The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-12-13
FITZHUGH LEE
TALKS ON CUBA
Takes a Back handed Crack at
Cleveland.
SAYS WE SHOULD OWN ISLAND
BELIEVES MAINE WAS BLOWN
UP BY THE SPANISH.

NEW YORK. Dec. 12-General Fitz-
~ hugh Lee addressed the members
of the Patria club tonight on The
United States and Cuba" He said. in
| part:
Cuba never was so well governed
by Spain as she is today. Congress-
wearied of the wars in Cuba, passed
resolutions recognizing the right Of
/ beihgerency of the rebels and then
came the war. l want to say that
represented to President Cleveland the
| exact condition of affairs that existed
there. I reported the rebellion. with all
| its brutalities and horrors. and told him
| that it would continue for several gen.
erations if not brought TO a speedy end.
| r.aCleveland gave no attention to my
reports, and il was not until that great
/ man now sleeping his last sleep in Can
| ton, o., took charge of affairs in Wash
/ ington that these atrocious conditions
were brought to an end.
Cuba's Richness.
Cuba is well worthy the attention
| of the American people. 1t is the rich
est spot on Gods green earth. No
! country can ever rival Cuba in its
products. 1t has been waiting for a
! half century for American energy and
| enterprise. If we had not sacrificed
| wisdom for sentiment we would own
Cuba today. When we did have Cuba
! we should have held on TO it, but some
| of the people wanted to show the world
! that they were acting for humanity S
sake and not for the possession of ter
ritory.
Prior to the war with Spain, when
1 was consul general in Cuba, there
were repeated attempts to assassinate
! me. Wherever ] went had to sit with
my back to the wall and my hand on
Il 81 TElTarn
/ thirty letters in a day in which l was
| threatened with all manner of death.
| Some threatened to waylay and stran-
gle me; others to string me up to the
nearest lamp post, and still others to
l tie me to a horses tail and drag me
| around the streets of Havana. Five
| Spanish women called az my Office one
| afternoon and handed me a letter from
| some Spanish officers, in which they
| threatened to come to my Office, tie me
| hand and foot, put me aboard the
/ Maine and drive me out of the harbOr
I received reports that even the Cubans
wanted to kill me because they believed
! that by doing so war with the United
| states would surely result.
Lee Net Funston.
| when some of these reports were
| current, a man came to nv office one
| day with the purpose, as 1 thought, OF
! killing me. He moved toward me inch
| by inch. and as he came within reach
had him covered with my gun
J asked him what he wanted, and to my
| surprise, he said, in English: L have
just come from General. Gomezs camr
suffering from a wound in the thigh
| want to Leave Cuba. I want to go back
| TO the United States I asked hin
where he came from, and he said. il
| the drawliest kind of way: From Kan.
| sas. That man was General Frederick
4 Funston. So you see had much to d5
| with the latter capturing Aguinaldo."
General Lee then recited the incident.
of the blowing up of the Maine, ane
told Of General Blanco's action after
the catastrophe
II want to say here and for al
time" he continued. "that Genera
Blanco and his officers had no more t.
do with the blowing up of the Maine
than had the people of New York City
IL is my belief that some of the youns
officers left in the arsenal by Genera
Weyler blew up the Maine. IT wa:
they, ! am sure. who planted the mine
that sent the Maine to it's destruction.