The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1898-04-16

~
Our beloved president. respected by the
people of the United States, has smelled the
smoke of battle, but through it all he has
shown Christian forbearance, which he has
reflected in the handling of this most
difficult of subjeefse
Is sss so Z! Il; sS :: Gss a the the ss
struction of the Maine. II the tive sub
jects were separated the necessity OF war
might have been avoided. If the awful
barbarities in Cuba which had aroused the
pity of all mankind had stood alone there
| might have been solution of the
| problem For himself he would have
cared little what burden 1t entailed. He
| would have been willing to mortgage ev-
| cry citizen IL only peace could be pre-
| served. But Spain refused to yield. And
| then when added to that came the awful
| explosion in Havana harbor the die was
| cast. After that what could be said? If
even that catastrophe had stood alone
possibly war might have been averted.
But not by any methods Spain has thus
far pursued" he added, his voice ringing
clear as a bell. From the day of the ex-
plosion to this Spain has done nothing ex-
cept to make the most perfunctory express
sions of regret. She has made no attempt
to excu1pate heselft or to redress the
wrong. If Spain freed Cuba today we
would have offered up 266 American sailors
upon the altar of her freedom. War must
CoHc Ut OuDd Dc Tree. NO OlIeT dHSWSl
will be accepted by our people.
No Government to Recognize
PERSONALLY I regret that there cannot
be found in Cuba government we can
recognize. 1 wish we could. For there is
undeniable danger in these days of syndi-
Gates and commercialism that men who
play upon human life as they do on loans
and chattels for the advancement of sell
| fish interests will seek to glut their greed
here.
This war upon which we are entering
| can bring us no material gain. 1t will re-
| suit in the loss of millions to our COM
merce. It will sweep our ships from the
sea and we will leave thousands of our
young men dead from fever and disease
in the tropics. All this must be counted
in advance and we have counted 1t. This
war must be fought because in the eyes
of the world we stand as the sentinel of
liberty on the wtNern hemisphere and be-
cause If I'VE fail to lift the voice of suffer-
| ing and the downtrodden we will be un-
| true to the principles upon which this gov
| eminent is founded, as upon rock"
| wave of applause swept over the gal
| leres as Mr.. Wolcott concluded
| At this point Mr.. Morgan of Alabama
| gave notice that he would move to lay ali
amendments nthe table.
Mr. Spooner (rep) of Wisconsin then en-
tered upon q defense OF the conduct of the
president throughout the pending crisis,
and, referring to the criticisms upon the
presidents message, Said that in conducting
a case which might lead to war the presi-
dent had, perforce, to be calm and passion
less. Following the Maine disaster, the
president could have sent a message to
congress that would have plunged the
country into war, but it was his duty to
delay even to proerastination, in order to
be prepared to meet war;
Mr. Spooners statement that if Gomez
and his insurgents were free and independ-
ent they would have flag, brought an in
terruption from Mr.. Foraker, who said
that from the moment of the blowing up
of the Maine the flag of the Cuban re-
public had been half-masted and was in
that post on today.
Foraker Called Him Down
Mr.. Foraker asked Mr.. Spooner il he had
any doubt that Cuba would be free and
| independent when the United States inter
| vened to which Mr.. Spooner instantly re-
| piled: 81 have no doubt that when we in
| tervene Cuba will be free and Independent,
| but that Is just the reason why l do not
believe they are free and indepndent now
Independence, said he, sis fact, not an
| expression of sympathy. Whether the So
| called republic of Cuba is not independent
| is a matter of international law. RecoSni-
| ton is an executive function
1--WE intervene" he said, ito put an end
| to savagery."
In the course of an analytical discus
| sion of the Maine disaster, Mr.. Spooner
| called attention to a striking and significant
| fact He had carefully read the findings
| of the Spanish board of inquiry and all
| of the testimony offered before the board.
| One fact stood out as inculpatory of Spain.
| "If," declared Mr. Spooner, that Spanish
board could have established that there was
| no mine in the harbor or under the Maine,
| they would have been swift to prove It, Yet
hat NJ Gtn
| called to give evidence in support of this
| contention and no evidence in support of
| it was adduced.
"Remember the Maine"
| "That there was a Spanish completely in
| the blowing up of the Maine-that Spain is
| responsible for that awful horror, that gil
| gantic murder under our flag, no American
| doubts.
From our ships of war when they enter
| the harbor of Havana the signalled legend
| will float Remember the Maine'-'Remem-
4 Der the Maine"
| Upon the conclusion of Mr.. Spooner's adj
| dress Mr. Wellington, of Maryland, moved
to adjourn This was defeated-10 to 81.
Messrs. Bate, Caffery, Chiffon, Clay, Dam
| iel, Debee, Elkins, Mcbride, Turley and
| Wellington voting in the affirmative.
| Mr. Chiffon (dem., of Texas then began
| a speech in favor Of recognizing the inde-
| pendence of Cuba, but at o'clock another
move was made for adjournment by Mr..
| Hale of Maine. This drew from Mr.. White,
| of California, a protest against the seeming
| effort to rush the senate to vote and Mr..
| Chiffon proceeded with his speech, con-
| clud1ngN in thirty minutes.
| Mr.. Teller took the floor and announced
! that he would vote for an amendment rec
ognizing the independence of Cuba. ut
means war and the step should be taken
with the full knowledge of that fact said
| he. He thought we were fairly well pre-
! pared for hostilities. He believed the
| Maine was blown up by Spanish engines.
| War was awful thing. No one could
tell what would happen to our battleships
| or how many of the brave youth of the
| land would go to their death in the fever
| stricken districts of Cuba. Spain had al
ready sent three times as many soldiers to
| Cuba to suppress the revolution as Great
| Britain had sent to put down the Ameri-
| can revolution. yet the United States de-
| clined for these years and months to recog-
| nize the existence of a state of war.
Must Be No Interference
Mr.. Teller declared there must be no
| interference by the allied powers of Eu-
rope. If they attempted that we would