156 



CONGRESS. (CUBA.) 



measure of control in 

 the 



Spanish arm- regained a measure of control 

 I'inar del Km and parts of Havana, but, under 

 eating conditions of the rural country, without 

 imini-diate improvement of their productive situa- 

 tion Even thus partially restricted, the revoiu 

 tionists held their own. and their conquest and 

 submission, put forward by Spain as the essential 

 and ~'le Iwsis of pence, neowd as far distant as at 



"in "this 'state of affairs my Administration found 

 iiM-lf confronted with the grave problem of its duty. 

 >h message of la>t December reviewed the situa- 

 ti.'.n and narrated the steps taken with a view to 

 relieving its acuteness and opening the way to some 

 form of honorable settlement. The assassination of 

 the prime minister. Canovas, led to a change of 

 government in Spain. The former administration, 

 pledged t.. subjugation without concession, gave 

 place to that of a more liberal party, committed 

 long in advance to a policy of reform involving the 

 wider principle of home rule for Cuba and Puerto 



The overtures of this Government, made through 

 its new envoy. Gen. Woodford, and looking lo an 

 immediate and effective amelioration of the condi- 

 tion of the island, although not accepted to the 

 nt of admitted mediation in any shape, were 

 met l.y ax-nrances that home rule in an advanced 

 phase would be forthwith offered to Cuba, without 

 waiting for the war to end, and that more humane 

 methods should thenceforth prevail in the conduct 

 of hostilities. Coineidently with these declarations 

 the new Government of Spain continued and com- 

 pleted the policy already begun by its predecessor, 

 of testifying friendly regard for this nation by 

 releasing* American citizens held under one charge 

 or another connected with the insurrection, so that 

 by t he end of November not a single person entitled 

 iii any way to our national protection remained in 

 a Spanish prison. 



While these negotiations were in progress the 

 increasing destitution of the unfortunate reconcen- 

 trados and the alarming mortality among them 

 claimed earnest attention. The success which had 

 attended the limited measure of relief extended to 

 the suffering American citizens among them by the 

 judicious expenditure through the consular agencies 

 of the money appropriated expressly for their suc- 

 cor by the joint resolution approved May 24, 1897, 

 prompted the humane extension of a similar scheme 

 t aid to the great body of sufferers. A suggestion 

 ti this end was acquiesced in by the Spanish authori- 

 ties. On the 24th of December last I caused to be 

 issued an appeal to the American people inviting 

 contributions in money or in kind for the succor of 

 the starving sufferers fn Cuba, following this on the 

 Nth of January by a similar public announcement 

 f (he formation of a central Cuban relief commit- 

 !. with headquarters in New York city, composed 

 >f :{ members representing the American National 

 Red Cross and the religious and business elements 

 of the community. 



The efforts of that committee have been untiring 

 and have accomplished much. Arrangements for 

 free trnns|H.rtation to Cuba have greatly aided the 

 charitable work. The president of the American 

 Hcd Cros and representatives of other contributory 

 organizations have generously visited Cuba and co- 

 operated with the consul general and the local au- 

 thorities to make effective distribution of the relief 

 collected through the efforts of the central com- 

 mittee. Nearly * 200,000 in money and supplies has 

 already reached the sufferers and more is forthcom- 

 ing. The supplies are admitted duty free, and 

 transportation to the interior has been arranged, so 

 that the relief, at first necessarily confined to Ha- 

 vana and the larger cities, is DOW extended through 



most, if not all, of the towns where suffering 

 exists. 



Thousands of lives have already been saved. The 

 necessity for a change in the condition of the recon- 

 eentradosis recognized by the Spanish Government. 

 Within a few days past the orders of General Wey- 

 ler have been revoked ; the reconcentrados, it is 

 said, are to be permitted to return to their homes 

 and aided to resume the self-supporting pursuits of 

 peace. Public works have been ordered to give 

 them employment, and a sum of $600,000 has been 

 appropriated for their relief. 



The war in Cuba is of such a nature that short of 

 subjugation or extermination a final military vic- 

 tory for either side seems impracticable. The alter- 

 native lies in the physical exhaustion of the one or 

 the other party, or perhaps of both a condition 

 which in effect ended the ten years' war by the 

 truce of Zanjon. The prospect of such a protrac- 

 tion and conclusion of the present strife is a contin- 

 gency hardly to be contemplated with equanimity 

 by the civilized world and least of all by the United 

 States, affected and injured as we arc, deeply and in- 

 timately, by its very existence. 



Realizing this, it appeared to be my duty, in a 

 spirit of true frrendliness, no less to Spain than to 

 the Cubans, who have so much to lose by the pro- 

 longation of the struggle, to seek to bring about an 

 immediate termination of the war. To this end I 

 submitted, on the 27th ultimo, as a result of much 

 representation and correspondence, through the 

 United States minister at Madrid, propositions to 

 the Spanish Government looking to an armistice 

 until Oct. 1 for the negotiation of peace with the 

 good offices of the President. 



In addition, I asked the immediate revocation of 

 the order of reconcentration, so as to permit the 

 people to return to their farms and the needy to be 

 relieved with provisions and supplies from the 

 United States, co-operating with the Spanish au- 

 thorities, so as to afford full relief. 



The reply of the Spanish Cabinet was received on 

 the night of the 31st ultimo. It offered, as the 

 means to bring about peace in Cuba, to confide the 

 preparation thereof to the insular Parliament, in- 

 asmuch as the concurrence of that body would be 

 necessary to reach a final result, it being, however, 

 understood that the powers reserved by the consti- 

 tution to the Central Government are not lessened 

 or diminished. As tjie Cuban Parliament does not 

 meet until the 4th of May next, the Spanish Gov- 

 ernment would not object, for its part, to accept at 

 once a suspension of hostilities if asked for by the 

 insurgents from the general in chief, to whom it 

 would pertain, in such case, to determine the dura- 

 tion and conditions of the armistice. 



The propositions submitted by Gen. Woodford 

 and the reply of the Spanish Government were both 

 in the form of brief memoranda, the texts of whicli 

 are before me, and are substantially in the language 

 above given. The function of the Cuban Parlia- 

 ment in the matter of "preparing" peace and the 

 manner of its doing so are not expressed in the 

 Spanish memorandum ; but from Gen. Woodford's 

 explanatory reports of preliminary discussions pre- 

 ceding the final conference it is understood that the 

 Spanish Government stands ready to give the insu- 

 lar Congress full powers to settle the terms of peace 

 with the insurgents whether by direct negotiation 

 or indirectly by means of legislation does not ap- 

 pear. 



With this last overture in the direction of imme- 

 diate peace, and its disappointing reception by 

 Spain, the Executive is brought to the end of his 

 effort. 



In my annual message of December last I said : 



"Of the untried measures there remain onlv: 



