The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-02-11

cnarItdDiy disposed citizens OF the
United States cannot contribute money,
medicine, food or clothing to the in
surgents in the field or hospital, and
should any attempt be made to do SO
it o be captured and prevented
by order Of the government of the
United States.
-tAal parties declared before the last
election in favor of the independence
of Cuba and the republican party en-
phasized its opinion as follows:
From the hour of achieving their
own Independence, the people Of the
United States have regarded with sym
pathy the struggles Of other American
peoples TO free themselves from Euro
pean domination. We watch with deep
and abiding interest the heroic battles
of the Cuban patriots against cruelty
n oppression. And our best hopes
go out for the full success of their de-
termined contest for liberty. The gov
eminent of Spain having lost control
of Cuba, and being unable to protect
the property or lives of resident Ameri-
can citizens, or to comply with its
treaty obligations, we believe that the
government of the United States should
actively use her influence and good Of
fees to restore peace and give inde-
pendence to the sland.'-Cuban plank
in the republican platform adopted by
IilC ICpuDI11dI hdllolldl Sc1ls a.
st. Louis June is, 1896.
THE people of the United States do
not seek to acquire title to Cuba, nor
do they seek to gain advantage in any
way, directly or Indirectly, of any ma
ton by reason of this barbarism called
war. They do not complain of our loss
of trade with Cuba and have patiently
borne the assault on the health of the
people by the filth of Spanish rule in
CIuha gThpU Cpal no rp6raSC for loss
of business or health or money. They
have patiently waited, not wishing
(even Indirectly to interfere with the
affairs of other nations, until the stencil
on our very borders has passed en-
durance and the barbarOus
in Cuba has become a stain upon our
continent and a blot upon our Chris
tan civilization. The people of the
United States, demanding no personal
profit, having no fear and seeking no
favor, clear and conscious as to the
justice of our position, do, in the pres
ence of the civilized nations of the
world, and in the name of justice and
liberty, demand that the st-called war
in Cuba must cease"
The right of Hon. Henry w. Corbett
to a seat in the senate from Oregon,
occupied the senate's attention for two
hours, Senator Chandler, speaking in
favor of seating the laimant The re-
mainder Of the afternoon was spent
in executive session.
At 500 o'clock p. m, the senate ad-
journed.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,.
The house to-day entered upon the
consideration of the Aldrich-P lowman
contested election case from the
Fourth Alabama district. The ma
jcrity of the committed reported in
favor of seating the republican con-
testant on the ground of conspiracy
an allegation vigorously denied by the
democratic minority. Mr.. Plowman's
plurality on the face Of the returns
was 1857. The majority revised the
figures so as to give Aldrich a plurali-
ty of 342.
Mr.. Taylor, republican of Ohio,
chairman of elections committee No. 1,
who opened the debate with an elabor-
ate argument in favor of sustaining
the majority report, deplored the fact
that a partisan body was called upon
to pass upon an election case, but in
this particular instance, he said, there
had been no draft upon his political
prejudices. He explained the
election laws, which, he said, could not
have been framed more effectively to
encourage fraud and thWart the peo-
piles will. The illiterate voter, he said,
was absolutely at the mercy of the
ticket marker. Fraud, he said, was
everywhere; not lurking or secret, but
bold and insOlent.
Mir. Fox, democrat, of Mississippi,
presented the case of the minority
which reported hat Mr.. PloWman was
entitled to retain his seat. He dwelt
upon the fact that Mr.. Aldrich was not
the regular nominee of the republican
party and was opposed on the stump
by leading republicans and pOpulists
and that any assumption that he COM
manded the full strength of the re-
publicans and pOpuliSts of he district
was u~nWarranted. While there was a
time, said Mr.. Fox, when the magic
names of Lincoln and Grant together
with a baseless fear that the d0mina-
tion of their former masters might
again impress them into slavery, kept
the negroes solid, that time had gone.
Republicans of the north a no right
to assume that every negro was a re-
publican because his skin was black.
He c~ontroverted the claim that a
conspiracy existed and maintained
that a revision of the returns, in ac-
c~ordance with the testimony, would
| still give PloW1man a plurality of 2,4Sl.
Mr.. Mann. republican, of illinois,. a
member of the committee, who follow
ed, in concluding his argument in
favor of the majority report, said he
| a gone into the case with his prejd-
| dices in favor of the out His peO-
| pie were all sCutherners; out after ex-
animation of the testimony fraud was
patent and he could not but condemn
a condition which by conspiracy,
sought to control the congress Of the
United States and legislate through
fraud for the business interests of the
country. He appealed to his republi-
can associates to vote to seat the man
who in the face of v~illification a the
nerve and the to say to the
rascals who pursued him 1 will fight
you till I die"
Mr.. Settle, democrat, of Kentucky,
another member of the committee, in
| opening his argument said that while
he feared the verdict against Mr..
Plownaan was already made up he
| could not believe hat honest men
would seize upon a combination of
issolated Irregularities, none of which
! amounted to actual fraud, as a sop TO
| conscience and vote to unSaat q fellow