The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-03-22
The US. MU8t I%nt8ru8n6.
The PRINCIPLES of Such Action Laid Down in Text Books
How They Apply to Cuba.

:" oNONi
1927 and the following years. The con
! test between them and their Turkish
; oppressors had gone on for years"
says Lawrence. land had been marked
5, throughout by the most horrible barbar-
tiles. 1t seemed as if it would end in
the determination of the whole Greek
trace"
This description Of the Grecian strug-
gle for independence from the Turkish
yoke needs only a change of words,
'Turkish' to "Spanish' and Greek race
to Cuban people," faithfully and ac-
: curately TO describe the Cuban situation
to-day. The result of the intervention
was the establishment of the present
; kingdom of Greece. The result of inter.
@vention by the United States in Cuba
will be the establishment Of the Cuban
republic. The Intervention of the DOW
! ers named in behalf Of Greece was
based on three grounds:
THE CASE OF GREECE.
First, in order to comply with the re-
quest of one of the parties.
Secondly. on the grounds Of humanity,
i'll order to stay the effusion of blood.
Thirdly, in order to put q stop to piracy
and anarchy.
These grounds, like those on which
1 ii' Il-tt q WIN D"co u iiSiL W
intervene in Cuba. were technically lille
gal under the rules of international law.
they were morally right. Speaking Of
this event, Sir W. HarcOurt. an Eng
lish writer of repute on international
law. in his celebrated HistOricus letters,
says:
The emancipation of Greece was d
high act of policy above and beyond the
domain of law. AS an act of policy it
may have been and was justifiable, but
it was not the less a hostile act, which.
if she dared, Turkey might properly have
resented by war"
1t follows from this precedent that. so
; far as international law is concerned,
| the intervention Of the United States
| on behalf of the CubanS will be a high
act of policy above and beyond the do
main of law. As an act of policy it
may be and will be justifiablc, but it
will be not the less a hostile act, which.
| if she dare, Spain may properly resent
by war.
An effect Of the intervention Of Great
Britain, France and A,ussia on behalf of
the Greeks is that it cstops them from
t Directing to the Intervention of the UNI
: ted States ON behalf of tibet Cubans,
{ even if they were so inclined, while it
will have Il restraining effect, if it does
5 not estop, upon Austria, Prussia and
other German and European states
!, which. if they did not formally approve
5 of. certainly took no steps to prevent,
!, the intervention and afterWarl ac-
4 quiesced i'll the result.
LATER INSTANCES.
There have been other and later in
stances of Intervention on the part of the
; great powers, such as that in 1860,
: urban tIny ipforyoncI To n,,t n c+n,, &.
the persecution and massacre of Chris
tians in the district of Mount Lebanon.
OA this act of Intervention by the great
powers, Lawrence says: Their pro-
ceedlngS We're worthy of Communications,
though they could not be brought within
the strict letter of the law"
Lawrence lays down as a corollary of
the rules of international law relating
to intervention, that interventions in
the internal affairs of states are greater
infringements of their independence
than interference with their external
action, which must, from the nature of
the case, be concerned with other pow
ers. Such interyentions, therefore,,
should be watched with the utmost jeal-
ousy. and require the strongest reasons
in order to justify them"
Great Britain. by her intervention in
Egypt, q province of Turkey. which
has been carried on with armed force
ever since 1882, admits that the inter
ests of a state and its people are good
grounds for interference by one state
III the internal concerns of another
state. The principal grounds of her in
terventlOn in and armed occupation of
Egypt are found III her interests in the
Sucz canal and III those of her people
IN Egyptian bonds. The Justification Of
the policy of intervention because of the
interests of the Intervening state and
its people being thus found in Great
Britain's action as to Egypt, it only re-
mains to point out the fact that the in
~tcrests Of the United States and its peo-
pie require the cessation of the struggle
in Cuba which is devastating the island.
running its industries and destroying its
population. Trade with the island is al,
Il practical %standstiIl. and American
property is involved in the common ruin
the war has brought to its people. This
covers the second ground on which the
United States finds justification for the
character of interference in Cuban af-
fairs defined by Lawrence as interven.
ton.
TO PREVENT AN EPIDEMIC.
The third grouna is different from that
cited in the books. Cuba is the home Of
yellow fever, Il disease which has again
and again scourgeu the people Of the
United States. >ur own experience has
taught us that this dread disease. which
IS, to use the experience of the celebrated
divine, Gods opinion of dirt" can be
prevented by proper sanitary precau-
tons. Sanitation is an unknown science
to the Spanish. Ihe conditions for d
fearful outbreak of yellow fever, the
worst ever known to mankind, are ripe
III Cuba. Once started, it will be beyond
our powers to prevent its carriage to our
shores, but six hours away, and its
spread to the interior. Standing alone
this would perhaps not be sufficient,
even morally, certainly not legally I'M
der international law, to justify inter
v%ention, yet undoubtedly it adds weight
to the other two grounds, just as piracy