The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1898-04-14
Whole No. 1902

patton or by military operations. The
peasantry, including all dwelling in the
open agricultural interior, were driven in
to the garrison towns or isolated places
held by the troops. The raising and
movement of provisions of all kinds We're
interdicted.
The fields Wee laid waste, dwellings
unroofed and fired, mills destroyed and,
in short. everything that could desolate
the land and render it unfit for human
habitation or support was commanded by
one or the other OF the contending parties
and executed by all the powers at their
disposal Fly the time the present admin
istration took office year ago, reconcen-
tration, so-called, had been made efective
over the better part of the four central
and western provinces of Santa Clara,
Matanzas, Havana and Pinar del lilo.
The agricultural population, to the estl-
mated number of 100000 or more, was
herded within three towns and
the immediate vicinity, deprived OF
the means of support, without
shelter and left to the most unsanitary
conditions. AS the scarcity of food in
creased with the devastation of the depop-
ulated areas of production, the situation
AOnUH ny UliO
death rate increased in an alarming ratio.
By March, 1897, according to conservative
estimates from official Spanish sources,
the mortality among the reconcentrados
from starvation and the diseases thereto
incidental, exceeded 20 per centum of
their total number No practical relief
was accorded to the destitute. The over
burdened towns, already suffering from
the general dearth, could give no aid.
Cultivation Zones Proved Illusory.
So-called zones Of cultivation, estab-
iished within the immediate area Of eff
fective military control about the cities
and fortified camps, proved illusory as o
remedy for the suffering. The unfor-
tunate beings, for the most part women
and children, with aged and helpless men,
enfeebled by disease and hunger, could
not have titled the soil without tools, seed
Or shelter, for their own support or Tor
the supply of the cities. Reconcentration,
adopted avowedly as war measure in
order to cut off the resources of the In
surgents, worked it's predestined result.
AS l said in my message of last December,
it was not civilized warfare: it was ex-
termination. The only peace it could be-
get was that of the wilderness and the
grave. -
Military Situation Changes.
Meanwhile the military situation in the
island had undergone a noticeable change.
The extraordinary activity that charac-
terized the second year of the war, when
the insurgents invaded the hitherto I'M
harmed fields Of Pinar del Rio and car
ried havoc and restitution up to the walls
of the city of Havana itself had relapsed
into a dogged struggle in the central and
eastern provinces The Spanish arms re-
gained measure of control In Pinar del
Rio and parts of Havana, but, under the
existing conditions of the rural country,
without immediate improvements OF their
productive situation. Even thus partially
restricted, the revolutionists held their
own, and their submission, put forward by
Spain as the essential AMI sole basis of
peace, seemed as far distant as at the out
SET
The Change of Ministry.
In this state Of affairs, my administra-
ton found itself confronted with the
grave problem of it's duty. My message
of last December reviewed the situation
and detailed the steps taken
with a view of relieving it's
acuteness and opening the way to some
form of honorable settlement. The as
sassination of the prime minister, Canoyas,
led to Il change of government in Spain.
The former administration, pledged to
subjugation without concession, gave
place to that of {. more liberal party, COM
mitted long in advance to policy OF re-
form involving the wider principles CT
home rule fer Cuba and Porto Rico
The oyerturoS of this government, made
through its new envoy, General Wood
ford, and looking to an immediate and
effective amelioratiOn of the condition of
the island, although not accepted to
the extent of admitted mediation in any
shape, were met by assurances that home
rule, in an advanced phase, would be
forthwith offered to Cuba without
waiting for the war to end,
and that more humane meth
DDS should thenceforth prevail in
the conduct of hostilities. Incidentally
with these declarations, the new govern
ment of Spain continued and completed
the policy already begun by its predeces-
sor of testifying friendly regard for this
nation by releasing American citizens
held under one charge or another con-
nected with the insurrection, so that by
the end Of November not a single person
entitled in any way to our national pro-
lection remained in Spanish prison.
Reconcentrados Kept ON Dying.
While these negotiations were in pro-
gress, the increasing restitution of the
unfortunate reconcentrados and the
alarming mortality among them claimed
hrnest attention. The success which had
blended the limited measure of relief ex-
nded to the suffering American citizens
nong them by the judicious expenditure
8 rough the consular agencies of the
pney appropriated expressly for their
ccor by the joint resolution approved
by "a, 1897, prompted the humane ex-
Asion of similar scheme of aid to the
bat body of sufferers.
The Appeal of December Last.