The news & observer., 1898-04-12

provisions of all kinds were interdicted.
A WARFARE OF DEVASTATION.
| The fields were 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
mt their disposal.
BY the time the present administration
took office n year ago, RECOMMENDATION
socalled had been made effective over the
better part Of the four central and Yves
tern provinces. Santa Clara. MatanZas,
Havana. and Pinar del Rio. The agri-
cultural population, to the estimated
number of 100000 or more was herdeI
Within the towns and their immediate
vicinage deprived of the means of sup
port. rendered destitute of shelter, left
poorly clad, and exposed to the most
unsanitary conditions. As the scarcity
of food increased with the devastation
of the depopulated areas of production.
destitutiOn and want became misery and
starvation. Month by month the death
rate increased in an alarming ratio.
by March. 1897, according 10 conscrvA-
tive estimates from official Spanish
sources, the mortality among the recon
centrados, from starvation and the dis
eases thereto incident, exceeded 30 per
centnm of their total number. No
practical relief was accorded 10 the dcs-
titute. Inc oyer-burdened towns, al
ready suffering from the general dearth.
could give no aid. So-called zones of
cultivation" established within the inn
mediate area OF effective military con-
troll about the cities and fortified camps
proved illusory as a remedy for The suf
fering. The lInfortunates. being for the
most part. women and children aged AMI
helpless men. enfeebled by disease and
hunger, could not have titled the soil,
without tools, seed or shelter. for their
own support or for the supply of the
cltles. Recommendation, adopted avow-
cdly rs war measure in order TO cut
off the resources of the insurgents. work
ed It's nredestined result. As / said in
my message of last December. il was
not civilized warfare: it was exterm-
nation. The only peace it could begct
was that of the wilderness and the
grave.
Meanwhile, the military situation in
the island had undergone noticeable
faange. The extraordinary activity
that characterized the second year of
tne war, when the insurgents invaded
even the hitherto unharmed fields of
lPinar del Rio and carried havoc and des-
truction up to the walls of the city OF
Havana itself, had relapsed into a dog
ged struggle in the central and eastern
provinces. The Spanish arms regained
a saf in ,1oI ID
and parts of Havana but. under the
existing conditions Of the rural country.
without immediate improvement of their
productive situation. Even thus part
ally restricted the revolutionists held their
own and their conquest and submission.
pnt forward by Spain as the essential
and sole basis of peace, seemed as far
distant rs at the outset
THE CHANGE OF MINISTRY.
In this state of affairs. my atIministra-
tion found itself confronted with the
grave problem of its duty. Ny message
Of last December reviewed the situa-
ton and narrated the steps taken with
view to relieving its acuteness and
opening the way to some form Of honor
able settlement. The assassination of
| the Prime Minister, Canovas. leu to a
/ change of government in Spain The
former administration pledged to sub
lection without concession gave place
10 that of a more liberal party. commit
ted long in advance to policy of reform
involving the wider principle of home
rule for Cuba and Puerto Rico. The
overtures 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 administration in any shape
were met by assurances that homo rule.
In an advanced phase. would be forth
with offered to Cuba without waiting
for the war to end. and THAT more hui
name methods should henceforth pre-
vail in the conduct of hostiEties. Co.
incidentally with these declarations. the
lnew government Of Spain continued and
completed the policy already begun by
its predecessor. of testifying friendly re-
gard for this nation by releasing Amer
lican citizens held under one charge or
another connected with the tnsurraction
so that, by the end of November. not
a single person entitled in any way to our
national protection, remained in a Span
ish prison.
Wfile these negotiations were in pro-
gress, the increasing destruction of the
unfortunate reconcentrad0s and tho
alarming mortality among them claim
cd earnest attention. The success
which had attended the limited meas
nre Of relief extended to the suffering
American citizens among them by the
judicious expenditure through the con
sular agencies Of the money appropria
, Continued on Third Page)