The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-02-13
THE SPANISH CLAIMS.

WASHINGTON Feb. l2.-Although nearly
a oenturv intaryencs between Them the so
called Spanish claims are only less genernhy
forgotten than are the musty and moss
covered French claims. In the Norm
American RorietG for February MIR. Cram
| mond Kennedy fans these smoulderng
embers into temporary pickering. Ills
comment reminds us that the Government
is still paying a snug little sum every year
for rent. salaries and expenses in the mantle
nance of a Spanish Claims Commission.
Aside from such considerations IA moral
ity and good faith this matter presents
points Of interest in law and In politics. Inc
caims are not Spanish but American. by
Article VII. OF the Paris treaty OF Deem
| ber 1898. tho United States assumed re-
sponsbility for the claims OF American
| citizens who had suffered, In person or III
property, by the Cuban revolt OF 1913.
| Claims have becn filed 10 the amount OF
nearly 500 900 600
The claims commission was organized
! and established presumably for the pur-
pose stated in the act by which 1t was
created - the adjudication OF the claims
according to the merits Of the several
cases, the principles of equity and oil m
ternational law" To some extent TINS
programme has been carried out. Some
cases have been reviewed and rejected.
| Among the dismissed claims are those oil
| 1852 enlisted seamen, amounting to nearly
q, 600 900, for damages sustained US result
Of the explosion of the Maine. Awards
have been made in few instances. But
the great mass of the claims are in suspense
pending the decision Of a question whioh
! a 80 alAuu N, gftNh commas
sion. That IL the question whether, In the
great majority Of these cases, the Govern
ment Ia responsible for anything.
As a broad proposition, so far az u IL
capable Of statement, responsibility Tor
! damages follows an Instruction but does
! not follow a state Of war. IL the Cuban
revolt was. "a claimed by Spain with the
general support OF the United States merely
an instruction. Spain became responsoie
! for damages to foreign citizens resident
or holding property in the island, and That
responsibility WAS transferred TO and as-
sumed by the United States under Article
! VII Of the Paris treaty. III n state oil war
existed the obligation disappears. Inc
matter is not specifically covered by any
written laws. but the distinction here in
| dictated IL that which is accepted by the
best authorities ON international Law. The
! question Immediately involved concerns
the competency Of the Spanish Claims Com
| mission to review an act of the United States
and pass upon the propHety and tho validity
of an attitude maintained by the American
authorities for three years.
Whether state of war existed or did not
| exist. under a strict Interpretation of nc
cepted principles unwritten as laws the
! Cuban revolt was not 30 regarded by the
| United States The Cuban demand for
recognition as belllgerents was more than
once refused; the partakers in the revolt
we're regarded az rebels; and the term
war. when IL was used was used in its
general and not in its specific legal sense.
| Under date Of Dec. 7. 1905. Senior l. Estrada
! Palma then the head Of the Cuban Junta
| 10 New York. submitted to the Hon Rich
ard Oney. then SeclStary of State. an
elaborate argument in support OF Cuban
| claims for recognition ms belligerents on
| the ground that state of war existed and
| that the C,ibans had not only military
! organization, but an established civil gov
! eminent AZ we'll No conclusive action
" az taken hy this country and for two and
n half wears afterward the attitude Of the
/ United States was an Endorsement OF the
Spanish claim that the instruction bad not
passed beyond the control Of the parent
| Government and therefore had not be-
| come in legal sense q state of war.
A special commission, presumably ap-
nnnted for an entirely different purpose,
now sits in judgment by n self-assumed
! authority and declares, by vote OF
to 2, that the United States represented
| by two Presidents and by the Congress of
that time. was wrong II assumes juris-
diction in the determination Of political
issues which the Supreme Court has a
number of times refused to do, and finds.
az Mr.. Kennedy says. that the United States
il not bound by the joint action Of the Presi
dent and Congress, and that II Is not its
duty TO pay over TO its injured citizens the
indemnity il exaoted from Spain expressly
for their benefit
4 part Of Mr.. hennedy's proposition may
be open to controversy, but the fact stands
that the Spanish Claims Commission is
without power to review political act Of
the United States It's powers and its du-
ties are limited to the determination Of
damages and their amount sustained by
the various claimants. With the question
of the existence Of state Of war II has
nothing 10 90, nor II ~ piop'iiF OouceiHe''
with such matters as the right Of the United
States to intervene in the affairs OF Spain
and her colony.
The commission should keep to its proper
work of adjudioatlng claims on the basis
Of their merits. The probability is that the
claimants will die before they get their
money, IA tho French claimants did; but
there is no good reason why they should
die without knowing how much they ought
10 get.
Deficient ideas OF Corea