The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-08

hliiob away lOI " ~ Oh thp moOs
and were compelled TO walt some hours for a re-
ply, although the case was naturally one Of ex-
IRENE urgency. Certainly something OF the
kind occurred a year or two ago, when q sopoy
In Madras ran amuck and fred at every one
who came near him. Tho local authorities tele-
Rraphed to Simla for permission to take the man
dead or alive. The constant interference by tho
House OF Commons in the government OF India
and the ovor Capitalization in India itself are
doing an immense amount Of harm.
at Is time to remember that we hold India
by the sword, and that our well-meant but fruit
less endeavors to govern an Oriental country
after the methods Of modern Europe can only
end in disaster. II this disaster is to be averted.
it 10 necessary to put down with a firm hand
the propngators OF disloyalty. II is all very well
to try to make ourselves beloved, but 1t Is first
absolutely necessary that we should make our
selves feared. This result, as things arc man.
aged now is not being achieved"
This is By no means an unduly p~essimistic
view to take Of the situation. 1t is shared by all
competent observers, and the wonder is that the
Government has SO long ignored the dangers
which threaten an early repetition of the mutiny
OF 1857. The assumption, made until recently
by certain wise London editors. that the Sultan,
or perhaps Russia, was responsible for the sedi-
tious talk In India, was simple nonsense, and 1t
has now been abandoned. The arrest and coming
prosecution Of the editors Of the seditious local
press will speedily bring the situation to a crisis.
and events in India during the next few weeks
will be worth Watching.
The persistent and circumstantial stories of
cruelties inflicted upon prisoners In Spanish
jails are no longer ignored by the general
European press and public. The arrival Of q
company OF so-callcd Spanish anarchists in
| Ipn6nn to-day affair hoino relaaand from, rnatndv
of the authorities OF Barcelona gives the sub
ject OF their alleged sufferings special interest
in England. These exiles declare that in order
to induce them to confess their guilt in connec-
ton with bomb-throwinG and other outraEes
they were subjected to such tortures as having
their finger and toe nails torn out, burning with
branding irons, tearing with hot pincers, being
deprived OF water for eight days and fed during
the time on salt cod. Here is an extract from
an affidavit made in London this week by Fran
cisco Cana, who was recently deported across
the French frontier after confinement for sew.
ersl months in the prison at Montjuich, near
Barcelona:
IL was arrested June %, 1896. The police
asked for me on the pretence that l was to an.
swer questions at the palace of the civil Gov.
ernmcnt. They took me home and searched the
house, where they found one book on repub.
licanism. They then took me to the Projects
palace and from there to the military fortress
OF Atarazanas. No reason for my arrest was
given. was transferred to another prison the
same day, and two days later to Montjuich. ]
was kept there with seventeen others arrest
ed on the Same suspicion in the same cell. On
Aug. 4 | was called out with two others. and we
were placed in three separate subterranear
cells. Two gendarmes bound my wrists together
with spiked iron chains, frightened by n key, anC
ordered me to run UP and down the cell, which
was twelve PAGES long. No question had beer
asked me. II / stopped running, l was beater
with a whip. This lasted twenty-five hours
with nothing to eat or drink. Then - of
fered me salt cod, and said I should eat vermi1
IL 1 did not confess to throwing the bomb on JUNE
z. refused. and was kept running up and dowr
the cell for four days and nights. Twas theI
asked TO declare the name of the author Of tn,
attempt. l said / did not know. - then or
dered the torture OF This particular state
ment cannot be printed. l lost consciousness
On recovery l found that the nails of boil
big toes had been forced back by spikes. I wa
ordered to run about the cell again. This lastet
one day. then attempted suicide with an irol
spike. I was then permitted to rest, but coul'
not sleep for the screams from another cell. o.
Aug. 0 | was placed alone in another cell, whcr
l stayed till the end of August. l was then re
moved from one cell to another, and was kept a
Montjuich with other prisoners who had bee
tortured till June II. On that day / was take
handcuffed to the station with ~ffty-one other
!. The irons were removed, and l was sent by trai
to Perpignan, the frontier town of France.
had no trial OF any kind
A correspondent OF tho Pail MAI Garsfte n
Madrid vouches for a series of such horribl
tales. The recent execution Of five innocen
!. men, wrongly convicted OF treason and shot b
= order of tho Government, has. he says, create
. II fnplinu nf horror among thn nponlp Than n
: adds, among others, these particulars OF his te
= rible Indictment:
"A certain Lamala was arrested and taken {
!. the barracks. He was accused Of being in po
= session OF seditious documents. No sooner ha
he entered the room where questions AZ
: asked than he was confronted by a couple
police a~colytes. who belabored him cruelty. cal
: ing on him to acknowledge the justice {
charges of which he was entirely ignorant. o
his refusal to do SO. he was stripped and su
. pended to the ceiling and fogged until b
y tainted.
:, "These nineteenth.century Inquisitors var
;. the nature of the torments inflicted as fame
. prompts them. They have torn out the mai
from the hands and feet OF prisoners, some
whom have been thrust into Oubiiettes-daI
underground dungeons. overrun with rats
dating from the sixteenth century, and whic
A are utilized TO this day. Here arc confined Il
obstinate prisoners who refuse to answer /
eliminating questions; they are left to suffi
the pangs OF hunger for days and days togethe
- and then afterward they are subjected to a T
~ newal of Undergraduates. After such treatmeI
it is not surprising to read that they are t
weak and Ill to walk into the room where 81
=, the court-martial appointed to try them. TIL,
n have to be carried in, their feet being a mass
!, sores and their faces covered with bruises. d
"a Nogues, who. among other tortured prisoner