The record-union., 1897-07-01
The Cuban Question.

Eds. Record Union: In dealing
with the Cuban question it should al
ways be borne in mind that Ameri-
cans speak with prejudice. With but
one or two exceptions every newspaper
IN the country and the editors thereof
nave reviled the Spaniards and lauded
the Cubans. Probably not one in a
thousand of these vigorous writer's has
ever peen out of his own State and,
as is unfortunately often the case is
uensely ignorant of the true condition
Oh AFFAIRS obtaining on the island How
DO We know that General Weyler, who
py the way is not a Spaniard, is the
ploodthlrSty monster he is made out
10 pe- Have we not received that in
Iormatlon from the correspondents of
the great 90 newspaper?
IL is not fair to assume that before
these gentlemen set out on their re-
spectlVe missions they were instructed
as TO the kind of copy they would
be expected to furnish? These corre-
spondents as rule get good salaries
and would be very foolish indeed if
they ran counter to the wishes of their
! employers.
A shrewd newspaper man, and as a.
rule the profession is not lacking in
that quality, knows that the people
want articles running down the
Spaniards, and, accordingly, he dishes
such articles up. What strikes me as
the most remarkable fact in the whole
war so far is that (vile dispatches)
after several hours hard fighting about
four of five men are killed. Why. a
San Francisco trolley car can do bet
ter than that
Commissioner Calhoun saws the Cu
bans won't fight and carry on a des-
ultory sort of guerrilla warfare. The
Cubans are not to be blamed for that.
nobody wants to get licked if he can
help it, but is not that in keeping with
the tactics of the President of the
Junta, whatever that may be. who Sc
curely in his office in New York CITY.
fights the Spaniards with fake cable
grams. Weyler is blamed that with
all the troops at his command he can
not gain decisive victory or capture
some Of the rebel leaders. Did not
General Mosby during our late un-
pleasantness defy the whole Union
army for four years, and he never
was captured, although he did manage
with handful of men to take a Union
army surrounding him.
Another thing, did you ever see a
country in which war was being car
rled on present the same smiling ap-
pearance as in the days Of peace? Cen
era1 sherman in his march through
Georgia left ruin and desolation be-
hlnd AS a very small child I saw
some of the country through which the
during the Franco Prussian war. and
the sight was not pleasant.
AS for the American citizens who
never would have claimed the protec-
tion of this Government if it had not
been that they were in trouble, a case
in point is General SanguiIly. who
basely violated his oath to both Gov
ernments, and certainly, according to
all known ethics of warfare. deserves
to be shot. What kind of citizens are
they who never live in the land of their
adoption, never intend to, and only re-
member that they are citizens when
they are in trouble. The Cubans are
mixed race, with the negro element
predominating, and are not fit for self
government. l have lived for many
years in countries where we have had
to deal with such mixed population
and men who have studied this sub
ject thoroughly will tell you that such
people inherit the vices of both par
ents and very seldom any of their good
qualities.
AS Americans we are supposed to be
lovers of fair play. AS for myself.
l believe in giving even the devil his
due, and [ think the Spaniards have
been maligned and the Cubans praised
with that mawkish sentimentality we
are so prone to indulge in when our
newspapers lead the way If the truth
were known I firmly believe that the
Cubans are as brutal and as cruel as
the other side is made out to be. and
If some newspaper would only have the
courage to express their honest con-
victions we would hear less of the
brutal Spaniard and the heroic Gu
ban q p
Grass Velley, June 29th