Chapter 1

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THE GREAT ROUND WORLD AND WHAT IS GOING ON IN IT

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VOL. 1 JUNE 15, 1897. NO. 30

A great deal of interest is being taken in the affairs of Cuba at this time.

So many reports reached President McKinley of the sufferings of many of our citizens who are living in Cuba, that he felt it his duty to look into the matter, and he has sent a message to Congress on the subject.

The cause of the new trouble is this.

Some months ago General Weyler, thinking that the country people supplied the insurgents with food and gave them shelter, issued an order that all the inhabitants of Cuba who lived in the country districts should leave their homes, and within eight days present themselves at the nearest town, there to remain until the war was over.

In obedience to this order the country people were forced into the towns, the soldiers destroyed the dwellings from which they had been driven, and lands that had once been green and fertile were turned into barren wastes, without house, home, or shelter upon them.

In the history of modern warfare no such cruel scheme has ever before been devised.

The unfortunate country people, thus torn from their homes, were allotted lands, within the fortified line of the towns, to encamp on. They were given neither food nor shelter, but were driven into the towns and left to shift for themselves.

Most of these people were farmers, living in comfortable circumstances. By the order of General Weyler they were reduced to beggary.

Not only has Weyler made no attempt to feed these unhappy people, but he has forbidden them to go in search of food for themselves. Even when they assured the Spanish soldiers that they had crops ripening in their fields which would be more than sufficient to relieve their sufferings, they were forbidden to go out and gather them, and were forced to stay in idleness and starve.

The distress is something fearful. The people in the cities endeavor to help their suffering neighbors, but gradually their own supply of provisions has run out, until starvation stares them also in the face. There is hardly a town in the western end of Cuba to-day where the people are not dying in hundreds from hunger.

Among the people who have been driven into the towns are between six hundred and eight hundred Americans. The distress of these persons, whom his oath of office binds him to protect, having been brought to the knowledge of the President, he has determined to take some action to relieve it.

In his message to Congress he asked that $50,000 be appropriated as a Relief Fund for the Americans in Cuba.

This may be but the first step toward a much more important action; but our President seems to be a very cautious man, and one who likes to be very sure of his ground before he takes a step.

For the present he is determined not to quarrel with Spain, and has arranged matters so that the attempt of the United States to aid her citizens shall be made with the full approval of Spain.

He has asked Señor Dupuy de Lôme, the Spanish Minister, if his Government would have any objection to our sending supplies to our fellow-countrymen.

The Spanish Minister has very graciously replied that Spain will not oppose the plan, but will do all in her power to help the United States to carry it out.

The Minister was kind enough to add that Spain will distribute the supplies for us, if we wish it. He stated that he fears that, unless the American supplies are handled by the Spanish authorities, they may fall into the hands of the insurgents, and hinder General Weyler in the carrying out of his plan to force the rebels into submission.

This offer will not be accepted.

If the appropriation is made, Congress will order the supplies to be distributed by the American Consuls, who are well able to tell the difference between armed insurgents and starving women and children.

When the President's message reached the Senate, a resolution was at once passed that the sum asked for be appropriated.

In the House of Representatives the request was not so quickly granted.

Some of the Congressmen met the demand with a plea that the resolution for the appropriation be added to the Morgan Bill for recognizing the belligerency of Cuba, and that the two matters be discussed and voted on at the same time.

This did not please the majority of the members, and the House adjourned without a vote being taken about the Relief Fund.

This does not mean that the House is unwilling to help the Americans in Cuba, but that the friends of Cuba see in it a chance to push the Morgan Bill forward, and are trying to make the best they can of the opportunity.

Whatever the fate of the Morgan Bill, there will be a day or two of delay in passing the resolution for the Relief Fund, but it will be passed without doubt.

Some progress has, however, been made with the Morgan Bill.

Three members of the Committee on Foreign Relations waited on the President, and asked him if he had received any fresh news about the state of affairs in Cuba.

The President sent them to the State Department, with permission to read all the official documents about Cuba that were on file.

It is stated on good authority that these papers showed such a state of intense suffering and distress, that when the Senators reported to their Committee the things they had seen and read in the State papers, several of the members declared that they would no longer oppose the Morgan Bill.

The Bill was discussed in the Senate after the appropriation had been granted, but no decision was arrived at.

Should it pass, the first benefit the Cubans will gain from it will be that Spain will have to treat the people she captures as prisoners of war, or else be prepared to quarrel with the United States over the matter.

At the present time she is able to declare that every prisoner she makes is a rebel, and to shoot her captives down like dogs, without trial. The soldiers are in the habit of seizing boys and old men, most of them innocent of any crime whatever, and marching them to prison as rebels.

In most of the military towns, it is stated that at dawn every morning one or more of these captives are led out and shot in the public square as an example to the rest of the people.

To venture outside the lines in search of food is a crime for which many Cubans have forfeited their lives.

The President is not unaware of these horrors, but he is determined to be sure that he knows the truth of the matter before he takes any decisive action.

He has sent Mr. Calhoun to Cuba to investigate the cause of the death of Dr. Ricardo Ruiz, who died or was killed in the prison of Guanabacoa, as we told you in THE GREAT ROUND WORLD, NO. 19.

While he is in the island on this business, Mr. Calhoun is also to make notes of the general condition of things, and the President will be guided in his future Cuban policy by the report Mr. Calhoun makes.

There is a very grave reason why it is necessary for the President to take some action on Cuba at this moment. Diseases of the most serious kind have broken out in Cuba, and it is feared that they may be carried into our own country, unless some steps are taken to prevent them.

As we have said, no attempt has been made to protect, feed, or house the people who have been brought into the towns; and the overcrowding and hunger and misery have produced every form of fever and sickness, from which these poor unfortunates are dying in great numbers.

The best way to prevent the spreading of these diseases is to stop the causes that give rise to them. It may therefore be necessary, for the protection of this country, that the President take some steps to put an end to the struggle in Cuba.

* * * * *

There is as yet no settlement of the trouble between Greece and Turkey.

When the Greeks decided to put their affairs in the hands of Europe, the Powers sent to Turkey, asking her on what terms she would make peace, and if she would grant an armistice while the matter was being discussed.

An armistice means that both sides agree to cease fighting for a certain time which has been agreed upon between them.

After the delay of a week, during which the Turks kept pressing forward into Greece and gaining all the advantages they could, the Sultan sent his reply.

He simply stated his terms, and added that he would grant no armistice until they were accepted.

Instead of demanding $15,000,000 and certain points in Thessaly, as it was supposed he would do, he said that he must have $50,000,000 for his war expenses, and the whole of Thessaly.

The dismay in Europe over the reply of the Sultan would have been comic, if the poor Greeks had not been suffering so severely from the muddle the Powers had made of the whole business.

The Powers supposed that Turkey would he willing to listen to them, and stop the war just as soon as they asked her to.

Acting on this belief, they made Greece give up certain advantages which she had regained in Epirus, and made her withdraw her troops, promising that Turkey should not advance any farther, if Greece would obey their wishes.

Greece obeyed, only to find that the Powers had made promises which they could not perform.

Turkey has become intoxicated with her success, and may no longer allow the Powers to influence her.

The Turks have taken Dhomokos, the last stronghold of the Greeks, who fell back on this city after the retreat from Pharsala. It is feared that the Moslems will advance to the very gates of Athens, unless something is done to prevent them. What this something shall be, the Powers are at a loss to state.

Backed by the approval of Germany, the modern Turks are no longer the despised nation they have been for so long. It has been the custom to speak of the Sultan as the "Unspeakable Turk" and "The Sick Man of Europe," whom the Powers were keeping alive until they had quite decided how to divide his possessions.

Turkey's success in Greece has changed all this.

Every one knew that the Turks could fight well, but it was the custom to treat them contemptuously, and say that after all they were "only Turks." The short war with Greece has put an end to this feeling for good and all. The Turks have proved themselves a powerful nation. They have won back their own self-respect, and have forced Europe to take a more respectful attitude toward them.

They have surprised the world with their bravery and their fine generalship; and there is beginning to be a good deal of fear lest this despised nation shall rise in its newly-found might, and dictate to Europe.

The Turks, despite their victory, are still the same shifty, cruel, unpleasant people; and the Powers must feel a good deal ashamed that the only result of their diplomacy has been to put fresh power into the hands of people who are a blot on the face of Europe, and who would much better have been driven back into Asia among peoples who are more in sympathy with their savagery and semi-barbarism.

But the Powers have now to deal gently with the Turk.

They have sent another message to the Sultan, demanding that hostilities cease while the terms of peace are being discussed. No reply was made to the Sultan's note, but the message stated that Europe would not allow Greece to be crushed.

It is said that if the Sultan persists in asking the unreasonable terms he does, and will not grant the armistice unless they are accepted, Europe will declare war upon him.

There may be another week of waiting before the Sultan sends any reply to this letter.

The Sultan is anxious to gain time, because every advantage he can gain in Greece makes his price for peace just that much higher. He has a plan of his own for gaining time, which is extremely annoying to Europeans. It is this. In the Mohammedan religion there are a great number of fasts and feasts. The Sultan, who till now has not been noted for his piety, has suddenly become the most religious of persons.

When he receives a letter from the Powers that he wants to keep a few days before he answers it, he sends them a most gracious note, saying that it is the feast of so-and-so, and it is contrary to his religion to attend to business during the days appointed for the festival.

By this manoeuvre he manages to keep his army fighting and winning battles, while Europe is helplessly waiting for his answer. After the Powers had asked for an armistice he used this pretext to delay answering for a whole week.

The European diplomats, who are made the victims of the Sultan's devotion to fasts and feasts, wonder why he allows his army to continue the business of war during these times if he is really so pious as he pretends to be.

* * * * *

A report has just been spread that Russia has frightened the Sultan into ceasing hostilities until the terms of peace can be arranged.

It is to be hoped that this is true.

* * * * *

The mining district of Kootenay in British Columbia is the scene of much agitation at this moment.

Kootenay lies on the border of British Columbia, where it joins the States of Montana, Idaho, and Washington.

In this region there are extensive gold mines, many of which are worked and owned by Americans, who have been very successful, and made the mines pay exceedingly well.

To their surprise and annoyance, the Legislature of British Columbia passed a law the other day, making it impossible for Americans to take up any claims, unless they give up their American citizenship and become British subjects.

It is said that numbers of Americans who have crossed the borders from Idaho and Montana are deprived of their finds by this law, and there is a great deal of excitement and indignation over it.

The Government of British Columbia says that the law was passed as a rebuke to Americans, because the United States Government has been making laws which are hurtful to Canadians.

Some of the American mine-owners became so alarmed that they took out their naturalization papers. Others determined to defy the law, and commenced hostilities by sending the ore they got from their mines over the border into Washington, to be smelted.

This took a good deal of business and money out of the hands of the Canadians, and there was an outbreak of indignation over it.

There promises to be a good deal of trouble before the matter is settled.

The Canadians will allow no American workmen to be employed on the Public Works, nor can they hold any good positions in the towns.

The Americans profess not to mind this in the least, declaring that the Canadians are welcome to manage their towns as they please, if they will only let the Americans in the mines alone.

This law against Americans does not, however, meet with the approval of the Canadian Parliament, the Legislature which passed it being only the local one of British Columbia.

Many of the Canadian mine-owners are as annoyed over the matter as the Americans are. They say that the citizens are helping to open up their country, and that it will be a bad thing for British Columbia if the Legislature makes it impossible for Americans to remain there.

The chances are that the Parliament will take the matter in hand and straighten it out. We can but hope that it will do so, for Americans and Canadians have so many ways in which they can be helpful to one another, that it will be a pity if they become estranged.

* * * * *

Mr. Elverton R. Chapman has gone to Washington to serve his sentence of thirty days in jail; and Mr. Havemeyer is also in that city, awaiting his trial.

Efforts were made by Mr. Chapman's friends to obtain a pardon for him, and a petition was circulated among the Senators, begging the President to release him. No action was taken, however, because Mr. Chapman did not personally ask for the pardon; so he has gone to jail. When he has served his sentence he will still have a fine of $100 to pay before he can be freed.

The Senate Committee which Mr. Chapman offended must not be mistaken for the Lexow Committee which held its sessions a few months ago.

Mr. Chapman's breach of the law took place in 1894. In that year the United States Senate held a Sugar Trust Investigation.

The committee in charge of the investigation asked Mr. Chapman to give the names of some of the Senators who were said to have been speculating in sugar stock.

Mr. Chapman refused to answer, and was arrested and tried for contempt of the Senate. He was found guilty and sentenced to thirty days in jail and a fine of $100.

For three years Mr. Chapman has been fighting this decision, on the ground that the question was not a proper one to ask, and that he had been right in refusing to answer it.

The result of the various appeals in this case has been watched for with the greatest interest.

The final decision has upheld the dignity of the Senate, and shown the people that a Senate committee is not to be trifled with.

The Senate itself was a little ruffled over the matter.

When it was proposed that the President should be asked to pardon Mr. Chapman, Senator Allen, of Nebraska, introduced a resolution that before the President should be applied to for pardon, Mr. Chapman must appear before the Senate, and purge himself of his contempt by answering the questions that he had refused to answer three years ago.

Mr. Chapman would probably have still persisted in his refusal, and got himself into fresh trouble; so it was perhaps a good thing for him that he did not personally apply for a pardon.

Mr. Havemeyer's lawyers are busy over his case. They intend to say in his defence that the questions asked him had nothing to do with the matter in hand, and that he also was right in refusing to answer them.

In the mean time Mr. Havemeyer is using his personal influence to persuade the Senators not to prosecute him and to let his case be withdrawn when the day appointed to try it comes round.

It is more than likely, however, that Mr. Havemeyer and Mr. Searles will both have to share Mr. Chapman's fate, and pay the penalty of their contempt of the Senate.

* * * * *

The log of the _Mayflower_ is now safely in this country.

It was brought over by Mr. Bayard, the former Ambassador to England, who arrived here a day or two ago.

When the Bishop of London handed the manuscript to Mr. Bayard, he told him that an application had been made by Mr. Hay, the new Ambassador, for the log to be turned over to him, as Mr. Bayard was now no longer the Ambassador of the United States.

The persons who had the log in charge decided that Mr. Bayard was the proper person to carry the manuscript to Boston, as all arrangements had been made with him, and so Mr. Hay's request was denied.

Before the manuscript was given to Mr. Bayard, a clerk read the conditions of the transfer of the "log." These, among other things, provided that certified copies should be furnished to any persons wishing to have them.

When Mr. Bayard arrived in this country, he was asked how the English had felt about the killing of the Arbitration Treaty.

He said that they were greatly disappointed, and that there was universal regret in England that it had been rejected.

* * * * *

It would seem that we have too much money in New York.

Mr. Jordan, the Assistant Treasurer, has just been to Washington to see Secretary Gage on various important matters, and among other things to call attention to the condition of the vaults in the Sub-Treasury.

It has been known for some time that the walls of these vaults have been forced out of plumb by the immense weight of the sacks of silver dollars stacked against them.

When the time for counting the money came round, it was found that the walls were so insecure that there was danger of their giving way and crushing some of the clerks under the weight of the money-bags.

The count had to be stopped, and the bags, which contained millions of dollars, piled up in the corridors, while a steel frame was put in, that would be strong enough to keep all this money in safety.

The fact of there being millions of dollars in the Treasury does not mean that such a tremendous sum of money is lying idle, while thousands are in want of it.

Practically, every dollar of the money in the Treasury is in circulation in the shape of the paper bills which we use as money.

These bills have no value in themselves; they are just so much printed paper, and if we tried to sell them for the value of the paper they are made of, we would get about ten cents for a pound of them.

The reason why they are of value to us, and we can exchange them for the amount printed on their faces, is that for every one of these notes that is issued, the Government deposits as many dollars in the Treasury as it represents.

If you look on the face of the last issue of dollar bills, you will see printed across it:

"This certifies that there has been deposited in the Treasury of the United States one silver dollar, payable to the bearer on demand.

"G. Fount Tillman, Register of the Treasury. "D.N. Morgan, Treasurer of the United States."

The bills that we use are really silver certificates, which give us the right to go to the nearest Treasury and demand as many silver dollars as we have notes for, whenever we are minded to do so.