CHAPTER IV. WEYLER, BLANCO AND THE RECONCENTRADOS-AUTONOMY AND THE "MAINE' DISASTER. Attempts to crush the insurrection by brutality-Butcher Weyler-Personal estimate of the man-His menacing manifests-The infamous concentration order-Sugar planters provoked-A fence of steel across the island-A Policy of extermination-Driving in the peasants-Direct responsibility for sixty thousand deaths-What autonomy meant-DeLome's insult to the President-His recall-Destruction of the "Maine"-Verdict of the Board of Inquiry. N 1895, when General Martinez Campos was recalled by the Spanish government and General Valeriano Weyler was appointed as Captain-General of Cuba, the mother country congratulated herself that the insurgent uprising would soon be crushed. The arrival of General Weyler was celebrated by a brilliant display at Havana. When he stepped from his ship the general was dressed in full uniform, his breast was bedecked with all of his flashing decorations, and while the cannon was booming, the flags were flying, and the bands were playing martial airs, he was escorted between files of soldiers to the palace. One who held a personal conference with this man of unenviable reputation thus describes him : “Weyler is lean, diminutive, shriveled, ambitious for immortality irrespective of its odor, a master of diplomacy, the slave of Spain for the glory of sitting at the right of her throne, unlovable, unloving, exalted. His eyes far apart, bright, alert and striking, took me in at a glance. His face seemed to run to chin, his lower jaw protruding far beyond any ordinary indication of firmness, persistence or will power. His forehead is neither high nor receding, neither is it that of a thoughtful or philosophic man. His ears are set far back, and what is called the region of intellect in which are those mental attributes that might be defined as powers of observation, calculation, judgment and execution, is strongly developed." Soon after reaching Cuba, Weyler struck the keynote of his administration by issuing an order in which occurred the following significant sentences: "I take charge of my duties with the expectation ever constant in me of preserving its possession for Spain, determined as she is in this purpose to spare no kind of strenuous exertions, of which she is giving evident proof. I shall not be found wanting in determination and energy, which are my characteristics, THE U. S. BATTLESHIP "MAINE," AS SHE APPEARED ON HER VISIT TO HAVANA. to punish with all the severity sanctioned by law those who may help the enemy in any way, or try to abate the dignity of our national name." As the campaign continued, the published orders sent out from the Spanish headquarters in Havana grew in severity. "All prisoners," it was decreed, "taken by the troops during an engagement with the enemy will be submitted to summary proceedings, for which all judicial formalities shall be avoided that are not absolutely indispensable to pass judgment." On February 25, 1896, when the Spanish cause seemed to be in dire straits, Weyler commissioned a committee of military officers to execute a requisition for ten per cent of the number of horses used for running cabs, stages and tram cars. All of the state papers of the general, at this time, show great energy of expression and earnestness of purpose; but placed side by side, their inconsistency is quite apparent. On one day he sounds a pæan of victory over the enemy; the next day comes DIVERS AT WORK ON THE WRECK OF THE "MAINE" IN HAVANA HARBOR. a call for more courage and aggression on the part of the soldiers; then follows a savage threat against those who are secretly giving the enemy information; now appears a rally cry, invoking all in the name of the fatherland, to crush out the rebellion that seems to be assuming larger proportions than was anticipated; and apparently THE MASCOT OF THE "MAINE." realizing that extreme measures must be taken in every part of the island accessible to his soldiers, the captain-general sent out this extraordi nary decree: "All rural inhabitants of the Sancti Spiritus district and of the province of Puerto Principe and Santiago de Cuba, will make their concentration at the towns having any division, brigade, column or other troops of the army, and then get documents of personal guarantee, within eight days after the present decree has been published at the nearest township." Again: |