The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 56, December 2, 1897

He finds he has been deceived about the state of the Spanish army in Cuba, and the dislike of the Spanish party in the island to Home Rule has also been a sad stumbling-block in his way. These people throw every possible obstacle in his path.

The General feels that he is in a false position, and is most unhappy over it.

Spain is expecting him to open a brilliant fall campaign, and he is unable to do this because he finds himself at the head of a body of ill-paid, hungry, and disaffected soldiers, who are neither fit for difficult work nor willing to undertake it.

On the other hand, a portion of the Cubans are expecting reforms and help from him, and this he cannot give because he is hampered by the ill-will of the officials and the delays of the home Government.

The peasants have been permitted to return to their homes, and permission has been given to commence sugar-grinding. But in the present state of the country this permission amounts to nothing. The planters have no money to pay for grinding sugar, and unless the Government aids them it will be impossible for them to begin operations.

The peasants have no homes to go to, and unless they are cared for until they are able to care for themselves they must starve.

An edict was issued arranging for certain lines of cultivation that were to be started by the peasants, in the hope of helping them. The laborers engaged in this work were to report to the military commanders, and be under military protection.

Nothing further has, however, been done to carry out this plan, and indeed it seems doubtful if anything can be done. Spain has no money, and the Spanish soldiers need food for themselves—how then can the Spanish commanders supply the peasants with farming implements and grain, and care for them until kindly earth yields its crop?

General Blanco seems to have unearthed some serious frauds during his investigation. He has asked the Spanish government to send out a general named Escribera to him, that he may make him account for the cattle which he is supposed to have supplied for the consumption of the army, but which never came to hand.

In the mean time the Cubans are gaining victories all over the island, and the leaders seem more determined than ever to accept nothing but liberty from the Spaniards.

General Gomez has notified President McKinley of this fact.

He sent him a note in which he recited the struggles and sufferings of the Cubans, reminded him of the blood that had been spilled in the cause of freedom, and assured him again that under no circumstances would the patriots end the war until Spain had given up the island.

A Spanish general has been sent out by Blanco to take command of the eastern army, and reduce the rebels to submission. He reports, however, that the troops under him are in such a poor condition that he can expect very little from them.

In Spain the Carlists are causing a good deal of anxiety. The Pope has received certain information that a great rising is indeed contemplated. Espousing the cause of the infant King Alphonso, he has sent a letter to the Spanish clergy, desiring them to refrain from encouraging the rebellion.

There are constant rumors of risings, and arms and ammunition have been seized in several towns of Spain.

It seems certain that Don Carlos is only waiting for a favorable opportunity to commence hostilities.

The sheriff and deputies who shot at the strikers in the recent trouble at Hazleton have been indicted by the Grand Jury for murder, and must all be tried for this crime.

The Grand Jury is a body of men, generally twenty-four in number, whose duty it is to look into complaints of crimes that have been committed, and decide whether they are really serious enough to go to trial.

A trial by jury costs the people a great deal of money and time, and it would not be right to allow this money to be expended unless it was pretty sure that a crime had been committed, and that the accused person was in some way connected with it.

A man will sometimes accuse another of a crime for spite. If it were not for the Grand Jury the case would be brought before the judge, and it might take weeks for the accused man to prove his innocence. In the mean while he would have been branded by the world as a criminal.

With the Grand Jury such a state of affairs is impossible.

The Jury must first be convinced that the supposed crime has been committed, and then that the accused person is connected with it, before they find what is called a true bill, and allow the case to go to the courts.

In the Hazleton case the Grand Jury has decided that a crime was committed by the deputies in firing on strikers, and the sheriff and his posse will have to prove that their action was justifiable, or else suffer the penalty of their crime.

G.H. Rosenfeld.