E92I The Ally J»*t;fitM!i^ ^r WiK- LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 013 902 158 7* 4 HoUinger Corp. pH8.5 JUSTICE AND HUMANITY, NOT EEVENGE, THE ONLY JUSTIFICATION FOR WAR SPEECH »/ HON. GEORGE F. HOAR, SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1898. W^VSHIiNTOXON". 1893. n u ^ Co ■s G8i24 1 s p E E n OF HON. GEOllGE F. HOAR' The Senate having under consideration the joint resolution (S. R. 149) for thu recognition of the independence of the people of Cuba, demanding that the Govornment of Spain relincpnsh its authority and government in the Island of Cuba, and to withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters, and directing; the President of the United States to use the land and naval forces of the United States to carry these resolutions into effect— Mr. HOAR said: Mr. President: The function of diplomacy in regard to this grave crisis in the hi.story of this matter seems to iiave ended. The President tells us in his message that he has exhausted every effort to relieve the intolerable condition of affairs which is at our doors, and for the first time, by the consent of everybody, the matter rests with the American Congress for decision. It has seemed to mo to bo my duty, while the Government was engaged in diplomatic efforts, to abstain from i)ublic discussion. The Con- stitution having committed to the President from the beginning the conduct of our relations with foreign governments, 1 do not think that expressions of dissent or criticism arc quite in accord- ance with the duty either of American citizens or American Sen- ators while he is acting. The dutj* of action and determining the policy of this people now rests with us and our associates in the legislative functions of the Govornment. I wish to make a few observations which I fear and believe will be somewhat dull in the ears of my listeners, quietlj', rather in the manner of a court dealing with a great question of constitu- tional law involving in its results liberty and life and public wel- fare and public honor. It seems to me to be no time for impas- sioned rhetoric, for the clapping of hands, the stamping of feet, and shouting. I do not in saying that forget that the expressions of deep emotion which we have heard in this Chamber, which we read in the press, which wo have heard all over the country, are neither to be condemned or to be slighted. I am not one of those persons who find in them occasion either for sneers or for jesting. They are the utterances of good men, of American citizens, of the emotion which is felt and which all good men must feel when they witness great cruelty, great wrong, and when they are contemplating a great outrage to their flag. So, whether I differ or whether I agree with the conclusions, or some of them, to which these gentlemen have come, I have noth- ing but the profoundest respect for the motive which has brought them forth. I, however, Mr. President, bred and born in a cold latitude, would rather approach this grave occasion in the spirit of that captain who led the company of the people of my own birthplace to the s;23) 3 bridge in the morniug of the Revolution, when he said, "I -went into that battle with the same seriousness and the same sense of responsibility to God with \vhich I am accustomed to go to church. " If in the providence of God this country is called upon to do a P;reat act of international justice, let us do it in the spirit of jus- tice, and not in the spirit of vengeance. The other day one Senator cited us, as if ho liked it, the utter- ance of the Scripture, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. The Saviour cited it only to disapprove it and to give us a new commandment and a better doctrine. I am not one of those, either, if any there be, who would seek to divide and not to unite tlie people of this countr j'. If we are to en- ter upon a course of action where we receive the sympathy of the civilized world, let us not begin by re\aling each other. ]\Ir. President, I regi-et, speaking for myself, that any Senator feels it to be his duty to indulge in harsh criticism of the President of the United States. What the President of the United States does in diplomacy the people of the United States do. There is no other means of knowing the opinion, purpose, conduct, character of tho American people under our Constitution, so far as that is expressed in our diplomatic and international action, than by studying and seeing what the accredited agent of the American people, the Executive, has done, just as there is no mode of deter- mining what the American people do or mean to do or desire to do in legislation but by the legislative enactments passed through their constitutional agencies. What the President of the United States did the United States did in the face of mankind, and what the President of the United States refrained from doing the American people refrained from doing in the face of all mankind. For one I approve him alike in what he has done and said and in what he has refrained from doing and saying. I like the President's holding back and striv- ing with all his power for a peaceful solution of this business. I like his holding out for peace so long as there was a hope that peace could be had with honor. Mr. President, do gentlemen, when they criticise this brave American soldier's love of peace — and every brave American sol- dier from the beginning of our history has been a lover of peace — reflect what war is and who it is that suffers by it? The persons who suffer by modern wars are not the men who provoke them or the men who are guilty of the causes to which they owe their origin. Every modern war is an additional burden on the poor man, the laboring man, the plain man, while the glory is reaped by a few officers and the profits by a few stock jobbers and contractors. It is not even the guilty Spaniard who is primarily to suffer by the terrible punishment which we are expected to inflict upon Spain. It is not the Weylers or even the Sagastas or the Blancos. It is the poor peasant whose first-bom is to be drafted into the military service, never to return or to return a wreck. It is the widow whose stay is to be taken from her, who is to get no share of the glory, but only the full of the suffering. This war, if it be to come upon us. is to add a new and terrible burden, oven if it be confined within the limits to which we hope it may bo confined, to the already overburdened and suffering peasantry of Europe. The results of a great war are due to the policy of the king and the noble and the tyrant, not tho policy of tho people. Every child upon the Continent of Europe to-day was born with 3S30 a mortgage of $:ioO about his little neck and an armed soldier rid- ing upon his back. So while I agree, as will bo seen before I fin- ish, that war may be necessary, and it may be necessary now, yet I can not myself agree with my honorable friend the Senator from Mississipjji [Mr. Money] when ho said so lightly that ho thought it was a good plan to have a war once in a while, that it prevented the dry rot of prolonged peace. A nation is made up of human homes, and the glorj* of a nation and the value of its possessions are in its humble homes. I do not agree with the Sen- ator who thinks that a homo is made better by the loss of its boys or the crippling for life of its head. I do not like what follows war. I do not like the piling lap in this country of thousands upon thousands of millions mure of our public debt. I have not read history like the Senator from Mis- sissippi in a way to leael me to think that war is ever a purifying process. The seasons which follow great wars, either in this country or elsewhere, are times of del)ts and jobs and disordered currency and popiilar discontent. The periods that have fol- lowed the great wars are the worst periods in history. If we en- ter upon this war, we are to subject our ships to many disasters like that of the-Vanieand our soldiers to pestilence and yellow fever. The destruction in the soldier who survives of the capac- ity for the rest of his life for the works of peace is a not insignifi- aint result even of the best and mostnecessary war.to say nothing of the increase of the debt and of the pension list. On the other hand, I have no patience and I have no respect for those critics who find in the conduct and action of many of my associates and friends on this floor what they are pleased to term a spirit of jingoism. The spirit which has inspired, without an exception, tifie impassioned and zealous speeches to which we have listened is the spirit of an honorable indignation at a great wrong and an honorable resentment for a great insult, and I believe these gentlemen who think as I do that the time has come when the armed forces of this nation are to be summoned to assert tliemselves have been guided certainly by quite as patriotic a spirit as I claim to be guided by myself, whether I agree with them in all their conclusions as to the detail of action or not. But I was saying, Mr. President, that I like and thank Presi- dent McKinley that he has as far as he could and as long as he could held back the impatience of the American people. Presi- dent McKinley and those who love him and stand by him need not be at all disturbed lest his fame may suffer in the eyes of hu- manity and the eyes of posterity by the caution and wisdom with which he has proceeded. The great events in our civic history and the great names in our civil history are those which are con- nected with the sublime self-restraint with which the American people has contained itself in the presence of great wrongs and of great provocations. It is true, also, that these civic glories have more than once cro%vned the brows of great soldiers and warriors. Have we forgotten that the same kind of speeches which the Senator from Washington permitted himself to utter, who seemed to think that he who represents half the State of Washington had a better right to speak for the American i)Cople than William McKinley, who represents forty-five States and 70,000,000 people — have we forgotten that the same kind of objurgation and contumely was hurled at the head of George Washington at the time of Jay's treaty, when he held back the mdignant people of the Republic dOQ from euteriug upon another war witli England? The fame of Washington is represented and typified by the loftiest of monii- inental structures as it rises in its severe and stainless beanty over the streets of the capital. Where, Mr. President, are the graves of his critics? Has my honorable friend from Washington forgotten John Adams's experience -uiien the people were clamorous for a war vrith France, and Washington was summoned from his retirement to take the head of the armies again, and our ministers had been dismissed with insult and contempt by the French Directory, when he sent Oliver Ellsworth and Davie and Vans Murray to reopen the negotiation? That act cost John Adams the support of the Federal party and it cost John Adams his reelection. But it left him his fame and the love and honor of his countiymen, Andrew Jackson, in the great desire of the Southern people and of the majority of the American people to acquire Texas, and in the midst of our great sympathy ^\nth that people, struggling then against the despotism of a people of Spanish blood, held this na- tion strictly in the narrow yet honorable path of international law. Now, everybody honors Andrew Jackson and the only thing that our friends have to say about it is to pervert the transaction and say that the General really did not do it. Mr. President, I am old enough to remember some of the tem- pests of popular excitement in Congress and out. I think there are Senators here who remember the cry of "On to Richmond! On to llichmond! On to Richmond!" and the denunciation by honorable and zealous patriots of what they described as the cowardice and treachery of Abraham Lincoln. I think people like to remember Abraham Lincoln's counsels in those days, and those of us who sit on this side of the Chamber wish we could forget Bull Run. You remember, Mr. President, the sublime patience with which we waited after the French invasion of Mexico until the time at last came, and Mr. Seward spake and the Frenchman got out. You remember, my colleague cited it yesterdaj*, the impatience of some good men at our dealing with the Trent affair, and my colleague cited the lines of Mr. James Russell Lowell: Ef I turn mad dogs loose, John, On your front-parlor stairs, ■VTould it jest meet your views, John, To wait an' sue their heirs': I wish to remind my honorable colleague, with whom I suppose I am so fortunate as to agree as to everything of substance relating to this political crisis, that we did not take the advice of Mr. James Russell Lov\'ell on that occasion. We took the advice pf Abraham Lincoln, and William H. Seward, and Charles Sumner, and John Andrew, and on the whole we came out about as well. ^Ir. President, some of us remember President Grant's dealings VfiUi the same sort of conditions that we have had to deal with in the Island of Cuba in the last two years. I came first into public life just as that matter was going on. We did not throw law books at each other's heads in those days in the House of Repre- sentatives, but there was quite as mucli angry speech for the Presi- dent as we have heard in cither Hinise of Congress within a few days. But the groat fame of Ulysses Grant shines in the sky like a star, and the conduct of that affair is one of the brightest and 8?39 strongest of his claims to the gratitude and affection of the Amer- ican people. I think it is perhaps because I am getting old and thin blooded and losing my pluck in these matters. But, somehow or other, I like, when I read the history of the Repu1)lic, to read the story of these sublime self-restraints, for which those men who hato pop* ular government think a gi-eat and free people are incapable. Do you remember how we submitted year after year to the fit- ting out in England of the war ships which drove our commerco from the seas till at last one mOrning, Mr. Adams, having discov- ci-ed that the rams were about to go out from Laird's shipyard, wrote a letter to Lord John Russell expostulating? Lord Russell replied that ho had consulted Her Majesty's ministers and really they did not think they could do anything about it. Mr. Adams, when the time came, replied in a single sentence, which to my taste is the most sublime utterance in American literature: "It is superfluous to observe to your lordship that this is war." And the rams were stopped in an hour. I also agree with the President of the United States in his re- fusal to recognize belligerency up to this time. I do not agree with my honorable friend from Ohio [Mr. Foraker], who thought the result of that was that we policed our shores in the interest of Spain. That recognition of belligerency, in my opinion, would have simply given Spain the right to search our ships: would have released her from responsibility for actions like the destx'uc- tiou of the -Uaj/iC. imless they could be traced affirmatively and clearly to her, and would have done the insurgents no sort of good whatever. Mr. President, what has been the result, what is the result to- day, of the conduct of this matter by President McKinley so far? I have not time to go, as I should like, into a full discussion of this matter, but I wish to read one testimonial only. I do not often read newspapers in the Senate, and ordinarily we all agrea that it is not a very good practice, but I wish to read the testimony of the ablest, most consistent, most thoroughgoing advocate of an instant and an extreme dealing with Spain in this emergency in regard to what has been the effect of the policy which the pres- ent Executive has pursued thus far. The VICE-PRESIDENT. The Senator from Massachusetts will suspend a moment. The hour of 2 o'clock having arrived, the Chair lays before the Senate the unfinished business, which is Senate bill 20S0. Mr. GALLIXGER. I ask unanimous consent that the unfin- ished business be temporarily laid aside. The VICE-PRESIDENT. Is there any objection to the request? The Chair hears none, and unanimous consent is given. The Senator from Massachusetts will proceed. Mr. HOAR. I read. Mr. President, from the New York Sun of April 5, and not much has happened to excite my honorable friend from Washington since then, with the exception wliich I shall speak of presently. The delay thus far— Says this organ of the cause of liberty in Cuba- has served the cause of the rit;ht. It has Rivoii timo for military and naval preparation for decisive action. It has consolidated jmblic opinion and put the nation behind the President in his ci institutional capacity of Connnande:: in Chief of the laud and sea forcosof tho t'liiti-d States. It has i)orniittiMl the escape of some of the vai)or that precedes deliberate and calm action in an 3239 affair of momcutons importance. It has likewise enabled the President to oxbaust. as it was his duty to employ and exhaust, the resources of diplomacy in order to briujr about, if possible, an honorable and satisfactoi-y settlement without resort to arms. Now, I -would like to ask these gentlemen who are so anxious to fmd treachery and cowardice and want of patriotism and want of honor in the President of the United States, the Pi-esident of their own party, whether in the face of such a testimonial as that it is not just barely possible that President IvIcKinley may have been right and that they may have been wrong. There is another result which has come from this diplomatic action and this striving to keep in the patlis of peace. We have, what we never have had in any international conflict before, largely the sympathy of all foreign nations and almost wholly the sympathy of that nation on earth which is alike the freest, the most powerful, and the most nearly allied to us by language, history, and blood. I would like to have read as a part of my remarks an extract from the London Times. Mr. President, these gentlemen may, if they choose and if they are so disposed, undervalue in this great crisis'the sympathy of the most powerful nation on the face of the earth. I think we may perhaps like to have it before we get through. The sympathy of that countt-y on the other side pro- longed what would have been a one or two years" war to a four j'ear s or five years' war within the memory of most of us. I will ask the Secretary to read what I have marked. Undoubtedly this paper expresses the sentiment of the entire people of Great Britain. The Secretary read as follows: Wo can not refuse our sympathy to the people of the United States in cir- cumstances which would have made it difficult even for our own country- men to preserve their boasted calm. We should have needed all our seil- conimand to combine dignity with equity in such a trying position. It is bare justice to say that however inescusablo the lan^age of some of the newspapers of the United States may have been, the attitude of President McKinley is equally dignified and fair. In this matter, v/-hatever disagi-eements we may have had from time to time with our trans- Atlantic kinsmen, our sympathies are on their side. Wo share their gi-ief at the loss under such ciniel conditions of a noble vessel of war and a gallant crew. Wo admire the patience and tlie reserve of a demo- cratic government in circumstances of provocation, in the presence of pub- lic escftement which it would only have been too easy to fan into a ilame of war. The sentiments with which tlie majority of the people of the United Kingdom regard the people of the United States, and which we trust, in spite of passing gusts of temper, are reciprocated at heart on the other side of the Atlantic, are expressed in the cordial verses of the poet laureate, which wo print in another column. Mr. HOAR. Now, Mr. President, I affirm, and I challenge con- tradiction, that that sympathy and that expression of respect has been won for us largely, if not wholly, by the diplomatic bearing and conduct of the President of the United States in this emer- gency. I also desire to express my full and hearty concurrence with the President of the United States when he advises against the recognition of the insurgent government, if it be a government, now. Consul-Gcncral Lee says he has never thought the insur- gents had anything but the skeleton of a government. I will not repeat the citations from international law and from the utter- ances of our statesmen and department of foreign affaii's through- out the whole of the other Spanish couflicts in the Spanish- Amer- ican countries which I have had occasion long ago to cite. I aftinn that to recognize that people now can not bo done witli- ont disowning our whole history, without declaring tliat EnghinU was right and that wo were ^v^ong in the great controversy as to her conduct in the time of the rebellion, where there wore eleven States, ^^'ith a constitution, with coiu'ts. confederated into a re- public; and yet we claimed, and England yielded, that she had no right to recognize thoir independency. Wo can not recognize that indejiendency, as I say, without llj'ing in the face of our whole diplomatic history. Before this discussion is over it may bo desirable to return to that particular iroint again. Gentlemen cite the precedent of Franco in the time of onr Rev- olution. Franco did not pretend or claim that that recognition of the independence of the United States was anything but an act of war. Sho was hardly at peace with England. Before sho had been driven off the continent of North Arncrica by the genius of Chatham and the military prowess of James Wolfe, and she had Bat, sulky and angry, biding her time during twelve years of hol- low and treacherous truce, and when the time came France has- tened to throw her weight into our scale. It is not true, however, as I understood my honorable friend to imply the other day, as I read the history of the country, that we should not have won our independence without the assistance of France. Before the French alliance our Navy, which never has had its due share of the credit of the Revolutionary war, had driven the rate of marine insurance in the Mediterranean Sea on English vessels and cargo up to 28 per cent. England could have maintained the land war, France or no Franco, for a hundred j-ears but for that; and it was that which induced the merchants of Liverpool and London to compel George III and Lord North to make peace. Our Navy in the time of the Revolution, as I said, never has had its due credit. Why, Mr. President, the State of Massachusetts alone had at sea in the Revolutionary war more men in ships of war and in privateers than the whole of all the rest of the States of the Union put together had on land, in addition to furnishing largely more than her quota of tho land forces. Mr. President, we want to gain and wo want to keep in this struggle into which wo are about to enter the syxnpathy of the civilized world, and wo can only keep it by maintaining tho path- way marked out for us by tho law of nations. If we depart in dealing with Spain from the accepted traditions and rules of in- ternational law, especially if wo depart from those rules which we have affirmed over and over again during our own history, we can not blame them if they shall sympathize with Spain for de- parting from them also. If we put the issue on any doubtful ground, we make tho cause of Spain the cause of every European Government that has got a colony in another continent or in an island adjacent to another continent. We do not need to be do- Earting from tho rules of international law. What wo have in and we shall know how to do lawfully and offectivoly. Another thing. Senators talk about rccogniy.ing tho insurgent republic. Is that insurgent republic tho people of Cuba? The Senator from Ohio [Mr. Forakeu] and, I believe, tho committee in their report both state the number of the people of Cuba who sjonpathizo "with tho insurgent government. Tho committee states it as a third of tho people of the island, and tho Senator from Ohio stated it at 4<>0,0L>U. Now, although wo may all sympa- 8S39 10 thize, as we all do sjinpathize, with the gallantry of those insur- gents, with the courage and leadership of Gomez, with the endur- ance and the devotion which is willing to give life and everj-- thing which makes life dear for the liberty of Cuba, by what right can you stand in the face of the nations of the earth and say that jou will recognize as the lav/ful government of Cuba a comuiu- Siity which the Senator from Ohio, in some sense the organ of the committee, and the chairman of the committee in his report tell us amounts to but a third of the inhabitants of that island? Mr. STEWART. The Senator from Ohio [Mr. Foraker] is not here, but I did not understand him to make that statement. Mr. HOAR. I will look in his speech and find if he did not. Mr. STEWART. I imderstood the Senator from Ohio to say that there were only 400,000 within the military lines. Mr. HOAR. That is not what he said at all. Mr. STEWART, I do not think the Senator from Ohio said that of those who sympathized with the insurgents there were but 400,000. Mr. HOAR. Perhaps we had better find what the Senator from Ohio said. I had somewhere marked what he said about the 400,000. Mr. HAWLEY. Here it is. Mr. HOAR. The Senator from Ohio said: They control absolutely more than one-half of that territory. Moi-e than 400,(X«— That is it- More than 400,000 of the population of the island recognize no government except only their civil government. Now, what has become of the other 1,100,000? Mr. STEWART. If the Senator will take the context, he will find the Senator from Ohio spoke of those in the walled cities. Mr. 50AR. The Senator from Ohio said a great many other things with which I am not dealing now. I am dealing with the estimate which that Senator gave of the number of Cubans, the 1,500,000 people, who recognize that government themselves. Where are the other 1,100,000? The Senator said nothing about walled cities. He was speaking of the number of Cubans who recognize no government but the civil government of the insur- gents. Mr. DANIEL. Mr. President Mr. CHANDLER. Will the Senator from Massachusetts allow me to read from the testimony of General Lee? Mr. GALLINGER. I will say to the Senator from Massachu- setts that a very largo part of the people sympathize with the Cuban cause even in that part of the island where the insurgents do not hold the territory. Mr. TILLMAN. Over 200,000 of them are dead. Mr. CHANDLER. Will the Senator from Massachusetts allow mo to say one word? I wish to read from Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's testimony before the Committee on Foreign Relations, which will give the Senator the information he wants. Will the Senator allow me to do that? Mr. HOAR. Certainly. Mr. CHANDLER. General Lee was asked by Senator Fora- ker : What percentage of the population of the island is Cuban? Coiisul-General Lee. About one million five or six hundred thuu.sand peo- ple. About one-third of those are negroes. Take off bOO.OM and that will 11 leave 1,000,000. the Cubans beiiig out of that l,t*x\om), all cxoept abouJi 3U0 000 Senator Fon.\KF.R. Abnut Tit per cent? .„Y,f.Yn ruiTisuiaoncml Lee. Yes: I think all but abont .Kfl.OOO. Semlor FouakeIi Aro all the Cubans friendly to the insurgents? Consulti.Ticral Lee. I never saw one who was not. Senator Fukakeu. They arc all friendly to them.' ConsulGonoral Lee. Yes. Mr HO \R. '^iv. Presiaeut, I kuovz Cubans myself vrlio aro tborouglily fi-ienaiy to tho cause of tlie insui-geuts, but who tlo not desire their government to be estabhdbea. Mr. FRYE. Will the Senator from Massachusetts aUow me to interrupt him? Mr. HOAR. Certainly. .^ n i , f.. fi,» Mr FRYE. The Senator from Massachusetts alludoo to tho Senator from Ohio as to a certain extent being the organ of the committee. Ho is in no sense tho organ of the committeo on the (luestion of the recognition of tho Cubans as a republic. Mr HO \R I had somewhere marked tho statement about tho proportion of people in Cuba who favor tho rec;o.gnition of tho insir-ents" government made by the committeo, which I shall ask leave°to quote in tho Record. It is this: , , ^ ^, ^. , The insurccntshokl tbo eastern portion of tho island to the practical ox- ch^ion^ Spain Thi? possession extends over one body of territory com- ^iten.^tl\"mTnS^y siaiifo^hepa" f nl inhabitants of the western por- V^lToAhovov^^^ouot rhols^nd.' VhaVthirdof tho population r-y« t^Yf^ to tbem servOT in their armies, and in every way supports and is loyal to thc^Thi^skuationhL existed over since tlic lirst few mouths of tho war. Mr President, I was about to say, however, that thi3 does not seem' to me to be practically so important as it seems to some gentlemen who have dealt with it, because the moment wo are at war the moment wo choose to exercise armed force and con- straint upon the people of Spain, we are then, by every rule ot international or ioral law, at liberty to ally ourselves with any nsSumentaUty we choose to use. So, after all it is a question of what is to happen twenty-four hours beforehand or twenty- ^° YouTave\h?oM5ortunity to keep within the acknowledged prin- ciples of international law, the precedents of your own history, and have unity in dealing with this matter, or, for the sake of casting an imputation upon tho President of tho United States fargely, to adopt a different policy; and the moment this process of fntervention begins and war follows, if it do follow, we shall then have tho right by every rule of law to ally ourselves with any instrumentaUty. If the people of Ireland, if tho people of Sussex if the people of tho Isle of Man, or of Guernsey were in rebellion against England, and we went to war with her, we should, of course, extend the hand to them as allies and cooixirators. Mr President, there is another matter in which I do not agree with "the honorable Senator from Ohio [3Ir. FokakeuJ or tho honorable Senator from Kentucky FMr. Lixd.=;ay] , and with great rSpect to both tho.se Senators-ani no man values more highly their abilitv or their patrioti.sm-1 am sorry they said it. I do not believe that the man who enters a house to put out a fire becomes legally responsible for every mortgage on the house, and 1 do not believe that a policeman who enters a disorderly house to subdue a riot or a tight, even if he has to take tho proprietor into custody, 3233 12 becomes liable for every debt which the proprietor may have in- curred. I do not think if we take Spain into custody, if we put her off the Island of Ciiba neck and heels, that we are in the least responsible for any mortgages she may have undertaken to put on the island. Mr. MASON. Will the Senator from Massachusetts allow me to make a suggestion? Mr. HOAR. 1 will yield to the Senator. Mr. MASON. I do not care to interrupt the Senator, but I thought the illustration which he has made as to one entering a burning house should in all fairness have been carried to its legiti- mate conckision. Mr. HOAR. I beg that the Senator will not interrupt me to do BO. Mr. MASON. I wish to ask the Senator, after a man who enters a burning house has extinguished the lire, if he sets up ownership and says he will decide who shall run the house there- after, whether he does not then incur responsibility? ^ Mr. HOAR. Nobody proposes to set vip ownership and to pre- scribe who shall run that house hereafter. I have not heard such a proposition, certainly not from my honorable friend from Illi- nois [Mr. Mason] , and, as I said, I think the only effect of that utterance of those two eminent Senators to whom I have referred will be to give to some foreign government, or some foreign banker, or broker, or stock .iobber'a chance to make a claim against this Government. I\Ir. President, it is a pretty fine distinction be- tween our liability if we go in there and turn Spain out without first recognizing the insurgent government, and our liability in case we go in there and turn Spain out and do first recognize the insurgent government. I do not think the hairsplitting metaphysics of my honorable friend from Kentucky or the exuberant eloquence of my honora- ble friend from Ohio will ever make the publicists or the investors of mankind to see the distinction between those two cases. What thsy state will be held and will amount in the eyes of mankind to throwing the gi-eat authority of those two Senators on the side of a claim to be made hereafter if we do anything in Cuba by way of intervention; and an utterance of that kind in debate is another argument for the opinion of those who think such discus- sions should be in executive session and not in open session. Mr. President, there is another thing. As I said, the insur- gents have many titles to our sympathy, and they have it. I do not suppose there is a man within the sound of my voice whose heart has not been stirred by the noble and gallant story of this struggle for freedom. They are struggling for freedom. They are brave and unyielding. There is another thing I like in them, and I presume the Senator from Kentucky likes it also: It is well understood that the aspiration of Gomez is for a black republic in the West Indies. If he should get control of Cuba, and if Haiti and San Domingo join him. and perhaps Puerto Rico, he aspires to give an example to mankind where the men of the colored race may rule themselves as equals socially and politically, and in all other ways in freedom and in honor; and for one, I say. and I hope my friend from Kentucky will say, Amen. 1 bless him and I honor him for that aspiration. But. Mr. President, the insurgents are not without fault in regard to the terrible condition of affairs which has grown up 13 in Cuba. They began that system of warfare. Among their first acts, long before the reconcentrado orders, was the destruction of every cane field and of every farm whore anything could bo raised for which even the owners should pay a ta.x to the Spanish Gov- ernment. I would not speak severely of tliem for it iu their des- perate struggle, but it was an introduction into the usages of war of a practice unknown to tho present time. Mr. President, they have not abandoned that system in warfare. I should like to have the Secretary read one testimony upon this subject, the testimony of a person for whose wisdom, honor, and integrity— if it were not ridiculous for anybody to impugn it — I would pledge every title of my own to the respect and confi- dence of my countrymen. I speak of Clara Barton. I spoke of her years ago as the most illustrious citizen of Massachusetts. Whoever else may be in doubt, she lias won all the laurels of this epoch — that noble, beautiful woman who leaves her comfortable and delightful home, where she enjoyed the society of kindred, the affection of friends, and the admiration of all her fellow-citi- zens, to go, with the Red Cross in her hand, wherever tiiere 13 fever or sickness or siaffering, penetrating the barbarism of Tur- key when the missionaries failed to do so, and making her way into Cuba even past the cruel and bloody knives of the Spanish soldiery. The American people have had, in every generation since the landing at Jamestown and at Plymouth, brave soldiers and sailors. There has never been a war from the beginning in which the American flag has suffered dishonor or the glory of the American name been tarnished. But in this field other nations also have been our competitors. Military character, courage in war, have been found in himian annals from the beginning of time; but the mission of tho Red Cross, with its message of peace and human- ity, is wholly and altogether of American origin. It is ours al- most exclusively. I think we may trust Clara Barton and may accept her evidence without hesitation. I ask the Secretary to read what is marked. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Faulkner in the chair). The Secretary will read as requested, if there be no objection. The Secretary read as follows: It is hardly possible, even with General Blanco's Litest permission, for Spain to ^vo all the protection she would even within her trochas. Although the Spanish soldier might bo controlled and might not touch the rccoucen- trados who are attempting to cultivate the laud, there is alwavs the native guerrillas to bo feared. There is whore the danger lies; it is not so much from the Spanish soldier. The Spanish can generally control their soldiers. All the reconcentrados could cultivate much land still left to them inside of the trochas and inside of tho forts, but as soon as they have got something raised, in comes tho lawless guerrilla and takes it. Great destruction has also come from the insurgents. Theii* policy in regai-d to that is about as strange and as unnatural as was the cruel policy of Spain in driving the re- concentrados away from their farms. Mr. HOAR. Mr. President, wo have tho testimony of this be- nevolent lady to this effect. But I do not wish to be misunderstood. The fact that both parties are in some degree to blame foi these horrors does not in the least affect our right and our duty to stop them. They exist in an island over which Spain claims autiiority, and by her o^nti logic she must admit either that she herself I3 guilty of them or that her subjects, as she calls them, are guilty of them, she being unaljle to prevent them. So that I conceive it makes no difference iu the right or tho duty of the Ams.Tican 3230 14 people to deal with this transaction, and I only cite this e\'idence of Miss Barton as showing the reason why we should hesitate just now at the recogniti(jn of tho insurgent government. What should we do, Mr. President? I think we should not be- gin by quarreling amongst ourselves and by slapping the Presi- dent of the United States in the face. 1 think we should not be- gin by aiming to make party capital out of this transaction. I agree entirely with my honorable friend the Senator from Min- nesota [Mr. Davis] in his admirable and powerful statement of international law as to the right of intervention. He has summed up the authorities on one side, and to some extent on both sides, and he has come to the conclusion — and I will ask leave to make an extract or two from it — that the writers on international law who declare that there is a lawful international right of inter- vention to stop horrors of this kind have the better reason on their side. In that opinion I entirely concur with him. The chairman says in his report: The conflict of opinion and definition among the jurists upon the subject of intervention is very great. Some of them deny its existence as a right under any circumstances, excepting of self-defense against an imminent peril, while other writers of ecjaal authority maintain the validity of its assertion as a right for causes which may be inconsistent with that great foundation principle of international law, the equal and inviolable sovereignty of states. The extremes of these opinions are represented by Guizot and Arntz. The former declai'es that "no state has the right to intervene in the situation or Internal government of another state, except only when the interest of its own safety renders such intervention indispensable." Arntz maintains that the right of intervention exists: 1. "When the institutions of one state violate or threaten to violate the rights of another state, or when such violation is the necessary consequence of its institutions and tho impossibility of an orderly coexistence of states results therefrom." 2. " Vv'hen a government, acting entirely within the limits of its preroga- tives of sovereignty, violates the riglits of humanity, whether by measures contrary to the interests of other states or by excess of injustice and cruelty which deeply wounds public morals and civilization. '■ The riglJt of intervention is a legitimate one, because, however impor- tant may be the rights of sovereignty and independence, there is one thing of still greater importance, and that is the law of humanity and human so- ciety, which ought not to be outraged." Between these extremities of opinion the differences among the publicists are exceedingly various and irreconcilable. Professor Hall, in his work on International Law (:kl edition, page 288, note 1), in con.sidering the opinions of modern international jurists who touch upon humanitarian intervention, eays that "the treatment which the subject receives from them is merely fragmentary, notice being taken of some only of its grounds, which are usu- ally ai)proved or disapproved without very clear reference to a general prin- ciple." Vattel (liv. 1, chapter iv, section 56) considers it permissible to succor a people oppressed 1)y its sovereign, but does not appear to sanction any of the analogous grounds of intervention. Wheaton (Elem., part 11, chapter 1. sec- tion Vi), Bluntschli (section 478), Mamiani (page 80), give the right of aiding an opjjressod race. Heflter (section 46), while denying the right of intervention to repress tyranny, holds that so soon as a civil war has broken out a foreign state may assist either party engaged in it. Calvo (section 166) and Fiore (1,446) think that states can intervene to put an end to slaughter. Vattol says. Book II, Cbapter IV, top page 157, "As to those monsters who, under the title of sovereigns, render themselves the scourges and horror of the human race, they are savage beasts, whom every brave man may justly exterminate from tho face of the earth. "All antiquity has praised Hercules for delivering the world from Antaeus, a Busiris, and a Diomede." If these opinions state the correct rule, as we believe they do, the right of intervi'iition by the United States in the present instance is indubitable. Tlioy are, liowever, controverted liy other publicists of great eminence. It is possibly correct to say as to this conflict of opinion th.at this portion of in- ternational law is, though opei'ative in certain cases, in that formative and progressive condition of develo])nient by which many benign principle.?, though formerlj- contested, have at last become firmly established. oS39 15 I shall not nntlertnko to detain the Senate by reciting the fa- miliar, vet ten-ible, story which is tokl in the consoliu* reports. If there ho no objection, I will also include as a part of my re- marks a few extracts from the nports of onr diflerent consuls which have been communicated to the Senate and printed. [See Appendix.] The PKESIDING OFFICER. That order will be made, if there be no objection. The Chair hoars none. Mr. HOAR. I agree further with the President of the United States when he says in a sentence brief and compact, as becomes the head of a great nation making a great statement to the world, but which can not be misunderstood — This long trial h.is proved that tlie object for which Spain has -waged tho war cau uot be attained. ]Mr. President, that means, as I understand it, that in order to restore peace in that island, the continuance of the flag of Spain over tho Island of Cuba is an object impossible of attainment. If that be true, then any intervention on our part conducted by the President, if it is to accomplish the object at which we aim, must directly, and as soon as may be, expel the authority of Spain from that island, and in that belief I have no doubt we are all agreed. It is in view of that fact that the President goes on to ask leave to use the forces of the Navy and Army to restore peace. It is a peace, in other words, which can only exist and be consistent with the expulsion of the Spanish flag from Cuba. So our intervention can only accomplish its end by compelling the entire withdrawal of Spain from the island. So far as Spain has made this necessary, she is responsible for it; so far as the insurgents have made it necessary, they are, or they were, Spanish subjects, whom she can not conti-ol, and Spain, so long as she is there, can not pre- vent it. and we who can prevent it must in-event it. Mr. President, I find no difficulty where my honorable friend the Senator from Kentucky [Mr. Lindsay] and my honorable friend the Senator from Washington [Mr. TrnxER] find difficulty, and where my honorable friend the Senator from Ohio [Mr. Foit- aker] finds a doubt, in authorizing the President to do a particu- lar act of international force unless that be preceded by a declara- tion of war. Take a familiar case in our history, that of the Algerian captives, where so many of our merchantmen and sailors were taken by Algiers, during Mr. Madison's Administration I think it was. , , x, • -. Does anybody here doubt that Congress might have authorized President Madison to dispatch a naval force to Algiers and rescue those captives and compel their delivery up, and stop there? I imagine that proposition will not be controverted. It depends on the other side, then, whether they will take that as an act of war. If we authorize the President to put Spain out and restore peace to that island and Spain shall get out, there will be no war, and it is not necessary to declare war; or if he puts her out and she con- cludes that .she can not help herself and does nothing further, there will be no further war, and it is not necessary to declare war. Mr. President, the Executive of the United States has frequent occasion to do acts of this kind when Congress is not in session. How many instances of international force have been necessary in the ordinary protection of American citizenship abroad or on the high seas which the other party may take as an act of war if o239 16 It chooses, but which the President has a constitutional right and duty to do whether or not war has been previously declared? Suppose Austria had gone a little further and Commodore Ingra- ham had resisted the attempt to retake Martin Koszta by force Fijd the President of the United States had sustained him in it. Does anybody claim that is a declaration of war, or will any American claim that it is not within the lawful and constitu- tional power of the President to do it? Austria might have treated it as an act of war. Take the very familiar power committed to the President, that of the recognition of the independence of a foreign government, which he does in time of peace, so far as this country is concerned, or he does when Congi-ess is not in session. The other side may take that as war or not, as they see tit. It is very often one of the most hostile of acts. So I find no difficulty there. Mr. President, I am therefore prepared to support the resolu- tions of the House, if I have correctly interpreted them. I should like a little better the form which has been drawn ujj. I under- stand, by the honorable Senator from Colorado [Mr. Teller]. It appeared in the papers, and I suppose I violate no propriety in saying that it appeared with his consent or his authority. I like that, which I think is a perfect expression of the limits and the extent to which it is necessary for us to go, and I think v.'hen we go that far all other things will be added to us and all other things will be added by the inevitable and inexorable logic of events that are desired by the friends of freedom in Cuba. I have spent this time because I thought it was due to a brave soldier, to an honor- able American patriot, and to a great President that the angry attacks upon him which have been heard in this Chamber should not go without at least one voice being raised in his behalf. I also agree with the President and with the committee in treat- ing the outrage upon the Maine for our present and immediate purpose only as an instance and proof of Spain's incapacity to preserve order and civilization in the island. It vail have its own consideration, and they misundei'stand the American people who think that the consideration of any public transaction by the people of the United States leads to cowardice, dishonor, or weak- ness. It will have its own consideration, and unless the entire history of this ci^untry is to be forgotten the result of that con- sideration will be such as is creditable and honorable to American manhood and to American good faith. I believe it was a meditated act of which Spanish officials were probably guilty. I do not overlook Consul-General Lee's sugges- tion as to the possibility of bringing a torpedo in the neighborhood of the sliip in a boat by one or two or three men and the ship swinging against it. That is not the consul-general's opinion, but his suggestion, and I should like to put it in the language in which he gave it: Consul Genej-al Lee. I never have lieen cortain that the sulmiarine niiue was placed there prior to the entrance of the .Vanie into the harbor. It rui.tjht have been done afterwards. The ilAu'nc was anchored to a buoy by some little chain. A ves.sel swinging around that way sometimes gets at various places all around the circle. When she would swin^? oft' that way, with the bow next to the buoy, and these boats plying about the harbor all the time, anybody could go pretty well in front of her on a darli night and drop one of these" submarme mines of 5110 pounds. They have fingers, as it v>'ere, and as tliebuat goes around it would touch the finger, which makes contact and explodes the luiue. That might have been done after the Maine got in there. o239 17 Senator Cullom. And not be discovered? Consul-Goneral Lek. Yes, sir; one or two men rowinpr quietly in ft baat could drop it off the stern of the l>ont on a dark ni^ht. though Sig.-sbi o Iiad his patrols out— I do not know what they call them on men-of-war: sentinels. Still, it might not liave Ix'en discovered. A bout would not have been noticed, because boats go tliere always. Senator CuLi.oM. Dav and night? f V.nsul-General Lek. "Yes, sir: to a late hour of the night. Tlio harbor is full of these little boats. A mine weighs about 500 poumls. and I supjjoso it would take two or three men— one man to row and probably three or four to handle the mine. Senator Cui.Lc^M. Containing 500 pounds of gun cotton? Senator Lodge. And the easing. Senator Cullom. And the casing, which weighs something more. But tho committee say with great force tbat sncli things are not found in private haiid.s, especially in a community like that of Havana, and that it is almost impossible to escape the conclu- sion that no person could have had in his possession a mine or torpedo capable of working that destruction without tho conniv- ance of Spanish ofhcials, or without gross iiogligcnco, which, under the circumstances, was equal to connivance. I further agree and believe and maintain that that being true, the Spanish Government is responsible for that loss and should be held re- sponsible. But everybody— the President, the consul-general, the Commit- tee on Foreign Relations, if I am not mistaken— acquits Blanco. The chairman of the committee, the Senator from Minnesota [Mr. Davis] , nods his head in assent. General Lee says he found Blanco in tears when he hastened himself to the scene of the occurrence. This is Blanco's dispatch: [Inclosure in Xo. 777.] Havana, February IS, ISOS. Mr. Consul: It becomes my painful duty to express to you my profound sorrow for the misfortune which occurred yesterday on board the American ship ^faine. I associate mvself with all my heart to the grief of tho nation and of the families who have lost some of their members: and upon so doiu<' I do not only express my personal sentiments, but I si)eak in the name of all the inhabitants of Havana— witnesses of the catastrophe which has afflicted 60 many homes. God guard you many years. ^^^^^^ BLANCO. TheCoxsuL-GENEnAL of the United State.s,, Now. to acquit Blanco— do not let me be misunderstood— is to acquit Spain of direct purpose, intentional guilt, in that transac- tion, because he was the only medium through which tho orders of the Government of Spain could have gone to any subordinate official. I do not mean that to acquit Blanco is to acquit Spain of neglect. I do not mean that to acquit Blanco is to acquit her of ha\-ing treacherous and wicked othcials, and still less do I mean that to acquit Blanco is to ac(iuit her of full responsibility; but what I say is that if we acquit Spain of having directly, with mal- ice aforethought, of diabolical intent and purpose, set otf that mine, then the setting off of it is not an affirmative act of war, but is one of those acts which warrant us in seeking reparation, if necessary, by warlike means and instrumentalities. It does not create a state of war unless we choose to make war for that cause in and of itself; and so the committee treat it. If tho Maiiir stood alone, we could. I hope and believe, under these circumstances secure an honorable reparation for her loss without war. Spain has opened tho door. She has declared her willingness to submit, not her liability, not what reparation she o:.':3'j-2 18 Biiall make, but simply the fact how it liappened under circum- stances which imply that if it be ascertained that it happened from an external cause, she of course expects to make due repara- tion and to agree, as she says in advance, to accept the result. Mr. President, I do not agree with those gentlemen, amiable, honest, zealous, and patriotic as they are, who find fault with our honorable committee and our President for not bringing in a dec- laration of war on the instant in consequence of the destruction of the Maine. It is said — although on this I do not place so much stress, but as gentlemen are reviewing the past and finding fault with some of us, we may, perhaps, aflude to it — that there is no other country in the world that would allow the Maine incident to go three weeks without redress. That may be true, but there is no other country in the world which would allow itself to go un- armed and would maintain, with wealth and resources like ours, a policy for all these years which enables a fifth-rate, weak power, a relic of the Dark Ages, to be on an equality almost with the peo- ple of the United States for the first few weeks of a naval war. I should think my honorable and amiable friend the Senator from New Hampsbiro [Mr, Chandler], who does mo the honor to listen to me, and, I am afraid from fhe expression on his countenance, has done me the honor to disagree with me a good deal, would be rather amused when he reads the utterances and the votes of some of his bellicose associates and remembers how he was baffled, dis- appointed, and blocked in his honorable and praiseworthy attempts, which are the glory and crown or among the various glories and crowns of his honorable and useful life, by the very men who are now so warlike. I will not undertake to give names or to allude to persons, but I will undertake to say that if any Senator of the State of Massa- chusetts be charged with overcaution in hesitating to get this country into a naval war before she is ready, at least no Senator of Massachusetts ever failed to vote for the largest amount of money and the largest number of ships whenever the question of an honorable and decent Navy was at stake or whenever the ques- tion of proposed fortifications was up. Mr. President, Spain ought to be as powerless in the grasp of the United States as a 3-year-old infant in the grasp of his father. Mr. President, I expect to vote for the House resolutions, un- less I should have an opportunity to vote for the resolution of the honorable Senator from Colorado. That leads to war. There is no doubt about it. It will lead to the most honorable single war in all history, unless we except wars entered upon by brave peo- ple in the assertion of their o\m liberty. It leads to war. It is a war in which there does not enter the slightest thought or desire of foreign conquest or of national gain or advantage. I have not heard throughout this whole discussion in Senate or House an expression of a desire to subjugate and occupy Cuba for the purposes of our own country. There is nothing of that kind suggested. It is disclaimed by the President, disclaimed by the couimitteo, disclaimed by everybody, so far as I am aware. It is entered into for the single and sole reason that three or four hun- dred thoiisand human beings, within 90 miles of our shores, havo been subjected to the policy intended, or at any rate having the effect, deliberately to starve them to death— men, women, and children, old men, mothers, and infants. If there have been any hasty or unwise utterances of impatience 19 in such a cause as that, and I think there have been, they have been honest, brave, humane utterances. But when I enter upon this war. I want to enter ujiDn it with a Tinitod American people — President and Senate and House, and Navy and Army, and Democrat and Republican, all joinin^c hands ananish authorities to prevent cane burning, liecauso one man at night can .-start a fire which will burn hundreds of acres, just as a single individual could ignite a Tirairie by throwing a match into the dry grass. I have read letters stating tliat charitable persons in the United States will send clothing, food, and some money to these unfortunate people, and I liave arranged with the Ward Line of steamers to i)rovido freo transportation from New York. I hope to secure the permi.ssion of the S]ianisli authorities here for such things to be entered free of duty. I am told, liowovor, that they must come consigned to the bishop of Havana. The sutl'i-rings of the reconcentrado class have been terrible beyond description, but in Havana less than in other places on the island; yet Dr. Brunnor. acting United States .san- itary inspector here, informed me this morning that the death rate of tho reconoentrados in this city was about •'iU per cent that in other places of the island, and when it is remembered that there liave been several hundred thousands of these noncombatants or paciflcos, mainly women and children, ■who are concentrated under General Weyler 's order, some idea can be formed of the mortality among them. In this city matters are assuming better shape. Under charitable commit- tees large numbers of thorn have been gathered together in houses, and are now fed and cared for by private subscriptions, i visited them yesterday and found their condition comparatively good, and there will be a daily im- provement among them, though the lives of all can not bo saved. I wit- nessed many terrible scenes and saw some die while I was present. I am told General Blanco will give $100,1100 to the relief fund, lam, etc., FITZHUGH LEE, Consiil-Gcncral. [Inclosnre with dispatch No. 713.] Sir: Tho public rumor of the horrible state in which the reconcentrados of the municipal council of Havan.i were found in the fosos having reai-hed us. we resolved to i)ay a visit there, and wo will relate to you what we saw with our own eyes: Four hundred and sixty women and children thrown on the ground, heaped pellmell as animals, some in a dying condition, others sick, and others dead, without tlie slightest '-leanliness nor tho least heli). not even to givo water to the thirsty, with neither rcli>;ious nor social heli), each one dying wherever chance laid them, antween forty ami llfty daily, giving relatively ten davs ot life for each iicrson, with gri-at joy to the authorities wlio seconded fatidi- caliy the politics of General Wtylor to exterminate tho Cuban people, tor 32)9 20 tliese unhappy creatiires receivod food only after having been for eight days in tho fosos, if during this time they could feed themselves with the bad food that tlie dyins refused. On this first visit we were present at tho death of an old man who died through thirst. When we arrived he begged us, for God's sake, to give him a drink. Wo looked for it and gave it to him, and fifteen minutes afterwards he breathed his last, not having had even a drink of water for three days be- fore. Among the many deaths we witnessed there was one scene impossible to forget. There is still alive the only living witness, a young girl of 1^ years, whom wo found seemingly lifeless on the ground; on her right-hand side was the body of a young mother, cold and rigid, but with her young child still alive clinging to her dead breast; on her left-hand side was also the corpse of a dead woman holding her son in a dead embrace; a little farther on a poor, dying woman, having 111 her arms a daughter of 14, crazy with pain, who after five or six days also died, in siHtc of tho care she received. In one corner a poor woman was dying, surrounded by her children, who contemplated her iu silence, without a lament or shedding a tear, they them- selves being real specters of hunger, emaciated iu a horrible manner. This poor woman augments the catalogue already largo of the victims of tho reconcentration in the fosos. iTho relation of the pictures of misery and horror which we have witnessed would be never ending wore wo to narrate them all. It is difficult and almost impossible to express by writing the general aspect of the inmates of the fosos, because it is entirely beyond the line of what civ- ilized humanity is accustomed to see; therefore no language can describe it. The circumstances which the municipal authorities could reunite there are the following: Complete accumulation of bodies dead and alive, so that it was impossible to take one step without walking over them; the greatest want of cleanliness, want of light, air, and water; the food lacking iu quality and quantity what was ueccssarj' to sustain life, thus sooner putting an end to these already broken-down systems; complete absence of medical assist- ance; and what is more terrible than all, no consolation whatever, religious or moral. If any young girl came in any way nice looking, she was infallibly con- demned'to the most abominable of traffics. At tho siglit of such horrible pictures the two gentlemen who went there resolved iu spite of tho ferocious Weyler, who was still Captain- General of tho island, to omit nothing to remedy a deed so dishonorable to humanity, and so contrary to all Christianity. They did not fail to find persons ani- mated with like sentiments, who, putting aside all fear of the present situa- tion, organized a private committee with tho exclusive end of aiding mate- rially and morally tho reconcentrados. This neither lias been nor is at present an easy task. The great number of tho poor and scarcity of means make us encounter constant conflicts. This conflict is more terrible with the ofllcial elements, and iu a special manner with tho mayor of the city and the civil authorities, who try by all moans to annihilate this good work. Tho result of the collections are very insignificant if wo bear in mind the thou- sands of people who sulfer from tho reconcentratious; but it serves for somo consolation to see that in Havana some 1.59 children and 84 women are well cared for in tho asylum erected in Cadiz street, No. 83, and 93 women and children are equally well located in a largo saloon erected for them in the second story of the fosos, with good food and proper medical assistance, as also everything indispensable to civilized life. According to the information which wo liavo boon ablo to acquire since August until tho present day, 1,7U0 persons have entered the fosos proceed- ing from Jaruco, Campo Florido, GuanalK), and Tapaste, in the Province of Havana. Of these, only 243 are living now and are to bo found in Cadiz street— 83 in the saloon already mentioned and til in the Quinta del Key and the Hospital Blercodes, the whole amounting to about o!)~, and of these a great many wdl die on account of -the great sufferings and hunger they have gone through. From all this wo deduct that the number of deaths among the reconcen- trados has amounted to 77 per cent. Mr. Lee to Mr. Day. No. 733] United States Consulate-General, Havana, December 7, 1S07. *♦*♦♦*♦ I am informed an order has been issued in some parts of the island sus- pending the distribution of rations to reconcentrados. » • * The condition of these i)eoplo is simjily terrible. 1 inclose herowitli an oflicial copy of the comparative mortality in Havana for the six month.-) ending November 30. It will be perceived that there has 3339 21 been a gi'oat increase In the death rate, nud without adequate means in the future to prevent it the mortality will increase. I hear of much suffering in the Spanish hosi)itals for want of fixnl and amonfftho Spanish soldiers. • * * I hear alsi> that the Spanish merchant-^ in siano parts of tlio i.slaud are plaeine their istablishments in the names of l'or(•i^;n^•rs in order to avoid their provision'* iH'iuK' purchased on credit by the military administration, and that the Spanish army is sulVerint; much from sickness and famine, and that a great deal of money is needed at once to relievo their conditii^ii. In some parts of the island. 1 am told, there is scarcely any food for soldiers or citi- zens, and that even cats are used for food purposes, selling at 3() cents apiece. It is a fair inference, therefore, to draw from the esistint' conditi7 873 1896 (epidemic of yellow fever among army and Cubans} 1,417 1807 (no epidemic) . (1,193 more than in seven previous years.) Concentration order in February, ISOl— Monthly death rate. January 78 February (concentration) Ill March. 5 April 534 May 5.T9 Jiine 531 July - ti55 August — September. October November. December . Total... Sample month, December, 1807. 5. 489 G,9S1 615 630 i,n;j7 l,Uli 6,9S1 iNuraber of Number of deaths. patients. Civil Hospital.- Military Hospital San Lazarus Hospital Buried in poor carts. Buried by family Prison Total Ko. 95.] Mr. Brice to Mr. Day. CONSUI-ATE OF THE UNITED STATES, Matanzas, I\'ovember 17, 1S07 Starvation.— 'No relief as yet afforded the starving thousands in this prov- tace. Sevei'al days ago an order from Captain Gin was given municipal authorities to issue rations and clothing, but no attention is paid the order. ******* Death rate in this city over 80 persons daily, and nearly all from want of food, medicine.'!, and clothing. As I writo this a dead negro woman lies in the street within 300yai'ds of this consulate, starved todeath; died some time this morning, and will lie there, maybe, for days. The misery and destitu- tion in this city and other towns in the interior are beyond description. A general order has been issued allowing reconcentrados to return to the country, but the restrictions placed in order ai-o such as to practically pro- hilnt. "if they went, wliat can they do without money, food, or shelter? Only those who can obtain employment on sugar plantations can live. In- surgents say no one will be allowed to gi'ind in Province of Matanzas. The situation is indeed deplorable, and I am free to say no real help can be ex- pected from Spanish Government, and the fate of the remaining reconcen- trados is slow, lingering death from starvation. No. 97.] Mr. Brice to 2Ir. Day. Consulate of the United States, Matanzas, December 17, 1S97. Concenfrodos.— Relief offered these and other poor people by Spanish aiithorities is only in name. I have personally visited (on several occasions) head masters of distributing stations. Two thousand rations were given out, for a few days only, to 8,U(iO persons. * ♦ * There are more than 13,000 starving people in this city to-day. One out of 4 (or C) received the following ration: 3 ounces rice, 1} ounces ta,ssajo (jerked beef), and sometimes a small piece of bread, per diem. Imagine starving people being relieved by such 8239 rations! Even this rfttion of food has been discontinued siaco 11th instant. Death rate has diuiiuished somewhat; now about W daily. There arc less people to die. The sc.;nos of misery and distress daily observed are bevond belief. Hero Isouooutcf ihundreds: In a family of sevontotn livinR in an old limekiln, njiperpart of city limitj». all were found doad except three, and thev barely alive. ♦ • • A few of the strongest of these peo))lo have been sent out to supar plantations, which expect to prind. They pet ;«) cents per day and board themselves. General Blanco's oitler allowing reconceutrailos, owners of plantations and farms, to return and cultivate croj)s, etc.. is inoperative and of no avail. Several of our American citizens, owners of land, have repeat- edly asked the civil governor of this iirovinco for ])ermissiou to return to their hi>mes, and in every case refused or restrictions imposed making it im- possible to comply with. *»•♦••• I am, etc., A. C. BRICE, United States Consul. Mr. Br ice to 3fr. Day. 1^0. 90.] Consulate of the U.mted States. Matuiizas, Janunry li, 1S03. Sir: I have the honor to report the following concerning destitute Amer- ican citizens, Alatanzos Province: ***♦•♦♦ Up to Sunday, January 9, 1S9S, weeklv rations of food liave been regularly Issued, also medicines for sick, and altlioutrh there has been more or less hardships and suffering for want of clotbini,', shelter, etc. (which we were not allowed to supply), none of our people have suffered for food or medi- cine. . . trap to starve. We have fifteen or eighteen families (American reconcentrados) who own property in the countrv, and were they allowed to go to their homes, could make a good living. All these have begged and pleaded with authorities (under Blanco's order) to go, and in every ca.se refused. Since the ->4th of May, 1^97, to December 20, 1897, seven months, we have given food and medicines and relief to an average of 30.j persons. American citizens, at a cost of 5<<,175. 48 Spanish gold. This amount received from Ha- vana on account of Cuban relief fund to date. Wo require a little over $«I0 (lulls not rendered) to settle last two weeks' ration bills and three weeks' znedlcine. ••*♦*♦* I am, etc., A. C. BRICE, United States Consul. Mr. Hyatt to Mr. Day. No. 413.] COXSULATE OF THE U.VITED STATES, Santiago de Cuba, December ii, 1S97. • ••**«* As I write a man is dying on the street in front of my door, the third in a comparatively short time. Very respectfully, PULASKI P. HYATT, United States Consid. Mr. Hyatt to Mr. Day. No. 41.J.] Consulate of the United States, Santiago de Cuba, December 21, HOT. Sir: I respectfully report that sicknessand the death rate on this island is apiialling. Statistics make a grievous showing, but come far short of the truth. The principal dise.ise is known by various names. Calentura, baludol fever, la eri])ix\ etc., is thought by lOiy.siciaiis to bo brought on by insufli- cient food. I know s r cent of tho poi>nla<'o will ri'ach a state of craviiiij hunj^er, witliout outside aid, nor do I feel tliat 1 am sjjeaking chimoriaiUy when 1 include tho rank and file of the Siv»nish army. The true status. a.s viewed nt present, will boar out this opinion. Tho snf- feriut: amonc: tho troops, as well a-^ the roconccutrados, simply beggars por- trayal, while discontent ripens daily. 1 am, etc., "WALTER R BARKER, Consul. Mr. Barker to Mr. Day. No. 2T0.] COXSUI..\TE OF THE U.NTTED ST.VTES, Haijiia la Grande, December IJ, 1S07. All cfiforts so far to obtain relief by popular sulwcription have met with signal failure. Tho Cubans aro too poverty stricken, while tho Spaniards, who own tho wealth, will contributo notbincr. In my rcoent trip I found that the Kpauisli soldiers aro not only suffering for necessary food, but I was often appealed to by those pitiable creatures for medicine. Ono has only to look upon them tc be assured of tho needa complained of. [Confidential.] Mr. Barker to Mr. Day. Coxstrr-ATE of the United States, Sagua la Grande, December 23, 1507. ««««««« How could the situation be otherwise, since tlie island is producing abso- lutely nothing, save some growing cane, and at the same time completely exhausted of all food? ReUef alone cajibe obtained from the outer world in the way of charitable contributions. This— Santa Clara— province is capable this season of producing perhaps two-thirds of whatever cane might be made in the entire island. To grind this cano without interruption would bo the means of saving the lives of thousands who, without this or outside aid within the next thirty to fifty days, must die of actual hunger. Over a month since tho planters were officially advised of Spain's inability to provide protection in order to oper- ate their mills. This leaves tho sugar growers entirely in tho hands of tho Cubans in revolt as to whether they will bo allowed to grind witliout hin- drance or fear of total destruction of their property. I know that strict orders have been given to sulxn-dinate commanders under no circumstances must mills be permitted to grind, under penalty of violation of tho order destruction of property. [Inclosure 1 in Xo. 273.— Telegram.] Mr. Barker to Mr. Day. Sagua, Do they so diaposcd, aro ut- terly ixiwcrlesit to control or In any measure subdue. 9339 2(5 Aside from the stifferingr and desperation caused by the iiuparalleled des- titv.tion. 1 regard the situation as rapidly assuming a critical stage: and to Biltl tliat, as stated rc])eatedly heretofore, in no way have the autliorities de- ] parted in fact from the policy pursued by the late (but not lamented j Gen- eral Wovler. S])anisu troops as well as the guerrillas, under the cruel chiefs Carreras, 01avar;nta, and Lazo, continue to despoil the country and drench it with tlio Mood of noncombatants. Although the "'bando" of the Cajitain-General provides that laborers may return to estates having a garrison, last week a mimbor belonging on the "Sta. Ana," located within a league of Sagua, and o\i-ned by Mr. George Thorndike, of Newport. K. I., were driven off after returning, and refused i)ermit as a protection by the military commander. Mayor Lomo, one of the trusted officers under the Weyler regime, lam, etc., WALTER B. BARKER. Mr. Barker to Mr. Day. No. 2S4.] Consulate of the United States, Sagitu la Grande, January 27, 1S9S. Sir: I beg to inform the Department that smallpox, referred to in my Ko. 279 of the ISth instant, has increased to an alarming extent. The number of cases and mortality among the " reconcentrados " is un- precedented throughout this consular district. I am, etc., WALTER B. BARKER, Consul Mr. Barker to Mr. Day. Iso. 236.] Consulate of the United States, Sacjua la Grande, January SI, ISOS. lie 4c lie :)c :t: ijc :t' Over two months since two of oiir citizens notified me they had discovered in poss8S.sion of the local guerrillas 10 or 13 head of their horses, seized by said guerrillas. I addressed the military commander of Sagua, * * * ask- ing, upon proof of ownership, their stock to be r&stored. Nothing has been done; while these American citizens— both in affluence at the breaking out of the rebellion — are to-day dependent on charity. One sugar mill is running, not without interruption, with chances of mak- ing one-fourth of a crop. Another— just started up — was attacked j'esterday by a band of irfsurgonts, killing 14 and wounding 5 of the guerrillas paid by the estate to protect the operatives. Seven laborers were killed, the insur- gents leaving two of their dead. An adjoining estate, the ]iroperty of the British consul, was al'^o attacked, the growing cane burned. This precludes further attempts to grind, as men can not he induced to work while the insurgents roam at will over the country. I am, etc., WALTER B. BARKER, Consul Mr. Barker to Mr. Day. Ko. 2SS.] Consulate of the United States, Sagua la Grande, February 17, 130S. Sir: I beg to snbmit the following: It is proper that I inform the Department that the ravage of smallpox has reached a point where the physicians, few in number, without proper means of treating, as well as no nurses, can not cope with it. Itiave cabled our dis- patch agent in New York for an additional supply of virus. I was informed by tiie mayor of this city only yesterday that he was just in receipt of a communication from the government of the province stating no funds to feed the starving were obtainable. In reply to my query why he did not send a number of them to the country, ho stated that the military commander refused to grant this permission, lam, etc., WALTER B. BARKER. Consul Mr. Barker to Mr. Day. Ko. 291.] Consulate of the United States. Sar/ua la Gra)ide, March 1.', lS::iS. ****** l|c From the 15th of last month, through cash donations made to this con.sul- ate direct, through personal appeal, I cared for 1,200 persons. By the 1st instant those coutributlous increased so as to enable the committee to increase 27 the relief list to 2.000. Thi.sWs boon mnintninod until now; but ns the Fcni, with 35 tons, should arrive to-morrow, the Sagua relief am bo coutiuued. Mr. Barker to ^fr. Day. IJ'o. 25)5.] Consulate ov the United States, Smjua la ClrantU; March If,, IS93. Sir: Tlio inclosed letter fn^m Mr. Valle.* of Saneti E.spiritus, whom I havo every rea.son to believe will not misrepresent the ea.se, tot;etlier with the fact that in other places 1 find I liaveunderestinintod t lie number in my juris- diction in need of rehef. It is therefore that I be>f to increa.se the amount ro(iuired, as stated in my No. 29i, of the l~'th instant, from SO to 100 tons per mouth. 1 am. etc., WALTER B. BARKER, ConsxiL [Telegram.] Mr. Barker to Mr. Day. Sagua la Gra.Mie, March S!,, 1S03. Dat, Washington: Closer investiKation di.^closo larpor number destitute than estimates sent. Fifty tons needful now. Distress far greater than my rejiorts show. BARKER, Consul. Mr. Barker to J/r. Day. No. 297.] Consulate of the United St.\tes, Sagua la Grande, March 21, IS^'i. (Received March 30.) Sir: I havo the honor to say that since forwarding my No. 291 of the 12th instant, wherein I gave the Department approximately the amount of food required for my zoi:o per month. I find many outlying— interior— villages, of which I had no account, neglected and in great want. To this very class, located in the interior towns, I havo given special attention, but it has beea impossiblo to care for all immediately. For instance, the relief committee to whom supplies were sent in Ji'anta Clara, seat of government of the province, inform mo to-day that in a small town near there are oOO persons in pressing need. Today I wired Mr. Louis Klopsch, of the Christian Herald and Centr.al Cuban Relief Committee, who is now in Havana, that 2<) tons additional re- quired till 1st proximo, and to know if ho could supjily this. As yet no reply has been received. A very largo proportion of the.so poor creatures bemg actually ill, other medicine than quinine is required, as also medicinal wines and nourishing food for them. I beg to inclose herewith a list of towns to which I havo and am seudiug supplies. There are perhaps six to eight more requiring relief. Mr. Barker to Mr. Day. No. 299.] Consul.vte of United States, Sagua la Grande, March .'^, I'^OS. Sin: I visited seat of government of this Province, Santa Clara, where I learned, not alouo from trustworthy persons sent out by mo for the purposo, but also the civil governor, that the number of persons in actual want ex ceeds any estimate I havo sent tho DcTiartment. The distress is simply heartrending. Whole families without clothing to hide nakednes.s. sleeping on tho bare ground, without bedding of any kind, without food, save to such as we havo been able to reach with i>roviHit only express my personal sentiments, but 1 speak in tho name of all tho inhabitants of Havana— witnesses of tho catjistropho which has afflicted so many homes. God guard you many years. ^ ^ _ RAMON BLANCO. Tho Conscl-General of the United States. • Letter referred to implores medicines and provisions. 3239 LiBKHKY U»- CUNbKI-sv. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 013 902 158 7 • Hollinger Corp. pH8.5 BRARY OF CONGRESS 013 902 158 7 Holllnger Corp. pH8.5