Page:Messages of the President of the United States on the Relations of the United States to Spain (1898).djvu/41

 12 The Weyler police have all been changed and the officers of the volunteers, too, when the Government here has reason to doubt their loyalty.

In consequence of all this, and the assurances of the governmental authorities that American life and property will, if necessary, be protected by them at a moment's notice, I have declined to make an application for the presence of one or more war ships in this harbor, and have advised those of our people who have wives and children here not to send them away, at least for the present, because such proceedings would not, in my opinion, be justifiable at this time, from the standpoint of personal security.

I still think that two war ships at least should be at Key West, prepared to move here at short notice, and that more of them should be sent to Dry Tortugas, and a coal station be established there. Such proceedings would seem to be in line with that prudence and foresight necessary to afford safety to the Americans residing on the island, and to their properties, both of which, I have every reason to know, are objects of the greatest concern to our Government.

Consul-General.

Havana, December 3, 1897.

I have the honor to state that a representative of a Madrid paper here says that:

The Lucha to-day publishes that Canalejas has said "that the economic condition of the Pinar del Rio province is deplorable, there being 40,000 reconcentrados absolutely destitute, 15,000 of which are children, most of whom are orphans; that they are unequally distributed throughout the different towns in the province, there being only 460 at the capital, city of Pinar del Rio, while in small towns like Consolacioa and Candelaria there are over 4,000. The municipalities can not incur any expense, because the taxes can not be collected, because most of the taxpayers, if not all, have been ruined by the war."

I am, etc.,

Consul-General.