Evening star., 1896-12-08
of thi. class already aggregates tr.ne

OF TINS class areaoy aggregates q teane
Nor does the loss fall upon capital alone.
Large numbers Of the agricultural laboring
classes are driven from the fields to the
orders of the local military commanders
and partly by the cessation or destruction
Of their only means Of livelihood. They
are welfnigh destitute. Among Them ere
idea Of the extent of this calamito1s cor d.
ton is given by the reports which reach
the department from single district. 1t Is
officially reported that there are in one
refugees from the surrounding country
to whom the municipal authorities can af-
ford little or NO relief. Over 800 of these
are American citizens. engaged in .pros-
porous farming and stock raising at the be-
ginning Of the outbreak. whose employ
ment and resources have beeA swept away
by eighteen months of civil strife. redrc-
ing them from atfluence to penary ind
throwing them upon the charity of an cx-
hausted community In Il devastated land.
All these disastrous conditions, with the
evils and disorder necessarily following in
their train. are interfering with the insular
avenues OF trade and very gravely impair
ing the business operations of Cuba.
measure of the general falling off Is in
structively found in the monthly returns Of
the customs receipts at the fifteen ports of
entry of Cuba, which. from s.. 4d9 .2a5T
during the first seven months of 1895, sank
to $3.12S, 1U7. 80 in the corresponding period
of 1895. This is but one of many acceSSibit
examples to show that the Industrial value
of the Island Of Cuba is fast decreasing
under the prevalent conditions.
From whatever point of view we regard
the matter, 1t is impossible not to discern
that a state of things exists at our doors
alike dangerous to good relations, destruc-
tive of legitimate commerce. fatal to the
internal resources of Cuba, and most vexa-
tious and trying because entailing upon
this government excessive burdens in its
domestic administration ~ W rd
relations This situation cannot Indefinite
iy continue without growing still worse,
and the time may not be far distant when
the United States must seriously consider
whether its rights and interests as well as
Its international duties in view of it's pecu-
liar relations to the island do not call for
some decided change in the policy hitherto
pursued.
Besides the cases growing out of the acts
of the combatants in the interior. COM
plants have not been infrequent touching
the course of the insular government In the
centers where the Spanish authorities as
sert politico- military powers. Numerous
instances of Interference with the persons,
property, vessels and interests Of citizens
of the United States have been brought 60
notice in the past twelvemOnth. In every
case where the facts suf1iced to impute cul
pability or responsibility to the agents of
The Spanish power redress has been
promptly and vigorously sought.
The right OF every citizen arrested i'll
Cuba to have the benefit of the ordinary
criminal proceedings guaranteed by exist
ing treaties has beer energetical;y insisted
upon the claim of the insular authorities
TO Sc eiZe the persons of our citizens without
pro less or charge of crime. and to detain
III EN- as suspects upon mere administrative
order. has been met with prompt demand
for immediate regular trial or release: arbi-
tIary restrictions upon ordinary commerce,
decrecd by the military power, and tending
to impair existing contracts of our citizens.
have called forth impressive remonstrance
and promise of redress: the right of our
consular representatives to address the To-
cal authorities in defense of any assaied
interests of Americans. when questioned
has been successfully defended: and un-
Warrantable acts of interference with our
vessels have been at once resisted. The
particulars of many of these cases will be
found in the collected annual volume en-
titled Foreign Relations of the United
States"
The Competitor Case.
In April last. the Competitor a small
schooner of American registry. eluding the
vigilance of the federal authorities, took on
board men and supplies presumably intend
cd to aid the Cuban insurrection, and
reached the coast OF that island near San
Cayetano. Being discovered by the Spanish
coast guard. conflict ensued, resulting in
the capture of a number of those on boa rl
well as the seizure of the vessel. The
prisoners. among them several American
citizens. were subjected to q summary mill
tary trial. which. although conducted by an
admiralty court. alleged to be competent.
appeared to have lacked the essential safe
guards of procedure stipulated by the exist
ing conventions between the United States
and Spain. This government promptly in
tervel.ed to secure for its implicated citi-
zens all the rights to which they were
clearly entitled, including appeal from the
pronounced sentence of death. Their cases
were subsequently carried to the higher
tribunal at Madrid. which has set the con-
nd 6ad ho for
retriaL
This government has been constrained to
enter earnest protest against a recent de-
cree of the governor general of Cuba Or
derfng the registration of all aliens in the
island. and pronouncing all those not regis
tered within a certain time as debarred
from appealing to the provisions of existing
law. The treaty rights Of American citi-
zens obviously depend on their actual allie
glance to their own government, not upon
any arbitrary inscription as aliens by the
state wherein they may be sojourning: and
while this government Is well disposed to
admit the convenience of the proposed
registry as an additional evidence of the
right of such citizens in Cuba to the Dro-
lection of the authorities. and has signified
its willingness to facilitate their registra-
ton, it can never consent that the om.s-
sion OF merely local formality can oper-
ate to outlaw any persons entitled to it's
protection as citizens or to abrogate the
right to the orderly recourses Of Spanish
law solemnly guaranteed to them by
treaty.
Relations With Great Britain,
A chapter on Great Britain is as follows:
The long-protracted dispute between
Great Britain and Venezuela in regard to
the boundary between the latter republic
and British Guiana has for number of
years past attracted the earnest attention
of this government and enlisted fts often
renewed friendly offices to bring about an
adjustment of the question in the best in
terests of right and justice, as determin-
able by the historical record and the actual
facts. The extended discussion of the sub
ject eliminated in July of last year by an
elaborate presentation to the British gov
ernment of the views OF the United States
touching the opportuneness and necessity
of final disposition of the points at issue
by the pacific resort of an equitable arbi-
tration.
The entire correspondence having been
laid before Congress by the President with
his message of December II. 1885, that
body provided for the appointment of a
domestic commission Of eminent jurists to
examine and report touching the ascer-
tainable facts of the controversy, with q
view to enable this government TO deter