St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-08-29
A SUGGESTIVE PARALLEL,


that the long and unreasonable: de-
lay insisted upon by Spain before
making a final adjustment so in
cenSed the authorities at Washing
ton that they had decided to occupy
the port Of Havana by our naval
forces, and to collect the total of
Mr.. Mora's claim and interest ac-
crued, from the revenues of the Gus
tom house at that port So far had
this gone that the expedition was
planned by our government, and
would have been carried through
but for the waving of certain
claims on Mr.. Morals side and the
prompt agreement of Spain to settle
when she saw that Uncle Sam
meant business. While it was much
better to have such differences ad-
justed amicably, one could almost
wish that our government had been
obliged to put it's plan into execu-
ton in order to see the American
lingo covered with confusion
1t would have been necessary for
every lingo, whatever his politics, to
applaud the act of an administra-
ton taking such summary meas
ures to do justice to a citizen. Es-
pecially would this have been true
had our activity been directed toward
the occupation of Havana, and to
the island which now commands a
sympathy so intense from the Amer
lean people. Not whisper could
have been heard from the limoges
in opposition to such policy, even if
executed by the Cleveland admins
tration. But, on the contrary, if
they. had not condemned it promptly
and shouted for the impeachment of
President Cleveland, then they would
have been obliged to eat their own
words. Such an act deliberately
planned and consummated by the
United States would have been iden-
teal with the operations of Great
Britain in Nicaragua. Great Britain
had a grievance against Nicaragua,
and a claim for indemnity similar to
the Mora claim against Spain. Mic
aragua refused to pay it. There
upon the British fleet occupied the
port of Corinto, for the explicit pur-
pose of collecting this sum from
the revenues of the country. There
was no intention of interfering with
the government or the people, aside
from the collection of the money due
When it's payment was guaranteed
by another nation, the British forces
were withdrawn forthwith.
1t is this performance about which
mutter curses loud AMI deep. Their
claim is that the action of the
British government was an outrage
upon Nicaragua, and that the Unit
ed States failed in it's duty, as a
friendly nation to Nicaragua and as
the uphOlder Of the Monroe doctrine,
in not preventing the occupation of
Corinto or eXpelling the British
forces at the cost, if necessary, of a
war between England and the United
States. Now, had it been necessary
to collect the Mora claim in the
manner specified, we would have
done at Havana exactly what Eng
land did at Corinto. Would it have
been, therefore, the duty of Great
Britain, or any other nation friendly
to Spain, to step in and declare war
against us on the ground of our oc-
cupation of Havana? To say that
it would, would be not only in VIOLA
ton of international law, but would
argue an utter absence of patriotic
support of our own authorities. To
say that it would not, is to say that
Great Britain was justified in the
measures which she took to COM
pei the payment OF an indemnity re-
fused by Nicaragua.
Among the many hard knocks that
the American jingo is receiving this
is one of the severest. Probably it
will not discommode him greatly,
however, because the two things
with which he has least to do are
facts and logic. To the public at
large, the information now made
public as to what might have hap
pened at Havana will be interesting
in itself, and a further proof, if the
report is correct, of the firm deter
mination of our government to pro-
tect and insist upon the rights of all
it's citizens at whatever cost may be
necessary. That it chooses to do this
by the means prescribed in the or
binary intercourse of nations, rather
than by the method Of the ignorant
bully, is greatly to it's credit.