erate, into their wicked schemes, an ungrateful return for the benefits conferred upon them by this people in permitting them to make our country an asylum from oppression, and in flagrant abuse of the hospitality thus extended to them;

And whereas such expeditions can only be regarded as adventures for plunder and robbery, and must meet the condemnation of the civilized world, while they are derogatory to the character of our country, in violation of the laws of nations, and expressly prohibited by our own statutes, which declare that if any person shall, within the territory or jurisdiction of the United States, begin or set on foot, or provide or prepare the means for, any military expedition or enterprise, to be carried on from thence, against the territory or dominions of any foreign prince or state, or of any colony, district, or people with whom the United States are at peace, every person so offending shall be deemed guilty of high misdemeanor, and shall be fined not exceeding three thousand dollars, and imprisoned not more than three years:

Now, therefore, I have issued this my proclamation, warning all persons who shall connect themselves with any such enterprise or expedition, in violation of our laws and national obligations, that they will thereby subject themselves to the heavy penalties denounced against such offenses, and will forfeit their claim to the protection of this government, or any interference on their behalf, no matter to what extremities they may be reduced in consequence of their illegal conduct. And therefore I exhort all good citizens, as they regard our national reputation, as they respect their own laws and the laws of nations, as they value the blessings of peace and the welfare of their country, to discountenance and, by all lawful means, prevent any such enterprise; and I call upon every officer of this government, civil or military, to use all efforts in his power to arrest, for trial and punishment, every such offender against the laws of the country. Given under my hand the twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, and the seventy-fifth year of the independence of the United States. MILLARD FILLMORE.

By the President:

W. S. DERRICK,

Acting Secretary of State.

The undersigned is pleased to believe that a similar declaration is now opportune; and though the Spanish nation does not doubt the cordial friendship of the United States, yet a public and solemn avowal of the inclination and intention of the government to observe the laws and preserve justice toward Spain would have the salutary effect of dissipating false illusions and discouraging dangerous deceptions.

No. 9.

Mr. Fish to Mr. Lopez Roberts.

WASHINGTON, April 17, 1869.

The undersigned, Secretary of State of the United States, has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the note of Mr. Roberts, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Spain, of the 5th instant.

In this note Mr. Roberts, after stating various circumstances, sets forth a proclamation, issued on the 25th of April, 1851, by Mr. Fillmore, then President of the United States, and expresses the opinion that a similar declaration is now opportune.

After a careful examination of Mr. Roberts's note, the undersigned fails to perceive the necessity, or the propriety at this time, of a proclamation by the President of the United States, such as Mr. Roberts desires.

The publication of an instrument of the character asked by Mr. Roberts would be the exercise of a power by the President which is resorted to only on extraordinary occasions, and when peculiar circumstances indicate its necessity. Such a power is not to be invoked lightly, or when the laws are in unquestioned vigor and efficiency, are respected by all persons, and are enforced by the ordinary agencies.

When Mr. Fillmore's proclamation was issued in 1851, the internal peace and quiet of the island of Cuba were undisturbed; there was no insurrection of its inhabitants, no rebellion or revolution in progress within the island against the authority of Spain. There was, however, a movement on foot within the United States, indicating the intent of certain parties to organize within the territory of the United States an armed expedition with the design of invading the island, attempting to incite an insurrection, and to overthrow the authority of Spain there. Under such circumstances, Mr. Fillmore issued the proclamation referred to, giving another instance of the watchfulness and earnestness of this government in regard to its obligations to all friendly powers. The circumstances of the day are wholly different from those which made that measure not only proper, but the natural, if not the necessary manifestation of the policy and the conduct of this government from its organization. A portion of the people of Cuba, for more than six months, have been in arms against the government of Spain over that island, and they are seeking, as they allege, relief from oppression. How just their complaints may be, or what the oppression is from which they desire relief, the undersigned does not purpose to discuss. He only refers to the objects of the insurrectionary party, as that party alleges them to be, to illustrate the entire difference between the events existing when Mr. Fillmore issued his proclamation, and those which now exist.

At present this government is not aware of any invasion of the island of Cuba, or of any other possessions of Spain threatened from the United States, nor is any such believed to be in the course of preparation. Mr. Roberts has, on several occasions, intimated to the undersigned the existence of individual or private attempts in different parts of the country to violate the neutrality laws of the United States. In every such instance, as Mr. Roberts very justly admits in his note, the proper officers of the government have been called upon immediately to vindicate the supremacy of the law, and no single instance is known or is believed to have arisen in which their interference, thus invoked, has not been efficient to prevent the apprehended violation.

The government of the United States has very recently experienced the effects of a precipitate recognition of belligerent rights to a revolutionary movement whose powers of resistance and of endurance were sustained by the recognition on the part of a government at peace with the United States within a little more than two months after the outbreak of the insurrection. But having from its very origin been foremost in the assertion of neutral rights, and in setting the example of enforcing a strict neutrality, this government does not intend at present to depart from its traditional policy, but will execute, in good faith, the wise and efficient laws that have been enacted for the observance of its international duties of neutrality and friendship.

Individuals, tempted either by the hope of gain or instigated by those engaged in the insurrection now pending in Cuba, may be led covertly to undertake unlawful enterprises. Such ventures are not confined to any one country or to any age. They always and everywhere occur with the opportunity. At this moment similar enterprises aimed at Cuba are well understood not to be limited to this hemisphere, but have also been set on foot in transatlantic countries.

The proximity of the United States to Cuba has heretofore and must continue to tempt reckless and adventurous persons to embark in such undertakings. But, in the future, as in the past, every intimation from the Spanish government or its agents, of the existence of any design of an unlawful enterprise against Spain, will be met by the most S. Ex. Doc. 7—2

vigorous interposition of the proper officers of the government, and the undersigned has no doubt that such interposition will be sufficient, without invoking the extraordinary power of the President to issue a special proclamation.

The sympathy of the people of the United States has ever manifested itself in favor of another people striving to secure for itself more liberal institutions, and the right of self-government; this sympathy recently obtained strong expression when Spain threw off an existing oppression and placed herself among the more liberal governments of the world. It is now enlisted, beyond doubt, and strongly in favor of a more liberal government in Cuba than that which the policy of past ages and of the deposed government of Spain had fastened upon the people of that island, and it cannot be denied that there pervades the whole American people a special desire to see the right of self-government established in every region of the American hemisphere, so that the political destiny of America shall be independent of transatlantic control. This is no new desire; it arises from no recent events, nor is it now for the first time made manifest. This government has ever been watchful and hopeful, but not aggressive; the desire of the American people for selfgovernment by others has been, and is, held firmly, but consistently with the friendly relations which the United States desire to maintain with all other governments, and especially with those who still claim control over neighboring possessions.

The undersigned has not specially referred to the facts and circumstances cited by Mr. Roberts, such as appeal to public opinion, false or exaggerated statements, public meetings, musical concerts, sermons and prayers, as indicative of the necessity of the proclamation which he requests. The freedom of speech, of the press, and the right of the people peacefully to assemble, whether for political purposes or for entertainments, or to hear sermons, or for prayer, cannot be called in question, nor admit of any interference.

The experience of this country of nearly a century has demonstrated the harmlessness of extravagant speech, and even of falsehood, when the right of speech and the freedom of the press are untrammeled.

The government cannot, and will not, attempt to influence the thought or the sympathies of its citizens; it will limit itself to the interposition of its power against every improper or unlawful exercise of any sympathies likely to lead to the infraction of its proper obligations to Spain and to other friendly powers.

Having set the example of the most perfect laws of neutrality, both in the theory and in practice, the government of the United States will continue to administer them in the utmost good faith and with vigor in every instance where it shall be duly informed of any threatened violation of them.

No. 33.]

No. 10.

Mr. Hall to Mr. Fish.

HAVANA, April 22, 1869. During the past few days a number of decrees, many of them very lengthy, have been issued by the Captain General of the island, all in reference to, or tending to, the confiscation of the property of such persons as are in any way connected with the insurrection, whether in the island or abroad.

These decrees are published in the Official Gazette; the most important of them is dated 1st instant, but was published for the first time in the Gazette of the 16th instant.

It is not improbable that this decree may be enforced retroactively to the prejudice of some of our own citizens, in view of which I herewith accompany a translation.

[Translation.]

SUPERIOR POLITICAL GOVERNMENT OF THE PROVINCE OF CUBA.

It is the duty of every government to provide for the security of the territory confided to its command.

That of this province, attacked by an unjustifiable insurrection that is depopulating and ruining many of the rich districts of the island, makes indispensable the adoption of every efficient measure for annihilating the enemies of our nationality by depriving them of all the resources upon which they depend for sustaining their aggression.

With this in view, and the possibility that sales of property may be effected for illicit ends, such sales (contratos) are declared, in conformity with our laws, to be null, and in use of the extraordinary and discretionary powers with which I am invested by the supreme government of the nation, I decree the following:

ARTICLE 1. Contracts for the sale of immovable and semi-movable (slave) property, before going into effect, will from this date be presented to the government for revision. ART. 2. In compliance with this disposition, the contracts made in Havana will be presented to the secretary of the superior civil government, and those effected in other jurisdictions of the island, to governors and lieutenant-governors.

ART. 3. The presentations referred to will be made by the parties when the contract is a private one, and by the notary (escritano) when it becomes a public instrument, and before it has been drawn up, in the first case, the original document will be presented; in the second, the memorandum (or minutes) of the instrument.

ART. 4. After the contract has been vizaed by the government it shall not be altered or modified in any manner without its (the government's) previous revision, under penalty of the nullity of the alteration in case of infraction.

ART. 5. Sales of produce and other articles of commerce for exportation, as also the transfer of shares of corporations and societies, are also subject to the revision referred to. ART. 6. In the cases of sales, referred to in the last preceding article, through the medium of a broker, the latter will present the contract for revision in the mercantile form in which it is extended. If no broker intervenes, the presentation will be made by the contracting parties.

ART. 7. The officers of corporations that are authorized by their respective regulations to authenticate transfers of stocks, will effect such transfers with the authorization of the government, and for this purpose they shall render an account of the transfers proposed by the parties interested, expressing in their communications directed to the government the names and residence of the contractors, and the number and value of the stocks to be transferred.

ART. 8. In order not to embarrass in any manner the sales of real estate and semimovable (slave) property, and still more mercantile transactions, the government will concede or refuse its approbation to the former within four days, and on the sales of produce within twenty-four hours from the presentation of the documents.

ART. 9. All contracts for the sale of every description of property made without the revision of the government will be null, and private individuals, merchants, brokers, presidents and directors of corporations not complying with the stipulations of this decree will incur the penalties established by the penal code, comprehended in chapter 5, title 8, of book 2.

HAVANA, April 1, 1869.

DOMINGO DULCE.

No. 11.

Mr. Fish to Mr. Lopez Roberts.

WASHINGTON, April 30, 1869.

I am instructed by the President to inform you that this department has received from the United States consulate in Cuba a decree dated

the first day of April current, and promulgated by the Captain General of the island, on the 15th of this month, which virtually forbids the alienation of property in the island, except with the revision and assent of certain officials named in the decree, and which declares null and void all sales made without such revision and assent.

In view of the intimate commercial relations between Cuba and the United States, and of the great amount of American property constantly invested there in commercial ventures, as well as in a more permanent form, the President views with regret such sweeping interference with the rights of individuals to alienate or dispose of their property, and he hopes that steps may be speedily taken to modify this decree so that it shall not be applicable to the property of citizens of the United States, and thus prevent disputes and complaints that cannot fail to arise if its execution is attempted as to such property.

No. 37.]

No. 12.

Mr. Hall to Mr. Fish.

HAVANA, April 30, 1869.

I have the honor to accompany herewith a translation of a document published yesterday in the "Diario de la Marina," of this city, as taken from the "Redactor," of Santiago de Cuba, purporting to be a proclamation of Count Valmaseda to the inhabitants of that jurisdiction.

I have received a letter from the acting consular agent at Manzanillo, dated the 24th instant, from which I take the following extract: Since my last report of the 10th instant, I have to advise that Count de Valmaseda since the 14th instant, has taken the offensive, and has sent from his encampment, near Bayamo, four different battallions to scout the country, pursuing the insurgents in the spirit of his proclamation of that date.

*

From the Diario de la Marina, April 29, 1869-Translation.

The Redactor, (of St. Jago de Cuba,) in its number of 21st instant, publishes the following important proclamation of General Count Valmaseda:

Inhabitants of the country! The reinforcement of troops that I have been waiting for have arrived; with them I shall give protection to the good, and punish promptly those that still remain in rebellion against the government of the metropolis.

You know that I have pardoned those that have fought us with arms; that your wives, mothers, and sisters have found in me the unexpected protection that you have refused them. You know, also, that many of those I have pardoned have turned against us again.

Before such ingratitude, such villainy, it is not possible for me to be the man that I have been; there is no longer a place for a falsified neutrality; he that is not for me is against me, and that my soldiers may know how to distinguish, you hear the order they carry:

1st. Every man, from the age of fifteen years, upward, found away from his habitation, (finca,) and does not prove a justified motive therefor, will be shot.

2d. Every habitation unoccupied will be burned by the troops.

3d. Every habitation from which does not float a white flag, as a signal that its occupants desire peace, will be reduced to ashes.

Women that are not living at their own homes, or at the house of their relatives, will collect in the town of Jiguani, or Bayamo, where maintenance will be provided. Those who do not present themselves will be conducted forcibly.

The foregoing determinations will commence to take effect on the 14th of the present month.

BAYAMO, April 4, 1869.

EL CONDE DE VALMASEDA.