The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-24

best for Cuba.
The Evcnfng Pos. has printed q Washing
ton despatch concerning Gen. oMEz's re-
cent course of conduct, the statements In
which were doubtless obtained from Span
ish sources. Its Washington correspond
ent declares that he has information OF
certain new phases OF the Cuban insur-
rcotion which have not yet come under the
public eye" and OF which he pretends to
make revelation:
"one OF these 10 that NAxnio GoMr-, who was the
leader and hero of the movement UP TO a few months
ago, has admitted that he 10 favorable to q compromise
and settlement with Spain. This will explain the
sudden rise to fame ef hAcEo. who 10 now facing Gen.
wEYLEn. No maine other than that OF GOMEZ was
heard, up To q short time ago, In connection with the
fighting; now all tho reports refer to MAcRo. The
two Generals have had n serious failing out and the
facts III the case have been brought here by a Cuban
onicor who was present at tho council where the rup.
ture took place. At this council aoNEz announced
that he believed the time had como TO secure all the
concessions possible from Spain. ana then accept
them. He urged that the continuance OF the war
meant the utter ruin OF the island. so that an In
surgent victory would bring to the conquerors moth.
ing but q waste. He took the ground that tho in.
surgent arms had driven Spain to the point of making
all those concessions for which the contest had
originally been started, such as complete home rulo;
and that, with q general amnesty extended to the
rebels and the participation OF the United States in q
treaty guaranteeing the proposed reforms. it would
be best to accept the latter and let h%ostilitiep In Cuba
cease"
The correspondent of the Evening Post
next declares, upon the authority of an I'M
named Cuban officer" that MACEo made
an indignant protest against these sugges-
tions, declaring that the revolutionists
would never compromise except at the
point of the machete," and that thereupon
'he assumed the leadership having the
majority sentiment" on his side.
This story looks like many another which
has been sent out from Havana or from the
Spanish Legation at Washington during
the past twenty months. We were told
last spring that GOMEZ was in despair at a
time when he was the most energetic and
most successful in waging war upon Spain,
We have many n time got news that he had
been killed in battle. We had a report from
Havana, approved by the Spanish censor,
that the greater part of his troops had de-
serted, and this at n time when recruits
were daily joining his army. We had him
beaten in every one of the engagements in
which he gained n victory. If we were to
believe the Spanish stories which have been
sent out by Spain from Havana since the war
began, we should have to give credence to
marvels greater than any that were ever mar
rated by CERvANTEs. 1t has been the same
in regard to MACEo. His dead body has
filled many a Cuban grave while his living
body was in the saddle. He has had but
400 troops in his mountain camp one day
and has had 5000 the next day. He was
beaten at Mariel when he chased wEYLER
out of that place, from which he fed to
Havana. Only last week his army had
fallen to pieces and was demoralized, and
in a state OF starvation, and ready TO mu-
tiny, and trembling in it's boots, while, in
truth. that army was strong enough to
hold WEYLER inc all Spain at bay. Never
were there warriors like GOMEZ and MACEo,
as they figure in the Spanish legends Of
Havana invention.
Now at last, as we are assured by the
nameless Cuban officer" of the Evening
Post and of the Spanish information bureau, |
the two leaders have quarrelied and have
separated, one Of them anxious to compro-
mise with Spain, in the name OF reform,
and the other determined to wage war to
the last, at the point OF the machete"
1t looks like another Spanish cock-and-
bull story.
In the first place, we are not aware that
GOMEZ and MACEo have seen each other
since last spring, at the time when the
former made a raid into the province of
Havana, and when the two served each other |
in a neat operation which both had under
taken. How could they meet, or hold the
described IN the Spanish fiction, so
long as the Spanish army lay between them, |
30 long as the trocha was guarded by &c, 900
or more Spanish troops, so long as they
were five or six hundred miles apart,
of them in the easternmost province
OF Cuba, and the other in the western |
most, with a region between them
which WEYLER regards as impassabler
They have certainly not met, as that Gu |
ban officer" who is a Spanish informer, |
ought to know. The tragical scene of which
this informer gave the news to the Wash
correspondent of the EpentnJ Post, |
telling when or where it occurred,
and in which the leading characters were
GOMEZ and MACEo, and the onlookers were
81 several L!eutenants" and the informer,
only have been a fgment Of the inform
er's imagination.
In the next place, there is not . jot Of evil
dence that GOMEZ has ever, for a moment,
to enter into a compromise with the
enemy. He is at this time in the field
Spain. the leader OF the army of the
revolution. Large bodies Of skirmishers
under his command have within the past
two or three weeks, and as recently as
last week, entered the province of
and the province of Havana,
where they have fought bodies of
troops, and given WEYLER
to understand that the rear of his expedi-
tionary force Is in danger. There is also
reason to believe that the main body of the
army Of GOMEZ is now advancing westward,
prepared to strike a blow as soon as there is |
an opportunity to do 30. Surely these things
do not furnish proof of the trustworthiness
of the pro-SDanish EpentnJ Posts report
about GOMEZ.
The last message from the Cuban leader.
and it was received not long ago, contained
the solemn affirmation that, unless he fell