The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1897-05-26
What Englishmen Think OF Our In
difference TO Cuba.


In the article entitled Epis odes of
the Month";" with which the May num-
Der of the London National Reuie,o be-
gins, the editor expresses the amaze
ment with which his countrymen re.
gard our persistent refusal not only to
put an end by direct Intervention to TIT
disgraceful state of things in Cuba, but
even 10 recognize the revolutionists as
belligerents.
The National Reviep does not con-
slider that the services of special CON-
missioner are required for the purpose
of ascertaining that state of public
war exists in Cuba. II has obtained
during the last two years all the evil
dence needed on that point from the
London Times, which has one thor
oughly trustworthy correspondent on
this side of the Atlantic, namely, its
correspondent at Havana. A recent
letter from him has dssipated, so far as
England is concerned, the decisions
which Gen. Weyler sought to propa-
gate, the delusions, namely, that the
greater part of the island has been
pacified and that the capture of Mace o's
successor was a death.blow to the in.
surrection in Pinar del Rio. AS the
Times correspondent points out, not a
Single province is held effectively by
the large Spanish armies, and even in
Pinar del Rio, which has been "paci.
fed" 80 often, "the watch fires of the
insurgents were lately to be seen from
the streets of the provincial capital at
night;" and railway communication
with Havana could only be conducted
under military escort, and was occa-
sionally interrupted by the wrecking
of trains. 1t is true that the Spaniards
are still masters of the coast towns and
their immediate surroundings, but in
the other parts of the island, where
they hold any ground at all, they are
exposed to the constant harassment of
guerrilla warfare, and they have won no
lasting victory. The National Reuiew
is disposed to question the propriety of
applying the term "rebels to men
who for upward of two years have de-
fed successfully the greatest force that
has ever crossed the Atlantic; but, if
rebels they are, the fact is called to
mind that, invariably on the withdrawal
of Spanish troops from any district,
they return and resume command of
the county. AS for the economic con-
dition of Cuba, this is pronounced past
praying for. The garrison towns are
full of starving women and children,
whom Gen. Weyler, incapable of cop
ing with their husbands and fathers,
has expelled from their rural homes.
Wheat and other provisions are rapidly
approaching famine prices, and the
prospect is, beyond description, dismal.
The National Reuiep says, till re-
Gently, the one hopeful element dis
cernable by Englishmen in the distress.
ing situation was the possibility OF
American Intervention. President Nc
Kinle y, however, has been in office for
some two months, and as yet our State
Department has given no sign of an in
tention to interpose between Spain and
her American victim. Even Senator
Morgan's resolution, in favor Of the
relative ly trivial concession of acknowl-
edging the Cuban revolutionists as be-
ligerents, is held up in the Senate by
men who are not ashamed to appear as
the apologists of Spanish atrocities.
The National Revie,o suggests that if
the long-deferred recognition of bel
ligerency is the utmost help we can
hold out to the unfortunate Cubans, the
European handling of the Cretan ques.
ton cannot be by any means so con-
temptible as its critics imagine. "There
is," we are reminded, "incomparably
more suffering in Cuba than in Crete.
Spain has demonstrated her incapacity
to subdue the insure ction, and has
thereby forfeited all moral right to hold
the island. The United States have
had perfectly free hand to suppress a
scandal at their very DOORS" scandal,
moreover, which they have declared
that no other nation shall interfere
with. Nevertheless, the Washington
Government has never attempted to in
tervene. Under the circumstances, the
National Revie,o recommends those per.
sons who express Indignation at the
course pursued by Great Britain with
regard to Crete and Greece, to give
their attention to Cuba, over which
America claims quasi-suzerainty,
while she allows Spain to bleed the
island to death. At all events, it te-
behooves Americans to temper with
considerable charity their comments on
the infamy" of European policy on
the Eastern question. We are re-
quested to distinguish, if we can, be-
tween the case of the American Crete
and that of the European Cuba.-New
York Sun.