It also required that the Government of Cuba should never allow a foreign power to impair its independence; that it would contract no debt for which it could not provide a sinking fund from the ordinary revenue; that it would grant to the United States "lands necessary for coaling or naval stations"; that it would provide for the sanitation of its cities; and that the United States should have the right to intervene, "for the preservation of Cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty, and for discharging" certain obligations with respect to Spanish subjects which the United States had assumed in the treaty signed at Paris.

After some hesitation the convention added these provisions to the new constitution of Cuba.
On May 20, 1902, the American troops withdrew, leaving Cuba in better condition than she had ever been before.

Subsequently the United States was forced to intervene to preserve order, but, though the temptation was strong to remain, the American troops again withdrew after they had done their constructive work.

The voluntary entrance of Cuba into the Great War in cooperation with the United States was a tribute to the generosity and honesty of the American people.
* An amendment to the Army Appropriation Bill of March 2, 1901.
Porto Rico presented a problem different from that which the United States had to solve in Cuba.

There existed no native organization which could supply even the basis for the formation of a government.