The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-10
CIVIL WARS HORRORS IN CUBA.
THREE AMERICANS RETURN AND
TALK OF THE SITUATION.

Congressman King of Utah Says the
Newspaper Reports Give But a
Faint Impression of the Sufferings
of the COncentradOs-He Thinks
Action by Congress Necessary to
Put an End to the War-PrOf.
SchoenfeId Looks Upon the RevO-
luton as UnjustifiabIe.
Tampa, Fla, Jan. 9.-Congressman Will
lam II. King of Salt Lake City, Utah,
who has been investigating the situation
in Cuba for the past three weeks arrived
from Havana tonight
He says that he visited the provinces
of Havana, Matanzas, Santa Clara and
portion of Port au Principe, and found
that the published reports regarding the
sufferings of the reconcentrados give but
a faint idea of the want and misery actu-
ally existing. He saw Cuban women and
children starving, dying and dead by the
roadside on the outskirts of every town.
As to the probability of the Cubans
eventually gaining their independence, he
had very little to say, but is satisfied that
the Spaniards have nearly exhausted their
resources.
Mr.. King will not say what he will advo-
cate in Congress until he has consulted
with other members of the House, but
saws that some action is necessary to put
an end to the war as speedily as possible.
Charles w. Russell of the department
Of justice returns with Mr.. King. The
object of his visit was to investigate GER
+ai, claims of Ar1aricaDc for Il m pec fo
their property in Cuba He also made a
trip through the provinces and witnessed
the sufferings of the reconcentrados. He
will make a report upon what he saw.
Congressman King continued: Il found
that the Spanish people have evidently no
faith in the new astronomical government,
for they are strongly in favor of annexa-
ticn, and they want it at once. Gen.
Blanco has not succeeded in his efforts to
alleviate their sufferings, for he has
taken no financial measures to carry them
out.
"Insurgent leagues, Spanish officials and
Americans have no idea of what is going
on in that terribly devastated island.
Il know positively that Gen. Lee is not
going out with Gen. Blanco to see Gen.
Gomez"
With the party was DR.. Herman Schoen-
field, professor of ancient history in Co
lumbian University, formerly United
States consul at Riga, Russia. His trip
through Cuba was in the interest of a
German publishing house. He said: "a
civil war is essentially cruel. Certainly
the misery of the reconcentrados has
touched me to the quick. But | am con-
vinced that if after the ravages of our
civil war concentration of our fellow
Southern citizens had been deemed nee
essary as a war measure, the same misery
would have ensued here. l can under
stand the Spanish and the rebel side and
the embitterment on both sides, but l
cannot understand or excuse the indiffer-
ence of the clergy on the island The
clergy has done nothing to alleviate the
suffering in spite of their immense power
and influence. They have committed a
moral sin from the point of view of their
own church. Having learned from all
sides, Cuban as well as Spanish, that there
was absolutely no poverty, hunger or mis-
cry on the island before the war, l be-
lieve that the kinding of the torch of
the war fury was unjustifable, and that
all legitimate claims of home rule could
have been obtained by evolution much bet
ter than by revolution and that the in
surrection is primarily to be blamed for
the destruction of the innocent victims" ="