Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1897-05-20
THE CAUSE OF CUBA

| In the Hands OF It's Friends at Wasnins
/ ton-Senator Chandler Writes LeteoLs
/ i'm which He Takes Strong GROUNDS III
support of the Right and the Dnty OF
the United States to Intervene and stop
the Slaughter.
WASHINGTON. May 17.-An enthusf-
! astic audience of men and women
MANY of them well known in Washing
/ ton, packed the Columbia theater TO It's
! doors Yesterday afternoon at monster
mass meeting held in behalf OF the
cause of the Cuban insurgents. Inc
theater was appropriately decorated.
Seated on the platform and paruclpae-
ing in the exercises were Senators Ual-
| linger and Allen, ex-senator Butter, OF
South Carolina; Rev. Hugh Johnson
pastor of the Metropolitan Metno-
| dist church; Rev. Howard Wilbur En-
mis- and a number of others idenuhed
with the interests of the insurgents.
Gen. William Henry Brown, presl-
| dent of the Cuban league, called the
meeting to order and introduced Sena-
tor Gallinger as the presiding officer.
| The latter made a brief address ana
read a number of letters and kilograms
of regret, among them being those
from Senators Frye and Burrows and
Commander Garrison, of the q. A. h.
| Mr. Chambers letter was as follows:
WASHINGTON, D. c., May 10.
| Senor 4. 4. Aguire Washington, d. c.:
DEAR SIR-AlthoIgh unable to attend the
| meeting tonight, / send q few words OF sym
| pathy, and of hope for the relief and tndepen-
| dence OF Cuba
! AS wish to see the United States declare
! and maintain the independence OF the island as
France did that of the American colonies, ana
made the United States a nation, of course
| Sha as friend.
| minor method tending to the same benencent
| end. hope and believe that congress and the
president will soon formally recognize state
| of war and Cuban belligerency This step, IoI-
lowed, as it will be by all the other independent
nations OF the western hemisphere. cannot faiI
to insure the Cuban independence which Is
| sought for.
Moreover without delay we ought to send a
| fleet to enter the harbor and an army to land
| upon the soil of Cuba first to protect the lives
| and property of American citizens, and, sec
| ondly, to stop the atrocious and unctvilized
| methods of warfare adopted by the Spanish
| generals.
In advocating all these measures am con-.
scious of no passionate hostility to Spain In
| 1861 she. recognized the southern confederacy
within less than three months after It's mill
| tary struggle began; and surely, il she cannot
| hold Cuba without making it one vast desert
| and graveyard by driving the inhabitants into
| the cities to starve, and by hanging, shooting
or garroting Cuban officers for rebellion and in
cendiariSm, she ought to lose the island. II be-
| tween 1861 and 1865 one confederate general had
| thus been put to death, all the powers or Eu-
rope with one accord would have sent their fleets
| and armies 5000 miles across the ocean TO END
| such barbarous warfare and to establish and
maintain the southern confederacy. Yet Gen
| Robert f. Lee and I'LL his generals were as
| truly guilty of rebellion and incendarlSm as
was Theodore MendeZ Gonzales, who was shot
! for that offense at Cabanas fortress in Havana,
| on Monday last,
We blame England for abandoning the harm
| less and peaceful Armenian Christians to mas
| Sacre by the MoSlemS and for submitting the
liberty loving Greeks to slaughter by the Turk
| ish deSpot England retorts that we dare not
| stop the methods of unciyilized warfare at our
very doors in the American Crete-the fair is
| land of Cuba-and both charge and counter
charge are justly made.
| In helping to make Cuba independent we are
observing traditional and universal Amer
lean policy, the duty to promote ut the first
good opportunity the severance OF Cuba from
Spain. In 1895, also, the democrats pledged
themselves to do this by their declaration OF
| sympathy for the people of Cuba in their heroic
struggle for liberty and independence" and
the republicans by their promise that the Uni
ted States should endeavor to restore peace
and give independence to the island" There
need be little fear that these pledges will
be violated. President Mckinley will
ingly recognizes the binding force
of the platform upon which he was
elected, and will do his part towards making
Cuba free and Independent. He may proceed
with what will seem to impatient spirits
| to be undue caution, with the cries and groans
ringing in his ears of unarmed men, women and
| children enduring inhuman cruelty and das-
| tardly murder, but he will not fail to be faith
full to his pledges, and he will before long reg
lister the decree which went forth in his tri-
| umphant election that Cuba should be taken
from the control of Spain and made peaceful and
| independent. In this faith in a great party and
its president let us rest patiently and hopefully.
| Very respectfully
| WILLIAM E. CHANDLER
Mr.. Karl Decker, of Washington,
who, as correspondent of the New York
Journal, spent some time in Cuba,
much of it with a branch of the Cuban
army in Santa Clara province, gave a
description of affairs existing and of
the pitiable plight of many of the
people suffering for the necessaries of
| life. He ridiculed the claims set out
by Gen. Weyler that the island had
been pacified, and said that if the
| Cubans were granted belIigerent rights
| by the United States they would GER
tainly win. Mr.. Decker has just re-
turned from Cuba.
In the course of some interesting re-
marks, Senator Allen, of Nebraska,
humorously declared there was no di-
vision in the populIst ranks on the
| question of Cuban liberty. In this
whole matter he thought there had
been too much sacrifice to a spirit of
commercialism, and it was time this
government had little more humanity
and little more Americanism. He de-
clared that the United States could not
afford to have decaying monarchy
with foothold on this continent, and
he would be delighted to see Spain and
the Ottoman empire wiped from the
map of Europe. If the president were
to send feet to Havana. war in the
island would cease In 80 days and il
would not be necessary to fire gun.
If the United States should say to
Spain ''you shall not war upon the
hospitals, upon women and upon child
hood" Weyler's occupation would be
gone.
Mrs. Clara Belle Brown. of the Wo.
mans National Cuban league, said tho
league had but one platform, one aim
and one end. and that end was the es.
tablishment of the republic of Cuba.