The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1898-04-21
DECLARING or WAR


ties May BE Made.
Formal declarat ions of war, popular:
il supposed to be necessary preli minary
to hostilities, are seldom resorted to In
modern times.
Since 1900 only II wars have been pre-
coded by q declaration, although in the
present century there have been 60.
struggles big and little. In 1870 Prus-
STA was warned by the French charge
d'affaires at Berlin, who handed the
kings minister a formal declaration.
In 1877 q dispatch declaring war was
handed the Turkish representative II
St. Petersburg. This, however, was q
sort OF diplomatic sarcasm, for the Rus
isian army crossed the frontier few
hours later, the, sultan not knowing,
perhaps, at the time, that his great and
Egood friend the car was his deadly foe.
The modern tendency seems to be,
and this is in no wise disparaged by tho
formalities of 1870 and 1877, to prolong
diplomatic negotiations in the hope Of
| finding peaceful solution, or until
both sides can make needful prepara-
tons. When they are ready or when it
becomes apparent that diplomacy is at
its wits end the plunge is taken with
out regard to courtesy.
The theory of this rough aud ready
mode of getting into war is stoutly up
held by Mr.. T. J. Lawrence, one of tho
latest, as he is one of the best, authori-
ties on international law. "No declara-:
ton or manifesto of any kind is neces-
sary in order to legalize war; he says.
''nor does morality demand that the
publication of some formal document
shall be made obligatory. Unless the
perfdy the state attacked must always
be warned. Some demands must have
been made upon it, some reason ,r hos
tility indicated. Moreover, the legal eff
fects of war can always be dated from
the first act of hostility, and in fact are
SO dated except in the few cases where
the struggle is inaugurated by Il formal
declaration" Nations not participants
in the conflict are, however, notified inn
mediately upon the first act of HOSTILE
ty, so that their legal status as neutrals
created by the war may be known to
them from the beginning.
The constitution of the United
States invests congress with power to
| declare war and to suppress insurrec-
tions and repel invasions, while the
president is made commander in CHIEF,
with authority not to initiate but to
| wage war.
A quasi war, as it is called in tho
books, existed in 1899 between France
and the United States, there being no
formal declaration by either govern
ment. By an act of congress, however,
of March, 1899, France twas to be
deemed an enemy of the United States"
The war of 1912 is often supposed to
have been initiated by declaration, but
this view is not tenable. President Mad
ison, in special message of June I.
1912, after reciting the many acts Of
hostility committed by Great Britain.
said: eve behold, in fine, on the side
of Great Britain, a state Of war against
the United States; and on the side CT
the United States a state of peace
toward Great Britain" This was lit
orally true, and the declaration merely
made bilateral what had hitherto been
unilateral. 49, s.55aa~s=.A so
It was in 1916 that Mr.. Polk showed
how president might whip the devil
around the stump and bring On war
without waiting for congressional au-
thority. It was clumsy trick he
played, but it served it's purpose, which
| fo %@ 49,
blow and thus afford an excuse for
what had already been determined up
| on. Texas had been annexed, and with
the new state came boundary dis
pute. Polk sent Taylor into the dis
puted territory while the negotiations
were in progress. As Mexico claimed
the territory the Mexican commander
| politely requested him to retire until
| the question could be settled. Taylor
politely declined, whereupon Gen.
Aristas crossed the Rio Grande and
killed few American soldiers in q
skirmish. This was on April %. Then
| followed the battles of Palo Alto and
Resaca de Ia Palma, May and 9, and
the crossing of the Rio Grande by the
American commander with an army of
| 1000 men.
A civil war is never formally declared.
The American civil war legally began
when President Lincoln recognized il
by proclaiming a blockade of the south
ern ports. This was the judgment Of
the United States supreme court in the
prize cases. "A civil war;" said Judge
Grier, giving the opinion of the court,
''is never solemnly declared; it be-
comes such by its ACCIDENT And the
blockade was held to be one of these
"accidents."
In Cuba there is legally no war ex-
listing, because the insurgents have not
been recognized as belligerents by any
neutral power, nor has Spain consti-
tuted the struggle war by any act Of
hers. The strife is mere civil commo-
ton, and Spain is responsible for every
wrong. done to a neutral by the insur-
gents as well as by her own troops. In
the eye of the law the insurgents are
subjects of the king of Spain in the
fullest sense of the term, and the re-
sponsibility of the Madrid government
will not be lightened feathers weight
until the contest becomes public war.
st. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Timidity Of an Elephant.
Riding along road in India, 1 saw
the following instance of big ele-