Mr. Muruaga to Mr. Gresham.
Washington, January 22, 1894.
The undersigned, minister plenipotentiary of Spain, impelled by the alarming intelligence, not only of an official character, but also from private sources, coming to this legation from Key West with regard to the direction which the question of the emigration of peninsular Spaniards to that island is taking there, ventures to call the attention of the honorable Secretary of State to the spirit and letter of the treaty in force between the United States and Spain, ratified April 25, 1796.
The labor question in that locality has been converted into a political one through the agitation kept up by the Cuban filibusters, headed by [Page 612] the Cuban revolutionist José Marti, to the great detriment not only of the tobacco industry, but also of the interests and security of the American citizens.
The pretext offered for requesting the expulsion of the Spanish (peninsular) twisters who landed recently, to wit, that they are soldiers and are subject to military jurisdiction, is absurd and without foundation. The same thing is true of all the subjects of France, Italy, Germany, and Austria, but nobody has thought of expelling them because they are subject to compulsory military service.
If the absurd theory that the tobacco industry is to be monopolized by the Cubans were to prevail the American manufacturers would be left at the mercy of the strikes which would be organized under some pretext or other, and would be the victims of the exactions of the professional agitators.
The undersigned, for this reason, can not help fearing the possibility of retaliation if Key West, in spite of the vehement protests of the sensible part of its population, should be converted into a center of conspiracy and of hostility to Cuba, which retaliation might take the form of complete commercial isolation between Key West and the ports of Cuba.
The undersigned, therefore, appeals to the wisdom of the honorable Secretary of State to intervene in this controversy and avails himself, etc.,