Evening star., 1897-01-14
GENERAL WEYLER'S FAILURE
It Has Angesed Him and he Resents Crit
cim.
Wanted to Imprison the Correspond
ent Of a Madrid Paper-Demand
for the Commanders Recall.

L
He was with difficulty dissuaded day or
/ SO ago from sending Senor Pena, cor
| respondent of the Madrid Heraldo, to Nor
| ro Castle. and the newspaper man in ques-
| ton Is not yet safe from the Spanish COM
! mander's wrath, aroused by the adverse
criticisms Of the conduct Of the campaign
| In Cuba and the administration of the af-
fairs Of this much disturbed island. To
such degree has the captain general felt
his Ill temper that nobody outside Of his
military and civil advisers has been able to
| field
call nobody here for moment doubts in
| spite Of the many official and semi-official
oenials from Madrid, for 1t is remembered
that the same course was followed by the
government In the case of the recall of
| Marshal Martinez de Campos.
| Weyler cannot truthfully be said to have
| achieved single success diplomatic. ad-
mfnistrative, military or otherwise. There
| are probably more Insurgents better armed
ana supplied. in Pinar del Rio at the pres
ent moment than at any time since the in
| surrection broke out. General Weyler once
| openly remarked that the western part of
| that province alone contained 1900 armed
men. and that large additional bands of
| insursents were lowering about his trocha.
Inc spanish commander sent $1,000 men
against the little insurgent army, and the
| latter acting with admirable strategy,
seemed 10 disappear, and the best efforts of
the Spanish generals have failed to discover
| their whereabouts.
Gomez is pushing onward from the east
with ali the men he can muster, while at
the same time protecting his retreat. The
insurgent bands are in the meanwhile
carrying the torch to the very gates Of
Havana. The flames of burning property
can be seen from the roof of the captain
generals palace, the sound of firearms has
frequently been heard of late in the sub
IN ha1l
Spaniards are absolutely powerless though
they have burned every roof capable of
sheteIing a wounded insurgent, destroying
everything likely to give them food, and in
every way trying to crush the struggle for
freedom not In an open conflict in the field.
put by adopting the very anarchist tactics
tney taunt the Cubans with employing. in
Siuuing the burning of the insurgent hos
pitals and the slaughtering of the helpless
suHerers according to all reports.
Plotting for WeyIer's Recall.
The civil governor Is known to be using
his influence with the commercial hod;es
mere to bring about Weyler's recall and
protests against his conduct have been
sent TO Madrid recently in great numbers
ana couched In the most emphatic terms of
disgust and disapproval All efforts to cable
such matter to Madrid from here have been
h t,ustrated oy the captain general. But this
mas not prevented several urgent messages
from being sent from Key West to Madrid
and it is believed the action taken will not
future. ".
The movement against Weyler has its
roots In the most influential circles here.
the very quarters where Spain counts her
stanchest supporters, and, therefore, it is
not oeieVed possible that the government
can much longer ignore the fact that little
or nothing can be done toward the real So
luton OF the Cuban question so long as
Weyler Is captain general Of the island His
fho nnIv fao
complained Of The air is full of rumors of
wasted funds and rotten contracts of SOL
diers suffering from lack of food, medicine
ana ammunition, which, on the other hand
Is said by some means or other to have
fallen into the hands of the insurgents or
to have entirely failed to materializc Even
the army contractors have turned against
the captain general. and that, as military
men are aware, means great deal.
mo Surrender"
The rumor that Maxine Gomez was con-
templating surrendering to the Spanish au-
thorities has been traced to Spanish official
sources, as usual. and is pronounced by
friends OF the Cubans, who are always we'll
informed, to be utterly false. They add
that so long as Gen. Weyler is in Cuba no
proposition looking to a peaceful settle
ment n. Mt OF the Cuban question will be accept
ed by the insurgent leaders, although 1t is
known that strong party of the insur-
gents now under arms Is in favor Of ac-
cepting a fair home-rule proposition so
soon as the details can be determined upon
The war party" however, prevails
against the peace party the former being
strengthened, 1t is said by assurances re-
celved from the New York junta that If
the Spaniards do not succeed in crushing
the rebellion or in bringing about a peace-
fui settlement of the questions at issue be-
fore next autumn the United States will
interfere and bring about the establish
ment of a republic of Cuba.
The general the Spanish party here de-
sires In place of Weyler is Polavieja, now
captain general of the Philippine Islands
Polavieta, who knows Cuba thoroughly. is
said by the Spaniards to be an honest man
and general who can be counted upon to
terminate the war in short order. The ad-
vent OF Gomez In the western part of Cuba
is liable to be the straw which will turn
the tide in favor of Weyler's recall which
is only held back because the Spanish min
istry does not like to be placed m the posi-
ton Of giving way in this matter to the
condemnation which the captain general
and his methods have met with in the
American newspapers.
Devastation in Pinar Del Rio.
A correspondent of La Lucha of Havana.
writing from Pinar del Rio under date of
January 9, gives a description of his trip
from Artemisa in the following terms:
'.All Of the tract traversed by the rail-
road from Artemisa to Consolation del Sur
has undoubtedly suffered most from the
rigors of war. The fields are laid waste and
abandoned, the bushes and trees are burn
ed, and the yellow and decayed leaves are
strewn by the wind as tears drawn from
mother earth panied and anguished by the
folly of men. The huts are destroyed and
the stone houses, which in other times We're
happy homes, have been converted by the
hands of the rebels to heaps of ruins, whose
black and fallen walls, covered with lichen,
only serve as refuge for the Lizards and
owls.
1.-The fields are dried up by the ravages
of fire and covered with a new growth of
bushes. The towns, the authorities of ]
which are making titanic efforts to foresee
and remedy the necessities Of the inhabit- |
ants, are full of the people of poor families
who daily march down from the hills at
tenuated by hunger and thinned by the
fevers in such a way that they appear like |
skeletons risen out Of their tombs to ap-
pear before the final judgment. To the |
right and left of the road as the train |
winds its rapid way the traveller contrasts
with anguish the desolation and ruin and
the inextinguishable poetry of the fresh and |
exuberant fields, always green with the |
eternal verdure of spring. as If God with |
His eloquence would point out to US that |
the only thing we men can do is to destroy
the beauties which have surged from His |