La Junta tribune. (La Junta, Bent County, Colo.) 1881-1939, 1898-04-16
THE PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
TURNS THE CUBAN QUESTION OVER 70 CONGRESS-
Mr. Mckinley Says the Present Situation ntoerabe and
Asks that Power be Given Him to Terminate Hos
tities.

To the Congress OF the United States:
Obedient to that prccept OF the con
stitution which commands the Presi'
dent TO give from time TO time 10 the
Congress information OF the state OF
the Union and TO recommend TO their
consideration such measures as he
shall judge necessary and expedient.
Ii becomes my duty to address your
body with regard 10 the grave crisis
that has arisen In the relations Of the
United States TO Spain, brought about
by the warfare that for more than
three years has ragged In the neighbor.
Ing island OF Cuba. do SO because OF
the intimate connection of the CUBAN
question with the states of this Union
and the grave responsibility which II
IL now incumbent upon the nation 10
adopt. must needs bear TO the tradi-
tlonal policy Of our government. 1t Is
In accord with the precepts laid down
by the founders Of the republic and re-
llgiously observed by succeeding
Americans to the present time.
The present revolution is successor
to other similar ones which occurred In
Cuba under the dominion of Spain. ex-
tending over period Of nearly half
century. each OF which. during it's
States to great effort and expense in
enforcing Its neutrality laws. causetl
enormous losses TO American trade and
commerce. caused agitation and dis
'urbance among our citizens and by the
exercise OF cruel, barbarous and unciv-
ilized practices OF warfare. shocked
the sensIbiliiIes and offended the hui
man sympathies OF our people.
Since the prc>en; revolution began.
in February, 1898. this fertile domain
has at every threshold been ravaged
by fire and sword in the course Of a
struggle unequaled In the history OF
the island and rarely paralleicd as to
the number OF the combatants and the
bitterness of the contest.
All this must needs awake and
has indeed aroused the utmost concern
on the part OF this government. as well
during my predecessors term, as In
my own.
In April, 1896. the evils by which
our country suffered through the Cuban
war became SO oneruus that my prede-
cessor made an effort to bring about a
peace through the mediation of this
government in any way that might
tend to an honorable adjustment OF the
, contest between Spain and her reyolted
colony on the basis OF some effective
scheme OF selfgovernmcnt for Cuba
under the flag and sovereignty OF
| Spain.
1t failed The war continued unnbat.
ed and the army Of the insurgents In
no wise lcssened. A once prosperous
community has been reduced to COM
parntive want and its people have per
ished by tens OF thousands from hun.
ger and destitution. Our trade has
suffered; the capital invested by our
citizens in Cuba has been entirely lost
and the temper and forbearance OF our
people have been so sorcly tried as to
beget a perilous unrest among our own
citizens which has inevitably found Its
expression from time to time in the
national Legislature, so that issues
were not wholly external to our own
body polite. demanding attention and
standing In the way OF that close devo-
ton to domestic advancement.
The policy Of devastation and con
centration inaugurated by the captain
generals order TO Pando of October 81,
1896, In the province OF Pinar del Rio
was extended to embrace all OF the
island to which the power of the Span.
lsh arms was able to reach. Every.
thing that could desolate the land and
render II unfit for human habitation or
other OF the contending parties and ex.
ecuted by all the powers at their dis.
posal.
By the time the present administra.
ton took Office n year ago the agricul.
tural population, to the estimated mum.
ber Of 100000 or more. was herdet
within the towns and their immediate
vicinity, deprived OF the means OF sup
port. rendered destitute of shelter, left
poorly clad and exposed 10 the
most unsanitary conditions. BY March
1, 1897, n conservative estimate from
Spanish sources. the mortality among
the reconcentrados from starvation
and the diseases thereto Incident, ex
ceetied so per cent. Of their total mum.
ber So-called zones Of cultivation
established within the immediate area
Of effective military control about the
cities and fortified camps proved illu
sorry.
The unfortunntes. being for the mos,
part women and children. with aged
and helpless men. enfeebled by hun
ger. could not have titled the soil with.
out tools, seed or shelter for their own
support or for the supply of the cities
Recommendation, adopted avowedly as
n war measure In order to cut on the
resources of the insurgents, worked its
predestined results.
As said in my message of last De.
cember. II was not civilized warfare
II was determination. The only peace
II could beget was that Of the wilder.
ness and the grave.
Meanwhile the military situation In
the island had undergone noticeable
change. The extraordinary activity
that characterized the second year OF
war. when the insurgents invaded the
hitherto unhnrmed fields Of Pinar del
Rio and carried havoc and destruction
up to the walls of the city of Havana
itself. had relapsed into n doggetl
struggle In the central and eastern
provinces. .Aa So
Even thus partially restricted. the
revolutiOnists held their own and thelI
cOnQueAt and submission. put forward