Middletown transcript., 1898-08-27
CUBANS AS ALLIES.
hR. PEPPER GIVES HIS VIEWS AS TO
THEIR VALUE.

|
THEIR VALUE.
Thinks They VIII Cause No Trouble-New
Arrivals In Cuba Fomented the Dinicul.
ty Between Shafter aud Garcia, He De.
clares-Enect OF Meddlers.
Mr.. Charles NJ Pepper, who was
with the American army until after the
eapitulation of Santiago, returned to
Washington. AS he has probably been
in closer contact with the Cuban insur-
| gents than any other American and has
as good knowledge Of their struggles
and their general character, he was
asked to give his views as to the cam
paign made by General Shafter and
also as to the reported difficulty between
| the American commander and General
Garcia, the Cuban leader Mr. Pepper
said:
"There seems disposition now to
question the effectiveness of the Cubans
as allies and to predict that when the
Spanish forces have evacuated Santiago
the next business Of the American army
of occupation will be to settle the in
surgents 1t might he we'll to await the
full statement of the misunderstanding
between General Garcia and General
Shafter before drawing conclusions Of
permanent split Twenty thousand
American soldiers were engaged in the
operations before Santiago. The Cubans
numbered 4, 200, yet it was assumed by
many that they would show up as con-
spicuously as our own troops. Garcia
was blamed for letting General Pando
get into the city with b. 900 Spanish re-
endorsements, but when it subsequently
appeared that neither Pando nor the re-
endorsements were there nothing was
said.
"The Cubans offered as allies to the
American army the men who had for
three years been engaged in BUSH
whacking, guerrilla warfare TIE mass
OF them presented themselves at Baij:uiri
and Siboney barefooted and in their
shirt tails, and most of their shirts were
ribbons Of rags. They were greedy for
the rations issued, and in two weeks
they did not succeed in satisfying a
three years hunger The American SOL
diers were also hungry during several
days, but they knew of the tomorrow
habit, and they never thought of put
ting off the fighting till their stomachs
were full The Cubans, under the in
structions that had been given, were not
placed in the vanguard in taking the
blockhouses and forts, and it is unques-
tionably true that they did not share to
an appreciable extent in those assaults.
It was method of fighting of which
they had no conception, but this was
not surprising. The foreign military at |
taches who watched the two days bat |
ties were frank in their own expressions |
of opinion whether trained European |
soldiers could have been led or driven |
against fortified positions when the artil- |
lery had failed, as it did in those in
stances, and the American troops took |
the intrenchments by common impulse |
without being either led or driven. As /
to whether the Cuban troops failed in
anything that was expected of them or
in any duty assigned to them the Amer
lean commanders are competent judges
81 do not believe that the Cubans,
who for three years kept up the fight
against the Spanish troops in the bushes
and in the mountains at such tremen-
dous sacrifices, will ever be a cause of
trouble to the United States. It is be-
cause OF their endurance that the flag of
Spain is disappearing from the West In
dies. That the superior force of the
United States has been necessary to
cause its disappearance does not change
the conditions. The present trouble is
not due to the Cubans who have been
lighting for three years. It seems to be
Fermented by those who during that
time were in the United States Some
of them went back under the wing Of
;he American army, and they were be-
coming pretty numerous. Most of them
ire bad advisers and mischief makers.
It is unfortunate that some of them
'eem to have ingratiated themselves into
General Garcia's confidence.
In the conditions which obtained at
Santiago it was better that no Cuban
roops should enter the city until the
spanish soldiers had been embarked.
This was a temporary condition, and,
hough General Garcia S susceptibilities
night have been wounded by it, his
'ood sense would probably have pre-
'ented complaint if he had been left to
Iimsel. The presence with his COM
nand Of some recent arrivals from New ,
hS L Z
does not justify his course. General
Wood has been emptying the jails and
risons of political prisoners who were
ound there, imprisoned under Spanish
1dicial processes without trial and
Tithout recourse The Cubans may be
if they failed to understand | :
ven the temporary continuance of the :.
panish judicial officers who were re-
oonsible for their imprisonment Their
o-operation with such officials could {
ardly be hearty, and their acceptance @
nder implied penalty of future disbar.
TENT in civil government If they re-
lsed would not be valuable There are
roblems enough in the future control
Cuba. Their solution will not be Il
ded by dependence ON a remnant Of +
panish ofhoialism which was part of n
,tten system. The Cubans on their {
srt, in dealing with the United States,
lnnot afford to let meddlers who have
ot shared in their struggle for freedom q
1uence their course. Washington
TAR Q
Simply Lye. II.
And now comes the story that there