The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-03-06
is THERE A CASUS BELLI?
Some Things to Consider with Care
Before War Is Declared.
New York Evening Post.

Dispatches from Washington indicate
that the President has some apprehension
as to the effect that may be produced on
Congress by the reports he is about to send
in from our consular general and his subor-
dinate consuls in Cuba, touching the miser-
able condition to which the inhabitants of
the island have been reduced Miserable
enough it is. no doubt. ''War is HE'LL said
General Sherman. The island of Cuba has
been swept by its ravages for three years.
The policy of the rebels is to make every
body join them, under penalty of fire and
sword, pestilence and famine, and SO long
as they can hold out, they will continue to
burn houses, mills and plantations; destroy
all food that they cannot carry away, and
produce every kind of misery among nom
combatants, men, women and children. 1t is
expected, and by some people doubt de-
sired, that the picture of this distress shall
so appeal to our sympathies as to compel
forcible interference, regardless of interna-
tional law, and regardless of the conse-
Quences to ourselves
We will suppose that these reports are as
bad as possible, as bad, for instance. as
those from Armenia which wrung our
hearts two years ago, and which continue
to reach us from that distressed country
that warrant us in making an aggressive
attack upon a nation which has given us no
cause of offenSe? 1t cannot be pretended
that SPANS efforts to put down a rebellion
in her own territory are an offenSe to us.
We have had rebellion in our own terri
tory within our own lifetime. Stories can
be told of the burning of Columbia, $. c.,
of the Andersonvile prison pen, of the
desolau ton OF the valley of Virginia that
will match anything we have heard from
Cuba, or are likely TO hear How should we
hox fnIf in a hQ
posed to interfere in our conflict on the
grounds of humanity and of her proximity
to US? Cuba is as near TO US as we are 10
her. Suppose Spain had been strong enough
at that time to make her intervention eff
fectiVe, and had said that the spectacle of
Andersonville could no longer be borne and
that she was moved by the dictates of hui
mainly and religion to put stop to such
frightful scenes, and had proceeded to do
so! In what respect is the case different
now? Have we any casus belli to-day that
Spain did not have then? Are we to be
law unto ourselves, and say that we can in
terfere in a rebellion on Spanish territory,
but Spain cannot interfere in one on our
territory because we are stronger OF the
two?
1t may turn out that Spain has allies that
we know not of. 1t has been limited more
than once that France considers the rev.
enues of Cuba pledged to her citizens for
the security of bonds issued by Spain and
negotiated in Paris. Some governments
consider themselves bound to protect the
investments made by their citizens In good
i
lands. Others do not. The only government
that has formally announced to it's subjects
that they must take their risks in Lending
money to foreigners is Great Britain. Both
France and Germany hold themselves at
liberty to collect the pecuniary claims of
their subjects at the cannon's mouth. The
Spanish debt is almost wholly owned in
France, and for a considerable part of 1t
the revenues of Cuba have been expressly
pledged Now it is noteworthy fact that
securities on the Paris Exchange Some
thing holds up the price in spite of all the
gloom surrounding the Spanish finances. If
France has notified us that she will look to
us for the payment or this part or the Span
ish debt in case we make forcible inter-
IS fist her .n light to do SO Win be Just as
good as our right of interference. Both of
these assumed rights may be wrong, but
we cannon affirm that ours is any whit SUI
perior There i talk in dt 61 Of our
the outstanding bonds. That raises the in
teresting question whether we are to guar
antee them in gold, if at all. VIII our lingo
Senate ever agree to that!
This is only one OF many possible emhar-
easements that await us in the event of
forcible interference in Cuba. The first and
immediate question would relate to our
asked by an anxious correspondent of the
Evening Post whether in case of war with
Spain the gold standard in this country
is that anything which calls for large ex-
penditure threatens the gold standard in the
same way that 1t was threatened at the
beginning Of the civil war. Whether, in
case of war with Spain, IT would be
Seriously" threatened would depend upon
the wisdom OF our public authorities, and
especially of Congress. 1t would be neces-
sary to borrow money largely. If Ii were
borrowed by the issue of Understanding
bonds the gold standard would not neces-
sarily be threatened IL 1t were borrowed
by the issue of greenbacks the gold stand
ard would be lost for longer or shorter
period. 1t is most likely that the latter
method of finance would be the most popu-
lar because IL would save INTEREST," and
prevent bankers from making profit out
Of the necessities of the government. Prob