UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



737 



The de Lome Incident. The Sagasta Govern- 

 ment, in response to the President's protest against 

 Weyler and his policy, and his notice that the war 

 must cease and proposals for a settlement be made 

 within a reasonable time, recalled Gen. Weyler and 

 sent out Gen. Blanco to introduce the system of 

 autonomy. Before the end of 1897 it was seen that 

 autonomy was foredoomed to failure. It was ob- 

 noxious to the Spaniards of Cuba, who made riotous 

 demonstrations in Havana in favor of Weyler. The 

 reconcentration bando was revoked by Capt.-Gen. 

 Blanco, but the starving reconcentrados remained 

 within the Spanish lines, as their homes, stock, and 

 implements had been destroyed, and those who 

 were allowed to return to the open country were 

 killed by Spanish patrols as rebels ; for, in spite of 

 Gen. Blanco's orders, the army authorities were 

 unwilling to forego the military advantages of 

 Weyler's policy. 



In January, 1898, a concentration of United 

 States naval forces and the accumulation of war 

 material, as well as expressions of impatience in the 

 American press and in Congress, showed that the 

 Cuban question was reaching an acute stage. At 

 this time a private letter written by the Spanish 

 ambassador, Dupuy de Lome, to a Madrid editor 

 who was visiting Havana, Senor Canalejas, fell 

 into the hands of Cuban revolutionists, who gave it 

 to the officials of the State Department and pub- 

 lished the contents in the newspapers. On account 

 of this letter, in which President McKinley was 

 characterized as a vacillating and time-serving poli- 

 tician, Gen. Woodford was instructed on Feb. 9 to 

 request the Minister of State at Madrid to recall 

 Senor de Lome. The ambassador had anticipated 

 such action by cabling his resignation, which was 

 accepted before the request for his recall arrived. 

 Senor Polo y Bernabe was appointed his successor. 



The Cubans. As a result of Gen. Weyler's 

 policy of extermination, fully 250,000 Cuban people 

 perished from starvation and disease. Of the non- 

 combatant population remaining, about 1,100,000 

 were Cubans and 150,000 Spaniards. The Republic 

 of Cuba had for its President Gen. Bartolome Masso, 

 and for Vice-President Domingo Mendez Capote, 

 who was also Secretary of War. Andreas Moreno 

 was Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Ernesto Fonts 

 Secretary of Finance, and Manuel Silva Secretary 

 of the Interior. Gen. T. Estrada Palma was the 

 chief representative of the republic in the United 

 States and the head of the Cuban junta in New 

 York. Each of the six provinces had a Governor and 

 a Lieutenant Governor, and officers at the head of 

 the numerous prefectures. The military organiza- 

 tion, however, predominated over the civil adminis- 

 tration and was more highly developed. The com- 

 mander-in-chief of the army of liberation was Gen. 

 Maximo Gomez, who was established in Santa Clara 

 province, in the center of the island. The total 

 strength of the army was reported to be 28,000 

 men, comprising 25,000 infantry, armed with 3,000 

 Mausers and more than 21,000 Remingtons ; 2,000 

 cavalry, armed with Remington carbines ; and sev- 

 eral batteries of artillery, having 10 guns, mostly 

 Hotchkiss 12-pounders and 2-pounders, besides 3 

 dynamite guns which had spread death^and terror 

 among the Spaniards for two years. The Cuban 

 army was divided into 6 army corps. The first, 

 second, and third corps, under the command of 

 Major-Gen. Calixto Garcia, operated in the prov- 

 inces of Puerto Principe and Santiago de Cuba, at 

 the eastern end of the island. His command num- 

 bered 18,000 men, comprising 3 divisions under 

 Gen. Pedro Perez, Gen. Jesus Rabi, and Gen. Ar- 

 mondo Menocal, each division consisting of 2 bri- 

 gades. Major-Gen. Francisco Carrillo was in com- 

 mand of the fourth corps, consisting of one division, 

 VOL. xxxvni. 47 A 



with Gen. Jose Rodriguez as division commander 

 and Brigadiers Jose Miguel Gomez, Jose Gonzales. 

 and Hijinio Esquerra commanding the separate 

 brigades. This corps operated in Santa Clara, while 

 the fifth and sixth corps, under Major-Gen. Jose 

 Maria Rodriguez, operated in Pinardel Rio, Havana, 

 and Matanzas provinces, at the western end of the 

 island. Of the fifth corps one division was com- 

 manded by Gen. Pedro Betancourt and one by Gen. 

 Alexandro Rodriguez ; of the sixth corps Gen. Pedro 

 Vias commanded one and Gen. Juan Lorente the 

 other. 



Destruction of the "Maine." In consequence 

 of hostile demonstrations against Americans the 

 consular representatives in Cuba urged the Govern- 

 ment to send war vessels to Cuban waters. On Jan. 

 24, after a conference with the Spanish minister, 

 in which the renewal of visits of American war 

 ships to Spanish waters was discussed and accepted, 

 the authorities in Madrid and Havana were advised 

 of the purpose of the American Government to re- 

 sume friendly naval visits to Cuban ports. The 

 Spanish Government expressed appreciation of the 

 friendly character of the intended visit of the 

 cruiser " Maine " to Havana, and announced the in- 

 tention of returning the courtesy by sending Span- 

 ish ships to the principal ports of the United States. 

 Accordingly, after the Havana riots the United 

 States cruiser " Maine " was sent on a friendly visit 

 to Havana, to remain there in readiness to protect 

 American lives and property in the event of dan- 

 gerous .disturbances. The " Maine " was anchored 

 in a berth assigned by the naval authorities. It was 

 the least-used buoy in the harbor, one that had not 

 previously been occupied by a war vessel for many 

 years. The Spaniards of Havana resented the pres- 

 ence of the American man-of-war, and dark threats 

 were uttered against the ship and her crew. The 

 " Maine " lay there at anchor three weeks. At nine 

 o'clock and forty minutes in the evening of Feb. 15, 

 while the men were asleep, a double explosion oc- 

 curred forward, directly under their quarters, 

 which rent the ship in two, causing her to sink al- 

 most instantly. Out of a complement of 360 men 

 2 officers and 264 men were drowned or killed, and 

 60 were taken out wounded. The first explosion 

 lifted the forward part of the ship perceptibly. 

 After a brief interval a second one occurred, more 

 open and prolonged. The forward part of the ves- 

 sel was completely demolished, whereas the after 

 part was practically intact. The vessel was lying 

 in about 6 fathoms of water. The discipline on 

 board was excellent, and the temperature of the 

 forward magazines had been reported normal at 

 8 o'clock, and the condition of the coal bunkers, 

 storage compartments, and boilers precluded the 

 hypothesis of spontaneous combustion or an internal 

 explosion from any cause. Capt. Sigsbee, in his 

 telegram to the Secretary of the Navy, said that 

 public opinion should be suspended till further re- 

 port. Marshal Blanco telegraphed to his Govorn- 

 ment that the explosion was undoubtedly due to 

 an accident, probably caused by the bursting of the 

 boiler of a dynamo engine. The authorities in Ha- 

 vana rendered whatever assistance they could in 

 rescuing the survivors and caring for the wounded. 

 The Madrid Government expressed regret at the 

 catastrophe, especially in view of the fact that it 

 occurred in Spanish waters. The Spanish cruiser 

 " Vizcaya " was about to be anchored in New York 

 harbor at the time as a counter demonstration to the 

 dispatch of the " Maine " to Havana, and when sln> 

 was anchored a vigilant patrol, though deprecated 

 by Capt. Eulate, was kept to prevent any outrage 

 being attempted in consequence of the excited state 

 of public feeling in the United States. 



The Spanish Government proposed a joint in- 



