The herald., 1898-04-05

from tho view point of an expert He de
clared that our sailors and officers hat
been beguiled by the deception of tn
Epaniards to place in friendly harpo
and there, without a moments warning
been blown into eternity. Captain Sigsbee
In communication with this government
concerning the awful disaster, had mad
himself famous in the eyes of the civilized
world by the diplomacy and calmness O
his language. There was no proof of thu
treachery OF the Spaniards, but while thu
people of the nation believed and still be-
lieve that the catastrophe was due t
Spanish devices, Captain Sigsbee besough
all to suspend judgment until the facts
could be known.
''Eor forty days and nights the people
had suspended Judgment, but now that the
facts have been laid before them, the YER
dict, he said, is unanimous that the great
battleship was blown up, not only from the
outside but with the cognizance of Spanish
officials, for whose acts the Spanish gov
eminent was fully responsible. The ex-
plosiyes, whether they were in a mine or
q torpedo, were placed under the Maine by
officials of the Spanish government. The
people believe that they were exploded by
design, and he was one who held to that be-
lief. 1t would have been impossible, Mr..
Perkins said, for any man or set OF men to
place in the harbor of Havana mines or
torpedoes without the knowledge OF the
government authorities. No impartial
Judge would fail, after considering all the
facts presented, to place the responsibility
for the crime upon the Spanish govern
ment through its authorized officials. This
most hideous crime of the nineteenth CEN
tury," declared Mr.. Perkins. was an act
of war, and 1 believe that 1t is so regarded
by the nations of the world"
No offer of reparation could wipe out the
feeling of the people in this country upon
the matter, and intensity had been added
to that feeling by the almost frivolous
manner in which the disaster had been
treated by Spain.
Mr. Perkins said that while he favored
arbitration, individuals never attempted to
arbitrate questions of honor, and nations
could not afford to submit such questions to
arbitration. Gold could not atone for the
loss of those precious lives. The only hon
orable action for this country now to take
was to intervene and free Cuba from the
yoke of Spain, which she had so long borne.
MANTLE FOLLOWS
Mantle of Montana followed with an eX
tended speech upon the absorbing topic of
Cuba in which he declared that he favored
the independence of the Cuban people who
for years had been struggling for their
freedom.
IT would" he said, "give my unqualified
endorsement and vote in favor of directing
the president to use armed forces, both land
and naval, to suppress the savagery that
is now rampant upon that fair island" He
had the highest regard for the present &C.
cupant of the White House, but it was per-
fectly evident to all that the time for dip
lomatic negotiations on the Cuban question
had passed.
The time for action had arrived and the
sooner It was taken the better it would be
for all concerned. Spain had violated
every principle of civilized warfare and
had thrown humanity to the winds. Mr..
Mantle said it was now time that the cry of
humanity and the cry for stern justice
should be heard. 1t was time to be done
with subterfuge. We should not go to war
without full justification, but must be as
sured before striking that we strike for
God and humanity. He thought this time
had come He not only believed that the
dependence, but that declaration of war
would be fully justified by the willful de-
struction of the Maine While holding
these sentiments Mr.. Mantle was willing
to wait upon the action of the committee
on foreign relations, whose recommended
tions he had no doubt would be wise and
just and cover the whole case.
RAWLINS is READY
Mr.. Rawlins of Utah said the case be-
tween Spain and the United States was
made up. 1t was no longer for the execu-
tive to decide what course to pursue. With
congress rested the responsibility of de-
claring war, and this was the pressing
duty. The president was no longer the
party to be criticised Congress, if it wills,
he said, could decide to have peace with
incidental outrage and clandestine murder.
AS for himself he did not choose to accept
peace under such circumstances. Mr..
Rawlins opposed further delay. He was
informed that the committee on foreign
relations had reached conclusion and
that while the president was advised of the
probable action of the committee that body
had no such informal ton as to the presi-
dents plans. He was also informed that
the president wanted further delay. Mr..
Rawlins did not consider this necessary.
The destruction Of the Maine and the
clandestine murder of 266 of our sailors had
occurred forty-eight days since, but this
was not all. For three years the Spanish
authorities had been imprisoning and muir
dering American citizens. OF these facts
the executive doubtless had been fully adj
vised by the consular reports, but these re-
ports had been withheld on the plea That
it would endanger the safety of our officials
in Cuba to give them out. If this was true,
it revealed wretched state of affairs.
Continuing, Mr.. Rawlins said delay had
been sought last week by the friends of the
president on the plea that a message was
soon to be sent in from the president which
would meet all the demands of the country