Evening star., 1899-02-02
THE SITUATION IN CUBA
Ex- Minister Hannis Taylor Says There il
Much Misery There.
Points Out Necessity for Prompt Ac'
tion on Treaty Views of
Military Men.

Hannis Taylor, eX-mnister to Spain, re-
turned to Mobile. Ala, Tuesday from a two
| weeks visit to Cuba, and gave out the fol-
! lowing interview on the Cuban situation:
| while in Cuba upon purely private bus
| iness came In contact with the leaders OF
| every faction into which the population is
| now divided. The extremes of opinion are
| represented, on the one hand, by Cuban
| military chiefs demanding immediate and
| absolute independence; on the other, by the
| purely Spanish element seeking protection
under our flag. Between the two extremes
are ranged the main body of the people.
standing In an expectant attitude ready to
| give their approval to any plan that will re-
! establish law, order and material prosper
| ity upon a permanent basis.
Want I'm Country Districts.
| Upon one point all agree, American off,
/ GERS and Cubans, and that is outside of the
| cities the country is I'm a condition of want
| and misery that can hardly be explained
AS an aggravation of that condition stands
| the Cuban army, composed of at least
| 10000 idle men, waiting with arms In their
hands for such a settlement of their dues
as will enable them TO resume life again.
When ! asked those who had right to
| speak for the army what sum would suffice
| for satisfactory settlement, they said
$40 OO0000 or S11 600 600 at least. sum that
would give about $500 to each man. With that
| they said, the small farmers could procure
stock and live until they could make a
| crop. The Cubans neither ask or desire us
| to contribute a penny for the payment of
| their army. All they ask is that q loan
should be made for the purpose, and
charged upon their custom house, now
yielding from sl2,0o0.000 to $4,000 900
year, the proceeds to be paid to their SOL
diers through military authorities
Want the Army Disbanded.
Every class there is demanding that
settlement be made a. once. that men,
acing and idle body of men may be con-
verted into peaceful producers. In that
way the industries of the country could be
| revived, and q force dissolved-like the
army of Cromwell which is not only mil
| itary party. but the predominant party in
the island.
Il cannot doubt if the Just claims of the
Cuban army are treated with injustice and
contempt, and the present military regime
continued indefinitely, in short while we
would be hated by the Cubans just as the
Spaniards Were, and condition of things
brought about that would force either
to withdraw from the island or to govern
there Just Russia does in Poland.
Wise and humane our military gov
ernors are, the fact remains that they gov
ern by the sword in defiance of the civil
power, and the result is that impatence
and discomfort already clearly mani
tested on every hand. The urgent need in
settlement with the army of the revolution,
and establishment soon as possible of a
provisional civil regime. in which Cubans
themselves can have a voice.
Treaty should Be Ratified.
The President should labor increasingly
to attain both ends, and in the effort to do
SO should have the cordial cooperation and
support OF all patriotic and liberty-loving
| men, regardless of party.
ba Sl bryu
suicidal it is to carry party difficulties
into our foreign affairs. The patriotic in
stinct of Mr.. Bryan hit the mark when he
urged the immediate ratification of the
pending. treaty and the settlement of all
difficulties afterward.
The Senate should end at once the pres
ent situation, so detrimental to all our for
eign interests, while Congress, as a whole,
should give to the President every facility
necessary to enable him to settle every for
eign question now demanding immediate
solution.
Military Views of the Situation.
A dispatch from Havana yesterday says:
Members of the military administration
declare that the Cuban demands should be
checked ard that the Cuban army should
not be paid the vast sums demanded. 1t
is considered by them that from s3, 100000
to 5000 900 is the most the United States
should allow. Since January l. the Gu
bans have had practically everything they
wanted
The United States government has been
feeding all the hungry, 2,W0,eoo rations
have been distributed and another 100000
have been ordered. The Cubans have been
given all the civil positions, and thou
sands of laborers have been employed.
When they are not pleased with anything
they promptly petition, in the case of
the Banco Espanol and the collection of
taxes.
The idea that the American government
hoS a1lnr ut Ito al In
Cuba is growing as the people perceive that
every request they make is granted.
The American generosity in the matter
of rations simply de,noralizes the recipi-
ents. Long fed at the expense OF the
United States, these people Will not look
for work.
Liberalfty Causes Dissatisfaction.
Moreover. the payment of good compen-
sation to the city and rural police and
workmen in government employ is said to
be responsible for the strikes reported from
all parts of the island, especially in the
country districts where the laborers de-
mand increases which the farmers are not
able to pay. Political agitators do all in
their power to spread the impression that
nothing is too good for the Cubans at TIE |
hands of the United States.
II this too lax and over-generous policy |
is perSistently followed up, Americans
here say. the demands and expectations
of the Cubans will increase in unreason-
ableness, and the longer the United States |
government is indulgent the greater the op-
position VIII be to the ultimate coerciVe
measures that may become necessary If |
the Cubans refuse the 100000 or any
other reasonable sum for the pay Of the |
Cuban army.
Ell Diario de la Marina will tomorrow
publish a leading editorial declaring that,
if the Cubans continue their threats and |
abuse with respect to the Spaniards, the 1
latter will be forced to leave the country /
or to pray the United States to annex the |
island forthwith. Ell Diario represents the |
conservative Spanish interests and its |
managers decided upon the publication of |
the article after a consultation with the |
leading Spaniards in Havana
SENATE COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS