Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-04-11
A tale OF HORROR
CONTINUED from First Page.)

will reach 15e.ooo. and that the death rate
from starvation alone would be over 80
per cent For the relief of these people he
says $1,000 in silver have been set aside,
$50 that if every dollar appropriated reach
es them the distribution will average about
II cents to a person. which, of course, will
be rapidly exhausted, and as 1 can hear
of no further succor being afforded, it is
easy to perceive what little practical relief
:tas taken place in the condition of these
poor people.
December IS General Lee makes the first
CO mnunication about the scheme of
autonomy. He says that he has been IN
Iformed that the authorities are engaged iii
forming autonomstic cabinet arrans-
ing for the members to take the required
oath on January 1 and ALSO for an cleo
ton thirty days thereafter My
present information is that most of the
Spaniards will refrain from voting and
nearly all the Cubans- The feeling
in Havana, and l hear in other parts OF
the island, is strong against 1t, the Cubans
desiring an independent republic and the
Spaniards preferring annexation to the
United States rather than autonomy. On
the night of the 9th instant there seems
to have been a concerted plan e.e.. the
people to the proposed autonomistic plan
of the Spanish government" He goes on
to describe how 1t eliminated about
O'Clock on the morning of the 18th, when
mob assembled in the principal square with
cries of death to autonomy and viva
tWeyler." He says the men in the mob
had stones in their pockets and some OF
them were armed with weapons. They
made a demonstration. too, against the
office of the Diario de la Marina, paper
published in this town favoring autonomy,
but were dispersed by the military police
and soldiers. " I am, etc,
FITZ LEE.
The same day Gen. Lee acknowledges the
receipt of President McKinley's proclama-
ton calling upon the people of the United
states to make charitable contributions for
the relief of the distress in Cuba. Other
kilograms follow during the next few days
Us to the class of contributions which
would be most valuable in relieving the
suffering.
:. January Gen. Lee makes the following
report:
+, Deaths by Starvation.
'.Sir: have the honor to state, as a
matter of public interest, that the recon-
centrado order of Gen. Weyler. formerly
governor general of this island. transform
ed about 100000 self-supporting people,
principally women and children, into
multitude to be sustained by the contribu-
stions of others, or die of starvation, or of
ifevers resulting from a low physical condi-
ton. and being massed in large bodies
without change of clothing and without
food. Their homes were burned. their
fields and plant beds destroyed and their
live stosk driven away or killed
Il estimate that probably 100000 of the
rural population in the provinces of Pinar
del Rio. Habana. Matanzas and Santa
Clara have died of starvation or from re-
sultant causes, and the deaths of whole
families almost simultaneously within a
few days of each other, and of mothers
praying for their children to be relieved of
their horrible sufferings by death, are not
the least of the many pitiable scenes which
Were ever present. In the provinces of Pu-
erto Principe and Santiago de Cuba, where
the .reconcentrado order could not be en-
forced, the great mass Of the people are
'self-sustaining. A daily average Of
10 cents worth of food to 200. 900 people
would be an expenditure Of $4,000 per day,
and of course. the most humane efforts
upon the part of our citizens cannot hope
to accomplish such a gigantic relief and a
.
be abandoned to their fate.
81 am, etc. FITZHUGH LEE
> Gen. Lee inclosed in this communication
an editorial from the Diario del la Marina,
which vigorously denounced the 'se1ltious
.tumu,t' of the day before as a victory for
Gomez and the enemies of Spain. On the
same day he also sent to the department
some statistics about the mortality in San
ia Clara, showing that while there were
$3.50 deaths in that town in seven years
previous to 1897, which included lat in
one year from an epidemic of yellow fever,
there were in 1891, owing to the concentration
order. 69S1 deaths out of a total population
of 1900 The death rate increased month
ly from IS in January, the month before
the concentration order went into effect,
until December, when there were 1OI1
deaths.
January II. ID, IA and 10 General Lee
sent brief cablegrams to the department
with regard to the rioting and the demon
STATIONS against autonomy and Blanco and
the three newspaper offices.
January Is. he said. some of the rioters
threatened to go to the United States con-
sulate. Ships he said, ARE not needed,
but may be later. II Americans are i'll
danger, ships should move promptly for
k1aHaNd Uncertainty anu eASiieHicHt
widespread. The rioting ceased the next
Cay and General Lee reported all quiet.
on the 18th General Lee sent a dispatch,
marked confidential, regarding the rioting.
1t follows:
Sir: The recent disorders in this city are
to be primarily attributed to group of
Spanish officers, who were incensed at arti-
Giles appearing in three of the newspapers
of Habana, FL Reconcentrado, La Discus
sion and FL Diario de la Marina. The first
was very pronounced against General Wey
Ter and his methods. The Discussion had
been suppressed by Weyler, but its pub
lcation permitted to be resumed by
Blanco, and the last had been an ultra
Spanish organ, but had been converted by
the present authorities to autonomy.
1t is probable that the Spanish officers
were FIRST provoked b. the denunciations of
Neyler in the columns of of these
papers and determined to stop it, and
afterward being supported by the mob
turned the demonstration into an anti
autonomistic affair.
AutOnomistic Plan Analysed.