The American people finally realized that peace could never come to Cuba until it was imposed by the action of the United States, and the opinion gradually grew that neither international obligations nor a desire for the maintenance of friendly relations with Spain could justify our government in permitting these outrages to continue at our doors.

CHAPTER XXX.

Outrages on Americans in Cuba.

How Spain Pays Her Debts—­An Old Soldier’s Experience—­The Case of Pedro Casanova—­Destruction of Property—­Robbery and Murder—­A Cruel Attack—­The Insurgents to the Rescue—­Hiding in a Cane Field—­The Appeal to the Consul—­Intervention Justifiable.

Many American citizens in Cuba have been confined in Spanish prisons, a number have been sent to the penal colonies, the property of some has been confiscated, and others have been murdered in cold blood.  A celebrated case, which shows how slowly the wheels of justice sometimes revolve, was that of Antonio Maximo, a naturalized American citizen.  He was condemned to death, and his estates declared the property of the government, by order of a court-martial, in 1870.  He was charged with participating in the revolution then going on in Cuba and convicted, in spite of the fact that he was not residing on the island.  The United States demanded restitution and indemnification, and in 1873 the Spanish republic admitted that the claim was just.  The decree was confirmed in 1876 by the royal government, but the authorities in Cuba delayed its execution until the estates were in ruins.  Spain finally offered the sum of 1,500,000 pesos as indemnity, and this offer was accepted in 1886.  The Cortes, however, made no appropriation for the payment, and in 1888 the Spanish minister of state attempted to affix to the agreement the new condition that certain claims of Spanish subjects should be adjudicated and settled simultaneously.  Secretary Bayard rejected the proposition, and our government continued to urge the Spanish authorities to fufill their contract.  On June 12, 1895, Secretary Olney instructed Hannis Taylor, United States minister at Madrid, to ask Spain to give assurances that she would settle the claim within two months.  The Spanish government then offered to pay the principal of the claim, and the claimant agreed to forego the interest.  On September 14, the original claimant having died, the Spanish government paid $1,499,000, equal to 1,500,000 pesos, in settlement of the long-standing claim.

An old soldier’s experience.

William Ewing, of Buffalo, New York, served in the Seventeenth United States infantry all through the civil war, and is a member of the G. A. R. He went to Cuba, and invested $7,000, all the money he had, in a sugar plantation, and with his wife and daughter and his brother-in-law, William Hamilton, he took up his abode on the island.