The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-01
PHELPS ON THE SITUATION.
,uNFNT LAWYER POINTS OUT
AMERICAN DUTY.

-, Held Spain Responsible for the
,,.;ne. She Would Hold Us Re-
,o,sibIe Cor FiIibusters-What
~ would Cost, With Nothing to
Re Gained Prom It-Demagogues
Who Are Shouting for War.
HON E. ]. Phelps, formerly minister to
r,r-ard. has written to Hon. Levi P.
,r,r,on letter on the situation of our
.sss;rs with Spain. Mr.. Phelps is recog-
lived as one Of the ablest lawyers in this
.,,,r,rr. and an authority on interna-
t,ral law What he says, therefore, is
- GREAT interest at this time In his let
Ter he says;
Until the report of the board of inquiry
r.ss received it was not easy to know
Nth certainty how far the situation
might be complicated by facts or questions
arising out of the disaster to the Maine
PINT as no completely on the part of Spain
IN th9t calamity is found to exist, that
branch of the subject may be for the pres
emf dismissed.
whether a claim on the part of the Uni
i +od States government for repara ton from
snain on the ground of negligence may
arise need not now be considered. Such
claim. if made, will be matter for di-
nlomatic discussion, or arbitration since
he termination of a disputed question of
\ fact depending upon evidence, can only
fake place in that way, and forms in my
judgment almost the only case in which
International arbitration is likely to be
useful
H There seems to be an impression among
unreaecting people that what is called in
te,nauonal law is, merely a scholastic sci
ence. of no practical Importance, and to
which Americans are quite superior. They
4 do not perceive that it is as impossible for
nation to make a law for itself in its re-
latious with other countries as it is for an
individual to do so in respect to his own
conduct in the community in which he
lives.
The fundamental principles of interna-
tional law have been established by the
general concurrence of civilized and Chris
tan nations, because found by long ex-
4 perience to be both just and indispensable.
Hence they derive even a higher sanction
than always attends the law that is enact
ed by legislatures or promulgated by
Judges
Spain is a friendly nation, and always
has been. The most industrious agitator
4 for war has been unable to hunt up in any
history, since under Spanish auspices this
4 country was first opened to us by Colum>
i bus. any cause of quarrel between us. She
has not attacked us, is not proposing to
attack us, and is virtually Incapable Of it.
q She has manifested every desire and made
every effort TO avoid hostilities, which, to
d her as she well knows, must be calam>
itous. She is struggling with a rebellion
against her government in Cuba, thus far
Il without success, for the seat of the conflict
IS more than three thousand miles from
the mother country, and the military ge-
4 MUS that might have terminated it has not
i yet appeared among the generals.
Lut the rebellion would long ago have
N peIlshed from exhaustion had il not been
supported and supplied by continual OK
d petitions from this country in violation of
cur own neutrality laws and treaty obliga-
tons. Our government has not it is true,
q countenanced these expeditions. and has
made some efforts to suppress them, sin
4 cere, no doubt, but always Intellectual,
through United States marshals who have
usually arrived a the wharVes from which
Il me vessels sailed soon after their deDart-
ure' A twentieth part of the naval force
winch we are now ransacking the world
10 collect for what are called 1.-The pur-
poses Of national defense" would have put
4 an end to the only source from which the
81 rebellion mas been kept alive.
1t has been claimed by some of the ad
Vocates Of war that Spain must be held
responsible to us for the loss of the Maine
whether her government is to blame for
& lt or not This proposition they will find
It difficult TO support. But if even her
j negligence were the cause of the disaster,
Ner liability is questionable.
DOCS 1t occur to these gentlemen that
lne rule they invoke works in either aspect
OF the case both ways? If Spain must
guarantee the safety of our ships in her
ports, whether herself in fault or not, we
must equally guarantee to her that armed
expeditions TO subvert her government
snau not be fitted out and dispatched
rom ours. And if negligence in the one
case is The criterion of liability. it must
De equally so in the other.
In this quarrel between Spain and her
4 feoel subjects, without reference to its
. merits and conceding to the insurgents all
uae virtues which are supposed to attend
Il rebellion against constituted government
except when it attacks our own, have we
IN the first place any interest of our own
ulat Justlties interference, under the right
Of self-defense?
mat claim was at first put forth on the
score OF the interruption of our commerce,
Nut &c has been abandoned. 1t is TOO we'll
''teu 10 ADMIT of dispute that the incon-
'snlence and loss suffered by the COM
n9ree OF neutral states when war exists.
U4ouSh often considerable, constitute no
5Iouhd for Intervention, but must be
Do'ne- The loss of Great Britain in this
respect IS much greater than ours.
"hen in our civil war the Southern ports
we're Dlockaded by the federal fleets very
sIeal loss to the commerce of other ma
''"s ehsued, especially in the important
''dpis OF cotton. Yet no suggestion of in
'eIlerence by those nations on that ac-
IoUNl arose or would have been tolerated.
~ must be conceded then, and except by
,u'eIested newspapers is conceded, that we
",e under no necessity of self-defense
o70'"sl spain in any definition of the word,
noI nave we any right to vindicate or
"ioAs TO redress that entities us to inter-
~ oy arms in support of the Cuban re-
uellOn.
~ IS undoubtedly true that the Spanish
s'''roment has likewise destroyed houses
N piantations, and driven inhabitants
oH lheIr homes, in pursuit of what Il
,insa military necessity, just as in our
os "" ciVll war Sheridan ravaged the valley
me Shenandoah and Sherman laid
, -sse Georgia. Such measures are the
"nappy accompaniment of war, and es-
a-e'1ly Of civil war. and those who en-
&c III 1t must expect it's natural conse-
1-'Hces. If the distress caused by these