Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-10-04

frantic and hystericni. but steps were
Immediately taken to prevent dislrdefs
aa FAR aa. possible.
II was hut natural that In the transi.
tlon from the control u the spanish
government 20 n condition Of liberty
those who had suffered for generations
at the hands Of tho governing class
should seek vengeance or that private
individuals should seize the opportunl-
ty to redress private WRONGS. That
there were outrages Is beyond question.
The natives burned coata and many
a nnc Spanish haclendas In various
pants Of the island. The spanish troops
massacrcd about % people IN cialra
and later. In supnrcsslng an incipient
riot at Arcciho. shot four natives.
reign Of terror existed Tor a time neat
Cocoas In the center Of the island
About 200 briEanda. many u them s1la
10 be cnnvicts released by the Amcri-
can authorities at Ponce and others
n IL said. from Hayti. with thelf head
ucartefs In the heart Of the mountains
p.iarrd and ravarcd the country dur'
Ing tho interregum, There were nlst
Disturbances At Fnjardo. when the
spanish troops left
some ~ the rich sugar planters had
been driven out after the small iorcc
Of marines that had landed
there had been Withdrawn,
and upon their return after
the Spanish civil guard retired The ma
lives set upon the spanish residents
General Macins was compelled 70 soma
the guard back In order to protect
them.
nut. all things considered. !, i re.
martahle that more disorders ala not
occur and more lives were not tacfi.
need. Undoubtedly every precauuob
vas taken. a. soon ~ the commission.
err had arrived NJ the main conclusion
10 reduce the danger ~ disorder 10 .
minimum. The neutral zone between
tho lines was wiped out and our H'.
dlrrn and the sphnlarda were permluT
I while In pursuit 81 dcprcd1torH TO en-
Tor each others lines. This was the
II was then arranged that wherever
the spaninrdH In their concentrating
movement evacuated town OF ppsi-
lion. the lines should overlap, that "
that our troops SHOULD enter the town
shortly before the spanish retired
There was no hiatus and no oppottunl-
~ given 10 the lawleHs elcmcnt
Whenever our troops entered Span.
lsk Town or position. by the arrange.
menf Of the commissioners. the com.
handing oflcer ~ the spaniards De.
] llyered an inventory ~ all the spanish
military and government property q.
Z tho commanding American oihcer ano
took the laiiers receipt.
AN INVENTORY RENDERED.
This inventory II 10 be turned ovef
10 the United States authorities. This
plan obvlates the necessity OF send
| INK a commissioner over the Island 10
Inventory government property.
when the last inventory II made an0
- II IL
| will have complete inventory OF al,
/ the government property In the Island
Ever since American commissioners
l arrived at San Juan the native Porto
/ Rlcans have delugcd them with Hto-
/ ries OF alleged spanish cruelty 10 car
ry on plumber which properly belongs
I 20 the Island. Some ~ the natives for
/ a considerable time devoted themselves
/ 20 ferrctlnE out coprpiraclcH some
| of their reports were Investigated ana
found 10 be baHelesa. and the commits
nlonera continued 10 assume that inc
/ spanihrda were proceeding In perfect
! good faith. although they hnn 'helr
/ own means u aaecrtainln- exactly
what was going on.
one Of the alleged reports the Porto
uicara were especially exercised over
/ was that the spnniardn proposed u
/ take with them 10 spain some t1Qo,o0o
from the vaults Of the nanco Espanol
aud various trust funds which II was
/ claimed properly belonged o. the peo-
pie OF the island. The commissioners
thought u was time enough TO con,
slider these matters when the alleged
| trust funds were taken. The Porto
Rlcans aifo affirmed that fine paintings
and other treasures were being re-
moved from the palace and various
other public buildings and M these
works Of art had been paid nor hy
taxes collected on the Island, the COM
mission should sec that they remained
II In doubtless true that some OF the
most valuable art treasures In the ~
land were removed. but our commits
sioncrs decided not 10 raise objections,
To have protested would have created
more trouble than the articles removed
were worth and. besides, something OF
this sort was 10 be expected.
The Porto iticanH made the general
mistake OF believing that everything
paid for out OF the taxes 81 the island
! should he theirs. Hat that general
/ proposition been assumed by our COM
/ rniHaioncrH and adhered a.. the Span
ish soldiers and all the Spanish olil-
ciRlr whose salaries were paid out Of
tho insular taxes should have been held
NJ hostages and a claim might even be
~ wv W i"iA'H W Wv 'lehfe"
crown
SPANISH ACTED IN GOOD FAITH.
That the Spanish were acting In good
| faith was proven afterwards. when at
/ AFundllla they turned over TO this
American officers over 100000 In Gus
/ toms revenues which they could have
made away with had they been % dis.
posed. The American commissioners
/ mid down tho general proposition that
/ the Spnninrds ccull remove AL their
personal and private effects, state pa
/ pora and qyerythlna belonging 20 the
military. This tho Spanlnrds assented
10 and this IN the general theory upon
/ which the evacuation IL taking place.
The only collision thus far has been IN
/ connection With some HiN-lnch siege
guns on carriages When the first reg
iment u troops were embarked on IN,
San Francisco last Thursday. four OF
those guns were taken to the wharf
ready for shipment Our comissloners
protested on the ground that. although
these guns were movable from place
10 place when In action. they were 10.
/ anted In emhrasures ma must be de
| fondad. In other words they We're moi
movable with the fighting line. Aftel
some discussion the Spanish command
creed 10 this definition OF movable
/ Tun which confined u strictly 10 field
artillery pieces.
A great deal " the old plumber about
them Hilary barracks and nraenela nnl
cailnmentR OF volunteers and civil
/ funrds. which have been dlabanded. IA
helng sold for what Il WIN bring. TIL
money resulting from this sale IN,
spanish authorities viii. Of course. taxi