The news & observer., 1898-01-12

either bodily or spiritual relief. In fact,
the genera ar Of Indifference to suffer
ing which med to prevail everywhere
was astonis Ing.
LAS the oydutry was stripped Of it's
population by The order of concentration,
it is easy to believe that 100000 persons
were gathered behind the forts, without
being given food, medicine or means Of
any kind to earn a living, except where
in the larger cities some few could find
employment in menial offices. Judging
by the orphans l was shown at Jacoba,
AldecOa and elsewhere, and from all l
saw and heard, / believe that half Of
the 100000 have died as the result Of
starvation. l know from the official
register of the city of Santa Clara, which
ordinarily has a population Of about H.
600, that the number of deaths for De-
eember was over 600 and showed an
increase, considering the loss of the for
mer 1000 from its total population. The
exact figures for December are 971. At
that city the government was distribut-
ing 800 single rations per day out of
total appropriation for the purpose Of
$4,000. This was not relief, but
mere prolongation of the sufferings Of a
small part of the reconcentradoes of
that city.
so far as any evidence of relief was
vislD1e to my eyes or was even heard
of by me in all my talks on that island, !
the surviving 100000 people are in the
same condition and have the same pros
pect of starvation before them as had
their kindred who have died. There is
as much need of medicine now as of
food. and they are getting neither
1.-The excuse given by the Spanish SYM
pathizers in Cuba is that the troops
must first be fed, and it is certain that
many of the soldiers are sick and suffer |
ing for want of proper food. I saw
many myself that looked so. I was
informed on all sides that they had not
been paid for about eight months and /
that most of the civil officials had not
been paid for a similar period. i is. /
therefore, most probably that Spain is I
practically unable to supply the millions
which are Immediately necessary to pre- /
vent the death of most of the surviving
reconcentradoes; but this leads to pOliti-
cal questions, which l desire to avoid
81 wish merely to state in such a way
as to be convincing that in consequence
of the concentration of the people some
two hundred thousand Cubans are daily
suffering and dying from disease pro- |
duced by a lack of nourishment, in the
midst Of what / think must be the most
fertile country in the world and that
something must be done for them on n |
large scale and at once or a few months !
will see their determination.
mo order Of permission from General !
Blanco can save the lives of many Of !
them. Indeed many are too far gone to |
be saved by the best care and treat |
ment. There was no indication of a ces-
sation of hOstilities by the insurgents. If i
they do not voluntarily cease, their
tactics are such that Spain cannot con-
quer them, if at all, before the reconcen-
tradoes will have had the finishing
stroke; but even the speedy termina-
tion of the war would not save many |
of them. What they need is instant
pecuniary assistance to the extent of
$4,000 a day, distributed by our Com
suls. Private charity will hardly, it
seems, produce that amount. Twenty
thousand dollars would be but ten cents
apiece for medicine, clothes and food.
When / left Havana l was informed
Consul General Lee had received $4,000
and some hundreds of cans of condensed
milk. AS there are about 10000 sufferers
in Havana alone, the inqdequacy OF
such contributions is manifest Whether
Congress should make an appropriation,
as in the case of the San Domingo refu-
gees and other cases, is not for me to
say; but / beg the charitable to believe
the statements of fact which | have
made and to try to realize what they
mean"