THE CASE FOR THE A CHAPTER I THE BIRTH OF THE CUBAN REPUBLIC S a result of the Spanish-American War, the American nation became the arbiter of the✔ destinies of the Cubans and the Filipinos. It was the first time that the United States had had to decide the fate of two alien peoples, constituting distinct political entities, possessing a civilization different from her own as well as independent characteristics, and aspiring to be, not members of the American Union, but self-governing and independent nations. Cuba is no longer a problem for the United States. She has attained, through the magnanimity of the American people, that for which she long fought-national independence. The Philippines still remain a problem. They are not yet independent. From the very beginning of the dis cussion of the Philippine problem people have questioned why there should be such a difference between the fate of the Cubans and that of the Filipinos, and why there is already a Cuban republic while the Philippines still remain under American sovereignty. To understand, therefore, the whole Philippine question, and to comprehend the past and present attitude of the American people toward the Philippines, some knowledge of Cuban-American relations is indispensable. The American flag, moreover, could not have reached the shores of the Philippines had it not been for the struggles of the Cuban people against Spain. For many years before the Spanish-American War broke out, the American people had been in sympathy with Cuban aspirations for independence. They extended both moral and material help to their struggling neighbors. Revolutionary preparations were made on American soil, supplies and munitions were shipped from American cities, and expeditions were fitted out in American ports. This attitude of the American nation was so manifest to the world that Spain time and again protested against alleged violations of the neutrality laws of the United States. In 1896, General Weyler began his infamous reconcentration system in Cuba, and destruction of life and property became daily more and more alarming. American public opinion in favor of Cuba's freedom was constantly growing, and on April 6, 1896, the Congress of the United States, by a large majority, passed a joint resolution recognizing the belligerency of the Cuban insurgents. President Cleveland, however, ignored this resolution completely, preferring to file his protest against the atrocities' in Cuba through diplomatic correspondence. President McKinley, upon his assumption of office, renewed the protest of his predecessor through the same channel; but the only answer he received from Spain was that if the United States would enforce the neutrality laws with greater vigor, peace would be soon restored in Cuba. A temporizing policy was characteristic of the Spanish Government and the President soon became convinced of the fruitlessness of his diplo matic endeavors. In his first annual message President McKinley suggested the possibility of intervention; but, a new Spanish ministry having come into power under the leadership of Sagasta, he advocated the continuation of a policy of "watchful waiting" to see what the new Spanish administration would do. Sagasta did promise autonomy for Cuba, recalled Weyler, and proposed a modification of the reconcentration system. the reform came too late. The Cuban people were tired of promises. The American people were demanding the recognition of Cuban independence. But The atrocities of the Weyler system were constantly exposed in American newspapers. Scenes of death, devastation, and misery were pictured to the American people. Senator Proctor of Vermont during this troublous time made a special trip to the war-ridden island of Cuba, and his report on the conditions he there found intensified American feeling for intervention. Outside of Havana, he said, there was neither peace nor war, but "desolation and distress, misery and starvation." "Conditions are unmentionable in this respect," he continued. "Torn from their homes, with foul earth, foul air, foul water, and foul food or none, what wonder that one half have died and that one quarter of the living are so diseased that they cannot be saved?" His speech, free from any jingoistic or sensational taint, created a profound sensation throughout the country. Two later incidents hastened American intervention. One was the discovery and publication of a letter sent home by the Spanish minister in which he described the President as a kid-glove politician, a mere "bidder for the admiration of the crowd." For this indiscretion he was promptly recalled. Hardly had the excitement due to this diplomatic blunder subsided when the battleship Maine was mysteriously blown up in the harbor of Havana. Upon the report of the Investigation Committee that the destruction was caused by a mine, the American people could restrain their war spirit no longer and, with the cry of "Remember the Maine,'V they pressed upon Congress insistent demands for intervention. Finally, after further temporizing by the Spanish Government, the President was forced on April 11, 1898, to send a message, pointing out that forcible intervention offered the only feasible solution of the situation. He laid bare to Congress the unspeakable situation of the Cubans, their misery and starvation, conditions which "shocked the sensibilities and offended the humane sympathies" of the American people. "Our people," he said, "have beheld a once-prosperous community reduced to comparative want, its lucrative commerce virtually paralyzed, its exceptional productiveness diminished, its fields laid waste, its mills in ruins, and its people perishing 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 commands, to police our own waters and watch our own seaports in prevention of any unlawful act in aid of the Cubans. . . "The only peace that condition would beget," he continued, "was that of the wil-, derness and the grave." He disclaimed any intention of self-aggrandizement and upheld the humani |