The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1898-04-15
A MESSAGE ON CUBA.
President Mckinley Informs Con-
gress on Cuban Matters.
WRECK OF TIE BATTLESHlP MAINE.
The Catastrophe Referred to as Proof of
spaio's Incapacity 10 Govern Cuba and
Powers Asked for the PresI-
dent to stop the war.

uent yesterday sent the Following mes
sage 10 the congress of the United
States:
Obedlent to that precept Of the constitution
which commands the president to give from
time to time the congress information OF the
state Of the union and to recommend to their
consideration such measures as he shall judge
necessary and expedent 1t becomes 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
RACED in the neighboring island of Cuba do
80 because of the intimate connection OF the
Cuban question with the state of our own union
and the grave relation the course which is
incumbent upon the nation to adopt must needs
bear to the traditional policy OF our govern
menti tits to accord with the precepts laid down
by the founders OF the republic and relRiously
observed by succeeding administrations to the
present day. The present revolution is
but the successor Of other similar
Instructions which have occurred in Cuba
against the dominion Of Spain extending over
period OF nearly half n century, each OF which,
during its progress, has subjected the United
States to great effort and expense In enforcing
its neutrality laws. caused enormous losses to
the American trade and commerce, caused irr-
tation, annoyance and disturbance among our
citizens. and by the exercise OF cruel, barbar-
Gus and uncvilized practices Of warfare,
shocked the sensibilities and offended the hu-
name sympathes Of our people Since the
present revolution began in February, 1893,
this country has seen the fertile domain at our
Threshold ravaged by fire and sword in the
course OF n struggle unequaled In the history OF
the island and rarely paralleled as to the num-
Der of the combatants and the bitterness OF
the contests by any revolution OF modern times
where dependent people, striving to be free,
have been opposed by the power of the sovereign
state Our people have beheld a once prosperous
community reduced to comparative want, It's
commerce virtually paralyzed, its exceptional
productiveness diminished. its fields laid waste,
fits mills in ruins and its people pershing by
tens OF thousands from hunger and destitution.
We have found ourselves constrained, in the
observance OF that strict neutrality which our
laws enjoin and which the law OF nations COM
mands, 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;
she capital invested by our citizens in Cuba has
been largely lost. ana the temper and forbear-
nnce OF our people have been so sorely tried
20 beget perilous unrest among our own citi-
zens which has inevitably found its expression
from time to time in the national Legislature
80 that issues wholly external TO our own body
polite engross attention and stand in the way
Of that close devotion TO domestic advancement
that becomes a sef-contented commonwealth
whose primal maxim has been the avoidance OF
oil foreign entanglements All this must
needs awaken and has indeed aroused the ut
most concern on the part Of this government rs
Efforts to Bring About Peace.
In April 1906 the evils from which our coun-
try suffered through the Cuban war became so
pnerous that my predecessor made an EFFORT TO
bring about peace through the mediation Of
this government in any way that might tend to
an honorable adjustment Of the contest be-
tween Spain and her revoltcd colony, on the
basis OF some effective scheme OF Self-govern-
ment for Cuba under the flag and sovereignty
OF Spain. II failed, through the refusal OF the
Spanish government then In power, to consid-
Rr any form OF mediation or indeed any plan OF
settlement which did not begin with actual
submission OF the insurgents to the mother
country, and then only on such terms as Spain
herself might see ht to grant The war con-
tinued undated. The resistance OF the in
uurgents was In no wise diminished
Policy OF Devastation.
The efforts Of Spain we're increased, both by
the dispatch OF fresh levles to Cuba and by the
addition to the horrors of the strife Of q new
and inhuman phase happily unprecedented in
the modern history Of civilized Christian peo-
pies The policy of devastation and coEcentra-
tion. inaugurated by the captain-general $
bando Of October 81, 1895 In the province Of
PlnAr del Rio was then extended to embrace all
of the island to which the power OF the Spanish
arms was able TO reach by occupation or mill
iary operations The peasantry, including all
dwelling in the open agricultural Interior, were
driven into the garrison towns or Isolated
places held by the troops The raising and
movement Of provisions OF all kinds were in
terdicted. The fields were laid waste, dwell
inRs unrOofed and fired mills destroyed, and, in
short. everything that could desolate the land
and render IL unfit for human habitation or
support was commanded by one or the other OF
abe contendnR parties ana executed by all the
powers at their disposal
BY the time the present administration tool,
ONCE, year ago. RECOMMENDATION, so called,
had been made effective over the better part
n the central and western pTOylnCeS-
Santa Clara, Matanzas, Havana and Pinar del
Rio The agricultural population, TO the es-
timated number OF 100000 or more, was de-
prived OF the means OF support, rendered desti-
tute of shelter, left poorly clad and exposed to
the most unsanitary conditions As the scar
city of food increased with the devastation OF
the depopuated areas OF production destitu-
tion 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 Span
tsh sources, the mortality among the reconcen-
trados from starvation and the diseases there
to incident, exceeded so per cent OF their totn
number No practical relief was accorded u
the destitute The verburdened towns, al
ready suffering from the general dearth, could
give no aid So-called zones OF cultivation
established within the immediate area OF ef-
fective military control about the cities
and fortified camps proved illusory as rem
edy for the suffering. The unfortu
mates, being for the most part women and chill
dren with aged and helpless men, enfeebled by
disease and hunger, could not have titled Tho
soil without tools seed or shelter for theil
own support or for the supply OF the cities
Recommendation adopted Rvowedly az q wal
measure in order TO cut on the resources OF th'
insurgents worked its predestined results Al
said in my message OF last December IL wal
not civilized warfare; II was determination
The only peace IL could beget was that Of thu
wilderness and the grave
kalo al inf GfruRRlG.