The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-05-25


in choosing Espartero as their King they get
rid of present difficulty, and are willing
to let the troubles of the future take care of
themselves. There are examples in Mstory
Of feeble old men who, on being elevated 10
power as temporary expedients, have dis
played unwonted vigor that astonished those
who calculated on something different; and it
may be that this veteran is not SO far on the
road to the grave as is expected, and that If
he once grssps the sceptre he will show HIM
self TO be such ruler az is little anticipated.
THE UNITED STATES AND CUBA.
YESTERDAY the House of Representatives
amused itself by lively but rather proftless
debate upon the attitude of our Government
towards Cuba. Those members who imagine
that they can make political capital by loud
voiced expressions of sympathy for Cuba on
the floor of Congress discussed the subject
from nearly every point of view, and the re-
marks varied between abuse of the President,
the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the
Navy, the officers of the navy, and our diplo-
matte representatives in Cuba. 1t was tole-
rsbly evident that the honorable gentlemen
were talking more for buncombe than any
thing else, and considering the amount of i'm
portant work that still remains to be performed
before the fast-approaching end of the ses-
sion, the fact that they might have employed
their time to better advantage scarcely needs
argument. Out of Congress, however, there
is general feeling that the influence of our
Government has not made itself felt in Cuba
as it ought, and the chief point of interest in
the debate yesterday was the query as to who
was to blame in the matter. On one side it
was charged that the Secretary of State is a
fossil who is not up to the spirit of the age,
and that the foreign policy of the admins
tration is weak -kneed and irresolute. On
the other hand, the refusal of Congress to
grant the appropriations asked for by
the Navy Department was given as
an excuse for our not having q
larger force of vessels in Cuban
waters. One member asserted that the ad-
ministration was so busy in looking after St.
Domingo that it had neither time nor dispo-
sition to pay attention to Cuba, and another
contended that Consul Phillips, whose alleged
grievances called for the special attention of
the Government, is a scalawag whose own
bad behavior was the cause of any trouble he
might have had with the Cuban authorities.
Without attempting to decide who is to
blame in the matter, or to sift the grains of
truth from the utterances of Congressman
who are only talking for talk sake, we can at
least come to the conclusion that the attitude
of our Government towards Cuba has not
been what it should. In refusing to take sides
with the insurgents, the administration has
been supported by the good sense of the coun-
try, certain blatant members of Congress to the
contrary Notwithstanding; but of late our
neutrality has apparently leaned too much to
the other side, and there has not been that
eager desire to protect American interests
that should be displayed. When outrages on
American citizens have been reported, the
explanations and excuses of the Spanish au-
thorities have been accepted with entirely
too much readiness, and with too little in
suiry into the real facts. We have right to
deal strictly with the Spaniards, and to de-
mand that they shall afford o proper protec-
ton to such American citizens as may be in
Cuba, and there ought to be sufficient
force in the Cuban waters to secure a
prompt consideration and proper settlement
of any demands we may have occasion to
make. If the present naval force is not sufh-
cient, it should be increased, and the naval
officers and our diplomatic representatives
should receive instructions to be vigilsnt and
active in securing our rights and in making
the Spaniards feel that, while we are neutrals,
we have no sympathy with them, and that
we are not disposed to countenance any out
RACES upon our own citizens or to extenuate
the slightest infringement of their rights. If
the United States Government takes the
bold and decided stand that it should, the
probabilities are that the Cuban revolution
will be concluded in one way or the other
before long, and we will be relieved from
further trouble in the matter.