The Weyler police have all been changed and the officers of the volunteers, too, when the Government here has reason to doubt their loyalty.
In consequence of all this, and the assurances of the governmental authorities that American life and property will, if necessary, be protected by them at a moment's notice, I have declined to make an application for the presence of one or more war ships in this harbor, and have advised those of our people who have wives and children here not to send them away, at least for the present, because such proceedings would not, in my opinion, be justifiable at this time, from the standpoint of personal security.
I still think that two war ships at least should be at Key West, prepared to move here at short notice, and that more of them should be sent to Dry Tortugas, and a coal station be established there. Such proceedings would seem to be in line with that prudence and foresight necessary to afford safety to the Americans residing on the island, and to their properties, both of which, I have every reason to know, are objects of the greatest concern to our Government.
I am, etc.,
Consul-General.
Mr. Lee to Mr. Day.
No. 718.]
Havana, December 3, 1897.
Sir: I have the honor to state that a representative of a Madrid paper here says that:
Canalejas has said, upon his return from the Vuelta Abajo, or Pinar del Rio province, after the recent combat there between the Spanish generals Bernal and Hernandez de Valasco, in command of 2,300 men, and two pieces of artillery, and Cuban forces under Pedro Diaz, that although the Spanish troops have displayed once more their usual valor in the said fight, and the enemy must have suffered heavy losses, yet the province of Pinar del Rio is not pacified, and that there are numerous rebel forces still there. That out of about 14,000 Spanish regular troops in that province, only about 3,000 or 4,000 are able to operate, the balance being sick at the hospitals, garrisoning towns, and otherwise distributed. That he believes autonomy premature, and inclines himself to the adoption of energetic military action for the purpose of finally pacifying said province. That he does not believe in altering facts and news. That the truth, no matter how painful and bitter if may be, must be known in the peninsula, where public opinion and the press has been deceived regarding the annihilation of the war and the so-called pacification of the western provinces, among which that of Pinar del Rio has been included.
The Lucha to-day publishes that Canalejas has said "that the economic condition of the Pinar del Rio province is deplorable, there being 40,000 reconcentrados absolutely destitute, 15,000 of which are children, most of whom are orphans; that they are unequally distributed throughout the different towns in the province, there being only 460 at the capital, city of Pinar del Rio, while in small towns like Consolacioa and Candelaria there are over 4,000. The municipalities can not incur any expense, because the taxes can not be collected, because most of the taxpayers, if not all, have been ruined by the war."
I am, etc.,
Consul-General.
