The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1898-04-20
CONSUL BR|CE ON CUBA
Sights He Saw There Will Haunt
Him for Life.
C0NTRADICTS SENATOR GEAR
There Are More Than Fifty Thous-
Army of the Patriots and Less
Than Twenty Per Cent of Them
Are CoIOred.
They will haunt me all my lifer"

They will haunt me all my lifei'
With this startling characterization Mr..
A f. Brice, consul at Matanzas, Cuba
and who, with his wife, is stopping at the
Ebbitt House, concluded a recital of hor-
rors growing out of Bloody" WeyIer's
recommendation order
Mr.. BTice has been United States consul
at Mataazas for over four years, and he
has lived in Cuba throughout the present
instruction He is an interesting con-
Versationalist, and his words demand in
terest, particularly by reason of the fact
that he speaks that which he knows. To
a Times reporter last evening. seated in
the comfortable writing room at the Eb-
bitt, he related several of his experiences
on the island.
President Cleveland should have taken
steps to stop the slaughter when he was
in Office he stated. He knew of the
condition of affairs there But | am as
sured that the Cubans will gain their in
dependence. whether the United States
takes hand in it or not. They are fight
ing the fight of their history and for three
years they have practically controlled the
island. The Spaniards are only in pos
session of few of the seaport towns and
cities and few interior towns. and they
are comparatively helpless, so far as put
ting down the insurrection is concerned.
I'VE shall have no difficulty in whip
ping Spain, for her soldiers don't know
how TO fight. They do not make long
campaigns. and they always return at
night to their boats, no matter what adj
vantage they may have gained by their
foray during the day. They are ignorant
and lazy. and are more like a lot of cattle
than men of reason or intelligence and.
moreover, they are mostly boys and
youths. and altogether unacquainted
with modern warfare The guerrillas are
mostly eX-jail-birds, and they are par
ticularIy bloodthirsty and inhuman"
Was Senator Gear, of Iowa, right
when he said that there were but 10000
men in the Cuban army, and that 20 per
4 cent of them are colored men?" was
asked.
Il should say not.' replied Mr.. Brice,
Indignantly. There are now about $4,000
men in the Cuban army and only about
! 20 per cent Of them are coored. Some
+ times there are 5000 men, and there is
no truth in the statement of Mr.. Gear,
! even if he is from my State" he added,
/ sarcastically.
I They can fight, too" he said, enthu-
/ siastically. They Were fighting within
a radius OF eight miles of Matanzas when
left. on March Z, and the insurgents
invariably are successful. They are often
but q mere handful. but they can wallop
the Spaniards almost every time. The
only really good Spanish soldiers on the
island are the Civil Guards and many of
them are Cuban sympathizers.
In many Of their battles the insurgents
have had but one round of cartridges
and after they fired that they had to use
their dubbed rifles and sometimes they
buy cartridges from the Spanish soldiers
at few cents each. The Spanish soldiers
are suffering, in many instances, as much
I as the reconcentrados, and at one time
/ fed many Thousand persons in two
months and there were more soldiers in
the number than reconcentrados.
The suffering among the reconcentra-
dos is somewhat awful, and the memory
Of the scenes saw will haunt me TO ray
grave. Easily 100000 of them have died
upon the island since the order of re-
/ concentration was given, despite the as
sertion Of enemies of Cuba in this coun-
try. Matanazs is a city Of 5000 inhab
itants. Last December 200 died and
altogether about 1890 have died in the
city When Miss Barton was on the ISL
tanzas. One day we made up a party
and went among the recOncentrados. AS
scene after scene of death and worse,
was flashed before our eyes, in many in
stances buZZards picking the bodies,
which were placed in rows in the open
air, 10 pieces and fighting over the flesh
about the bones, she said to herself,
This is damnabIe" You can imagine
what the sight must have been 10 cause
that exclamation from her. Just before
/ left / distributed $500 tickets among
the reconcentrados, but then ] could only
reach the most deserving cases. The
provisions sent out the last time the Fern
reached the island only lasted about
week. and the condition of the poor
persons is beyond description. It is hard
10 realize how the United States can
hold off without intervening Immediately
TO stop these scenes. The senators who
went TO the island saw much Of the
misery and suffering and death which
prevails there, and they have brought
the message to the American people. The
persons vino endeavor to belittle the real
condition of affairs there either have
never seen the suffering or else they are
guilty Of gross Misrepresentation.
1.-THE claim is also made that many of
the Cubans are not educated. The lead
ers are all men of education and they
are the equal of many refined. educated
friends | have in this country. They
are perfectly capable Of self-goyernment
although ] think that annexation would
be the best thing for tr>m. Many Gu
bans and mere Spaniards feel favorably
disposed toward annexation. But we
must do something now. Thousands are
dying daily. and there is none to succor
them.
Mr. and Mrs. Brice leave tonight for
their home in Iowa. where Mr.. Brice
will spend a few days before receiving
another appointment.