Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1898-04-15

the self-supporting pursuits of peace; pub
lie works have been started TO give then
employment, and a sum of S6OO,ON has beef
appropriated for their relief.
SDnin's Cause Hopeless.
The wal in Cuba is of such a nature
that, short Of ~subjugatiOn or eXtermina
ton, a final military victory for the othel
side seems impracticable. The alternative
lies in the physical exhaustion of the on
or the other party, or perhaps both, a con
dition which in effect ended the 10 years
war by the truce of Zan Jon. The pros
pect of such q protraction and conclu'
sion of the present strife is a contingency
hardly to be contemplated with equa'
nimity by the civilized world. n least Cd
all by the United States, affected and
objected as we are deeply and intimately
by It's very existence.
An OGer of Mediation.
Realizing this, 1T appeared to be my
duty, In a spirit of true friendliness, nc
less to Spain thai to the Cubans, who
have SO much to lose by the prolongation
of the struggle, to seek to bring about
an immediate termination of the war. To
this end l submitted, on the 9th ultimo,
as q result of much representation and
correspondence through the United States
minister at Madrid, propositions to the
Spanish government looking to an armis-
tice until October l, for the negotiation
of peace with the good offices of the
president.
In addition, l asked the immediate revo-
cation of the order of concentration so
as to permit the people to return to their
farms and the needy to be relieved with
provisions n supplies by the United
States. cooperating with the Spanish
authorities SO as to afford full relief.
The reply of the Spanish cabinet was re-
ceived on the night of the 3lst ultimo. 1t
offers as the means to bring about peace
In Cuba to contide the preparation there
of to the insular department, inasmuch
as the concurrence of that body would
be necessary to establish a final result,
1t being however understood that the
powers reserved by the constitution to the
central government are not lessened or d.
As the Cuban parliament does
not meet until thS 4th of May next, the
Spanish government would not object, for
us part, to accept at once Il suspension
Of hostilities If asked for by the insur-
gents through the general-in-chief, to
whom 1t would pertain in such cases to
the duration and conditions of
armistice.
The propositions submitted by General
and the reply of the Spanish
were both in the form of
'rief memoranda, the texts of which are
before mentioned and substantially in the
language above given. The function of
he cuban parliament in the matter of
preparing" peace and the manner of do
so are not explained in the Spanish
memorandum, blu from General Wood
explanatory reports of preliminary
1Gp1iGGfnn nrnnE1fnn tIa ENa1
t is understood that the Spanish govern
nent stand ready to give the insular
ongress full power to settle the terms of
'eace with the insurgents, whether by d.
negotiation or indirectly by means of
does not appear. With this
asst overture in the direction of immedi-
tie peace n Its disappointing reception
y Spain, the executive was brought to
he end of his efforts.
Recognition Not Warranted,
In my annual message of December last
said:
'Of the untried measures there remain
'ecognition of the insurgents as bellig-
rents recognition of the independence of
una n Intervention to end the war by
nposlng a rational compromise between
he contestants, or Intervention in favor of
ne or the other party. speak not of
orclDle annexation, for that cannot be
OF. That, by our code of NOR
N.Y. would be criminal aggression"
1nereupon l reviewed these derivatives
l the light of President Grants messap 90
l the words uttered in 1875, when after
eVerai years of s%anguinary, destructive
no cruel oarbarities in Cuba, he reached
he conclusion that the recognition of the
dependence of Cuba was impractica Bile
nd lndefensible, and that the recognition
I oelllgerence was not warranted by the
acts according to the texts of public law.
commented especially upon that phase
l the question, pointing out the incon-
and positive dangers of recognI-
or belligerence, which, while adding
the already onerous burdens of neu-
'ality without u own jurisdiction, could
OF in any way extend our influence or
tective offices in the territory of HOSTILE
es.
Nothing has since occurred to change
~ view In this regard, and | recognize
tuily now as then tina the issuance Of
proclamation of neutrality, by which
N'aANA lNNpS lllOApl Oh DellR- |
is published, could, of itself ana
by other action, accomplish
othing toward the one end for which we
DOR the instant p%acification of Cuba. and
he cessation of the misery that affilcts
lie island.
A Precedent Cited,
turning TO the question of recognizing
this time the independence of the pres7
NJ lhsursent government in Cuba, we
nu safe precedents in our history from
early day. They are well summed nm
President Jackson's message TO con-
ress December p, 1896, on the subject of
recognition of the independence of
He said:
In all the contests that have arisen
Ut or the revolutions of France, u of
ne disputes relating to Portugal and
PAIN out of the separation of the Amer
possessions of both from the Eu-
opean governments, and out of the nu-
'erous and constantly recurring strug-
les Tor dominion in Spanish American
1uhtrles' so wisely consistent with