most of them have been brought to the island contrary to law within the past three years. I shall be glad to have authority in the name of the President to make suitable acknowledgment of the action now reported. Both Mr. Sorni and Mr. Castelar seem disposed to do all in their power to promote the best possible understanding with the United States. In this relation I beg to invite your attention to the passage in Mr. Castelar's speech, accompanying my 560, in which he maintains the international character of the slavery question, and recognizes the propriety of the suggestions on that subject that we have offered to Spain. I have again commended to this government the importance and the justice of further measures in effecting the liberation of two classes of freedmen embraced in section 5 of the act of July 4, 1870. They are described as "slaves belonging to the state" and "emancipados" who had been under the protection of the government. Many thousands of these have been leased for long terms of years contrary to law. I am assured by Mr. Castelar and Mr. Sorni that they will not fail to give due attention to the situation of these unfortunate people. I am, &c., D. E. SICKLES. [Appendix A.-Translation.] Mr. Castelar to General Sickles.. MADRID, March 27, 1873. (Received March 27.) The minister of state presents his compliments to General Sickles and has the honor to inform him that under date of the 24th instant the minister of Ultramar addressed a communication to the captain-general of Cuba in reply to the inquiry as to the status of those slaves registered (empadronados) after the date fixed by law, stating to him that in conformity with the evident intent of the second paragraph of article 30 of the regulations of August 5, 1872, and in conformity with the opinion of the full council of state, the government of the republic has decided that the persons referred to in the captain-general's inquiry shall be declared free, and that in case indemnification be demanded, the same shall be decided by the proper authorities after examination of the documents and facts of each case. Don Emilio Castelar avails himself with pleasure of this opportunity to repeat to General Sickles the expression of his sentiments of sincere appreciation of esteem. [Appendix B.-Translation.] COLONIAL DEPARTMENT, SECRETARY'S OFFICE, SECOND Bureau. YOUR EXCELLENCY: The inquiry made by your excellency in your official dispatch No. 78, of September 30 last, concerning the status of slaves not registered (empadronados) within the prescribed term, and all the remaining antecedents of this important matter as well, having received due attention, and in consideration of the fact that neither the stringent provisions of the nineteenth article of the law of July 4, 1870, nor the interpretation favorable to the freedom of the slaves which should be given to that article in deciding all doubtful cases arising in its execution, nor the precedents established with respect to the registry and formation of a census of the slaves under the royal decree of September 29, 1866, concerning the suppression and punishment of the slave-trade, allow of the acceptance of the reasons alleged in your inquiry already mentioned, and in your confidential letters of October 30 and November 14, soliciting that the slaves in question should be included in the census, the government of the republic, adopting the principles and intent of the second paragraph of the thirtieth article of the regulations of August 5, 1872, and in conformity with the opinion pronounced by the full council of state, has resolved to decide the questions presented in your excellency's dispatch in such a sense as to declare free the persons referred to, and in case a demand for indemnification be made by the proprietors, such demand shall be made in due documentary form, in order that it may be decided what parties are entitled to remuneration, in which case application will be made to the Cortes for the necessary credit. Your excellency will give to this ministry a full account of the measures you may decree in the execution of the present instruction, in order that the government may possess ample and accurate knowledge of all that relates to the grave question of slavery, and to this end I also recommend to your excellency the speedy and strict fulfillment of the confidential order of August 5, 1872, concerning the remission to Madrid of full and detailed statistical data. God guard you excellency many years. To the SUPERIOR CIVIL GOVERNOR OF THE ISLAND OF CUBA. A true copy. SORNI. No. 403. Mr. Fish to General Sickles. No. 327.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: Your No. 569, relating to the liberation of a large number of persons held in slavery in Cuba contrary to the act of July 4, 1870, and inclosing a note from Mr. Castelar on this subject, has been read with the greatest interest. You will express to Mr. Castelar the satisfaction with which the Pres, ident has witnessed this noble step in the direction of freedom, personal liberty, and universal justice, toward which, under the wise counsels which now direct her destinies, Spain is steadily marching. Ten thousand chains struck from human limbs, ten thousand chattels made menten thousand souls told that they need not wait for the grave to set them free; this is a noble record. The speech of Mr. Castelar, to which you invite attention, had already attracted my notice. Slavery is, as he justly says, an international question. The rapid increase of the means of communication throughout the globe have brought into almost daily intercourse communities which have hitherto been aliens and strangers to each other, so that now no great social and moral wrong can be inflicted on any people without being felt throughout the civilized globe. All powers interested in the advancement and happiness of the human race, and the spread of peaceful and Christian influences, are watching the noble efforts of Spain to disembarrass herself of the institution of human slavery. I am, &c., No. 404. HAMILTON FISH. No. 592.] General Sickles to Mr. Fish. [Extract.] UNITED STATES LEGATION IN SPAIN, Madrid, May 10, 1873. (Rec'd May 31.) SIR: I have the honor to report that on Saturday, the 3d instant, President Figueras received me in public audience. His excellency was attended by the ministers of state, of the colonies, of war, of the navy, of grace and justice. and Introduced by Mr. Millan y Caro, the principal official of the department of state, I read the following speech, (in Spanish.) The English version of my remarks will be found in Appendix A. His excellency the President replied as follows: In the midst of the difficulties which ever attend a transition from one form of government to another, encouragement and support are found in the good wishes of nations as devoted to liberty as yours, and in the declarations of such illustrious bodies as your Senate and your House of Representatives, the exponents of a great and glorious democracy strong in the enjoyment of rights that elevate human nature, and in the fulfillment of those duties that assure the stability of the social structure. Both those bodies, ripe in their republican experience, in addressing their felicitations and congratulations to our newly-founded republic, comprehended that this form of government has arisen among us, not by chance or any sudden impulse, but as the necessary result of the liberal movement that began with the present century; a movement not inaugurated to satisfy the vanity of a few men, or to satiate the hunger of political parties, but to put an end to the constant struggle between tradition and right, calling communities to the exercise of a sovereignty which at once stimulates progress by the force of ideas, and maintains stability by obedience to law, and by respect for legitimate interests. An evident proof that this spirit guides our republic you find in this very reform, whereby slavery is abolished in Porto Rico, a reform that reconciles at the same moment the abstract principles of justice with the difficulties often inseparable from their practical realization. By this standard and by this example our valiant and prudent nation will doubtless be guided in completing the work it has begun, so that in the bosom of our republic, and wherever our banner waves, there shall be none but free citizens. And you, Señor Minister, who in your high discernment already know us so well, and so sincerely esteem our country, I beg you to convey to the American people, to their Congress, and to their illustrious President, the gratitude that fills us when we see that a nation which has firmly established republican institutions deems us fit to realize among ourselves the work of Washington and the work of Lincoln, which will go down to posterity as superhuman achievements in the history of liberty. We shall persevere in the endeavor to justify this high appreciation, which we owe not only to the virtues of our new institutions, so liberal and so humanitarian, but also to the character of the Spanish people, so tenacious of their autonomy and their independence. And with our traditional zeal the Spanish people will know how to carry across the seas to the Antilles in the nineteenth century the ripe fruits of civilization, as in the fifteenth century we carried thither its gerins. Those islands are an integral part of the republic-an integral part of the nation. The republic desires to see all its citizens in the enjoyment of all their rights, and at the same time it will maintain intact the integrity of the national domain; and to attain these great ends it will spare no sacrifice. Your people and your Government see this clearly. In those days when your war, so admirably ended by the fall of Richmond, rent the American people in twain, we on the shores of the Old World ardently hoped and prayed that the United States, that living example of liberty and democracy, might not be lessened or eclipsed in any atom of its strength. The American nation doubtless now has a like interest in that the national domain shall not be impaired in our hands. The utterances of that great people, repeated in your most eloquent discourse, assure us that you desire to see the Spanish nation strong in its unity, and resolved to found in its European and American dominions the three great elements of progress-liberty, democracy, and the republic. The ceremony concluded, I accompanied the President and cabinet to the private apartments of the executive mansion, where half an hour was passed in a general conversation, begun by Mr. Figueras, in relation to the results of emancipation in the United States, and the probable effects of such a measure in Cuba. The views expressed by the Presi dent were in the main a repetition of the observations of Mr. Castelar heretofore reported in my dispatches. It is perhaps worth remark that on this occasion the President and four members of the cabinet confirmed the assurance, before given me by the minister of state, of the purpose of this government to present to the Cortes a scheme of complete emancipation for Cuba. I may also add that I took occasion to point out to the President and cabinet the advantage the republic would derive in filling up the civil and military offices in Cuba with persons sincerely disposed to carry out the views and obey the orders of the home government; that the suc cess of emancipation depended, in a large measure, on a good understanding between the authors of the measure and the freedmen; that the authorities in Cuba were notoriously hostile to emancipation; that if retained in office they would execute the measure in the interest of a few and not of the many, and disaster would follow; that the success of our free black labor in America was greatly facilitated by the confidence established between the freedmen and the General Government through the friendly civil and military agents intrusted by the Government with the direction of affairs in the Southern States immediately after the war; and that if the same generous policy were adopted in Cuba the colored population might become not only the most industrious and productive but the most loyal Spanish element in the island. These suggestions were re-enforced by several examples, and seemed to make a favorable impression on President Figueras and his colleagues. As I was about to take leave Mr. Castelar said he would call on me on the following Monday in relation to a very interesting subject, which I must reserve for a confidential dispatch. I have appended extracts from several leading Madrid journals of va rious political affinities commenting on the reception, the proceedings of Congress, and the speeches pronounced. You will observe that I took occasion to invite a public declaration of the determination of this gov ernment, repeatedly intimated to me in private, to extend free institutions to its American possessions. I am, &c., D. E. SICKLES. [Appendix A.-Translation.] Presentation of the joint resolutions of Congress to the Spanish executive.—Speech of General Sickles, May 3, 1873. SEÑOR PRESIDENTE: I have the honor, in obedience to the commands of the President of the United States, to place in the hands of your excellency duly authenticated copies of certain resolutions recently adopted by the American Congress. On the third day of March last the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States offered in the name of the American people the congratulations of Congress to the people of Spain upon the establishment of a republican form of government. In communicating to your excellency this joint resolution of Congress, approved by the President of the United States, I am fortunate in having the privilege of felicitating your excellency upon the success of your measures and the favor enjoyed by your wise administration. And on the twenty-fifth day of March last the Senate of the United States, at a special session thereof, adoped certain other resolutions expressing the satisfaction with which that body had received intelligence of the act of this government abolishing slavery in the island of Porto Rico, thereby giving fresh proof that in its desire for republican institutions this country is animated by a generous love of liberty and a just respect for the natural rights of all men. The United States, desiring only the happiness of those neighboring communities with which they have intimate relations and intercourse, cannot be indifferent to whatever concerns the welfare of the Antilles. In abolishing slavery and caste, the Spanish Republic provides the surest guarantees for the pacification and loyalty of its American provinces. Enjoying free institutions, their allegiance happily reconciled with liberty, Cuba and Porto Rico will contribute more than ever to the power of Spain, and they will find in the justice, permanence, and strength of the republic of which they form a part the best assurances of their tranquillity and prosperity. [Appendix B.] Extracts from sundry Madrid journals, having reference to the presentation of the congratulations of the United States Congress to the Government of the Spanish Republic, May 3, 1873. [1. From El Imparcial, (Radical,) May 4, 1873.J The lack of space prevents us from reproducing in full the speeches made yesterday at the reception of General Sickles. We cannot, however, refrain from publishing the most important paragraph in the speech of the minister of the United States, in which the complete assimilation of the transatlantic provinces is asked for without any disguise. This paragraph is as follows: "Enjoying free institutions, their allegiance happily reconciled with liberty, Cuba and Porto Rico will contribute more than ever to the power of Spain, and they will find in the justice, permanence, and strength of the republic of which they form a part the best assurances of their tranquillity and prosperity." It seems just for us also to copy the paragraphs in which the government of the republic replies to this insinuation: "The republic desires to see all its citizens in the enjoyment of all their rights, and at the same time it will maintain intact the integrity of the national domain; and to attain these great ends it will spare no sacrifice. "Your people and your Government see this clearly. In those days when your war, so admirably ended by the fall of Richmond, rent the American people in twain, we on the shores of the Old World ardently hoped and prayed that the United States, that living example of liberty and democracy, might not be lessened or eclipsed in any atom of its strength. "The American nation doubtless now has a like interest in that the national domain shall not be impaired in our hands. "The utterances of that great people, repeated in your most eloquent discourse, assure us that you desire to see the Spanish nation strong in its unity, and resolved to found in its European and American dominions the three great elements of progress -liberty, democracy, and the republic." [2. From La República Democrática, (Radical opposition organ of Mr. Echegary,) May 4, 1873.] Mr. Sickles, the representative of the United States, was yesterday received in solemn public audience, that he might deliver the congratulations of the Congress of his country to the Spanish government on the adoption of the new institutions and the passage of the bill for the abolition of slavery. The reception took place, as on the former occasion, when the same minister plenipotentiary announced the recognition of the Spanish Republic, in the elegant reception-room of the executive mansion. company of engineers, with music and flag, did the honors, as usual, and the acting secretary of state, on account of the indisposition of Mr. Morayta, introduced Mr. Sickles. Both on the arrival and at the departure of the latter the band played an American march. A After his official reception he spent a few moments in friendly conversation with the ministers. In his speech, in which he confined himself to stating the object for which he had been introduced, he remarked that the abolition of slavery gave evidence that our country was actuated by a genuine love of liberty and a just respect for the rights of man; that as Cuba and Porto Rico are bound to the United States by ties of extensive commercial relations, the fate of those islands cannot be regarded with indifference by them, and that he hoped that democratic institutions would increase the tranquillity and happiness of those islands, which form an integral part of the Spanish nation. Mr. Figueras, in his reply, was very outspoken, and made it evident that the government is fully determined to spare no sacrifice to maintain the prosperity and happiness of our transatlantic provinces. |