The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-07-09
TALK OF ANNEXATION
DIFFERENT VIEWS AS TO FUT-
 URE OF CUBA.
slayden of Texas Thinks It Should Not Be Taken in by United
 States-Newlandso of Nevada - For Annexation.

Washington, July 6.-(opecldl'l-lh lheie are but few among those who have given careful study to the Cuban problem who doubt that the question of the annexation of the island will form one of the serious difficulties to be overcome by the next session of Congress. The developments of the latter part of the session which closed last week indicate this and there are many other things which tend in the same direction.
 When the matter of the desperate con- dtions alleged to exist in Cuba are be- ing considered, 1t might as we'll be ad- mitted at the start that the question of what the United States owes Cuba is an open one If the island really needs re- lief'' it must be remembered that 1t was the Republican Party which promised that such relief would be given and that the failure of the present Congress to give such relief was directly due to division in the ranks of that party. There is little doubt that the plan pro- posed and pushed by the administrations ists was not proper one. It may be that the President and some of his advisers conscientiously thought that the reclproc- ity bill they favored would, if enacted into law, afford the relief which Cuba Is said to need so much, and at the same time fulfill all the promises made in that connection by the dominant party. But the fact that Governor General Wood spent large sums of money belonging to the treasury of the island in an attempt to influence legislation and the further circumstance that the President Of the sugar trust also spent money in behalf or the so-called reciprocity bill. shows very conclusively that the matter is not Just as it appears on the surface and that full and thorough investigation should DC completed before this country makes present of some eight or ten millions an- nually to someone. If it were clear that that someone was really the Cuban sugar producer the problem would be consider ably less difficult. But it is known that the sugar trust Is the principal customer if not the sole customer-of the Cuban sugar producer in this country. This be- ing the case, it would seem that reduc- tion in the tariff on Cuban sugar would inure to the benefit of the sugar trust rather than to the Cuban producer, and it was on account of this phase of the matter that the Democrats in Congress- who under ordinary circumstances would be- in favor of a reduction in the tariff as a step toward the Democratic principle of free trade, arrayed themselves against the so-called reciprocity bill prepared by the Republican leaders of the House and backed by the President and all of that fraction of the dominant party which subsequently came to be known as the admnistra tionist element. These are the facts in the case. the so-called indepen- dent press of the South to the contrary notwithstanding. The Democrats have the hest of good reasons for their attitude toward the reciprocity plan and no amount of misrepresentation will have the effect of making the public believe other wise
 In view of the existing condition of af- fairs so far as the legislative feature of the matter Is concerned, the Democrats have thoroughly justifi cation for their ac- tion and the position of the beet sugar people in the premises is of course ex- plained by the fact that they believe the industry they represent would be seri- ously harmed by the enactment of a reel procity bill such as it was proposed to get through at the session of Congress , which has just closed. Had some plan of relief for Cuba been suggested which would have insured ttR Cuban producer getting the benefit which he thinks is due him, the Democratic position might have been different and some sort of legisla- ton might have been gotten through des- pite the efforts of the beet sugar protec- tionists But the President and his re- tainers would have nothing but the straight reduction bill and as a result they met with a defeat which has seldom, if ever been equalled in the history of the country The fight of the administra- tionists will be continued during the sum ner vacation of Congress and while there is absolutely no chance of a special ses- | sion of Congress being called during the summer or fall, according to those who | are in a position to know, there is every | reason to believe that the administration l ists will. as soon as the short session be- | gins next December, do everything in procity bill through Congress. On the | character of their plan will depend, to a | certain extent at least. the attitude or the beet sugar people and the Democrats | The latter will fight for emocrattc prin- | ciples and policies and the former will | do everything in their power to protect | their constituents who raise beets. If the | administrationists succeed in forcing | bill through it will probably be quite diff ferent from the one advocating straight reduction of 9 per cent, which failed of passage during the session just closed. | The Democrats will want to be assured | that the benefit from the proposed reduc- ton will not go to the sugar trust and it is unlikely that their adversaries will he able to demonstrate any such thing.
 But whatever else is done there are strong reasons for the belief that the annexation of Cuba will be urged Sena- tor Elkins of West Virginia, who was one of the principal leaders of the anti administration element in the Senate dur