L48 



CONGRESS. (PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.) 



duct of the strife within the paramount authority 

 of Spain according to the international code of war. 

 For these reasons, I regard the recognition of the 

 Mligerencv of the Cuban insurgents as now un- 

 wist-, and therefore inadmissible. Should that step 



.,ft,-r IM- deemed wise as a measure of right and 

 duty, the Kxecutive will take it. 



Intervention upon humanitarian grounds has 

 been frequently suggested, and has not failed to 



ive my most anxious and earnest consideration. 

 Hut should sueh a step be now taken when it is ap- 

 iMin-nt that a ho|>eful change has supervened in 

 the policy of Spain toward Cubaf A new Govern- 

 ment bM taken office in the mother country, "is 

 pledged in advance to the declaration that all the 

 effort in the world can not suffice to maintain 

 peace in Cuba by t he bayonet ; that vague promises 

 of reform after subjugation afford no solution of 

 the insular problem; that with a substitution of 

 ..mmanders must come a change of the past sys- 

 tem of warfare for one in harmony with a new 

 P'.liey which shall no longer aim to drive the 

 Cubans to the "horrible alternative of taking to 

 the thicket or succumbing in misery"; that re- 

 forms must be instituted in accordance with the 

 needs and circumstances of the time, and that 

 these reforms, while designed to give full autonomy 

 to the colony and to create a virtual entity and self- 

 Controlled administration, shall yet conserve and 

 affirm the sovereignty of Spain by a just distribu- 

 tion of powers and burdens upon a basis of mutual 

 interest untainted by methods of selfish expediency. 

 The first acts of the new Government lie. in these 

 honorable paths. The policy of cruel rapine and 

 extermination that so long shocked the universal 

 sentiment of humanity has been reversed. Under 

 the new military commander a broad clemency is 

 proffered. Measures have already been set on foot 

 to relieve the horrors of starvation. The power of 

 the Spanish armies, it is asserted, is to be used not 

 to spread ruin and desolation, but to protect the 

 resumption of peaceful agricultural pursuits and 

 productive industries. That past methods are 

 futile to force a peace by subjugation is freely 

 admitted, and that ruin without conciliation must 

 inevitably fail to win for Spain the fidelity of a 

 contented dependency. 



Decrees in application of the foreshadowed re- 

 forms have already been promulgated. The full 

 text of these decrees has not been received, but, as 

 furnished in a telegraphic summary from our min- 

 ister, are: All civil and electoral rights of penin- 

 sular Spaniards are, in virtue of existing constitu- 

 tional authority, forthwith extended to colonial 



uinls. A scheme of autonomy has been pro- 

 claimed by decree, to become effective upon ratifi- 

 cation by the Cortes. It creates a Cuban par- 

 liament which, with the insular executive, can 



<ler and vote upon all subjects affecting local 

 order and interests, possessing unlimited powers 



as to matters of state, war, and the navy, as 

 to which the Governor-General acts by his own 

 authority as the delegate of the Central Govern- 

 ment, this parliament receives the oath of the 



ni'.r-Ceiieral to preserve faithfully the liber- 

 ties and privileges of the colony, and to' it the colo- 

 nial secretaries are responsible. It has the right 

 t . prop,,..,. !,, the Central Government, through the 

 Governor-General, modifications of the national 

 chatter, and to invite new projects of law or exeeu- 

 tive me.-iMires in the int. Test of the colony. 



: its local powers, it is competent, first, to 

 n-ulate electoral registration and procedure and 



ril.e the qualification* of electors and the 



manner of exercising suffrage; second, to organize 



rtl ->f justice with native judges from members 



il bur; third, to frame the insular budget 



both as to expenditures and revenues, without limi- 

 tation of any kind, and to set apart the revenues to 

 meet the Cuban share of the national budget, which 

 latter will be voted by the national Cortes with the 

 assistance of Cuban Senators and Deputies; fourth, 

 to initiate or take part in the negotiations of the 

 National Government for commercial treaties which 

 may affect Cuban interests; fifth, to accept or re- 

 ject commercial treaties which the National Gov- 

 ernment may have concluded without the partici- 

 pation of the Cuban Government ; sixth, to frame 

 the colonial tariff, acting in accord with the penin- 

 sular Government in scheduling articles of mutual 

 commerce between the mother country and the 

 colonies. Before introducing or voting upon a bill, 

 the Cuban Government or the Chambers will lay the 

 project before the Central Government and hear its 

 opinion thereon, all the correspondence in such 

 regard being made public. Finally, all conflicts 

 of jurisdiction arising between the different mu- 

 nicipal, provincial, and insular assemblies, or be- 

 tween the latter and the insular executive power, 

 and which from their nature may not be referable 

 to the Central Government for decision, shall be 

 submitted to the courts. 



That the Government of Sagasta has entered 

 upon a course from which recession with honor is 

 impossible can hardly be questioned ; that in the 

 few weeks it lias existed it has made earnest of the 

 sincerity of its professions is undeniable. I shall 

 not impugn its sincerity, nor should impatience be 

 suffered to embarrass it in the task it has under- 

 taken. It is honestly due to Spain and to our 

 friendly relations with Spain that she should be 

 given a reasonable chance to realize her expecta- 

 tions and to prove the asserted efficacy of the new 

 order of things to which she stands irrevocably 

 committed. She has recalled the commander 

 whose brutal orders inflamed the American mind 

 and shocked the civilized world. She has modified 

 the horrible order of concentration, and has under- 

 taken to care for the helpless and permit those 

 who desire to resume the cultivation of their fields 

 to do so, and assures them of the protection of the 

 Spanish Government in their lawful occupations. 

 She has just released the "Competitor" prisoners 

 heretofore sentenced to death and who have been 

 the subject of repeated diplomatic correspondence 

 during both this and the preceding administration. 



Not a single American citizen is now in arrest or 

 confinement in Cuba of whom this Government has 

 any knowledge. The near future will demonstrate 

 whether the indispensable condition of a righteous 

 peace, just alike to the Cubans and to Spain as well 

 as equitable to all our interests so intimately in- 

 volved in the welfare of Cuba, is likely to be at- 

 tained. If not. the exigency of further and other 

 action by the United States will remain to be 

 taken. When that time comes that action will be 

 determined in the line of indisputable right and 

 duty. It will be faced, without misgiving or hesi- 

 tancy in the light of the obligation th,is Govern- 

 ment owes to itself, to the people who have con- 

 fided to it the protection of their interests and 

 honor and to humanity. 



Sure of the right, keeping free from all offense 

 ourselves, actuated only by upright and patriotic- 

 considerations, moved neither by passion nor selfish- 

 ness, the Government will continue its watchful care 

 over the rights and property of American citi/cns. 

 and will abate none of its efforts to bring about by 

 peaceful agencies a peace which shall be honorable 

 and enduring. If it shall hereafter appear to be a 

 duty imposed by our obligations to ourselves, to 

 civilization, and humanity to intervene with force. 

 it shall be without fault on our part and only be- 

 cause the necessity for such action will be so clear 



