The evening times., 1898-12-10


consider further that the citizens of
the progressive city of Chicago have
been so neglectful of their own inter-
ests that they have permitted the local
legislature to pass into the control of
a boodling, corrupt majority and in the
final emergency, to prevent an unparal-
leled robbery of the municipality, they
have resolved to hang the offending al
dermen if they exercise their power:
that the badge of the best citizenship is
hangman's moose in the buttonhoie,
to indicate approval of lynch law,
which is lawlessness.
From this distance and speaking from
the midst of civilizing influences, II is
easy 10 condemn the reckless cubans.
VINO have endangered the future of their
island by an act of yiolence-a defiance
of the established authority, by riding
into a high-toned Spanish club house,
the scene of many a debauch for which
their sweat has paid, and of the inven-
ton of forms of cruelty for the torture
of a helpless people. How much bet
ter would some of the residents Of the
Carolinas and of Chicago-the best citi-
Lt-ltS III toftl Actsot--ttt III ttlt Setiiif I'll
cumstances, in spite of their traditions
and training as 10 the majesty of the
law? OF course, il will not do TO per-
nit the offending Cubans TO go unpun-
ished We are bound To exact of them
the same respect for law and the same
concealment of bitter class hatreds for
which they have every warrant in the
years of tyranny ending in the delib-
crate starvation Of women and chill
dren, that we demand Of people in our
own country. But il il not fair, it is
rot right to assume from such an out
break. and from the sympathy the fool
! ish offenders receive from their fellows,
tha. the Cubans are forever incapable
Of assuming the responsibilities of self
government or of becoming well-be-
hdved and loyal wards of TIE American
n8tiCn.
We must be patient. IN the same cir
cumstancls. good many citizens of
/ this country who are ordinarily law
abiding, would applaud a similar act
! by a reckless few Of their number. 1t
/ is easy and it is necessary 10 demand of
/ the Cubans thai they shall respect all
the political and personal rights of
every class, including the Spaniards
I who have been most cruel and vindic-
! tive and least merciful in imposing bur-
dens on the natives and in carrying out
the diabolicaI schemes Of murder in
/ vented by the inhuman Weyler. Even
that mayor of Havana who visited this
country and represented the insurgents
AS the dregs of the native race. as con-
firmed outlaws and degraded criminals
for whom an ordinary death would be
an abuse OF mercy-eyen such men
must be allowed To live in peace and
protected in the enjoyment OF their
. property in some cases the fruits of
corruption and the price of an inhuman
persecution OF the Cuban patriots. But
because a few on even most of the Gu
bans who have lost wives and children
and aged parents by starvation. and
who have themselves suffered indescrib-
able privations and sometimes tortures
for their reasonable demands on Spain
are unable 10 fall at once into the ways
of highly civilized society we have
no warrant for assuming ii is forever
beyond their power.
II was regarded as marvel Of hui
man experience. as unique in the his
tory of the world, that the American
armies AT the close Of the Civil Wal
laid down their arms and returned 1,
peaceful pursuits without a long period
Of IaWlessness and intractability. L
has been our boast and il has beer
credited to the influence OF years of re.
publican government If that was sucf
a noteworthy thing, why should We b.
surprised that the Cubans. after thre,
years Of war. during which they weri
treated as outlaws and bandits and de
MED the benefit of the laws Of civilized
warfare have not done just as we'll
Surely we can remember that in boti
sections of this country the bitterness
continued down TO the declaration %
war against Spain. 1t is held to be on.
of the best results Of that war that i
buried the last remains Of the hatred.
of that struggle which Jlosed thirty
three years before. The President call
ed attention TO the fact in his message
If 4 highly civilized people-the bes
product Of The centuries it is said to b.
mosities that endure through anothe
generation, what right have we TO ex
pect the immediate burial of all bitter
ness by a people who were abused a
no others have been within the recollec
ton of living men? Our surviving ha
treds found expression in Legislation
and in the long political ostracism o
those who provoked the strife Yet w
demand that the Cuban laws and court
shall be free from the least echo of til
il ratreds of the war and the centu
rie tyranny that preceded and caus
cd it. Let us be just. Since we mus
impose on the Cubans generosity an
tolerance which we were never able {
exercise ourselves. let us at least be pa
| tient in our judgment of their final fit
ness for the duties of citizenship.
a Brainy Dog.