FAMINE HORRORS IN CUBA. 219 although there was some attempt made to provide them with food, the arrangements were hopelessly inadequate, and the results of the scantiest. With the Spanish soldiers in the field unpaid and ill-fed, with corrupt officials robbing their own government,no wonder the Reconcentrados fared badly. But evenwhen an armywell fed and clothed is camped for a long time in one place in a tropical country, it is difficult to prevent outbreaksof sickness. The Cubancountry folk had to face conditions that made an epidemic inevitable. Driven from their huts and villages,in which they had lived afairly healthy,open-air life, they werehuddled together in roughly-improvised barracks, in sheds, and in empty warehouses. Where a few hundreds might have lodged, thousands were crowded together. No sanitary precautions were taken, and the country folk were themselvestooignorant to make upfor thenegligence of the officials. The result may be imagined. The "Concentration Order" was issued in October,1896. By October, 1897,half of theReconcentrados had died of misery andpestilence.* ;'Ihave to report that Ihave received information that in the province of Havana reports show that there have been 101,000 Reconcentrados, and that out of these 52,000 have died. Of the said 101,000, 32,000 were children. This excludes thecity of Havana and seven other towns, from whichreports have not yetbeen made up. It is thought that the total number of Reconcentradosin Havana province will amount tc 150,000 (nearly all women and children), and that the death-rate among their whole number from starvation alone will be over fifty percent."

At the same time Consul Brice writes from Matanzas, the second city of Cuba, and a most prosperousplace before thecivil war began:— "In a family of seventeen, living in an old lime-kiln,upper part of the city limits, all were found dead except three,and they barelyalive. " Two thousand rations were givenout for a few days only to 8,000 persons. There are more than 12,000 starving people in this city to-day. One out of four, or six,received the following ration: Two ounces rice, 1 ounce tassajo (jerked beef), and sometimes a small piece of bread per diem. Imagine starving peoplebeing reliev-dby such rations!

It wouldbe easy to fill pages with the record of their miserable fate. The American consular reports on the subject are terrible reading. Even allowing for some possible partisan exaggeration, they form a crushing indictment of Weyler's system. It is pleasant to note here and there records of the good deeds of Spaniards who tried to lessen in some degree the suffering around them. In several cases the parish priests are honourably mentioned as having done all they could do to relieve the Reconcentrados. But mostly the official class and the soldiers seem tohave been little affected by the sight of all this miser}-. Most of the Reconcentrados were dark-skinned folk, and it is the experienceof other colonies than Cuba that grim measures against dark races are looked upon withdifferent eyes from the same treatment of whites.

" Death-ratehas diminishedsomewhat. Now about sixty-three daily. There are less people to die."

And here are typical reports from three towns in the south of the island:— "Melena Del Sur : The people... died in great numbers from starvation,fever, and smallpox. In every town you visit the firs!: thing you notice is the unhealthy condition of the men, and their total want of physical strength, which prevents them from making aneffort to secure the meansof support. " Catalina De Guines: The condition 01 the Reconcentrados in this town is very sad and desperate. There areno 'zones for cultivation,' and they are, therefore,not allowed, even with a military pass, to leave the town in search of work or food, which latter is so scarce that one must walk four or five miles before finding a sweet potato.

In order that we mayrealise howlargea part in exciting the United States to action this business of the Reconcentrados had, it will be welltoquote, though sparingly, from the official consular reports. "Guines Town: The women who leave the town in search of vegetables,even on their own farms, which are now completely abandoned, are sometimes deprived of them on their way back by the guerillas. In fifteen days 200 Reconcentrados have diedinGuines from starvationand total lack of resources.... One of the few real protectors of the Reconcentrados— in From Havana Consul-General Lee wrote towards the close of 1897: * It is only fair to the Spaniards to note that this terribledeath-rate includes the loss of life among those who, even before the Concentration Order, had been huddled together in the towns as refugees from the villages and plantationsburned by the insurgents.