The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1898-04-09
Plain Talk to Spain.


ally been classed among the peace
at-any-price Journals. II seems
however, to have received new light
on the Intervention proposition
In late issue it says:
ut is too late for Spain, it is toe
late for any opponent Of interven'
ton in this country to deny the
right of the United States to insist
upon and compel the paci6cation
of Cuba. We have repeatedly as
serted that right, and in responsible
official utterances we have threat
ened to undertake the work. And
SPANS acquiescence in the posi-.
lions we have taken, positions which
were equivalent to denial to her
complete sovereignty in Cuba, has
committed her to an acknowledg.
ment of our right to have much to
| say about the affairs of that island. y
The Times calls to mind the fact
that in 1875, President Grant in a
message to Congress concerning
Cuba, expressed the opinion that
"other nations would be compelled
to assume the responsibility which
devolves upon them and to serious
ly consider the only remaining
measure possible, mediation and
intervention.
The assertion of the right to in
tervene is based upon the same
principle of international law as in.
tervention itself. The assertion an
ticipates certain conditions which
would justify Intervention, while
Intervention assumes that those
conditions are realized. The asser-
ton of the right to intervene is
therefore equally as offensive as in.
tervention itself. President Cleve-
land said in his last annual message :
When the inability of Spain to
deal successfully. with the insurrec-
ton has become manifest, and it is
demonstrated that her sovereignty is
extinct in Cuba for all purposes of
it's rightful existence, and when a
hopeless struggle for its re-establlsh-
ment has degenerated into strife
which means nothing more than
the useless sacrifice of human life
and the utter destruction of the
very subject matter of the conflict,
situation will be presented in
which our obligations to the sover-
eighty of Spain will be superseded
by higher obligations which we can
hardly hesitate to recognize and
discharge"
The fact that Spain permitted
such assertion Of the right to inter-
vene to pass without protest is
practically an admission that under
certain circumstances intervention
would be justifable. When, there
fore, Spain intimates that interven-
ton would be an act of war, she
exposes herself to the assumption
that she is testing the firmness Of
the purpose Of the United States
Government. Mckinly in his first
annual message reminded Spain
that by making important changes
in her policy Spain had already
admitted the Government of the
United States to "participation in
the control of affairs in Cuba"
The American Minister at Madrid
was instructed to inform the Span
ish Government that 1--WE could be
required to wait only reasonable
time for the mother country to es-
tablish such authority and restore
peace and order within the borders
of the island; that we could not
contemplate an indefinite period for
the accomplishment of this result.
The reply was not a denial of our
right to intervene, but an admission
that the United States was deeply
affected by the war in Cuba.
Intervention, therefore, is no new
idea to Spain. Her policy in Cuba
has been conducted since 1875 with
an understanding that if Cuba was
not pacified the United States would
exercise its asserted right to inter-
vene in the interests Of peace. The
only question now seems to be if
the time for Intervention has come.
Is the United States required to
wait until the island is depopulated
and its territory turned back to
primitive conditions? The asser-
lion of d right to intervene would be
an impertinence that Spain might
resent if the justice of the assertion
had not been recognized. There was
} distinct menace Of Intervention
IN President McKinley's message to
he present Congress when it met
n regular session:
IF it shall hereafter appear to be
A duty imposed by our obligations
% ourselves, to civilization and hui
nanity, to intervene with force, it
shall be without fault on our part,
and only because the necessity for
such action will be so clear as to
command the support and approval
If the civilized world"
Christina tho nnaon rnonrt ofi