The record-union., 1898-03-20
THOUGHTS ABOUT CUBA.
BY Memo"

Three years and more have elapsed
since the present Cuban rebellion broke
out t is probable that in history past
or to come no parallel to it's conditions
will pc found The rulers of the island,
unable to defeat the insurgents, are
themselves undefeated; and the insur
gents, elusive and triumphant and en-
during beyond usual measure in guer-
rilla warfare are no nearer the actual
accomplishment of their purpose than
they were at the outbreak of hostili-
ties. Nature and her ghastly hand
maiden, Pestilence, have fought for the
insurgents; but natures battlings have
been balanced by new arrivals of Span
ish soldiers-men some Of them; boys,
many of them-forced almost at bayo-
net point to take the places of the dis
eased and the dead. Against the dog
gedness of the insurgent the pride of
the ruler has been matched. The in
surgenI can hold out indefinitely; the
Spaniard will.
While the stubborn warfare of these
unyielding forces has proceeded with
f1uctuating results that have in the long
run practically balanced each other,
slowly ground to destruction Of their
woes we must think and, having
thought, we must act Though the
Spaniards have been chiefly confined
within the limits set up by themselves;
prisoners, in fact, within their own for
tifications. yet they have retained q
fear-compell{ng power over the feeble
minds of the children and the timorous
- Of l..fl n
to fgnt and did not dare to flee. These
pacificos quietly obeyed the Govern
nent when orders went forth through
the country regions to gather within
town limits and stay there The ex-
pected freedom to live in peace under
the surveillance of the Spanish army,
changed at once into death-dealing
bondage Unable to cultivate land to
any great extent, herded together in
huts unfit for swine suffering from the
lack of food, and by lack of food rem
dered more helpless and weak spirited
than before, they have died like flies
in autumn; and in dying have suffered
woes that are unequaled even by the
bloody sufferngs of the Armenians or
the plague-ridden starvation of the
Hindoos. The language of a moderate
Red Cross heroine; and the stories pic
tured by the truthful camera. more
than justify these comparisons. In
one hospital alone-a place where care
and tender oversight are expected
four hundred of the pacificos have died
of starvation. The burdens of the in
surgents. who, in rebelling did SO in
full expectation. of the fortunes and
misfortunes of war, have been as
naught beside the woes of these un-
happy non-combatants. Where. Spain
has slain its hundreds by fire and by
sword. it has slain its hundreds of
thousands by hunger and by neglect
This has taken place and is still doing
so within ninety miles of the land that
declares in favor Gf life. liberty and
the pursuit of happiness"
This war measure of Spain against
harmless ones will ever stand out prom
inenuy in the annals of the brutali-
ties Of which our race is capable. This
is not war with its glamour of excite
Inent and of chance. but relentless
murder without the shedding of blood
When a man sees a weak one perse-
cuted and refuses to side with the weak
he is no man. The rule for a man is