The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-17
LEE REPORTS Il os1Er sUNDAE.
He Believes. However. Tint There Will BE
Rloodahed Rerore tho Turbulence Ends.

He Believes. However. Tint There Will BE
BIOodshed Before the Turbulence Ends.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 16.-According to de.
spatches received by the State Department to-
day from Committeeman Lee, Havana passed
q quiet Sunday. Gen. Lee sent two messages,
both, it Is said, Of the same peaceful tenor.
These advices. while gratifying to tho officials
of the department, were somewhat surprising,
because serious trouble was expected to occur.
Sunday is the fete day of Havana. as 1t is of all
Latin cities. and is nearly always selected for
demonstrations in times of great political ex-
m The general idleness and the gather
ings in theatres, cafes, and other public places
give opportunity to aRitators to incite O spirit of
violence among the people, and 1t was believed
here that the preliminary riotous proceedings
would como TO a head before to-day had passed.
All doubt that the outbreaks of last week
were due 10 something moro than mere feeling
among the military against the newspapers
which had criticised Spanish Army officers has
been removed from the minds Of the officials of
tho Administration. As told In THE SUN, they
had been warned that trouble for the Blanco
Government was brewing among the Weylerites
in Havana, but did not expect the mutterings
OF discomfort to eliminate In an open outbreak
until the end OF the present fighting season.
Gen. Lees advices since the attack on the
newspaper Offices last Wednesday have re-
iterated that serious trouble might be expected
at any time. He believes that the Government
IL powerless to cope with a popular uprising in
Havana. and anticipates bloodshed before the
turbulence goes much further.
The main conclusion which the Washington
authorities have reached as n consequence of
the Havana riots is that autonomy for Cuba Is
dead. In the opinion Of the officials here.
Spain's only recourse is TO abandon the home
rule policy and go back to the form of govern
mcnt in existence before the Sagasta Ministry
came into power. or make overtures to the in
surgents for ending the war. Either alternative,
they believe, would result in the triumph Of the
Cuban cause. A return to the high-hended
methods OF the Conservatives would indicate to
the Spanish people. the Cubans, and the rest of
the world that that policy could not succeed
under an Administration that had declared 1t to
be a failure: As for making terms. with the In
surgents. there can be only one b~asis-that of
the Independence OF tho island.
Consul-General Lee and e-Consul-G General
Springer have told the State Department that
the loyal, Spanish merchants OF Havana were
sick OF the war ana would pc GiSd TO have It
cure some monetary compensation for the losses
sustained TO their business since the struggle for
of the responsibility for the riots. The Havana
volunteers are mostly small shopkeepers. and
overthrow OF Blanco's policy, q desire to see
their hero. Weyler. vindicated. Tho Volunteers
are considered a more DANGEROUS element in tho
present situation than tho hot.headed young
officers OF the royal army who led the attacks on
the newspaper offices. They retain their arms,
arc a regular military organization, and have
more at stake than the Spanish soldiers who are
stationed In the Capital city.
A telegram received at the Navy Department
to-day reported the departure OF the flagship
New York and the battleships Iowa and Indiana
from Hampton Roads this morning. 1t is ex-
It's way to the Dry Tortugas on Thursday. AT
that time 1t will be augmented by the battle
ships Massachusetts. Texas and Maine. The
JOIN ths squadron somewhere north OF that
place. In passing Key West Admiral Sicard