The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-04-12
TRE HORRORS or CUBA
Continued from Sixth Page.)


 given out for g. few days only to 5000 | persons. There are more than 12,000 1 starving people in this city to-day One out of four or six receive two l ounces of rice, one and half ounces
 of jerked beef, and sometimes a small piece of bread per diem. Even this | ration of food has been discontinued since the 11th inst.'
 Mr. Brice mentions several instances | Of distress, among others the follow
 ing: In a family of seventeen, living | in an old lime kiln, all were found dead | except three, and they barely alive. | He says again that General Blanco's
 order allowing reconcentrados to re- | turn and cultivate the crops is inoper- | ative and of no avail
 Writing on the 17th of January, ;le says: "The people are shut up in the cities and towns like rats to starVe. l We have fifteen or eighteen families l of American reconcentrados who own l property in the country, and were they | allowed to go to their homes they could
 make a good living. All these have | begged and pleaded with the authori- | ties under Blanco's order to go, and were Tn every case refused.
 l PROVINCE OF SANTA CLARA. | Consul Barker covers the conditions
 existing in Santa Clara province in a
 number of communications beginning
 on the 20th of November, 1884, and closing on the 24th of March last. His | letters constitute one long story of dis tress-of sickness, Restitution and I ;,,5 1l.o
 as drawn in the plain language of. off, cial communications, is revolting. MT. Barker devoted comparatively
 little space to political questions, but | one or two of his letters are along ! these lines. Probably the most nota- ble of these is his communication of the 10th of January last, in which he
 volunteers some suggestions to the de- | partment of state.
 From this communication the follow
 ing extracts are taken: When Spain will admit defeat no mortal in my l humble judgment dare predict. That l her plan of settlement, autonomy, is | a failure, and that with this failure i passes from under her dominion the I island, is not to be questioned. Pend l
 sands of human beings, guiltless of l bringing on or having any part in the insurrection, are dying for want of jus- l tenance. This condition must continue ! to increase. The United States in talk | ing action relative to Cuba-which seems nevitable-desires to avoid a clash with Spain. Then let congress ! alter our citizenship laws by amend l ing the statute relative to the declara- l tion required of persons becoming cit 1 izens by naturalization, so that the | subjects or citizens of any government | at present residing in Cuba may go l before any United States consul in that | island and make declaration of inten- | ton of becoming citizen of the Unit | ed States, which shall entitle them to l recognition as citizens, until the expir- 1 ation of two years, when they shall be | required to reside in the United States | until five years shall have elapsed be- l fore being granted naturalization pa- 1 pers With such a privilege I conf1- | dently believe that ninety per cent. of | the resident Spaniards, the hitherto | dominant party and taxpayers, will
 avail themselves of this opportunity
 of rebuking the mother country for at- | tempting to foist upon them changes l in the existing laws of the island. Such
 a step would cause the home subjects
 as well as the governor to acquiesce l without disturbance in the loss of the | island.
 MT. Barker then suggests that the | United States shall offer her good of 1 fees to Spain with a view of securing an armistice of ninety days duration | for the purpose of discussing terms of
 settlement between Spain and the in- | surgents, the United States to be the
 umpire. Pending negotiations he would have all troops quartered and held in
 the large fortified coast towns, in or | der that the concentrados may return l to the country and to employment. He | adds that the relief from the United States must be continued or the people
 must starve so long as there is an l armed Spanish soldier in the country, since these people, for fear of being | murdered, do not go to their country | homes"
 | On the 18th of January, MT. Barker says: "In this consular district reign l of terror and anarchy prevails, which ! l terly poWerlesS to control or in any l measure subdue Aside from the suf- 1 fering and desperation caused by the
 unparalleled destituntion I regard the situation as rapidly assuming a critical | stage. As stated heretofore, in no way
 have the authorities departed from the policy pursued by the late but not la mented, General Weyler. Spanish troops as well as the guerillas under 1 the cruel chiefs, Carreraz, Clavarriotta and Lazo, continue to despoil the coun- l try and drench it with the blood of
 non-c -combatants. Although the 'Bando' l of the captain general provides that | laborers may return to estates, 1t re- ] stricts their operations to those hav- l ing a garrison. Last week a number 1 belonging to the "State Ana" estate, 1 located within a league of Sagua, and i owned by George Thorndike of New | port, R. l., were driven off after re- l turning and refused permit as pro- | lection by the military commander, | Mayor Lemo, one of the trusted officers under the Weyler regime"
 | The later part of Mr. Barker's core spondence beginning with the 18th of