Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Address of the President to Congress December 4, 1917
File No. 837.00/1283
Minister Gonzales to the Secretary of State
Habana, March 29, 1917.
Sir: I have the honor to enclose herewith in translation a copy of President Menocal’s manifesto to the people of Cuba, dated March 26, 1917.
I have [etc.]
President Menocal’s Manifesto of March 26, 1917
To the People of Cuba: I consider it one of my first duties in the political crisis which fortunately is approaching its end by the complete triumph of law and justice, to state directly to the country the true character of the revolution as it becomes more and more pronounced by the dastardly acts of the leaders and their instruments, and the purposes which guide me in my firm determination to combat rebellion until it is crushed.
I shall not be dissuaded from doing this because such a statement may now seem unnecessary or superfluous; nor because of the daily diminishing number of rebels in arms against the lawful Government of the nation; nor because of the fact, which for the honor of Cuba is daily becoming more patent, that the great majority of those who have responded to the artful incitement of the self-seeking instigators of the uprising with abominable acts of rapine and barbarous destruction of private property are of the most ignorant, lawless and depraved classes of our people; nor because of the series of victories achieved by our brave army, which have brought into relief the weakness of the much-vaunted rebel forces; nor even because of the failure of the campaign of false news, organized perseveringly and unscrupulously, out of Habana, Santiago de Cuba and New York, for the purpose of leading public opinion astray in our own country, in the United States, and elsewhere.
No one can have forgotten among those who have followed the course of events during the four months preceding the elections of November 1, that there hung over the country a veiled though persistent menace of revolution by the enemies of the Government. Through this menace it was attempted to coerce all those who recalled with horror the outrages, disorders and destruction of property which had characterized former disturbances, instigated and directed by the same politicians. Then began likewise the iniquitous task of undermining the discipline and loyalty of the army, which should be always sacred to all parties, to corrupt men bound by all ties of honor and duty to uphold law and order and defend the Constitutional Government of the Republic.
In September and October last year these same politicians spread the rumor that the Government was going to use the public forces at the polls for the purpose of assuring its victory. The elections were held, and the injustice and malevolence of these calumnies was bared to the sight of all, for no charge or complaint was made of the use of force by the authorities as against the rights of any elector, On the contrary, forty-two Conservatives addicted to the Government had been killed in bloody encounters, while none of their adversaries met that fate. The very persons who had attributed to the Government such designs against freedom of the suffrage explicitly admitted the perfect legality and admirable order with which the elections had been held throughout the Republic. Not having obtained the victory which, at all costs and by whatever lawful or unlawful means, they sought to impose upon the country, the conspirators persistently and loudly made the most impassioned charges concerning the elections as held in certain precincts, insinuating that their protests would not be heard by the courts, whose integrity they challenged, endeavoring to poison the public mind with malevolent conjectures of the pressure which, as they alleged, the Government proposed to bring to bear upon the courts, and threatening revolution if the courts decided against their claims. But the decisions of the courts were favorable to them. They could allege nothing further against the force and efficiency of the remedies provided by law. They straightaway plunged, without [Page 392] consideration of any kind, into a campaign of spreading broadcast over the country, in the most violent and menacing terms, the bold imputation that the Government would prevent its adversaries from casting their ballots in the bye-elections which in accordance with provisions, of the law were to be held in a few districts. And failing to intimidate the Government or to impose upon it by their threats pacts incompatible with its dignity and with the Constitution and laws, they plunged into revolution five days before the date set by the proper boards and courts for holding the first of said bye-elections; uprising in arms upon such a futile pretext notwithstanding that the courts which had previously decided contest after contest in their favor and with their applause, were the same courts which would have cognizance of proper appeals should the Government have been capable of adopting any measure contrary to the law or violating the rights of electors.
The Government of the United States has defined very exactly and very properly the conduct of the rebels in saying that they have attempted “to settle by force of arms disputes for which adequate legal remedies are provided.” In proceeding thus these men have seriously impaired the prestige of Cuba and have attempted to bring into disrepute the capacity of our people for self-government.
Against such rash proceeding as this and against the acts which very soon revealed the extent and anarchical character of the conspiracy hatched against public repose and law and order, the most vigorous and severe measures would have been justified. The Government, nevertheless, while acting with all necessary energy, has acted within the law; and I have observed my purpose not to carry punitive measures to an extreme to the point of abstaining from the exercise of the exceptional powers vested in me, but the use of which I reserve for a necessary case.
No one deplores more bitterly than I this sanguinary struggle between brothers, nor more anxiously and fervently longs for the reestablishment of order and normal political life which shall afford equal safeguards to everyone in his rights and aspirations. I have never made any determined personal effort in a contest for political power. But I harbor the ambition, with an ardor which in no one is excelled, of securing peace based upon justice and the liberty which consecrates it. I am ambitious to see Cuba occupy firmly and permanently a place of honor, above those unfortunate countries, victims of disorders and revolution which are the derision and scorn of prosperous and cultured nations where the authority of the laws and the stability of governments are scrupulously respected. In opposing as I do, with resolution and firmness, to the rebellion and its excesses and outrages all the means which the Constitution has placed in my hands, I defend the very existence of the Republic and assure the necessary foundation for its future prosperity and grandeur.
For those high ends, in which the present and future of our country are bound together, acting in its name and for its good, I am entitled to the support of all loyal Cubans who love their country, without exception as to persons or parties. Citizenship demands that they work decisively, each in his own sphere, against the attempt to sacrifice the Republic for petty partisan considerations and personal ambition. No good citizen can deny his aid in putting down anarchy, in punishing a rebellion stained already with atrocious crimes and which employs by preference the arms of depredation and incendiarism. To let such outrage go unpunished would be permanently to renounce for the future solid and stable governments capable of affording adequate protection of life and property.
To all citizens without distinction I appeal for their cooperation in the reestablishment of peace—now, fortunately, near—and in the task of strengthening the roots of the Republic, for today and for all time.