287 Fourth Avenue, New York CityNear Twenty-third StreetVOL. 58, NO. 15 PRICE 10 CENTS

The

Outlook•Puhiyhed • Weekly •

9 APRIL, 1898

CUBASpain and Cuba: A Historical

Sketch

The Red Cross in CubaBy Clara Barton

As Interviewed by Elbert F. Baldwin

A Plan for PermanentCuban Relief

By W. W. Howard

The History of the Week

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The Red Cross in CubaClara Barton

As Interviewed by Elbert F. Baldwin 1

Is there any real resentment on the partop the insurgents or Spaniards because ofthe aid that we are giving to the people ?

HUMANITY.

Not a particle. I suppose I run the riskof being accused of being a Spanish sympa-thizer, and courting, in one way and another,Spanish favor. I have not courted it in anypossible way. 11 is a thing one would not daretodo. If they themselves were not disposed tobe friendly, they are not exactly a people whomyou would be willing to court. I did not callupon his Excellency the Captain-General ofCuba for some time. Finally I did call. Iwas met by his Chancellor, Sefior Don Con-gosto, a very *fine man, and educated in the

United States. It seemed that they had thought it strange that I had not called, and whenmy card went in, the Chancellor came out of his room and met me with both hands extended,and said that he was very glad that I had come. He asked if I would see General Blancothe next day. At ten o’clock the next day I called at the Palace. Sehor Don Congosto metus again, and we went into General Blanco’s office—his first office—and met him. HisExcellency is a kindly-looking man, a gentle, genial man, a man who meets you with a warmgrasp of the hand, as if there were a heart behind it. He did not speak English, but hespeaks French fluently. He said he was glad of this relief, and sorry for the conditionof the people. He explained fully the working of the government. Then I spoke with himregarding the possibility of the reconcentrados being protected, and getting possession ofsome land so as to raise crops. He said that ought to be attended to; it should be ; would Ispeak with his committee? Then, when the interview was ended, we went into the secondoffice. It was lined with fine portraits of the Kings of Spain and of the Captains-Generalof Cuba. His Excellency began a little historical talk, illustrating the early reigns bythese portraits. Finally he stopped in front of one and said, “That is the ruler of 76,the year of your war. When America was in trouble, Spain was her friend; now Spain isin trouble and America is her enemy.”

In the afternoon I met the committee, and my interview with them was still longer. Imet them as Red Cross men, as they all are. The leading men of foreign countries belongto the foreign Red Cross. You never need hesitate, if you meet a man of position or learning in any country, I don’t care where, excepting our own, to address him as a RedCross man, just as one Mason addresses another. I said to them, “ I meet you, gentlemen,not as an American and you as Spaniards, but as the head of the Red Cross of one countrygreeting the Red Cross men of another. I do not come to speak for America as an Ameri-can, but from the Red Cross for humanity.”

I laid the plans I had before them, and they approved. They were already wantingto do the same thing, and so far as I could see would do it, would do the best in their power.But it is hardly possible, even with General Blanco’s latest permission, for Spain to giveall the protection she would, even within her trochas. Although the Spanish soldier mightbe controlled, and might not touch the reconcentrados who were attempting to cultivatethe land, there is always the native guerrilla to be feared. There is where the danger

NEUTRALITY.

1 Miss Clara Barton has been good enough to tell the readers of The'Outlook, through a member of its editorialstaff, some salient facts concerning actual conditions of distress in Cuba, and the relief work which is beingprosecuted with so much energy and with such happy results. At the request of The Outlook, the interesting inter-views described in these questions and answers took place [on Wednesday and Thursday of last week at MissBarton’s residence, Glen Echo, six miles from Washington,

912 The Outlooklies; it is not so much from the Spanishsoldier. The Spanish can generally controltheir soldiers. All the reconcentrados couldcultivate much land, still left to them insideof the trochas and inside of the forts, but assoon as they have got something raised, incomes the lawless guerrilla and takes it. Greatdestruction has also come from the insur-gents. Their policy in regard to that isabout as strange and as unnatural as was thecruel policy of Spain in driving the reconcen-trados away from their farms.

It is stated that the military hospitals arebetter than the municipal hospitals; is thattrue ?

The military hospitals are the better now.San Ambrosio, where our “ Maine ” men weretaken, was a large military hospital. Youwouldn’t call it clean, but there, I suppose, itwould be called a fairly well cared for hospital.There were a great many in it.

Are there municipal hospitals in everytown ?

I don’t know. For instance, take the townof Jaruca. It was the first we visited afterinvestigating Havana, and is about twenty orthirty miles from that city. We did not seewhat you would call a town hospital, and yetthere might have been one. I asked for thereconcentrado hospital. They said it hadfallen into disuse, it had become so bad ; theyhad no food for it. There has been a dread inmany of those towns about putting the sickpeople in hospitals. For instance, if a childwas ill, or a wife, there wouldbe some of theirown to take care of them while at home ; butif they were to be carried to a bad hospitallike that, they might famish. For that reasonmany of the hospitals had very few persons inthem, while in nearly every hut some oneor more were sick enough to have been ina hospital. Now that was the case with thereconcentrado hospital in Jaruca, but whetherthe city or town had another hospital of itsown, where its town people went, I cannotsay; I did not ask. But the hospital that theyattempted to have there for the reconcentra-dos was, at the moment we found it, some-thing fearful.

How many reconcentrados didyoufind atJaruca ?

Well, I cannot tell you. We went throughthe houses of the reconcentrados—theirhouses are made of palm entirely. Theselittle huts are not unlike the houses fromwhich they were driven. The huts were un-comfortable, dark, earthy-looking; they stand

as thick as possible. There is a village ofthem. We went through them, finding some-times only one, sometimes two or three recon-centrados. They all showed evidences offamine. When we had been going about twohours or more, I asked if they had a hospi-tal. They said they had. The authoritieswere along with us; the mayor, the judge—-all of the authorities met us with open arms.They went with us; they had their car-riages, and we rode where we could. Theyshowed the same degree of interest that weourselves showed. They said that they hada hospital, “but it is hardly fit to be seen,and does not at all answer the purpose.”I thought that I might use the building;I could provide the rest. They took us toa rather large wooden house, a good enoughhouse with high ceilings. The door openedinto a large room, and at the further sidewe saw a wire cot bed and mattress, and aman on it, lying there, one foot up a little,some kind of a blanket over him. He seemedfar away from us. We started to go tohim, and there came such a stench that wecouldn’t go in. It was not what you wouldexpect from anything being filthy, but some-thing worse, like something dead. It warnedus instantly that we must not go in, and wefell back a few yards and stopped. As asoldier would say, we called a halt. I said,“We must not give this up. There is aliving man there; he must be reached, andsomebody must go to him.”

I then asked some questions about theplace, and the truth revealed itself, that theyhad no means, they had no money; practicallythere was no money there. They had givenall they could give; everybody was poor.They couldn’t clean a place like that, forthere was no one to hire. You might thinkthat they would have cleaned it anyway ; butremember that in their better days theCubans have never been accustomed tocleanliness; you can imagine their conditionnow. I said, “You have men that will workfor pay ?” “ Oh, yes, and be glad to work.”“ Well, bring them here.” Immediately wewere surrounded with men who would workfor a small sum, and were glad to do any-thing. They had no water. Their waterhas to be bought and brought. That isagainst cleanliness in a place like Jaruca.1 asked if there were men who would bringwater. Certainly. They had it in barrels.We asked if they had lime; yes, they had.We told them to go for water, to bring all

The Red Cross in Cuba 913that was necessary, and we gave them money.We sent them to buy eight or ten barrelsof slacked lime, and whitewash-brushes, andbrooms, and cloths, and sponges—whateverwas necessary to clean that house. Weasked how many there were in the hospital.They said there were four in the variousrooms. We told them to bring the patientsout into the sunshine, and then to clean theplace from top to bottom; to wash it thor-oughly; to mix whitewash (we sent for glueto make it firm), as fast as they could, and towhitewash it all over, then to scrub the floorsand scatter lime; to rake the ground andscatter lime there. And we got them to work,about twenty men, directly.

Then we went to other parts of the city.Some hours later we went back to see howthe hospital was progressing. We foundevery room clean, no smell, nearly all thewalls whitewashed, and lime everywhere.The windows were replaced, and the fourmen had clean blankets and clean clothes,and were really living and trying to eatsomething. They were put back in the hos-pital when it would do, and we immediatelysent them several tons of food, and a finephysician—Dr. Hosca.

That is a Cuban namej are the Cubanphysicians trustworthy ?

They have some excellent physicians andsurgeons in Cuba. They are of a very highorder, altogether different from what youwould expect to find. They not only knowmedicine, but, besides, they are gentlemen tothe core. They are graduates of schools inFrance and America largely, and have abroad education. And there was no jealousyamong them. The leading physicians cameto Dr. Lesser, whom they might have hadreason to look at as an interloper, and werethere every day at his clinic, some six andeight and ten of them at a time, and wonder-fully attentive, ready to learn anything, andyet they were well-taught men themselves.We asked one of these men to go to Jaruca.He had been a surgeon in the Spanish army ;

although a Cuban, he was still an officer inthe Spanish army, but the Spaniards nolonger employed them as officers after thewar began. The next day he volunteered togo ; and we sent up twenty-five cots, as a be-ginning, and nice blankets for them, and what-ever seemed needful for a hospital. I gavemoney to him to buy such furnishings as wouldbe required, buckets and bowls and so on, andsome clothing for either men or women, who

went in; and cans of condensed milk andmalted milk, grains and meals and rice ; andhe went to commence his hospital there. Hewent around among the houses, took out thesickest of the reconcentrados, brought themto the hospital, and put them to bed. Every-thing has gone right from the start, and theywould not be satisfied without every few dayssending us a letter of congratulation at havinggot on so well. The hospital is full; it shouldaccommodate fifty.

Was not Jaruca one of the places thathad a particularly bad recordfor suffering ?

Yes. Jaruca had a particularly bad record.More persons have died there since the warcommenced than its entire population before.Originally it had about twelve thousand in-habitants ; more than twelve thousand per-sons have died and been buried there sincethe beginning of the war. You can see by thathowpoor the people must be in a little townlikeJaruca, with perhaps twice its numbers rushedin upon them, helpless, to be sustained in someway, two years now. You can see how oftenthe townsfolk have divided with the reconcen-trados; how they must have done so. Thelittle money that the reconcentrados mighthave brought with them was gone almostat once, and they fell entirely upon the char-ity of the people of the town. It was nowonder that the latter hadn’t something tosupply that hospital with. But there was awonderful readiness to take hold of it themoment we took hold. The Spanish com-mandant of the place wanted to know if hecould help in any way. There was some-thing that they couldn’t very well find intown. He had it, and sent immediately andobtained it, with the same grace that we wouldhave provided each other. In Jaruca thereseemed no one, from the priest—we wentwithhim first into the church and held service—-to the mayor, doctor, judge, and the Spanishcommandant, who did not help us throughthat day. Such courtesy as this we receivedeverywhere from the Spanish, and greaterthan this in some cases. It was at times soextreme that I hardly knew how to take it.I didn’t know what to do myself to show suit-able acknowledgment. I have been put togreat task to think what I should say, whatI should do, for all the courtesy that wasgiven.

Is what is needed in Cuba supplies ratherthan money, or money rather than supplies ?

Anything will do. The relief goes on well.Up to our arrival (February 9) six or eight

The Outlook914the lack of supplies, it was feared that thepatients would starve outright. We wereindeed shocked at such terrible conditions,and told Mr. Brice, the Consul there, thatwe should go home and send immedi-ately to him a load of supplies, all thatcould be used in the hospitals, and thatwe should then follow this with other sup-plies. This was on the 2d of March, andon the 4th they were sent from Havana.Mr. Elwell, the representative of our CubanRelief Committee in charge of the Havanawarehouse, shipped four tons of pretty goodhospital supplies, say fifty cans of maltedmilk and condensed milk, and grains, andmeals, and rice, and flour, and canned fruitand canned meats. We supposed that every-thing was all right, and drew a long breathbecause something had gone to those poorhospitals. We were preparing to send moresupplies there when we received a letter fromthe Cuban Relief Committee at New York, say-ing that the Fern would take seventy tons ofsupplies to Matanzas, and would I pleaselook out and see that one of our men was onhand to receive them. Of course then therewas no need to send anything more. It cameround to the 11th, and the other Senatorscame down ; they wanted to go to Matanzas.We were so glad that they—new to suchscenes—had not come in time to be shockedby those horrible-looking hospitals ! We hadreceived no word from the Consul at all. Wewent to Matanzas with the Senators. Westopped and dined at the hotel, and learned,upon inquiry, that no supplies had been re-ceived. It was our turn to be again shocked.It did not seem possible that they could havebeen lost, Matanzas being on a direct railwayline from Havana, and only fifty miles distant.We went to the station, and found the goodsthere. They had been there several days,probably since the 4th. I called the attentionof the party to the whole matter, describingprevious conditions, our prompt shipment ofnecessary supplies, and the inexplicable delayin their reception and distribution. We thenwent down to the beach, and there lay theFern in the harbor, with her seventy tonsof supplies direct from New York. A littlewest of the Fern lay the Bergen, withher fifty tons of supplies from the Philadel-phia Red Cross. There were, all told, ahundred and twenty-four tons at that momentwaiting within gunshot of those hospitals, andsince then more than double that amounthas been shipped to Matanzas from various

ships had gone out from this country with sup-plies. There had only been time for one torepeat the voyage. The Vigilancia had comein twice with fifty tons of supplies, and otherscame in. All the goods passed through thecustom-house, and were'brought into thewarehouse. We had been through Havanaand LosFosos(literally, theditches ormoats—-the reconcentrado shelter in Havana), andwere getting the new orphanage in shape.

Our Consul-General at Havana, GeneralLee, told us what he wanted in the way ofan orphanage, and that he had not succeededin finding a suitable place. He requestedthat we do so. In forty-eight hours one wasfound and equipped for use. So much hasalready been written about that gem of anorphanage that I need not describe it to you.At that very time there arrived at our callDr, A. Monae Lesser, the chief of the NewYork Red Cross Hospital, and with himcame his estimable wife, a well-known nurse.They immediately assumed entire charge ofthe orphanage. They took from Los Fososforty wretched little creatures, from six orseven years old down to as many months,looking like little puppies and kittens pickedout of the street. The children were washedand dressed, clad in clean garments; thenthe tots were put in clean beds, and for threeor four days they lay there moaning in theirweakness and pain. They were carefully fedand attended, and in a short time forgot theirtroubles and seemed like other children.The Bishop of Havana consecrated the or-phanage, and is its friend. The morning thatI left the babes had so far recevered that theywere running about, and each came to kissmy hand as I went away. A gentleman, afriend of mine from New York, who happenedthere just as we were getting started, wantedto do something to help, and we told him toget some playthings for the children. Hewent away immediately and quickly returnedwith a great basket full, and you should haveseen the delight of those little creatures, noneof whom, probably, had ever had a playthingbefore.

What city came next after Havana andits suburbs ?

We had gotten along far enough in Ha-vana and Jaruca. Matanzas came next. Sen-ator Proctor and Colonel Parker went withus. At Matanzas we found a lamentablestate of things. There were beds and somekind of covering in the four hospitals, butthe beds were not nearly all full, as, from

The Red Cross in Cuba 915parts of our country, roused to extra-quickaction by the description of the pitiful desti-tution in that city. There was nobody tostop the outcry. The report actually wentout as though nothing had been done, asthough there were no relief there, for notuntil the day after the arrival of supplieswas the telegram sent reciting the specialsuffering at Matanzas.

Our Dr. Hubbell remained there, and thepatients in the hospital had a good supperfrom the waiting supplies that night.

The Governor of Matanzas is one of thefinest men I have ever met. All of theseGovernors are Cubans. General Blancohasn’t a Spanish officer under him. Theyare Cubans, and Cubans at heart, too. TheGovernor of Matanzas has an elegant house,perfectly appointed. He showed me everycourtesy, setting apart rooms in his housethat would be at my service at any time, forany length of time. Everywhere we werereceived most cordially by the officials, andwhen I go back I shall expect the same re-ception from them again, even in the eventof war.

What about other cities ?

At that time, the 12th or 13th of March,we had gone through Jaruca, Matanzas,Artemisia, Sagua la Grande, and Cienfuegos.In the course of another week we had ex-pected to be in Santiago de Cuba. Theseare the large cities and towns marking thetravel of the island along the lines of theleading railways. Our visits to these placeswere as replete with interest and satisfactionas were the visits which I have already de-scribed. We came in close contact with theauthorities at every point, and received fromthem the most kindly and courteous atten-tion. At Sagua we met Consul Barker. Hewas doing excellent work among the recon-centrados who had put themselves under hiscare. Although the number was large, theminute attention given had in great degreeprevented the appearance of such sufferingas we had found in other places. The Mayorwas a kindly disposed man, and was holdinghundreds of women and children in specialcharge. They were depending entirely uponthe Mayor and our Consul for help and com-fort. Since that time shiploads of supplieshave reached Sagua. Our field-agent, Dr.Hubbell, assisted by competent persons, hasthe direction of the Sagua hospitals and thedistribution of their necessary supplies.

At Cienfuegos and vicinity, from some

cause or other, the activity of a greater num-ber of industries has been permitted; conse-quently less suffering is manifest, but it mustnot be inferred that there are no hungry ordestitute in that large and fertile district.

If the information received by the StateDepartment concerning starvation in Cubahad been published last summer andsuppliessent, wouldpresent distress be so extreme ?

No, hardly. I suppose that conditionswere very bad even before President McKin-ley came to his place.

IVould it not seem to have been his dutyas soon as possible to have recommetidedthat some relief be sent to Cuba ?

My answer must be,Of all sad words of tongue or pen,

The saddest are these, “ It might have been.”But President McKinley is a man of verykind heart. He is a benevolent man. Norshould it be forgotten that Cuba has beenopen and free to all travelers. Americantourists were there. Why didn’t some ofthem publish statements as to the distress ?

Why was it left to President McKinleyalone ?

It was not left to him alone , of course, buthis officialposition would carry with it itscorresponding responsibility ?

Let me repeat that thousands of Americanswere in Cuba while people were starving.The ports were open ; Americans went there ;

they traveled ; they enjoyed themselves; theysaw beautiful Cuba; they looked at theluxuriant growth ; they admired the trees andflowers; they paid their money, had a goodtime, and came away. It seems strange tome that tourists did not speak out their minds,did not say something about the starving.Besides, the visitors would be more apt tosee the suffering, for the reconcentrados werein the cities; they were driven out of thecountry.

Some people ask if the giving of half amillion dollarsfor the relief of the Cubanswouldnot better be from private individualsthan from the Government f

No, for private individuals are being drawnupon for a great amount. There is one classof people that give. Those that do give,give and give again; and those that don’tgive, don’t give at all. Those that have givenwould be called upon to give again. It seemsto me now that it would be a graceful thingfor the Government to give the people a rest.Something else will come pretty soon. Thosepeople ought not to be called upon too^much.

The Outlook916I think they have done wonderfully. Itseems to me now it might be well to givethem a respite.

Should Governmentsupplies go in Govern-ment vessels ?

They ought not to go in Government ves-sels; they should go in merchant vessels.But those people must be fed. We havesent a great deal; we are sending a greatdeal; we shall continue to send supplies.Congress voted unanimously fifty millionsfor defense. Now, I don’t think it would bea bad thing to vote one million, or one-halfmillion, for relief. Let it lie there in theTreasury; if it isn’t needed, it won’t bedrawn; if it is needed, it is there. I some-

times think of that in connection with theRed Cross plans and work. The Governmenteach year appropriates nobody knows howmany hundreds of thousands of dollars for theWar Department for tearing men to pieces:not a dollar for mending them up again. Itseems to me, if we are a charitable people, andif our Government means charity, now thatwe have voted fifty millions for tearing men inpieces, might we not put a half-million in theTreasury to be drawn from to feed the peoplewho are in need ? Therefore I think whenwe get so patriotic that we can vote anythingfor war, and can't vote a few dollars for theneeds of these starving people, it is a littletoo patriotic.