Omaha daily bee., 1896-12-22
CAMERON'S PLEA FOR CUBA
Report Of the Foreign Relations Committee
Of the Senate.
CUSTOMS OF NATIONS REVIEWED
Every Precedent Established in' the
Past Century JustIncs the
Prompt Recognition of
the IDhurEcnts.

today presented to the senate the
report of the committee on foreign relations,
favorable to the adoption of the following
joint resolution:
Resolved by the senate and house Of
representatives of the United states of
America, in congress assembled, that the
Independence of the republic of cuba be
and the same is hereby Acknowledged by
the United States Of America, and be 1t
further
Resolved, That the United States will use
its friendly offices with the government of
Spain TO bring to close the war between
Spain and the republic of Cuba.
The report is very voluminous. 1t begins
with review OF the action of congress at its
last session, "pledging itself to friendly in
tervention with Spain for the recognition of
the independence of Cuba" Spain having
declined the overtures, the report continues:
THE only question that remains to be de-
cided is the nature of the next step to be
taken with proper regard to the customs
and usages of nations"
The report then proceeds with an ex-
haustive review of the notable instructions
OF the past century. Senator Cameron, the
author OF the report, cites instance after
instance to show that the efforts OF people
claiming Independence by right of revolt
have been recognized by Great Britain,
France, Germany and Russia, often when
the insurrecticuists could point to neither a
upon which to base their claims for recogni-
ton. The report also shows that Great
Britain recognized the beligerency of the
confederate sites in May, 1861, even before
the confederacy had ship at sea or an
army on land"
Under the sub head Of Cuba" the report
concludes as follows:
Into the American system created by
sides the United states. only Buenos Ayres,
Chill, Colombia and Mexico various other
most cases have received admission, until until it
now includes all South America, except
ne ne Gmianas; al Central America except
the British colony of Honduras; and the two
black republics of Spanish Santo Domingo
and Hayti in the Antilles.
CUBA'S FIRST REBELLION
No serious question was again raised with
any European power In regard to the in
surrection or independence of their Amerl-
broke out in Cuba, and the insurgents after
organizing a government and declaring
Their Their M MindiePpenddeggee nc claimed reeognitiop
the United States had always regarded
Cuba within the sphere of its most active
and serious interests As. early as 1925.
when the newly recognized states of
Colombia and Mexico were supposed to be
cuba and Porto Rico, the United States
government interposeG its friendly offices
forbearance. The actual condition of Spain
seemed to make her retention of Cuba inn
possible n,,i5 IN in which which ] case the United States
safety, to prevent the island from falling
pona the Thar haqd1 his OF stronESr d pow in
may have been partly due to the energy
with which Monroe pronounced "our right
and our power to prevent it, and his de-
termination TO use all the means within his
competency to guard against and for
This right OF Intervention In matters re-
latng to the external relations of Cuba as
been asserted and exercised at every crisis
In which this land has heen involved. When
nItod states for m os3 pPea'G 80 en
Grant admitted the Justice of the claim. and
directed the minister of the United States
at Madrid to interpose our good offices with
the Spanish government in order to obtain
by a friendly arrangement the independence
of the island: The story of that lnteryen-
tion ia familiar to every member of the
senate, and was made the basis of its
dent once more "to interpose his friendly
offices with the Spanish government for the
recognition of the independence of Cuba"
The resolution then adopted by congress
was perfectly understood to carry with 1t
friendly offices; On this point the situation
needs no further comment. The action
taken ION great consideration and on Just
principles" on a right of Intervention eN-
patient delay unexampled In history.
CLEVELAND AS A WITNESS.
The interval of nine months which had
elapsed since that action of congress had
proved the necessity of carrying II out to
completion. In the words of the presidents
annual message; ''The stability two
lion, the feasibility of its Indefinite proionga-
tion in the nature Of things and as shown by
past experience, the utter and imminent
ruin of the island unless the present strife
is speedily composed" are in our opinion
Spain to deal successfully with the insur-
rcction has been manifested and that her
sovereignty has become extinct in Cuba for
all purposes of its rightful existence-a
hopeless struggle for its re-establishment
has degenerated into n strife which means
nothing more than the useless saritice of
human life and the utter destruction of the
very subject matter of the conflict"
Although the president appears to have
reached different conclusion from our
selves. we believe this to be the actual
situation of Cuba. and. being unable to see
that further delay could lead to any other
action than that which the president an
tlclpatod. we agree with the conclusion of
the message. that "ln such case, our obli-
cations to the sovereignty of Spain are
superseded by higher obligations which We
can hardly hesitate to recognize and dis
Following closely the action Of President
Monroe In 1878 congress has already de-
carod i'm effect its opinion. and there can
be no rational Interference except on the
basis of independence In 1892, as now, but
with more force. II was objected as we
have shown that the revolted states had
no governments TO be recognized DiVi-
sions and even civil war existed among
the insurgents themselves Among the
Cuhnns no such difficulty Is shown to
exist In September 1895 as we know by
official documents printed on tho spot, the
insurgent government was regularly or
EaniZed: constitution adopted; a presi-
dent elected and In due course the Vari-
Gus branches of administration set I'm mo-
tion. Since then, far as we are in
formed this government has continued to
perform it's functions undisturbed. on the
military side, rs we ofllcaIly know. they
have organized equipped and maintained
in the field sufficient forces to battle the
eXertions OF POO COO Spanish soldiers
ENTITLED To RECOGNITION.
On the civil side they have organized
their System of administration in every
province. for, ms we know officially, they
'roam at will over at least two-thlrds of
the inland country" Diplomatically they
have maintained regularly accredited
representative IN the United States for the
past year who has never ceased to ask
recognition, and TO offer all possible infor-
nation, There Is no reason to suppose
that any portion of the Cuban people would
be dissatisfied by our recognizing their
representative In this country. or that they
disagree In the earnest wish for that
recognition, The same thing could hardly
be said of all the countries recognized by
Monroe In 1922. Greece had no such sta-
bility when II was recognized by England
Russia and France; Belgium had nothing
OF the sort when she was recognized by
all the powers in 1880 OF the states recog-
niZed by the treaty of Berlin, 1873, we
need hardly to say more than that they
were the creatures of Intervention.
The only question that properly remains
for congress TO consider is the mode which
should he adopted for the step which CON |