The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-04-09
U. s. MUST CONTINUE.
TO MAINTAIN THE POSITION 1T
NOW OCCUPIES IN REGARD
TO CUBA,
SAYS CONGRESSMAN LEWIS

| Says the Cubans VIII Not CO..
operate With the Spaniards, and
This Puts self-Government Out of
the Question.
Congressman ]. Hamilton Lewis, of
Seattle Wash, arrived in the city yes
! terday, returning to his home from Cuba
where he spent several weeks in the study
| of political conditions. During the war
| Congressman Lewis served on the staff
of Gen. Grant at Porto Rico as Inspector
| general, with the rank of colonel, and in
his military capacity threw 10000 pounds
of the celebrated embalmed beef into the
sea- Since returning from Cuba he has
| been acting as assistant counsel on be-
| half of Gen. Miles and Maj. DAILY his chief
| of medical staff, who made the direct
| report to the effect that the beef served
as rations had been embalmed with pois-
| onous chemicals. On the beef inquiry
Mr.. Lewis was reticent, but he talked
freely of the result of his observations
| in Cuba.
cat the close of the session 1 went to
Cuba with delegation of senators and
representatives and spent several weeks
there. We went down in our own private
| cars and paid for our transportation, re-
| fusing the invitation of the secretary of
war; said Congressman Lewis I'm our
immediate party were Representatives
| Warner, of Illinois; Shafroth, OF Colo
RADIO; Cowherd, Of Missouri; Showalter,
| OF Pennsylvania; Latimer and Norton, of
South Carolina; Packer, of Pennsylvania,
! and Smith, of Illinois. We went direct to
| Havana and there l studied particularly
| the political phase of the situation, hav-
| Ing vote on a great deal Of legislation
| affecting the subject.
| Il became closely acquainted with Gen.
Gomez and was afforded an excellent
opportunity to become acquainted with
! his personal character and TO study his
! motives He is man for whom ] enter
| tain the highest respect l also attended
| several sessions of the Cuban assembly
| and was present when the resolution was
| passed, charging President Mckinley
with having bribed Gomez and l was
| present when Gomez was deposed from
| his position as commander-in-chief of the
| Cuban army
| The Cuban assembly is composed en-
| tirely of Cuban generals In their army
| there are 25000 men and 25,OOO generals.
1 asked Gomez why this was the case and
| called his attention to the dtsproportion
L remarked that if these officers demand
n,
II would involve the expenditure of some
thing like $1,000 600 He told me that
for exploits of bravery on the battlefield,
having no money, the only reward that
he could offer was promotion, and no
one would take less than a generalship.
These generals demonstrated to me
| that they had dreamed of retiring in
| splendor at the close of the Cuban war,
| and l have not a doubt that each of
them hoped for a dwelling in the opulent
| mansions OF the Spaniards, who had held
| official positions and lived sumptuously
upon their official rapacity When 1t be-
| came evident that the United States
would not allow the fulfilment of these
desires, the Cubans became hostile to
us and from once regarding us as friends
came to look upon us interlopers and
resent our occupation
| mat cuban assembly was sustained
by FUNDS sent from New York CITY. and
handled by man who spelled his name
Ccen, together with the banking firm of
saido q Co., of Havana, hesobject being
to force reputation of any dealings
| with this country SO as to create the
! pei1er In Europe OF the existence of an
| independent government in Cuba The
purpose was to float $500. Ooo, 900 of Cuban
bends. I observe In todays dispatches
That Gomez has been reinstated as. the
result of the plot having been discovered.
4 AA0AO WILL lOl nc u CIVIL government
| established in Cuba by the Cubans, Not
that they are not capable of governing
themselves according to their own IDEAS
or self-government, but because there
| can be no cohesion. The Spaniards will
not cooperate with the Cubans The
Cuban property holders and merchants
| Will not trust the non-property holding
class nor the country Cubans Lastly,
| all property holders of every nature feel
| that when the Cuban government gets
to work, after disposing Of internal
| revolutions as to who shall hold
the jobs, they will vote them
| selves large bounty of money as a
compensation for carrying on the war.
Local self-government calls for an ac-
| quiescence in the rule of the majority
by the minority. The Cuban minority
always insists that it is the majority.
| and will tolerate no restraint upon it's
| course. Therefore, a strong government
| Will be essential, and the United States
Will have to maintain its present position.
The intelligent sentiment Is all in favor
OF annexation, knowing it to be inevi-
| table"
speaking of the sentiment on the Pa
| cine coast in regard to the retention of
the Philippines, Mr.. Lewis said:
There was strong sentiment on the
! coast In favor of unqualified annexation
| of the Philippines. That sentiment pre-
n.
1 think 1t has been modified very much.
Yet the death and sufferings of many of
the Pacific coast soldiers has made the
! question personal and not political, and
| the sentiment for holding the Philippines
now is something akin to a regard for
Just retaliation. I do not know what the
developments of time will do to change
this conviction"
Mr.. Lewis, whose congressional dis
trict embraces the entire state Of Wash
ington, was defeated for reelection at
the fall election because, as he says, the
people made point of his criticism OF
the administration
1T was the hottest campaign for an
off year that Washington has ever seen. -
he said. Were the campaign to be fought
over again I would represent the same
cause. Events since the election have
convinced the people of my state that
was right and was doing my duty in call
ing to their attention the great wrongs
perpetrated upon the soldiers by the wal
department"
Dedicated the Flag.
One of the most pleasant events in the
4 LII