven such great ability
he would be given 500 men. Gen. Mejia
replied that he wanted no additional force
He said that every one of his fifty men
were personally known to him, were brave
ard loyal and ready because of their
patriotism to endure any degree of hard
ship without complaint So small body
of men could be maintained easily, and
there no difficulty in moving It. He
said that if his force were to be doubled he
would not know how to feed his soldiers
and he would feel less confidence in them
because he could not become personally ac-
Quainted with so large body of men. He
carried on a guerrilla warfare and his little
company did immense damage to The
enemy.
The Weakness of Spain.
'"The Spanish government now has about
100000 men in Cuba, but that large number
is a weakness rather than an advantage to
them. The 100000 soldiers have to be fed
and cared for, while there is really very
little work for them to do. They are simply
garrisoned in the cities. prey to diseases
of the climate They are kept constantly
on the alert. for they 90 not know from
what point they will be attacked and they
know very well that the attack will be
made In daring manner, that the Cubans
will get in an effective fire upon them, and
before they can effectively reply with their
bullets the enemy will be off.
II do not believe that there exists in this
city any society for the promotion of the
Cuban cause. There are almost no Cubans
here to form such society. Any effort I'm
that direction would very likely be met
with opposition from the government, as
was the case during the former Cuban in
surrection. AT that time Gen. McAIahon of
New York organized what was called
Cuban League which worked as an aux
iliary to body of men located in New York
for the purpose of directing from that city
military movements on the island. The
Cuban League was designed to raise funds
to carry on the war. but Gen. Grant put a
stop to the movement. 1t was an effort to
raise money to carry on an insurrection in
a country friendly to the United States, and
international law would not countenanca
such move.
Unsatisfactory Information.
1T is almost impossible to get any salts
factory news regarding the progress of the
Cuban instruction. Information given
out BY the Spaniards is colored to suit
their purposes. and whatever reaches this
country by means of the Cubans is likewise
distorted. The best evidence that the
situation is extremely serious is the efforts
that Spain is making to put the insur-
gents down. Spain is evidently greatly
excited. and is sparing no pains to regain
control of Cuba. But Go not think that
she will be successful, for the reason that
j have given. The Cubans are we'll aware
of the trouble they can make the Spanish
through the guerrilla warfare which they
are carrying They propose to keep
X up, and the island Is already bur-
dened with $500 600 OOO OF debt it will hard
ly pay Spain to spend much more money
on her. The situation in Cuba from a
commercial standpoint, and that Is the
View taken by Spain. Is similar to that of a
man who has O house worth $4,000 and
mortgaged for nearly its full value About
all the mortgage is now Cuba that
the island can possibly stand, and the
time Is not far distant when Spain will
have incurred so great debt on account
Of the island that 1t will be cheaper for
her to let 1t go than it would be to retain
possession