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CUBA

ambushes. The organization of the insurrection developed rapidly. A provisional Government was formed, and the Marquez de Cisneros was named President of the Cuban Republic. The island was divided into districts, and a civilian appointed prefect of each one. Certain taxes were levied by these rebel authorities, non-payment being punished by destruction of the plantation buildings or crops of standing cane and the seizure of cattle and other live stock. Meanwhile the Cuban Junta in New York continued to collect subscriptions and arrange for further supplies of arms. In January 1896 the insurgent leaders determined to carry the war into the districts in the immediate vicinity of Havana, and so paralyze the industrial life of the island. The Spaniards gave little heed to the rumours concerning the movement, and failed to perceive that the majority of the population sympathized with the rebels. As the insurgents advanced, they burned all the cane-fields and destroyed valuable property, on the ground that as long as industry continued to flourish in Cuba, the Spanish Government could find the money to maintain a large army to operate against the Cubans, but that once the industrial life was stopped, Spain would be unable to bear the burden and would then withdraw her troops. Accordingly, a vast sheet of flame from the burning cane-fields marked the advance of the insurgents. Near Coliseo, in the province of Matanzas, General Campos made his last effort to stem the onward movement with 10,000 men, but the insurgents eluded him and invaded the rich Western Provinces. The town of Havana was thrown into a state of excitement, and Marshal Campos was relieved of his command. At the opening of 1896 there were still many Cubans in sympathy with, or actively engaged in, the insurrection who would have been satisfied with a liberal measGeneral ure 0f }lome rule, and this aspect of the case was Yentout. duly impressed upon the Spanish Government, but to no purpose. Meanwhile in the United States the drift of feeling was distinctly in favour of the insurgents, and this had the effect of making Spain more determined than ever to crush the revolt by force of arms, and the task was entrusted to General Weyler, who had a great reputation for energy and relentless severity. Large reinforcements were sent to the island from Spain, and in a few months the army of occupation amounted to 185,000 regular troops, 20,000 guerillas, and 30,000 volunteers. Antonio Maceo, with some 4000 insurgents, had taken up his position in the mountains of Pinar del Rio, and continually harried the Spanish garrisons. In order to prevent him from recrossing towards the eastern provinces and again joining hands with Gomez, a cordon of troops was stationed from north to south of the island between Mariel and Majana, trenches were thrown up, entanglements laid down, and blockhouses erected at short intervals. A corps of 20,000 men was stationed on this trocha or military cordon, and 10,000 troops were despatched to Pinar del Rio to march through the province and force a fight with the. followers of Maceo whenever possible. These measures did not give the results expected. The rainy season brought sickness among the troops on the trocha, and many thousands died of fever, dysentery, and exposure. The columns sent out in Pinar del Rio were exhausted by long marches, and invariably found the mountain passes difficult of approach and strongly guarded by the rebels. Foiled in his attempt to bring about a general engagement, General Weyler issued an order for the “ concentration ” of the whole rural population in the fortified towns, with a view to prevent the insurgents from obtaining supplies from the country people with them. Some 600,000 people, chiefly women and children, were thus driven from their

[recent history.

homes and collected in the towns, where they had no means of gaining a living, and where no due provision had been made for their subsistence. With very few exceptions the men joined the insurrection, and the women and children suffered great privations. In June 1896 a vessel called the Competitor was surprised and captured on the north coast of Pinar del Rio just after landing a cargo of arms and ammuni- American tion for Maceo. The crew, with one exception, grievances were United States citizens. They were tried by against a military tribunal and sentenced to be shot. sPainUnder the treaties existing between Spain and the United States it was specially provided that unless American citizens were captured with arms in their hands against the Spanish authority, they could only be arraigned before the ordinary tribunals. The United States Government insisted that these men were not captured with arms in their hands within the meaning of the treaty, and that the summary trial accorded them was illegal. The Spanish authorities maintained that they had right on their side, but at the last moment gave way and ordered a fresh trial by ordinary process. The men were in prison for a long period, but were finally released and sent out of the island. Here the affair nominally ended, but bad blood was created between the two nations. One of the most difficult political questions with which General Weyler was confronted was the treatment of United States citizens in Cuba. Of persons born in the United States there were only a limited number in the island, but of Cubans who had become naturalized citizens of the United States there were some 20,000, and it was this latter class who occasioned friction. It was a common practice for Cubans to reside a sufficient length of time in the United States to obtain naturalization papers, then to return to Cuba and, whenever in trouble, to call upon the United States authorities for assistance. Many of these naturalized citizens who were directly or indirectly implicated in the revolt only owed their immunity from imprisonment to the fact that their arrest would have entailed diplomatic complications with the United States. Occasionally a man was arrested who claimed to be an American citizen; he could talk no language but Spanish, was born in Cuba, and had not been near his adopted country for twenty years; nevertheless he was entitled to and received the active intervention of the United States Consul-General in Havana. Time after time the Spanish authorities were forced to give way to the protests sent from Washington, and each succeeding incident increased the bitterly hostile feeling of the Spaniards towards the United States. In July 1896, Jose Maceo, who commanded the rebels in the eastern part of the island, was killed in a skirmish. This loss to the cause was more than compensated for by the landing of Calixto Garcia, a veteran of the former revolt, who became one of the most prominent of the rebel leaders. Garcia had studied military tactics and understood the weak points of the Spanish character. Many members of families of good social standing who had hesitated to serve under Gomez or Maceo, joined Garcia in the field, and the movement in Santiago and Puerto Principe was further strengthened by the landing of arms and ammunition sent by the Cuban Junta in New York. In the month of August an attempt was made to dislodge Antonio Maceo from the mountain heights near Cacarajicara, in the province of Pinar del Rio. The officer commanding the Spanish troops, General Echague, was severely wounded, and the Spanish loss was heavy. After hard fighting, the insurgents were forced to retire farther into the mountain fastnesses. In November the strength of the insurrection in Pinar del Rio and the centre of the island showed no sign of exhaustion, and General Weyler