The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-05-29
Consul-General Lee Ought to Set Sail
for Cuba Aboard . Naval Vessel.

1t were BETTING that Gen. F%IrzHUGH LEE,
who is about to take his departure for Ha-
vana. where he will assume the office OF
Consul General of the United States, should
be conveyed there in a nava vessel. War
Is raging in Cuba; the revolutionary
army is near Havana; q battle may
be fought there any day, and serious
events may result from IL The city
is under martial law; its inhabitants
have been in a state Of apprehension for
months past; the volunteers who have been
organized for its defence are untrustworthy
and the Spanish army on guard at the
trocha stands in dread OF a revolutionary
whirlwind, under the direction of Gen.
MACEo. The reign of terror established by
WEYLER Is not a guarantee Of the preser-
walton of order; 1t Is rather a manifestation
Of Spanish infatuation, desperation, and in
competence.
Under the circumstance Consul General
LEE ought to be conveyed to Havana upon
a naval vessel, which should afterward be
stationed there.
1t should be retained there for the protec-
ton, In case of emergency, OF the Americans
resident at Havana. Upon several occa-
sions during the past twelvemonth the
lives of Americans in Cuba AVE been
endangered. Threats were made against
them at the time of the anti-Ameri-
can demonstrations in Spain; but, for
tunately for all parties, Havana was then
under the command Of a Spanish General
of a character unlike that of its present
commander. Gen. MARTINEz CAMPOs, a
-- ~ .s-
to Americans in Cubs such as could not be
given by WEYLER, that brutal and incom-
petent ~swashbuckler.
Since the outbreak OF the war In Cuba
inquiries have repeatedly been sent from
Havana to this Government whether any
thing would be done for the protection OF
American life and property at Havana and
Matanzas. At one time az earnest appeal
was made to Washington for the presence
OF a naval vessel upon the northern coast Of
Cuba, but no notice of this appeal was ever
taken by Mr.. CL~EvELASD's Administration.
The object OF the appeal was not to give
occasion for trouble; it's object was to
avert apprehended trouble and to give our
citizens in Cuba sense of security, to lead
them to believe that their Government was
u kuhTulhh IL "noll bncy COhlu tTlSJ' -hT'
CLEVELAND gave no more heed to 1t
than he has given to the concurrent
resolutions in favor OF the recognition OF
Cuban belligerency adopted by both Houses
of Congress. 1t was not in the interest of
peace that he ignored the appeal for, had
the threats made against the defenceless
Americans been carried out, trouble with this
country would have been inevitable, and Mr..
CLEVELAND could not have prevented it.
An American war ship at Havana would
have been a better pledge of peace than any
other that could he given by the American
Government.
Consul General LEE will tax that pledge
with him to Havana II Mr.. CLEVELAND
shall give orders that he be conveyed there
upon a naval vessel, which hall be required
To remain near Havana until the ~restora-
tion OF peace.
1t would certainly not be for Spain to
make any objection in the case, The naval
vessel would not give any offence to her by
taking aboard our Consul-General bound
for Havana.
1t is possible that an American naval yes
sci may be very much needed at Havana
within an inconsiderablo period of time,
needed for the service of Consul-Gene
LEE and also As = refuge for Americans