The expenses of the war had made heavy inroads on the Spanish treasury, and in August of this year, the Spanish capitalists had contributed nearly twenty-five thousand pesetas toward the expenses of the army in Cuba. As the season advanced, troop ships arrived at regular intervals. In October, General Martinez Campos--one of the ablest soldiers and statesmen in Spain--was appointed Captain-General of Cuba and commander of the army, and he sailed from Spain to take over his command, accompanied by fourteen thousand men. Determined that the revolution should once for all be terminated, and not content with the sum which Spain's bankers had placed at her disposal, the Spanish Cortes passed a bill providing for a foreign loan, which would be devoted to the suppression of the insurrection. The beginning of the year 1877 thus saw the cause of liberty in a precarious condition. The Cuban army had been so greatly weakened that in the encounters which took place the Spaniards were constantly victorious, and they were soon able to regain the major portion of the territory which had previously been occupied by the revolutionists. The time seemed favorable for a settlement of the difficulties in a manner which, while offering a few concessions to the Cubans, might still be greatly to the advantage of Spain. To the Captain-General this seemed the proper occasion for some nice diplomacy, for coaxing with fair words instead of coercing with violence. He therefore on May 5 issued a proclamation which he felt would be effective in inducing the revolutionists to abandon the struggle and to return to the doubtful protection of allegiance to Spanish rule. His proclamation read as follows: "Article I--From the date of this decree, all orders of banishment decreed gubernatively by this Government for political motives are hereby rescinded, and all proceedings now under way regarding the same are hereby overruled. "Article II--The embargoes imposed gubernatively on insurgents who have presented or may present themselves for pardon before the termination of the war shall also be raised. There will, however, be excepted from the favor of disembargo the property of backsliding insurgents and that of the leaders of the insurrection, in respect to which this General Government will adopt the measure it deems most convenient, according to the special circumstances of each case. "Article III--The property, embargoed gubernatively, of the disloyal ('infidentes') who have since died, shall also be released from embargo, and delivered unto their lawful heirs, if these remain faithful to the Spanish nation. "Article IV--The property referred to in the two preceding articles once returned, its owners or holders shall not sell, assign, transfer or burden it in any manner until two years after the official publication of the complete pacification of the island.