New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-08-19
"yO JOINT OCCJPATION."

j The Presidents order to General Merritt, that
.'tbere must be no joint occupation with the in
surcents" Is heartily TO be commended. 1t lays
down the correct policy for the Philippines, and
for Cuba, too Possibly 1t Will cause some
murmuring here and there. Already dissat-
isfaclion has been expressed, even by some
of usually judicOus mind, at the conduct or
the United States authorities in assuming for
themselves sole control Of the towns and terri
tories conquered from or surrendered by the
Standards Ii has been said that Santiago, for
example. should have been turned over forth
with 10 the Cuban insurgents, or AT LEAST that
the latter should have been admitted 10 joint
occupation Of the place with our own troops.
Similarly 1t is intimated that at Manila the IN
surgent leader Aguinaldo has expected to enter
the city and occupy it Jointly with General
Merritt and Admiral Dewey. At both Manila
and Santiago, and at all other places, such ex-
pectations have properly come TO naught. That
they should ever have been formed by rational
men, or that rational men should now murmur
against exclusive United States control, is the
one amazing feature Of the case.
For there Is nothing more certain and more
obvious than that the United States could not,
logically or honorably. admit the insurgents in
either Cuba or the Philippines TO control or
even 10 partial or joint control Of the territory
taken from Spain. II is absolutely debarred
from so doing by the fact that it has never rec
oenized the independence or the sovereignty OF
the Insurgents II cannot intrust high powers
of government TO men not authorized TO Weld
them or to an organization whose legality OF
existence IL does not itself recognize. Yelling
ton might say Of n certain commander He Is n
fool. but he can take Rangoon.' The United
States certainly does not mean 10 say Of the in
eurgcnts. They are not government, but they
cali govern Cuba" Nor does this sovereign
Nation propose 10 receive into joint action, as
all ally, any organization which IL does not rec
ognize as sovereign and as its peer That is
the logic OF the case. And il any one imagines
that we can honorably and justly turn out
government Of undisputed legality and put into
it's place one whose legality is not recognized by
ourselves or by the world at large he must have
some queer conceptions Of honor and justice.
II the insurgents in either place had won
their independence or established their sover-
eighty or secured recognition therefor before
this Nation INTERVIEWED they might now be en-
titled at once to assume full powers Of govern
ment. But they did not do SO. In the Philip
pines Agulnaldo had given up the fight and left
the islands, and lie returned and renewed the
insurrectiOn only because Admiral Dewey en-
abled him to do SO. In Cuba the insurgents
had not secured a single port nor a considerable
town, and had not established even the rudi
uents Of a civil government save on paper
and there Is no reason TO suppose they would
hive succeeded In doing SO for years TO come.
All that has been gained has been gained
through the intervention of the United States,
practically alone and unaided.
Bear In mind. Also that neither by direct
statement nor by indirect inimatlon did this
Nation profess 10 intervene In behalf OF the in
srrgents or for the purpose OF establishing
them in authority. That point Is too much
overlooked Some even speak OF our having
aided the Cubans TO secure their independence
AZ France aided us to secure ours In the Revo-
lutionary War Nothing could be further from
the truth. There Ii absolutely no analogy be-
tween the cases. The United States never said