Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress with the Annual Message of the President, December 2, 1872, Part I

No. 431.
Mr. Sickles to Mr. Fish.

United States Legation in Spain,
Madrid, October 8, 1872. (Received October 24.)

No. 443.]

Sir.: I have the honor to forward herewith an official publication of a decree, dated 2d instant, organizing a standing army for the provinces of Cuba and Porto Rico, respectively. The term of enlistment is six years, three of which must be in active service and the remainder in reserve, unless in case of war or insurrection; the whole force is required to remain under arms. These troops are to be raised in Spain; first, from the army of the peninsula; second, from the reserves of that army and third, by recruiting at large. Besides the extra pay allowed for service beyond the seas, each man receives a bounty of $150, with clothing and transportation home for himself and family at the expiration of his full term of enlistment. The reserves are likewise borne on the rolls of the local militia, or “volunteers” where they reside, and may be armed if employed on plantations.

It is said that, besides the heavy losses in the army of Cuba during the last campaign, the term of service of some seven or eight thousand men has expired, so that in order to keep up the active strength of the organization a re-enforcement of at least twenty thousand is required. In the present condition of affairs in Spain it will be difficult to send any considerable part of these before the close of the year. A law is now pending in the Cortes authorizing a conscription of forty thousand men for the Spanish army, and I presume it will be among these conscripts that most of the “volunteers” for Cuba will be found. This measure, however, encounters serious opposition, and may not become a law before the end of the month; nor will it be easy in the present temper of the people to enforce another conscription in this country, based as this is on an unequal and unjust system of enrollment, which the present cabinet acknowledges and stands pledged to reform.

Nothing could better illustrate the difference between the colonial policy of Great Britain and Spain than the fact that at a moment when Canada is without a garrison of British troops, a permanent army is found necessary to constrain the unwilling allegiance of Cuba and Porto Rico.

The rumor of the appointment of Lieutenant-General Cordova, at present secretary of war, to be captain-general of Cuba, is again revived, with some foundation, I suspect. The minister of state remarked to me last Friday, however, that no change would be made at present, as General Cordova could not be spared from the war department pending the re-organization of the army, for which he has presented a project to the Cortes. This appointment, if made, would be in all respects excellent.

I am, &c.,

D. E. SICKLES.

[Translation.]

Ministry of War.–Statement.

[From La Gaceta de Madrid, Madrid, October 4, 1872.]

Sir: The manner of supplying the places of troops whose terms of service have expired in the armies of Cuba and Porto Rico has been a subject of special attention with all preceding governments; there exists no plan, however, as yet, which is both safe and convenient, and at the same time furnishes guarantees of order to those loyal inhabitants, and security to the mother country, which is no less interested in their prosperity than in the strengthening of the bonds which unite her to them.

If, until no very remote period, the difficulty of communication, the erroneous ideas entertained by our people in regard to those provinces, and other circumstances and even prejudices, combined to render harmony between the army of the colonies and that of the peninsula impossible, now that these errors and these difficulties have disappeared, and that communications are rapid, easy, and convenient, the government of Your Majesty thinks that the time has arrived for the reform which it proposes, viz, to furnish said islands with a suitable and sufficient military force, to be maintained by a definite and permanent system.

The want of such a system hitherto has rendered recruiting for the colonial army dependent upon different elements; the conditions of the men who enlisted were also different, and enlistment was even sometimes accepted as a penalty for various offenses, but neither persons sentenced for common crimes, nor those who have been punished for desertion, nor those who have disgraced themselves by bad conduct, nor any other element ill-suited to military service, or capable of corrupting it in its source, should serve as the nucleus of an army, the sacred object of which is to maintain inviolate the honor of the national flag and the integrity of the national soil.

The government which now enjoys Your Majesty’s confidence, more fortunate if not more zealous than its predecessors, thinks it has found means to supply this important want by adopting, with some modifications, the system proposed to the Cortes for the maintenance of the peninsular army.

The protracted war now dying out which is kept up in Cuba, also renders it very necessary to increase the national element, better guarantees being thus furnished for tranquillity and order, which have, on more than one occasion, been disturbed by men who were few in number, indeed, but fatal to public peace and prosperity by reason of their turbulent spirit and their hostility to the rule of Spain.

The advantages afforded by the system of dividing the armies of those islands into active and reserve forces are-evident, since it thus becomes possible always to have an increase of force ready without imposing any considerable pecuniary sacrifices upon the treasury; this system regulates, in a fixed manner, the rewards offered to the volunteers for their service, exempting them from the discounts which they have hitherto suffered for various reasons; it offers them, at the close of their engagement, a little property, which will be a benefit to their families, or serve as a foundation of their own fortunes in such rich countries; it secures at all times a return to those who may not desire to remain after the expiration of their term of service, they and their families, should they have any, being conveyed home at the expense of the state; and, finally, it promotes the settlement of those islands with acclimated national elements, thus opening an easier future to the young men who now emigrate to various parts of America, and who will hereafter be able to do so with greater advantage to our own colonial provinces, taking to them the various talents, arts, trades, and other occupations which, finding immediate application in the army, must subsequently become an inexhaustible source of wealth when employed in industry, agriculture, and commerce.

To facilitate means to honest toil, to open up ways to intelligent activity, and to enterprising youth to attain a good position in life, and to give at the same time to our colonial provinces and their army the enthusiasm of patriotic love, the strength and the sap of that same youth which is to defend the flag of Spain, and prosper under its shadow and its protection—such, sir, is the object proposed by the undersigned minister on submitting to the high consideration of Your Majesty, with the approval of the council of ministers, the following draught of a decree for the maintenance of the armies of Cuba and Porto Rico.

FERNANDO FERNANDEZ DE CORDOVA,
Minister of War.

Madrid, October 2, 1872.

Decree.

Pursuant to the suggestion of the minister of war, with the approval of the council of ministers, I hereby decree as follows:

• Article 1. The armies of the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico shall hereafter be formed by means of voluntary enlistments, to which shall be admitted, first, persons belonging to the active army of the peninsula; second, those belonging to the first and second reserves of the same army; and third, men of from twenty to thirty-five years of age, who, while belonging neither to the army nor to the reserves, may desire to enlist, and who are able to furnish satisfactory evidence of good conduct, and who possess the qualifications required by the legislative enactments now in force.
• Article 2. The duration of military service in the armies of Cuba and Porto Rico shall be six years, reckoning from the day of embarkation of the parties enlisted; these shall serve for three years in the active army and for the three remaining years in the reserve.
• Article 3. Persons belonging to the reserve will be required to render active service when called to arms in case of war.
• Article 4. At the expiration of the six years of service, for which the volunteer enlists, he shall be entitled to a full discharge in time of peace, unless he shall have contracted a new engagement; but such discharge may be withheld for six months following the expiration of the engagement if vacancies in the army shall not have been filled by re-enforcements from the peninsula.
• Article 5. In time of war all transfers from the active to the reserve force shall cease; but at the expiration of the six years of service, those who shall have served their full time shall receive their final discharge, unless an order of the government shall require their continuance in the army, on account of this being demanded by the defense of the country or the integrity of the territory.
• Article 6. Volunteers for the armies of Cuba and Porto Rico shall receive 750 pesetas for the three years for which they engage to remain in active service; of these they shall receive 250 at the time of embarking, or before if they can furnish a sufficient guarantee, (which will no longer be required after their embarkation,) and the 500 pesetas remaining on their entering the reserve, after having been for three years in active service.
• Article 7. Persons belonging to the active force or to the reserves of the peninsula, who may desire to be transferred to the colonial army, shall have the time which they have already served in Spain placed to their credit, provided that the time which they have still to serve in Spain, or for which they engage to serve in the colonies, be not less than three years, in which they shall receive the 750 pesetas, paid in the manner provided in the foregoing article.
• Article 8. The volunteers shall begin to draw pay for service in America from the day of their enrollment, receiving moreover the necessary outfit of clothing for the voyage without charge, and being furnished with transportation to the port of embarkation at the expense of the government. No charge shall be made to volunteers for the medical examination which is required previous to their admission.
• Article 9. The government guarantees all pay not drawn and all savings which may be deposited by the troops of the colonial armies in the Cuba and Porto Rico fund, and all balances standing to the credit of volunteers shall be paid on their embarkation for the peninsula.
• Article 10. Any money belonging to persons deceased shall be placed in the colonial fund within two months after the decease, so that families and heirs may receive it promptly and without any discount. To this end every volunteer, before embarking, must leave at the colonial office a sworn statement, signed by himself, giving the name of the place of his birth, together with the names of his parents, brothers, and sisters, and nearest relatives, to the end that those having legal claims to his property may be known in case of his decease.
• Article 11. On being transferred to the reserve force, after having been for three years in the active service, volunteers may engage in agricultural or any other kind of labor, changing their residence within the territory as it may suit their interests, being only obliged to inform the commanding officer of the regiment or body to which they belong, still being under obligations, however, to return to their standards when summoned in case of war.
• Article 12. Any volunteer, on being transferred to the reserve, may contract matrimony, but this shall not exempt him from the obligation of returning to the ranks in case of war, as provided by the foregoing article. When such summons is made, volunteers shall again receive compensation at the rate of 250 pesetas per annum for such time as they may remain under arms.
• Article 13. Volunteers, at the expiration of their six years of service, shall be entitled to return to the peninsula at the expense of the state, together with their wives, and the children that may have been born to them during the time of their service in the reserve force. They shall retain this right without regard to the number of years that they may remain in the island after receiving their discharge, and although they may have married subsequently to their discharge.
• Article 14. Volunteers, after having completed their six years’ engagement in the colonial armies, may contract a new engagement, for three and six years, as they did the first, in which case they shall receive 250 pesetas for each year of service.
• Article 15. Volunteers who, after having completed the first three years of their engagement in active service, may desire to remain in it without being transferred to the reserve, may continue in the ranks, receiving the same compensation of 250 pesetas per annum, and those who may voluntarily solicit it may, in such case, enter the reserve, even though they may not have served more than two years. In this case a discount will be made from the compensation of those entering the reserve before the regular time, according to the time for which they fail to serve in the active force.
• Article 16. Those forming the staff of the army shall likewise enjoy the same advantages as are granted to the volunteers; but first sergeants who aspire to promotion cannot be transferred to the reserve.
• Article 17. Corporals and sergeants of all branches of the army of the peninsula who may desire to be transferred to the army of Cuba or of Porto Pico may do so with the same advantages as private soldiers, in the proportion of one sergeant and two corporals to every one hundred men. To this end they will address their applications through their superior officers to the director-general of infantry, who will designate those who have been longest in the service, if the number of applicants shall exceed the proportion above indicated. Cornet-players and garrison-musicians may enlist in the same proportion as corporals.
• Article 18. Volunteers who have learned one of the professions of medicine, pharmacy, or veterinary surgery, shall perform no duties in the active force, save those connected with their professions, if they shall so elect. These volunteers shall be assigned to the divisions, sanitary companies, ambulances, and hospitals, as auxiliaries of the military board of health. After three years of active service they may undergo competitive examinations for vacancies in the military board of health, pharmacy, or veterinary surgery of the island, or be at full liberty to practice their professions if they enter the reserve.
• Article 19. The advantages referred to in the foregoing article shall be extended to all workmen, masters of mechanic arts or trades which may be useful in the various branches of service of the armies of Cuba and Porto Rico, as well as to the industrial establishments under the charge of the state, the superior authorities taking care that they be assigned in such manner as may best promote the object of utilizing their services in the army.
• Article 20. The captains-general of Cuba and Porto Rico shall establish such schools and academies as may be necessary in time of peace to educate the troops, and their officers shall be held responsible if, at the expiration of the three years of active service, the volunteers shall be unable to read and write correctly.
• Article 21. The captains-general of the two Antilles may summon to arms whenever they may think proper, on account of war, either the whole or any part of the reserve, either by years, arms, divisions, or departments, whether it be to increase the peace or to complete the war footing, making a report of such action to the government.
• Article 22. Volunteers belonging to the reserve shall enroll themselves in the ranks of the divisions of volunteers established in the country when they reside in towns where such divisions exist. Those who are employed on estates or farms may be furnished with a suitable authorization from the captains-general without, for this reason, ceasing to belong to the respective bodies in which they have served, in case of being summoned to arms, according to Article 21.
• Article 23. All advantages which, by the present decree, are granted to volunteers enlisting for service in the armies of Cuba and Porto Rico shall be extended to soldiers of the permanent or expeditionary army of the island of Cuba, so far as applicable to them, if they desire to continue in the service.
• Article 24. All previous provisions relative to enlistment for the armies of Cuba and Porto Rico are hereby repealed, so far as they may conflict with the present decree.

Done at Madrid on the second day of October, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.

• AMADEO.
• Fernando Fernandez de Cordova,
  Minister of War.