of war, prevented only
by the almost desperate resistance of Secretary Hamilton Fish.

[Illustration: Portrait.]
Governor-General Weyler.

When the final rebellion was under way the humane Governor-General
Martinez Campos was succeeded by General Weyler, ordered to down the
rebellion at all costs. Numberless buildings were burnt and plantations
destroyed, the insurgents retaliating in kind. Non-combatants were
huddled in concentration camps, where half their number perished.
American citizens were imprisoned without trial. One, Dr. Ruiz, died
under circumstances occasioning strong suspicions of foul play.

President Cleveland, while willing to mediate between Spain and the
Cubans, preserved a neutral attitude, refusing to recognize the
insurgents even as belligerents, though they possessed all rural Cuba
save one province. Only when about to quit office did Mr. Cleveland hint
at intervention.

Soon after McKinley's accession an anarchist shot Premier Canovas,
when Sagasta, his Liberal successor, promised Cuba reform and home rule.
Weyler was succeeded by Blanco, who revoked concentration, proclaimed
amnesty, and set on foot an autonomist government. Americans were loosed
from prison. Clara Barton, of the American Red Cross Society, hastened
with supplies to the relief of the wretched reconcentrados, turned loose
upon a waste. Spain, too, appropriated a large sum for reconcentrado
relief, promising implements, seed, and other means for restoring ruined
homes and plantations.

[Illustration]
Copyright. 1898, by F. C. Hemment.
U. S. Battleship Maine Entering the Harbor of Havana, January, 1898.

But the iron had entered the Cuban's soul. The belligerents rejected
absolutely the offers of autonomy, demanding independence. The
"pacificos" were no better off than before, and relations between the
United States and Spain grew steadily more strained. Two incidents
precipitated a crisis.

A letter by the Spanish Minister at Washington, Senor de Lome, was
intercepted and published, holding President McKinley up as a
time-serving politician. De Lome forestalled recall by resigning; yet
his successor, Polo y Bernabe, could not fail to note on arriving in
Washington a chill diplomatic atmosphere.

[Illustration]
Wreck of U. S. Battleship Maine.
Photograph by F. C. Hemment.

In January, 1898, the United States battleship Maine was on a friendly
visit at Havana, where she was received with the greatest courte