The Roanoke times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1897-1977, 1897-05-20
CUBA May BE ANNEXED.
So a Member of the Cabinet
Thinks.
sPAIN'S GREAT MILITARYFAILURE

a Great Stroke For tho United States.
Cuba Would Be n Boon to This Country,
For 1t Is the Richest Land In tho
World.
WASHINGTON. May 19.-[Special. lit is
an open secret here that ero many months
hnvo passed tho United States is likely to
intervene between the Cuban insurgents
and the Spanish government. 1t is re-
ported on what appears to be- excellent au-
thority TINT President McKinlcy's special
message to congress-, asking an approprin-
ton for tho relief of suffering Americans
b, Cuba, which was so promptly respond
ell to by that body, is the forerunner of u
policy which may lead either to Cuban in
dependence or to that island becoming q
sort of dependency of tho United States.
was talking about this today with mem
Der of tho presidents cabinet, and this
official snid to me:
1T would DO u great thing for the Unit
cd States if we could acquire Cuba, either
directly ms territory or indirectly as u
dependency whose existence we were to
guarantee. Leaving out Of tho question
the humanity of tho matter, the demand
which exists for some solution of tho prob
lem that will protect life and put stop to
tho suffering which exists among peaceful
people in the island, Cuba is of vast inn
portancc to us commercially. / have seen
tho reports of our consuls on file Mt tho
state department, and they toll an amaz-
ing story of SPANS failure to care for the
noncombatants who were driven into tho
fortified cities and towns by General Woy-
lcrs edict. They are suffering from lack
of food, smallpox RACES among them to
such an extent that mt one place it is re-
ported $500 men, women and children
have tho disease, and yellow fever threat
ons to break out. The sanitary condition
of these refugees is most wretched 1t Is
high timo something were done to rolioyo
all this suffering, and 1 think tho prcsi-
dents movo to afford relief will meet with
tho approval of tho whole world.
The Truth About Cuba.
"There is another thing continued
this member of tho cabinet. "The truth
about Cuba is likely to como out now
The mon who go down there to distribute
the supplies purchased by tho government
will SEQ somo heartrending scenes They
will SEQ thousands of people huddled to-
gethor in little huts, starving, diseased.
hopeless. Not many of these are Amcri-
cans either native or nnturalizcd hut all
will beg for help. The agents of tho gov
crnmcnt will find it difficult to refuse such
appeals. It will bo almost impossible to
refuse to deal out IL little bread or mcdi-
cine oven If tho suffering person is not on
titled to tho protection of this government
Thus all the fncts about Cubn's failure to
take care of the refugees, of tho victims of
her own cdicts, will como to light. The
news will bc spread all over the world.
And If mistake not tho people Of all the
world will demand that tho United States
intervene for tho purpose of putting n stop
to these horrors -
But, MIR. Secretary I remarked, call
this has already been made known through
the newspapers"
"Thnt is true" he replied. cit is only
fair TO say, TO the credit of tho men who
hnvo boon in Cuba rs tho representatives
of our great newspapers that they havo
told the truth. They have accurately de-
scribed what they saw there. They havo
been confirmed in every particular by our
consular reports. But now tho facts arc
to come out in IL semioflicial way. Tho
world will no longer be skcptcal. 1t will
have to believe that Spain has not only
scored military failure in Cuba, but that
sho has failed most misernbly to meet her
responsibilities as civilized government
Nothing is better settled than that when
government finds 1t necessary to remove
noncombntants from their homes, as a
military measure, it must tako caye of
thom. 1t is responsible for them before
the world. Spin thought to stnrvo out
the insurgents by removing the people
from their farms. Tho insurgents are not
starving, but the poor people who wero
ordered into the cities are