Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. IV.djvu/89

WILLIAM McKINLEY 61 tures were provided for. The formal inauguration of the system took place in the beginning of Janu ary, 1898, but from the first it was evident that there were irreconcilable differences between the members of the ministry as well as between their followers, although there was manifested a certain well-wishing toward the new measure on the part of the insurgent party, many of them returning from the United States or coming from the field of hos tilities to submit themselves under Marshal Blan- co s proclamation of amnesty ; yet early in January, 1898, the Spanish party broke out in such serious demonstrations and rioting against the autonomists and the Americans in Cuba that Consul- General Lee was induced to recommend the sending of an American man-of-war to Havana, as much for the moral effect of its presence as for the protection of American property there in the imminent and un fortunate contingency of disturbance. The tone of the press in the United States had been growing more serious. The failure of the au tonomous constitution was evident, the military sit uation was growing worse, the loss of life on the part of the helpless non-combatants caused by the reconcentration policy of Weyler was daily grow ing more appalling ; it was clear that the whole situ ation was nearing a crisis. Senor Canalejas, the editor of a Madrid paper, made a journey to Cuba at this time to see the actual position with his own