The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-13
Justice Cries Halt
TO Spanish NiSruIe



~ OUBT disappears with the pres-
II IL dents message. Calm in tone, it Is
II decided in utterance. 1t urges de-
IIJJ cislVe action reaches definite
and forceful conclusion and sets in
motion the power of the nation. No
stronger course could be demanded. All
that American honor and interests can
ask is proposed. Nothing is asked of con-
gress which precedent abroad and our
own past policy do not rigol ously approve
and Justify. This great state paper will
stand in history, landmark and guide of
the just course for peaceful nation
when duty to humanity forces upon 1t
forcibe intervention in the affairs of an
other. Dignihed, effective and convinc-
ing. with due regard for the long past of
our Cuban relations and the acts ana ut
teranCcs of his predecessors, with just
consideration for the destruction of the
Maine, with unshalIen determination to
act in cuba, for humanity and not for
conquest, for order and not for acquisi-
ton, for peace and not for war, this mes
sage speaks as befitY the executive OF Il
great nation, the ruler of Christian peo-
pie and the president of the United states.
o
Congress and the country should re-
spond with an unanimous support. Fac
tiOn should disappear Party should lie
duty of all is clear--to support the presi-
dent and to make effective his wise yet
vigorous. his effective yet conservative
policy. AS he abundantly and cOnvinc-
ngly shows, the step the United States Is
now about TO take is the legitimate, log
iCal and necessary result of our past at
titude and action and of the expressions
of his predecessors for fifty years. Tn
der certain conditions and on the appear
i'm Git il
dents, from Grant to Cleveland have in
terms declared that Intervention would be
necessary by the United States. Such ac-
ton for the restoration of order, to safe
guard national interests and in the name
of humanity has been the familiar policy
of every great power facing certain
condition and situation. In Cuba today
| the conditions exist The situation has
| arrived.
The explosion on the Maine has lit the
path of duty, but 1t has not laid ii out.
| History had done that. With vigorous
recognition, both of our own national dig
! nifty and the opinion Of the civilized world,
| the president makes no charges against
| Spain or Spanish authorities. Suspicion
| has no proper place in an expression OF
| national policy. The proved and ac-
\ cepted facts are enough. The destruction
| of the Main demonstrates the collapse
| of Spanish rule. 1t proved the absence OF
| effective administration. To this deuuc-
| ton Spain can make no just objection
| Its original responsibility, as the facts
now stand, does not lie in the destruction
| of the Maine, but in the misrule which
| rendered the explosion possible More
| may be proved, but until II is proved more
cannot be said and the president by his
| language places Spain at the bar of civ
| ilzation,
There arraigned, with the manifold evils
| and niquities of its rule proved and visi
| bleA only one course is possible the close
| of this rule by the interference of tht
United States. For thirty years this has
been predicted by our presidents. Yeal
by year these evils have expanded, this
iniuuity has increased and this dire sui
frring has gone on. The cup is full. Judg
ment and sentence are passed. In Ian
| guagc whose judicial and temperate tone
! will ronvinCe the world and convict
| Spain the president marshals the rea
| sons for action-the interests of tn,
United States, their injury, external anC
! internal, caused by Spanish rule in Cuba
the material loss to the island and III
nearest neighbor, the long moral wronl
| OF Spanish rule and the crowning appea
| of humanity, sCourged by rapine, pesti
lence and starvation.
O..
The national duty Is clear. 1t is pu
upon grounds. it is supported by argu
ments and it is proposed in terms eacl
and all of which will persuade Europ
and justify the deed to civilization. A
the weighty words, the calm conclusion
and the strictly legal policy of this mes
sage are laid before the world of men AM
the world of statesmen, there will b.
among candid and impartial judges bu
one opinion and one conclusion, The pre-
else procedure proposed is familiar in Eu
rope. 1t has often been used In the las
century. II is justified both in law an,
in justice, by the claims alike of human
ity and international law. 1t seeks L
avoid the risk and injury of war for bot
Spain and the United States, to limit an
loCalize conflict and to reach the neces
sary end-the freedom of Cuba fror
Spanish rule-with the least possible dis
turbance 10 the wide interests of civilizu
tion and with the swlftest possible dis
charge of the duties of humanity.
%
| The United States seeks no conquest.
desires no territory 1t wishes no wal
Its ambitions and its aims are all 70
peace. Through long years, with a mod
Grafton unknown I'm the history of ma
tiOns, II has praCticed fOrbcarance faith
fully discharged the duties of neutra
and hoped for Improvement in Spanis