The times., 1898-10-21
FRIDAY, OCTOBER p, 1888.
Send Wnrships to Cuba.

The correspondents at Havana note
that the American Commission occu-
pies a position humiliating in the ex-
treme. 1t has made several demands
on the Spanish authorities, only TO have
them ignored and to see affairs shape
themselves as they would were Spain
debating terms of peace, instead of ac-
cepting them
This is exactly the state of things
The Times forecast when the American
Commissioners adopted the policy of
recognizing General Blanco not SIM
ply as representing the doomed and con-
demned sovereignty of defeated Spain.
but as the final arbiter in all matters
relating TO the Cubans, with which he
has no proper concern, and as the UNI
pire between the two Commissions. The
adoption of the endless policy of ex-
changing notes at long intervals. in
stead of assuming positive control of
the evacuation business and directing
the Spaniards to comply with their de-
mands under pain Of forcible expulsion.
as the Schley Commission in Porto Rico
did. is primarily responsible for the hu-
initiating and absurd condition of help
lessness in which the Commission now
finds itself. 1t is plain enough now that
the course urged by The Times would
not only have expedited the evacuation,
but would have preserved to us the
government property of which Blanco
has disposed and would have enabled
US to take control of the revenues
months ago.
1t is recited that, in the face of the
most positive protests from all the
American Commissioners, Blanco has
sold at auction a large number of can
non Of great value that properly belong
to our Government; that he is removing
the fine guns that were taken from the
cruiser Alfonso XII for the Havana de-
fenses, and that he simply laughs at the
fixing of December l as the date of
evacuation. One of the Commissioners
says: We are no more use in Ha-
vana than three schoolboys would be:
we tell the Spaniards what should be
done and they proceed as they please"
That is the situation exactly. And the
Commissioners have been about as eff
cient as the suggested three school
boys. They now say that "Blanco and
his men will hold on to the customs
receipts as long as possible and when
they lose them they will move" These
ere almost the identical words used by
The Times when commenting on the
first acts of the Commission. The Por-
10 Rican Commissioners had no such
trouble.
1t Is necessary for the President to
send down several warships and force
enough to take control of the customs
houses at once Every days delay is
a positive and serious loss to this ma
tion. We are humiliated in the eyes of
the world and in our own. Blanco
boasts that he has never been defeated,
has never surrendered, and that he will
snap his fingers in our faces and remain
as long as he chooses. He processes
the utmost contempt for Americans and
proves that he is sincere As long as
he remains in authority, with his tro-
chas preserved, the Cubans cannot go
to their farms and begin the work that
is necessary to their self-support. We
are bound - feed them until they are
able to provide for themselves and
they are now idle because of Blanco's
expressions. The dispatches yesterday
announced that he would remain six
months longer, regardless of the con-
gress at Paris. The President must act
at once If he cares for the self-respect
of the American nation and for the
needs of the people of Cuba. He will
not get rid of Blanco until he takes the
custom houses and he cannot take these
without the suggestive preserve of war
ships.