Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1906-12-06

was able Immediately to send enough
skips to Cuba to prevent the situation
from becoming hopeless. and / fur
therm1rc dispatched 10 Cuba the sec
retary of war and the assistant secre-
tary of state in order that they might
grapp!c With the situation on the
ground.
IN accordance with the so called
flatt amendment. which was embOd-
led in the constitution of cuba. ! there
upon proclaimed 81 provisional govern
mcut fer tie island. the secretary Of
war acti"- as provisional governor un-
til he could he replaced by Mr. Magoon.
the late minister to Panama and gov
crnor Of the canal zone on the isthmus
Troops were sent TO support them and
TO relieve the navy, the expedition be
ing handled with most satisfactory
speed and efficiency. Peace has come
in the island ana the harvesting of the
sugar cane crop the great crop of the
island, IS about to proceed. When the
election has hcch held and the new
government in1u@uratcd in peaceful
and orderly fashion the provisional
government viii come 10 an end
The United States wishes nothing Of
Cuba except that it shall prosper NOR
ally and ma tcrialy nd wishes nothing
Of the CubauS save that they shall be
able to pr" 'ryc Older among them
telveS and 'IfTefGre to preserve their
Independence If the elections become
u farce and if the insurrectiOnary habit
becomes confirmed on the island 1t Is
absolutely out of the question that the
island should continue Independent,
and the United States. which has as
sumcd the sponsorship before the civ
ilizcd world for Cuba'S career as ma
ton would again have to intervene
and TO see that the government was
managed in such orderly fashion as to
secure the safety Of life and property.
The Rio Conference.
The second international conference
Of American republics, held in Mexi-
co in the years 19O1-O2, provided for
the holding of the third conference
within five years and committed the
fixing of the time and place and the
arrangements for the conference to the
governing board OF the bureau OF
American republics composed of the
representatives of all the American
nations in Washington. That board
discharged the duty imposed upon
ii with marked fidelity and pains
taking care, and upon the courteous
invitation of the United States of Bra
Zil the conference was held at Rio de
Janciro. continuing from the 23d Of
July to the 2gth of August last. Many
subjects Of common interest to all the
American nations were discussed by
the conference. and the conclusions
reached. embodied in series of reso-
lutionS and proposed conventions, will
be laid before YOU upon the coming Of
the final report of the American dele
gates.
Panama Trip.
! have inst returned from trip to
Panama and shall report to you at
length later on the whole subject of the
Panama canal.
Inc AisecIrnA convention.
Tie AlgeciraS convention, which was
signed by the United States as we'll as
by most of the powers of Europe, su-
persedeS the previous convention of
1850, which was also signed both by
the United States and a majority OF
the European powers. This treaty
confers upon us equal commercial
rights with all European countries and
does not entail single obligation Of
any kind upon us, and earnestly hope
it may be speedily ratified
Sealing.
The destruction of the Pribilof IS
land fur seals by pelagic sealing still
continues. The herd, which, according
to the Surye Y made In 1874 by direc-
ton of the congress, numbered 4,700,-
600, and which, according to the sur
vey of both American and Canadian
1.000000. has now been reduced to
about 10000 This result has been
brought about by Canadian and some
other sealing vessels killing the female
seals while in the water during their
south or in search of food
The process Of destruction has been
accelerated during recent years by the
appearance Of a number of Japanese
vessels engaged in pelagic sealing.
Suitahi" representations regarding
the incident have been made to the
government of Japan, and we are as
Sured that all practicable measures will
be taken by that country 10 prevent
any recurrence of the outrage
We have not relaxed our efforts to
secure al agreement with Great Brit
ain for Il e !d1te protection of the seal
herd. atd u'spt:atiOnS with Japan for
the same pHrpp,e are in progress.
The laws for the protection of the
seals within the jurisdiction OF the
United States need revision and
amendment.
Second Hague Conference.
In my last message | advised you
that tn emperor of Russia had taken
the initiative in bringing about sec
ond peace conference at The Hague
Under The guidance of Russia the ar
rangement Of the preliminaries for
such conference has been progressing
during The past year. Progress has
nccesSari y been slow. owing to the
great E"-ull'I Of countries to be con
suited uroa every question that has
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