The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-12
THE CUBANS WARNED
MESSAGES BY NEW YORK JUNTA
 TO CONVENTION.
Independence at Stake-Islanders Told They Must Give Reply to Platt Amendment Before
 Congress Meets.

Washington Special to Chicago Tri-
 bune.
 Within the last forty eight hours urg ent cable dispatches have been sent from the Cuban colonies in New York and Washington to Havana, urging the leaders in the Constitutional Conven- tion not to trifle with Uncle Sam any longer. and warning them that the in dependence of Cuba is at stake and will be lost entirely if there is much more delay. Many of the members of the old Cuban Junta, the men who car ried on the propaganda in the United States which at last resulted in the Spanish war, have become convinced that their brethren in Havana are trf- ling with the destinies of their country. The leaders of the JunLa began study ing American public opinion long ago, and the messages they are sending to Havana are more than significant.
 The leaders of the Constitutional Convention have been warned that if they do not get Government of some kind started before Congress meets next December the prospects of com plete independence will be considerably less bright than they are at present. These warning messages go on to say that members of Congress and distin- guished officials of the administration bitterly regret the pledge given m the Teller resolution. The American sense of honor demands the fulfllment of this pledge, but the Cuban radicals are warned that they are playing directly into the hands of the annexationists. Trey have been told in So many words that if they adjourn without adopting the Platt amendment or dawdle along until L eccniber the President will be obliged to send a message to Congress announcing to that body and to the word that the Cubans have refu sed to accen. the conditions imposed on them.
 In that case, these resident Hubans say, Congreas will inevitably take the ground tLat the Cubans have be en off, fersI real independence, have r-tused to give proper guarantee of good gCy- ernr.ent. and that the terms of the Tcil.r resolution have been followed by Congress hut rejected by the Cr' ans themselves. Thereupon annexation would fellow as "a matter of course.
 This is the message the intelligent
 Cuban-Amer!cans have sent to Hava-
 na within forty eight hours. The rad
 ical leaders in the Convention have
 been told in so many words that ow
 ing to the condition of public senti-
 ment in the United States they should
 either accept the Platt amendment in
 so many words and be quick about it
 or resign themselves to the certainty of annexation. This message, coming from Cubans and going to Cubans, it is believed will have great weight. The administration is not moving in the matter. General Wood has been instructed to notify the Cubans that | the Platt amendment must be accept | ed without alteration or interpreta- | tion. He has also been instructed to | suggest that 1t would be courteous to the United States either to accept or | decline the Platt amendment. The Cubans in this country are chiefly | wrought up because they think that
 while the President has shown ad- l mirable patience thus far they see | signs of an end. They have been cir- I culating a rumor to the effect that the | President intends to give the Constitu- | tional Convention a certain specified time in which to get together .and then either to dissolve the convention
 altogether or adjourn it for a month or two to see if the members could not adjust their differences.
 The ardent Cuban patriots here say the old Spanish element in Havana has been nagging the convention into re- iecting the Platt amendment for the express purpose of forcing annexation. which the business element Is anxious for All this explains why the old Gu | ban Junta in the United States is
 spending money for cable tolls to Ha- vana and sending repeated messages | of warning to the convention that
 there is a crisis at hand in the affairs of Cuba, which will be averted only by | prompt and patriotic action