CHAPTER TWELVE
"A DUTY TO HUMANITY," THE END OF AN EMPIRE
The Diplomacy of the War with Spain—The Crime of National Pride and Procrastination—The Verdict of History—The Plight of Cuba—Revolution Engineered in New York—Mutual Cruelties—American "Pirates"—Cleveland's Firm Hand—Woodford vs. Sagasta, a Triumph of Fair Play—Concessions Made by Spain—"Home Rule"—Removal of Weyler—"Autonomy"—Revocation of Reconcentration—Isabel's Despair—The Intervention of the Pope—Final Concessions and Armistice—"Remember the Maine"—An Intercepted Insult—The Recalled Minister and the Fateful Message to Congress—A Tribute to Spanish Courtesy.
I IMAGINE that the average American
would be astonished upon an impartial
examination of the diplomatic correspondence
leading up to the battle of Manila
Bay and the capture of San Juan Hill. As
far as the United States was concerned it re-
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