The age-herald., 1898-04-02
THE BUTCHER OF
 STRUGGLING CUBA WeyIer in His Ferocious and
 Frivolous Moods. ORIGIN OF RECONCEN TRAD0 According to His Own Words He Cared Only to Subdue the lnsurrection, No Matter at
 What Cost of Blood and Money.
ORIGIN OF RECONCEN TRAD0
Special to The Age-HeraId.

Washington, April 1.-Weyler was once characterized on the floor of the United States house of representatives as ''the Gila monster of Spanish tyranny, befouling with his breath the atmosphere of civiliza- ton." This characterization Is said to have touched him to the quick. He braved the effort to exterminalte a whole people by starvation upon the ground Of military ne- cessity. War, he declared, recognized no Humanitarian principle. 1t was not ethical, but strictly practical. Gomez and Maceo had swept from the eastern to the western end of Cuba, destroying sugar plantations and reckoning the sky with blazing cane heids Weyler retaliated in kind.
 The rural Cuban was the friend of the dn- surgent. It was from his little patches of titled ground that the insurgent drew his supplies. The insurgents were mounted upon horses raised in the rural districts, and were fed upon native cattle. The en- tire rural population sympathized with the patriots It kept them supplied with in- formation as to the strength and move- ments of the Spanish forces, and Gomez and Maceo from many a carefully prepares trap. Of course, these Cubans were non- combatant. They were not wanted in the ranks of the patriot army, as there were
 
 They served their country best by remain- ing on their farms and raising vans and cattle. The revolutionary army was un- der strict discipline, and the agricultural population were free from marauders and predatory excursions.
 Origin of weyIer's Policy
 Weyler was the first to recognize the fact that while outwardly peaceful and loyal. the people were the main reliance of the Cuban army. Their friends and relatives were in the ranks of the patriots, and more than this, they were as thoroughly imbued With spirit of liberty as were the "Ameri- can farmers in the revolution" To use the words of Spanish sympathizer in Ha- Vana the entire people were at heart in surrectionists, and the very grass under the feet of the Spaniards was insureent {"
 Weyler's solution, once formed wa car rled out With an unrelenting hand. Marti- neg Cainpos mad fought several battles with the insurgents, but was unable to prevent the invasion of the western provinces. They contained the richest plantations in the Island. Maceo and Gomez had maint aimed ehemseives Tn front of Havana for several months The Spaniards themselves ac- kneledged that they might have entered the city by bold dash. Maceo's friends sav that ne was fully aware of this fact but that he preferred to obey the dictates of prudence and remain outside
 'WeyIer's orders for the concentration of the rural population in the different towns were promptly carried out in Pinar del Rio. The Spaniards butchered all the horses and cattle, destroyed every hamlet and forced the non-combatants into the different towns. The object was to render it impossible for Maceo's forces to obtain pro- vender. In this Weyler was undoubtedly successful Maceos troops suffered terribly for lack of supplies. Several battles were fought with varying success. The insur- gent army practically went to pieces. It was not strong enough to recross the trocha, and Maceo himself was finally killed while trying to reach Gomez with a few followers.
 .. Effects of Concentration
 Weyler regarded the province as prac- tically pacifed. Meantime his edict had been carried into effect in Havana. Ma tanzas, Santa Clara, and Puerto de Principe bitches were dug around the various towns and a barbed wire fence placed on the outer side of the ditches. The entire rural population was either butchered or driven within these ditches. No effort whatever was made to feed them. Weyler's friends declare that he meant to make provision for them, but that he was unable to do so. Meantime he ceneen- trated his strength and marched from Ha- vana to the border of Puerto de Principe in vain effort to bring Gomez to a decis- i've battle. The wary old campaigner kent out of his way, worrying him as Marion and Sumpter worried Carnwailis and Tarle- ton Weyler went back to Havana Mean time the reconcentrados died by thousands $ of starvation. The provinces of Havana. Matanzas, Santa Clara, and a portion of Puerto Principe were practically free from insurgents as was Pinar del Rio. The suf- fering in all these provinces was intense
 Weyler began to gather himself for a su- preme and final effort to drive the patriots from Santiago de Cuba, in which province they maintained a. well-dril1ed force under Calixto Garcia. He was on the point of making this demonstration. when Canovas was assassinated, and Weyler was ordered back to Spain, Blanco becoming his suc- cessor.
 Weyler's friends assert that if he had re- mained in office six weeks longer, Garcia s column would have been broken and dis persed and Santiago would have become as free from insurrectioh as the other pro- vinces. In other words, the insurgents would have dwindled into predatory bands, without organization and without an att tempt to maintain an insurrectionary gov ernment. The Weylerites laugh at the eff fort of Sagasta and Blanco to organize an autonomic government.
 Sketch of "The Butcher'
 Certain 1t is that Weyler is remarkable man. He was a military attache of Spain at Washington during the American civil war. He served with Sheridan in the val ley, and had a great admiration for Sher- man and Grant. He speaks English fluent ly and ought to be thoroughly acquainted with the resources and disposition of the people of the United States. He is about the size of John l.. Davenport. quick in motion, alert in mentality, decisive in ac- tion, and unrelenting in purpose. At cer- tain hour each day he would appear upon the Prado in Havana, in full uniform, and march up and down the square for thry minutes, entirely unaccompanied
 On assuming office he sent for the Amer ican newspaper correspondents. He asked how many of them had seen service in the American war. There were some who had fought within the ranks of the confederacy and others who served in the union army: others had followed their profession in both armies. Weyler told the latter that they hardly needed instructions as to tte news which they would forward to their papers. Their experience in the civil war had undoubtedly ripened their judgment and they would send nothing that was i'm proper or liable to be of service to the in- surgents. As captain-general, he had de- termined to do away with censorship As a republican, he believed in full liberty of