The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-05-26
rIr. CaIhoun's Findings.


A second letter is published By the
Washington Star from Charles M. Pep
per, the correspondent who is accom-
panying Special Commissioner Calhoun
on his mission of inquiry into the con-
ditions of Cuba. We attach impor-
tance to 1t first, because Mr.. Pepper as
a witness is absolutely trustworthy;
and secondly, for the reason that his
letters bear evidence of Mr.. Calhoun's
Endorsement. No specific statement is
made in them which could possibly
give offense to the Spanish, nor is there
any leaning toward the sensational;
but in general tenor and in clearly con-
veyed inference, Mr.. Peppers testi-
mony is to the effect that pacification
is purely nominal, and that even in
Havana, in the very thick of Spanish
officalism, insurrectionary sentiment
is formidable, widely diffused and we'll
organized, although secret.
Mr. Calhoun, we are informed, is re-
ceiving information of value from all
sources. That which comes to him
from the insurgent side is naturally
Spanish spies by which he and all other
prominent Americans in Havana are
continually surrounded; but Mr.. Pep
per, while betraying no condolences,
gives assurance that the commission
ers investigation is comprehensive. He
describes carriage drive which Mr..
Calhoun, General Lee and he took out
thoroughfare. On each side stood
ruined buildings and tenantless plan
tations; in every direction sentinels
stood guard, and the party were
warned not to go beyond point four
teen miles distant from the capital,
inasmuch as the protection Of the Span
ish officials ceased at that point. This
was in the "pacified" province of Hav-
ana, where Spanish jurisdiction is ad-
mittedly strongest. The impression
made upon the correspondent was dis
tinctly contradictory to Spanish repre-
sentations at Washington and Madrid
as to the genuineness of the alleged pa
cification.
Perhaps the most notable thing in
Mr.. Peppers communication is his in
timation of the extent to which coop
Grafton with the rebel cause has gone
among the very foremost families in
Havana. Possibly for strategic pur-
poses, Mr.. Calhoun assumed, when be-
ginning his inquiries, that the rebellion
had no standing in Havana, but was
the work mainly of irresponsible per-
s..c
pothesis the Spanish naturally gave
eager assent, but it soon became mani
fest from other sources that it lacked
foundation. Mr.. Pepper intimates that
at the outset of the present insurrec-
ton the aristocratic Cuban families in
Havana maintained an attitude OF
studied indifference; but today he
names numerous instances of sons OF
these proud families fighting willingly
In the insurgent cause, alongside mu-
lattoes and other characters with whom
they could not be induced to associate
in time of peace. We are given cause
to infer that Mr.. Calhoun has found
abundant reason to believe in the uni
versatility of the spirit of revolt from
Spanish sovereignty in Cuba and that
he is already equipped with informa.
tion on this point which will materially
aid President Mckinley in arriving al
an accurate conclusion in the premises
We take it that these letters of Mr.
Pepper constitute in reality Mr.. Cal.
houn's own unofficial reports. He /:
not responsible for them in a diplo
matte sense; but we can readily i'm
agine that he would not continue II
close association with Mr.. Pepper If hi
were dissatisfied with the tenor of Mr.
Peppers reports.