The silver blade. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1895-1903, 1896-03-07

rocoo,,. Au " CuDa and that we
rr asni1e. second. that the conditions
;n,,o,. ns on that island which have
,ass sucn great and deplorahls
Sse. VIII md permanent solnt;on
10y - the establishment OF a Govern
enl Dy the free choice Of the naonIa
Suoa themselves, and that our Gov
lent should use it's friendly ina,,-
ences 70 that end. This, in the intarast
:, Tue people Of Spain, of Cuba and ~
o. oener nations. And third. in viau
u Tue vast interests Of our cw,, neon1a
IN the island Of Cuba. 50 close ! ro;a,
uor IN view Of the immense commaroa
.nat IS being destroyed and the nrodig~
,ous investments of our citizens thara
being consumed, that our government
while 1T has never entered into 49,,
connection between European nowars
ana their colonies in any of tho a+r,,ers
eles which have taken place betwaer
tnem, should be prepared to protect +ho
interests OF our American citizens hv
intervention, II Intervention be nec-
essary The resolutions ought not -
cause any trouble between the United
states and any country not seeking to
foment trouble with us.
u think that gentlemen will aorao
with me that the proposition of the
commute Is one far more effective than
the senate resolution. First, as to the
belligerency Of the Cubans: that there
IL q state Of war is a fact shown nv
many things besides newspaper re-
ports. The official reports of our con-
suls show the growth and extent Of the
war. 1t Is not a production of the 10
years lnsurrection Of 1868 to 1873. More
tnan one-half year ago, the consuls
report, that armed forces then in the
field contending with desperate earn
estness and uncomfortable will were
three times greater than the men en-
gagged in the rebellion Of 1868, when at
the height OF its power, and the tide
OF war has swept on from one side Of
the island to the other until today the
Spanish authority is not in fact exer-
cised over more than one-third or one
fourth of it's territory.
Recently the caprain general Of Gu
ba issued lengthy proclamation which
we have read with horror, which con-
tanned detailed regulations and pro-
scription concerning this war, in the
very terms and spirit of the orders
issued by Napoleon when he command
ed the greatest forces ever enlisted in
modern warfare. It will not do to say
that this is guerilla warfare; 10000 Of
the finest soldiers that ever marched
into Spain took possession of It's cities
as the Spanish troops have taken pos
session Of the Cuban cities and assum-
ed to subdue the people who could only
resist by means of guerilla warfare and
what was the result? Guerilla war
fare destroyed that splendid army. And
it was the defeat of Napoleon's forces
in that mighty war conducted by these
harassing and irregular systems that
deprived him Of his resources. so that
after the final blow in the retreat from
Moscow. that greatest power of mod
ern times, crumbled and fell. Was that
war? Can a Spaniard deny it? There
is not Spaniard in the world who is
not proud to recount it as the grandest
era in Spanish history, and one of the
proudest chapters in relation to that
race.
eve not only seize a ship that the
Spanish minister notifies our judicial
officers is about to leave before 1t gets
out of the harbor, as was done with
the Bermuda, but we sent cruisers TO
pursue them on the high seas. IT the
Cubans are recognized as belligerents
they will have the same rights that we
now give fully to Spain. BY recognz-
ing the Cuban belligerency they Will
have flag and can purchase IN our
markets.
81 will say to the gentlemen who are
fearful of the relations of our country
with foreign countries that | 40 not
think this recognition can excite ground
Of complaint, for this war has existed
year with great bloodshed. Spain
recognized the southern confederacy a