Speech Transcript:

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

Notwithstanding the added burdens rendered necessary by the war, our
people rejoice in a very satisfactory and steadily increasing degree
of prosperity, evidenced by the largest volume of business ever
recorded. Manufacture has been productive, agricultural pursuits have
yielded abundant returns, labor in all fields of industry is better
rewarded, revenue legislation passed by the present Congress has
increased the Treasury's receipts to the amount estimated by its
authors, the finances of the Government have been successfully
administered and its credit advanced to the first rank, while its
currency has been maintained at the world's highest standard.
Military service under a common flag and for a righteous cause has
strengthened the national spirit and served to cement more closely
than ever the fraternal bonds between every section of the country.

A review of the relation of the United States to other powers, always
appropriate, is this year of primary importance in view of the
momentous issues which have arisen, demanding in one instance the
ultimate determination by arms and involving far-reaching
consequences which will require the earnest attention of the
Congress.

In my last annual message very full consideration was given to the
question of the duty of the Government of the United States toward
Spain and the Cuban insurrection as being by far the most important
problem with which we were then called upon to deal. The
considerations then advanced and the exposition of the views therein
expressed disclosed my sense of the extreme gravity of the situation.
Setting aside as logically unfounded or practically inadmissible the
recognition of the Cuban insurgents as belligerents, the recognition
of the independence of Cuba, neutral intervention to end the war by
imposing a rational compromise between the contestants, intervention
in favor of one or the other party, and forcible annexation of the
island, I concluded it was honestly due to our friendly relations
with Spain that she should be given a reasonable chance to realize
her expectations of reform to which she had become irrevocably
committed. Within a few weeks previously she had announced
comprehensive plans which it was confidently asserted would be
efficacious to remedy the evils so deeply affecting our own country,
so injurious to the true interests of the mother country as well as
to those of Cuba, and so repugnant to the universal sentiment of
humanity.

The ensuing month brought little sign of real progress toward the
pacification of Cuba. The autonomous administrations set up in the
capital and some of the principal cities appeared not to gain the
favor of the inhabitants nor to be able to extend their influence to
the large extent of territory held by the insurgents, while the
military arm, obviously unable to cope with the still active
rebellion, continued many of the most objectionable and offensive
policies of the government that had preceded it. No tangible relief
was afforded the vast numbers of unhappy reconcentrados, despite the
reiterated professions made in that regard and the amount
appropriated by Spain to that end. The proffered expedient of zones
of cultivation proved illusory. Indeed no less practical nor more
delusive promises of succor could well have been tendered to the
exhausted and destitute people, stripped of all that made life and
home dear and herded in a strange region among unsympathetic
strangers hardly less necessitous than themselves.

By the end of December the mortality among them had frightfully
increased. Conservative estimates from Spanish sources placed the
deaths among these distressed people at over 40 per cent from the
time General Weyler's decree of reconcentration was enforced. With
the acquiescence of the Spanish authorities, a scheme was adopted for
relief by charitable contributions raised in this country and
distributed, under the direction of the consul-general and the
several consuls, by noble and earnest individual effort through the
organized agencies of the American Red Cross. Thousands of lives were
thus saved, but many thousands more were inaccessible to such forms of
aid.

The war continued on the old footing, without comprehensive plan,
developing only the same spasmodic encounters, barren of strategic
result, that had marked the course of the earlier ten years'
rebellion as well as the present insurrection from its start. No
alternative save physical exhaustion of either combatant, and
therewithal the practical ruin of the island, lay in sight, but how
far distant no one could venture to conjecture.

At this juncture, on the 15th of February last, occurred the
destruction of the battle ship Maine while rightfully lying in the
harbor of Havana on a mission of international courtesy and good
will--a catastrophe the suspicious nature and horror of which stirred
the nation's heart profoundly. It is a striking evidence of the poise
and sturdy good sense distinguishing our national character that this
shocking blow, falling upon a generous people already deeply touched
by preceding events in Cuba, did not move them to an instant
desperate resolve to tolerate no longer the existence of a condition
of danger and disorder at our doors that made possible such a deed,
by whomsoever wrought. Yet the instinct of justice prevailed, and the
nation anxiously awaited the result of the searching investigation at
once set on foot. The finding of the naval board of inquiry
established that the origin of the explosion was external, by a
submarine mine, and only halted through lack of positive testimony to
fix the responsibility of its authorship.

All these things carried conviction to the most thoughtful, even
before the finding of the naval court, that a crisis in our relations
with Spain and toward Cuba was at hand. So strong was this belief that
it needed but a brief Executive suggestion to the Congress to receive
immediate answer to the duty of making instant provision for the
possible and perhaps speedily probable emergency of war, and the
remarkable, almost unique, spectacle was presented of a unanimous
vote of both Houses, on the 9th of March, appropriating $50,000,000
"for the national defense and for each and every purpose connected
therewith, to be expended at the discretion of the President." That
this act of prevision came none too soon was disclosed when the
application of the fund was undertaken. Our coasts were practically
undefended. Our Navy needed large provision for increased ammunition
and supplies, and even numbers to cope with any sudden attack from
the navy of Spain, which comprised modern vessels of the highest type
of continental perfection. Our Army also required enlargement of men
and munitions. The details of the hurried preparation for the dreaded
contingency are told in the reports of the Secretaries of War and of
the Navy, and need not be repeated here. It is sufficient to say that
the outbreak of war when it did come found our nation not unprepared
to meet the conflict.

Nor was the apprehension of coming strife confined to our own
country. It was felt by the continental powers, which on April 6,
through their ambassadors and envoys, addressed to the Executive an
expression of hope that humanity and moderation might mark the course
of this Government and people, and that further negotiations would
lead to an agreement which, while securing the maintenance of peace,
would afford all necessary guaranties for the reestablishment of
order in Cuba. In responding to that representation I said I shared
the hope the envoys had expressed that peace might be preserved in a
manner to terminate the chronic condition of disturbance in Cuba, so
injurious and menacing to our interests and tranquillity, as well as
shocking to our sentiments of humanity; and while appreciating the
humanitarian and disinterested character of the communication they
had made on behalf of the powers, I stated the confidence of this
Government, for its part, that equal appreciation would be shown for
its own earnest and unselfish endeavors to fulfill a duty to humanity
by ending a situation the indefinite prolongation of which had become
insufferable.

Still animated by the hope of a peaceful solution and obeying the
dictates of duty, no effort was relaxed to bring about a speedy
ending of the Cuban struggle. Negotiations to this object continued
actively with the Government of Spain, looking to the immediate
conclusion of a six months' armistice in Cuba, with a view to effect
the recognition of her people's right to independence. Besides this,
the instant revocation of the order of reconcentration was asked, so
that the sufferers, returning to their homes and aided by united
American and Spanish effort, might be put in a way to support
themselves and, by orderly resumption of the well-nigh destroyed
productive energies of the island, contribute to the restoration of
its tranquillity and well-being. Negotiations continued for some
little time at Madrid, resulting in offers by the Spanish Government
which could not but be regarded as inadequate. It was proposed to
confide the preparation of peace to the insular parliament, yet to be
convened under the autonomous decrees of November, 1897, but without
impairment in any wise of the constitutional powers of the Madrid
Government, which to that end would grant an armistice, if solicited
by the insurgents, for such time as the general in chief might see
fit to fix. How and with what scope of discretionary powers the
insular parliament was expected to set about the "preparation" of
peace did not appear. If it were to be by negotiation with the
insurgents, the issue seemed to rest on the one side with a body
chosen by a fraction of the electors in the districts under Spanish
control, and on the other with the insurgent population holding the
interior country, unrepresented in the so-called parliament and
defiant at the suggestion of suing for peace.

Grieved and disappointed at this barren outcome of my sincere
endeavors to reach a practicable solution, I felt it my duty to remit
the whole question to the Congress. In the message of April 11, 1898,
I announced that with this last overture in the direction of
immediate peace in Cuba and its disappointing reception by Spain the
effort of the Executive was brought to an end. I again reviewed the
alternative courses of action which had been proposed, concluding
that the only one consonant with international policy and compatible
with our firm-set historical traditions was intervention as a neutral
to stop the war and check the hopeless sacrifice of life, even though
that resort involved "hostile constraint upon both the parties to the
contest, as well to enforce a truce as to guide the eventual
settlement." The grounds justifying that step were the interests of
humanity, the duty to protect the life and property of our citizens
in Cuba, the right to check injury to our commerce and people through
the devastation of the island, and, most important, the need of
removing at once and forever the constant menace and the burdens
entailed upon our Government by the uncertainties and perils of the
situation caused by the unendurable disturbance in Cuba. I said: The
long trial has proved that the object for which Spain has waged the
war can not be attained. The fire of insurrection may flame or may
smolder with varying seasons, but it has not been and it is plain
that it can not be extinguished by present methods. The only hope of
relief and repose from a condition which can no longer be endured is
the enforced pacification of Cuba. In the name of humanity, in the
name of civilization, in behalf of endangered American interests
which give us the right and the duty to speak and to act, the war in
Cuba must stop. In view of all this the Congress was asked to
authorize and empower the President to take measures to secure a full
and final termination of hostilities between Spain and the people of
Cuba and to secure in the island the establishment of a stable
government, capable of maintaining order and observing its
international obligations, insuring peace and tranquillity and the
security of its citizens as well as our own, and for the
accomplishment of those ends to use the military and naval forces of
the United States as might be necessary, with added authority to
continue generous relief to the starving people of Cuba.

The response of the Congress, after nine days of earnest
deliberation, during which the almost unanimous sentiment of your
body was developed on every point save as to the expediency of
coupling the proposed action with a formal recognition of the
Republic of Cuba as the true and lawful government of that island--a
proposition which failed of adoption--the Congress, after conference,
on the 19th of April, by a vote of 42 to 35 in the Senate and 311 to 6
in the House of Representatives, passed the memorable joint resolution
declaring--

First. That the people of the island of Cuba are, and of right ought
to be, free and independent.

Second. That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the
Government of the United States does hereby demand, that the
Government of Spain at once relinquish its authority and government
in the island of Cuba and withdraw its land and naval forces from
Cuba and Cuban waters.

Third. That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is,
directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the
United States and to call into the actual service of the United States
the militia of the several States to such extent as may be necessary
to carry these resolutions into effect.

Fourth. That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or
intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said
island except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its
determination when that is accomplished to leave the government and
control of the island to its people. This resolution was approved by
the Executive on the next day, April 20. A copy was at once
communicated to the Spanish minister at this capital, who forthwith
announced that his continuance in Washington had thereby become
impossible, and asked for his passports, which were given him. He
thereupon withdrew from Washington, leaving the protection of Spanish
interests in the United States to the French ambassador and the
Austro-Hungarian minister. Simultaneously with its communication to
the Spanish minister here, General Woodford, the American minister at
Madrid, was telegraphed confirmation of the text of the joint
resolution and directed to communicate it to the Government of Spain
with the formal demand that it at once relinquish its authority and
government in the island of Cuba and withdraw its forces therefrom,
coupling this demand with announcement of the intentions of this
Government as to the future of the island, in conformity with the
fourth clause of the resolution, and giving Spain until noon of April
23 to reply.

That demand, although, as above shown, officially made known to the
Spanish envoy here, was not delivered at Madrid. After the
instruction reached General Woodford on the morning of April 21, but
before he could present it, the Spanish minister of state notified
him that upon the President's approval of the joint resolution the
Madrid Government, regarding the act as "equivalent to an evident
declaration of war," had ordered its minister in Washington to
withdraw, thereby breaking off diplomatic relations between the two
countries and ceasing all official communication between their
respective representatives. General Woodford thereupon demanded his
passports and quitted Madrid the same day.

Spain having thus denied the demand of the United States and
initiated that complete form of rupture of relations which attends a
state of war, the executive powers authorized by the resolution were
at once used by me to meet the enlarged contingency of actual war
between sovereign states. On April 22 I proclaimed a blockade of the
north coast of Cuba, including ports on said coast between Cardenas
and Bahia Honda, and the port of Cienfuegos, on the south coast of
Cuba, and on the 23d I called for volunteers to execute the purpose
of the resolution. By my message of April 25 the Congress was
informed of the situation, and I recommended formal declaration of
the existence of a state of war between the United States and Spain.
The Congress accordingly voted on the same day the act approved April
25, 1898, declaring the existence of such war from and including the
21st day of April, and reenacted the provision of the resolution of
April 20 directing the President to use all the armed forces of the
nation to carry that act into effect. Due notification of the
existence of war as aforesaid was given April 25 by telegraph to all
the governments with which the United States maintain relations, in
order that their neutrality might be assured during the war. The
various governments responded with proclamations of neutrality, each
after its own methods. It is not among the least gratifying incidents
of the struggle that the obligations of neutrality were impartially
discharged by all, often under delicate and difficult circumstances.

In further fulfillment of international duty I issued, April 26,
1893, a proclamation announcing the treatment proposed to be accorded
to vessels and their cargoes as to blockade, contraband, the exercise
of the right of search, and the immunity of neutral flags and neutral
goods under enemy's flag. A similar proclamation was made by the
Spanish Government. In the conduct of hostilities the rules of the
Declaration of Paris, including abstention from resort to
privateering, have accordingly been observed by both belligerents,
although neither was a party to that declaration.

Our country thus, after an interval of half a century of peace with
all nations, found itself engaged in deadly conflict with a foreign
enemy. Every nerve was strained to meet the emergency. The response
to the initial call for 125,000 volunteers was instant and complete,
as was also the result of the second call, of May 25, for 75,000
additional volunteers. The ranks of the Regular Army were increased
to the limits provided by the act of April 26, 1898.

The enlisted force of the Navy on the 15th day of August, when it
reached its maximum, numbered 24,123 men and apprentices. One hundred
and three vessels were added to the Navy by purchase, 1 was presented
to the Government, 1 leased, and the 4 vessels of the International
Navigation Company--the St. Paul, St. Louis, New York, and
Paris--were chartered. In addition to these the revenue cutters and
lighthouse tenders were turned over to the Navy Department and became
temporarily a part of the auxiliary Navy.

The maximum effective fighting force of the Navy during the war,
separated into classes, was as follows:

Four battle ships of the first class, 1 battle ship of the second
class, 2 armored cruisers, 6 coast-defense monitors, 1 armored ram,
12 protected cruisers, 3 unprotected cruisers, 18 gunboats, 1
dynamite cruiser, 11 torpedo boats; vessels of the old Navy,
including monitors, 14. Auxiliary Navy: 11 auxiliary cruisers, 28
converted yachts, 27 converted tugs, 19 converted colliers, 15
revenue cutters, 4 light-house tenders, and 19 miscellaneous
vessels.

Much alarm was felt along our entire Atlantic seaboard lest some
attack might be made by the enemy. Every precaution was taken to
prevent possible injury to our great cities lying along the coast.
Temporary garrisons were provided, drawn from the State militia;
infantry and light batteries were drawn from the volunteer force.
About 12,000 troops were thus employed. The coast signal service was
established for observing the approach of an enemy's ships to the
coast of the United States, and the Life-Saving and Light-House
services cooperated, which enabled the Navy Department to have all
portions of the Atlantic coast, from Maine to Texas, under
observation.

The auxiliary Navy was created under the authority of Congress and
was officered and manned by the Naval Militia of the several States.
This organization patrolled the coast and performed the duty of a
second line of defense. Under the direction of the Chief of Engineers
submarine mines were placed at the most exposed points. Before the
outbreak of the war permanent mining casemates and cable galleries
had been constructed at nearly all important harbors. Most of the
torpedo material was not to be found in the market, and had to be
specially manufactured. Under date of April 19 district officers were
directed to take all preliminary measures short of the actual
attaching of the loaded mines to the cables, and on April 22
telegraphic orders were issued to place the loaded mines in
position.

The aggregate number of mines placed was 1,535, at the principal
harbors from Maine to California. Preparations were also made for the
planting of mines at certain other harbors, but owing to the early
destruction of the Spanish fleet these mines were not placed.

The Signal Corps was promptly organized, and performed service of the
most difficult and important character. Its operations during the war
covered the electrical connection of all coast fortifications, the
establishment of telephonic and telegraphic facilities for the camps
at Manila, Santiago, and in Puerto Rico. There were constructed 300
miles of line at ten great camps, thus facilitating military
movements from those points in a manner heretofore unknown in
military administration. Field telegraph lines were established and
maintained under the enemy's fire at Manila, and later the
Manila-Hongkong cable was reopened.

In Puerto Rico cable communications were opened over a discontinued
route, and on land the headquarters of the commanding officer was
kept in telegraphic or telephonic communication with the division
commanders on four different lines of operations.

There was placed in Cuban waters a completely outfitted cable ship,
with war cables and cable gear, suitable both for the destruction of
communications belonging to the enemy and the establishment of our
own. Two ocean cables were destroyed under the enemy's batteries at
Santiago. The day previous to the landing of General Shafter's corps,
at Caimanera, within 20 miles of the landing place, cable
communications were established and a cable station opened giving
direct communication with the Government at Washington. This service
was invaluable to the Executive in directing the operations of the
Army and Navy. With a total force of over 1,300, the loss was by
disease in camp and field, officers and men included, only 5.

The national-defense fund of $50,000,000 was expended in large part
by the Army and Navy, and the objects for which it was used are fully
shown in the reports of the several Secretaries. It was a most timely
appropriation, enabling the Government to strengthen its defenses and
make preparations greatly needed in case of war.

This fund being inadequate to the requirements of equipment and for
the conduct of the war, the patriotism of the Congress provided the
means in the war-revenue act of June 13 by authorizing a 3 per cent
popular loan not to exceed $400,000,000 and by levying additional
imposts and taxes. Of the authorized loan $200,000,000 were offered
and promptly taken the subscriptions so far exceeding the call as to
cover it many times over, while, preference being given to the
smaller bids, no single allotment exceeded $5,000. This was a most
encouraging and significant result, showing the vast resources of the
nation and the determination of the people to uphold their country's
honor.

It is not within the province of this message to narrate the history
of the extraordinary war that followed the Spanish declaration of
April 21, but a brief recital of its more salient features is
appropriate.

The first encounter of the war in point of date took place April 27,
when a detachment of the blockading squadron made a reconnoissance in
force at Matanzas, shelled the harbor forts, and demolished several
new works in construction.

The next engagement was destined to mark a memorable epoch in
maritime warfare. The Pacific fleet, under Commodore George Dewey,
had lain for some weeks at Hongkong. Upon the colonial proclamation
of neutrality being issued and the customary twenty-four hours'
notice being given, it repaired to Mirs Bay, near Hongkong, whence it
proceeded to the Philippine Islands under telegraphed orders to
capture or destroy the formidable Spanish fleet then assembled at
Manila. At daybreak on the 1st of May the American force entered
Manila Bay, and after a few hours' engagement effected the total
destruction of the Spanish fleet, consisting of ten war ships and a
transport, besides capturing the naval station and forts at Cavite,
thus annihilating the Spanish naval power in the Pacific Ocean and
completely controlling the bay of Manila, with the ability to take
the city at will. Not a life was lost on our ships, the wounded only
numbering seven, while not a vessel was materially injured. For this
gallant achievement the Congress, upon my recommendation, fitly
bestowed upon the actors preferment and substantial reward.

The effect of this remarkable victory upon the spirit of our people
and upon the fortunes of the war was instant. A prestige of
invincibility thereby attached to our arms which continued throughout
the struggle. Reenforcements were hurried to Manila under the command
of Major-General Merritt and firmly established within sight of the
capital, which lay helpless before our guns.

On the 7th day of May the Government was advised officially of the
victory at Manila, and at once inquired of the commander of our fleet
what troops would be required. The information was received on the
15th day of May, and the first army expedition sailed May 25 and
arrived off Manila June 30. Other expeditions soon followed, the
total force consisting of 641 officers and 15,058 enlisted men.

Only reluctance to cause needless loss of life and property prevented
the early storming and capture of the city, and therewith the absolute
military occupancy of the whole group. The insurgents meanwhile had
resumed the active hostilities suspended by the uncompleted truce of
December, 1897. Their forces invested Manila from the northern and
eastern sides, but were constrained by Admiral Dewey and General
Merrill from attempting an assault. It was fitting that whatever was
to be done in the way of decisive operations in that quarter should
be accomplished by the strong arm of the United States alone. Obeying
the stern precept of war which enjoins the overcoming of the adversary
and the extinction of his power wherever assailable as the speedy and
sure means to win a peace, divided victory was not permissible, for
no partition of the rights and responsibilities attending the
enforcement of a just and advantageous peace could be thought of.

Following the comprehensive scheme of general attack, powerful forces
were assembled at various points on our coast to invade Cuba and
Puerto Rico. Meanwhile naval demonstrations were made at several
exposed points. On May 11 the cruiser Wilmington and torpedo boat
Winslow were unsuccessful in an attempt to silence the batteries at
Cardenas, a gallant ensign, Worth Bagley, and four seamen falling.
These grievous fatalities were, strangely enough, among the very few
which occurred during our naval operations in this extraordinary
conflict.

Meanwhile the Spanish naval preparations had been pushed with great
vigor. A powerful squadron under Admiral Cervera, which had assembled
at the Cape Verde Islands before the outbreak of hostilities, had
crossed the ocean, and by its erratic movements in the Caribbean Sea
delayed our military plans while baffling the pursuit of our fleets.
For a time fears were felt lest the Oregon and Marietta, then nearing
home after their long voyage from San Francisco of over 15,000 miles,
might be surprised by Admiral Cervera's fleet, but their fortunate
arrival dispelled these apprehensions and lent much-needed
reenforcement. Not until Admiral Cervera took refuge in the harbor of
Santiago de Cuba, about May 19, was it practicable to plan a
systematic naval and military attack upon the Antillean possessions
of Spain.

Several demonstrations occurred on the coasts of Cuba and Puerto Rico
in preparation for the larger event. On May 13 the North Atlantic
Squadron shelled San Juan de Puerto Rico. On May 30 Commodore
Schley's squadron bombarded the forts guarding the mouth of Santiago
Harbor. Neither attack had any material result. It was evident that
well-ordered land operations were indispensable to achieve a decisive
advantage.

The next act in the war thrilled not alone the hearts of our
countrymen but the world by its exceptional heroism. On the night of
June 3 Lieutenant Hobson, aided by seven devoted volunteers, blocked
the narrow outlet from Santiago Harbor by sinking the collier
Merrimac in the channel, under a fierce fire from the shore
batteries, escaping with their lives as by a miracle, but falling
into the hands of the Spaniards. It is a most gratifying incident of
the war that the bravery of this little band of heroes was cordially
appreciated by the Spanish admiral, who sent a flag of truce to
notify Admiral Sampson of their safety and to compliment them on
their daring act. They were subsequently exchanged July 7.

By June 7 the cutting of the last Cuban cable isolated the island.
Thereafter the invasion was vigorously prosecuted. On June 10, under
a heavy protecting fire, a landing of 600 marines from the Oregon,
Marblehead, and Yankee was effected in Guantanamo Bay, where it had
been determined to establish a naval station.

This important and essential port was taken from the enemy, after
severe fighting, by the marines, who were the first organized force
of the United States to land in Cuba.

The position so won was held despite desperate attempts to dislodge
our forces. By June 16 additional forces were landed and strongly
in-trenched. On June 22 the advance of the invading army under
Major-General Shafter landed at Daiquiri, about 15 miles east of
Santiago. This was accomplished under great difficulties, but with
marvelous dispatch. On June 23 the movement against Santiago was
begun. On the 24th the first serious engagement took place, in which
the First and Tenth Cavalry and the First United States Volunteer
Cavalry, General Young's brigade of General Wheeler's division,
participated, losing heavily. By nightfall, however, ground within 5
miles of Santiago was won. The advantage was steadily increased. On
July 1 a severe battle took place, our forces gaining the outworks of
Santiago; on the 2d El Caney and San Juan were taken after a desperate
charge, and the investment of the city was completed. The Navy
cooperated by shelling the town and the coast forts.

On the day following this brilliant achievement of our land forces,
the 3d of July, occurred the decisive naval combat of the war. The
Spanish fleet, attempting to leave the harbor, was met by the
American squadron under command of Commodore Sampson. In less than
three hours all the Spanish ships were destroyed, the two torpedo
boats being sunk and the Maria Teresa, Almirante Oquendo, Vizcaya,
and Cristobal Colon driven ashore. The Spanish admiral and over 1,300
men were taken prisoners. While the enemy's loss of life was
deplorably large, some 600 perishing, on our side but one man was
killed, on the Brooklyn, and one man seriously wounded. Although our
ships were repeatedly struck, not one was seriously injured. Where
all so conspicuously distinguished themselves, from the commanders to
the gunners and the unnamed heroes in the boiler rooms, each and all
contributing toward the achievement of this astounding victory, for
which neither ancient nor modern history affords a parallel in the
completeness of the event and the marvelous disproportion of
casualties, it would be invidious to single out any for especial
honor. Deserved promotion has rewarded the more conspicuous actors.
The nation's profoundest gratitude is due to all of these brave men
who by their skill and devotion in a few short hours crushed the sea
power of Spain and wrought a triumph whose decisiveness and
far-reaching consequences can scarcely be measured. Nor can we be
unmindful of the achievements of our builders, mechanics, and
artisans for their skill in the construction of our war ships.

With the catastrophe of Santiago Spain's effort upon the ocean
virtually ceased. A spasmodic effort toward the end of June to send
her Mediterranean fleet, under Admiral Camara, to relieve Manila was
abandoned, the expedition being recalled after it had passed through
the Suez Canal.

The capitulation of Santiago followed. The city was closely besieged
by land, while the entrance of our ships into the harbor cut off all
relief on that side. After a truce to allow of the removal of
noncombatants protracted negotiations continued from July 3 until
July 15, when, under menace of immediate assault, the preliminaries
of surrender were agreed upon. On the 17th General Shafter occupied
the city. The capitulation embraced the entire eastern end of Cuba.
The number of Spanish soldiers surrendering was 22,000, all of whom
were subsequently conveyed to Spain at the charge of the United
States. The story of this successful campaign is told in the report
of the Secretary of War, which will be laid before you. The
individual valor of officers and soldiers was never more strikingly
shown than in the several engagements leading to the surrender of
Santiago, while the prompt movements and successive victories won
instant and universal applause. To those who gained this complete
triumph, which established the ascendency of the United States upon
land as the fight off Santiago had fixed our supremacy on the seas,
the earnest and lasting gratitude of the nation is unsparingly due.
Nor should we alone remember the gallantry of the living; the dead
claim our tears, and our losses by battle and disease must cloud any
exultation at the result and teach us to weigh the awful cost of war,
however rightful the cause or signal the victory.

With the fall of Santiago the occupation of Puerto Rico became the
next strategic necessity. General Miles had previously been assigned
to organize an expedition for that purpose. Fortunately he was
already at Santiago, where he had arrived on the 11th of July with
reenforcements for General Shafter's army.

With these troops, consisting of 3,415 infantry and artillery, two
companies of engineers, and one company of the Signal Corps, General
Miles left Guantanamo on July 21, having nine transports convoyed by
the fleet under Captain Higginson with the Massachusetts (flagship),
Dixie, Gloucester, Columbia, and Yale, the two latter carrying
troops. The expedition landed at Guanica July 25, which port was
entered with little opposition. Here the fleet was joined by the
Annapolis and the Wasp, while the Puritan and Amphitrite went to San
Juan and joined the New Orleans, which was engaged in blockading that
port. The Major-General Commanding was subsequently reenforced by
General Schwan's brigade of the Third Army Corps, by General Wilson
with a part of his division, and also by General Brooke with a part
of his corps, numbering in all 16,973 officers and men.

On July 27 he entered Ponce, one of the most important ports in the
island, from which he thereafter directed operations for the capture
of the island.

With the exception of encounters with the enemy at Guayama,
Hormigueros, Coamo, and Yauco and an attack on a force landed at Cape
San Juan, there was no serious resistance. The campaign was prosecuted
with great vigor, and by the 12th of August much of the island was in
our possession and the acquisition of the remainder was only a matter
of a short time. At most of the points in the island our troops were
enthusiastically welcomed. Protestations of loyalty to the flag and
gratitude for delivery from Spanish rule met our commanders at every
stage. As a potent influence toward peace the outcome of the Puerto
Rican expedition was of great consequence, and generous commendation
is due to those who participated in it.

The last scene of the war was enacted at Manila, its starting place.
On August 15, after a brief assault upon the works by the land
forces, in which the squadron assisted, the capital surrendered
unconditionally. The casualties were comparatively few. By this the
conquest of the Philippine Islands, virtually accomplished when the
Spanish capacity for resistance was destroyed by Admiral Dewey's
victory of the 1st of May, was formally sealed. To General Merrill,
his officers and men, for their uncomplaining and devoted service and
for their gallantry in action, the nation is sincerely grateful. Their
long voyage was made with singular success, and the soldierly conduct
of the men, most of whom were without previous experience in the
military service, deserves unmeasured praise.

The total casualties in killed and wounded in the Army during the war
with Spain were: Officers killed, 23; enlisted men killed, 257; total,
280; officers wounded, 113; enlisted men wounded, 1,464; total, 1,577.
Of the Navy: Killed, 17; wounded, 67; died as result of wounds, 1;
invalided from service, 6; total, 91.

It will be observed that while our Navy was engaged in two great
battles and in numerous perilous undertakings in blockade and
bombardment, and more than 50,000 of our troops were transported to
distant lands and were engaged in assault and siege and battle and
many skirmishes in unfamiliar territory, we lost in both arms of the
service a total of 1,668 killed and wounded; and in the entire
campaign by land and sea we did not lose a gun or a flag or a
transport or a ship, and, with the exception of the crew of the
Merrimac, not a soldier or sailor was taken prisoner.

On August 7, forty-six days from the date of the landing of General
Shafter's army in Cuba and twenty-one days from the surrender of
Santiago, the United States troops commenced embarkation for home,
and our entire force was returned to the United States as early as
August 24. They were absent from the United States only two months.

It is fitting that I should bear testimony to the patriotism and
devotion of that large portion of our Army which, although eager to
be ordered to the post of greatest exposure, fortunately was not
required outside of the United States. They did their whole duty,
and, like their comrades at the front, have earned the gratitude of
the nation. In like manner, the officers and men of the Army and of
the Navy who remained in their departments and stations faithfully
performing most important duties connected with the war, and whose
requests for assignment in the field and at sea I was compelled to
refuse because their services were indispensable here, are entitled
to the highest commendation. It is my regret that there seems to be
no provision for their suitable recognition.

In this connection it is a pleasure for me to mention in terms of
cordial appreciation the timely and useful work of the American
National Red Cross, both in relief measures preparatory to the
campaigns, in sanitary assistance at several of the camps of
assemblage, and later, under the able and experienced leadership of
the president of the society, Miss Clara Barton, on the fields of
battle and in the hospitals at the front in Cuba. Working in
conjunction with the governmental authorities and under their
sanction and approval, and with the enthusiastic cooperation of many
patriotic women and societies in the various States, the Red Cross
has fully maintained its already high reputation for intense
earnestness and ability to exercise the noble purposes of its
international organization, thus justifying the confidence and
support which it has received at the hands of the American people. To
the members and officers of this society and all who aided them in
their philanthropic work the sincere and lasting gratitude of the
soldiers and the public is due and is freely accorded.

In tracing these events we are constantly reminded of our obligations
to the Divine Master for His watchful care over us and His safe
guidance, for which the nation makes reverent acknowledgment and
offers humble prayer for the continuance of His favor.

The annihilation of Admiral Cervera's fleet, followed by the
capitulation of Santiago, having brought to the Spanish Government a
realizing sense of the hopelessness of continuing a struggle now
become wholly unequal, it made overtures of peace through the French
ambassador, who, with the assent of his Government, had acted as the
friendly representative of Spanish interests during the war. On the
26th of July M. Cambon presented a communication signed by the Duke
of Almodovar, the Spanish minister of state, inviting the United
States to state the terms upon which it would be willing to make
peace. On the 30th of July, by a communication addressed to the Duke
of Almodovar and handed to M. Cambon, the terms of this Government
were announced substantially as in the protocol afterwards signed. On
the 10th of August the Spanish reply, dated August 7, was handed by M.
Cambon to the Secretary of State. It accepted unconditionally the
terms imposed as to Cuba, Puerto Rico, and an island of the Ladrones
group, but appeared to seek to introduce inadmissible reservations in
regard to our demand as to the Philippine Islands. Conceiving that
discussion on this point could neither be practical nor profitable, I
directed that in order to avoid misunderstanding the matter should be
forthwith closed by proposing the embodiment in a formal protocol of
the terms upon which the negotiations for peace were to be
undertaken. The vague and inexplicit suggestions of the Spanish note
could not be accepted, the only reply being to present as a virtual
ultimatum a draft of protocol embodying the precise terms tendered to
Spain in our note of July 30, with added stipulations of detail as to
the appointment of commissioners to arrange for the evacuation of the
Spanish Antilles. On August 12 M. Cambon announced his receipt of full
powers to sign the protocol so submitted. Accordingly, on the
afternoon of August 12, M. Cambon, as the plenipotentiary of Spain,
and the Secretary of State, as the plenipotentiary of the United
States, signed a protocol providing--

ARTICLE I. Spain will relinquish all claim of sovereignty over and
title to Cuba.

ART. II. Spain will cede to the United States the island of Puerto
Rico and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West
Indies, and also an island in the Ladrones to be selected by the
United States.

ART. III. The United States will occupy and hold the city, bay, and
harbor of Manila pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace which
shall determine the control, disposition, and government of the
Philippines. The fourth article provided for the appointment of joint
commissions on the part of the United States and Spain, to meet in
Havana and San Juan, respectively, for the purpose of arranging and
carrying out the details of the stipulated evacuation of Cuba, Puerto
Rico, and other Spanish islands in the West Indies.

The fifth article provided for the appointment of not more than five
commissioners on each side, to meet at Paris not later than October 1
and to proceed to the negotiation and conclusion of a treaty of peace,
subject to ratification according to the respective constitutional
forms of the two countries.

The sixth and last article provided that upon the signature of the
protocol hostilities between the two countries should be suspended
and that notice to that effect should be given as soon as possible by
each Government to the commanders of its military and naval forces.

Immediately upon the conclusion of the protocol I issued a
proclamation, of August 12, suspending hostilities on the part of the
United States. The necessary orders to that end were at once given by
telegraph. The blockade of the ports of Cuba and San Juan de Puerto
Rico was in like manner raised. On the 18th of August the muster out
of 100,000 volunteers, or as near that number as was found to be
practicable, was ordered.

On the 1st of December 101,165 officers and men had been mustered out
and discharged from the service, and 9,002 more will be mustered out
by the 10th of this month; also a corresponding number of general and
general staff officers have been honorably discharged the service.

The military commissions to superintend the evacuation of Cuba,
Puerto Rico, and the adjacent islands were forthwith appointed--for
Cuba, Major-General James F. Wade, Rear-Admiral William T. Sampson,
Major-General Matthew C. Butler; for Puerto Rico, Major--General John
R. Brooke, Rear-Admiral Winfield S. Schley, Brigadier-General William
W. Gordon--who soon afterwards met the Spanish commissioners at
Havana and San Juan, respectively. The Puerto Rican Joint Commission
speedily accomplished its task, and by the 18th of October the
evacuation of the island was completed. The United States flag was
raised over the island at noon on that day. The administration of its
affairs has been provisionally intrusted to a military governor until
the Congress shall otherwise provide. The Cuban Joint Commission has
not yet terminated its labors. Owing to the difficulties in the way
of removing the large numbers of Spanish troops still in Cuba, the
evacuation can not be completed before the 1st of January next.

Pursuant to the fifth article of the protocol, I appointed William R.
Day, lately Secretary of State; Cushman K. Davis, William P. Frye, and
George Gray, Senators of the United States, and Whitelaw Reid to be
the peace commissioners on the part of the United States. Proceeding
in due season to Paris, they there met on the 1st of October five
commissioners similarly appointed on the part of Spain. Their
negotiations have made hopeful progress, so that I trust soon to be
able to lay a definitive treaty of peace before the Senate, with a
review of the steps leading to its signature.

I do not discuss at this time the government or the future of the new
possessions which will come to us as the result of the war with Spain.
Such discussion will be appropriate after the treaty of peace shall be
ratified. In the meantime and until the Congress has legislated
otherwise it will be my duty to continue the military governments
which have existed since our occupation and give to the people
security in life and property and encouragement under a just and
beneficent rule.

As soon as we are in possession of Cuba and have pacified the island
it will be necessary to give aid and direction to its people to form
a government for themselves. This should be undertaken at the
earliest moment consistent with safety and assured success. It is
important that our relations with this people shall be of the most
friendly character and our commercial relations close and reciprocal.
It should be our duty to assist in every proper way to build up the
waste places of the island, encourage the industry of the people, and
assist them to form a government which shall be free and independent,
thus realizing the best aspirations of the Cuban people.

Spanish rule must be replaced by a just, benevolent, and humane
government, created by the people of Cuba, capable of performing all
international obligations, and which shall encourage thrift,
industry, and prosperity and promote peace and good will among all of
the inhabitants, whatever may have been their relations in the past.
Neither revenge nor passion should have a place in the new
government. Until there is complete tranquillity in the island and a
stable government inaugurated military occupation will be continued.

With the one exception of the rupture with Spain, the intercourse of
the United States with the great family of nations has been marked
with cordiality, and the close of the eventful year finds most of the
issues that necessarily arise in the complex relations of sovereign
states adjusted or presenting no serious obstacle to a just and
honorable solution by amicable agreement.

A long unsettled dispute as to the extended boundary between the
Argentine Republic and Chile, stretching along the Andean crests from
the southern border of the Atacama Desert to Magellan Straits, nearly
a third of the length of the South American continent, assumed an
acute stage in the early part of the year, and afforded to this
Government occasion to express the hope that the resort to
arbitration, already contemplated by existing conventions between the
parties, might prevail despite the grave difficulties arising in its
application. I am happy to say that arrangements to this end have
been perfected, the questions of fact upon which the respective
commissioners were unable to agree being in course of reference to
Her Britannic Majesty for determination. A residual difference
touching the northern boundary line across the Atacama Desert, for
which existing treaties provided no adequate adjustment, bids fair to
be settled in like manner by a joint commission, upon which the United
States minister at Buenos Ayres has been invited to serve as umpire in
the last resort.

I have found occasion to approach the Argentine Government with a
view to removing differences of rate charges imposed upon the cables
of an American corporation in the transmission between Buenos Ayres
and the cities of Uruguay and Brazil of through messages passing from
and to the United States. Although the matter is complicated by
exclusive concessions by Uruguay and Brazil to foreign companies,
there is strong hope that a good understanding will be reached and
that the important channels of commercial communication between the
United States and the Atlantic cities of South America may be freed
from an almost prohibitory discrimination.

In this relation I may be permitted to express my sense of the
fitness of an international agreement whereby the interchange of
messages over connecting cables may be regulated on a fair basis of
uniformity. The world has seen the postal system developed from a
congeries of independent and exclusive services into a well-ordered
union, of which all countries enjoy the manifold benefits. It would
be strange were the nations not in time brought to realize that
modern civilization, which owes so much of its progress to the
annihilation of space by the electric force, demands that this
all-important means of communication be a heritage of all peoples, to
be administered and regulated in their common behoof. A step in this
direction was taken when the international convention of 1884 for the
protection of submarine cables was signed, and the day is, I trust,
not far distant when this medium for the transmission of thought from
land to land may be brought within the domain of international concert
as completely as is the material carriage of commerce and
correspondence upon the face of the waters that divide them.

The claim of Thomas Jefferson Page against Argentina, which has been
pending many years, has been adjusted. The sum awarded by the
Congress of Argentina was $4,242.35.

The sympathy of the American people has justly been offered to the
ruler and the people of Austria-Hungary by reason of the affliction
that has lately befallen them in the assassination of the
Empress-Queen of that historic realm.

On the 10th of September, 1897, a conflict took place at Lattimer,
Pa., between a body of striking miners and the sheriff of Luzerne
County and his deputies, in which 22 miners were killed and 44
wounded, of whom 10 of the killed and 12 of the wounded were Austrian
and Hungarian subjects. This deplorable event naturally aroused the
solicitude of the Austro-Hungarian Government, which, on the
assumption that the killing and wounding involved the unjustifiable
misuse of authority, claimed reparation for the sufferers. Apart from
the searching investigation and peremptory action of the authorities
of Pennsylvania, the Federal Executive took appropriate steps to
learn the merits of the case, in order to be in a position to meet
the urgent complaint of a friendly power. The sheriff and his
deputies, having been indicted for murder, were tried, and acquitted,
after protracted proceedings and the hearing of hundreds of witnesses,
on the ground that the killing was in the line of their official duty
to uphold law and preserve public order in the State. A
representative of the Department of Justice attended the trial and
reported its course fully. With all the facts in its possession, this
Government expects to reach a harmonious understanding on the subject
with that of Austria-Hungary, notwithstanding the renewed claim of
the latter, after learning the result of the trial, for indemnity for
its injured subjects.

Despite the brief time allotted for preparation, the exhibits of this
country at the Universal Exposition at Brussels in 1897 enjoyed the
singular distinction of a larger proportion of awards, having regard
to the number and classes of articles entered than those of other
countries. The worth of such a result in making known our national
capacity to supply the world's markets is obvious.

Exhibitions of this international character are becoming more
frequent as the exchanges of commercial countries grow more intimate
and varied. Hardly a year passes that this Government is not invited
to national participation at some important foreign center, but often
on too short notice to permit of recourse to Congress for the power
and means to do so. My predecessors have suggested the advisability
of providing by a general enactment and a standing appropriation for
accepting such invitations and for representation of this country by
a commission. This plan has my cordial approval.

I trust that the Belgian restrictions on the importation of cattle
from the United States, originally adopted as a sanitary precaution,
will at an early day be relaxed as to their present features of
hardship and discrimination, so as to admit live cattle under due
regulation of their slaughter after landing. I am hopeful, too, of
favorable change in the Belgian treatment of our preserved and salted
meats. The growth of direct trade between the two countries, not alone
for Belgian consumption and Belgian products, but by way of transit
from and to other continental states, has been both encouraging and
beneficial. No effort will be spared to enlarge its advantages by
seeking the removal of needless impediments and by arrangements for
increased commercial exchanges.

The year's events in Central America deserve more than passing
mention.

A menacing rupture between Costa Rica and Nicaragua was happily
composed by the signature of a convention between the parties, with
the concurrence of the Guatemalan representative as a mediator, the
act being negotiated and signed on board the United States steamer
Alert, then lying in Central American waters. It is believed that the
good offices of our envoy and of the commander of that vessel
contributed toward this gratifying outcome.

In my last annual message the situation was presented with respect to
the diplomatic representation of this Government in Central America
created by the association of Nicaragua, Honduras, and Salvador under
the title of the Greater Republic of Central America, and the
delegation of their international functions to the Diet thereof.
While the representative character of the Diet was recognized by my
predecessor and has been confirmed during my Administration by
receiving its accredited envoy and granting exequaturs to consuls
commissioned under its authority, that recognition was qualified by
the distinct understanding that the responsibility of each of the
component sovereign Republics toward the United States remained
wholly unaffected.

This proviso was needful inasmuch as the compact of the three
Republics was at the outset an association whereby certain
representative functions were delegated to a tripartite commission
rather than a federation possessing centralized powers of government
and administration. In this view of their relation and of the
relation of the United States to the several Republics, a change in
the representation of this country in Central America was neither
recommended by the Executive nor initiated by Congress, thus leaving
one of our envoys accredited, as heretofore, separately to two States
of the Greater Republic, Nicaragua and Salvador, and to a third State,
Costa Rica, which was not a party to the compact, while our other
envoy was similarly accredited to a union State, Honduras, and a
nonunion State, Guatemala. The result has been that the one has
presented credentials only to the President of Costa Rica, the other
having been received only by the Government of Guatemala.

Subsequently the three associated Republics entered into negotiations
for taking the steps forecast in the original compact. A convention of
their delegates framed for them a federal constitution under the name
of the United States of Central America, and provided for a central
federal government and legislature. Upon ratification by the
constituent States, the 1st of November last was fixed for the new
system to go into operation. Within a few weeks thereafter the plan
was severely tested by revolutionary movements arising, with a
consequent demand for unity of action on the part of the military
power of the federal States to suppress them. Under this strain the
new union seems to have been weakened through the withdrawal of its
more important members. This Government was not officially advised of
the installation of the federation and has maintained an attitude of
friendly expectancy, while in no wise relinquishing the position held
from the outset that the responsibilities of the several States toward
us remained unaltered by their tentative relations among themselves.

The Nicaragua Canal Commission, under the chairmanship of
Rear-Admiral John G. Walker, appointed July 24, 1897, under the
authority of a provision in the sundry civil act of June 4 of that
year, has nearly completed its labors, and the results of its
exhaustive inquiry into the proper route, the feasibility, and the
cost of construction of an interoceanic canal by a Nicaraguan route
will be laid before you. In the performance of its task the
commission received all possible courtesy and assistance from the
Governments of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, which thus testified their
appreciation of the importance of giving a speedy and practical
outcome to the great project that has for so many years engrossed the
attention of the respective countries.

As the scope of the recent inquiry embraced the whole subject, with
the aim of making plans and surveys for a canal by the most
convenient route, it necessarily included a review of the results of
previous surveys and plans, and in particular those adopted by the
Maritime Canal Company under its existing concessions from Nicaragua
and Costa Rica, so that to this extent those grants necessarily hold
as essential a part in the deliberations and conclusions of the Canal
Commission as they have held and must needs hold in the discussion of
the matter by the Congress. Under these circumstances and in view of
overtures made to the Governments of Nicaragua and Costa Rica by
other parties for a new canal concession predicated on the assumed
approaching lapse of the contracts of the Maritime Canal Company with
those States, I have not hesitated to express my conviction that
considerations of expediency and international policy as between the
several governments interested in the construction and control of an
interoceanic canal by this route require the maintenance of the
status quo until the Canal Commission shall have reported and the
United States Congress shall have had the opportunity to pass finally
upon the whole matter during the present session, without prejudice by
reason of any change in the existing conditions.

Nevertheless, it appears that the Government of Nicaragua, as one of
its last sovereign acts before merging its powers in those of the
newly formed United States of Central America, has granted an
optional concession to another association, to become effective on
the expiration of the present grant. It does not appear what surveys
have been made or what route is proposed under this contingent grant,
so that an examination of the feasibility of its plans is necessarily
not embraced in the report of the Canal Commission. All these
circumstances suggest the urgency of some definite action by the
Congress at this session if the labors of the past are to be utilized
and the linking of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by a practical
waterway is to be realized. That the construction of such a maritime
highway is now more than ever indispensable to that intimate and
ready intercommunication between our eastern and western seaboards
demanded by the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands and the
prospective expansion of our influence and commerce in the Pacific,
and that our national policy now more imperatively than ever calls
for its control by this Government, are propositions which I doubt
not the Congress will duly appreciate and wisely act upon.

A convention providing for the revival of the late United States and
Chilean Claims Commission and the consideration of claims which were
duly presented to the late commission, but not considered because of
the expiration of the time limited for the duration of the
commission, was signed May 24, 1897, and has remained unacted upon by
the Senate. The term therein fixed for effecting the exchange of
ratifications having elapsed, the convention falls unless the time be
extended by amendment, which I am endeavoring to bring about, with the
friendly concurrence of the Chilean Government.

The United States has not been an indifferent spectator of the
extraordinary events transpiring in the Chinese Empire, whereby
portions of its maritime provinces are passing under the control of
various European powers; but the prospect that the vast commerce
which the energy of our citizens and the necessity of our staple
productions for Chinese uses has built up in those regions may not be
prejudiced through any exclusive treatment by the new occupants has
obviated the need of our country becoming an actor in the scene. Our
position among nations, having a large Pacific coast and a constantly
expanding direct trade with the farther Orient, gives us the equitable
claim to consideration and friendly treatment in this regard, and it
will be my aim to subserve our large interests in that quarter by all
means appropriate to the constant policy of our Government. The
territories of Kiao-chow, of Wei-hai-wei, and of Port Arthur and
Talienwan, leased to Germany, Great Britain, and Russia,
respectively, for terms of years, will, it is announced, be open to
international commerce during such alien occupation; and if no
discriminating treatment of American citizens and their trade be
found to exist or be hereafter developed, the desire of this
Government would appear to be realized.

In this relation, as showing the volume and value of our exchanges
with China and the peculiarly favorable conditions which exist for
their expansion in the normal course of trade, I refer to the
communication addressed to the Speaker of the House of
Representatives by the Secretary of the Treasury on the 14th of last
June, with its accompanying letter of the Secretary of State,
recommending an appropriation for a commission to study the
commercial and industrial conditions in the Chinese Empire and report
as to the opportunities for and obstacles to the enlargement of
markets in China for the raw products and manufactures of the United
States. Action was not taken thereon during the late session. I
cordially urge that the recommendation receive at your hands the
consideration which its importance and timeliness merit.

Meanwhile there may be just ground for disquietude in view of the
unrest and revival of the old sentiment of opposition and prejudice
to alien people which pervades certain of the Chinese provinces. As
in the case of the attacks upon our citizens in Szechuen and at
Kutien in 1895, the United States minister has been instructed to
secure the fullest measure of protection, both local and imperial,
for any menaced American interests, and to demand, in case of lawless
injury to person or property, instant reparation appropriate to the
case. War ships have been stationed at Tientsin for more ready
observation of the disorders which have invaded even the Chinese
capital, so as to be in a position to act should need arise, while a
guard of marines has been sent to Peking to afford the minister the
same measure of authoritative protection as the representatives of
other nations have been constrained to employ.

Following close upon the rendition of the award of my predecessor as
arbitrator of the claim of the