Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1898-04-15
INTERVENTION WITHOUT
RECOGNITION URGED.
WAR IN CUBA MUST STOP
Asks Authority of Congress to Use tho
land and Naval Forces of the United
States to End Hostiilties and
Establish a Stable Govern
ment on the I.iani-
The Maine Issue,
WASHINGTON, April ,2.-Following
b the Presidents Cuban message to

" tuo HreSlueuIS Nuudh ihS>S"SS w
Congress:
Obedient to that preccpt of tn, constitu-
ti0n which commands the President 10
give from I'll me to time the IN cress infor-
mation Of the state OF the union and to rec
ommend to their consd ra.ion such meas
ures as he shall judge necessary and expe-
dent, II becomes my duty now t. address
your body with regard o the grave crisis
that has arts.n in the relations OF the
United States to Spain by reason OF the war
fare that for more than three years has
ragged In the neighboring Isl Ind of Cuba
lido so because of the intimate connec-
aiou OF the Cuban question with the state OF
ear own union and the grave relation the
course which Is now incumbent upon the
nation to adopt must needs bear to the ira
ditional policy of our government, II II Is
70 accord with the precept% laid down oy
the founders of the republic and eligiously
observed by succee ding generations 10 the
present day.
The present revolution Is but tn. success
cor Of other similar Instructions which
have occurred In Cuba against tn. domin.
Ion of Spain. extending over period or
nearly half a century. each OF which. dur
Tag Its progress has subjected the United
States to great effort and expcns: in en-
forcing Its neutrality laws caused cnor-
NOUS losses to the American trade and
commerce. caused irritation. annoyance
and distur b L cc among our citizens and
by the exercise of cruel, barbarious and
'unciviliZed practices of warfare. shocked
the sensib!llties and offended the human
-sympashtes of our people.
Devastation at Our Threshold.
Since the present revolution began in
February 1895, this coun ~ has seen the
fertile domain at our iresho ra"aged by
Ore aud sword in the course of struggle
unequaled In the history of the i'lind and
i,ta IN, ha nj
combatants and the bitterness Of the con-
test by any revolution Of modern times
where Il dependent people, striving 10 be
free. have been opposed by the power OF the
sovereign state.
Our people have beheld once prosperous
community reduced 10 comparative want.
its commerce virtually paralyZed. its ex-
ceptiOnal productiveness diminished, tts
fields laid waste. its mills In ruins and lts
people pcrishing by the tens OF thousands
from hunger and restitution
We have found ourselves constrained, In
the observance of that strict neutrality
which our laws cnjon and which the law
OF nations commands, to police our own
waters and watch our own seaports In pre-
vcution OF any unlawful act in did of the
sCub1us.
Our trade has suffered the capital in-
-}eslcd by our citizens In Cuba h as been
largely lost and the temper and forbear-
- 10 begct pcrilous. unrest among our
own citizens which has inevitably found
its express sion from tims to time In the ma
tioual legislature. so that issues wholly ex-
eernaI to our own body polite encross at
teutiou aad stand In the way of that close
devotion to domestic adva ce ment that be-
comes a sclf-contented common wealth
whose primal maxim has been the avoid
lpce of all foreign cntanglcmcntS
All this must needs awaken and mas, In
leed aroused the utmost concern on the
part OF tnis government, as well during my
predecessors as my own.
InAr-iL 1896. the evil from which our
Sountr, uttered through the Cuban war be-
lame 80 oaerou1 that my Predecessor mad c
IN effore to bring abou peace through
the mediation of this government In any
way that might tend TO an honorable ad-
Justment of the contest between spain ana
her reyOtted colony. on the basis OF some
effective scheme of seH- government for
Cuba under the nag and sovereignty OF
Spain.
It failed, through the refusal OF the Span
ish government then In power to consider
any form of med alton or indeed any pl IN
of sc tile ment that did not begin with the
actual submission of the insurgents to the
mother country and that only on such
terms as Spain herself might see ut to
grant The war Continued undated the
resistance of the insurgents was In nowise
diminished.
Weyler's Campaign of Horror
The efforts Of Spain we're increased both
by the dispatch of fresh levies to Cuba am
bv the addition to the horrors of the strife
Ola new and inhuman phase happily un'
nrecedcnted In the modern history of civ
lIized Christian peoples. The policy oil
devastation and concentration inaugurated
by the captain generals bando OF OctoDer
ri, 1896 In the province of Pinar del Rio
was thence extended to embrace all OF the
island TO " hich the power OF the Spanish
armies was ..ble to reach by occupation OF
oy military operations
The pcasantry. including all dwelling IT
the open agricultural interior, were driven
into the garrisons towns or Isolated places
by troops The raising and move ment 81
provisions of all kinds were intcrdictcd
The fields we're laid waste. dwellings un'
rooted and fired mills destroyed. and In
short, everything that could dcsolate the
land and render 1t unit for human habita
tion or support was commanded by one OIL
the other of the contending parties. an.
executed by all the powers at their disposal
Nv the time the present administrator
took ONCE a year ago, reconcentrati on-so
called-had been made effective over thu
better part of the four cen tral ana wes.erI
provin es, Santa Clara, Matanzas. Havana
and Pinar del Rio The agricultural popu
IatIou. to the estim ated number of O00t
c,
their Immediate vicinage deprived OF TIM
means of support, rendered destitute OF
shelter left poorly clad and exposed to IN
most unsanitary conditions
AS the scarcity OF food Increased wah
devastation of the depopulation areas o.
production, de stitution and want became
misery and starvation. The monthly dealt
rate Increased In an alarming ratio. %
March 1897 according to conservative
estimates from Official Spanish sources. tn
mortality among the reconcentrados fror
starvation and the diseases thereto Incl
dent, exceeded so per c. ntum of their to
tai number No practical relief was &C
corded to the destitute
The overwhelmed towns already suher
ing from the general dearth could give o.
aid.
So-c called zones of cultivation. estaolishe
within the immediate area of effective mil
ftary control about the cities and forune
camps proved il!usory as remedy for tn
suffering.
Unclviiized Warfare
the unfortunates. being for the mos, pal
women and children with aged and helT
less men, enfeebled by disease and hunger
ronld mot have titled the soil without tool