The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-07-12
CUBAN COALING STATIONS
PRESIDENT PALMA,S ACTION
 MAKES THE
Task of Locating Them More Dif-
 6euIk

| l fcuIt.
 Since the polite but firm request was made by President Palma to Minister Squiers for the removal from Tiscornia wharf of the coal belonging to the Unit States. and left there when the military occupation of the island was tertninat- ed, nothing has been heard in Washing ton on that subject. No order has been issued by the Navy Department for the removal of the coal, and until this is done it cannot be said that President Palma's dispossess notice has been treated with much respect. In view of the fact that 1t has been well under stood in Washington for months that
 the United States wished to establish
 in Havana Harbor one of the coaling stations provided for in the Platt amendment, and in view of the further ! fact that it was the hope of those who have most closely studied the situation to hold fast to Triscornia as the basis for negotiations for coaling station at
 Havana, the request to remove the coal at this time is disconcerting, to say the least. President Palma's unexpected action is generally interpreted here as shrewd diplomatic move to bring to the attention of the responsible authorities of this government, the possibility that the task of locating coaling stations in
 Cuba may be more difficult than it ap-
 peared when provision for them was made by the Platt amendment.
 Although the Platt amendment is an integral part of the constitution of
 Cuba, at the same time it must be re-
 membered that before any of the pro-
 visions of this enactment can become
 effective they must be embodied in a
 permanent treaty between the United
 States and Cuba. Had Congress at the
 recent session paved the way for the close commercial relations with Cuba so
 strongly urged by both Presidents Me-
 Kinley and Roosevelt, there Is no doubt
 that the permanent treaty called for by
 the Platt amendment would before this
 have been proposed by the Cuban gov
 ernment, and its negotiation would now
 be well under way. It goes without saying, of course, that this would have averted the possible embarrassment of both nations involved in the Triscornia affair, as the subject of coaling stations would have been one of the earliest talk en up for consideration. As the case now stands however there is no re-. course left to this government in the premises, and the Triseornia wharf at = Havana must be vacated by the United States at the earliest practicable date Il Probably Secretary Moody will send q collier to Havana to bring the coal away, and when that is done there will be no point on theyisland where Unit : ed States warship cansgo for fuel or re-
 pairs. "% z.
 It is an open secret that the Navy , Departments we'll matured strategic policy contemplated the location of it's
 chief bases in the West Indies on the |, :, island of Cuba, and while the original I plan had in view the establishment of . at least four stations in Cuba-one at 2 Havana. another at Cienfuegos, another o at Guantanamo and the other at Nipe-- Il Havana all along has been regarded as q the point most essential. to the protec- . ton of this country's interests in the
 West Indies and South America. In e point of fact. it is known that Admiral f Dewey, on whose experienced judgment III
 dent chiefly relies, cares little or noth-
 ing for Cienfuegos, Guantanamo or G Nipe as coaling sites, but regards Ha- q vana Harbor as absolutely necessary s to the development of the policy of the a United States. The Cubans under the
 most favorable circumstances, would
 probably have been averse to granting.
 either by lease or sale, a base for the
 navy in Havana Harbor, but it had u been thought up to the time Congress
 failed to do it's duty in the matter of ', reciprocity that their sentiment against 5 seeing the United States flag fly over q = small strip of territory in the harbor of a their capital could be overcome through fl the agencies of diplomacy. Y, While the authorities here have rot a despaired of securing coaling privileges V at Havana, they realize that the under i. taking will be fraught with more ob- # stacles than would have intrevened had = the administration Cuban policy been @ vitalized by Congressional enactment d at the session just closed. It is consid- , cred possible that the dispute over the
 ownership of the Isle of Pines will serve
 the United States a. good purpose in ne-
 gotiations for coaling stations. It Is
 known that President Palma and every if influential man in Cuba is extremely
 anxious to embody the Isle of Pines irl - the territorial limits of the insular re l. public, and it is believed that this ap- V peals as strongly to the sentiment oi d the whole Cuban people as does the q question of the United States acquiring
 control of coaling station in Havana l. Harbor Thus. in the treaty negotia- t, tions of the future. the one can be play r. ed against the other. and as the Isle l: of Pines is of no great commercial ol r. strategic value. this government per. I. haps would be only too glad to surren-
 der it's claims to that little spot oi
 marsh land, for an adequate naval base
 in Havana Harbor from which the
 United States for all time could com. le mand the Gulf of Mexico.-New Yorl
 Tribune. ,