The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-08-08
The End Of the War.

~HE formal acceptance yesterday
by the Spanish ministry and
queen regent of the teens II
Teece proposed by the Unit-f states
ray be regarded as virtually s-d,ng
the war. Weeks must elapse before tic
treaty of peace is signed, but the sus-
pension of aggressive hostilit'es mist
follow Immediately IL Spain is act.ag
in good faith and has instrIc'nI her
armies in Porto Rico and Cuba to offer
no further resistance to American
arms.
1t may be called the One Hundred
Days war. To be exact IL was one hnr.-
dred and eight days yesterday since
congress passed it's famous Cuban ESQ
buttons. Taking the day when spain,
through NJ. Cambon. sued for peace, as
a basis for reckoning. the war lasted
almost exactly one hundred days.
Great difference between this and the
middle ages, with its Seven Year and
Thirty Year wars. The navies of the
great nations must render all future
wars between them short. sharp and
decisive.
Thus Spain's occupancy Of Cuba.
stretching over a period Of -four hum
dred years. is suddenly terminated.
From beginning to end 1t has been an
occupancy stained by blood and merci-
less crime. One of SPANS own his
t%orians, Las Casas. a Spanish priest.
left a full account of SPANS seizure of
the West Indies. particularly of Cuba.
an accoun that is graphically sum
married. by a writer in the August For
um. He says that the natives of these
Islands. unlike the fierce North Amer
lean Indians. were a gentle and peace
full race; leading a life of Arcadian
simplicity. and sustaining themselves.
almost without labor. by the sponta-
neous products of that garden spot Of
the earth. This helpless race was COM
pletely exterminated in less than thir-
ty years. and negro slavery substituted.
Some of the statements Of Las Casas
hardly bear recital, and would seem
incredible. were it not for the added
light thrown on the Spanish character
by recent events i'm Cuba. The I'M
fortunate natives were divided among
the ~Spaniards by a repartimiento tan
allotment) of slaves-so many slaves to
so much land. There being an abund-
ant supply OF labor. and Indian lives
being considered of no value. II was
considered cheaper in the cultivation
of certain of the crops to work an In
dian TO death under the lash and re-
place him with another. than to give
him any care. When they rebelled. as
they naturally did occasionally, they
were murdered by the hundred. buried
alive, impaled. or torn to pieces by
bloodhounds. on one occasion. in re-
taliation for the killing of one of their
oppressors. the hands OF fifty Indians
were chopped off by the S~paniards.
Little children were drowned. like pup
pies. as useless membranes.
Las Casas writes thus of the ming
ling of religious ideas with the sheer
est deviltry." He says hat once. in
honor and reverence of Christ and his
twelve apostles, they hanged thirteen
Indians in a row, at such a height that
their toes just touched the ground. and
then pricked them To death with their
sword points. taking care not to kill
them too quickly. and first g~aggirG
them, in order that their cries and
groans should not too much disturb
the Spaniards. A favorite amusement
was a test of their Toledo blades ty
deciding who could most neatly cleavC
an Indian IN twain at a single blow
Spain's treatment of the natives oI
Cuba never materially improved. The
wonder is that vengeance did not over
: take her sooner.