The San Francisco call., 1896-04-27
Twenty-Five Thousand Soldiers
of Spain Have Fallen in
the Struggle.
PATRIOTS GAINING STRENGTH.
True Situation on the Island as
Described by Returned
Correspondent.

light is thrown upon the actual situation
in Cuba to-day by the following interview
with j. Frank Clark, staff correspondent of
The United Press, who has just arrived
from Havana. Mr.. Clark said:
'These conclusions force themselves
upon me as the result of FIVE months OBJ
servation of the progress of the revolution
in Cuba. The Insurgents are making a re-
markably good fight. Spain has demon
s.rated her inability to put them down.
The end is not in sight, but Cuba is surely
slipping away from Spain, and unless
some new element is introduced the island
will be lost to the mother country. Mean
while atrocities are being committed and
methods of warfare are being followed
which are not countenanced by civilized
nations.
Il have made two trips to Cuba. The
first was at the beginning of April, 1895,
when the insurrection was in its infancy.
l remained two months. sailing to the
States in June. Early in January 1 went
back to Cuba, finding that Gomez and Ma
Geo, whom | left in the mountains of the
eastern district, had marched 900 miles,
carrying the wave of revolution westward,
and were then almost at the gates of the
capital city. When 1 left Havana week
ago the insurrection was larger, more
formidable and apparently more promis-
ing of success than at any time in the
fourteen months since the Cubans rose
against Spain.
81 went to Cuba not as the representa-
tive OF any one newspaper with an edi-
torial opinion of its OWL, but as the cor
respondent of the United Press, an asso-
citation whose sole mission is to obtain
facts and disseminate news.
In the early part of the struggle, be-
fore the insurgents had made much
progress. my reports were criticized by
Cubans as unfair to them. Now that they
have swept over the island, pushing the
troops of Spain before them and making
record that will live in history, Spaniards
say that my reports are unfair TO Spain.
In both cases l have told tie truth.
Before the arrival of General Weyler
correspondents were permitted to accom-
pany Spanish columns, and in the early
stages of the war Spanish generals even
permitted correspondents to visit the
enemy's camps. Since the enemy has
grown from scattered bands to organized
and fairly well-armed and drilled columns
it is a matter of life and death for cor
respondent to penetrate the rebel lines.
He would be welcomed by the insurgents
but shot upon his return to Spanish
camps. 1 have had experience with four
Captain-Generals- Calleja, Campos, Marin
and Weyler. The last is the only one of
them who made the life of a war CORE
spondent burdensome.
"Suave and courteous in his talk, pro-
fuse in efforts to aid correspondents in
sitting truth from error, polite in his re-
ception of all Americans, yet he has way
OF impressing upon correspondent, with
out putting it into words, that it would
conduce to his personal safety to report
nothing but Spanish official news. AS
they fail to mention a single insurgent
success from the beginning, and give out a
record OF Spanish victories which exist on
paper only, the correspondent who ac-
cepted them at face value beguiles his
readers.
IF Spain were winning battles, why not
permit accredited correspondents to ac-
company columns of troops and report
from personal observations? If battles are
fought whenever announced officially, why
are correspondents refused safe-conduct
pass to enable them to visit the battlefield
when all is over2 If the affair at Guatao
W
two correspondents thrown into Moro
Castle, charged with having visited the
place, which is only twelve miles from
Havana2
"The Spanish correspondents of Ma drid
papers, the Spanish reporters of Havana
papers, all subject to the press censure,
and the American correspondents, are
penned up in Havana, and every effort is
IL i
what is being done in Cuba. Every re-
liable dispatch is carefully edited before it
can be transmitted. Everything unfavor-
able to Spain or favorable to the Cuban
cause is eliminated. The mails are
searched to prevent newspaper corre-
spondence being sent off. But with all
these precautions the truth cannot be sup
pressed, and every Wednesday and Satur-
day the papers of the United States arrive
in Havana, and long accounts OF rebel VIC
tories and Spanish brutalities, which are
true, are read by the English-speaking
residents and translated for the benefit Of
Spaniards.
"The situation in Cuba is not difficult
to gauge-Spain has sent 10000 regulars
and so, 600 volunteers nave been raised in
the cities of the island. The latter are used
almost entirely for home defeuse. Of the
regulars, approximately 5000 have sue
cumbed to bullets and disease during the
year, $1,000 are in the hospitals or have
been relieved from duty anu about 100000
are available for active operations. These
figures are estimates made by an army sur
geon and are very near the truth. The
Spanish official loss of $500 men from all
causes during the year is too absurd to be
considered. Fully half of the regulars