Daily Kennebec journal., 1899-07-24
AN INSPIRATION
Which Solved the Problem Of
the Spanish Prisoners.
Gen. Ager Originated Idea of Send
ing Men Home to Spain.
BY So Doing Saved United States Mary
Thousands Of Dollars.

war with Spain Of suddenly disposing
of thousands Of Spanish prisoners cap
tured in Santiago province. The his
tory Of that time has not been fully
told, and il remained for Secretary AL
ger. today. to supply the need, by the
following bit Of reminiscence:
"On the night of July ., 1893, the
President asked me what, in my judg-
mcnt, we should do with the Spanish
prisoners OF Santiago after their cap
! ture The matter had received very
much thought from the President ana
myself, but no definite conclusion had
| been reached. | then suggested to the
President that Galveston. Texas. would
he the best place in the United States.
in my judgment. where we could sent
them: it was away from the coast line,
a good harbor; that there would be
plenty Of room for camping them and
that its climate would be as nearly
similar to that Of Santiago as We
could probably select.
This seemed 10 meet his approval,
as il was only question Of time. Of
course. when their capture would be
effected. | went to my homo, as near
ly as / can remember. about : o'clock
in the morning. ana being too tired To
sleep. lay awake for while. but fin
ally doscd off. ! awoke at dayhreak
ana my first thought was concerning
idea came into my head: Why not
send them back To SPAIN
This thought impressed me 50 deep
~ that ] formulated my plan and on
the morning II july 10th instead Of 60
ing to the department direct, | went
| I.,tI H.,
plan before the President saying that
it would be an unprecedented pro-
| cedurc and most gracious act: to
ship the prisoners to Galveston would
| be half the distance. that we should
have to clothe, shelter. guard and
feed them there and no doubt have to
ship them back to Spain in the end.
Il also stated that believed that it
would be a great inducement to the
| Spaniards u surrender. which Gen
| Shafter afterwards assured me was
the effect. The President readily ap
| proved the plan ana on the same day |
cablcd Gen. Shafter as follows:
WAR Department. July 10, 1898.
Gen. Shaftcr. Playa del Este, Santi-
ago. cuba:
should the Spaniards surrender un-
| conditionalIy and wish to return to
Spain. they will he sent back direct at
the expense Of the United States gov
crnment Il. A. ALGER,
Secretary
Upon receiving this on the 1lth or
July. Gen. Sbafter sent the followin
July. Gen. Shafter sent the following
communication to the communicating
chief of the Spanish forces:
Headquarters of the 5th Army
Corps. Camp near Santiago, Cuba,
July 1lth. 1898:
." Sil-With the largely increased
forces which have come to me and the
fact that | have your line Of retreat
securely in my hands the time seems
fitting that | should again demand Of
vour excellency the surrender of San
tfago and of your eXcelencys army.
| am authorized to state that should
your excellency 50 desire. the govern
mcnt of the United States will trans
port the entire command Of your cN-
cellency to Spain. l have the honor to
he very respectfully.
Your obedicnt servant,
WILLIAM L. SHAFTER.
Major General commanding.
10 WnlCH ING cO4iild4i'ci lcP''NN "S
follows:
Santiago de Cuba, July H. 1893.
'Sir-I have the honor to advise Your
emfncncc that your communication oI
this date is received and in reply deSir"
to confirm that which | have said in my
former communication; also to advise yoc
that | have communicated your prOp0St-
ton to the gencral-in-chief. RcitcratinS
my sentiments, ! am very y., reTPn,cuqI;lE .rr,,
your servant JoSfb lof.Al-, :
Comma M Jr ( 'hiCf 18th CORPS ana
Military Governor of Santiago.
.Immcdately upon the surrender steps
were taken to carry out the pledges u
the United States government 10 ship The |
Spanards home. The quIrtcrmastcr' de- |
partmcnt Immediately advertised for bids |
to transport the prisoners 10 Spain. with |
the result tLat eight Of the ocean trans
portation companies submitted a com
hined bid which was, for officers $ll0 ana |
for enlisted men $50 per capita, steamers |
TO be dispatched from Santiago dc cuba |
within iS hours Of their reported arrival. |
or demurrase to be paid at the rate Of 60 /
cents per capita per day, same demurraSe
to be paid if steamers be detained al
place of debarkation by quarantine or
other causes. The Spanish Trans Allan
tic Cos bid was s55 per capita for officers
rage. The Spanish company's offer was \
accepted.
THE ratons for the prisoners were in
spectcd by United States government.
official. and this government paid for the
of all the prisoners. $5l3
$50 The same number carried by the
other companies under their bid would
have cost the government $l.3l2,9l5. Here
was $s00000 saved to the United States
and probably as much more in demur-
rage.
Some days after the contract was
awarded, the President said to me as |
the cabinet room: Mr.. Secretary,
would YOU like to hear something favor
able 10 YOU printed in the New York
Tines. and went on to read the edi-
Iorial comment, too complimentary 20 the
Continued on page 81 |,