The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1903-03-27
UNCERTAINTY
IN THE TREATY
OF THE CUBAN
CONVENTION SAID TO GIVE RISE
TO MANY DOUBTS.

TO MANY DOUBTS.
WASHINGTON, March 2O.-Acting
! Secretary of State Loomis and Quesada
the Cuban Minister after discussing
| the prospects of an exchange of rati-
! fiCations of the Cuban treaty within the
! time limit, today decided to cable Pre-
sident Palma reques ting him to call the
! Cuban Congress into extraordinary ses-
sion Immediately for this purpose, as
! that body otherwise would not meet
until April 9TH, seven days after the ex
! piration of the legal time limit for the
| exchange OF Publications.
From such imperfect readings of the
| treaty as cdl te had at this stage, the
! State Department officials have some
! doubt as thei. ability to do anything
! whatever with the convention. The
amendments made by the Senate, added
to the raifying articles, though prob
| ably not so intended, may result in
the complete loss of the treaty. There
are conflicting clauses which ii may not
| be possible to reconcile.
Article II provided originally that
the present convention shall be ratified
by the appropriate authorities of the
respective countries and Publications
shall be exchanged al Washington as
4 soon as may be possible before the 3lst
day of January 1903, and the conven-
ton shall go into effect on the tenth
day after the exchange of ratification,
and shall continue in force for the term
Of five years from date of going into
effect and from year to year thereafter
until the expiration of one year from
the day when either of the contracting
parties shall give notice to the other of
its intention to terminate the same"
Usually it is provided that a treaty
shall go into effect as soon as the ratili-
cations are exchanged, and with the
slight change in this respect the origi-
nal ratifying clause of the Cuban treaty
was in the usual form and would not
have led to complication. The date
OF January 3lst was changed by both
Governments before the United States
Senate acted, to March 31st and that
is how the article stood when the Sem
ate added this sentence: This treaty
shall not take effect until the same
shall have been approved by the Con-
gress." ..,
This led to complications which are
now VeXing the department.. Here were
two different dates fixed in the same
article for the taking effect of the
treaty. The weight of opinion inclines
to the belief that, following common
law principle the last stipulation should
govern, which would defer the opera
a ton of the treaty until after Congress
acted But a more serious difficulty
is pointed out, as follows: 1t is hardly
regarded as feasible, and is certainly
in violation of precedent, to exchange
notifications of a document which is not
a treaty, as this Cuban convention will
not be, in the opinion of some of the
State Department people, unless Con-
gress has set it's approval upon it. If
this view is correct then the exchange
of Publications will have to be de-
ferred until next winter at the earliest
Il 10, to rgrh t4snt a
cause the failure of the treaty in its
present form, because of the inability
of the negotiators to meet the require
ment of article III, which demand thai
the exchange take place before March
31st.
1t is possible that a way will be found
! out of this web of COntrarietieS, and tC
that end the State Department people
now are working. The Cuban Minister
here is dismayed at the situation, anC
although he made every effort in his
power to keep the facts from attracting
attention they developed fully today
even to the knowledge of his immediat,
compliance with the State Department
suggestion that he cable Presiden
Palma suggesting an immediate call
ing together of the Cuban Congress
which is now in extra session.
NEW YORK. March 20. News of tn,
action of the Senate has had almost tn,
effect of the treaty being defeated say
a Tribune dispatch from Havana. TIT
merchants are much discouraged, an,
the price of sugar has dropped rapidly
Several claimants of damages on ac
count of war with Spain are complain
ing at the delay in payment and an
nounCe in the local papers their inten
ton of demanding payment. They sa!
that did not accept the Paris treat,
and therefore are empowered either L
force Spain to pay the claims or caus
Spain to take the matter up with tn,
United States.