CONGRESS. (THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.) 



145 



direction of the Executive, such government and 

 control therein as should conserve public order, 

 restore the productive conditions of peace so long 

 disturbed by the instability and disorder which 

 prevailed for the greater part of the preceding 

 three decades, and build up that tranquil develop- 

 ment of the domestic state whereby alone can 

 be realized the high purpose, as proclaimed in the 

 joint resolution adopted bv the Congress on the 

 l!)th of April, 1898, by which the United States 

 disclaimed any disposition or intention to exer- 

 cise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over 

 Cuba, except for the pacification thereof, and as- 

 serted its determination when that was accom- 

 plished to leave the government and control of the 

 island to its people. The pledge contained in this 

 resolution is of the highest honorable obligation 

 and must be sacredly kept. 



1 believe that substantial progress has been 

 made in this direction. All the administrative 

 measures adopted in Cuba have aimed to fit it for 

 a regenerated existence by enforcing the supre- 

 macy of law and justice; by placing wherever 

 practicable the machinery of administration in 

 the hands of the inhabitants; by instituting 

 needed sanitary reforms; by spreading education; 

 by fostering industry and trade; by inculcating 

 public morality, and, in short, by taking every 

 rational step to aid the Cuban people to attain to 

 that plane of self-conscious respect and self-reliant 

 unity which fits an enlightened community for 

 self-government within its own sphere, while en- 

 abling it to fulfill all outward obligations. 



This nation has assumed before the world a 

 grave responsibility for the future good govern- 

 ment of Cuba. We have accepted a trust the ful- 

 fillment of which calls for the sternest integrity of 

 purpose and the exercise of the highest wisdom. 

 The new Cuba yet to arise from the ashes of the 

 past must needs be bound to us by ties of singular 

 intimacy and strength if its enduring welfare is 

 to be assured. Whether those ties shall be or- 

 ganic or conventional, the destinies of Cuba are in 

 some rightful form and manner irrevocably linked 

 with our own, but how and how far is for the 

 future to determine in the ripeness of events. 

 Whatever be the outcome, we must see to it that 

 free Cuba be a reality, not a name; a perfect en- 

 tity, not a hasty experiment bearing within itself 

 the elements of failure. Our mission, to accom- 

 plish which we took up the wager of battle, is not 

 to be fulfilled by turning adrift any loosely framed 

 commonwealth to face the vicissitudes which too 

 often attend weaker states whose natural wealth 

 and abundant resources are offset by the incon- 

 gruities of their political organization and the re- 

 curring occasions for internal rivalries to sap 

 their strength and dissipate their energies. The 

 greatest blessing which can come to Cuba is the 

 restoration of her agricultural and industrial 

 prosperity, which will give employment to idle 

 men and re-establish the pursuits of peace. This 

 is her-chief and immediate need. 



On the 19th of August last an order was made 

 for the taking of the census in the island, to be 

 completed on the 30th of November. By the 

 treaty of peace the Spanish people on the island 

 have until April 11, 1900, to elect whether they 

 will remain citizens of Spain or become citizens of 

 Cuba. Until then it can not be definitely ascer- 

 tained who shall be entitled to participate in the 

 formation of the government of Cuba. By that 

 time the results of the census will have been tabu- 

 lated and we shall proceed to provide for elections 

 which will commit the municipal governments of 

 the island to the officers elected by the people. 

 The experience thus acquired will prove of great 

 VOL. XL. 10 A 



value in the formation of a representative con- 

 vention of the people to draft a constitution and 

 establish a general system of independent govern- 

 ment for the island. In the meantime and so 

 long as we exercise control over the island the 

 products of Cuba should have a market in the 

 United States on as good terms and with as favor- 

 able rates of duty as are given to the West India 

 Islands under treaties of reciprocity which shall 

 be made. 



For the relief of the distressed in the island of 

 Cuba the War Department has issued supplies to 

 destitute persons through the officers of the army, 

 which have amounted to 5,493,000 rations, at a 

 cost of $1,417,554.07. 



To promote the disarmament of the Cuban 

 volunteer army, and in the interest of public peace 

 and the welfare of the people, the sum of $75 

 was paid to each Cuban soldier borne upon the 

 authenticated rolls, on condition that he should 

 deposit his arms with the authorities designated 

 by the United States. The sum thus disbursed 

 aggregated $2.547,750, which was paid from the 

 emergency fund provided by the act of Jan. 5, 

 1899, for that purpose. 



Out of the Cuban island revenues during the 

 six months ending June 30, 1899, $1,712,014.20 

 was expended for sanitation, $293,881.70 for 

 charities and hospitals, and $88,944.03 for aid to 

 the destitute. 



Following the exchange of ratifications of the 

 treaty of peace the two governments accredited 

 ministers to each other, Spain sending to Wash- 

 ington the Duke of Arcos, an eminent diplomatist, 

 previously stationed in Mexico, while the United 

 States transferred to Madrid Hon. Bellamy 

 Storer, its minister at Brussels. This was fol- 

 lowed by the respective appointment of consuls, 

 thereby fully resuming the relations interrupted 

 by the war. In addition to its consular repre- 

 sentation in the United States, the Spanish Gov- 

 ernment has appointed consuls for Cuba, who 

 have been provisionally recognized during the 

 military administration of the affairs of that 

 island. 



Judicial intercourse between the courts of 

 Cuba and Porto Rico and of Spain has been estab- 

 lished, as provided by the treaty of peace. The 

 Cuban political prisoners in Spanish penal sta- 

 tions have been and are being released and re- 

 turned to their homes, in accordance with Article 

 VI of the treaty. Negotiations are about to be 

 had for defining the conventional relations be- 

 tween the two countries, which fell into abeyance 

 by reason of the war. 1 trust that these will in- 

 clude a favorable arrangement for commercial 

 reciprocity under the terms of sections 3 and 4 of 

 the current tariff act. In these, as in all matters 

 of international concern, no effort will be spared 

 to respond to the good disposition of Spain, and 

 to cultivate in all practicable ways the intimacy 

 which should prevail between two nations whose 

 past history has so often and in so many ways 

 been marked by sincere friendship and by com- 

 munity of interests. 



I would recommend appropriate legislation in 

 order to carry into execution Article VII of the 

 treaty of peace with Spain, by which the United 

 States assured the payment of certain claims for 

 indemnity of its citizens against Spain. 



The United States minister to Turkey con- 

 tinues, under instructions, to press for a money 

 payment in satisfaction of the just claims for in- 

 juries suffered by American citizens in the disor- 

 ders of several years past and for wrongs done 

 to them by the Ottoman authorities. Some of 

 these claims are of many years' standing. This 



