Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 5, 1898
Señor Polo de Bernabé to Mr. Day.
Washington, March 28, 1898.
Dear Mr. Day: With reference to my letter of the 26th instant, I have the honor to inclose you some documents referring to the reconcentrados.
Very truly, yours,
Committee of Matanzas.
The executive committee of the junta of reconcentrados has the honor to give your excellency the report which you were pleased to call for with regard to the work which it has done from January 7 to date, and it does so with sincere pleasure, in view of the results which have been attained in behalf of the poor country people residing here.
The committee has perseveringly prosecuted its work of saving the greatest number possible, either by furnishing them assistance in sickness or by giving food to the most feeble. At present, owing to circumstances, the appearances presented by the people confined (reconcentrada) has changed completely. It is true that there are still many who live by begging, but this is an evil which can not be entirely remedied, first, because there is not a sufficient supply of food for all, and, secondly, because, until work is given to these unfortunate people, they will have to continue to live in the same way, accustomed as they are to this kind of life, which they have been leading and bearing for years past.
The junta is now maintaining the following infirmaries: La Caridad, with 93 beds; San Carlos, with 64 beds, and the Providencia, with 85 beds; a hall in the San Nicolas Hospital, with 48 beds, and a hall in the Santa Isabel Hospital, with 30 beds. The junta bears all the expenses of the first three, and pays the San Nicolas Hospital 15 cents a day and the Santa Isabel Hospital 25 cents a day for each patient. Now, within the last two months the movement of invalids has diminished very perceptibly; and this must be attributed, in great part, to the food which the junta has been enabled to give to the reconcentrados during that time. For instance, 1,700 rations were distributed daily at the houses Nos. 156 and 293 Mayuno street, No. 14 Maria street, and No. 6 Gelabert street for forty-seven days; and this, beyond a doubt, prevented the suffering which it was feared the cold weather would cause among the reconcentrados if they were not supplied with food. The committee was obliged to suspend the distribution of rations, owing to the fact that the means at its disposal were exhausted.
All the disbursements made by the committee from January 7 to date, for the infirmaries and the distribution of rations, amount to $1,326.50 in gold and $4,534.69 in silver. In addition to this $1,056.47 in gold and $2,126.10 in silver has been spent in the work which has been done, at the cost of the junta, in enlarging the San Nicolas Hospital, in order that it might hereafter admit a greater number of patients, as unfortunately, as had been long foreseen, a considerable part of the inhabitants will be compelled to apply to it for help in sickness, owing to want of means. As the work is almost finished some of the infirmaries may now be closed, and, although your excellency knows it, it is not superfluous to state that this work which has been executed consists of two two-story wings, each of which will contain two fine halls capable of accommodating 200 patients altogether. As only women can be received there, all the women in the other infirmaries will be sent to this hospital. The work has been done with great care, and such has been the good management and watchfulness displayed that it seems incredible, as your excellency may be assured, that it should have cost so little. Your excellency may well be satisfied with the construction of these wings at the San Nicolas Hospital. They will remain a permanent demonstration of the efforts put forth by the present Government.
The sums received since the 7th of January are as follows: Turned over by your excellency, on account of the money placed at your disposal by his excellency the Governor-General, $5,000 in silver; private donations, $4.24 in gold and $2 in silver. Total, $4.24 in gold and $5,002 in silver. The expenditures greatly exceed the receipts. The difference has been paid out of money in the hands of the junta, coming almost [Page 715] entirely from the public subscription raised for that purpose. In view, necessarily, of what has already been collected, and of the individual efforts made to provide food for the poor, it has been impossible to ask for anything from public charity during the period in question.
The amount now in hand is only $131.41 in gold and $20 in notes, from which must be deducted $42.40 in gold and $32 in silver, which is owing for the rent of the houses occupied by La Providencia, and which is now due.
Office of the Chief of Police of the Government of the Province of Matanzas.
I have the honor to inform you, as the result of my observations in the towns of Cardenas, Cervantes, and Colon, which I have recently examined, that the general condition of those towns has considerably improved. The reconcentrados have mostly gone to the mills and colonies where they can find work, and there remain in the towns only their families (though not all), the invalids, the sick, and the orphans, whom the local protective juntas are helping with clothing and provisions. I noticed, with sincere gratification, that the estates in the country are beginning to resume their agricultural operations, which necessitates the employment of laborers; and although some of them have not yet begun, this is owing to the want of oxen and carts for transportation. I received from all the places mentioned the best impression as to the general state of the country, but the place which presented to my view the most sublime spectacle—for, your excellency, charity properly exercised is sub-lime—was the town of Colon.
The alcalde and military commandant, Don Olandio Herrero, whose popularity there is beyond expression, invited me to be present at the distribution of the food, which is given every morning and evening to the reconcentrados and the other poor people of the place. About 240 persons (old men, women, and children) were supplied with a well-assorted ration. The good order and justice with which this distribution is made by Señora Da Luz Rueda de Escobar and her sister, Señorita Florentina, who in person and with boundless care and self-sacrifice prepare the food in their own house, thereby earning the congratulations and admiration of the town, are most admirable. I thought this act of humanity deserving of all praise, and said so, and thanked them in your excellency’s name. Señor Herrero voluntarily furnished me with all the information necessary to enable me to form a correct opinion of the comparatively excellent condition of those reconcentrados and poor people, including the cultivated belt, which information I do not give for fear of trespassing upon your valuable time.
All of which I take pleasure in communicating to your excellency.
Office of the Chief of Police of the Province of Matanzas.
On the occasion of my journey to the town of Jovellanos I was enabled to learn the condition of the reconcentrados in that place and in the town of Limonar. In the latter place the cultivated belt extends two kilometers and a half to the north of the town, and furnishes work and the means of subsistence to all, to such an extent that provisions are exported to this city and to Havana from this cultivated belt. All are lodged, and out of 7,000, which was the number of the reconcentrados, only about 200 had died of fever and other diseases, and none of hunger or want. As regards Jovellanos, there are very few reconcentrados remaining there, and these have work enough to support life without having recourse to charity.
They are all lodged; not one has died of hunger; and recently about 400 of these reconcentrados went off to work in the mills. The few persons dependent on alms remaining at the places of assemblage are orphans or invalids. Their situation is consequently good, thanks to the measures of preservation adopted by your excellency.
All of which I take pleasure in reporting.
Committee of Matanzas.
This executive committee of the junta of reconcentrados has the honor and pleasure of giving your excellency an account of the work which it has done in the fulfillment of its mission; and it does so in obedience to the directions of your excellency, which you were pleased to communicate to it in your kind note of the 3d instant. Little has been done, your excellency, in proportion to the wants which are to be supplied; but much has been done in proportion to the means which, until very recently, have been at its disposal. Still your excellency, as the committee thinks, may be assured that the junta whose presidency applauded the proclamation of November 13 is the one which has accomplished most, and is, beyond a doubt—why should it not say so?—the one which has been most sensible of the lofty duties intrusted to it. The facts prove the truth of this assertion, which the undersigned, who have the honor to belong to that same junta, venture to make openly. The care of the reconcentrados of Matanzas was intrusted to this junta. Let us see what was its situation before it began its operations and what is its situation now.
The Government took the initiative by giving them provisions, consisting, at first, of 125 grams of rice and 150 grams of hung beef for each person; and the junta first received 1,000 of these rations, which it attempted to distribute to the most needy. Their deficiency in quantity induced it to request that the rations should be increased to 2,000; and these other 1,000 rations which were obtained consisted of 200 grams of rice and 100 grams of bacon, crackers, sugar, and coffee. Altogether, with these supplies, the junta managed to feed more than 3,000 persons. As there was no register of the reconcentrados in Matanzas, the junta undertook to make a complete list of them, in order to decide with the utmost strictness and justice who were most in need of immediate assistance. As it could rely upon having food for the most needy, the committee turned its attention to the establishment of infirmaries in which the sick reconcentrados could be assisted and taken care of. It established the first of these infirmaries, La Caridad, with 92 beds, which it still has, and proceeded to establish others. The General Government appropriated the sum of $10,000 in silver for the relief of the reconcentrados in the whole province; and your excellency, in distributing this amount in proportion to the necessities of each locality, and to what the local juntas had previously asked for, in proportion to their needs, appropriated the sum of $4,000 to the junta of its presidency.
With this assistance, the committee, without loss of time, completed the establishment of the second infirmary, called San Carlos, with 60 beds; it established the third, La Providencia, with 80 beds. Appreciating the importance of having other places adapted to the same use, the committee made an agreement with the board of managers of the San Nicolas Hospital that the hospital should receive patients in its wards, at the expense of the committee, at the small daily charge of 15 cents in silver each, without medicines, and it is now receiving 55 sick reconcentrados. This has already been accomplished in behalf of the sick, and there is still remaining the establishment of a special infirmary for children, and the completion of two wards in the San Nicolas Hospital, which are in course of construction, and which will accommodate 90 to 100 more patients. This work, in addition to the great advantage of giving present relief to the reconcentrados, will be a lasting memento of the existence of the junta. The junta is now supporting more than 300 patients, supplying them with the food adapted to their condition, with medicines, with medical attendance, and, in many cases, with the clothes with which they leave the infirmaries. And even after these patients are discharged, it is necessary to continue to feed many of them, and hence it follows that the sick, and some 200 persons besides, are being fed in the three infirmaries.
In spite of all this, the committee has begun to give food to some poor people, and 100 of them are now daily receiving a ration sufficient for themselves and their families. There is still more to be done, and I therefore request your excellency to call the attention of his excellency the Governor-General to this subject, that he may supply the junta of this presidency with the means of feeding at least 800 to 1,000 persons, as the committee will provide for the support of the infirmaries with the money which it has received from public charity and that which it may receive hereafter from the same source. At present those receiving rations may be limited to this number, as many of the poor people who were in Matanzas formerly have gone into the country in search of work. The railroad companies of Matanzas, Havana, Cardenas, and Jucaro, when called upon, granted free transportation to such reconcentrados as might wish to return to the country; and by means of this permit, which was limited to the month of December, 3,402 persons have left for the various stations on those lines, and they are now at work. In conclusion, your excellency, I will make a statement which will enable you to appreciate the exertions [Page 717] put forth by the junta and its committee. As soon as the infirmaries were opened 763 patients entered them. Of this number 270 have gone out cured, 182 have died, and 311 still remain in them. The junta is sufficiently rewarded for its exertions by these facts alone. It may be confidently assumed that all these patients would have died if they had not had the careful attention which has been bestowed upon them.
President of the Committee.