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[12] 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