The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-01
THE B PACIFICoS.


n n III m NICE III WV Il
nave Taken No Part In the war ana
wished only Tor labeFty 20 Fiud Fooa Tor
rhe,r Hamiies-lOO. 600 or Them kiiisd.
No people in any country or in any time havo
entered moro from the hate Of q sanguinary
tyrnnt than tho paciHcoa Of Cuba during the
.,ohteen months In which Gen. Weyler has been
massacrinR them.
BEFORE the present revolution began the pacth- |
co. we're known by the general name Of Oroji,os, |
sppliod in Cuba TO all the inhabitants of tho
country; but they were tho poorest class
OF Cuban country people. They worked hard on
the sugar plantations or tobacco estates for
very small wages or raised vegetables for their
own support around their miserable dwellings.
Thoy lived some miles out Of the towns and vii
lagos. crowded into small huts under slender
roofs made OF palm troo leaves.
More prosperous ~0udjfros owned small farms
and some cattle, and so when the armies OF
Gomez and Maceo swept over the island from
east to west they had resources sum-
cicnt TO send their families to the
largo towns. and thoy themselves Joined
the triumphant patriots. All the hapless
Inhabitants Of the huts could not do this
While tho younger men followed the nag OF tho
lone star. their elders resolved not to let the
women and children die from starvation during
the bloody war that was waging nercoly around
them. Leaving to others the glories OF
battle, they engrossed themselves In their family
duties. without knowing anything Of inter
national law. they felt that they had some
rights as ~non-combatants which ought to DO re-
spected by civilized soldiers.
They remained neutral. in tho hope that both
armies would allow them to procure food for
their families in the country. Then they wero
named the p~aclfcos. which means In Spanish
1.-The peaceful and under Gen. Marines Cam.
na, th,v ,voro M m r,,le xvo1l freated nv Gpnp.
iards and Cubans alike.
The pacinco, as q general thing, 10 80 years
old or moro. His family Is very largo. Tho
Cubans. and those In the country moro than tho
residents Of the cities, marry very young, gen.
orally under 20. Tho Cuban women are very
Prolific. 1t is not to see in Cuba
n man not yet so years old, with twenty-five or
moro children. The Cuban countryman, moro
over. always marfies for love u girl of his class.
who is as poor az himself, and when his vito is
the daughter Of a widow and has unmarried sis
tiers, he becomes also the support Of his wife's
relatives.
The Cuban ~guajiros are endowed by nature
with great love of family and hearth. They
never complain OF the hard burden they have to
bear. They have also q kind Of fatalism common
to all tho inhabitants Of the tropics. They boz
lieve there is q Providence that will never for
sake them in their struggle for life. If they
win to-day they arc happy enough, and conf
dent of the morrow. So when they see that all
their family have safely reached the night with
shelter and without hunger, they go to rest re-
peating cheerfully: Tomorrow, God will pro-
vide" MAINLAND Dios dardr,
To this heroic devotion to those who SO abso-
lutely depend on his strength Of arm the p~aciico
sacrifices all other feelings. He loves Cuba
and freedom, and admires the Cuban heroes,
but he keeps these sentiments secret in his
heart for the sake OF his wife and children. 1t
Is one of the many lies uttered by Gen. Weyler
that the p~acifcos were employed by the Cuban
revolutionists as spies and agents in the coun-
try. The pacitico may be a sympathizer with
the revolution. as every ono is In Cuba except
the Spanish officials and those who share in
SPANS plumber Of tho colony. The cause of
Spain is 30 unjust that Spain has no disinterest-
Cd friends. But in this war the pacihco is strict
ly a ~non-combatant. To murder him. and more
than that, to massacre his wife and children. is
a horrible crime against humanity.
Tho only precedent for such q crime in tho
history OF Cuba was that of Gen. valmaseda,
who, in 1872. issued cruel DEGREES against tho
country people OF the province of Puerto Prin.
cipe, which elected a formal protest from tho
United States Government. Gen. Weylcr, who
served under Valmaseda as q Colonel.
an l who then committed his first butchering of
defenceless Cuban women, has initiated Val.
maseda, but, like all imitators. he has gone
further than his model. yalmaseda, compared
with Weyler, was a humane soldier. Weyler's
principal aim is the determination OF the Cuban
natives, and to that end it is easier for him to
begin with the paciicos than with the armed
foes OF Spain in the field.
Compelling the p~acihcos to concentrate in the
towns and around the forts. without affording
them any means of procuring food. Weyler has
L.-N - l. --I l--aI l.
Dantc's hell, to the death by hunger.
from whose pangs they tried to save
those they loved most. When in their
long, hopeless agony the starving women
AMI children ask the Spanish columns for a
piece OF bread. the sharp ~bHyonets of the soldiers
put a morciful end to their wretched lives.
These barbarities. surprising those Of the
Turks in Europe and Asia, are constantly re
ported, not only by trustworthy American. Eng
lsh, and even Spanish press correspondents
but also by official representatives Of the
American Government. There is not the
slightest doubt about the truthfulness of these
reports. Humanity may not inspire a stronger
power than Spain to stop such horrors. but his.
tory will not hesitate TO couple in its records the
name of Weyler with those OF Alba and Tor
qucnada!
Mr.. Stephen Bousal. who has witnessed the
sufferings of the p%acificos. describes the scheme
of a Spanitrd no met in Havana, who proposed
as the only solution of the war a new massacre
OF Saint Bartholomew against the Cubans
beginning in the capital itself.
Mr.. Bonsal did not give the name Of the au
thor OF this infamous proposal. but he described
him so well that no one well acquainted with
Cuba can fail 10 recognize the incorporating
Spanish Colonel OF volunteers. Don Eugenit
Vnndama.
But the end OF that story is not yet told. Tht
scheme was proposed TO Gen. Woyler by som,
other butchers like himself before his last un
successful trip to Santiago de Cuba. and h,
answered with that cold smile which is thu
7 only movement In his stony face:
1T is unnecessary to call tho attention of tn,
world to a general massacre OF Cubans on
given day. i am arriving to the same goal NOR,
quietly"
The monster was right. Until the end of las
August the number of Cuban ~pncihcos slain b!
order OF Weyler was more than 100000!
J. DE A.