The record-union., 1898-04-14
THE PRESIDENT AND HIS ASSAIL
ANTS.

In this crisis it is unpatriotic-in fact,
little short of infamous-to make as
sault upon the President on the ground
that he is insincere, as was done in the
House Of Representatives on Monday.
1t was there charged with a spirit sug-
gesting political malice, and the sacrifice
of country to the ends of party politics,
that the President means by his plan
to invade Cuba, suppress the insur-
gents. and then give to Spain the lib
erty to re-establish her Government
and renew her autocratic grip upon the
fated island The only reason advanced
for this traitorous opposition was that
President Mckinley has not advised
the recognition of the present so-called
Republic of Cuba
What the President does recommend
as one of the ends and aims of inter
vention is the establishment of a stable
Government by and of the people of
Cuba, capable of being maintained by
them, and of responding to the inter
national obligations imposed upon a
Power. This is what the President
breathes throughout his message as the
logical sequence of the premises he lays
down. namely. that Spain has for a
half century proved her incapacity to
maintain a stable Government. to es-
tablish and conserve peace and stimu-
late and encourage prosperity in the
island. and enable US to carry on unin-
terrupted commerce with the country
nearest to our threshold
He is mad and perverse who refuses
to understand the thought and purpose
of the President in this respect. He
explicitly declares that the present So
called civil Government IS no more ef-
fective even less so for State purposes
in Cuba than that of Spain That in
consequence there can be no recogni
tion of the insurgents civil Govern
ment; that a practical state of an
archy exists in the island; that the
duty of the United States is to Cuba,
as its nearest neighbor, to ourselves
as having commerce with that terri
tory, to our citizens I'm Cuba and their
property who are killed. imprisoned
and destroyed by both sides to the
anarchical struggle to intervene as the
enemy Of neither but as a great and
neutral Power prompted by humane
instinct to bring to a close a bloody
and inhumane warfare that, if con-
tinued, promises no better results than
the determination of the native people
and the continued rule of a Pow
er that has been unable to restore and
maintain order.
The position Of the President is that
of the patriot inspired by lofty pur-
pose and pure and unself1sh aims. By
his calm and considerate course he has
held in check the hot and Incorporate
agitators who would plunge us into war
without that fortifcation Of cause that
will commend the nation to the sym
pathies and moral support of the civ
ilized world. If war comes. the nation
will stand by the east of the die. It
viii stand by the President. His wise
purpose and firm conviction, unshaken
by the cavil Of political malice the
pressure of the money power and the
yelping of the war-at-any- people
will prove to have been the sheet an
chor Of our safety The people will
rally about him as the Chief Executive
who, even though the order of Con-
gress upon which alone must rest the
responsibility for war is against his
advice, will carry out its mandates
faithfully and unfinchingly. We will
not be a divided people. In the pres
ence of the verdict of Congress. party
will sink out of sight, and patriotism
and unity of purpose and action alone
will characterize our declarations and
our actions.