The Columbus journal., 1910-09-28

iidN' over Glade to
JUSTLY America 5 attitude in the Cuban mix up.
A"Eler was The hest hated man in Cuba when
HE government of his nation fually recalled him
Tbs book will cause him be cursed the length
and breadth of the peninsula
I wrot" it. he says to give all the facts
about my conduct as general in chief. a conduct
admired not only ny army officers. high and
low. who wrote me innurnprab!e letters but
Icy lriEatas. VINO. on their return to the PENN
su!a. spoke 0f with an enthusiastic fer
For for winch can never thank them enough
Eari0ns reasons prevented from doing years
ago twhen could no, have freed my mind
from certain bias, a work which I can now
do iii perfect peace of mind thanks to the
tiinc that has passed. and which has soothed
the irritation due, to the Injustice suffered at
the hands of some
'Furthemnre | did not wish TO saddan Senior
Sagasta by rctelling the story of our colonial
disasters: neither did feel any pleasure in
surfing the iiustrums Gen. Martinez Campos my
pred, c..sSor in Cuba. however uncharitaby he
acted toward after his return to the capital"
\ perusal OF the book fails to prove that Wey-
Ter kept his promise to treat the subject witt!
perfect moderation: the generals blood * still
boiling ana with some Justification for atrociouS
a his conduct in many instances. it could
not very we'll he criticized in Spain 10y the Span
ish government
Had Weyler hcrm endowed with the literary
germs OF 4 Marriott Las Clzes. re could have
made much stronger case against Spain and
presented mis- actions in = m,c, favor
able light Unfortunately mis- knowledge of the
writer's craft is defcit nj his fund OF infor
a2aiiun touching political economy. general his
rory national anad international politics is
nIDagsr
We y!er IS not diplomat the slippery land
OF nuances and innuendos is TO him terra incos
nita primitive brute. with ruiinicntary ethics.
though unflinchineiy frank and straightforward.
he never ventures assertion which cannot be
supported Icy docT;lents he never pays any
tc.ltion TO hearsay but quotes peoples letters in
nNtpnso
s fascinating tIpe. after ali. for the observer
blessed with the sense of history: just imagine
what a WeyIer would have developed into if he
had not been born some 500 years too late: clad
in STEEL he had been riding caparisoned mount
or if he had been allowed to range Europe
during the Thirty Years war.
General Weyler's style is very trying: even
his proclanIations vainly modelled after Napoleon
Is oratorical gems. rarely sound the note that
makes people or an army vibrate. His rela
tions of the Cuban campaign with all the facts
figures names recorded in haphaZard fashion
day by day. is well nigh unreadabe.
But the documents he publishes in support OF
his thesis tsome of them of confidential char
acter and which must have been secured through
diplomatic means'} make it well worth while
wading through an otherwise dull. shapeless and
indigestible piece Of writing
First of all are made to realize how hope
less the plight of the Spanish commanders had
become in the island when Weyler took the stu
alton IN hand; the many generals who preceded
him had been losing ground from day day:
their cables to the Spanish government gave
information Of pessimiStic character of which
the public and the press were seldom apprised:
their confidential correspondence betrayed heart
rending facts. more than poor Gen Mart
pp inns heat
en. while the cabinet led the Spanish nation to
believe that the practically over
Weyler himself, when placed in command OF
'he Cchan army, was not even given what he was
entitled to. an honest account of the situation
When | landed in Cuba he writes Il did
even suspect the terrible conditions that pre-
vailed in the island. did not know anything