davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-12
American Charity.

TN THIS state OF affairs, my adminlstra-
i ton found itself confronted with grave
problem of its duty My message of last
December reviewed the situation and narrated
the steps taken with view to relieving its acute
ness and opening the way to some form of hon
orable settlement The assassination of the
prime minister Canovas, led to a change of gov
ernment in Spain. The former administration
pledged to subjugation without concession gave
place to that of a more liberal party, committed
long in advance to policy OF reform, involving
the wider principle of home rule for Cuba and
Porto Rico. Overtures of this government,
made through its new envoy General Wood
ford. and looking to an immediate and effective
ameliOration of the condition of the island, al
though not accepted to the extent of admitted
mediation in any shape, were met by assur-
anceS that home rule, in an advanced phase
would be forthwith offered to Cuba without
waiting for the war to end, and that more hui
name methods should thenceforth prevail in the
conduct of hostties. Concidentially with these
declarations the new government OF Spain con-
tinued and completed 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 the end of No
Vember not single person entitled in any way
to our national protection remained i'll a Span
ish prison. While these negotiations were in
progress the increasing destituton of the unfor-
tunate reconcenrados and the alarming mortal
ity among them claimed earnest attention.
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-12
The Present Revolution.

ONCE the present revolution began i'll Feb
y ruary 1895, this country has been the fer
tile domain at our threshold ravaged by
fire and sword i'll the course OF struggle un-
equaled in the history OF the island and rarely
paralleed in human combats and the bitterness
of the contest by any revolution OF modern times
where dependent people, striving to be free,
have been opposed by the power OF the sover-
eign state. Our people have beheld once
prosperous community reduced to comparative
want, its lucrative commerce virtually parayzed,
its exceptional productiveness diminished, its
fields laid waste, its mills III ruins and its people
perishing by tens OF thousands from hunger and
destitution. We have found ourselves con-
strained in the observance OF that strict neutra-
ty which our laws enjoin and which the law Of
nations commands to police our own waters and
watch our own seaports in prevention OF any
unlawful act in aid of the Cubans. Our trade
has suffered; the capital invested by our citizens
in Cuba has been largely lost and the temper
and forbearance of our people have been so Sc
verely tried as to beget perilOuS unrest among
our own citizens which has inevitably found
expression from time to time i'll the national
legislature so that issues wholly external to Our
own body polite engross attention and stand in
the way of that close devotion to domestic ad-
vancement that becomes a Sel-contaned COM
monwealth whose primal maxim has been the
avoidance of all foreign entanglementS. MI this
must needs awaken and has indeed aroused the
utmost concern on the part of this government,
as well during my predecessors term as in my
own.
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-12
Reasons for FOrCible Intervention.

THERE remains the alternative forms OF in
1 terventiOn to end the war, either as an
impartial neutral by imposing rational
compromise between the contestants or as the
active ally OF one party or the other.
AS to the first it is not to be forgotten that
during the last few months the relation of the
United States has virtually been that of friendly
intervention in many ways, each not OF itself
conclusive, but all tending to the eNertion OF
potential influence toward an ultimate pacific
result Just and honorable to all interests con-
cerned. The spirit of all our acts hitherto has
been an earnest unselhsh desire for peace and
prosperity in Cuba, untarnishcd by differences
between us and Spain and unStaincd by the
blood of American citizens.
The forcible Intervention OF the United States,
according to the large dictates of humanity, fol-
lowing many historical preccdents where neigh
boring states have nterfered to check the hope
less sacrifices of life by internecine conflicts be-
yond their borders, is justihable on peutral
grounds. 1t involves however, hostile con-
Straint upon both the parties to the contest as
well to enforce a truce as to guide the eventual
settlement. The grounds for such intervention
may be briefly summarized as follows
First-In the cause of humanity and to put
an end to the barbarties, bloodshed, starvation
and horrible mSeries now existing there, and
which the parties to the conflict are either un-
able or unwilling to stop or mitigate, 1t is no
answer to say this is all in another country be-
longing to another nation and is therefore none
of our business. 1t is expressly our duty for it
is right at our door.
Second-We owe it to our citizens in Cuba
to afford them that protection and indemnity for
life and property which no government there
can or will afford and to that end to terminate
the conditions that deprive them OF legal protec-
tion.
Thrd--The right to intervene may be JUS
tilted by the very serious injury to the COM
merce trade and business of our peopl and by
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-12
Case of the Maine.

THESE elements OF danger and disorder al-
L ready pointed out have been strikingly
illustrated by tragic event which has
deeply and justly moved the American people.
| have already transmitted to congress the re-
port of the naval court of inquiry on the de-
struction of the battlcship Maine i'll the harbor
of Havana during the night of the 5th of Feb
ruary. The destruction of that noble vessel has
filled the national heart with ineXpressible hor-
ror. Two hundred and fifty-eight brave sailors
and marines and two officers of our navy, re-
posing in the fanced security of friendly har-
Dor, have been hurled to death, grief and want
brought to their homes and sorrow to the ma
ton
The naval court of inquiry, which, it is need
less to say. commands the unqualified conf
dence 'of the government. was unanimous in
its conclusion that the destruction of the Maine
was caused by an exterior explosion, that of
submarine mine 1t did not assume to place
the responsibility. That remains to be fixed.
In any event the destruction OF the Maine by
whatever exterior cause is patent and impress
sive proof of state of things in Cuba that is in
tolerable. That condition is thus shown to be
such that the Spanish government cannot assure
safety and security to a vessel OF the American
navy in the harbor of Havana on mission OF
peace and rghtfully there.
Further referring III this connection to recent
diplomatic correspondence, dispatch from our
minister to Spain OF the 26th ult contained the
statement that the Spanish minister for foreign
affairs assured him positively that Spain will do
all that the highest honor and justice required in
the matter OF the Maine. The reply above
ferred to of the 3Ist ult. also contained an ex-
preston of the readiness of Spain to submit to
an arbitration all the differences which can
arise i'll this matter which is subsequently cx-
planned by the note of the Spanish minister az
Washington of the 10th inst as follows:
As the fact which springs from the diversity
of views between the reports OF the American and
Spanish boards, Spain proposes that the fact be
ascertaned by an impartial investigation of
perts whose decision Spain accepts in advance.
To this have made no reply
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-12
American Intervention.

THE WAR in Cuba is of such nature that
/ short of subjugatiOn or determination
final military victory for either side seems
impossible The alternative lies in tie physical
exhaustion of one or the other party, or perhaps
Of both, a condition which in effect ended the
ten years war by the truce of Ianjon. The
prospect of such a prolongation and conclusion
of the present strife is a contingency hardly to
be contemplated with equaninlily by the civil
lied world and least of all by the Uaed States,
affected and injured as we are, deeply and in
timately, by its very existence
Realizing this, it appeared 10 be nv csty in
spirit OF true frendliness, NJ less to Spain than
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-12
RECOMMENDATION Enforced.

DY THE time the present administration
I'D took office a year ago, RECOMMENDATION,
so called, had been made effective over
the better part OF the four central and western
provinces, Santa Clara, Maanzas, Havana and
Pinar del Rio, The agricultural population, to
the estimated number of 100000 or more,
was herded within the towns and their immc-
date vicinage, deprived of the means of support
rendered destitute of shelter. left poorly clad and
exposed TO the most unsantary conditions As
the scarcity of food increased with the devasta-
tion of the depopulated areas of production, des-
tituton and want became misery and starvation
Month by month the death rate increased in an
alarming ratio. BY March, 1897 according to
conservative estimates from official Spanish
sources, the mortality among the reconccntra-
dos, from starvation and the diseases thereto in
cident, exceed 50 per cent, of their total number.
No practical relief was accorded to the destitute
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-12
Mediation Refused.

TN April, 1896, the evils from which Our coun-
i try suffered through the Cuban war be-
came so OnerOus that my predecessor
made an effort to bring about peace through
the mediation of this government i'll any way
that might tend to an honorable adjustment of
the contest between Spain and her revoted colo
n.y. on the basis of some effective scheme OF self
government for Cuba under the flag and sover-
eighty of Spain. 1t failed, through the refusal
of the Spanish government then in power to con-
slider any form of mediation or indeed any plan
OF settlement which did not begin with the actual
submission OF the insurgents to the mother
country, and then only on such terms as Spain
tinued unabated. The resistance of the insur-
gents was in no wise diminished
The efforts of Spain were increased both by
the despatch Of fresh levieS to Cuba and by the
addition to the horrors of the strife of new and
inhuman phase happily unprecedented in the
modern history OF civilized Christian peoples.
The policy of devastation and concentration, in
augurated by General Pando, October 2I, 1896,
in the province of Pinar del Rio, was thence ex-
tended to embrace all of the island to which
the power OF the Spanish arms was able to reach
by occupation or by military operations. The
peasantry including all dwelling in the open
agricultural interior, were driven into the gar
rson towns or isolated places held by the troops.
The raising and movement of provisions of all
kinds were Gnterdicted. The fields were laid
waste, dwellings unroofed and fired, mills des-
troyed, and in short everything that could desc
late the land and render it unfit for human habi-
tation or support was commanded by all the
powers at their disposal
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-12
Recognition IneXpedient.

NOR FROM the standpoint OF eXpedience
IN do think it would be wise or prudent for
this government to recognize at the pres
ent time the independence of the so-called Gu
ban republic. Such recognition is not neces-
sary in order to enable the United States to in
tervenc and pacify the island. To commit this
country now to the recognition OF any particular
government in Cuba might subject us to en-
barrassing conditions of international obliga-
ton towards the organization so recognized. In
case OF intervention our conduct would be sub
ject to the approval or disapprova Of such gov
ernment we would be required to submit to its
direction and to assume to it the mere relation of
friendly ally. When it shall appear hereafter
that there is within the island a government
capable of performing the duties and discharg
ing the functions OF a separate nation, and hav-
ing, as a matter of fact the proper forms and
attributes of nationality OF such government, it
can be promptly and readily recognized and the
relations and interests of the United States with
such nation adjusted
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-12
Autonomy Proposed.

THE SUCCESS which had attended the
i limited measure of relief extended to the
suffering American citizens among them
by the judcious expenditure through the con-
suar agencies of the money appropriated eX
pressly for their succor by the joint resolution
approved May "a, 1897, prompted the humane
extension OF similar scheme OF aid to the great
body of sufferers. A suggestion to this end was
acquesced in by the Spanish authorities. On
the 24th of December last ! caused to be issued
appeal to the American people. inviting con-
tributions i'll money or in kind for the suCcOr OF
the starving sufferers in Cuba following this on
the 9Th of January by a similar public announce
ment of the formation OF a central Cuban relief
committee with headquarters in New York city,
composed of three members representing the
American National Red Cross and the religious
establishments of the community.
The efforts of that committee have been I'M
tring and have accomplished much. Arrange
ments for free transportation to Cuba have
greatly aided the charitable work. The prtsi-
dent of the American Red Cross and representa-
tvcs OF other cOntributOry societies have gcncr-
ouslv visited Cuba and co-operated with the
consul general and the local authorities TO take
effective distribution OF the relief collected
through the efforts OF the central committee.
Nearly 100000 in money and supplies has
already reached the sufferers and more is forth
coming. The supplies are admitted duty free
and transportation to the interior has been ar
ranged so that the relief, at first necessarily con-
fined to Havana and the larger cities, is now ex-
tended through most, il not all Of the towns
where the suffering exists. Thousands; Of lives
have already been saved The necessity for a
change in the condition of the reconccntrados is
recognized by the Spanish government. With
in few days past the orders of General Wcycr
have been revoked. The recOncen Tados, it is
said are to be permitted to return to their homes
and aided to resume the self-supportng pursuits
OF peace public works have been ordered to give
them employment and sum OF 100000 has
been appropriated for their relief
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-12

the wanton destruction of property and devasta-
ton of the island.
Fourth--And which is of the utmost import
ance. The present condition of affairs of Cuba
is a constant menace to our peace, and entails
upon this government an enormous expense.
With such a conflict waged for years in an island
SO near us and with which our people have such
trade and business relations, when the lives and
liberty OF our citizens are in constant danger
and their property destroyed and themselves
ruined, where our trading vessels are liable to
seizure and are seized at our very doors, by war
ships of a foreign nation the expeditions of fill
clustering that we are powerless altogether to
prevent, and the irritating questions and en-
tanglements thus arsing-all these and others
that | need not mention, with the resulting
strained relations, are constant menace to our
peace and compel lis to keep on semi-war
footing with a nation with which we are at
peace.
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-12
WASHINGTON, April IL, 1903.

WASHINGTON, April ii, 1000.
Following is the complete text OF the
presidents message:
The Congress OF the United States.
nBEDIENT to the precept OF the Corstitu-
~ ton which commands the president to
give from time to time to congress intor-
nation of the state OF the Union and to recon-
mend to their consideration such measures as
he shall Judge necessary and expedient, 1t be-
comes my duty now to address your body with
regard to the grave crisis that has arisen in the
relations OF the United States to Spain by reason
of the warfare that for more than three years has
ragged in the neighborng island OF Cuba. | do
SO because OF the intimate connection Ot the Gu
ban question with the state OF our own Union
and the grave relation the course which it is now
incumbent upon the nation to adopt must needs
bear to the traditional policy of Our government
if it is to accord with the precepts laid down by
the founders of the republic and religiously OBJ
served by succeeding administrations to the
present day.
The present revolution is but the successor
of other similar instructions which have oc-
Cured in Cuba against the dominion OF Spain,
extending over a period of nearly half a century,
each of which, during its progress. has subjected
the United States to great effort and expense i'll
enforcing its neutrality laws. caused enormous
losses to American trade and commerce, caused
irritation, annoyance and disturbance among our
citizens, and by the exercise OF cruel, barbarous
and uncivilized practices OF warfare, shocked the
sensibiites and offended the humane sympa-
thies OF Our people
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-12
Important PreCedentS.

TURNING to the question OF recognizing a
L this time the insurgent government il
Cuba we find safe precedents in our his
tory from an early day. They are well summe
up in President Jackson's message to congress
Dec. 2I, 1896, on the subject OF the reCognitio
Of the independence of Texas. He said:
In all the contests that have arisen of the
revolutions OF France, out Of the disputes relating
10 the crowns Of Portugal and Spain, out Of the
American possessions of both governments and out
OF the numerous ana constantly recurring struggles
for dominion in spanish America, so wisely con.
siStent with our just principles has been the
tion of our government that We have under the
most critical circumstances avoided all censure
and encountered no other evil than that produced
by transient estrangcment OF good will among
those against whom we have been by force of evil
dcnce compelled to decide.
1t has thus been made known to the world that
the uniform policy ana practice Of the United
States Is TO avoid all mterfcrcncem disputes
which merely relate TO the internal government of
other nations and eventually to recognize the au-
thority of the prevailing party without reference to
our particular interests ana views or TO the mer-
its of the original controversy. But on this as on
every otner trying occasion safety is to be found
in a rigid adherence to principle.
IN the contest between Spain and the revolted
colonies stood aloof and waited not only until
the ability Of the states to protect them
selves fully established but until the danger
of their being again sublusated had entirely
they recognized Such was our course in regard 10
Mexico herself.
It is true that with resard to Texas the civil
army defeated, the chief OF the republic himself
captured and all present power to cont ro the new
ly organized government of Texas annihat-
ed within its confines. But the o ther hand.
there is in appearance, at least, an immense dis
parity of physical force on the side Of Texas.
The Mexican republic under another legislative
policy, is rallylng its forces under new leader
and menacing fresh invasion to recover its lost
dominion.
Upon the issue Of this threatened invasion the
independence of Texas may be considered as
suspended; and were there nothing peculiar in the
relative situation of the United States and Texas
our Acknowledgement of its independence such
a crisis could scarcely be regarded as consistent
with that prudent with which have
hitherto held ourselves bound TO treat all similar
questions.
Thereupon Andrew Jackson proceeded I
consider the risk that there might be imputed
the United States motives of selfish interest
view OF the former claim on our part to the te
ritory OF Texas, and of the avowed purpose
the Texans in seeking recognition OF indepen'
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-12

to the Cubans who have so much to lose by the
prolongation of the struggle, to seek to bring
about an immediate termination of the war. To
this end, | submitted on the 27th ult, as a re-
suit OF much representation and correspondence
through the United States minister at Madrid,
propositions to the Spanish government, look
ing to an arinistce until Oct. I for the nego-
tiation of peace with the good Offices of the
president. In addition ] asked the immediate
revocation OF the order of recommendation, 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. cooperating
with the Spanish authorities so as to afford full
relief.
The reply OF the Spanish cabinet was received
on the night of the 3Istoult. 1t offers as the
means to bring about 1eace in Cuba, to confide
the preparation thereof 70 the insular parliament
inasmuch as the conct, Hpce dt that body would
be necessary to rs< nal result il being,
however, undcrstd he powers reserved
by the constitution tentra government
are not lessened or N led. As the Cuban
parliament does not iM~ ilntil the fourth OF
MAY next, the Spanish government would not
object for its part, to accept at once a suspen-
sion of hostilities if asked for by The insurgents
from the gcnera-in-chief, to whom it would per
tain in such case to determine the duration and
conditions of the armistce.
The propositions submitted by General
Woodford and the reply of the Spanish govern
ment were both in the form of brief memoir
anda, the texts of which are before ne and arc
substantially in the language above gwen. The
| function of the Cuban parliament in the matter
of preparing" peace and the manner OF its do
| ing so are not expressed in the Spanish mem
orandum; but from General Woodiord'o cx-
panatory reports OF preliminary discussions pre-
ceding the final conference it is understood that
Lei, IL
the insular congress full powers to settle the
toms of peace with the insurgen:s, whether by
direct negotiation or indirectly by means of leg
slatiOn does not appear.
With this last overture in the direction of i'm
mediate peace and its disappointing reception by
Spain, the executive was brought to the end OF
| his effort.