This sum was to have been paid in three
installments at two months each. It is due to the Spanish Government
that I should state that the payments were fully and spontaneously
anticipated by that Government, and that the whole amount was paid
within but a few days more than two months from the date of the
agreement, a copy of which is herewith transmitted. In pursuance of the
terms of the adjustment, I have directed the distribution of the amount
among the parties entitled thereto, including the ship's company and
such of the passengers as were American citizens. Payments are made
accordingly, on the application by the parties entitled thereto.
The past year has furnished no evidence of an approaching termination
of the ruinous conflict which has been raging for seven years in the
neighboring island of Cuba. The same disregard of the laws of civilized
warfare and of the just demands of humanity which has heretofore called
forth expressions of condemnation from the nations of Christendom has
continued to blacken the sad scene. Desolation, ruin, and pillage are
pervading the rich fields of one of the most fertile and productive
regions of the earth, and the incendiary's torch, firing plantations and
valuable factories and buildings, is the agent marking the alternate
advance or retreat of contending parties.
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