Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-07-19

cludes as the only reasonable explana-
ton of Spain's failure, and he spent
four months on the island with the
best of facilities for observing opera
tons, that it has not been the purpose
of Weyler to end the rebellion. He
says: Conversations with the Spanish
officers, from generals to corporals,
showed that the same motives that
were evidently actuating the COM
mander in allowing the war to drag
along were prompting large portion
of the staff and line in carrying out
the policy of their superior
An incident is related of a sugar
planter asking one of the officers if the
war was not proving too profitable to
be speedily closed, when the officer re :
piled: You make q crop every year;
we do not get a chance once in ten
years. This is our harvest. You
ought to be charitable and let us
alone" Think of the cruelty, the
starvation, death, ruin and agony nee
essary to such a campaign of corrup-
ton!
The writer explains why many of the
landed propretors prefer Spanish gov
ernment They have always paid
| tribute to Spanish officials to escape
| their full taxes and the effect of laws
which would otherwise have been made
vexatious." They fear that the Cuban
| would be more avariciOus and eXtor-
| tomato. They admit the horror ard
suffering inflicted upon the Cubans but
his, the Cuban's, 'cry for liberty and a
| chance to show himself capable of self
government was drowned by the
pleadngs for dollars and cents"
Mr.. Alvord speaks highly of the
courage Of the Spanish lads, who make
up the Spanish army, but says they
are maltreated and cheated by their
| officers, in whom they have no conf
dence and they are but little better
| trained than the insurgents, who are
| refusing to be, thinking they are the
| best fighters in the world already. On
| wasted, the piece being fired from I'M
! der the arm instead of from the Shout
der, with the result that the bullets fly
high and without execution.
The atrocities are mostly committed,
he thinks by the 'brigands' in the SER
vice of Weyler, cutthroats and half
breeds and negroes. But Weyler de-
serves the odium for these are en-
ccuraged by him in their fiendish work
indirectly if not directly we are led to
| infer. While Mr.. Alvord believes the
rebellion could be ended even now, he
does not expect that lit will be for it
would also end the, harvest" Fur
thermore he says that while, only about
ten per cent. of the white Cubans have
Joined the insurgent army they are all
in sympathy with it and ii, guns should
rain from Heavens not one would touch
the ground. A respectable condition OF
things is found in those provinces un-
der the supervision Of the Cuban gov
eminent and the writer finds that the
insurgents as rule are fighting from
high motives. He believes that il
recognized as belligerents the Cubans
could win their independence without
further outside assistance. He does
not, however, make quite clear how
such recognition would help them, al
though he declares that Spain ir
that event would not dare to treat
them as reptiles and to shoot al
prisoners taken, and murder inmates
of hospitals. as is now done. In clos
ing he says: Her." (Spain) ''sov.
} ereignity, like tree doomed to fall, i.
tOppling. not from the machete blows
upon its trunk. but from the germs 81
corruption that are rotting away it.
roots"