Birmingham state herald., 1897-05-16
LONG LOOKED FOR MESSAGE
  From the President Urging Re- lief Americans IN THf S.SLAND OF CUBA Will Be 2 to Congress Tomorrow Spanish fnmeot Will Assist in Oi'tfib-
 uting the Supplies
IN THf S.SLAND OF CUBA

Washington, May 15.-The announce ment was made about the capitol today that a message on the Cuban question will be sen. to congress next Monday. Il will deal sps officially with the question of the deprivations to which American citizens are subjected in Cuba, and i. will recommend an appropriation for their relief.
 In considering ways of affording sub stanial relfaf to American citizens in Cuta who are in distress owing to the war, the adminstra ion has a plan which may be put in operation if it Is same 'tioned by the judgment of he United States consular officers in Cuba, who, be- ing on the grounds, are supposed 10 be b.st qualified to judge of the efficiency of the proposed relief measures. This plan is to give notice through the Amerl- can consul to all American citizens in Cuba that he government will undertake to remove ths m from the island to the United States, if they so desire. To do this will require action by congress, not necS ssarily in specific authorization of the removal, but merely the limitation of the appropriation to general terms of one relief of American citizens in Cuba. A similar plan was adopted for the benefit of Am ricans in China during the dis turbance incident to the Chinese-Japan-
 
 Turkey. The reason for this is the belief founded on reports from United Saatss Consul-General Dse and other United States consuls that the war has thor oughly exhausted the agricultural re- sources of the island, and that 1t will be long time before i; will be again in condition to maintain it's population.
 The proposed American exodus from Cuba must be purely voluntary and it is not even roc2ose1 to present the alterna-
 
 AEne. leans refuse to leave the island. It is the belief of Gen. Lee that many per sors will avail themselves of such an opportunity. So far as officially known to the depsrtment through the reports of the consuls made up to this time the num- Der of Americans in Cuba in this condi- tica is between 150 and 200 In exp'ana- tfon Of this small number it is satd that most American natives living in Cuba s-ia enoIoyed in the higher branches of industry or professions and are not actu- aIly workers of the soil. Naturalized citizess holding small patches of ground on winch ssssye c pended heretofore for live t1 are t9ae sufferers lt Is sons in psed thss aresygs k q 1 M l depart1ne1t hut \ s hoped ,5F SI a few osys @ l9asee a. csi 1f q si1.I The aaye5lcfeS t5 ise la.l tt'r3 zrszs.e lfse1ss people are the ugited ssstes cons,lis sn Cuba, and the SnauiSf Eovernliieft through it's minister here has ra4fs ssa readiness to assist in the distribution ot relief. All the Inflammation the state de- pertinent is recslving from official and unofficial sources confirms the published reports of the Restitution existing in Cuba among those who are penred up in the towns Absolute starvati is threatan- ed, owing to the lack of food supplies The reports also confirm the statements that many of the sufferers are American citizens, most of them, of course, natur- aHZed but there are also r9tiVa horn Americans. It is learned that the ad- ministration, when the facts IS to the ex- i isting destltutibn in Cuba first came to the knowledge eff the president. was dis posed to move cautiously, as it was fear cd that prdaipitate action might irritate Spain and probably endanger the lives of our consular officers when, the character of their reports became known to the Spanish authorities and the subjects of Spain in Cuba