The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-12-27

~ which Genera, Wood pro.
a poses tn do rs military gov
ernor Of Cuba is to Amerl-
canize the Spanish judicial s\st"n
which prevails there, at least to the
extent that men who are accused OF
crime shall have an open ana speedy
trial with the privilege OF defense.
He will not tolerate the retention or
mon in prison gear after year upon
charges of which they are kept in iE-
norance and without any positive as
surance that the Imprisonment may
not hc prolonged indefinitely. General
Brooke made some minor changes in
the personnel and methods Of the Gu
ban courts hut he hcsitated to 70 the
whole length Of introducing the Anglo
Saxon safeguards, frlling that It
might hn too radical q change. Gen"
cral Wood evidently does not share
this fear He riskcd the change at
Santiago and found that it worked
we'll Some Of the older citizens re-
sented it. more especially those whose
pccuniary interests it threatened; but
among the bulk of the younger and
| better population there was cordial
! approval. and this is the element for
whose approval he most cares.
our readers may remember that
sometime ago we presented the views
of n prominent attorney of Havana
who declared, after extended complr-
| ison Of the Latin with the Anglo
| Saxon court system, tnat the former
was to be preferred at least among in
! habitants of the tropics: and who pre-
! dicted that any attenlot to do away
| with the essential features of the
! Spanish jurisprudence as found in
| Cuba would wind up in disaster. That
| man may have been sincere in this
| opinion or he may have been uncon~
| sciouslv biased Ivy the fact that Il
| notification of court methods threat
! encd his own practice Of the law; but
! I'm risking the change General Wood
| will have the considerable advantage
| o. not having made leap in the dark.
| Before he took the same step in Sam
! tiHgo province he consulted the repre-
/ sentative Cubans - BE- found and as.
| Certained that they were willing to
! hazard the experiment. and the fact
that they would not now under any
circumstances so back to the old sys-
TEN is proof Of their ability to ar-
/ precate genuine improvements
While no respectable American
wishes to take an Unfair advantage of
the Cuban people in order to force
upon them laws and customs cf Ameri-
can manufacture enticelv there arc
rights which Americans have in tia
| matter Of determining the future Of
| Cuba that connot be cOntroverted. We
have rioht, for instance. to estab.
! lish in Cuba stable institutions of
modern character which will not only
max" the island n safe abode FOR
Americans and others who may wish
70 establish themselves there but also
make the island a safe nc!ghbor. We
are entitled to look aftar the higher
and larger welfare which connro.
hcn1s its relations n the world nj
large as we'll as to pron,cte the imme,
diate persona! welfare of its inhablt
ants. We are responsible to more
than the Cuhans in this matter: w
are responsible to humanity. And on
this ground it is our duty to build
wisely and on the lines Of rermanan;
growth, whether it fits the prcjudices
OF the hour or not. General Wood is
man who understands fully the
broad significance Of the high commits.
sion which he holds ana he is entitled
to the ampest support.