The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-05-22
The Morgan Joint Resolution.

When Senator MoRaAN's Joint resolution
came up in the Senate Committee on For
eign Relations on Wednesday, May 10. the
consideration of IL was deferred for one
week. Last Wednesday the resolution was
again discussed. but no conclusion was
reached. On what ground can Senators
who voted for the concurrent resolutions, to
which not the slightest attention has been
paid by the Executive, refuse to reafirm
their convictions in a more effective form ?
One reason given for reluctance to report
the joint resolution Is the apprehension that
a vote on 1t might be indefinitely postponed
by obstructive debate on the part Of a hand
full Of Senators who sympathize with Spain.
We doubt whether there is much founda-
ton for such an expectation. The few SEN
ators who opposed concurrent resolutions In
the form given to them by the House OF
Representatives have since heard from their
constituents. and they will hesitate to face
the storm Of opprobrium with which a sec
ond attempt to thwart the peoples wishes
will be visited. Suppose, however, that a
few should still be sufficiently wrongheaded
to resist an expression of opinion in which
almost all their countrymen concur; that
pohOhJ 40 LIZ "
the great majority of Senators an opportu-
nifty Of proving the sincerity Of their former
declaration that the Cuban revolutionists
deserve the rights assured to belligerents by
the law of nations. The many who are in
the right should not let themselves be
gagged by the few who are in the wrong.
1t has also been questioned by those who
dispute the wisdom of reporting the NOR
GAN Joint resolution, whether. even If it
were passed over the Presidents veto, Mr..
CLEVELAND might not disregard 1t on the
plea that the recognition Of the belligerency
Of foreign revolutionists is one of the mat
tiers reserved by the Constitution to the
Executive. There is no doubt that under
the eleventh clause Of the eighth section Of
the first article of the Constitution Congress
has power to declare war against Spain for
the purpose Of making Cuba independent;
neither is there any doubt that, following
the precedent set in the case Of Texas, Con-
gress would have power to annex Cuba by a
joint resolution. The greater includes the
less, and it seems r%epugnant to common
sense that a body of legislators, qualified to
rescue uba from Spain by war and to an
mex the island, should not be competent to
recognize the Cuban r%evolutionists as bel
l%igerents. This, however, is a point. de-
cision upon which might be left to the SUI
preme Court OF the United States. 1t Ger
tainly is not for Congress to take it's own
incompetence for granted. Let Mr.. CLEvE-
LAND bear the responsibility of refusing to
heed a joint resolution passed over his veto,
and thus compel a reference of his conduct
to the highest Federal tribunal.
The most unsatisfactory reason for the
hesitation evinced by the Senate Committee
on Foreign Relations is the suggestion that
the President, though he has waited more
than six weeks, may act upon the concur
rent resolutions when the time shall seem to
him opportune. If Mr.. CLEVELAND is really
friendly to the Cuban revolutionists, what
possible harm can be don by the passage of
the MORGAN joint resolution If, on the
other hand, the vague rumor of his good in
tentions should turn out to have no founda-
tion-it is fatty contradicted by all the facts
known up to the present hour-Congress
will regret that 1t did not by a joint resolu-
ton force him either to obey the peoples
will, or, by disobedience, to impose on the
Supreme Court the duty OF defining his
authority.
Should Congress adjourn in the first week
of June, six months must elapse before 1t
can assure to captured Cubans the treat
ment due to prisoners of war. Does it wish
to share with Mr.. CLEVELAND the RESPONSE
bility for the butchery which is certain to
go on in Cuba throughout the summer,
unless the atrocious policy pursued by
Captain-G General WEYLER is checked by our
declaration that the revolutionists are bel
ligerentsf