The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-05-12


ada. by Senior du Bose. late first secretary
Of the Spanish legation at Washington.
before large audience The speaker was
given . fiatfering reception. After rev
preliminary remarks. he ventured TO think
that reflection would show that hitherto
5us one point of view had been placed pc
fore the public q point OF view mantfestU
unfair. which, starting from false premises
and based upon the merest atoms OF truth.
has yet succeeded In rearing colossal edi-
fee OF calumny and misrepresentation
whose oyerweighted aeoriee. crumoAnG oe-
meath their roofing Of fa.sehocd. require
but gentle push from the hand OF truth
to come crashing TO the ground.
1t is thus evident that Senior du Bose dio
not approach discussion Of the subject in
an entirely dispassionate frame OF mind.
He then entered upon a statement or the
history Of the Cuban insurrection and re-
viewed the American position toward nh
clustering expeditions. and proceeded 10
claim that American citizens had long had
designs On Cuba. The matters OF taxation
and trade were taken up and 1t was
claimed that the island was well governed.
A parallel was drawn between the pro-
posed Cuban autonomy and the Canadian
government. The speaker then bitterly ar
raigned the American yellow press, say
ing:
Let me give you one example to prove
the truth Of what say. One OF the worst OF
the many atrocities recounted and gioated
over by the sensational press was the case
OF Evangelina Cossso Cisneros. This is
what Gen. Lee, an ardent sympathizef
with the insurgents, and American consul
general In Havana. said on the subject
upon his arrival in New York on the Sth of
last September:
There IL one thing that am at liberty
to speak about. and ! do it cheerfully and
anxiously, as wish to correct false and
stupid impression which has been created
by some newspapers. refer to Senorita
Cisneros. This young woman has two clean
rooms in the Casa Recojidas, and Is well
clothed and fed. 1t Is all tommy-rot about
her scrubbing floors and being subjected to
cruelties and indignities. She would have
been pardoned long ago II It had not been
for the hubbub created by American news
papers.
81 do not believeth the Spanish government
even for moment intended to send her to
the penal colony In Africa or elsewhere.
/ believe her name IL now upon the roll for
pardon.
That she was implicated in the insur-
rection on the Isle Of Pines there can be no
question. She herself, in q note to me-
acknowledged the fact, and stated that she
was betrayed by an accomplice named
Arias.'
DO you imagine the sensational press
published this denial? On the contrary.
they completely ignored it, and proceeded
TO invent new horrors. The proprietor OF
one OF the most disreputable journals In
the world, so personal and even obscene
that 1t Is banished from the reading-room
OF every respectable club in America, the
property of a youth cursed with an Inn
mense fortune. imagined the most extraor-
binary advertisement that this age has
III
States senators and two congressman, and
sent them all down to Cuba to report in
accordance with the sensational policy OF
his newspaper. They earned their money
well. Upon their return, one after the
other rose in congress, and, boasting OF the
generosity of their patron, made speeches
that reeked Of sulphur and birthstone.
rs there any other country in the world.
ladies and gentlemen, where such a thing
would be possible. and yet these paid hire
lings of disreputable newspaper are the
statesmen, save the mark. who shape to-
day the destines of the United States. An
other OF these amiablo legislators. one Will
liam Mason, annoyed, l imagine, at not
having been included In the invitation TO
visit Cuba free OF cost, and determined TO
prove that at any rate he was as good an
American orator as the rest of the gang.
made a speech so lurid. and In words so
coarse, that one Of his own colleagues had
to call him to order, and ask him In what
purlieus and slums' he had picked UP his
ideas.
but. let me pass ladies and gentlemen,
from the contemplation OF these border
ruffians, whose illiterate hoorishness Is
only equaled by their venality and ludic-
rously pompous conceit. to the considera-
tons OF the steps which the American
government yielding to the pressure
brought to bear, thought At to take to CO.
cree Spain into the surrender Of part OF her
territory.
1.-THE Maine question was brought for
ward. and the report OF the American
board of investigation published, stating
that the cause OF the explosion was from
the outside. This conclusion was founded
upon the following piece OF logic. The evil
dence of Capt. Sigsbee and the officers Of
the Inflated ship, the parties principally
concerned, showed that every precaution
had been taken. therefore the explosion
could not have been from the interior:
therefore 1t must have been from the out
side: therefore II must have been done by
the Spaniards-Q. E. u. We offered TO sub
NIT the question to the Judgment OF naval
experts OF the maritime powers, agreeing
in advance to abide by their verdict. The
Yankees. however. were too cute 10 agree
10 this. and subsequently articles written
by experts In the service journals of Eu-
trust their case TO an impartial tribunal.
Finally, the American government sug-
gested that an armistiee should be pro-
claimed for a few months. and II by that
time the island were not completely paci-
fed. that President Mckinley should be APP
pointed as arbitrator Of the whole Cuban
question between Spain and the snsur-
gents. and that his decision should be
without appeal. This was the last straw
All that seif-respecting nation could do
to avert war had been done. This last
thing was impossible: Spain might not
conquer; but she could dia In defense OF
her rights. Then came the uitimatum and
the declaration OF war.
Europe, Canada, and Mexico are today
confronted by a most dangerous problem.
IL the United States should triumph
which God forbid. whose will be the next
turn? What practical proofs have the
states ever given OF their theoretically
friendly feelings for neighboring nations?
Are the citizens. even of this fair dominion
allowed 10 work in the merchant marine OF
the United States? Or are they treated as
Chinese coolies? And yet the American
government Is only too glad to obtain their
services in her ShirS Of war. II Ia pn9gthfa