affirmative, then,
by every law, human and divine, we shall be justified in wresting it from
Spain if we possess the power; and this upon the very same principle that
would justify an individual in tearing down the burning house of his
neighbor if there were no other means of preventing the flame from
destroying his own home." It is evident that Soule dominated the meeting,
and only less evident that he, in some way, cajoled his associates
into signing the report. No action was taken on the matter by the
Administration, and the incident has passed into history somewhat, perhaps,
as one of the curiosities of diplomacy. At all events, all historians note
it, and some give it considerable attention.

The next serious complication arose out of the Ten Years' War, in Cuba,
in 1868, to which reference is made in a chapter on Cuba's revolutions.
Spain's leaders seemed quite incapable of grasping the Cuban situation, of
seeing it in its proper light. It is more than probable that, even then,
the Cubans would have remained loyal if the Spanish authorities had paid
attention to their just and reasonable demands. As stated by Mr. Pepper,
in his _Tomorrow in Cuba_, "The machete and the torch then gained what
peaceful agitation had not been able to achieve." The demands of the
Cubans are thus stated by Senor Cabrera, in his _Cuba and the Cubans_: "A
constitutional system in place of the autocracy of the Captain-General,
freedom of the press, the right of petition, cessation of the exclusion of
Cubans from public office, unrestricted industrial liberty, abolition of
restrictions on the transfer of landed property, the right of assembly and
of association, representation in the Cortes, and local self-government,"
all reasonable and just demands from every point of view of modern
civilization. Spain refused all, and on October 10, 1868, an actual
revolution began, the first in the history of the island to be properly
classed as a revolution. The United States soon became concerned and
involved. In his message to Congress on December 6, 1869, President Grant
said: "For more than a year, a valuable province of Spain, and a near
neighbor of ours, in whom all our people cannot but feel a deep interest,
has been struggling for independence and freedom. The people and the
Government of the United States entertain the same warm feelings and
sympathies for the people of Cuba in their pending struggle that they have
manifested throughout the pre