Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1901-04-04
A CHOICE JOB
LOT Of STEALS
CUBAN WAR CLAIMS AMOUNT
TO MILLIONS.
Big HARVEST FOR LAWYERS
TAKE UP CLAIMS FOR A SHARE OF
THE REWARD-RIDICULoUs
GROUNDS FOR ACTION.

New York, April "A special to the
Tribune from Washington says:
The organization Of the Spanish war
claims commission. which will be eff
fected next week with ex-senator
Chandler as president, is drawing fresh
attention to these Cuban claims. The
total amount of damages asked now fOots
up $30,0O0,000 and though six months is
allowed for filing claims after the COM
mission organizes, it is not probable that
the list will be greatly extended. NealS ~
all the pending claims have been taken
up by lawyers as contingent ones, the
usual fees stipulated being 80 1-3 per
cent of the amount allowed. One firm,
which has a large international business,
has filed claims for various clients to
the aggregate amount of $4,000, 900. A
Washington lawyer, who was attached
to the military government for brief
period, represents claims amounting to
$500. 900.
There are number of claims of Cuban
Americans which were taken up by the
state department and pressed on the
Spanish government for reparation for
injuries inflicted or for Imprisonment. In
two or three cases of this kind the Span
ish authorities had agreed to make COM
PNAA"ceAoA AoA lAAC IlIJuIlCS. AIllOuS IHGSo
is that Of Mrs. Ruiz, the widow of DR..
Ricardo Ruiz, who, it was charged, was
killed in Jail near Havana in the last
days Of President Cleveland's adminis-
tration. Mrs. Ruiz filed claim for $75.-
600 damages and since the death of her
husband has been living in washington
in poverty. 1t is part of the unwritten
history of the Spanish American war
that the Spanish government had agreed
to pay this claim, when the explosion
OF the Maine ended all possibility OF a
peaceful settlement Of the Cuban cues
tion.
Among the claimants for property
losses there are a few Spaniards who
may get some compensation because they
managed to have their plantations placed
in American hands or had formed Amer
lean partnerships. There are also a few
Cuban planters whose estates were SO
heavily mortgaged that they We're glad
to let them pass into American owner
ship. Some subjects Of European DOW
ers also managed to acquire American
citizenship just as a good many Cubans
acquired it. One of these classes of ma
turalized Europeans has a claim for
nearly $1,000,000 for damages done his
plantation.
glance at the list of claimants shows
that about three -fourths of them are Gu
ban and Spanish names. One heavy claim
is made by Cuban planter, who was
a leading spirit in the insurrection and
whose plantation was for a time the
headquarters of Maceo. He was in Hay
ana all through the insurrection and
while the Spanish authorities suspected
MIN OF completely in it, they never were
able to catch him. and his American
citizenship protected him from arrest on
mere suspicion Another claimant is an
American citizen who represented num-
per OF manufacturing concerns in the
United States and who had lived in Cuba
1or 80 or ~ years. He asks about $780,
OOJ for damages suffered through the in
terruption of his business
Several of the bona fide America n
claimants may be embarrassed by their
action in the insurrection. AS a rule.
the genuine American citizens who had
property interests in Cuba, though thev
despised the Spanish government had
no sympathy with the insurgents. D,,-
puy de LONE, when he was the Spanish
minister. enlisted this class to show thai
! there was no real insurrection and that
the island was pacified. They wrote
letters declaring that everything was
moving smoothly and that there was nc
interruption of work on the plantations
One of the most prominent of this class
made frequent visits to Washington 70,
| personal conferences with congressman
| and officials. He would cite his own
| plantation as evidence of the perfect pro.
| lection which was afforded by the Span.
ish and in contravention of the stories
| OF damages which the insurgents werf
able to inflict. Notwithstanding these
assurances this American planter ha,
put in heavy claim for losses to hi.
property during the insurrection. A,
many of his letters are said to be oy
file. it may be awkward for him wher
the lawyers come to present his clair
| before the commission,