The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1898-09-15


In response 10 that he was informed that he
had already maintained the honor of the
Spanish army and that further efforts would
be useless, and would result in the wanton
sacrifice Of human life He then said that he
was waiting TO hear from his government,
and was informed by General Miles that he
had already taken much r'ine for that pur.
pose, and would be given until daylight Of the
following morning, IL being then o'clock, to
submit his final answer. He begged for longer
timo, and earnestly requested until IL o'clock
next day. This was finally granted by Cen
eral Miles, the meeting dissolved and the
officers separated On returning from this
conference II dispatch was received by Gen
eral Miles from Washington, as follows:
"WAsHTNGToN, July l3. 1893.
"MAJoR GENERAL MtLEs-You may accept |
surrender by granting parole TO officers and |
men, the officers retaining their side arms,
the officers and men after parole TO be per |
mittod to return to Spain, the United States |
assisting. If not accepted, then assault, unless |
in your Judgment an assault would fail. |
Consult with Sampson and pursue such course |
as to the assault as you jointly agree upon. |
Matter should be settled promptly.
ar. A. ALGER, Secretary Of War"
This, the statement says. does not look as II
General Miles was there as visitor. He was
charged with responsibility of ordering an rs
sault upon the cntrenchments and fortifca.
tons Of an army, which, IL successful would
nave cost NJ leaSb O,OJO lives, or OF WlthnOlu-
ing the assault II in his Judgment such an as
sault would fail.
No greater discretion was ever given 60 any
general commanding an army and what is
more, as will be observed, he was authorized
TO accept the surrender, which in the interest
of his subordinatcs, he generously declined to
do, and went away leaving all the honor TO his
next i'm rank, General Shnfter
On the morning succeeding the first inter
view, letter was received from General
Toral, Of which the following is a literal
translation:
SANTIAGO DE CUBA, July II.
General .in-Chief Of the American forces:
"HoNoRED SIR-Eli5 excnllency, the gen.
eral.in.chief OF the army Of the island of Cuba,
telegraphs from Havana yesterday at p. IN.
the following:
"Believing the business of such Importance
as the capitulation OF that place to be known
and decided upon by the government of his
majesty, give you notice that have sent the
conditions OF your telegram asking an imme-
diate answer, and enabling you also TO show
| this to the general of the American army 20
| see II he will agree TO await the answer Of the
| government, which cannot be as soon as the
| time which he has decided, AS communication
| by way OF Bermuda is more slow than by
| Key West. In the meanwhile your honor and
| the general OF the American army may agree
| upon capitulation on the basis Of repatri-
| alton. Returning TO Spain.1
i II have the honor TO transmit this to you
that in case you may consider the foregoing
| satisfactory that he may designate persons in
| representation of himself who, with those in
| my name, may agree to clauses of the capitu-
lation upon the basis Of returning to Spain.
| accepted already in the beginning by the
general.in-chief Of this army Awaiting re-
ply, nm very respectfully, your servaut,
| JOSE ToRAL, etc"
AT the meeting on the following day, Gen.
eral Toral stated that he was prepared TO sur
render with the approval OF the captain gen.
erOl OF Cuba, but IL would require a little time
TO have his nets confirmed by the home gov
| ernment: that in the meantime he was pre-
! pared to appoint commissioners TO arrange
the clauses of the capitulation. Not only this,
he offered to surrender the balance OF his
| command which had not been under fire dur.
! ing the campaign, The remarkable offer was
ON his motion and was in the nature Of Il sur
prise to the American guncralspresent How
! ever, at the conference Of the day previous
! General Miles had reminded him that he had
been tendorud the most liberal terms ever Of.
fered 10 an enemy; that his feet was destroyed
and they were 8OOJ miles from home. Torll's
offer could DO accounted for in one of two
ways-eithGr that the troops were wanted at
home to meet threatened revolution or that
they wanted to get home and regarded this az
the only means of doing so at the expense Oi
the United States. Whether BlancO and the
rest Of the Spanish forces in Cuba would have
surrendered on the same terms is not now
and perhaps may never bo known.
The place OF landing the Porto Rican expe
dition had been so thoroughly advertised in
communications sent over the French cable
and in the newspapers Of our own country
and telegraphed TO Madrid, and from there {,
San Juan, that not having received the ncCcs
sary appliances with which to disombarlI
General Miles decided after leaving the Wind
ward passage, TO change his course and luuC
on the south side Of Porto Rico, where tn,
Spanards We're the least prepared and ths
least expecting to receive him, and where IA.
knew the Decentralization Of the troops ant
supplies could be most easily effected. From
the time Of Decentralization during the fol
lowing ~ days Of the campaign, he kept tn,
Spanards guessing what the next move woulC
be. When thcy withdrew along the line o.
the great military road between Ponce anC
San Juan they destroyed the bridges, ob
structod the roads and fortified strong posi-
tions in the mountain passage and then were
surprised that one column of his army wa
, | sweeping around the west end of the road
capturing the principal cities and while an
other had passed over the mountains on
trail which the Spaniards had supposed i'm
passabe and therefore had not fortified OF
| garded it, and the first they knew of TIA,
strong brigade within 20 miles of the north
ern coast at the terminus of the railroad con
Meeting San Juan with Areciabo.
The island of Porto Rico was fairly won by
, | Jne rlBnU OF CONQUEST ana mas become n par
, | Of the United States. The sentiment of thu
people was in no sense outraged by invaders
| but on the contrary was successfully pro
| pitlated. A people who have endured tn,
severity OF Spanish rule for four centuries
hail the protection Of the great republic On,
of the richest sections of the country owe
which our flag now floats has been added anC
will be Of lasting value to our nation, politi
cally, commercially and from a military o.
strategic point Of view. Possession of tina
island has also rendered any further resist
ance of the Spanish forces in Cuba hopeless
and General Miles firmly believes that by fai
| and Just treatment the people of Cuba can b,
as easy controlled, either Us friendly ally anC
| neighbor or to become O part of our own
| country, as the people of Porto Rico
General Miles remained in Porto Rico a
, long as he deemed his presence necessary fo
; | carrying out the wishes of the president, anC
| now returns to the United States, bringing
, with him nearly 5000 men, who are no longe
: required, there being some $4,000 still remain
ing, amply sufficient for all purposes. He re
, | turns at once to Washington, where he be
ieyes he can be most useful as he cOnsi ler
Che most important need Of the hour now /,
, be the immediate reduction OF war expenses
, and the return of rs large portion Of thos'
in the military service AS possible to thei
! former occupations, where they are most
needed.
General Miles admitted to the Associ
ated Press reporter who interviewed
| him while the OLDHAM was lying of
! Liberty island the substantial accuracy
|, of the statements attributed TO him by
, the Kansas City Stars correspondent
at Ponce, Porto Rico.
) He said he had asked that the troops
be allowed to parade in New York, but
I had been refused.
He did not intend to parade himself,