When it began to be known that Weyler's method of extermination was producing want in the island, and when appeals were made to American charity, we became more interested. President Cleveland found increasing difficulty with the problem. Our Department of State was again obliged to give it increasingly serious attention, and a resolute determination was reached by the administration that this scandal to civilization should cease--we yet supposed peacefully--and Spain was informed of our resolution. When Mr. McKinley came to the Presidency, the people, conscious of a Cuban problem, were yet not greatly aroused about it. Indeed, a prediction of war made at the time of the inauguration would have seemed wild and foolish. Most persons still gave little thought to Cuba, and there seemed a likelihood that they would go on indefinitely without giving serious thought to it; for neither the insurgents, nor the Cuban junta, nor the Cuban party in the United States, if there was such a party, commanded respect. PRESIDENT McKINLEY'S MESSAGE. President McKinley sent a message to Congress a few weeks after his inauguration, in which he recommended the appropriation of $50,000 for the relief of American citizens in Cuba. It read as follows: "Official information from our Consuls in Cuba establishes the fact that a large number of American citizens in the island are in a state of destitution, suffering for want of food and medicines. This applies particularly to the rural districts of the central and eastern parts. The agricultural classes have been forced from their farms into the nearest towns where they are without work or money. The local authorities of the several towns, however kindly disposed, are unable to relieve the needs of their own people, and are altogether powerless to help our citizens. The latest report of Consul-General Lee estimates that 600 to 800 are without means of support. I have assured him that provision would be made at once to relieve them. To that end I recommend that Congress make an appropriation of not less than $50,000, to be immediately available for use under the direction of the Secretary of State. "It is desirable that a part of the sum which may be appropriated by Congress should, in the discretion of the Secretary of State, also be used for the transportation of American citizens who, desiring to return to the United States, are without means to do so." The joint resolution offered by Senator Gallinger, which embodied the recommendations of President McKinley, passed both Houses without a dissenting vote. An influential journal printed the following editorial concerning this measure: