Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III Abandonment Of Non-intervention Policy, October, 1897, To March, The change of administration in the United States in 1897 had at first no perceptible effect on American neutrality. President McKinley adhered closely to the time-honored pacific policy, traditional in American diplomacy, and the choice of Senator John Sherman as Secretary of State was indirectly a confirmation of such a policy. A financial secretary was chosen at a time when the monetary question, not an aggressive foreign policy, was held to be paramount.1 Qn June 1ju1J97- General Woodford was appointed Minister .Jo Spain,.another appointment interpreted as a confirmation of pacific intentions.2 However, General Woodford's instructions made it manifest that strained diplomatic relations might at any time be broken. His instructions were to press upon the Spanish Government the American view of the seriousness of the conditions, the limits of the moral obligation of a border neutral to maintain self-restraint and remain a passive spectator—limits the essence of which is the " reasonableness" of the delay in ending the struggle—and the impossibility of continuing the policy of inaction much longer. The adjournment of Congress made the diplomatic situation somewhateasier to control by suppressing for a time the agitation for the recognition of Cuba. On the assassination of Mr. Canovas del Castillo, August 8Lj§Q7, General Azcanaga became President of the Spanish Council; he continued the policy of his predecessor, but within a little over a month he had fallen into the minority, aind.JJie.JibeKil.JMr.. SagastaJiad taken hi£ place.3 GeneralWelerwas thereupon recalled, and General Blanco was despatched to the; post-Jo.Cuba with instructions to abandon the policy of jjgjnceiito- tion.4 A bando of Nov...