The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-02-24
Shaming the Dark Ages.

Shaming the Dark Ages.
That the sentiment of the senate Is
favorable to the patriot side In cuba
was proved very conclusively by the
tone of last weeks debates. Perhaps
Senator Morgan overstated the gray
ity OF the situation when he declared
his belief that before we should get
through with the Cuban problem we
would become involved in a war with
Spain. Yet even this alternative. if il
should arise by reason Of a temperate
official expression of the overwhelming
sympathy Of the American people for
the victims of SPANS barbarous rule
in the Antilles, would be welcomed
rather than avoided. A war in behalf
OF justice, and for the benefit of patriots
striving to repeat in a neghboring
island the experiment which our great
grandfathers successfully established
on the American mainland, would not
be stunned by the United States il the
only escape from it lay through u stiff
ling of our natural and proper senti-
ments.
Whatever may have been the situa-
tion in Cuba few months ago, the sue
cession of General Weyler to the com
mand of the Spanish forces has left no
open door to an escape by this Christian
government from the duty of interpos-
ing its voice in behalf of the native pop
ulation of that unhappy island, Wey-
ler's official proclamations prove him to
be q tyrant and a Zealot whose tolera =
tion by the American people would
confer an indelible stain on our nation
al honor. Under date of Feb. 16, Wey-
Ter proclaims that every man or woman
convicted of thirteen specified offences
death or life imprisonment. Among
these offences are ''the circulation of
news or information favorable to the
rebellion;" the SELLING, carrying or de-
livering of arms or ammunition to the
enemy: the furnishing to the enemy
Of horses or other resources; the
sending of news to the enemy by
means of pigeons. rockets or signals"
and finally, as the crowning act of
despotism. the "belittling, by word of
mouth. through the press, or in any
other manner, Of the prestige of Spain.
the army, volunteers, fremen or any
other forces acting with the army; and
the praising, by the same means of the
enemy"
Can the human imagination picture a
code of laws more infamous than this ?
Bear in mind, there are no definitions
as to what is meant by the terms "be-
littling Spain" and "praising the enc
my and the Judges, in each case, are
Spanish officers. disciplined to regard
with disdain every right not enforceable
by force of arms. Trial in each in
stance is by court martial: and the very
men who act as judge and jury super
add to their functions that also Of the
eXecutioner. But this is not all. A
later proclamation requires every resi-
dent within the radius of military ope-
rations to arm himself with a voucher
duly signed by Weyler's designated
subordinates. failure to produce which
upon demand shall subject him to the
liability of being arrested and put into
military prison at Havana. Keepers
OF country stores are commanded to
deliver their goods without compensa-
tion to Spanish chiefs Of columns; and
Cuban negroes are conscripted and
armed, under carte blanche to pilIage,
butcher and desecrate wherever they
are not specifically restrained by the
royal warrant.
The most inhuman records Of savage
tribal conflicts in the dark ages before
the dawn of the Christian religion re-
veal no parallels to these proclama-
tions by the general-in-c of the
armies Of His Most Christian Majesty.
the King Of Spain, operating in the last
half of the latest decade of the nine
teenth century. on an island whose
nearest shore Is only so miles distant
from the United States of free America.
Truly. well may Senator Morgan urge
this government to throw its sword
"" sAS e0OiS ohN OAa " tame UP
at Spain's PERIL" and well may Senator
Lodge remind the good people of this
country who protest against the Mo-
hammedan Turks butchery of Chris
tians in far-off Asia Minor that the
United States has its nearer Armenia
where. for the crime of wanting to be
their own owners. nation of our
kinsmen are being put to the block.
the moose and the shambles. not by
Turks in the frenzy Of a religious war
but by men assuming to worship at
the same altar as their victims. Chris
tian against Christian, white against
white.
Why NJ. d. Harter, Of Mansfield, O..
millionaire. ex-congressman. political
economist .philanthropist. noted and