Therefore, availing myself of the faculties with which I am invested, I have now resolved that the following articles be observed. "I. Free are the slaves whom their masters at once present to the military chief for this purpose, the owners reserving, if they choose, a claim to the indemnification which the nation may decree. "II. The freedom shall, for the present, be employed in the service of the country in such a manner as may be agreed upon. "III. To this end a committee shall be appointed to find for them employment, in accordance with regulations to be issued. "IV. In other cases, the slaves of loyal Cubans and of neutral Spaniards and foreigners shall continue to work, in accordance with the principle of respect for property proclaimed by the revolution. "V. The slaves of those who have been convicted of being enemies of the country and openly hostile to the revolution, shall be confiscated with their other property and declared free without a right to indemnity, utilizing them in the service of the country. "VI. The owners who shall place their slaves in the service of the revolution without freeing them for the present, shall preserve their right as long as the slaving question in general is not decided. "VII. The slaves of the Palisades, who may present themselves to the Cuban authorities, shall at once be declared free, with a right either to live among us or to remain among the mountaineers. "VIII. The isolated refugees who may be captured, or who may, without the consent of their masters, present themselves to the authorities or military chiefs, shall not be received without consulting their masters." Now this first government, of which Cespedes was made the chief, was merely, after all, a temporary affair, organized to provide ways and means for creating a more permanent body. Accordingly, on October 30, 1868, less than a month after the Declaration of Independence, Cespedes issued a proclamation declaring that his election to office had been only to provide for the time being an acting head of the provisional government; that he believed that the organization should at once take on the character of permanency; that he had no thought of imposing his will upon Cuba; that he realized that he had not been elected to his place by the suffrage of the Cuban people, and that he had no assurance that, had they been given an opportunity to individually express themselves, he would have been their choice; and that, therefore, since it was practicable for all loyal Cubans to assemble in their respective communities and by their suffrage constitute a permanent government, he would gladly abide by their decision, and, if they desired, relinquish the power with which they had entrusted him.