[Translation.]
General Government of the Island of Cuba,
Habana, August 7, 1896.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your courteous communication of the 5th instant, in
which, in compliance with a special instruction of your Government,
you request that a change be made in the food furnished to the
American
[Page 738]
citizens
imprisoned in the fortresses and jail of this capital; or otherwise,
to be informed if there is any objection to authorize subscriptions
in the United States for the purpose of purchasing, with the
proceeds thereof, food for the prisoners referred to, in order that
they may be supplied with the same after 4 o’clock in the afternoon
and 12 noon, the only hours in which the meals are served in those
establishments.
With respect to the first part of your said official letter, it
becomes the duty of this government to make known that the food
supplied to the prisoners of all kinds in the fortresses and jail of
this city, besides being healthy, of superior quality, and well
seasoned, is provided in abundance and in a varied form, the same
for all prisoners, without distinction of race or nationality.
That the good condition of such food is evidently justified in the
fact, very noticeable, that, notwithstanding there are other
prisoners, national as well as foreigners of other nations besides
that of which you are a most worthy representative in this island,
none of them, with the exception of the American citizens, complain
of the quality or quantity of food.
The hours during which this is distributed are in conformity with the
provisions of the regulations which are indispensable to the
discipline and interior order of this kind of establishment, such
hours being fixed after a complete preliminary study of the
climatological exigencies and customs of the country, it not being
possible to make any special distinction in favor of a certain class
of prisoners; having further to add that, besides the daily food, or
properly speaking meals, supplied in the prisons referred to, they
are provided daily with coffee, resulting thereby that there is not
such a long interval as you have been erroneously informed between
the time during which the prisoners receive food; and that,
notwithstanding their condition of prisoners, they are supported in
the same manner and hours the generality of the inhabitants of this
capital, in accordance with the customs of the country.
These considerations, derived from real and positive facts, will,
undoubtedly, bring to your upright and impartial attention the
conviction that these complaints made to you and to the respectable
Government which you represent are unfounded, and will persuade you
that it is not prudent nor possible that this Government should
conform itself to the proceeding referred to in the consultation
contained in the second part of your respectable communication; to
which is opposed, besides the serious considerations of prestige and
national dignity, foundations of strict justice, connected with the
interior order of penal establishments, that in no case, nor in any
country, can there be allowed privileges or concessions in favor of
certain classes, which is always irritating and the cause of
conflicts which the international harmony and mutual friendly
relations between the Government of Spain and that of the Republic
which you represent with so much prestige, should advise their
avoidance.
God guard you many years.
The Consul-General of the United
States.
