CHAPTER XXV THE NEW AMERICAN ADMINISTRATION.-A LIBERAL SPANISH GOVERNMENT.-MR. MCKINLEY'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE ON September 13, 1897, Mr. Hannis Taylor presented his letters of recall and General Stewart Lyndon Woodford1 his letters of credence as American minister at Madrid. The instructions of the new minister, after a short history and statement of conditions, declared in plain words the unity of the administration with Congress in feeling and intention. They said: "In the judgment of the President the time has come for this government to soberly consider and clearly decide the nature and methods of its duty both to its neighbors and itself. . . . [It] has labored and is still laboring under signal difficulties in its administration of its neutrality laws. It is ceaselessly confronted with questions affecting the inherent and treaty rights of its citizens in Cuba. It beholds the island suffering an almost complete paralysis of many of its most important commercial functions by reason of the impediments imposed and the ruinous injuries wrought by this internecine warfare at its very doors; and above all it is naturally and rightfully apprehensive lest some untoward incident may abruptly supervene to inflame passions beyond control and thus raise issues which cannot be avoided. "In short, it may not be reasonably asked or expected that a mere policy of inaction can be safely prolonged. There is no longer question that the sentiment of the American people strongly demands that if the attitude of neutrality is to be maintained toward these combatants, it must be a genuine neutrality as between combatants fully recognized as such in fact as well as in name. The problem of recognition of belligerency has been often presented, but 1 General Woodford had been an officer of volunteers during the civil war, from 1862 to 1865. He received a brevet as brigadier-general. 1897] INSTRUCTIONS TO NEW MINISTER 509 never perhaps more explicitly than now. Both houses of Congress adopted, by an almost unanimous vote, a concurrent resolution recognizing belligerency in Cuba, and, latterly, the Senate, by a large majority, has voted a joint resolution of like purport, which is now pending in the House of Representatives. "At this juncture our government must seriously inquire whether the time has not arrived when Spain, of her own volition, moved by her own interests and by every paramount sentiment of humanity, will put a stop to this destructive war and make proposals of settlement honorable to herself and just to her Cuban colony and to mankind. The United States stands ready to assist her and tender good offices to that end. "It should by no means be forgotten that besides and beyond the question, of recognition of belligerency, with its usual proclamation of neutrality and its concession of equal rights and impartial imposition of identical disabilities in respect to the contending parties within our municipal jurisdiction, there lies the larger ulterior problem of intervention, which the President does not now discuss. It is with no unfriendly intent that this subject has been mentioned, but simply to show that this government does not and cannot ignore the possibilities of duty hidden in the future, nor be unprepared to face an emergency which may at any time be born of the unhappy contest in Cuba. The extraordinary, because direct and not merely theoretical or sentimental, interest of the United States in the Cuban situation cannot be ignored, and if forced the issue must be met honestly and fearlessly, in conformity with our national life and character. Not only are our citizens largely concerned in the ownership of property and in the industrial and commercial ventures which have set on foot in Cuba through our enterprising initiative and sustained by their capital, but the chronic condition of trouble and violent derangement in that island constantly causes disturbance in the social and political condition of our own people. It keeps up a continuous irritation within our own borders, injuriously affects the normal functions of business, and tends to delay the condition of prosperity to which this country is entitled. "No exception can be taken to the general proposition that a neighboring nation, however deeply disturbed and injured by the existence of a devastating internal conflict at its doors, may be con 510 INSTRUCTIONS TO NEW MINISTER [1897 strained, on grounds of international comity, to disregard its endangered interests and remain a passive spectator of the contest for a reasonable time while the titular authority is repressing the disorder. The essence of this moral obligation lies in the reasonableness of the delay invited by circumstances and by the effort of the territorial authority to assert its claimed rights. The on-looking nation need only wait 'a reasonable time' before alleging and acting upon the rights which it, too, possesses. This proposition is not a legal subtlety, but a broad principle of international comity and law. "The question arises, then, whether Spain has not already had a reasonable time to restore peace and been unable to do so, even by a concentration of her resources and measures of unparalleled severity which have received very general condemnation. The methods which Spain has adopted to wage the fight give no prospect of immediate peace or of a stable return to the conditions of prosperity which are essential to Cuba in its intercourse with its neighbors. Spain's inability entails upon the United States a degree of injury and suffering which cannot longer be ignored. Assuredly Spain cannot expect this government to sit idle, letting vast interests suffer, our political elements disturbed, and the country perpetually embroiled, while no progress is being made in the settlement of the Cuban question. Such a policy of inaction would in reality prove of no benefit to Spain, while certain to do the United States incalculable harm. This government, strong in its sense of right and duty, yet keenly sympathetic with the aspirations of any neighboring community in close touch with our own civilization, is naturally desirous to avoid, in all rational ways, the precipitation of a result which would be painfully abhorrent to the American people. "You are hereby instructed to bring these considerations as promptly as possible, but with due allowance for favorable conditions, to the attention of the government of her majesty the queen regent, with all the impressiveness which their importance demands, and with all the earnestness which the constantly imperilled national interests of the United States justifies. You will emphasize the self-restraint which this government has hitherto observed until endurance has ceased to be tolerable or even possible for any longer indefinite term. You will lay especial stress on the 1897] CÁNOVAS ASSASSINATED 511 unselfish friendliness of our desires, and upon the high purpose and sincere wish of the United States to give its aid only in order that a peaceful and enduring result may be reached, just and honorable alike to Spain and to the Cuban people, and only so far as such aid may accomplish the wished-for ends. In so doing you will not disguise the gravity of the situation nor conceal the President's conviction that, should his present effort be fruitless, his duty to his countrymen will necessitate an early decision as to the course of action which the time and the transcendent emergency may demand. "As to the manner in which the assistance of the United States can be effectively rendered in the Cuban situation, the President has no desire to embarrass the government of Spain by formulating precise proposals. All that is asked or expected is that some safe way may be provided for action which the United States may undertake with justice and self-respect, and that the settlement shall be a lasting one, honorable and advantageous to Spain and to Cuba, and equitable to the United States." 1 The new minister found a changed condition in Spanish politics. The forceful and able man who had hitherto been the government of Spain for many years as much as Richelieu had embodied, in his day, that of France, was no more. Señor Cánovas had been murdered by an Italian anarchist on August 8. Señor Azcárraga became the head of a ministry ad interim, to be succeeded on October 4 by a new ministry, with Señor Sagasta at its head, Señor Gullon, minister of state, and Señor Moret, minister of ultramar. These names were in themselves a promise of a new order in Cuba; a promise made doubly sure by the manifesto of their party which had been issued when in opposition, June 24, 1897, and in which they declared themselves as ever eager for a policy as to Cuba differing from that of the conservatives, and as having "initiated and developed a policy before-and long before-the insurrection broke out, and it did so expressly to avoid and prevent it. To this policy responded, and by this purpose were inspired, the reforms of Señor Maura, which, had they not met with such parliamentary 1 2 1 Instructions to Gen. Woodford, July 16, 1897, Foreign Relations, 1898, 558. Published June 24, 1897, in the evening paper El Correo (The Post) of Madrid. For this, see Foreign Relations, 1898, 592, 593. 512 SPANISH SACRIFICES [1897 obstacles and they been enacted, could have been reasonably applied, and, we rightfully believe, would have averted the disasters and prevented the horrors of the present insurrection." The manifesto was an augury of a change which was to be loyally attempted. ... The new government was in the face of a most serious situation. "Sagasta before taking office declared that the financial situation was deplorable, if not desperate. . . . It is confessed that the troops in Cuba are six months in arrear in their pay and there is no money to send them. . . . Never before in the world's history has a nation made such sacrifices and put forth such an effort to subdue revolting colonies as has Spain since 1895. Between November, 1895, and May, 1897, no less than 181,738 men, 6,261 officers, and 40 generals have been sent to Cuba. Counting the garrisons already in the island, the total fighting force must have been hard on 225,000 men. In addition and during the same period, Spain has had to send 28,000 men to the Philippines. It is safe to say that no nation in modern or in ancient times ever sent across the seas so many of her fighting men in her own ships in the same length of time. It has been a supreme and unequalled display of energy, but it has been fruitless. . . . The pity of it all is that Spain has spent every power, has exhausted herself, and yet has not quickly ended the rebellion. In other words, the insurgent policy has triumphed in both its great aims; Spain is baffled and breathless; sympathy for Cuban independence has risen to great heights in the United States and is rising higher every day. . . . It is clear that the new ministry intends to try . . . the plan of placating by reforms and a grant of autonomy while still making a show of crushing out opposition by force. It is a question if this is not too late-if the change will not mean to the insurgents a final confession of weakness, and cause them to stand more stubbornly than ever for independence. . . . If so, Sagasta's task will be the difficult one of inducing the Spanish people to submit to the inevitable. He may be aided or he may be hampered by the attitude of our own government. At present, we must confess, a diplomatic collision and a rupture appear the most probable. But whichever way Spain turns the dilemma that confronts her is most cruel; and no one possessed of the historic imagination can fail to see |