THECUBAREVIEW H 



military forces necessary for its defence and for repairing io the theater of war which might be 

 assigned in case the participation of its armed forces should l)e considered necessary. The 

 obligatory military service hill has been passed. It is now a law and will soon be i)ut in force, 

 and the coimtry will be eciuipped with a military organization consistent with its means 

 and its aims. 



To the same end of frank cooi)eration the C.overnment of Cuba authorized the sending of 

 American troops to different points in Cuba for military instructions and preparations. For 

 the same purpose a goodly number of officers and enlisted men of the Cuban Army were sent 

 to the United States to complete and perfect their training for war. 



Sending of Troops Abroad. 



The law establishing obligatory military service empowers the President to take steps for 

 sending a contingent of our present Regular Army to the European battlefields, reinforced by 

 such volunteers as wish to go and who have already, indeed, begun to enlist in considerable 

 number. The President is also authorized to send military missions to the ITnited States, 

 England, France and Italy. 



Effective measures were adopted by executive decree against espionage and enemy pro- 

 paganda, and a large number of German and Austrian subjects were on specific charges or 

 reasonable suspicion interned in a camp provided ad hoc ; and in the contingency that these 

 decrees might prove deficient for the purpose sought, the passage of a law of ample scope has 

 recently been obtained, giving the Government a strong repressive hand. 



With the assistance of American experts, the censorship of mail and telegraph corres- 

 pondence has been established and is operating with full rigor and efficiency. 



The Fourth of July, anniversary of the independence of the United States, and the 14th 

 and 21st of July, celebrated in France and in Belgium as patriotic fetes, have been declared legal 

 holidays. 



Great public and official manifestations have been held in honor of Italy. 



War Against Austria. 



On December 6, 1917, I sent a message to Congress requesting a declaration of war be- 

 tween the Republic of Cuba and Imperial and Royal Government of Austria-Hungary, predicted 

 upon the same ground as my message of April 7 and upon the important consideration that the 

 Austro-Hungarian Government, intimately allied wdth that of Germany, had not ceased to 

 second both on land and sea the unjustifiable conduct of the latter, thus meriting equally with 

 the latter the just reprobations of nations allied for the maintenance of international law and 

 the rights of civilization and humanity; a course in w'hich I was influenced also by the similar 

 action of the Government of the United States. The Congress responded to my request by 

 adopting the joint resolution of December It), by which the existence of a state of war between 

 the Republic of Cuba and the Imperial and Royal Government of Austria-Hungary was 

 declared, and the same powers were vested in me as were conferred by the joint resolution of 

 April 7, 1917. 



Cuba is showing her decided purpose to cooperate to the extent of her power and by all 

 means within her reach in the triumph of the cause of hberty, democracy, and international 

 justice, and to support without reserve the noble and disinterested action of the United States 

 in this glorious effort. Near neighbors as we are of the great North American Nation, we 

 Cubans are able to observe with our own eyes the civic enthusiasm, the heroic decision and 

 the unparalleled effort of the United States in men, in war material, and in resources of all 

 kinds which exceed anything that has ever before been seen in the world. This very proximity 

 to the United States, and the constant intercourse between the two peoples growing out of the 

 strong bonds of gratitude which join Cuba with the great National which helped her decisively 

 20 years ago to gain her independence after long and devasting wars and which on two ocassions 

 — that is, after two interventions, left her in full possession of her independence, her sovereignty,- 

 and her laws, without interfering with her administration or government, gives Cubans a 

 peculiar insight into the high and disinterested motives with which the United States is already 

 taking a predominant part in the war, which events have reserved for that country in order to 

 uphold and save the principles of liberty and justice, and consequently the existence and 

 sovereignty of small states, the freedom of the seas, the rights of neutrals, the faithful obser- 



