The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-12

of the awful tales of suffering which
came from the other portions of the is
land. 1t says:
There are other towns in the same
condition. for example. Catalina and
Nadruga, whose situation could be in
some degree relieved II the country
people were allowed to leave the town
freely i'm search of food. In some
towns this is entirely prohibited, in
others they are obliged to pay tax.
Not having anything to eat how can
they pay a tax? In every town the
first thing noticed is the unhealthy
condition of the men and their total
lack of physical strength. In these
districts the relief given to the recon-
ctntrados by General Blanco is a
farce
The land near the town comprised
i'm the zone for cultivation, the state
ment says, has been rented by four
Splnlards who have wealth and influ-
ence and they employ the few recon-
centrados who are able to work at 30
or ~ cents per day, but nobody can
leave the town without a pass good
for month and which costs 20 cents.
The men are obliged to work until
in the evening without food The wo-
men who leave in search of vegetables
are sometimes deprived of them on
their way back by guerrllas. In Is
days 200 reconcentrados have died in
Guines from starvation.
a LITTER FROM GOMEZ.
On February Is General Lee trans
mitted to the department a letter with
its translation signed by the insurgent
commander-in-ch General Gomez,
addressed to President Mckinley. Gen
I ha Loft HnIippro6
by a messenger who at once departed
before he saw or had anv communi-
cation with him. The literal transla-
tion is as follows:
To William Mckinley, president of
the United States-Sir: The poor Gu
ban people possess as a Characteristic
quality of its moral being and devel-
oped to a high degree one of the most
noble sentiments, namely, gratitude;
whoever has done well for Cuba wins
for himself forever the lively recogni-
tion of the sons of the Cuban soil.
Your great people have given TO the
whole world an example of lofty vir-
tue and to the shame and stain of
Spain not only has it shown compass
sion before the great misfortunes
brought on Cuba by the ferocious
Spanish policy. but has extended
of the warfare carried on by the army
of that nation.
The gratitude of this people must
be on par with that great and gener-
Gus impulse. and If Cuba by it's geo.
graphical situation and the necessity
of its commercial existence is called
TO maintain, once that it is free and
for the mutual benefit of both coun-
tries, closer relations with your great
rpnIlhiC than with other nation
whatever, from this day forward, Cuba
will consider herself bound by a closer
tie in the affection it bears for the
noble American magnanimity.
However true and minute may be
the reports that you have heard, never
will you be able to form a just con-
ception of all the bloodshed, the mis-
cry, the ruin and the sorrow caused
to the afflicted Cubans, to obtain her
independence, and how the despotic
spirit of Spain. irritated to the last
degree before the most just of all rec
objection, has revelled in the most i'm
placable destruction Of everything,
lives and property. The nation which
at one time adopted the inquisition
and invented its tortures lastly con-
ceived the RECOMMENDATION scheme the
most horrible of all means to martyr
ize and then to annihlate an entire
people, and If it has stopped in the
path of destruction 1t is due in great
measure to the cry of Indignation
which the knowledge of such horrors
unanimously drew from the states
over which you govern.
The people who are saved from ex-
tinction and whose evils your gifts
assuage, is the people for whose liber-
~ we daily shed our blood on the fields
of battle; the country whose indie
pondence we now conquer at the point
Of the sword for them as also for us;
blood of our blood and flesh of our
flesh; we must rejoice with them in
their joys as we weep and sympa-
thize with them i'm their sorrow and
grefs. Be not surprised, then. that
as the general in chief of this Cuban
army, | am so deeply moved at the
wave of compassion which agitates
your noble country that | accede
TO the request of the patriots | COM
mand to appear before you, the repre-
sentative of the great nation, as the
exponent of our immense gratitude.
l have therefore, sir, to fulfill con-
scientious duty by setting forth a fact
which / beg you will please transmit
TO the knowledge of the persons to
whom is recommended the philan-
thropic mission of succoring the un-
happy destitute Cubans, in order
that ignorance of certain antecedents
may not deprive many needy ones of
the enjoyment of that noble American
charity
The revolution, as absolute master
of the country, has never prescribed
any citizen, whatever his nationality,
from earning his living and 1t has
happened that as soon as the barbar-
Gus concentration degree was proclaim
ed innumerable families have left and
sun leave the city for the fields, i'm
PEELED by hunger to wrest from the
fruitful Cuban vegetation the means
OF relieving the most pressing needs
of life. Those unhappy beings ignore
the fact that If the Spaniards by steel
ana privation have shrouded their
hearts in mourning, so also it may be
said that the flora of Cuba was i'm
mourning devastated by the bullet and
torch. Wherefore being in the same
circumstances these unfortunates
have the same moral right 10. partici-
pate in the relief furnished to needy
Cubans by your generous people.
Many widow, many a mother, many
an orphan do we meet in our way who
asks of us succOr that we are not able
TO give but most spaTingly and there
fore upon pointing out TO them the
charity awakened in their behalf in
your noble nation, / desire to honor
myself by Offering my services to CO.
operate in the noble work with all the
power and means within the reach OF
the forces l command. ! am sir, with
the most distinguished consideration,
(Signed) NJ. Gomez.
March l, General Lee reports that
the distribution of food, medicines and
clothing to the destitute is proceeding
satisfactorily under the supervision
and direction Of Miss Clara Barton OF
the Red Cross. He says that the num-
ber OF poor and destitute is so large
that it is impossible to relieve large
numbers in each locality.