The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1898-04-22

washington, April ll.-The president To-Day
sent the following message to the congress OF
the United States:
otediert to the precept of the constitution
which commands the president to give from
the state OF the Unio1 and to recommend u
their consideration such measures as he shall
Judge necessary and expedent it becomes my
duty now TO address your body with regard
to the grave crisis that has arisen in the re-
lation. of the United States to Spain by rea-
son Of the warfare that for more than three
years has ragged in the neighboring island OF
Cuba
1 do so because of the intimate connection
OF the Cuban question with the state Of
own Union, and the grave relation the course
which 1t is now incumbent upon the nation
icy of our government il it is to accord with
the precepts laid down by the founders of the
republic and religiously observed by succeed
ing administrations to the present day.
The present revolution is but the successor
Of other similar Instructions. which have &C.
Cured in Cuba, against the dominion OF
a century, each Of which during Its progress
las subjected the United States to great effort
and epense in enforcing its neutralit ylaws.
caused enormous losses to the American trade
and commerce, caused irritation, annoyance
and disturbance among our citizens and by
the exercise OF cruel. barberous and
Uncivilized Practices of Warfare
shocked the sensibilities and offended the hu.
name sympathies of our people. Since the
preoent revolution began in February, 1855,
this country has seen the fertile domain at
our Threshold ravased by fce and sword, in
the course OF a struggle unequalled in the
history OF the island and rarely paralleled as
to the number OF the ombatants and the Bit
terness of the contest, by any revolution of
modern times. where a dependent people, s:riv-
ing TO be Free have been opposed by the pow
er OF the sovereign state. Our people have
beheld a once prosperous community reduced
to comparative want; its commerce virtually
paralyzed; its exceptional productiveness d.
minished; Its fields laid waste its mills in
ruins. and It's people perishing by tens of thou
SANDS from hunger and restitution. We have
found ourselves constrained in the observance
OF that strict neutrality which our laws enjoin,
and which the law OF nations commands to
police our own waters and watch own
seaports. in prevention OF any unlawful ac. in
aid OF the Cubans. Our trade has suffered;
the capital invested by our citizens in cuba
base been largely lost and the temper OF for
bearance OF our people have been so sore!y
tried as to been perous unrest among our
own citizens, which has inevitably found Its
expression from time to time in the national
legislature. SO that issues wholly external to
our own body po!itio eagross attention and
stand in the way Of that close devotion to
domestic advancement that becomes a self
contented commonwealth whose primal maxim
has been the avoidance Of all foreign entangle-
nents All this must needs awaken and has
indeed aroused the utmost concern on the part
OF this government. as well during my prede-
cessor's as my own.
In April. 1896. the evils from which our
country suffered through the Cuban war he
came SO onerous that my predecessor made
an effort to bring about peace through the
mediation Of this government in any way that
might tend to an honorab BILE adjustment Of the
contest between Spain and her revolted colony
on the basis OF some effective scheme of self
government for Cuba under the flag and cover
eighty Of Spain. 1t failed through the refusal
of the Spanish government. then in power, to
consider any form of mediation or, indeed, a
plan of settlement which did not b:gin the
actual submission of the insurgents 10 the
mother country. and then only on such terms
as Spain herself might fit to grant. The
insurgents is in nowise diminished. The eff
forts OF Spain We're increased. both by the
despatch CT fresh ievies to Cuba and by the
addition to the horrors OF the strife of
A Cruel and Inhumnn Phase,
highly unprecedented in the moder:. history of
civilized christian peoples. The policy of de-
Capt. Gen. Pando. OF Oct. 1896. in the prov
ince of Pinar Del Rio, then extended 20 en-
brace all of the island 70 which the power Of
the Spanish arms was able to reach by &C.
cupation or by military operations. The peas
entry, including all dwelling in the open agri-
cultural interior were driven into the garri-
towns of insulated places held by the
troops. The raising and movement CT provis-
Ions Of all kinds we're inierdicted. The fields
were laid waste, dwellings unrocfed and fired,
mills destroyed. and, in short. everything that
could desolate the land and render it unfit for
human habtation or support was commanded
by the other of the conrendinS parties
and executed by all the powers at their dis
pcsal. BY the time the present administration
took office year ago. RECOMMENDATION, So
ter part of the four central and western prov
inces Of Santa Clara Matanzas, Havana ard
Pinar Del Rio. The agricultural population to
the estimated number Of three hundred thou
sand or more. were herded within three towns
and the immediate vicinity, deprived OF the
means Of support left without shelter and
left to the most unsanitary conditions AS the
scarcity OF food increased with the devasta-
ton of the depopulated areas Of production the
situation became miserable. Month by month
the death rate increased in an alarming ratio
By March. 1887. according to conservative es-
Inmates from official Spanish sources. the NOR
tality among the reconcentrados
Prom starvation
and the diseases thereto incidental exceeding
Nifty y-ercentum Of their total number. No
practical relief was accorded to the destitute.
the general dearth. could give no aid. So
called zones OF cultivation. established within
the immediate area Of effective military COLI
prov ed iliusory remedy for the suffering.
The unfortunates being for the most cart
nen enfeebled by disease and hunger could
not have titled the soil wiz .out tools. seed or
shelter. for their own support or for the SUD
ply Of the cities RECOMMENDATION. adopted
avowedly as a war measure in order to cut
off the resources of the insurgents, worked its
pedestined result. AS said in my message OF
last December. IL was not civilized warfare:
1t was determination. The only peace It could
beget was that OF the wilderness ard the
grave.
Meanwhile the Military situation in the island
had undergone noticeable change. Tie extra
ordinary activity that characterized the second
year OF the war. when the insifsents invaded
even the hitherto unframed fields Of Pinar
del Rio and carried havoc ana destitution up
to tie walls Of the city OF Havana ITSELF had
relapsed into dosged struggle in the CEN
trail ard eastern provinces. The Spanish arms
regsined a measure Of control IN Pinar del
Rio and Parts OF Havana, but. under the en- /
listing conditions Of the rural country. without
INN ediate Improvement OF their productive
situatfc, Even thus partially restricted, the
revolut,s sista held their own. and their sub
mission PCT forward by Spain IS the essential
and sole basis Of PEACE. seemed az far distant
as at the outset. IN this state Of Affairs. my
administration forrd Itself confronted with
The Grave Probleu Of Its Duty.
NJ message OF last December received the
situation ana detailed the steps taken with a
view Of relieving its .acutenAas and opening
the way 20 soms form Of honorabte settlement.
The Aseassination Of the prime minister, Como
Va. led 70 Q change Of eossfnment In Spain.
NJ fosmss akniSistsatioa pledged the sub.