The Washington herald., 1919-11-30


look for ethics in war? Violence
Observation-Disclosures is war.
1t Is mans agony-woman's despair.
1t is a defiance Of God. War is with
out mercy. without law; 1t swell.
II Is the absence of all law. all good"
There was a considerable silence.
Then Lopez went on in another key.
I'VE Cubans carry heavy hearts.
but our wrongs have made US mighty.
and our suffcrings have made us
brave. Here In the orient we do well
enough; but. believe me. you cannot
imagine the desolation and the suffer-
ing farther west--whole provinces
made barren and their Inhabitants
either dead or dying. The world has
never seen anything like Weyier's
slaughter of the innocents. II there
is indeed a God-and sometimes 1
doubt it-he Will not permit this hor-
ror to continue; from every pool OF
Cuban blood another patriot will
spring up. until We drive that arch
iend and his armies into the sea. Go
back to your own country now, and
IL your grief has made you one o'
US in sympathy. tell the world what
that black butcher in Havana is do
ing, and beg your government to
recognize our belligerency. SO that we
may have arms Arms"
1t was some time before ,O'Reiliy
spoke; then he said. quietly: Il am
not going back. l am going to stay
here and look for Rosa"
SOL" exclaimed the colonel. Wei.
why not? So long as we do not know
precisely what has happened to her.
we can at least hope. But. IL were
you. ! would rather think OF her as
dead than as u prisoner in some con-
centration camp. You don't know
what those camps are like. my friend.
but ! do. Now l shall leave you.
One needs to be alone at such an
hour-eh?" With a pressure of his
! hand. Col. Lopez walked away into
the darkness.
Judson and his adventurous coun-
trymen did not see o'Reilly that night
! ! nor. in fact, did any one. But the
next morning he appeared before Gen
! Gomez He was hsggard. sick. list
less. The old Porto Rican had heal
from Lopez In the meantime; he was
sympathetic.
Il am sorry you came all the way
to hear such bad news" he said
War is a sad. hopeless business"
But haven't given up hope.
O'Reilly said. Il want TO stay here
and-and fight"
Il inferred as much from wha'
/ Lopez told me-" The general nodded
his white head. We'll. you'll make a
good soldier. and we shall be glad
| to have you" He extended his hand
and O'Reilly took it gratefully.
The city of MatanZas was "pacihed.
So ran the boastful bando of the
captain-general. And this was no ex.
aggeration. as any one could see from
the number OF beegars there. OF all
his military operations. this 'pacln-
cation" Of the western towns and
provinces was the most conspicuously
successful and the one which gave
Valeriano Weyler the keenest salts
faction: for nowhere did rebellion lift
its head-eXcept. perhaps, among the
ranks of those disaffected men who
hid in the hills. with nothing above
them but the open sky. As for the
population at large. il was cured OF
treason; it no longer resisted. even
weakly. the law of Spain. The reason
was that it lay dying. weyler's cure
was simple. efficacious-it consisted of
determination. swift and pitiless.
Poverty had been common in Aatan-
zas. even before the war. but now
there were SO many beggars in the
city that nobody undertook to count
them. When the refugees began to
pour in by the thousands. and when
it became apparent that the govern
ment intended to let them starve. the
, better citizens undertook an effort at
relief: but times were hard, food was
scarce. and prices high. Moreover. II
soon transpired that the military
frowned upon everything like organi-
Zed charity. and in consequence the
newcomers were, perforce, abandoned
TO their own devices. These country
people We're dumb and terrified at the
misfortunes which had overtaken
, them: they wandered the streets in
aimless bewilderment. fearful of what
blow might next befall. They were
not used to begging. and Therefore
they did not often implore aims; but
all day long they asked for work.
for bread. that their little ones might
live. Work. however. was even
scarcer than food. and the time soon
| came when they crouched upon curbs
and doorsteps. hopeless. beaten. silent
ly reproachful of those more FORUM
ate than they. Their eyes grew Dig
and hollow: their outstretched hands
grew gaunt and skinny. The sound
of weeping women and fretting babies
became a common thing to hear.
In the suburbs. just within the ring
OF guardian forts. an area of culti-
vation" was set aside. and here the
prisoners put up huts of yagua-com-
fortress bark shelters. which were
well enough. perhaps. in fair weathcr,
but sadly Ineffective against wind and
rain. Here. housed with hunger and
| crowded together in indescribable
| squalor. they dwelt seeking comfort
| in their common wretchedness. Since