The National tribune., 1896-03-12
THE CUBAN SITUATION.

and which is generally taken to come
direct from the President, it is said:
"While the President and members of tn.
Cabinet personally feel the sympathy com
mon to all Americans with those Cubans
who are contending for selfgovernment
they feel that in their official action they
should not depart from the well-settled
principles which were followed by former
Presidents and Secretaries of State during
prior instructions in Cuba.
Both independence and belligerency are
facts, and their recognition by other powers
rs the term applies, is merely formal &C
! acknowledgement of state OF things which,
rightly or wrongly, has come about.
Recognition of belligerency depends
upon the same facts, and is only modified
form of recognizing independence, though
the latter implies more perfect accomplish
ment. TIE difference between mere insur-
rection and war, though in both armed
bodies are in conflict is that in The former
only one sovereign power is engaged, while
| in the latter there must necessarily be two.
| Ii an armed conflict be carried on by sub
stantial political organization, real, palpable,
and manifest to the world, having the forms
and capable of the ordinary functions of
| Government toward lis own people and TO
other States,' having local habitation
where it may be dealt with by other Ma
! tions, then there is war, and refusal to
recognize belligerency would be willful.
In the absence of these features there is
nothing 10 take the contest out of the cate
CORY of n mere rebellious Instruction, or
occasional skiImishes, and place il on the
terrible footing of war; The pretense of
recognizing what does not exist is always,
and justly, regarded as an unfriendly act,
and gratuitous demonstration of moral sup
port to the rebellion
Judged by these tests, the Administration
does not think the present stage of affairs
in Cuba iusiifies any change in the attitude
Of the Government. It's function is 10 act
| and not to express feeling The only action
now proper is 10 continue 10 hold respQps:-
bic for injuries TO American citizens the
only Government which, so far as appears,
has and maintains authority in Cuba, until
some other Government succeeds, at least
temporarily, in supplantirg it,"
Plain people will be likely to pro-
nounce this very laborious beating about
the bush. 1t states selfevident propo-
sitions, which nobody denies, in Mr..
Cleveland's usual way of announcing
axioms as recent discoveries by him, and
then proceeding to misinterpret them.
In the first place, while belligerency
and independence may be considered as
Facts" they are facts about which there
must naturally be wide diversity of
opinion, and every Nation must use its
own judgment in deciding upon them.
One may decide them to be facts, while
another, upon grounds equally satis.ac-
tory to 1t, may decide not. For ex-
ample, so days after the rebels fired
upon Fort Sumter, and before this Gov
eminent had been able to strike blow
at them, England and France decided
them to be belligerents, and a few days
later Spain and Portugal arrived al the
same conclusion. On the other hand,
Russia never thought they were entitled
to belligerent rights. In this instance
all parties acted in accordance with
their wishes and sympathies. England,
France, Spain and Portugal wanted the
rebels to succeed, gave the utmost
weight to all the facts in their favor,
and gave them prompt and substantial
encouragement. Russia, on the other
hand, did not want them to succeed, and
gave the greatest weight to the facts ad-
verse to them.
What we want the United States to
do, and what the Congressional resolu-
tions mean that we shall do, is to give
the CubaHs the same moral support and
sympathy that the English, French, and
Spanish, and Portuguese gave our rebels.
We have a thousandfo!d more reason
for doing this than they had. The
Cubans have risen against an oppression
which the whole civilized world ac-
knowledges has been for unnumbered
years intolerably CALLING. No people
in Christendom have had to submit to
anything like the tyranny and spolia-
ton practiced upon the unhappy island
ers. They have made a most heroic
fight for independence, and have main
tanned themselves for more than a year
against the utmost efforts Of Spain to re-
duce them to submission. They have
done more than maintain themselves.
They have driven in tie Spanish troops
everywhere, until much the larger part
of the island is in their possession, and
the Spaniards are virtually in a state of
siege behind their Notifications. They
have certainly won right to our recog-
milton of their belligcrency, if no more
We occupy peculiar position in regard
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