SPAIN, DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH a Cuban Junta in the United States, renewed the difficult situation of 1868-1878 though in acuter form. The insurgents ruthlessly devastated every plantation which kept in operation, on the plea of making the island valueless to Spain. The displaced laborers largely joined the insurgents. There was more humane treatment of prisoners, by both sides, than in the first war. The strenuous efforts of the United States to prevent filibustering were aid mostly of Cuban birth-and by the general The revolt of 1895, prepared and aided by ruthlessness with which the war was waged on both sides. When Grant became President in 1869 he favored intervention and was with difficulty dissuaded by Secretary Fish from a proclamation recognizing belligerency. Nevertheless the United States made vigorous representations to the Spanish Government and proffered its good offices toward a peace based on the independence of Cuba. The Spanish Government of the moment was a regency with General Prim, practically dictator. He faved but little by the Spanish fleet in Cuba. ored the sale of Cuba to the United States, and his temporary absence at a critical time seems to have caused the break down of the scheme. In 1870 Amadeo was made king; Prim's assassination almost at once followed; thereafter there was no question of sale. Filibustering from the United States was active throughout the war; the most notable case being that of the Virginius (see). Her pursuit and capture on the high seas, October 31, 1873, and the slaughter of her captain and 53 of her crew at Santiago, created violent feeling. The American fleet was concentrated at Key West and the American minister had demanded his passports when Spain yielded to the American demands and restored the ship. The Cuban war with every mutual brutality continued. In November, 1875, Mr. Fish sent to Caleb Cushing, then minister at Madrid, and confidentially to all American ministers in Europe, a despatch which became famous as "No. 266," declaring the necessity of foreign interference in Cuban affairs, if war was to be avoided between the United States and Spain. This is the only suggestion by the United States that Cuba was an international question, and that its status should be determined by international agreement. War would certainly have then occurred had the President not held the situation firmly in his hands instead of leaving it to Congress. January 12, 1877, a protocol was signed at Madrid making persons charged with sedition, conspiracy, etc., in Cuba subject only to courts of ordinary jurisdiction unless captured with arms in hand, an agreement which became of momentous importance in the insurrection of 1895. In 1878 Martinez Campos, a wise and largeminded officer, effected peace in Cuba on a basis of emancipation of the slaves. From 1879 to 1897.-During the next period the relations with Spain turned chiefly on Cuban commerce, which was subject to regulations intended to throw the trade into the hands of Spanish merchants. In 1891 a commercial treaty was negotiated. Its abrogation in 1894, which brought deep distress to the Cuban sugar industry, was the real beginning of the final revolt. Many Cubans were now seeking naturalization in the United States and then returning to Cuba where they claimed special privileges. The devastation, though chiefly by the Cubans, and the misery of the reconcentrados, produced violent feeling in the United States. The Cleveland administratior, while showing admirable restraint, upheld firmly the rights of our citizens in Cuba, most of whom were of Cuban birth. The good offices of the United States were offered in a note of Secretary Olney's on April 4, 1896. The rejection of this offer proved the knell of Spanish authority in Cuba. The petty case of the filibustering schooner Competitor and the five unimportant persons seized on board, aroused Americans and did no good to Spain. President Cleveland's last message (1897) justly claimed that there had been a vigorous patrol against filibusters and suits in the courts against transgressors of the neutrality laws; and that he had, while maintaining American rights, preserved not unkindly relations with Spain. The message closed with a deep note of warning to Spain. War with Spain, 1898.-The McKinley administration came into power in March, 1897, upon a declaration in the platform of the party, "that the Government of the United States should actively use its influence and good offices to restore peace and give independence to the island." John Sherman, long one of the most violent in Congress against Spain, was appointed Secretary of State, but the affairs of the department, on account of Sher.an's long continued bad health, were mainly in the hands of Assistant Secretary Day, soon, himself, to become Secretary of State. General Woodford was sent as minister to Spain, with the understanding that he was to do his utmost toward a peaceful solution of difficulties. On November 25, 1897, decrees were signed extending to the Antilles all the rights of Spaniards and offering a large scheme of autonomy. President McKinley made a sincere effort to keep the peace and in his message promised, so far as the United States was concerned, that autonomy should have a fair trial. Events, however, worked for war. The intensity of American feeling against Spain, actively fomented by the greater part of the press, aroused the Cubans anew. They scouted the proffered autonomy, as did also the Spanish party represented by the volunteers. A private letter of Señor Depuy de Lome, the SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR-SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE Spanish minister at Washington, criticising the President, was purloined and published in an inflammatory translation which caused De Lome's withdrawal. February 15, the Maine, (see) was blown up in the harbor of Havana. General Woodford continued his efforts for peace and secured from the Spanish Government, on April 9, 1898, what that Government considered an acceptance of American demands. A suspension of hostilities (not accepted by the Cubans) was declared in Cuba, and Woodford was now certain of peace. Two days later McKinley sent a militant message to Congress which in effect was a declaration of war, made certain by handing the subject of Spanish relations over to Congress. Only at the end did the President mention the yielding of Spain to all the demands officially placed before her; though the fact of Spain's yielding gives good ground for criticism of the President's course, sober judgment will probably approve his action as best in its results for all concerned. It perhaps but anticipated a necessity which would probably have come after an harrassing continuance of the difficulties which existed. A joint resolution, April 19, 1898, declared that the people of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, free and independent, and that the Government of the United States demand that the Government of Spain relinquish its authority in the island. To this end the President was "directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the United States. . . ." A few days later war was declared to exist from and including April 21. After 113 days of hostilities a peace protocol was signed at Washington (August 12, 1898). As soon as arrangements could be made the peace commission met at Paris. The result was the signing of a treaty on December 10, 1898, by which Spain relinquished sovereignty over Cuba, yielded Porto Rico and other islands in the West Indies, and Guam as by conquest, and ceded the Philippines, the United States paying $20,000,000 which may be regarded as an indemnity for what was really a forced purchase, the United States having no claim upon the Philippines by conquest, as the successful attack upon Manila came a few hours subsequent to the signing of the peace protocol. See ANNEXATIONS TO THE UNITED STATES; COMMERCIAL POLICY AND RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES; CUBA AND CUBAN DIPLOMACY; FILIBUSTERS TO AID INSURRECTIONS; FLORIDA ANNEXATION; L'AMISTAD CASE; LATIN AMERICA; LOUISIANA ANNEXATION; MEXICO; MIRANDA PROJECT; MONROE DOCTRINE; TREATIES OF THE UNITED STATES; WEST FLORIDA; WEST INDIES, DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH. F. E. CHADWICK. SPEAKER IN STATE LEGISLATURES. In every one of the states, the lower branch of the legislature elects its own presiding officer. His title, in each case, is the "speaker." For the most part, his functions relate exclusively to the house over which he presides. New York makes the speaker ex officio one of the commissioners of the land office. Eleven of the states stipulate that the speaker shall stand next to the president of the senate in the line of succession, if the governor's chair falls vacant. Because of the relatively large size of the lower branch of the legislature and because it elects its own presiding officer, the speakership in the state house of representatives has developed along similar lines to those of the speakership in Congress. The speaker appoints the house committees, determines in his discretionary interpretation of parliamentary law who may and who may not address the house, and decides points of order. In all these functions he acts as a party leader. In several state legislatures, notably in New York, through the committee on rules strong speakers have followed their congressional model closely in effecting a centralization of legislative power. In boss-ruled states, speakers have at times worked in systematic alliance with corrupt or narrowly factional interests. The Pennsylvania and Illinois legislatures have afforded notable instances of measures "gaveled through" by speakers with a cynical disregard not only of the opposition but also of the minority within their own party, such as has never been shown in Congress. The speakership is often a stepping-stone to higher office. As presiding officer and party leader in a house of from 100 to 400 members, seventy to ninety per cent of whom have had no legislative experience, a man of skill and tact can build up a formidable personal following. LEGISLA See CLOSURE; FILIBUSTERING IN TION; RULES OF LEGISLATIVE BODIES; RULES OF STATE LEGISLATURES; STATE ASSEMBLY. References: P. S. Reinsch, Am. Legislatures (1907), 162-165, 261-263; S. P. Orth, "Our State Legislatures" in Atlantic Monthly, XCIV (1904), 728-739. G. H. HAYNES. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. Colonial Background. Next to the President the Speaker has for about a century been the most powerful man in the government of the United States, and frequently the most conspicuous. When after the Civil War, there sprang up a literature of criticism on American institutions, one of the most frequent was that the Speaker was not an impartial moderator, as is the case in Great Britain. This was supposed to show a decline in government; as a matter of fact, the political status of the Speaker is a direct reflection of the experience SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. See WARS of the American colonies and states. The colo OF THE UNITED STATES. nial speakers were commonly heads of the SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE opposition to the governor, because since the governor was out of the direct control of the assembly it was necessary to have some central point for the crystallization of public sentiment. The Speaker of the national House was left free to develop this tradition; the Constitution takes him for granted in its clauses, set ting forth simply "that the House of Representatives shall chose their Speaker and other officers" (Art. I, Sec. ii, ¶ 15). The Speaker is hardly known to the statute law except in a few acts creating commissions and other bodies of which he shall be a member. The authority and power of the Speaker therefore depend entirely upon tradition, in part systematized in formal rules. Notable Speakers.-Historically the great power of the Speaker begins in a vote of January 13, 1790, that "all committees shall be appointed by the Speaker, unless otherwise directed by the House" which remained the almost unvarying practice of the House till 1910. The first distinct party Speaker was Theodore Sedgwick, chosen by the Federalists in 1795. The first Speaker who was legislative head of the House was Nathaniel Macon from 1801 to 1807. The first Speaker to comprehend the power that he could exercise over debates by his application of the rules was Henry Clay, first elected in 1811. The first Speaker to put himself at the head of an opposition to a President was Clay, in his advocacy of a more stirring Latin-American policy during Monroe's presidency. The first Speaker to undertake the control of legislation, through appointments to the standing committees, was Henry Clay. Among the great names in the speakership since Clay's last service in 1825, have been Andrew Stevenson of Virginia; James K. Polk, later President; Robert C. Winthrop in whose term is the first conclusive evidence of a system of controlling the floor by declining to recognize people who were not on his list; Nathaniel P. Banks, the first Republican Speaker; Schuyler Colfax, later Vice-President; James G. Blaine, six years Speaker, and later can didate for the presidency, who much resembled Henry Clay in his methods; John G. Carlisle of Kentucky; Thomas B. Reed of Maine the so-called "Czar of the House"; and Joseph G. Cannon of Illinois. It is not a mere accident that only one of these Speakers eventually came to the presidency; the Speaker is likely to arouse strong antagonism within his own party and thereby weakens his popularity. Mr. Blaine was defeated for the presidency in 1884 by the citation of some of his own decisions. Reasons for Power. For the importance of the Speaker there are various reasons arising out of the nature of the Federal Government. The House is a large body, has grown from 65 members in 1789 to 434 in 1913, and is engulfed in a mass of unassorted bills and propositions. It is impossible to carry on its business without the sharp and steady guid ance of a man of power. In order to get any where, the members must concede to the Speaker the right to make decisions which distribute the time of the House, affect its opportunity to consider and amend measures, and even to select the measures upon which they are to vote. The fairest minded Speaker is obliged to be quick and arbitrary if the business of the House is to go forward. Another reason for a powerful Speaker is the lack of concentration of executive and legislative power. The English have surmounted that difficulty by a parliamentary system in which the ministry headed by the prime minister is responsible for drafting, introducing and pressing to a vote all the public measures. The prime minister appeals to the electorate for support because he has urged or will urge a particular kind of measure. In the Congres sional system that responsibility must be taken by a comparatively small body of legislators of whom the Speaker is the obvious leader, or it will be taken out of the hands of the elected representatives by the executive head of the Government. A third reason for the growth of the Speaker's power is because it is a convenient means of relating Congress to the party system. The Speaker is presumably and usually one of the most vigorous members of the majority party, experienced not only in debate and in parliamentary usage, but in fighting the party's battles before the voters. He has at heart not only the doing of business, but the restraint of business, if what is proposed is harmful to his party. The Speaker, therefore, performs a function much needed in the United States, namely, the control of legislation through an official who holds a great office; and at the same time takes responsibility for party views and party votes. The Speaker has become specially necessary because of the clumsy financial system of Congress: tax bills may be reported by several different committees; appropriation bills are invariably reported by half a dozen different committees who act without concert, and with very little regard to the probable state of the treasury. The Speaker has, therefore assumed a considerable budgetary responsibility by constituting committees with a view to their favoring or disfavoring expenditures, and by refus ing to allow finance bills to come to a vote unless they are framed to suit him. Election and Duties.-The Speaker is chosen at the beginning of each Congress by majority vote and serves for about sixteen months unless Congress is called for an extra session during the summer or fall after the expiration of its predecessor. If the party remains in power, the Speaker expects to be continued in that office for several terms. He has a salary of $12,000 a year and some privileges such SPECIAL AGENTS, DIVISION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS as the enjoyment of a government automobile. | though at the cost of the initiative of the He actually presides much of the time, though individual members. he may and frequently does designate a chairman of the committee of the whole (see). He has the affirmative privileges of other members, especially the right to introduce measures, take part in debate, and to vote. If a tie exist without his vote, he may break it. The great power of the Speaker is exercised chiefly through the following prerogatives, some of which are not expressed even in the rules, but are matters of custom: (1) As presiding officer he enforces the rules of order, deciding not only what question is before the House (subject to reversal by a majority vote) but what person has the floor, from which there is no appeal. Hence, he may, and frequently does, refuse to recognize a member because he knows that he wishes to propose or urge something to which the Speaker is opposed, or simply because he does not like him. (2) The Speaker has had, since the revised rules of 1890 drawn up by Speaker Thomas B. Reed, the right to refuse to entertain dilatory motions, and the right to count a quorum by including persons present but not voting. This gives the Speaker power to break through filibustering tactics. (3) By his appointment of committees the Speaker conferred highly prized privileges, and at the same time kept his hand upon legislation; for practically no measure is considered by Congress unless considered by a standing committee. This gives the Speaker something like the British premier's power to construct legislation. (4) Through his power to construe and apply the rules, and to control the floor, the Speaker has practically a veto power on all measures that come before the House, and exercises it as a party potentate, presumably in conference with brother party leaders in the Senate, and with the President, if of the same party. See CLOSURE; COMMITTEE SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES; CONGRESS; CONGRESSIONAL GOVERNMENT; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; LEGISLATURE AND LEGISLATIVE REFORM; PREVIOUS QUESTION; RECOGNITION; REPORTS OF COMMITTEES; REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS; RULES OF CONGRESS; RULES OF LEGISLATIVE BODIES; and speakers by name. References: M. P. Follett, Speaker of the House of Representatives (1896); A. B. Hart, "Speaker as Premier” in Practical Essays on Am. Government (1894); H. B. Fuller, Speakers of the House (1909); J. G. Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress (1884-1886); S. S. Cox, Three Decades of Federal Legislation (1885); T. B. Reed, "How the House Does Business" in No. Am. Rev., CLXIV (1897), 641, 612; lives of the Speakers, esp. Macon, Clay, Polk, Winthrop, Banks, Colfax, Blaine, Carlisle, Reed, Cannon; Am. Year Book, 1910, 48, 138, 165, 1911, 177, 241; J. Bryce, Am. Commonwealth (4th ed., 1910), I, 51, 133, 140, 402; S. W. McCall, The Business of Congress (1911); A. C. Hinds, Precedents of the House of Representatives (1907), House Manual (1909). ALBERT BUSHNELL HART. SPECIAL AGENTS, DIVISION OF. Special agents are employed by the Treasury Department (see) to check the work of the collectors of customs and to perform special services with respect to customs questions which may arise in their several districts. Special agents have been particularly active in the detecting of fraudulent practices in the customs houses in connection with the appraisal (see) of imports and assessment of duties. Reference: Secretary of the Treasury, Annual Report. A. N. H. SPECIAL SESSION. See EXTRA SESSION; SESSION OF LEGISLATIVE BODIES. SPECIE PAYMENTS. During the Revolution the redemption of the federal paper money and of nearly all the state bills of credit was suspended, and never resumed. From 1791, the foundation of the First United States Bank, to 1814, the sound banks always redeemed their notes in specie; but in that year every bank in the country declined to redeem its notes and it was not until 1817 that they came back to solid ground. In 1837 there was again a general suspension of specie payments till 1838, as there was also in the panic of 1857. Effect of Insurgency. The traditional and continued concentration of power in the hands of the Speaker tends to efficiency, but it also tends toward a rigid party discipline. Members who oppose the Speaker have felt that they were marked for poor committee places, and harsh treatment of their bills. In March 1910, about 40 Republican "insurgents" joined with most of the Democrats to reverse a formal decision made by Speaker Cannon. After a four days' contest the organization of the House was so altered that the Speaker was left off the committee on rules. Inasmuch as the Democrats had voted for this measure, when they organized the House in 1911 and Champ Clark was elected Speaker, the appoint. During the War of 1812 and for several ment of committees was made (as in the Sen-years afterward, the Federal Government issued ate) nominally by ballot and the Speaker was treasury notes (see) not legal tender, which thus shorn of two of his most important pow ers. It remains to be seen whether or no the House will drift back to the old conditions which ensure vigor and despatch of business, it could not immediately redeem. When the Civil War broke out the sound banks still continued to redeem their notes until December, 1861, when a general suspension gave aid SPECIE PAYMENTS, SUSPENSION OF SPOILS SYSTEM to the movement for a federal legal tender the general principle, the rule is that each currency. Accordingly, early in 1862, United government has the right to exercise its authorStates notes were issued which were never ity within its own sphere undisturbed by the redeemed in specie until January 1, 1879: a stock of gold having been accumulated under an act of Congress, the Government was once more in position to keep its promises. The national bank notes from their beginning in 1862 were exactly on a par with the greenbacks, and therefore came back to a gold basis, January 1, 1879. Since that time there has been no formal suspension of specie payments; although in the panics of 1873, 1893 and 1907 the banks paid out as little specie as they could, and in some cases, declined to allow deposits to be withdrawn in specie. Actual suspension was prevented on the last two occasions by a combination of strong banks in New York, which advanced clearing house certificates (see) upon the securities in the vaults of some of the weaker banks. Specie payment has therefore, been substantially maintained ever since 1879. See BANKING METHODS; COINAGE AND SPECIE CURRENCY IN THE UNITED STATES; GOLD CERTIFICATES; LEGAL TENDER CONTROVERSY; PAPER MONEY IN THE UNITED STATES. References: D. R. Dewey, Financial Hist. of the U. S. (1903); J. J. Knox, U. S. Notes (1884); E. E. Sparks, National Development (1907), ch. ix. ALBERT BUSHNELL HARt. activities of the other. The whole field of SPHERES OF INFLUENCE. See DEPEN DENT STATES; MOST FAVORED NATION CLAUSE; OPEN DOOR; PROTECTORATES, INTERNATIONAL. SPLIT TICKET. See CUT TICKET. SPOILS SYSTEM. Differing Views.-The name "spoils system" has been applied to the practice of filling appointive offices with party workers and favorites. This custom is based on the American theory that all government business can be done by citizens of average ability and that rotation in office is a democratic recognition of the rights of citizens. The idea was even advanced in the early days of the system that talent is called out by the prospect of employment but is "smothered by the monopoly of experience." Democratic theory implied that the party that carried the election, since it was held responsible for legislative and administrative policies, should fill all of the offices of government, those least SPEECH, FREEDOM OF. See FREEDOM OF connected with politics as well as those most SPEECH AND THE PRESS. SPECIE PAYMENTS, SUSPENSION OF. This term refers to a refusal on the part of the government or banks to redeem notes in specie according to the pledge made at the time of issue. Banks have suspended specie payments at various periods, as in 1814, 1837 and 1861. The Federal Government suspended between 1862 and 1879. See LEGAL TENDER CONTROVERSY; RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS; SPECIE PAYMENTS. D. R. D. SPELLBINDERS. A nickname applied to campaign "stump" speakers who are said to hold their hearers spellbound. Said to have first been applied by William C. Goodloe, member of the Republican national committee from Kentucky in 1888. O. C. H. SPENCER, HERBERT. See POLITICAL THEORIES OF ENGLISH PUBLICISTS; SOCIOLOGY. important. But the opposite view, that the non-partisan functions of government should be carried on through non-partisan agents and that the use of office as a reward for party service is a vicious perversion of power, was early expressed. Origin. Under Washington's administration a debate in Congress arose over the power of the President to remove officers of the civil service. In the discussion the idea was expressed that a President might be elected who would use these positions to reward political SPHERES OF GOVERNMENT. This is a and personal friends. In reply to this, Madiconventional expression often used to describe son said that a President who would do so the fact or the idea that a government occupies would himself be subject to impeachment and a certain field or a certain portion of the removal from office. But soon, as opposing total amount of political authority. The term parties developed, tendencies to resort to paris especially used in a system such as exists tisan methods in the distribution of office apin the United States. We speak of the sphere peared. Aaron Burr compared a political parof the United States Government and that of ty to an army. In the party as in the army the states. Though there are exceptions to the few leaders do the thinking and give |