The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-04-10
How to Get at the Facts About Cuba.

nv NV
Some of u contemporaries are embar-
raised by reason Of the contradictory nature
Of the dispatches from Cuba. One of them
speaks in this way:
mo more confidence can be placed In Cuban than
in Spanish reports of what has happened, is happen
ing, or may happen in tho ever faithful isle"
The best thing for any one who may be
thus embarrassed Is to rest content with
those statements concerning which both
sides are in agreement. Spaniards and
Cubans alike admit that there are
large bodies OF combatants in Cuba;
that these bodies nave been fighting
each other since February Of last year; that
they have had very many fights in recent
times; and that a considerable number of
men, Spaniards and Cubans, have been
killed and wounded in the combats,
which are not yet at IN end. They
both alike admit that the struggle
began in the easternmost province
of Cuba, and that it has been carried on in
all the other provinces as far as the island
extends in a westerly direction. They both
alike admit that, up to this time, neither
side has been completely successful;
that each side has a much larger
force In April Of this year than it had
in April a year ago; and that it would be
impossible to ~foretell when hostil!ties will
They both alike admit that tens
of millions of property have been destroyed
by the combatants; that there is tur-
moil in all parts of the country,
and that the people everywhere are terror
lied. They both alike attest that it was
WEYLER who promulgated those Spanish
DEGREES, which, as both agree, have been,
and yet are, executed in blood.
The t%ruthfulness of these statements Is
by both %Spaniards and Cubans.
far, any one can now what has hap
pened in Cuba since the disturbance broke
out. WEYLER himself, and GOMEZ, too,
would grant the truth Of every statement
made, so far.
Well, then, any one who wants to get
further knowledge about what has hap
pened in Cuba can, in the first place, draw a
differences from such statements as are
made upon the authority of both of the hos
tile parties. II, for example, COMETS army
is far larger after a years fighting than it
was at the first, or If, for example, it num-
bers 10000 men as against ! 900 in April Of
last year, it is not unfair to infer that a large
proportion Of the able-bodied population are
in arms against Spain. Again, If the Cubans
have traversed all the provinces of the island,
fighting their way against the Spanish
army, 1t is a reasonable inference that they
have not been beaten in every fight, chased
from every field, or shot to death when in full
flight or when seized as prisoners of Spain.
Yet again, IL the Cuban have been able to
a campaign around Havana for
three months running, it is not an unjust
that Spain has fought shy OF them, |
or anyhow has kept at a respectful distance
them, or, at the least, has refrained
from driving them off somewhere else.
We might go on for hours drawing In
~ferences of this kind, the validity of which |
not, 80 far as we are able to see, be
called in question by S~paniard or by Cuban.
Any newspaper, or any person, who may
desire to obtain yet further knowledge OF
what has happened in Cuba, should care
fully consider the official Spanish dispatches
sent from Havana, and also the reports made
by the Cubans. Ones reason ought to be Of
in clearing them up. The
with which they are respec-
lively sustained will be helpful toward a
Judgment of the credibility of them. If,
Tor example, one hears of WEYLEG's atroci-
Ties, he would do we'll to read WEYLER's
DEGREES, and his orders for their
execution, n those reports of his subordi-
mates which tell how they have been exc
,uted in the parts of Cuba that are under
control.
By the simple means here suggested, any
,ne can obtain all necessary information as
things that have happened during the
months of war in Cuba.