on September 29 the whole
Cabinet resigned, and on October 4 Sagasta, the Liberal leader, became
Prime Minister. He promptly recalled Weyler and appointed General Ramon
Blanco to be Captain-General of Cuba in his stead. Weyler departed,
breathing wrath and hatred against Cuba and against America, and
predicting failure for his successor, even as Campos had predicted it
for Weyler himself.

Blanco arrived at Havana on November 1, 1897, with the purpose, as he
had announced before sailing, of putting sincerely into effect the
reforms which Sagasta had outlined, reforms which would, he believed, be
acceptable to the Cuban people. He found the condition of affairs in the
island to be far worse than it had been reported, or than he had
expected. The "reconcentrados" had been dying and were still dying by
tens of thousands. The soldiers had not been paid for months and in
consequence were disaffected and mutinous, and were looting to obtain
food which they had no money to buy. Both the Spanish and the Cuban
Autonomists were profoundly dissatisfied; while the Revolutionists,
though making no progress, were as implacable as ever. He at once
ordered the concentration camps to be abolished, saying that he would
not make war upon women and children, and he secured a credit of
$100,000 from the Spanish government to assist the Cuban peasantry in
the rehabilitation of their ruined farms. All American citizens were
released from prison, as were also many Cubans who were under sentence
of death. Cuban refugees and exiles were invited to return home, and
every facility possible was afforded for the resumption of sugar making
and agriculture. He then undertook to put into effect a system of home
rule which he fondly hoped would satisfy the Autonomists and would bring
the masses of the Cuban people over to the side of that party.

Let us review briefly the state of Cuba at this epochal time, the ending
of 1897 and the beginning of 1898, the ultimate climax of four centuries
of Cuban history. The War of Independence had been in progress less than
three years. Five successively unsuccessful Captains-General had striven
to conquer a brave people resolved to be free. No fewer than 52,000
Spanish soldiers had lost their lives in battle or from disease, 47,000
had been returned to Spain disabled, 42,000 were in hospitals unfit for
duty, and 70,000 regulars and 16,000 irregulars still kept up the
fatuous struggle. The infamies of Weyler had de