The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1898-03-16
win Congress Stand 1t.

win Congress- Stand 1t.
The American people have been amaz-
inely patient for two years under con-
dition Of affairs that soiled their hon
or, DETAINED their flag, and eXasperat-
ed them with the sense that they We're
being controlled against all their tradi-
lions. precedents and their known SEN
timents.
They were not surprised that they
should be so misrepresented and out
ragged by the Administration of Grover
Cleveland. They believed, and had the
right 10 believe, that things would be
different under the regime Of William
Mckinley How are they able to re-
gard that second Administration to-
day?
Its organs told US yesterday that the
President had changed front and was
prepared to assist in the bunco game
OF the Spanish-Cuban bondholdeIs. He
would, if he could. secure the adjourn
ment Of Congress without action upon
the report % the Maine Boardof Inquiry
or upon any phase of the Spanish
in Administrations Spanish newspapers
that Reed and Hanna had secured the
/ adhesion Of enough Democrats in the
/ two houses to carry out this program,
/ and the country was accordingly
/ startled. 1t is inconceivable that the
reports Of the inspired press should be
I true Those statesmen who are impli
/ Gated by such utterances owe it to
themselves and their constituents i'm
I medfately to publish their denials, for
under the circumstances, the willing
! submission Of any Democratic represen-
tative to such crime as, for instance,
the Heraldo of New York declares is in
contemplation, would make his name
/ Infamous for all time.
The plot. as it is boldly exposed in
Administration organs. is that the
Maine report is to be withheld as long
as possible and the incident of the
! Havana massacre is TO be minimiZed.
/ This probably means that the findings
Of the board, notorionsly already in the
F., hands Of the President, are to be ed
! tied" TO suppress any exciting facts
! and to serve the purposes of the bond
sharks. What the syndicate may think
| it safe to publish viii be published; but
/ the strong argument of the forthcom-
| ing message will be some hypocritical
/ tears over the sufrcTings Of the recon
! centrados, some plautudes relating to
/ the beatitude Of Cuban independence
| with peace. and a frantic appeal to the
war-making power to go home and
leave the whole thing to Hanna, Nc
Cook and Mckinley.
This in the face of the most conclu-
| sive evidence that the massacre of
Havana was a premeditated. treacher-
Gus official act Of Spain, But neither
the Congress nor the people must be
allowed to consider that! We shall be
told that the President sees in the
| flowary path Of diplomacy, a way out
Of the difficulty, which viii secure in
dependence' to Cuba, and save Us from
! the horrors Of war. He may not ac-
knowledge the fact in his message, but,
if we are TO believe the utterances of
his friends and the statements of his
recognized newspaper organs. the only
/ independence" he has committed him.
/ n
slider. is independence conditioned upon
assuming the Spanish war debt of five
hundred and fifty million dollars
II is asserted that he has given his
adhesion 10 a plan by which the Span
ish-Cuban syndicate shall buy" Cuba
from Spain, assuming the debt. If
true, and we have some faint hope that
il is not. words are inadequate TO de-
scribe the infamy of the proposition.
Spain does not own Cuba. 1t was lost
to Spain" more than a year ago under
the wording OF the Cuban plank in the
Republican national platform. 1t is
automatic that the free Republic Of
Cuba exists today in full power and
authority. civil and military, over the
whole island. a few seaports from
which the Spaniards have not yet been
driven alone excepted. What has
Spain TO sell? What could Spain de-
/ liver?
1t is here that the despicable crimi-
nality Of the scheme develops. With
Congress off his hands" Mr. McKin-
ley viii be in position to assume the
sovereignty Of Spain over Cuba, some
thing that does not exist, save by an
international fiction, and promote the
design OF the bond robbers, to take
title from the late owner. Delivery OF
the property" could only be made
possible by the violent dispossession
Of the present owner, the Republic OF
Cuba
it viii be observed that, in the course
marked out for the Administration by
its accredited spokesman, there is no
1 word or thought of consulting the
| wishes Of the Cuban patriots who have
won and now enjoy practical indie
pendence, perfect in its kind. except
for the fact that it has not been recog-