The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1898-03-18

oS liltIl, Dul WAS lcu into an am
bush 10y Gen. Antonio Macco, captured.
and held rs hostage to save the lives
OF insurgents in the hands of the Span
iards. There was much dcsultory
fighting along the trocha and in the
immediate vicinity of Havana, but the
most important victory thus ,arachiev
cd or claimed by either side was that
of Gen. Robi of the insurgents. over a
Spanish force which was surrounded
and cut to pieces. and valuable con-
voy captured with provisions. ammu-
milton and several thousands of dol
lars i'll money. On September 29th, a
general attack was made on the rebel
positions in the province of Pinar-del-
Ria, in which, although no decisive
action took place, the insurgents were
in several cases dislodged and scatter
ed, but no important results followed.
Gen. Weyler at length took the field
in person, but in the various short
campaigns that he made, little was ac-
complished.
The policy of the United States with
reference to the contest, still remained
! the same; the President in his annual
message to congress plainly indicated
plan of postponement which would
probably have had popular acquies-
cencc but for the report that the dashing
| Cuban leader, Gen.. Antonio Maceo,
| who was killed in askirmish, had been
betrayed while under the protection Of
a flag of truce, and shot to death by
the Spaniards. Public Indignation
ran highs anl a sses9lutiole wass intro.
duced in Congress expressly recog-
nizing the independence of Cuba, and
offering to Spain the friendly offices Of
the United States to bring theswar to
an end, which resulted in an argument
as to whether the. Chief Executive sors
Congress had the right to recognize a
new state.
l. On the death Of Maceo,-at first de-
nitd, but afterxar,ls 8 ssonlin1sd,-Geh.
Rivera, also ,. ~eteran-e the ten-years'
war, assumed. command, snd early in
January 1884, in his first encounter
with the Spanish, gained creditable
victory At the beginning of the Year
1897 the administration of Spanish ;afs
fairs in Cuba by Gen, Wsyler and his
| associates was eyidently>far from sat
isfactory to the government at Madrid.
Undoubted, proofs ofacts of oppression
and inluman conduct towards prison
ers and even non-epnbatants, lad been
secured, in a great part through the
efforts OF American journalists in Cuba.
While these acts may have been in ac-
cord with the Spanish policy in deal
ing with colonial rebellion, they were
nevertheless the cause of most bitter
| feeling in the United States, and
served to spur both press and public
to expressions of denunciation of
Spanish methods in general, and OF
her conduct towards Cuba in particu-
lar. But IN )re important still were
| the direct accusations of certain Span
ish newspapers to the effect that the
funds sent from Spain to carry on the
war, and especially to feed the soldiers
in the field and care for those in the
hospitals, had been diverted by the
Captain-General and his colleagues to
their own private uses. The govern
ment was forced to take notice of so
grave an accusation, especially with
| tries. The newspapers Which made
| the statements were promptly sup
pressed, bat steps to investigate were
at once taken to appease popular clam
or, and if possible disprove the charges,
| which if true could not fail to dis
| credit Spain and :!cr colonial policy
| in the ewes of all the civilized nations
The accusation OF corruption undoubt-
cdlv did much to shake the faith of
| the government in the administration
of Cuban affairs, and in the promises
of Gen. Wcyler that the island would
soon be pactled especially rs these
promises were almost Immediately fol-
Owed by a great victory for the insur-
| gents in the capture OF Santa Clara OH
January 9th, 1897. Gen. Gomez with a
large force, was pressing steadily on to-
| wards Havana. The government was
hard bcset, and seemed inclined to re-
| lax little from the proud position
she had thus far held. Other forces
| were also urging her in this direction.
There was revolt in the Philip
| pine Islands: finances w,r. in Il de-
plOrable condition; there was discon-
tent at home. and The attitude of the
American people was threatening.
Since the beginning OF the war the
commerce of the United States had
suffered greatly and therefore, outside
of the prompting of humanity and
Q neral desire for Cuban success, there
were strong commercial reasons why
the United States should use every
cndeavor to bring the tlcplorable con
hicl to an end Spain had steadily
contendeh that the Island must be
paciiicd before any reforms could be
carried into effect or evea dis .ussed;
while the revolutionary leaders had
declared that nothing short OF abso-