_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

As a consequence of the ratification of the treaty of peace between the
United States and Spain and its expected ratification by the Spanish
Government, the United States will come into possession of the
Philippine Islands, on the farther shores of the Pacific. The Hawaiian
Islands and Guam becoming United States territory and forming convenient
stopping places on the way across the sea, the necessity for speedy
cable communication between the United States and all these Pacific
islands has become imperative.

Such communication should be established in such a way as to be wholly
under the control of the United States, whether in time of peace or of
war. At present the Philippines can be reached only by cables which
pass through many foreign countries, and the Hawaiian Islands and Guam
can only be communicated with by steamers, involving delays in each
instance of at least a week. The present conditions should not be
allowed to continue for a moment longer than is absolutely necessary.

So long ago as 1885 reference was made in an Executive message to
Congress to the necessity for cable communication between the United
States and Hawaii. This necessity has greatly increased since then.
The question has been discussed in the Fifty-second, Fifty-fourth, and
Fifty-fifth Congresses, in each of which some effort has been made
looking toward laying a cable at least as far as the Hawaiian Islands.
The time has now arrived when a cable in the Pacific must extend at
least as far as Manila, touching at the Hawaiian Islands and Guam on
the way.