hence to Cuba is not merely passing over a few degrees of latitude in a few days' sail. It is a step from the nineteenth century back into the Dark Ages. In the clime of sun and endless summer, we are in the land of starless political darkness. Lying under the lee of a land where every man is a sovereign is a realm where the lives, liberties, and fortunes of all are held at the tenure of the will of a single individual, and whence not a single murmur of complaint can reach the ear of the nominal ruler, more than a thousand leagues away in another hemisphere.

In close proximity to a country where the taxes, self-imposed, are so light as to be almost unfelt is one where each free family pays nearly $400 per annum for the support of a system of bigoted tyranny, yielding, in the aggregate, an annual revenue of $25,000,000, for which they receive no equivalentno representation, no utterance, for pen and tongue are alike proscribed, no honor, no office, no emolument, while their industry is crippled, their intercourse with other nations hampered in every way, their bread literally snatched from their lips, the freedom of education denied, and every generous, liberal aspiration of the human soul stifled in its birth. And this in the nineteenth century and in North America.

Such are the contrasts, broad and striking, and such the reflections forced upon the mind of the citizen of the United States in Cuba. Do they never occur to the minds of the creoles? We are told that they are willing slaves. Spain tells us so, and she extols to the world with complacent mendacity the loyalty of her "siempre fielissima Isla de Cuba." But why does she have a soldier under arms for every four white adults? We were about to say white male citizens, but there are no citizens in Cuba. A proportionate military force in this country would give us a standing army of more than a million bayonets, with an annual expenditure, reckoning each soldier to cost only $200 per annum, of more than $200,000,000.

And this is the peace establishment of Spain in Cuba-for England and France and the United States are all her allies, and she has no longer to fear the roving buccaneers of the Gulf who once made her tremble in her island fastnesses. For whom, then, is this enormous warlike preparation? Certainly for no external enemy; there is none. The question answers itself-it is for her very loyal subjects, the people of Cuba, that the Queen of Spain makes all this warlike show.

It is impossible to conceive of any degree of loyalty that would be proof against the unparalleled burdens and atrocious system by which the mother country has ever loaded and weighed down her western colonists. They must be either more or less than men if they still cherish attachment to a foreign throne under such circumstances. But the fact simply is, the creoles of Cuba are neither angels nor brutes. They are, it is true, a long-suffering and somewhat indolent people, lacking in a great degree the stern qualities of the Anglo-Saxon and the Anglo-Norman races, but nevertheless intelligent, if wanting culture, and not without those noble aspirations for independence and freedom, destitute of which they would cease to be men, justly forfeiting all claim to our sympathy and consideration.

During the brief intervals in which a liberal spirit was manifested toward the colony by the home Government the Cubans gave proof of talent and energy, which, had they been permitted to attain their full development, would have given them a highly honorable name and distinguished charac ter. When the field for genius was comparatively clear, Cuba produced more than one statesman and man of science who would have done honor to a more favored land.

But these cheering rays of light were soon extinguished and the fluctuating policy of Spain settled down into the rayless and brutal despotism which has become its normal condition and a double darkness closed upon the political and intellectual prospects of Cuba. But the people are not, and have not been, the supine and idle victims of tyranny which Spain depicts them. The reader who has indulgently followed us thus far will remember the several times they have attempted, manacled as they are, to free their limbs from the chains that bind them. It is insulting and idle to say that they might have been free if they had earnestly desired and made the effort for freedom.

Who can say what would have been the result of our own struggle for independence if Great Britain at the outset had been as well prepared for resistance as Spain has always been in Cuba? Who can say how long and painful would have been the struggle if one of the most powerful military nations of Europe had not listened to our despairing appeal and thrown the weight of her gold and her arms into the scale against our great enemy?

I will insert in my remarks a further extract from Mr. Ballou's book without delaying the Senate to read it.

When it is compared with what we know and so painfully feel as to the present condition of Cuba and its long-suffering and brave people, and connect the present with the ten years' war

which occurred twenty-four years after Mr. Ballou wrote his book, and then twenty years to the opening of the present war, we see a chain of political cause and effect into whose links there is woven the same undying love and devotion to the liberty of self-government that inspired our fathers in their Revolutionary struggle.

It is a cause that will not die, even if we, its natural guardians, should banish it from our hearts to make room for the depravity of that royal slavery that some seem to crave who still claim to be Americans. The people of Cuba still pray for the boon of our liberty and independence, and are even willing to perish in the fires of Spanish inquisition if, in such a death, they can secure these blessings for their children. Let us reflect that it was in 1854 that Mr. Ballou wrote these prophetic words:

If Cuba lies at present under the armed heel of despotism, we may be sure that the anguish of her sons is keenly aggravated by their perfect understanding of our own liberal institutions and an earnest, if fruitless, desire to participate in their enjoyment. It is beyond the power of the Spanish Government to keep the people of the island in a state of complete darkness, as it seems to desire to do. The young men of Cuba educated at our colleges and schools, the visitors from the United States, and American merchants established on the island are all so many apostles of republicanism and propagandists of treason and rebellion. Nor can the Captains-General, with all their vigilance, exclude what they are pleased to call incendiary newspapers and documents from pretty extensive circulation among the "ever faithful." That liberal ideas and hatred of Spanish despotism are widely entertained among the Cubans is a fact no one who has passed a brief period among them can truthfully deny. The writer of these pages avers from his personal knowledge that they await only the means and the opportunity to rise in rebellion against Spain. We are too far distant to see more than the light smoke, but those who have trodden the soil of Cuba have sounded the depths of the volcano. The history of the unfortunate Lopez expedition proves nothing contrary to this. The force under Lopez afforded too weak a nucleus, was too hastily thrown upon the island, too ill prepared, and too untimely attacked to enable the native patriots to rally round its standard and thus to second the efforts of the invaders.

With no ammunition nor arms to spare, recruits would have only added to the embarrassment of the adventurers. Yet had Lopez been joined by the brave but unfortunate Crittenden, with what arms and ammunition he possessed, had he gained some fastness where he could have been disciplining his command until further aid arrived, the adventure might have had a very different termination from what we have recorded in an early chapter of this book.

Mr. President, the conditions in Cuba have not changed for eighty years as to the determination of those people to lift themselves to that plane of liberty that all Spanish America has reached, upon which we were the first to raise the banner of redemption from the power of European monarchy. In that period they have suffered more than all the republics of America for the cause so dear to them all. What they suffer to-day is only the repetition of agony from which they have never been free.

Until Weyler came its most dreadful pangs had not been felt. Now it seems that by a supreme effort of the writhing victim the hold of the oppressor is to be broken.

We had France to help us in our travail, but Cuba has found no friend such as France was to us.

That Cuba will be free is written in the stars that glow in the unfailing light of the Southern Cross, to which her children turn their eyes with a faith that grows stronger and a hope that grows brighter as the night of their sorrows grows darker and darker.

As an appendix to my remarks I present a paper entitled "The surrender of Guaimaro," for the purpose of showing the treatment

of prisoners of war by the Cubans in contrast with the treatment of such prisoners by the Spaniards.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The document will be printed as an appendix, in the absence of objection.

APPENDIX.

THE SURRENDER OF GUAIMARO.

[Minutes of the surrender of Guaimaro.]

In Guaimaro, on the 28th of October, 1896, there being present in the garrison quarters of this town Col. G. Menocal, of the Cuban army, chief of staff of the military department of the east, and Capt. José Rosario Baez, of the Spanish army, the latter said that his situation being unbearable, owing to the siege of this fortified town, since the 17th instant, by the forces under Maj. Gen. Calixto Garcia Iniguez, chief of the department, he surrenders the fortified town under the conditions offered respecting his life and those of his troops under him, the officers and other forces which defended the forts of the town having given up in the same manner.

Rosario is to give his own arms and his property and that of his subordinates. Rosario delivers 40 Mauser rifles, 8 boxes of ammunition of the same, 2 bugles, and $1,580.40 in silver, which, he says, was given him as a deposit by the commissary of war.

Mr. Garcia Menocal, representing Maj. Gen. Calixto Garcia Iniguez, ratifies the above conditions and acknowledges receipt of the fortified town and the effects and money mentioned, stating that when Captain Rosario surrendered the Cuban forces were in possession of the fortifications and troops that defended them and occupied the town.

And so that it shall appear from the proceedings, they sign two of the same tenor.

M. C. MENOCAL.

JOSE ROSARIO,

Chief of Department. Maj. MANUEL RODRIGUEZ.

In the free town of Guaimaro, on the 28th day of the month of October, 1896, Drs. Eugenio Molinet, colonel, chief of the sanitary department of the army of liberation of Cuba, and Fernando Perez de la Cruz, physician of the first class of the sanitary corps of the Spanish army, having come together, agreed to draw the following minutes, in which it is stated that at 2 o'clock in the morning of the same day, and before the surrender of the garrisons, neutrality was granted to the hospital of Guaimaro, in conformity to what was determined in the international congress which took place in Geneva, in which it was declared in a solemn manner that the wounded, field hospitals, and sanitary employees would be respected.

This neutrality was granted not only on account of the petition made by the head of the hospital, but also because of the desires of Maj. Gen. Calixto Garcia Iniguez, chief of the military department of the east, who desires that it shall be known that it is his firmest intention to respect the treaty above referred to, although the Spanish Government has not wished to accept said treaty with respect to the Cuban army.

At the request of Dr. Fernando Perez de la Cruz, he was left in charge of the cure of the sick and wounded of the said hospital, leaving him all the means which he deemed necessary for the care of his sick and wounded. He was also offered all the means, personal as well as medical, of the Cuban army. The said doctor of the Spanish army was provided with all the means to transport his sick and wounded to a place where they can be gathered by forces of his army.

And so that it shall appear from the proceedings, we sign the present minutes in duplicate. Country and liberty!

DR. E. MOLINET.

FERNANDO PEREZ DE LA CRUZ.

In the cattle farm "El Platano," State of Camaguey, on the 2d of November, 1896, Dr. Eduardo Padro, lieutenant-colonel of the sanitary department of the army of liberation of Cuba, and Dr. Manuel Huelva Romero, physician of the first class of the Spanish army, being present, Dr. Padro said that by order and representation of Maj. Gen. Calixto Garcia Iniguez, chief of the military department of the east, and by virtue of a communication that said superior chief has sent and was sent to the chief of the Spanish army, Adolfo Jimenez Castellanos, in regard to the universal laws of war that the Cuban army observes, although they are not observed by the Spanish army, he delivered by this act to Dr. Huelva 22 sick and wounded, 5 sanitary employees, 4 civilians, Dr. Fernando Perez de la Cruz, and an officer of the first

class of the military department, Julio Perez Pitarch, said individuals being al taken prisoners in the field hospital of the Spanish army, to which they belonged, in the capture of the town of Guaimaro by the Cuban forces, under the orders of Maj. Gen. Calixto Garcia Iniguez, which took place on the 28th of last October. And Dr. Manuel Romero said that in representation of the Spanish general, Don Adolfo Jimenez Castellanos, and in conformity with what has been declared by Dr. Padro, he admits the receipt of the sick, wounded, and other prisoners mentioned, declaring that among the wounded there is a chief and an officer, and in order that it shall appear from the proceedings for its proper use, they drew up the present minutes, making two of the same tenor.

DR. EDUARDO PADRO.
DR. MANUEL HUELVA.

Mr. MORGAN. To-morrow, in the morning hour, I will ask that the joint resolution be laid before the Senate, being aware that some of the Senators in favor of the measure desire to speak upon it, and I shall have the hope of getting the joint resolution to a vote within a few days.

Mr. ALLISON. If the routine business is closed, I move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the sundry civil appropriation bill.

Mr. MORGAN. Before that motion is put, I desire to ask the Senator from Iowa whether since yesterday there has been any very great emergency for pushing this bill to the front. The Senator yesterday at my suggestion very kindly consented to give notice that he would move to take up this appropriation bill to-day at 2 o'clock. Now, it seems that he is moving it to the front, and I suppose-I hope it is not true-but I suppose the Senator is doing that in order to prevent me from calling up Senate joint resolution No. 26 on the subject of Cuba. I should like to know whether the Senator desires to displace that order with his present motionwhether that is his purpose?

Mr. ALLISON. The Senator from Alabama is usually able to discern my motives, but in this instance he happens to be mistaken. I refrained from suggesting to the Senate yesterday that I would call up the appropriation bill in the morning hour to-day, understanding that the Senator from Missouri [Mr. VEST] had some resolution that he wished to make some observations upon this morning, and also the Senator from Arkansas [Mr. BERRY]. In order to make my pathway as clear as possible, I saw those Senators and asked them if they would not allow me to go on with the appropriation bill this morning. I did not know that there was any special interest in the matter of Cuba that required the occupation of the morning hour this morning, and I did not suppose that that question would be before the Senate to-day. So the Senator from Alabama is wholly mistaken as to any view I may have had on the subject.

Mr. MORGAN. I wish to ask the unanimous consent of the Senate that I may be indulged for a few moments in making an appeal to the Senator from Iowa.

I have intended, as my conduct has very clearly shown, to press the joint resolution as rapidly as I could before the Senate. My purpose has not been in the slightest degree personal, nor has it been any other than a desire on my part to prevent the continuance of a condition in Cuba that is absolutely unbearable in the sight of God and man. That is to say, I have authentic information, which I can submit to the Senator from Iowa, and which he

will not doubt when I do it, that American citizens as well as Cubans are being penned up and have been penned up in the cities and towns of Cuba by the order of General Weyler as a military movement, and that they are now literally starving to death in numbers for the want of provisions and supplies.

I apprehend that the delays, which have been great in this matter, and such as it has been impossible for me to control, have a direct reference to the fact that the Spanish Government is now attempting in monetary circles in Europe to negotiate a loan for the purpose of paying the interest upon a bonded debt which falls due now within a few days. Failing to do that, Spain will probably not conduct the war, even during the wet season, against Cuba. Her power in Cuba is going into a state of rapid dilapidation, and unless she can delay action in the Senate of the United States, through which we will give an expression again to that which heretofore we have so solemnly expressed with respect to the rights of belligerency between Spain and Cuba in that island, she will not be able to sell her bonds in the European market.

I do not wish, Mr. President, to contribute to the form of war which is prevailing in Cuba to-day, with cruelties that are destroying innocent men, women, and children, by facilitating this operation of Spain in the money markets of Europe. That is my reason for urgency in the passage of the joint resolution. I think I know what the opinion of the Senate is, and unless the Senate has been able to abandon its solemnly declared opinion of a year ago, in view of the fact and in consequence of the fact that the horrors of war in Cuba have been continually multiplied and increased, I can not doubt what the vote of the Senate will be upon the joint resolution when it is again taken up and brought to a vote. Not having any doubt about that, I do not wish that the men who are concerned in financial affairs in Europe shall be deceived by the delays which occur in this body in respect to the sentiments of the Senate of the United States. I think I can anticipate what that expression will be very clearly. If we could vote the resolution through this body to-day, Spain could not sell her bonds in the markets of Europe. If we delay until to-morrow, or a week hence, or two weeks hence, she may be able to inveigle the money powers of Europe into taking her bonds and restrengthening her credit so as to continue this campaign of starvation, murder, and cruelty for some time longer, perhaps for a year hence.

Now, under these conditions and in this situation I would not feel at all satisfied with myself, having offered the resolution, if I did not press it upon the attention of the Senate of the United States constantly and as often as I have the opportunity, in order to cut Spain off (for that is my purpose) from a resort to a credit that really is fictitious amongst the money lenders of Europe to get money in that way for the purpose of continuing this horrible crime against humanity.

I would gladly, Mr. President, retire from the contemplation of this subject, from any contact with it or any responsibility for it, if I could do so with a clear conscience. I would avoid the labor and responsibility and the acrimonious things that are said about me in this connection if I could possibly do so.

But, sir, I still have a heart in my bosom; I still have sympathy for suffering humanity; I still have respect for people who fight for liberty, and I still have contempt and abhorrence for those methods of warfare in the Island of Cuba which have made that