The times., 1897-03-16
The Higher DUTY of Humanity.

The latest phase OF the Cuban struggle
for independence, presented i'll the order
OF Gen. weyler TO hold helpless Cuban
| women responsible for the attack or cap
ture by their countrymen Of the towns
! or villages in which they happen to live,
as well as that officials cowardly and
brutal application Of that decree, reported
| generally in the press, cannot fail to pre-
sent the problem OF our interna tional duty
in relation to the war in a new and
serious light.
We feel sure that the blood of Christian
American gentleman. and the Christian
Chief Magistrate Of great nation, must
boil at the thought OF atrocities which in
the past have been visited upon defenseless
women and children in the Island of Cuba.
He must know OF the public sale OF cap
tured little Cuban girls to life of shame,
on the plaza OF Artemisa. and Of the hack
ing in pieces of ten little Cuban babies,
before the eyes OF their mothers. in the
main street OF Pfnar del Rio. These
shocking incidents might have been ex-
planned by Mr.. Olney's friend, MI Dupuy
de LONE, as the unauthorized acts OF a
brutal soldiery. But when we see the
principle and practice Of such acts crys-
tallized into governmental policy, in
dorseG and enacted into martial law at
the palace of the captain general, ii would
seem 60 be time for Us to inquire whether
we have not some rights and duties in
the premises, rs the leading power Of the
hemisphere, but more particularly as one
boasting devotion toliberty aud humanity.
There is scarcely an educated, reading
man or woman in the United states who has
not criticised and indignantly blamed the
Christian European powers for their cal
Iousness in permitting Mosem outrages
upon Armenians, Cretans, Bugarians, and
other subject peoples They hardly can
understand the attitude of their own
Government in the immediate presence OF
worse atrocities, daily and notoriously COM
mitted at our very gates.
The contention was made in behalf of
the cold-hlooded and cowardly Cleveland
oIney policy, that it was necessarily die
tated by the highest sense Of duty to in
ternational law. or all the accepted au-
tborities on that great subject We are
aware OF but one whose dicta in the least
justified or excused the position of this
Government, which was diametrically OPP
and practices. Mr.. Dana, whose dicta re-
fleet the passions and prejudices rather
than the logic Of the late civil war, has
tried TO lay down the rule that, where a
parent government is seeking to subdue
an tnsurrection, and the insurgents claim
nationality and bellgerent rights, which
the parent government does not concede,
q recognition of belligerent rights by q
foreign state is not Justified by necessity
and is "a gratuitous demonstration OF
moral support to the rebellion, and OF
censure upon the parent government"
This view, so far taken by our Govern
ment and the Supreme Court, is opposed
to the opinion of all the great publicists
Vattel holds that concession of the fact
of belligerency on the part OF the parent
government is not and ought not to be
q prerequisite to its assumption by a third
power. The sovereign indeed never fails
to bestow the appellation of rebels on all
such hisSubjects as openly resist him; but
strength to give him effectual opposition
end to ohlige him to carry on war against
tiHem he must necessarily submit
to the term civil war" Judge Grier says:
when a party in rebellion occupy and
hold in a hostile manner a certain por-
ton of territory, have declared their in
dependence. have cast off their allegiance. |
organized and commenced hostilities
against their former sovereign, the world /
recognizes them as beiligerents. We |
merely offer these quotations to show !
that there is plenty of ground and au- |
tbority in International law upon which |
the United States could have based |
very opposite policy to that it has adopted |