Evening star., 1896-04-07
The Cuban Resolutions Taken to the
White House.
THEY WILL TAKE THE USUAL COURSE
Gen. SchofieId Said to Be Giving
Counsel on Cuban Affairs.
TIE PRESENT SITUATION


the Cuban insurrection. The Senate con-
current resolutions looking to the recogni-
ton Of the belligerency of the insurgents
and the ultimate independence Of the people
were officially delivered to him early this
morning.
certified copy of the resolutions was
taken to the White House by Mr.. Platt, one
OF the executive clerks Of the Senate, and
was personally handed to Private Secretary
Thurber. with the request that 1t he submit
ted to the President The latter was in
formed "f the receipt of the resolutions, and
directed that they follow the usual course
OF business. Accordingly, they will be sent
to the State Department for preservation
in the archives, like all state papers, and
will also be Incorporated in the book of laws
annually published by the government.
Matter Of Form.
Ordinarily concurrent resolutions are not
forwarded to the President, as they do not
require his signature, but these resolutions
were LAID before him, as the Armenian reso-
lutlons were, because they express the opin-
ION that he should tender the offices Of the
United States to Spain for the recognition of
Cuban independence
wh;tr wneerefary acy, :olney called early at the
Wnlte House. and remained in close con-
sultation with the President, undeterred
by the notice that had been sent to the
other members of the cabinet to the effect
that there would be no meeting of the
cabinet today.
There is reason to believe that the meet
ing would have been postponed regardless
OF the appearance of the measles among
the children at the White House, in order
to afford the President an opportunity for
private deliberation with the chief MEM
Der OF his cabinet, for there was q story
current, that seemed well founded, to the
hot fh0
preparation of a special message to Con-
gress. OF course, this was Immediately
assumed to relate to the Cuban situation.
and to be an exposition by the President
of the actual state of affairs on the island.
as revealed in the reports Of the United
States consular officers and other trusted
sources of information.
The Presidenfx Reasons.
1t is reasoned that the President may
feel 1t his duty, In view of the overwhelm-
ing majority by which the resolutions
passed both branches Of Congress, to come
out with a plain statement of the reasons
that influence him In preserving unchanged
the position he has assumed toward the in
surrection in Cuba, showing from the best
obtainable information that has reached
him that, regardless of the sympathy he
may feel personally for the rebels. he is
absolutely bound by the facts as he sees
them, by precedent, and by the dictates of
international law 10 persist in his attitude.
This, Of course, means only so long as he
is left free to decide upon the course to be
followed by the government, and it may be
that he would take an entirely different
view of the matter if Congress should send
to him joint resolution embodying the
features of these concurrent resolutions,
and assume that by SO doing the legislative
branch had taken the direction of the mat
ter out of his hands.
The Presidents Power.
bot ha
consider the passage Of the concurrent
resolutions as intended in the least to alter
his policy in the matter. 1t was within
his discretion before to recognize the bel
ligerency of the IL surgents, and the status
of the cast in that respect has not been
changed by the action of Congress If it
were intended to force the executive to
action in this matter the resolutions would
have been put in the form of a joint meas
ure, in which case they might be enacted
into law with or without the Presidents
approval. Inasmuch as the legislative
assumed that it was for the express pur-
pose of leaving the President entirely free
to act, according to his best judgment, up
on the information at hand.
Data Kept Secret.
Since the transmission to Congress last
February of the correspondence relative to
Cuba much matter has accumulated at the
Der rartment Of State bearing on the later
phases of the struggle. For prudential
reasons these reports have been withheld
from even Congress, and so it is,not pos
sible to learn whether or not the state of
facts as set out therein is such as to war
rant any change in the attitude toward
the revolution the President assumed and
defined in his annual message to Congress.
The tests he laid down in the beginning
which the revolutionists must fulfill re-
main unchanged, SO far as can be gathered.
Relative to the extension of his good Of
fees toward bringing about independence,
it is entirely possible that the President
may find it within his inclination and dis
position to move in that direction as far es
as he can safely, for he Is on record in his
message as deprecating the continuance
Of the present "cruel and bloody war on
the island.
However, in either case, the President is
not under the present necessity of decid-
ing whether he will act and how upon the
resolutions, and as the rainy season is
about to begin in Cuba, putting a stop to
all military operations for five months, it
may be that the President will decide to
wait further during the enforced truce be-
fore acting himself in the matter.
Gen. Schofield's Presence.
To many quiet observers the appearance
in the city at this time of Lieut.. Gen. Scho-
field is somewhat significant, especially as
he has been in long and frequent confer
| eLc6S WIFI lLS EFeStueul, lu0 secretary OF
State and the Secretary of War. His busi-
ness seems to relate especially to the diplo-
ma tic branch of the government or at any
rate, he and Secretary Olney appear to
have something important to talk about
They were closeted in the Secretary's Of
flee for several hours yesterday. Gossips
have 1t that the President desires better in
formation concerning the situation in Cuba
and that he has selected Gen. Schofeld to
go there to get it. He has great faith in
the judgment and ability of Gen. Schofleld
and would not hesitate to act upon a report
made by him, based upon a personal inyes-
tigation of the subject. Just after the close
of the civil war Gen. Schof1eld went to
Paris on special diplomatic mission con-
nected with French designs on Mexico and
performed his duties to the greatest salts
faction of all concerned.
Mr.. McCreary's Opinion.
Representative McCreary Of Kentucky,
who was chairman Of the foreign affairs
committee Of the House In the Fifty-second
and Fifty-third Congresses, speaking today
as to the probable action of the President
on the Cuban resolutions said:
"Mr. Cleveland throughout his public
career has shown disposition to inyesti-
gate for himself all important public ques-