No. 35.

No. 26.

General Sickles to Mr. Fish.

OCTOBER 16, 1869.

I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of my note addressed to the minister of state, Mr. Silvela, on the 28th ultimo, and a copy and translation of his reply, dated the 16th instant.

General Sickles to Mr. Silvela.

SEPTEMBER 28, 1869.

The undersigned, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States of America, had the honor, on the 31st of July last, in compliance with the instructions of his government, to offer to the government of Spain the good offices of the United States, in the measures that should be found most expedient for the pacification of the Island of Cuba.

His excellency the minister of state, in a subsequent conference, communicated to the undersigned the reply of the cabinet of Madrid to the overture; and the undersigned, having duly transmitted the same to his government, informed the minister of state, on the 3d of September instant, of the views of the President in regard to the bases suggested on the part of Spain in that conference; and at the same time the undersigned communicated to the cabinet of Madrid the bases proposed by the United States for the adjustment of the questions pending between Spain and Cuba. These propositions were deemed by the President to be most advantageous to all the interests compromised by the deplorable conflict in the Island of Cuba, and it was believed the arrangement would be acceptable to the government of Spain.

His excellency the minister of state, acknowledging for the cabinet of Madrid the sincerity and friendship of the offer made by the United States, has intimated to the undersigned that the bases proposed by the United States cannot be accepted by Spain, and that even the friendly intervention of another power would embarrass the Spanish government in proceeding with the liberal measures it proposes to initiate, to meet the requirements of the situation in the Antilles.

The undersigned, therefore, in conformity with his instructions, withdraws the offer of the good offices of the President of the United States, heretofore communicated to the government of his Highness the Regent; and, while both nations will reserve their full liberty of action, if the occasion shall hereafter arise when the United States may contribute by their friendly co-operation to the settlement of the questions at issue in Cuba, the undersigned is instructed to state that the President will be happy to assist in promoting a result so conducive to the interests of Spain and of America.

Mr. Silvela to General Sickles.

[Translation.]

OCTOBER 8, 1869.

I have received your excellency's polite note of the 28th of last month, to which matters of the gravest importance have prevented an earlier reply.

In this note, in accordance with the instructions of the government of the United States, your excellency withdraws the offer of good offices with the insurgents of Cuba, with which that government was pleased to favor us, in the desire to put an end to the civil war which afflicts that transatlantic province. The Spanish government had accepted with gratitude these humanitary good offices. What it did not accept, because it could not accept them, were all the bases upon which they were founded, bases which evidently, as it now appears, constituted the essential condition of the offer. The Spanish government could not accept these bases, the first of which was the independence of Cuba, because, even if they had wished it, it was not within their competence to consent to a dismemberment of the territory of this monarchy, without the permission and authorization of the Cortes; but the Cortes, far from permitting and authorizing this, manifested by a unanimous resolution of their permanent commission that they were ready to lend their entire support to the government, in an elevated and dignified policy in the Cuban question, calculated to preserve the integrity of the territory and the national honor, and were disposed to convoke the national representation to strengthen the action of the government.

The Spanish government, nevertheless, as I have already said, had accepted the good offices, hoping that in the first place, they would be exercised by the government of the United States using their influence with the promoters of the insurrection, who had sought refuge in the territory of the republic, to induce the insurgents to lay down their arms. The Spanish government proposed spontaneously to present to the Constituent Cortes for their deliberation, in accord with the deputies of the island, measures which should tend to give to the Cubans the liberties their condition may require, in harmony with those proclaimed in Spain-a complete amnesty for those who have fought against the mother country, the gradual emancipation of the slaves, and the right of the free to hold public offices, and to share in making the laws. The humanitary good offices were accepted with gratitude upon these bases. If the United States now withdraw them, it is apparently because they consider as an inflexible basis of any negotiation the declaration of independence, to which neither the respect which the government professes to the constitution of Spain, nor other considerations not less important, permit us to accede. But as, the offer of good offices being withdrawn, the Spanish government can do no less than consider the bases and conclusions on which they were founded as having passed out of view, this is sufficient to cause the Spanish government to recognize the fairness of the government of the United States, and the respect which is due to the sovereignty of a people which has been its friend and ally from the beginning of its glorious history.

Your excellency, moreover, observes in ending your note, that while the President of the republic reserves his liberty of action, he will be happy if he can contribute in anything to the pacification of Cuba, a result equally advantageous to the interests of America and of Spain.

This frank and noble declaration is extremely satisfactory, and I beg that your excellency will present to the President the thanks of the Spanish government. At the same time I venture to indicate two acts which it is in his power to accomplish, and which will serve as an illustration of these loyal and friendly purposes toward Spain. The first is, to exercise all his natural influence upon those who, having taken refuge in American territory, foment the rebellion, to the end that they, following the generous initiative of the Spanish government, contained in the Gazette of the 28th of September, may induce their followers to abstain from giving a savage character to the conflict with the outrages and ferocious crimes with which they have been hitherto stained. The Spanish government having manifested its purpose to confine the contest within the limits prescribed by modern civilization, orders having been given to the authorities to proceed with all the moderation required by humanity, it would be truly monstrous if the insurgents should continue the barbarous conflict which they have begun, and should keep on perpetrating the excesses which outrage the consciences of honorable men, rendering themselves wholly unworthy of the generous hospitality which the republic dispenses to those who, under the name of the Cuban Junta, stand forth as promoters of the insurrection. The Spanish government having spontaneously set this example, and being resolved to act in a civilizing and humanitarian sense, a wide field is opened to the United States to show their sympathies and their good-will toward a government and a nation which proceeds in this manner, notwithstanding the conduct of the rebels.

The second act, which may illustrate the sincerity of the President's offers, is in regard to the gunboats constructed in the United States by the order and at the expense of Spain, not to go against Peru, nor even to fight the insurgents of Cuba, but to defend our coasts against the aggressions of filibusters and pirates.

The strongest argument which your excellency has used on various occasions to endeavor to demonstrate the importance of the insurrection, has been the extent of its duration; but this argument will have no weight while the insurrection receives continual increase and nutriment from abroad; while it does not remain isolated and without other partisans and champions than the Cubans themselves. Only when the insurrection persists in this manner can it be urged that it is rooted in the country, that the majority of the Cubans desire to be independent, and even that they are worthy to be so, and are possessed of sufficient means, vigor, and energy to form a nationality and a separate state. At this time, in the present state of things on that island, Spain cannot believe nor admit that the majority of the Cubans incline to separation from the mother country, but that a turbulent and blind minority, excited and aided by adventurers and speculators of other countries, by filibusters and pirates, guided by evil passions and not by patriotic purposes, aspire to overcome the general will of their own countrymen, and that is the sole cause of the discord which we deplore. At this time Spain does not and cannot see in Cuba the profound sentiment and true capacity of independence, and therefore, if she should consent to a separation from that rich and ancient colony, she would not have the great consolation of thinking that she was giving existence to a new nation, but the deep remorse of weakly abandoning her own children; of leaving unprotected a people of her own language and race to miserably perish and disappear.

These reasons are sufficiently strong to be esteemed at their just value by a govern

ment so enlightened as that which your excellency here worthily represents, and in whose friendly co-operation Spain still trusts to give peace to Cuba, and with peace, those ample liberties which our constitution grants, to every Spanish citizen of either hemisphere.

No. 27.]

No. 36.

General Sickles to Mr. Fish.

MADRID, October 16, 1869.

With this dispatch you will receive a copy of my note of the 28th ultimo to the minister of state, withdrawing the offer of the good offices of the President, heretofore tendered to Spain, for the settlement of the Cuban question; also, a copy of Mr. Silvela's reply, dated on the 8th instant, and received to-day. [See General Sickles's No. 26, page 56.]

An early answer was promised by the minister; and having_already informed you of my action, in my telegram of the 29th ultimo, I waited for the reply of the Spanish government before transmitting a copy of my note.

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A reply was sent to me on the 9th instant, identical with the one inclosed, except that it contained the extraordinary statement that I had withdrawn my note of the 3d of September. I called upon Mr. Silvela immediately, and informed him that this assertion was inadmissible, and if persisted in would compel me to put on record a positive contradiction of a statement which had no color of foundation in fact. He explained his meaning to be that the withdrawal of the offer of good offices was, in his opinion, synonymous with the withdrawal of the bases of settlement proposed by the United States, and he had given to this inference the form of assertion expressed in his note.

I assured the minister that, in attributing to me any purpose of withdrawing my note of the 3d ultimo, he had altogether misapprehended the tenor of my communication of the 28th; that the objections were insuperable to a proceeding which would mutilate the record of an important transaction, in which the President had performed a public duty imposed upon him by grave events; that the withdrawal of our good offices rendered unnecessary the further discussion of the bases proposed; that my communication of the 3d ultimo was not, however, confined to the suggestion of these bases; it embraced also a statement of the reasons which constrained the President to regard the bases proposed by Spain as inconsistent with any practicable negotiation; it included besides an exposition of the motives which had prompted the offer of the good offices of the United States, and it presented, moreover, the general considerations deemed by the President to be essential in determining the means for the pacification of Cuba.

The minister, although inclined to extend the range of the discussion by arguments in support of the soundness of his deduction, did not insist upon the correctness of his statment. He asked me to send him an informal note, pointing out the matter to which I objected, and promised to give immediate attention to the subject. I wrote him unofficially the same evening; and on the 12th, Mr. Diaz del Moral, of the state department, called upon me and submitted the draught of a proposed amendment, which I rejected, as it was a repetition in other phraseology of the original misstatement. Yesterday Mr. Diaz called again, and proposed a modification of the paragraph, omitting altogether the statement that my note had been withdrawn, which removed any objection

to the reception of the reply of the minister. To-day the original of the accompanying copy was received at the legation, and the one first sent was returned to the Foreign Office.

I have thought proper to inform you of all these particulars, because it has been repeatedly stated in semi-official journals and in official circles in Madrid, with the apparent sanction of this cabinet, that my note of the 3d of September had been withdrawn, in compliance with the demand of the Spanish government, and this misrepresentation has been telegraphed all over Europe and the United States.

I inclose also with dispatch No. 26, a copy of the instructions sent to the Captain General to prevent in future the atrocities which have disgraced the war in Cuba; also, the decree establishing freedom of worship in the Antilles, to which reference is made in the reply of the minister of state. [For inclosures see Mr. Plumb's dispatch of October 26, page 156.] The republican demonstration has recently occupied the attention of this government to the exclusion of all other matters.

There is no doubt, however, that recent events have made the president of the council stronger than he has yet been, at least in authority, if not in popularity, and that his views will more than ever shape the policy of Spain.

No. 31.]

No. 37.

General Sickles to Mr. Fish.

MADRID, November 3, 1869. Two changes in the cabinet are announced. Mr. Martos replaces Mr. Silvela in the state department, and Mr. Figuerola, who had before occupied the post, succeeds Mr. Ardanaz in the treasury. Additional gravity is given to the ministerial crisis by the resignation of Admiral Topete. It has not been accepted, as appears by a decree of the Regent published in the Gazette of this morning, because the reasons assigned for the resignation are altogether personal. It is not believed, however, that the admiral will resume his portfolio, as the real differences between the president of the council and the minister of marine are well understood to be political. The retiring ministers belong to the "liberal union" party, of which the Regent became the chief on the death of O'Donnell. Their successors are taken from the ranks of the "radicals," a new name adopted since the recent fusion of the "progresistas" and "democratic monarchists," under the leadership of the president of the council. It is understood that the "union liberals” declined to accept office in the reorganization of the cabinet, and it is claimed that the new administration is homogeneous in its polítics. Besides the dissensions growing out of the candidature of the Duke of Genoa, who is not supported by the "union liberals," it is probable that other differences, as, for example, the relations of the government to the church, contributed to the rupture. It remains to be seen whether the new cabinet will command the same support in the Cortes enjoyed by the late administration, for although all sides profess to regard the preservation of the coalition as essential, there are serious doubts of its practicability. The loss of the union liberal vote in the Cortes, which is somewhere between sixty and seventy, would still leave the radical cabinet a majority in the chamber; but the weight of character, and especially the powerful influence in the army attributed to the Regent's party, will greatly increase the strength of the opposition to General Prim's administration,

if he fails to conciliate this important element of the coalition that has hitherto sustained him.

The commission organized to prepare and report for the consideration of the Cortes a plan of administrative reform for the island of Porto Rico, of which I advised you in my dispatch No. 19, has been dissolved. The Marquis de la Esperanza, one of the deputies of Porto Rico, and a member of the board, informed the secretary of this legation, Colonel Hay, that the commission was unable to agree upon any plan. The disagreement between the government and the provincial members included among others the questions of slavery, tariff, and taxation. The decree dissolving the commission, which appeared recently in the Gazette, assigns as the reason for the measure, that the time limited for the sittings of the board has expired. I shall inform you of whatever else may transpire on this subject. It is probable the matter will soon be brought up .in the Cortes by the deputies from Porto Rico.

No allusion has been made to the matter of the gunboats since the receipt of your telegram and instructions upon that subject. I have preferred to wait for such an opportunity to correct the misapprehension you mention, rather than introduce the subject myself.

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Although the Cortes have been in session for a month, the Cuban question has not been considered, nor even mentioned, otherwise than incidentally, in the public sittings. With every mail from the Havana the announcement is repeated that the insurrection is suppressed, yet the embarkation of reinforcements continues. The consul at Cadiz reports the departure of 1,428 troops since the middle of October. Of these, three hundred were marines, taken by the ship of war Zaragoza. The remainder were sent by the transports Porto Rico and Lopez de la CáLopez.

No. 33.]

General Sickles to Mr. Fish.

MADRID, November 14, 1869. The subject of Porto Rico was brought before the Cortes yesterday by one of the deputies of the island, Mr. Padial.

I inclose herewith a report of the debate, taken from the official Gazette. You will find in the speech of the colonial secretary, Mr. Becerra, an exposition of the principles adopted by this government, in shaping their plans of colonial administration. The deputies from Porto Rico differ widely in their demands, and it is evident the government will take advantage of these dissensions and do as little as possible in the way of reform.

The colonial minister declared on the 8th instant, in the Cortes, that the government would not bring forward any measure of reform for Cuba until the last hostile band was dispersed, and the insurgents had lost all hope. You will perhaps find some interest in a comparison of that view of Mr. Becerra with his expressions on the 6th of October, and I inclose reports of his remarks on both of these occasions.

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[For inclosures see extract of above dispatch, document No. 115, page 161.]