The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-04-23
The First N. 6, R0ginn0nt
a Story Of Its Seventy-Five Me March
Through Havana Province
(By w {. CHRlSTlAN.)

'nnIO llHN.
the pose of their heads, as they got in
full swing. and they were hickory from
tip to toe. They marched till night to
Il place called Aroyer Naranja (which
means Orange Creek.l 1t was Il beauti-
full cams in the low-lying land by the
railroad. They had marched sixteen
miles. Their vaccinations had not yet
begun to take. though each man had
been stabbed" just before leaving camp.
But they took" later. Major Smith
was specially proud of the way the men
pitched their tents. From the time the
order was given the camp was complete
in 10 minutes. There were not Il few
Cuban Barracks along the way. At
these points about Il dozen ragged pa
triots would line up at Il present.
They were shabby looking. but | do not
make fun of them. There had been
much Of good i'll the passing through the
country of this North Carolina Batta-
lion. One could feel that the American
soldier was in touch with Cuban free
dom, and that the CubanS fully perceiv-
ed and conceived the whole situation.
In fact in one little village, later on in
the march, Il good many Cubans said:
Gomez and the Cuban Assembly may
find fault with the Americans and may
try to make trouble, but the Cuban peo-
pie will not follow This was before
Gomez had come out with so much
grace and breadth after his progress TO
HaYana.e
The next day took us through Rincon
to Bejucal. One would have wondered
at the outpouring of Bejucal. Women
and children and seemingly all the men.
as the Battalion halted on the outskirts
at delicious we'll of water This is the
town of which Dr. Zertucha is Mayor
He is the brother of DR.. Iertucha. who
is said to have betrayed Maceo. | was
surprised to find that the Cubans do not
believe this story. The people of
Bejucal loved their Mayor, to whom
there is a statue in the Plaza. and who
made himself very gracious in h visit
to the camp. Also, the commander of
the Bejucal Barracks escorted Major
Smith from the gates of the town,
very polished and Important: but his
men at the Barracks were desolate look
ing 1t was all pathetic to me. | thought
of the odds against which these men had
been striving for generations; Itemming
tons and poverty against Mausers and
plenty: desolated fields against well-fcd
towns capped with block houses. These
Cubans had not tainted for lack of cour-
age; had not faltered for lack of
food had been struggling to be free and
for freedom only. They had come
through processes, through calumny;
through taunts of being il mob of mere
rioters. Yet there must have been a
steady principle at work. If they had
not endured. there would not have beon
any Maine" to help forward immediate
ly their cause. 1t is worth every life ]:
necessarily costs to wrench a nation
from under the hand of treachery and
tyranny and to set it up i'll liberty. If
this country stands for anything. it
stands for that much. The results
glorify the lives that were sacrificed,
make good the pledge Of the Pilgrims and
spiritualizc the purpose as announced
from the lips of the guns of Yorktown,
of Bunker Hill. of Kings Mountain.
from the lips of the men Of Mecklen-
burg. 1t must yet be proved that Gu
bans cannot govern themselves Suppose
not that is Il side issue. The resolution
of Congress is that they shall be given Il
cha ace to do so. This resolution will be
carried out In conversation sometime
ago with Senior Quesada, Secretary of
the Cuban Junta. in this country, he
said to me that the convention already
held was in accordance with the Constr
tuition of the Cubans which had been re-
ratified every two years. Senior tguesada
said further that sometime during this
summer there would probably be Con-
sttutionaT Convention. 1t will be based
upon some form of suffrage adjusted 10
the situation. 1t will be medium
through which an understanding of the
exact relations between this country and
Cuba will be more nearly arrived at; IT
may result in an offer of annexation III
some form or other; it may be pro
tectorate," or some other aSsuaglng
name; it will mean, of course, finally the
annexation. in some way, territorial or
otherwise, of Cuba to the United States,
but this country will in the meanwhile
have carried out its promise to Cuba III
good faith; the people will be free. the
whole heart of this country will have
been ennobled by The spectacle of the
performance. 1t should not now be
thought that this country went into this
war for plumber. 1t belittles the heart
and mind of men, it seems to me. TO
take this view. I'VE must not acquire
territory that we have to defend with a
navy That was Jefferson's formula.
1t may be perfectly consistent, therefore,
with Democratic principles, to say to
sother nations as regards Cuba Keep
off the grass" 1t is unique and UMPIRE
cedented- the whole incident, and must
be measured by degrees and within the
broadcast limits Of the human heart--al-
ways with the view that this country
should work out the problem of liberty
in this world wherever it can be done
consistently with the safety of its own
institutions. as set forth both III the
character ~and direction of its Constitu-
ton.
AS to the Philippines, it is quite an
other matter, and has nothing to do with
this story. But it may be pertinent to
remark that though the Philippine sit
uation has proceeded step by step from
the occupation of Cuba, the two ques-