Evening star., 1898-04-14

nation. He says the various Spanish Of
fcers in different bartsfof the island will
see that 1t gees into effect
In response to an inquiry from Senator
Frye as to his reaa6ns for saying that the
insurgents would bay no attention to the
armistice, Gen. Lee said:
Because every attenipt so far to make
terms or to make Feace or to buy the in
surgents or their leaders has met with
signal. failure, and whatever may be said
about old Gen. Gomez, he is. In my humble
opinion, fighting THAT war In the only way
it can be done-scatterihg his troops out
because to concentrate would be to starye.
having no conmissary train and no way to
get supplies. They come in sometimes for
the purpose of making some little raid,
where he thinks It Will do something; but
he has given orders, so have always
been informed, not to fight, not to become
engaged, not to lose their cartridges: and
sometimes when he gets into fight each
man Is ordered not to fire more than two
cartridges. When Gen. Weyler was there
he went out after him sometimes, and they
would move up column and fire, and
sometimes flank the column, and the Span
ish soldiers would deploy and throw out
ShAA AAAAShShS, <aio thC SuUduS, ike 1UQlauS,
would go into the woods. valleys ard
mountain sides and scatter out and wait
until tile Spanish troops were gone. Then
the Spanish troops would countermarch
and go back to town, three men killed
| ard ten or twelve wounded"
Senator Clarke-You think the insurgents
would not accept any such terms?
Consul General Lee-No, sir; 1 do not
think it would be safe for any Spanish off,
Ger to go out under a flag of truce. They
could not buy the insurgents. Every time
they went out to buy them they Ghe insur-
gents) killed them
ProvisiOns in Havana,
Senator Mills-How much provisions have
they in store for the army?. How long can
tLey maintain their forces there without
bringing in more provisions?
General Lee replied: "They are living
tkere almost from hand to mouth-the
Spaniards and the citizens in the town Of
Havana also. 1 made some inquiries on
that point just before I left. They have a
good many barrels of flour and good deal
OF rice and some potatoes, but not a great
rany, and little lard: but everything that
the town Of Havana has received in the last
four or five or six months has been from
the United States by steamers from New
York. New Orleans and Tampa.
Senator Mills-Can thsy get no subsist-
ence from the island?
Consul General Lee-Nothing more than
from this floor Qndicating) The way the
insurgents do Is this: They have little
patches Of sweet potatoes-everything
grows there very abundantly in a short
time-and Irish potatoes and fruits. They
drive their pigs and cattle into the valleys
lv,S7 fIeid opl
ter out. That is the reason why they all
scatter out. A great many are planting
The insurgents plant crops in many parts
Of the island.
Speaking about an armistice, they have
not been interfered with much since Gen.
eral Blanco came th.re!" With the excep-
ton of the campaign of General Pando in
the eastern part Of the island, there have
been very few military operations inaugu-
rated by the Spanish So it has baen prac-
tically sort of truce for some timc-the
insurgents because they did not want to
fight and because itr.wasI against orders to
fight. 9pH
Eject of a Blockade.
Suppose Havana was blockaded," said
Senator Mills, 80 that no provisions could
go in. would the people there have any
way to get any?"
None whatever" responded Gen. Le,
1.-The town would surrender In a short
while" ed ~ a.a ,.
Gen. Lee said that all but about 300, 600
spaniards of the population of Cuba, which
is about 100000. were Cubans
Are all the Cubans friendly to the in
surgents?' asked Senator Foraker
Il never saw one that was not" respond
ed Gen. Lee. .
Gen. Lee said he had expended all but
about 5000 of the $4,000 appropriated for
the relief of American citizens in Cuba
Senator Morgan asked if it was a matter
OF actual necessity to feed them to which
zen. Lee replied: They were practically
In the condition of all the other inhabitants
or the island. They had very little to work
at. Ihere were not many sugar planta-
tlons IN operation nor tobacco places, and
they were suffering like everybody else."
Senator Cullom asked If the Spanish
army got any of the supplies sent bv the
United States.
mo. SIR" said Gen. Lee; occasionally
they might have gotten little here and
there
senator Frye asked various questions in
regard to the physical condition of the
Spanish soldiers, and the method of pro-
viding for them of which the following are
specimens. with their replies:
Condition of Spanish Soldiers.
Senator Frye--"What is the condition of
the Spanish soldiers there in the tsland?"
Consul General Lee--"Very bad"
Senator Frye-"As to clothing and sub
sistence, how are they?"
Consul General Lee-"They are badly
clothed and very badly fed; not well or
ganized; not drilled. Nobody ever saw
Spanish soldiers drill.
Senator Frye-"If Spain has really appro-
priated 100000 for the sustenance of the
reconcentrados, as it is stated, do you be-
lieve that that will be given to those peo-
pie and that their own soldiers will be left
to starve?"
Consul General Lee-"Oh, no. There will
be very little of 1t paid to anybody"
Senator Foraker-"What will become of
it?'
Consul General Lee-'They will divide it
up here and there-a piece taken of here