Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1898-04-15
THE MESSAGE ON CUBA
A Practical Declaration
Of War With Spain.

following message to the congress of
the United States:
Obedient to that precept of the consti-
tuition which commands the president to
give from time to time the congress in
formation of the state of the Union and
to recommend to its consideration such
measures as he shall Judge necessary and
expedient, it becomes my duty now to
address your body with regard to the
grave condition tina has arisen in the
relations of the United States and Spain.
by reason of the warfare that for more
than three years has ragged in the neigh
boring island of Cuba. l do so because of
the intimate connection of the Cuban
question with the state of our Union, and
because of the grave relations which the
course which is incumbent upon the nation
to adopt must needs bear to the ira
ditional policy Of our government, If 1t
Is to accord with the p~recepts laid down
by the founders of the republic and re-
Igiously observed by succeeding adminis-
tratIons to the present day.
The Cuban Revolution.
The present revolution Is but the sue
cessor of other similar Instructions which
have occurred In Cuba against the do
minion of Spain, extending over a period
or nearly half a century, each of which.
during its progress, has subjected the
United States to great effort and expense
In pnfOppinn Itg Neutrality avus ,,.o
enormous loss to American trade and
commerce, caused irritation,
and disturbance among our citizens, and
by the exercise of cruel. barbarous and
uncivilized practices of warfare, shocked
the sensibilities and offended the humane
sympathics of our people.
Since the present revolution began. in
February, 1895. this country has seen the
fertile domain at our threshold rayaged
by fire and sword In the course of n
struggle uneGualed In the history of the
island, and rarely paralleled as to the
number OF the combatants and the bitter
ness OF the contest by any revolution OF
modern times. where a dependent people
striving to be free have been opposed nv
the power of the sovereign state. our
'"'' ''iANlh a. Oltt PROSPEROUS |
reduced to comparative want
its virtually paralyzed, its ex-
productlveness diminished. its
nelds laid waste, Its mills in ruins and
It's people perishing by tens of thousands
from hunger and restitution.
Damage to American I~nterests.
We have felt ourselves constrained. in
fhA NhEnrNu nan .Af that AT "
which our laws enjoin and which the laws
OF nations command, to police our own
and watch our own seaports in
prevention of any Unlawful act in aid of
our trade has suffered: the can't
lal Invested by our citizens in Cuba has
been largely lost, and the temper and for
of our people have been so
Sorely tried as to beget n perilous unrest
among our own citizens, which has incvi-
tahly followed its expression from tina
10 time In the national legislature so that
issues wholly external to our body poli-
lie engross attention and stand in the way
u more close devotion to domestic ad-
hat becomes a self-contented
commonwealth, whose primal maxim has
oeeh the avoidance of all foreign en-
anglcments. An this must needs awaken
ma has indeed aroused the utmost con-
'ern on the part of this government as
"'h uurlhS my predecessors as dur
ny my W administration.
4 Previous Effort to Restore Pence.
In April, 1896, the evils from which orr
country suffered through the Cuban war
became so enormous that my predecessor
made an effort to bring about peoce
through the mediation OF the government,
II any way that might tend to an honor.
'ele adjustment Of the contest between
spain and her revolving COLONY ON tho no.
lis OF some effective scheme NJ s.,s-
'ovorhmeht Tor Cuba, under the flag
md sovereignty OF Spain. 1t failed
through the refusal OF the Spanish gov.
'rhmeht then in power to consider any
OF mediation or indeed any MAN
VI settlement which did not ! egin with
ne actual submission OF the insurront.
20 the mother country and then only on
'uch terms as Spain herself might see M
20 grant.
"cSicr's inhumnu Policy,
inc war continued undated. The re-
distance OF insurgents was In no wise
The efforts Of Spain were in
,reased' both by the dispatch of fresh
evles to Cuha and by additions to the
OF the strife. The new and in
numan phase, happily unprecedented in
he modern history OF civilized Christian
people, the policy OF devastation and con.
,entraiion. ~inaugurated by the captain-
ban OF october 81, 1896. I'm tho
Of Pinar del Rio, was thence
to embrace all OF the island to
which the power OF the Spanlards was
able TO reach by occupation or by milf
tary operations. The ~peasantry, includ-
ns all dwelling In the open agricultural
were driven into the sarrisoned
or Isolated places held by the Span