Spain offered autonomy for Cuba. The President replied that
he did not know exactly what "autonomy" meant. What he wished for Cuba
was the rights that Canada possessed. He understood these. A cable was
shown to the President by the French Minister stating that Spain
granted this and he, dear man, supposed all was settled. So it was,
apparently.
Speaker Reed usually came to see me Sunday mornings when in New York,
and it was immediately after my return from Europe that year that he
called and said he had never lost control of the House before. For one
moment he thought of leaving the chair and going on the floor to
address the House and try to quiet it. In vain it was explained that
the President had received from Spain the guarantee of self-government
for Cuba. Alas! it was too late, too late!
"What is Spain doing over here, anyhow?" was the imperious inquiry of
Congress. A sufficient number of Republicans had agreed to vote with
the Democrats in Congress for war. A whirlwind of passion swept over
the House, intensified, no doubt, by the unfortunate explosion of the
warship Maine in Havana Harbor, supposed by some to be Spanish work.
The supposition gave Spain far too much credit for skill and activity.
War was declared--the Senate being shocked by Senator Proctor's
statement of the concentration camps he had seen in Cuba.
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