The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-05-20
A PLEA FOR CUBA.
From Letter by James II. Embry in
Washington Post,

From Letter by James H. Embry in the
Washington Post.
Three hundred years ago the small
power of Spain, only four times as Large
as the state of New York. and only a
nttie larger than California. ruled almost
absc clutely the western hemisphere. Old,
worn and broken from the long struggles
with other European powers. one by one,
her rich colonies In this hemisphere, re-
sistihS her tyranny and oppression. have
thrown OH her yoke and have taken their
places among the nations. Her last ef-
forts are now directed, with the greed of
the miser for his gold and with the fe-
roeity OF the savage for his foe, toward
the faireSt of all her possessions In the
western world. The bloody scenes in the
beautiful island near our shores, and al
most within our gaze. excite all the re-
struggle most deeply concerns the people
OF this nation, who are watching with q
FEELING OF Intense interest and sOlicitude
the heroG EFFORTS of the Cuban patriots to
secure liberty for themselves and their
posterity. That feeling has been voiced
by the representatives of the states and
the representatives Of the people in con,
gress assembled, and they mean and in
tend that IT shall find expression in the
authoritative mandate of the nation. The
remorseless monarchy Of Spain. hitherto
holding in its firm grasp the fruitful and
fertile island. has for more than seventy
years been wringing the very life blood
from the Cuban people by the imposition
of cruel taxes. Its power In Cuba has
been absolute and its rule arbitrary and
despotic. 1t has given the Cubans no voice
or representation whatever in the affairs
of government. Spanish tyrants, stran-
gers to Cuban soil and Cuban homes, have
driven them with the lash and have COM
PEELED this long suffering people to pay
millions to maintain Spanish officials In
from them every dollar r earned me AtS by Their their
hard and constant toll. The tyranny of
great Britain, for only few years,
against which our fathers rebelled, did not
compare for one moment with Spain's bru,
and.
Spain's cruelties have grown with the
centuries. and today she only wants the
wrongs that have blackened her history
for 400 years. That Spanish born Chris.
tian priest and kind-hearted philanthropy
ist, Las Casas. who was the companion of
words the story Of Spanish cruelties to-
wards the defenseless inhabitants of Cuba
and her sister islands more than three
centuries ago. He was an eyewitness of
the flow Of blood. Nothing in the most
barbarous ages of the worlds history
surpasses the fearful picture he presents
Of the cruel and unprovoked tortures and
children by merciless spaniards. like SO
many demons reveling and rioting in
their blood. He was witness to the
heart rending scene of over 5000 children
were left without succor and protection.
their parents being condemned to toll In
Spanish mines. The hyenas Of the jun,
giles and the vmltures Of the air wo ild
perpetrated BY the living demons. called
Spaniards. of the sixteenth century. This
cruel and blood-thirsty conduct of Spain
continued through all the annals OF her
oppressed people, threw Off the yoke and
rejoiced "over the broken filters Of the
colonial bondage, which for 800 years had
monopolized their treasure and their re-
sources, and blasted the green beauty Of
a climate rich with natures blessings."
Early in the century i one of the most
brilliant of American writer's, George D.
Prentice, told Of the struggles and the tri.
the following recital Of wrongs, that
shocked civilization, pictured the atroci-
ties Of Spain: Spain had carried on the
war, with her insurgent colonies In a
patriot. the unoffending female, and the
infant at the bosom Of Its mother had been
offered up In one indiscriminate sacri-
flce. Her armies had manifested a bar.
The temples Of religion had been polluted
and the gray hairs Of the priests had been
drenched In blood at the very foot of the
altnr. Cities had been pillaged and con.
sumed, while their Inhabitants Of one sex
had been massacred-the armed and the
unarmed together-and those Of the other
had been given over to the licentlous
passions of q brutal .soldlery. Wherever
the enemy had moved over the beautiful
provinces Of La Plata desolaton had been
left behind them, as II the earth itself
had been scorched and blackened by the
fiery tread Of demons" Does the world a
history furnish another picture ~ horrl-