The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-12-08

@NN'NAl Aii plliy LOO lIltIly lIlSldIlCGA lO cil- tive and personal participation in the contest. The result is that this gov ernment is constantly called upon to protect American citizens, to claim damages for injuries to persons and property now estimated at many mil Hons of dollars, and to ask explana- tions and apologies for the acts of spanish officials, whose zeal for the repression of rebellion sometimes blinds them to the immunities belonging to
 the unoffending citizens of friendly power. It follows from the same cause
 that the United States is compelled
 to actively police long line of sea coast against unlawful expeditions, the escape of which the utmost vigilance will not always suffice to prevent.
 These inevitable entanglements of the
 United States with the rebellion in Gu
 ba, the large American property in terests affected, and considerations of philanthropy and humanity in general, have led to a vehement demand in va .rious quarters, for some sort of positive intervention on the part of the United States. It was at first proposed that beligerent rights should be accorded to the insurgents--ap no long CT urged because untimely and in prac- I tical operation clearly perilous and in furious to our own interests. It has since been and is now sometimes con- tended that the independence of the in
 surgents should be recognized, But ] imperfect and restricted as the Spanish government of the island may be, no other exists there-unless the will of the military officer in temporary com
 mand of particular district can be 1 dignified as 8 species of government. It is now also suggested that the United States should buy the island-a sugges- tion possibly worthy of consideration if there were any evidence of a desire or I Willingness on the part of Spain to en- certain such a proposal. It Is urged, finally, that, all other methods failing the existing internecine strife in Cuba should be terminated by our interven- ton, even at he cost of a war between the United States and Spain-a war 1 which its advocates confidently proph- esy could be neither large in it's propor- | tions nor doubtful in it's issue.
 The correctness of this forecast need
 be neither affirmed nor denied. The | United States has, nevertheless a char acter to maintain as nation, which plainly dictates that right and not might should be the rule of it's con duct. Further, though the United States l is not nation to which peace is ne 1 cessity, it is in truth the most pacific of powers, and desires nothing so mucR as to live in amity with all the world I Its own ample and diversified domains l satisfy all possible longings for terri I tory, preclude all dreams of conquest, I and prevent any casting of covetous 1 eyes upon neighboring regions, however l attractive. That our conduct towards l Spain and her dominions has consti- 1 tuted no exception to this national dis l position is made manifest by the course | of our government not only thus far 4 during the present insurrection, but i during the ten years that followed the I rising at Yara in 1868. No other great power, it may be safely said, under circumstances of similar perplexitiy would have manifested the same re- straint and the same patient endurance
 It may also be said that this persistent 1 attitude of the United States towards Spain in connection with Cuba, unques- l tionaby evlnces no slight respect and 1 regard for Spain on the part of the l American people They in truth do 1 not forget her connection with the dis l covery of the western hemisphere nor do they underestimate the great quail ties of the Spanish people nor fail to 1 fully recognize their splendid patriot | ism and their chivalrous devotion to the national honor. They view with won- 4 der and admiration the cheerful reSo- lution with which vast bodies of men are sent across thousands of miles of | ocean, and an enormous debt accumu- lated, that the costly possession of the Gem of the Antilles may still hold it's place in the Spanish crown. And yet neither the government nor the people of the United States have shut their l eyes to the course of events in Cuba, or have failed to realize the importance I of conceded grievances, which have led
 to the present revolt from the author ity of Spain-grievances recognized by l the Queen Regent and by the Cortes, voiced by the most patriotic and en- | frightened of Spanish statesmen, regard
 to property, and demonstrated by re- forms proposed by the executive and ! approved by the legislative branch of thethe Spanish government. It is in l the assumed temper and disposition of
 the Spanish government to remedy | these grievances. fortified by indica- tions of influential public opinion in l Spain, that this government has hoped to discover the most promising and effective means of composing the pres ent strife with honor and advantage to Spain and with the achievement of all the reasonable objects of the insurrec- ton.
 It would seem that if Spain should off, fer to Cuba genuine antomony-a meas
 ure of home rule, which, while pre- serving the sovereignty of Spain, would satisfy all national requirements of her
 Spanish subjects-there should be no l just reason why the pacification of the island might not be effected on that ba- sis. Such a result would appear to be
 iu the true interest of all concerned. It would at once stop the conflict which is now consuming the resources of the island and making it worthless for
 EV ENT NTNI