The age-herald., 1898-04-01
THE ATTITUDE OF THE COUNTRY
As It Is Interpreted by a Conservative News
 paper

From the Hartford Times. .-, With the question of the sinking of the Maine out of the way, as we may hope it will be during the coming week, our gov ernanent will come once more face to face with the problem of how to put an end to the troubles of the people of Cuba That is the result which is demanded by popular sentiment in the United States The Ameri- can people are weary of listening to the
 stories of Spanish cruelty, vemality and nlisgovernment in Cuba. For a quarter of a century, things have been going from bad to worse in that island, until at last our heartstrings are daily wrung with the de scriptions of hundreds of thousands of help less women and children starving to death almost at our doors. dn pursuance of the official policy of a government on the other side of the Atlantic. Leaving all other con- eiderations out of the question, it is in disputably the will of the people of this nation that the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives in Cuba must stop. And unless Spain can stop it at once, Spain must get out of Cuba.
 That it will not pay us, a business proposition, to go to war with Spain on account of Cuba, is consideration which is at the present time of but little force in the public mind. That there Is a good deal of disregard for human life in some sec tions of our own country, and a good deal of cruelty inflicted upon innocent indivfd- uals, at times, by crazy mobs, does not alter the public in regard to Cuba. That international law may afford no precise sanction for intervention by the United States to stop bloodshed and starvation in Spanish colony is also of little account
 in determining public sentiment here. The people of this country have settled down
 to the conclusion that Spain is equally in- capable of suppressng the dnsurrectfon in
 Cuba and of establishing order and good government there afterward. The history of Spanish dominion in the western hemi- sphere Is one long narrative of failure and retreat. There is less reason than ever before to look for anything like real reform or progress from Spanish rule in America
 Our people remember that, time and time again, our government has uttered solemn warnings to Spain about this business. President Grant told that nation, plainly enough, twenty-five years ago, what they must do to save their West Indian possess sions President Cleveland warned them in
 the most positive and definite terms that
 the limit of our endurance of migovern- ment in Cuba was nearly reached. And with what result? We have every reason to be- lieve that dn spite of MT Cleveland's wise and friendly words the duration of the in- surrection in Cuba has been deliberately prolonged by Spanish officials, in order that they might pocket vast sums of money, corruptly misapplying the millions drained from the Spanish people for carrying on the war" That Weyler and his subordinates were as corrupt as they were cruel is the testimony of the best witnesses we have had in Cuba. But for ''the money there was in it." the rebellion fin Cuba might have been suppressed two years ago, with the resources that were placed in the hands of Gen. Weyler. It ds in view of these facts sustain our government in proceeding to that American sentiment is now ready to force change in the government of Cuba.