The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1897-05-20
THE SECRET
ARCHIVES.
OF Cleyeland'S Administration on the
Cuban Question.
SECRETARY OLNEVS PROPOSAL /
A Communication to Minister De LONE
Which Pointed out the Futility Of
fpain's Struggle and Suggested
a Plan Of Peaceable In
tervention

Washington, Nay 2O.-The secret ar
/ chiyes of the state department which
/ have held the consular reports on the
/ Cuban war from the public, were par
/ TALLY disclosed yesterday by Senator
/ Foraker, Of Ohio. During the past
week the debate in the senate has been
| pregnant with limitations and inuen-
/ does of reports from United States Of
I ticials in Cuba held at the state de-
partment, which, II published, would
| disclose a condition on Cuban soil
which would influence public opinion in
a decided manner. The facts which
/ Senator Foraker announced created
I decided stir. Especially startling was
| the letter from Secretary Olney, in
which this country offered mediation
to Spain and the refusal of that coun-
/ try to accept the preferred aid
/ While one of the consular reports
was read without the name of the au-
thor being disclosed, it is stated to be
communication from Consul General
/ Lee, which fully sets forth his idea
/ of the condition that exists in Cuba.
/ The extract was quoted in substance as
/ follows, no date being given
Il cannot understand the truth of the
/ claim that all the provinces of the
island are pacified, except that of Sam
4 tiago de Cuba, because there are more
insurgents under arms at this time
than at the period l first reached the
island, some ten days ago, and ! do
not think it fair inference to draw
/ from existing conditions that the war
| Is approaching termination.
/ "The impossiblity of expelllng the
] fg1 lrr
| force Of arms is we'll known to the in
surgents, and they do not propose to
risk the lives of their men and the
success Of their cause upon one or more
| pitched battles. / conclude, therefore,
that the war will drag it's weary length
along so long as the insurgents can
dig sustenance from the ground on the
one side or money be obtained on the
/ other, with the continued result of un-
told human suffering, loss of human
life, the murder of innocent men, wom-
en- and children by both sides and the
| frightful havoc which disease makes
| in the ranks of the soldiers, particu-
| larly among the unacclimated Span
| iards, The poverty and distress Of the
| people are daily increasing and the
loss Of property of all sorts daily be-
| coming enormous"
The letter from Secretary Olney to
Spanish Minister De LONE, under date
Of April A. 1896, is the one in which in
tervention is suggested. 1t is in part
as follows:
1T is now some nine or ten months
since the nature and prospects of the
insurrectiOn were first discussed be-
/ tween u.s. In explanation of its rapid
and, up to that time quite unopposed
| growth and progress you called atten-
tion to the rainy season, which from
May or June until November renders
/ regular military operations impractical
! BILE. Spain was pouring such numbers of
| troops into Cuba that your theory and
opinion that, when they could be used
In an active campaign, the insurrection
would be almost Instantly suppressed,
seemed reasonable and probable.
TT is impossible to deny that the ex-
/ pectations thus entertained by you
have been completely disappointed. The
| insurgents seem today to command a
larger part of the island than ever
before. Their men under arms, esti-
mated year ago at from 10000 to
/ 10000, are now conceded to be at least
! two or three times as many. Mean
! while their discipline has been i'm
| proved and their supply of modern
! weapons and equipment has been
| greatly enlarged while the mere fact
| that they have held out to this time
has given them confidence In their own
eyes and prestige with the world at
large In short, 1t can hardly be ques~
toned that the insurrection, instead of
| being quelled, is today more formida-
| bic than ever, and enters upon the
! second year of its existence with de-
cidedly improved prospects of success
/ full results Whether a condition Of
\ things emitting the insurgents to re-
cognition as belligerents has yet been
brought about may, for the purposes Of
the present communication, be regard
/ ed as immaterial
Even if it be granted that a condl-
| ton of insurgency prevails, and moth
/ ing more 1t is on so large a scale and
diffused over so extensive a region
and is so favored by the physical feat
ures of the climate of the country that
the authority of Spain is subverted
and the functions of its government
/ are in allegiance or practically suspend
ed throughout a greater part of the
Island A vast area of the territory Of
the island Is in effect under the con-
troll of rowing bands of insurgents. The
AthNll - a. e9 0AHilldAiG WdI upon Lne IN
dustries of the island, and whereas the
normal annual product of the island Is
valued at something like $50, OOO, 900 or
500 900, 600, its value for the present
year Is estimated by competent au-
thority at not exceeding $4,000 0OO"
Further on Mr.. Olney calls attention
to the fact that capital is fast with
drawing from the island, frightened
away by the utter hopelessness of the
outlook" and continues: TT may well
be feared that if the present insurrec-
tion is to be Of shorter duration than
the last 1t viii be because the end is
to come sooner or later through the in
ability of Spain to prolong the con-
nict, and through her abandonment OF
the island to the heterogeneous eombi-
nation Of elements now IN arms against
her"
Such a conclusion, Mr.. Olney said.
would almost inevitably result in a
war of races, with the probable estab-
lishment of a white and black republic
Proceeding, Mr.. Olney's communica-
tion declares that the situation Is OF
great interest to the people of the Uni
ted States, because OF the interruption
of extensive trade relations, the whole
sale destruction of property. the ami