The Portland daily press., 1898-04-18

Consul General Lee, and in opposition to
the opinion of the best lawyers inside and
outside the Senate. If 1t should be a
part of the Intervention resolution as
finally adopted by both houses and signed
by the President, our Intervention, in
the eyes of the world, would be, not an
Intervention primarily for the purpose of
stopping the war and leaving the people
of Cuba to erect such an Independent
government as the majority may desire,
brit an intervention to establish the in
surgent government about which We
know little and whose claim to be con
sldered government approved by the
majority of the people off Cuba, has never
been subjected to any test which could
determine with even reasonable degree
OF certainty its validity. The time has
probably gone by when we can expect
to avoid conflict with Spain. Both
nations have gone too far to permit of
retreat. But while we are committed
to armed Intervention and must go forward
in that line, it still remains for us to
formulate and declare to the world the
objects and purposes of our intervention.
We can put it on high plane which will
eventually command the approval of the
world or we can descend to level that
will ALLEVIATE the sympathy Of other ma
tions, if 1t does not arouse their OPPOSITE
ion. The Senate has done well in supple
menting it's resolution with declaration
hot Il ,o4 into To hot
will relieve us from any suspicion OF
seeking selfish ends. But the good effect
of this declaration, will be greatly d.
unfinished by the recognition Of the Cuban
republic in advance, for that is. almost
tantamount to a declaration that our
Intervention is for the benefit of body
of men who we have no good reason to
believe represent the majority of the peo-
pie of Cuba, concerning whose character
and capacity for administering the affairs
Of the island we know little, and who
thers is reason to fear might, il control
of the island was given them, use
their opportunities for vengeance and to
recoup themselves for the losses which they
may have met and the sufferings they
have undergone. Humanity and the
table to the people are sound reasons for
intervention. But necessarily they be.
come secondary, if they do not disappear
altogether, when we interfere in behalf
of a government which the weight of evil
dence goes to show may not be capable
Of S,,. md
probably viii not, be acceptable to the
people, and will have a strong motive
for prosecuting q considerable part of
the people. When the House resolved
to intervene to stop the war and give the
people chance to establish an indepen-
dent government Of their own it was on
solid ground. A strong argument can
be made for intervention for those pur-
poses. But when the Senate committed
itself to the insurgent government it
practically abandoned that ground and
declared for Intervention to set up a
government which might for aught we
know be just as hateful to the majority
of the Cubans as the government of the
Spaniards, and which might be quite as
iInpotent to keep peace and restore
public order. We do not care to intimate
that the senator's have been prompted by
unworthy motives, though there is some
strong circumstantial evidence indicat-
ing that some of them yielded to politi-
cal considerations against their better
Judgment, but they have certainly been
guilty OF a serious blunder-a blum
der which if not rectitied will prejudice
our cause before the world and seri,
ously handicap us in the work of giving
to the people of Cuba an acceptable gov.
eminent.
Luckily the Senate action is not final
later on by the President. There i:
strong reason to hope that the House
will eliminate the recognition para
graph. If it does not then President
Mckinley ought to. He indicated clear
ly in his message what his opinion or
the point was. He holds that the recog
milton of the Cuban government would
be in conflict with all our precedents
and contrary to the principles of inter.
national law applicable to such cases. He
believes also that it would seriously pre-
JUDGE our intervention in the eyes of the
world. That being his position, If the
resolution reaches him with recognition
in it it will be his duty to veto it. He
is part of the law making power and
he could not if he would turn the whole
matter over to Congress-