The Portland daily press., 1898-07-21
CUBA AND THE INSURGENTS.

| This war was entered upon to confer up
| on the people of Cuba the power to exercise
the right of self government. There were
I senators and representatives who insist.
ed that it should be undertaken to estab-
fish the authority of the government the
insurgents were alleged to have formed
throughout the island. Their views did
not prevail however, and our army in
vadea Cuba committed to no political
faction, with the sole purpose of enabling
| the people to exercise what we hold to
be their inherent right to govern them.
selves Gen. Garcia appears. however,
not to have understood 1t this way. Not
w1thstanding the repeated voting down
by our Congress of resolutions calculated
! GO commit US to the insurgent govern
ment. ne seems to have conceived the
idea that we were there in the capacity
OF military agents of the Cuban republic,
and that as fast as we conquered terri
| tory it was to be turned over to the in
| surgents to govern. So completely had
this idea taken possession of him and his
soldiers that Cuban flag was hoisted
| over one of the forts as soon as it was
evacuated and Garcia had governor all
disappointment on his part and that of
| his followers when Gen. Shafter in
formed them that no Cuban soldier would
be allowed in Santiago, and that the
United States proposed to govern Santa
go without their assistance, and some of
/ than are said to have threatened to make
trouble if this programme was carried
out. The ineficiency of the insurgents
as soldiers probably precludes all posi-
bility of trouble at present Beyond
| growing and threatening they will not
go now. But when the time comes to
turn Cuba over to its own people to gov
ern we have not much doubts that there
will be trouble and good deal of it, and
that the Insurgents will be largely re-
sponsible for it. What they want, and
what they expected apparently before
Gen. Skaters action opened their eyes,
is that the sovereignty taken from the
Spaniards shall be turned over to them,
without any inquiry whether that will
be agreeable to the majority of the people
of Cuba or not. That certainly we cannot
do and will not do. There would be an
utter lack of consistency in putting an
end to Spanish sovereignty on the ground
that it interfered with the peoples right
to govern and then foisting upon the
people a government formed by the in
surgents without regard to whether it
was approved by the majority or not.
| That would be to exchange one form of
| tyranny for another, without any reason
to believe even that the latter would be
an improvement upon the former. To live
up to our pledge to confer the right OF
self government upon the people of Cuba
we have got to contrive some way by
| which fair expression of their wishes
can be obtained, and when WE undertake
to do that we have little doubt that the
insurgents, who will by that time be ra-
ging with isappointment--and chagrin,
will put all sorts OF obstacles in our path
Our military task even may not be end
ed when We have driven the Spaniards
out of Cuba. We may then have to turn
about and drive the insurgents out or at
least compel them to submit to the wishes
of majority of the people.