The age-herald., 1898-12-06
PRESIDENT MKINLEYS MESSAGE TO THE
 SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
lpete Resume of the Recent War With Spain, Which He
 naugurated in the Cause of Humanity.
O
 Rerrdh in Tams-On Foreign

Washington, December 1.-The following Is the message of the president of the United States, which was delivered to con gross at noon today:
 lives:
 Notwithstanding the added burdens rem Aered necessary by the war, our people re- joice in very satisfactory and steadiiy increasing degree of prosperity evidenced by the greatest volume of business ever re- corded. Manufacture has been productive, agricultural pursuits have yielded abund- ant returns, labor in the fields of industry is better rewarded. revenue legislation passed by the present congress has ln- creased the treasurys receipts to the amount estimated by its authors. The H. nances of the government have been sue cessfully administered and it's credit ad- vanced to the first rank, while it's currency has been maintained at the worlds high est standard. Military service under common flag and for righteous cause has strengthened the national spirit and served to cement more closely than ever the fra ternal bonds between every section of the country. A review of the relations of the United States to other powers, always ap- propriate in this year of primary import ance, in view of the momentous issues which have arisen, demanding in one in- stance the ultimate determination by arms and involving far-reaching consequences, which will require the earnest attention of the congress-
 The Spanish War
 
 sideraton was given to the question of the duty of the government of the United States toward Spain and the Cuban insur- rection as being by far the most import ant problem with which we were then called upon to deal. The considerations then advanced and the exposition of the views therein discussed disclosed my sense of the extreme gravity of the situation. Setting aside as logically unfounded or practically inadvisable. the recognition of the Cuban insurgents as belligerents the recognition of the independence of Cuba, neutral intervention to end the war by im- posing a rational compromise between the contestants, intervention in favor of one or the other parties, and fore ble annexation of the island, concluded it was honestly due to our friendly relations with Spain that she should be given a reasonable chance to realize her expectations of reform to which she had become irrevocably com mitted. Within few weeks previously she had announced comprehensive plans which it was confidently asserted would be efficacious to remedy the evils so deeply affecting our own country, so injurious to the true interests of the mother country as well as to those of Cuba, and so repugnant to the universal sentiment of humanity.
 The ensuing month brought little sign of real progress toward the pacifcation of Cuba. The autonomous administrations set up in the capital and some of the prin- cipal cities appeared not to gain the favor of the inhabitants nor to be able to ex- tend their influence to the large extent of territory held by the insurgents, while the military arm, obviously unable to cope with the still active rebellion, continued many of the most objectionable and offensive poli- c.es of the government that had preceded It. No tangible relief was afforded the vast numbers of unhappy reconcentradoes de- spite the reiterated professions made in that regard and the amount appropriated by Spain to that end.
 Proffer Proved Missionary
 The proffered expedient of free zones of Cuba proved illusory, indeed, no less prac- tical nor more delusive promises of suc- cor could well have been rendered to the exhausted and destitute people, stripped of all that made life and home dear and herded in strange region among unsympa- thetic strangers hardly less necessitous than themselves.
 By the end of December the mortality among them had frightfully increased. Conservative estimates from Spanish