Birmingham state herald., 1896-04-18
FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
The Appointment of General Lee Was an Adroit Way of Sending Military l'5
 Commissioner to Cuba. 5ig

Havana, April 15, via Tampa, Fla. April 1.-The appointment of Gen. Fitz- hugh Lee to succeed Consul-General Will Hams is understood by Americans here, as well as by the authorities at the palace, as an adroit way of sending a military commissioner from the states to Cuba. When there was an intimation a fort
 night ago that MT. Cleveland contem-
 plated sending a commission here to
 learn officially what was going on, the
 officials at Madrid said very plainly that no military or other commission would
 be accepted by them or permitted to pry into affairs in Cuba. There is therefore,
 eome curiosity as to how General Lee will be received and as to what facilities
 will be accorded him for learning what is transpiring outside of the city of Havana The Spanish officials with whom I have
 talked will not discuss any other mission
 lhe may be supposed to have. They have
 got along so smoothly with Ramon o.
 Williams, who has devoted himself as
 siduously to viewing bills of lading and
 allowed Americans in jail to rot there and others to be shot down and their proper ty destroyed, that there may be trouble
 when live American comes here to rep resent Uncle Sam.
 It goes without saying that American
 residents will welcome General Lee with open arms. He will not be long in dis
 covering that state of war exists in Cuba that 1t is an army. and not moe of bandits, who are winning battles
 against the troops of Spain; that life is
 respected on one side and prisoners set free, while on the other a war of exter-
 imitation against all Cubans is waged prisoners of war are shot, unarmed peas ants are shot and cut to pieces and poit-
 ieal suspects are imprisoned by the thou sands. He will learn that Spain is pow erless to protect American property throughout the island; that millions of dollars worth of property belonging to our citizens have been destroyed,a and the prospect of recompense is as shadowy as castles in Spain. He will hear of Ameri- cans who have been shot down by Span
 ish troops, and will find others impris-
 oned in dungeons with no prospect or
 trial or release. He will learn, in short,
 what the newspaper readers of the United
 States have known for months, but of
 which the admfnistlat ton at w Washington is
 still apparently officially ignorant. His
 eyes will be opened to that which has
 stirred the heart of mankind. for the
 truth has been told by all the American
 correspondents here, with one exception.
 They have got the news out in spite of the Spanish censor, and of all the bar-
 riers to truth that the narrow minded
 ness of the middle ages has endeavored to erect around the island of Cuba. Cor
 respondents have been thrown into Moro
 castle. Others have been expelled.
 Those who remain know not what fate awaits them. But the truth gets out
 just the same. If the appointment of General Lee meanS that the administra- tion seeks light, fn view of the misrep resenta ton that has gone and is going through official channels, 1t is step in the right direction, and had it been taken months ago thousands of lives
 would probably have been saved
 Spain made the conquest of the island of Cuba and exterminated the native l Indians. The extreme Spaniards urge Weyler to clean up the island on the same old lines. General Lee will dis | cover for himself what is being done. CLARK