The record-union., 1898-09-13
Spanish Reaping Vengeance Upon the
Natives of the Island.
Havana Full of Thieves and Vaga-
bonds, Who Steal, Plunder and
Destroy Everything They Can
Neither is There Amy Justice or
Attempt at Punishment for Of
fenses.

NEW YORK, Sept. PA special to
| the Press from Washington says:
Senior Thomas Estrada Palma has
Just received communication from the
representative of the Cuban Revolu-
tlonary Government, who has secretly
been in Havana since the beginning of
the war. The letter is as follows:
The situation of the Cubans in this
city and this province is, in truth, crit
ical. The termination of the war, in
which We rejoice, and the independence
of the island has brought with 1t dire
ful woe to the Cubans and demands
immediate attention, and it is this con-
dtion of affairs that compels me to
write to you at this time in the hope
| that you will be able to present the case
to the American Government and Sc
cure immediate relief.
Each days delay in the adjustment
! of affairs to bring about the Spanish
evacuation increases our sufferings and
still further complicates the problem of
reconstruction which confronts us 1t
would be far from possible for me to
paint the exact situation as it exists in
one small letter. The war is ended and
at the same time we are not living in
peace Nevertheless, in the rejoicing
| over the outcome, the victims of the
war, the real sufferers, are almost en-
tirely forgotten. The victims are the
| Cubans. Neither the United States nor
Spain has suffered from the ravages of
war upon its own territory, while all
| the destruction and devastation
wrought by the struggle has been en-
dured by poor. suffering Cuba, and the
end is not yet
fires. We must keep peace because the
United States and Spain are no longer
engaged in active strife, and we must
endure all the atrocities, cruelties and
barbarism imposed upon us by the
| Spaniards, worse now than before the
| signing of peace measures, because they
| realize that they must soon leave our
island and they desire to heap all the
vengeance upon us that it is in their
power to do.
''Chaos reigns in Havana The public
| service has, in nearly all departments,
been practically abandoned and the
employees, thus being thrown out of
| their positions take the more from us
What is true of the civil authorities is
doubly true of the soldiers. The in
dustrial public is completely paralyzed.
All animals. all horses, have been taken
away to meet the necessities of the
Spanish army. There is nothing for
the laboring people, for the poorer
classes, the big majority of whom are
Cubans, to do.
Matters have improved for them
since the raising of the blockade The
poor man who manages to plant a lit
tie garden place to save himself and his
family from starvation finds that Just
as he is about to harvest his little crop
he is made the prey of the soldiery, who
rob him of all. The city is full of thieves
and vagabonds, who steal. plumber and
destroy all they can. Neither is there
any justice or attempt at punishment
for offenses, even the most grave.
THE municipal officers are nothing
more than figureheads and they are
| seeking to get all possible before leav-
ing Cuba, it makes no difference at
what loss or suffering to the people of
this city. The commercial people, the
most of whom are Spaniards, are hos
tile to the Cubans. The rich alone can
live; the poor must die of hunger and
in the greatest misery.
ITO make it worse the Colonial Gov
ernment has advanced the custom
duties 20 per cent. since the blockade
ating the most dangerous criminals.
while political prisoners are treated
with the utmost cruelty. A short time
longer of the present condition of af-
fairs and the entire Cuban population
will be dependent upon the noble char
ity of the Red Cross. The press is
again beginning to defame Cuban lib
erty, and the Spanish censor is main
tanning a policy worse than in the
times of Weyler.
What / particularly wish to have
you obtain for us is the aid of the
American Government in preventing
the confiscation of Cuban property by
the Spaniards, which is going on at an
alarming rate every day. The Cubans
are poor enough, but their condition is
growing steadily worse by plunder and
robbery. Again. we desire to have the
censorship raised, so that the outside
world may know what we are suffer-
ing. That would do more than all else
to stay the ravages of the Spaniards.