Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1898-11-26
Cuban Relief Work.

hat is, a fact not to be forgotten.
he island is not exclusively inhabit-
ID by Spanish soldiers under Blanco
md Cuban soldiers under Gomez and
Iarcia There are myriads of men,
women and children who took no mill
tant part in the late war on either
side, but who have suffered and are
still suffering some of the worst evils
Of war, There is much talk day by
day about shipping the Spanish SOL
diers back to Spain and, inducing the
Cuban soldiers to disband, and beyond
doubt these things should be done as
soon as possible. But what about
these others, who form Sthe greater
majority of the inhabitants of Cuba,
and in whose behalf we interviewed be-
tween Spain and Cuba and accepted
the dreadful alternative of war? For
let it be remembered that the first
ground, for intervention was not to
drive out lie Spanish soldiers nor to
put the Cuban sildiers in control of the
island but Ito put an end to the bar
barities, bloodshed, starvation and
horrible miseries" existing in the is
land, which the parties to the conflict
were "either unable or unwilling to
stop or mitigate"
Z On that ground we interviewed. BY
the exercise of military strength we
have put an end to the barbarities
and bloodshed," But the starvation
and horrible miseries" still exist. They
do not exist to as great an extent as
they did. With the hundreds of
thousands of "reconcentrados" we
need not concern ourselves. They
have ceased to exist. They are dead.
But reckoning such victims of the
Great Assassin, Weyler, at half a
million men, women and children
and we doubt if they have exceeded
that number-there remain about
million living. Some of these are
in comfortable and prosperous circum-
stances. Most of them, however, are
probably suffering from serious losses
of property or business. And many,
numbered by scores of thousands, are
in abject want and beggary. 'fStarva-
tion and horrible miseries" are their
portion, and there neighbors are, be-
cause of their own losses, unable to
mitigate their woes. 1t is true that
the climate of Cuba is genial and the
soil fertile, so that, as was said of
Australia, if you tickle it with hoe it
smiles with a harvest. But what if
you have no hoe? And that, literally,
is the plight of large part of the Gu
ban people today. Houses, barns,
fences, implements, cattle, crops, all
have been utterly destroyed, and moth
ing left to the unfortunate wretches
but the ragged clothes upon their
backs and the bare soil
In such case every intelligent and
sincere proposal for relief deserves at
tention, and none thus far made seems
to deserve more than that put forward
at Plymouth church, in Brooklyn, the
other evening, and, as we are glad to
see, practically acted upon. 1t was
introduced by Mr.. William Willard
Howard, with whose admirable efforts
in behalf of both the Cubans and the
Armenians\our readers have long been
familiar. Briefly stated, it was to Sc
cure tracts of farming land in suit
able places, provide seeds and imple-
ments; set the able-bodied poor at
work cultivating the land, paying
them fair wages for their labor; use
the profits from the sale of products
as capital in the enterprise; and thus
eventually assist the people to return
to and rehabilitate their old homes.
There was to be no giving of tools or
cattle or money, or anything that
would tend to pauperize the people;
but everything was to be done on a
fair business basis, involving payment
for value received. If this scheme
were executed on a sufficient scale it
is evident that it would speedily re-
lieve distress and conduce to a per-
manert restoration of prosperity
throughout the island, in precisely the
manner most desirable for maintain
ing the self-respect of the people, and
for increasing the cOrdiality of their
relations with this country 1t is
heartily to be commended to the prac-
tical consideration of the American
public.-N. Y. Tribune.
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