The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1898-03-18
The Reconcentrados.

|
| means of knowledge
The Reconcentrados.
All the country people In the four west
! ern provinces-about 700 in number
remaining outside the fortified towns
! when Weyier's order was made, were
! driven into these towns. and these are
| the reconcentrados They were the peas
antry, many of them farmers, some land
owners. others renting lands and owning
| more or less stock; others working on
| estates and cultivatng small patches;
and even small patch in that fruitful
| cline will support a family.
| 1t is but fair to say that the normal
| condition of these people was very diff
| ferent from that which prevails in this
| country. Their standard of comfort and
! prosperity was not high, measured by
! our own. But, according to their stand
! ards and requirements, their conditions
! of life were satisfactory.
| They live mostly in cabins made of
| palm or in wooden houses. Some of the
| houses are of stone the backened walls
| of which are all that remain to show
! that the country was ever inhabited
| The first clause of Weyler's order reads
as follows:
| 1.-Order And Command
First. All the inhabitants of country
|
| towns, shall. within the period of eight
days, concentrate themselves in the towns
occupied by the troops. Any individual
| who, after the expiration of this period
| is found in the uninhabited parts, will be
considered a rebel and tried as such
The other three sections forbid the
| transportation of provisions from one
| town to another without permission of
! the military authority; direct the owners
| of cattle to bring them into the towns,
prescribe that eight days shall be
counted from the publication of the proc
lamation in the head town of the NUM-
cipal districts, and state that if news is
| furnished of the enemy which can be
made use fit will serve as recon-
mendation.,' ~,
Many, doubtless. did not learn of this
order Others failed to grasp its terri
! BILE meaning. It's execution was left
| largely to- the guerillas to drive in all
that had not obeyed, and / was informed
| that in many cases a torch was applied
| to their homes with no notice, and the
| inmates fled with such clothing as they
| might have on, their stock and other be-
| longings being appropriated by the guer-
! HAS When they reached the town they
were allowed to build huts of palm leaves
| in the suburbs and vacant places within
| the trochas, and left to live if they could.
| Their huts are about ten by fifteen feet
| in size, and for want of space are usu-
| ally crowded together very closely. They
| have no floor but the ground, no furni-
| ture, and after a years wear but little
clothing. except such stray substitutes as
| they can extemporiZe. and with large
| families, or with more than one in this
| little space. The commonest sanitary
| provisions are impossible. Conditions are
| uncomfortable in this respect. Torn from
their homes, with foul earth, foul air,
foul water. and foul food. or none, what
| wonder that one-half have died, and that
| one-quarter of the living are so diseased
! that they cannot be saved. form of
dropsy is a common disorder resulting
from these conditions. Little children
are still walking about with arms and
| chest terribly emaciated, eyes swollen,
and abdomen bloated to three times the
natural size. The physicians say these
| cases are hopeless.
| Deaths in the streets have not been I'M
common l was told by one of our con-
| suls that they have been found dead
| about the markets in the morning, where
| they had crawled, hoping to get some
| stray bits of food from the early
| hucksters, and that there had been cases
| where they had dropped dead inside the
| market surrounded by food. These peo-
pie were independent and self-suppOrt-
| ing before Weyler's order. They are not
| beggars even now. There are plenty of
| professional heggarS in every town
| among the regular residents, but these
| country people, the reconcentrados, have
not learned the art. Rarely is hand
| held out to you for aims when going
| among their huts, but the sight of them
| makes an appeal stronger than words.
| OF these l need not speak. Others have
| described their condition far better than
| can 1t is not within the narrow linn
its of my vocabulary TO portray it.
| went to Cuba with strong conviction
that the picture had been overdrawr;
| but a few cases of starvation and suf-
fering had inspired and stimulated the
| press correspondents and they had given
| free play to a strong, natural and high
| ly cultivated imagination.
Before starting / received through the
mail leaflet published by the Chris
| tan Herald, with cuts of some of the
sick and starving reconcentrados. and
took it with me, thinking these would be
| rare specimen, got up to make the worst
| possible showing. | saw plenty as bad
| and wose; many that should not be
| photographed and shown. 1 could not
| believe that out of a population of l.
| 600 900 100000 had died within these Span
ish forts, practically prison walls, within
a few months past from actual starva-
ton and diseases caused by insufficient
and improper food. My inquiries were
entirely outside of sensational sources
| They made of our medical officers
| of our ConsulS, of city alcaldeS CmayorSI
of relief committees. of leading merch-
ants and bankers physicians and law
| lers Several of my informantS were
| Spanish-born, but every time the answer
| was that the case had not been over
| stated. What saw | cannot tell so that
! others can see it, 1t must be seen with
ones own eyes to be realized. The Los
| Pasos Hospital in Havana has been re-
| Gently described by one of my colleagues
Senator Gallinger and | cannot say that
his picture was overdrawn for even his
fertile pen could not do it. He visited it
after DIR. Aossor, one of Miss Barton :
very able and efficient assistants, had
| renovated it and put in cots. l saw it
when four hundred women and children
were lying on the stone floors in an in
describale state of emaciation and dis
| ease many with the scantiest covering
of rags. and such rags! Sick children
naked as they came into the world. And
the conditions in the other cities are
even worse.
Miss Ba rton and Her Work.
Miss Barton needs no Endorsement from
me- l had known and esteemed her for
many years. but had not half appreciated
her capability and devotion to her work
especially looked into her business
methods, fearing there would be the great
est danger of mistake, that there might
be want of system. and waste and eXtrav-
agance, but found she could teach me
on these points. / visited the warehouse
where the supplies are received and dis
tributed. saw the methods of checking
visited the hospitals established or organ
lied and supplied by her; saw the food
distributions in several cities and towns.