home-rule which, while preserving the sovereignty of Spain, would satisfy all national requirements of her Spanish subjects—there should be no just reason why the pacification of the island might not be effected on that basis."
Cleveland saw what apparently McKinley could not—that the major difficulty would be with the peculiar pride of the Spaniard. He adds: "It would keep intact the possessions of Spain without touching her honour, which will be consulted rather than impugned by the adequate redress of admitted grievances."
Then just as the Cleveland administration came to a close the Queen issued a decree granting "home rule" to Cuba. It was a kind of emasculated, experimental home rule, invented by a people to whom such an idea was almost inconceivable. But it more than covered the ground of the original Cuban complaint, and was a genuine and honest effort toward emancipation.
Such was the state of affairs when an en-
