732 



SPAIN. 



eight years four in the standing army and 

 four in the reserve. In December, stirring de- 

 bates took place on the situation in Cuba, and 

 on the question whether a funeral service 

 should be given in honor of the late Duchess of 

 Aosta, wife of the ex-King Amadeus. The 

 funeral service was denied. At the beginning 

 of the year Seftor Cardenas was appointed 

 Spanish embassador to the Vatican. He was 

 received by the Pope in February, and diplo- 

 matic relations were restored between the two 

 courts. In April, the Minister of the Marine, 

 Seftor Duran y Lira, resigned his office, partly, 

 it was stated, on account of his health, partly 

 because he disapproved of the principle of re- 

 ligious tolerance contained in Article XI. of 

 the new Constitution. He was succeeded by 

 Senor Bautista Antequera, Vice-Admiral of 

 the Fleet. Senor Antequera had held a com- 

 mission in the fleet since 1839, had been in 

 command of several men-of-war, had served 

 two years in the Philippine Islands, and had 

 been Vice-President of the Admiralty Board. 

 He had also at one time served provisionally 

 in the ministry, and was understood to be a 

 warm supporter of the administration of Seflor 



Canovas del Castillo. In July, Don Jos6 Bar- 

 zanalla was appointed Minister of Finance. 



On the 3d of February General Malcampo, 

 Governor and Captain-General of the Philip- 

 pine Islands, left Manila at the head of an 

 expedition, numbering 8,000 men, to punish 

 the Sooloo pirates. In March the expedition 

 secured a very successful result by defeating 

 the pirates, with a loss of 500 men to the 

 Spaniards. 



A circular, addressed by the Government of 

 the United States to the European powers, in- 

 viting them to consider the situation in Cuba, 

 in view of the long-continued failure of Spain 

 to suppress the insurrection there, and the 

 danger to peace and damage to commerce re- 

 sulting from it, made a deep impression on the 

 Spanish Government. It replied with a note, 

 also addressed to the powers, somewhat in- 

 dignant in tone. It assumed that the Gov- 

 ernment of the United States had no cause of 

 complaint, and no just reason to invite atten- 

 tion to the affairs of Cuba ; that American 

 commerce, instead of having diminished by the 

 insurrection, had in reality increased and pros- 

 pered, and was greater than it was before th^ 



CITY OP HAVANA, CUBA. 



Insurrection broke out. Moreover, many Amer- 

 ican citizens had established themselves in busi- 

 ness on the island, had been unmolested by the 

 Spanish authorities, and had gained large for- 

 tunes, which, however, had not added to the 

 material wealth of the island, as they were 

 owned abroad. The note further complained 

 that Cuban outlaws found refuge in the terri- 

 tory of the United States, to the detriment and 

 injury of the Spanish Government ; and added 

 that all just and equitable claims between the 

 United States and Cuba had been amicably 

 adjusted, or were in the courts for adjustment. 



On the 3d of February the Minister of Foreign 

 Affairs addressed a circular to the foreign pow- 

 ers on the condition of affairs in Cuba, the ob- 

 jects of which were to correct the errors prop- 

 agated by the insurgents as to the result ; to 

 demonstrate the fatal consequences of any other 

 solution than the suppression of the insurrec- 

 tion by Spain ; to show the effect of the insur- 

 rection on the prosperity of the island and on 

 international commerce; to enumerate the 

 means of repression possessed by Spain ; and 

 to show that, in spite of domestic troubles, 

 successive Spanish administrations, if they had 



