Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-31

sort Of protectorate like that of England
over Egypt. Mr.. Montoro was not afraid
to be quoted in favor of such an arrange
ment the other day, but the gentleman
| to whom 1 now allude went a little farther
and advocated an amendment to the treaty
| now existing between the United States
and Cuba authorizing the President of the
| United States to appoint adviser for
| the president of Cuba, to sit in the back
| ground without rank title, but, at the
same time, to be visible and ever-present
! evidence of our right to intervene in the
| affairs of the island at any moment when
| 1t appears to be necessary. At the same
time, my friend declared. there must be
| positive and definite stipulation that the
! government of the United States will not
| recognize or tolerate armed opposition to
| an existing government under any pretext
or for any reason whatsoever. Complaints
| or grievances against an existing govern
| ment by an amendment to the treaty shall
| hereafter be referred to the President of
| the United States for arbitration and his
| decision shall be final.
| With such an arrangement he declared
| that the tnSurrectiOn habit could be broken;
! the leaders would soon become convinced
that revolutions are unprofitable; an in
surrect1on against Cuba would be equiva-
| lent to an instruction against the United
States and a defiance of its authority and
would be treated as such. There Is a great
| deal of criticism because Secretary Taft
| received as friends the leaders of an insur-
| rection last summer and conferred with
| them officially, which, many people here
| think, set very bad precedent.
There will never be another revolution
| in Cuba" said my friend, 'if the President
of the United States will declare that the
constitutional government will be support
ed by the United States and that resistance
| to it will be treated as hostility. With such
| an arrangement as l have described it will
not be necessary to keep an army here in
| Cuba. The moral force of the presence of
an adviser will be enough. The rural
guards will take care of any revolution
that may arise If they are convinced that
fhnv,
United States in case 1t should be neces-
sary."
American Minister Might Act.
There plenty of precedents for an ad-
wiser to the president of Cuba outside of
Egypt In India every one Of the native
princes has an English resident at his
side, and in Burma and the Malay fedora
ton. Local authorities are guided by the
advice of foreigners, selected for their
knowledge, prudence and wisdom in several
sections. China has had many foreign ad-
visers in the various branches OF its gov
eminent. Mr.. E. H. Strobel of Washing
ton sits behind the throne of Siam. Mr..
Dennison has been in the foreign office at
Toxic for third of a century with no other
duty than to advise the minister of foreign
relations and Durham B. Stevens, another
American, Is the invisible power behind the
throne in Korea. But Egypt is the best
illustration Lord Cromer, who Is called
the greatest of the Pharaohs,' and for
years the actual ruler of that country is
consul general of Great Britain and has no |
other rank, title or jurisdiction. On oc-
casions of ceremony he takes his place with |
the other members of the consular corps
and when New Year day comes around
he calls at the palace with his colleagues |
tenders his congratulations to the khedive |
and wishes him a happy and prosperous
new year. One who did not know the |
secret relationship would suppose that Lord |
Cromer was nothing more than the French |
uyha
In his quiet, unobtrusive way he is an alb |
solute despot and the khedive would be !
compelled to leave the throne at any mo-
ment that he should require it.
The United States minister to Cuba, or |
our consul general might be acting in a
similar capacity without ostentaton with
the Cuban people, by authority conferred |
by treaty to prevent misgovernment, in |
justice snd injury to foreign interests
Cuba Must Take Initiative.
But this could not be DONE except by in |
vitation Of the Cubans. President Roose- |
welt does not propose to place the United |
States in the attitude of conquest because |
of its effect upon the other Amercan> ma |
TONS One of the judges of the supreme !
court of Cuba, when 1 asked his opinion
of the prOtectorate proposition, said:
1T is an excellent idea, and would I'M
dcubtedly be effective in preserving the
peace, because there is a wholesome re-
But, at the same time, your government |
could not afford to assume a protectorate
without destroying it's influence among the
other American nations. The Europeans |
might justify it. Those powers whose sub
jccts have large financial interests in Cuba
would undoubtedly do so, but some of the
other Latin-American countries would not.
They would say: Panama was number
enc, Cuba is number two, which of US
will be rumber three?"
There IS reason to believe that President !
R0oseN cit has put the case in this way to
several Cubans who have visited Wash
ington To p1 otest against the withdrawal of
the United States troops and the restora-
tion of authority to the politicians. He
has told them that If they want us to stay
in Cuba it will be necessary for the people
of this island to make such manifesto |
ton as will convince the other American
republics, and the world at large, that we
here involuntarily and by their re-
quest. Gov Magoon talks that way. He
tells everybody that the United States will
evacuate Cuba Immediately after an cleo
ton can be held; that It cannot do other
wise under the terms of his proclamation.
If the policy Of our government is changed. |
there must be good reasons for it, and the |
Cubans themselves must furnish those rea-
sons. He tells them that it is the desire |
OF President Roosevelt to adapt the policy |
of his administration to the best interests |
of Cuba and to the wishes of the people |
at large.