had
been praying that peace might not be broken.

There had been a conference between the President, the Secretary of the
Treasury, and the chairman of the committee on ways and means, regarding
the best methods of raising funds for the carrying on of a war. A joint
board of the army and navy had met to formulate plans of defence, and a
speedy report was made to Secretary Long.

Instructions were sent by the State Department to all United States
consuls in Cuba to be prepared to leave the island at any moment, and to
hold themselves in readiness to proceed to Havana in order to embark for
the United States.

_April 2._ A gentleman in touch with public affairs wrote from Washington
as follows:

"To-day's developments show that there is only the very faintest hope of
peace. Unless Spain yields war must come. The administration realises that
as fully as do members of Congress.

"The orders sent by the State Department to all our consuls in Cuba,
especially those in the interior, to hold themselves in readiness to leave
their positions and proceed to Havana, show that the department looks upon
war as a certainty, and has taken all proper precautions for the safety of
its agents.

"Such an order, it is unnecessary to say, would not have been issued
unless a crisis was imminent, and the State Department, as well as other
branches of the government, has now become convinced that peace cannot
much longer be maintained, and that the safety of the consular agents is a
first consideration.

"General Lee has also been advised that he should be ready to leave as
soon as notified, and that the American newspaper correspondents now in
Havana must prepare themselves to receive the notification of instant
departure.

"The Secretary of the Navy has instructed the Boston Towboat Company,
which corporation had charge of the wrecking operations on the U. S. S.
_Maine_, to suspend work at once. The Secretary of War has authorised an
allotment of one million dollars from the emergency fund for the office of
the chief of engineers, and this amount will be expended in purchasing
material for the torpedo defences connected with the seacoast
fortifications. The United States naval attache at London has purchased a
cruiser of eighteen hundred tons displacement, capable of a speed of
sixteen knots, and the vessel will put to sea immediately. The Spanish
torpedo flotilla is reported as having arrived at the Cape Verde Islands."

_April