Daniel E. Sickles to Hamilton Fish, May 10, 1873

No. 404. General Sickles to Mr. Fish.

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, and of grace and justice.

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:

[Translation.]

Señor Minister:

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 germs.

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 President 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 success 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 various 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 government, repeatedly intimated to me in private, to extend free institutions to its American possessions.

I am, &c.,

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.