UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



735 



about $473,000, had been paid to the British am- 

 bassador on June 16. The joint statement of con- 

 clusions signed by the United States, British, and 

 Canadian delegates to the sealing conference af- 

 forded a basis for the discussion of the Bering Sea 

 question. It was found that a notable decrease 

 had been suffered by the herd on the Pribylov 

 Islands during 1897, though the diminution of the 

 herd was yet far from a stage which involves or 

 threatens the actual extermination of the species, 

 so long as it is protected*in its haunts on land. The 

 ratio of the pelagic catch of one year to that 

 of the following has fallen more rapidly than the 

 ratio of the breeding herd of one year to the breed- 

 ing herd of the next, and in this greater reduction 

 of the pelagic catch, compared with the gradual 

 decrease of the herd, there is a tendency toward 

 equilibrium, or a stage at which the numbers of 

 the breeding herd would neither increase nor de- 

 crease. In 1898 only 28 vessels were engaged in 

 pelagic sealing, and the reported catch of 10,000 

 seals was the smallest for many seasons. The Pri- 

 bylov catch was 18,000, and on the Russian islands, 

 which are protected by a zone of 30 miles, the lessees 

 secured only 7,000 skins. The Alaska boundary 

 question it was proposed to refer to an impartial 

 tribunal. Another course suggested was to aban- 

 don the Russian treaty of 1825 and arrange a new 

 conventional boundary in connection with an agree- 

 ment for a neutral port at the head of the Lynn 

 Canal and bonding privileges for both nations on 

 the main routes to the Yukon and the Alaskan in- 

 terior. The Canadians argued that the Portland 

 Channel mentioned in the treaty was not the present 

 Portland Channel, but either Clarence Straits or 

 Behm's Canal, and that the line should be drawn 

 ten leagues from the outer edge of the islands, not 

 from the windings of the shore, except where there 

 are summits nearer the shore than ten leagues from 

 the outer rim of the archipelago, in which case the 

 line should be deflected to pass through these sum- 

 mits. This would give to Canada various inlets 

 and landing places which under the American read- 

 ing fall to the United States, among them the Lynn 

 Canal and the Tahko Inlet. In December the in- 

 ternational commission adjourned till after March 

 4, 1899. 



The Cuban Question. The Republican plat- 

 form of 1896 expressed deep interest in "the heroic 

 battle of the Cuban patriots against cruelty and 

 oppression," and recommended that the Govern- 

 ment of the United States " actively use its influ- 

 ence and good offices to restore peace and give in- 

 dependence to the island," the Government of Spain 

 having lost control of Cuba, and being unable to 

 protect the property or lives of resident American 

 citizens or to comply with its treaty obligations. 

 From the beginning of the Cuban insurrection the 

 Spanish Government feared the intervention of the 

 United States, but so long as President Cleveland 

 had the direction of affairs it was reassured by dis- 

 avowals of any intention to invade the sovereignty 

 of Spain. President McKinley from the first avoided 

 all such assurances, and Gen. Woodford, soon after 

 his arrival at Madrid, in September, 1897, let it be 

 known that he had an important mission to carry 

 out. In his first interview with the Duke of Tetuan, 

 then Minister of Foreign Affairs, while assuring 

 him that the President earnestly desired peace and 

 friendship between Spain and the United States, 

 he read extracts from his instructions that raised a 

 distinct issue. He presented, on Sept. 23, a note in 

 which he gave at length the American view that it 

 was visionary for Spain to hope that Cuba, which 

 had been the scene of sanguinary conflicts for 

 thirteen years out of twenty-nine, would ever again, 

 even if subjugated by sheer exhaustion, be of value 



to Spain ; that a recognition of Cuban belligerency 

 was demanded in the United States; that if Spain 

 would not of her own volition put a stop to the 

 destructive war, and make proposals of settlement 

 honorable to herself and just to tin- Cuban colony 

 and mankind, it only remained for the United 

 States, deeply disturbed and injured by the exist- 

 ence of a devastating internal conflict at its doors, 

 to wait a reasonable time before alleging and acting 

 upon the rights which they too possessed; that the 

 President felt it his duty to help bring about results 

 of peace and prosperity which should be in con- 

 formity alike with the feelings of the American 

 people and the inherent rights of civilized man, 

 and be of advantage both to Cuba and to Spain. 

 All that was asked was that some lasting settle- 

 ment be found that Spain could accept with self- 

 respect, and for this the Government offered its 

 kindly offices, hoping that during the coming month 

 Spain might either be able to formulate some pro- 

 posal under which this tender of good offices might 

 become effective, or might give satisfactory assur- 

 ances that peace in Cuba would by her own efforts 

 be promptly assured. 



The prospect of American intervention brought 

 the Liberals into power in Spain, and caused the 

 recall of Gen. Weyler, but without any thorough 

 change in the military methods or any material im- 

 provement in the conditions in Cuba. SeSor Gu- 

 llon, the new Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, 

 in replying to the American note, on Oct. 23, denied 

 that indirect injuries inflicted on the United States 

 by the prolonged disturbances in Cuba justified in- 

 terference or intrusions, and gave an outline of the 

 autonomous constitution for Cuba, which, he said, 

 in combination with energetic military action, would 

 speedily lead to pacification and prosperity and 

 the complete re-establishment of the indestructible 

 Spanish sovereignty. He proposed that "Spain 

 should continue her military efforts, and at the 

 same time announce such concessions as seemed to 

 be opportune and adequate, while the United States 

 should exercise within her borders the energy and 

 vigilance necessary to prevent absolutely the fur- 

 nishing of the resources with which, as from an 

 inexhaustible arsenal, the Cuban insurrection has 

 been supplying itself from the beginning." After 

 alleging various infractions of the neutrality laws, 

 he suggested their more stringent application as the 

 most efficient means of friendly co-operation with 

 Spain, and asserted that the situation in Cuba was 

 immensely changed for the better, and that with the 

 establishment of autonomous institutions the pre- 

 text for popular sympathies with the Cubans was 

 taken away. 



In the answer to this note, presented on Dec. 20, 

 Gen. Woodford said: "The President understands 

 that the reversal of all that had been done is no 

 sudden growth, to spring up in a single night, and 

 that the fair structure of a just and permanent and 

 prosperous peace for Cuba is to be raised with 

 thoughtful care and untiring devotion if Spain is 

 to succeed in the accomplishment of this tremen- 

 dous task upon which she has entered. He compre- 

 hends that the plan, however broadly outlined, must 

 be wrought out in progressive detail, and that upon 

 assured foundations, upon the rock of equity and 

 not upon the shifting sands of selfish inteivM. must 

 be builded, stone by stone, the enduring fabric of 

 regenerated Cuba." Meanwhile an attitude of be- 

 nevolent expectancy was promised on the part of 

 the United States "until the near future should 

 show whether the indispensable conditions of a 

 righteous peace '' were realizable from the autono- 

 mous system which Spain had proclaimed in Cuba, 

 while rejecting the .muni offices that had been ten- 

 dered by the President. The Spanish arraignment 





