The San Francisco call., 1896-03-31
REBELS WELL ORGANIZED.
In E1pelLcd Correspondent Scores Wey-
Ter for His Btunders.

In EIpeiIed Correspondent Scores Wey-
Ter for His Btstnders.
NEW YORK, N. Y, March 30.-Elbert
Rappelye. the Cuban correspondent of
the Mail and Express, who was recently
expelled from Havana. arrived here to-
day on the steamer Yucatan. In an inter
view with reporter OF the United Press
Mr.. Rappelye said:
II come back from Cuba as deportado
of General Weyler. In his decree ex-
pelling me from the island l am
called ali enemy of Spain, that
charge being based on letters pub
lished in the Mail and Express over my
signature. Any person familiar with ex-
listing conditions in the island of Cuba
will know that the only enmity, if any,
I've shown toward Spain has been in tell
ing the truth without fear or prejudice.
This of course, has resulted in my expul-
sion. AS an impartial observer sent to
Cuba to study and inform myself and re-
port the progress of events there without
restriction having been placed upon me
when l accepted the mission, unhesitat-
lng!y wrote that within three months the
insurgent cause would be triumphant if
the United States Government would
grant the belligerency rights and give the
Cubans anything like fighting opportu-
tunity.
"The Spanish are now on the defensive.
Every battle fought in Cuba in the past
thirty days has been invited by the rebels.
They have more ammunition now than
they have ever had, and if they can main
tain source Of supply there is not any
thing that can prevent them from winning.
General Weyler has been Spain's greatest
mistake in the war. His name and repu-
tation carries an odium which attracted
the attention of the world. The best evil
dence of his bad generalship is bis COM
plete failure to hold the insurgent armies
back. after they nad left the western
provinces of Cuba. Maceo started his
western campaign, which is now COM
plete, with Is, 900 men, one-third of whom
had not single arm to fight with. Those
who had guns went into battles with one
or two cartridges and fought, knowing
that unless they captured the enemy's
ammunition they would have nothing to
fight with the next day. They are coming
back now with the whole cargo from the
Bermuda and General Weyler is with
drawing the Spanish defenses from at
least one-half of the principal points of the
island to bar their progress.
''This leaves Gomez with larger army
than Maceo. practically unrestricted to do
as he pleases in three-quarters of the area
of Cuba, while the barrier which Weyler
is attempting to place before Maceo is ac-
knowledged by one of his own generals
with whom talked before my departure,
to be much stronger numerically than
Maceo sarmy notwithstanding the fact that
in all the invasions heretofore the Spanish
have unsuccessfuliy attempted to prevent
them with the mum besr in their favor, of
at least 4 to 1. While there have been
doubts, perhaps justified about the military
organization of the rebel armies, they
need not exist any longer as they are per-
fectly organized with commanders of
every rank at this time. and all their op-
erations are being conducted as systemat-
ically as those of the Spanish. Their one
appeal to the world is not for sympathy,
but for ammunition"