} ,
Cbc Conservative *
THK SPANISH WAIl.
A Prophecy or an Exception ?
[ By the Hon. David .T. Brewer , associate jus
tice of the supreme court of the United
States ] ,
Ou the 18th dny of April , 1898 , con
gress , by an overwhelming vote , passed
this resolution :
"Joint resolution for the recognition
of the independence of the people of
Cuba , demanding that the government
of Spain relinquish its authority and
government in the island of Cuba , and
to withdraw its land and naval forces
from Cuba and Cuban waters , and
directing the president of the United
States to use the laud and naval forces
of the United States to carry these
resolutions into effect.
" "WHEREAS , The abhorrent conditions
which have existed for more than three
years in the island of Cuba , so near our
own borders , have shocked the moral
sense of the people of the United States ,
have been a disgrace to Christian civil
ization , culminating , as they have , in
the destruction of a United States bat
tleship , with 265 of its officers and crew ,
while on a friendly visit in the harbor
of Havana , and cannot longer be en
dured , as has been set forth by the pres
ident of the United States in his mes
sage to congress of April 11 , 1898 , upon
which the action of congress was in
vited ; therefore ,
"Resolved , By the senate and house of
representatives of the United States of
America , in congress assembled :
"First. That the people of the island
of Cuba are , and of right ought to bo ,
free and independent.
"Second. That it is the duty of the
United States to demand , and the gov
ernment of the United States does here
by demand , that the government of
Spain at once relinquish its authority
and government in the island of Cuba
and withdraw its land and naval forces
from Cuba and Cuban waters.
"Third. That the president of the
United States be , and he hereby is , di
rected and empowered to use the entire
land and naval forces of the United
States , and to call into the actual ser
vice of the United States the militia of
the several states , to such extent as may
be necessary to carry these resolutions
into effect.
"Fourth. That the United States
hereby disclaims any disposition or in
tention to exercise sovereignty , juris
diction or control over said island , ex
cept for the pacification thereof , and
asserts its determination , when that is
accomplished , to leave the government
and control of the island to its people.
"Approved April 20 , 1898. "
This was the official declaration by
the nation of its purpose in commencing
the recent war. If thereupon Spain had
withdrawn its troops from Cuba and
loft the people of the island free to ea-
tablish their own government there
would have been no war. And when
as the result of the conflict Spain relin
quished all dominion mid control of
Cuba and loft her people free , the pur
pose of the war was accomplished.
It were going too far to say that the
philanthropic motive of emancipating
Cuba was the solo cause of the war.
Other matters tended more or less di
rectly to precipitate the collision. Cuba
had been for years in a state of chronic
disturbance. Its unsettled condition
had seriously interfered with our com
mercial relations with the island and
pecuniarily damaged our interests.
The fearful catastrophe of the de
struction of the "Maine" intensi
fied an already growing feeling.
The cool , dispassionate statement of
Senator Proctor , reciting the horrors
whioli he had seen , more potent than
all the tempestuous utterances of those
jingo orators who shouted for war , but
never enlisted , strengthened the convic
tion that something ought to bo done.
And then the varied interests which
always hope , to profit either pe
cuniarily or in the line of military or
naval glory by any war kept steadily
working toward the same result. Yet ,
while all these matters are to bo taken
into account in determining the causes
of the war , the fact remains that the
main thought the officially declared
purpose was the relief of an oppressed
people. And that purpose ought never
to bo forgotten. "Whether facts were
distorted , cruelties exaggerated , the real
conditions misrepresented , whether ,
indeed , the emergency had arisen which
called for interference , are matters
which may bo disputed and debated ,
but it should never be forgotten that the
American people believed that the emer
gency had arisen , that humanity de
manded interference , and undertook
the war to put an end to cruelty and
wrong and for the emancipation of a
struggling and down-trodden people.
Vheu the war had commenced it was
waged as other wars , and this country
struck where it could , and as hard as it
could. We aimed at the solar plexus ,
and we hit it. The proud Castillian
Corbett went down , and victory is ours.
Out of this war have sprung questions
affecting the future history and policy
of this country , questions condensed in
that which I have selected as the title of
this talk :
"The War With Spain ; a Prophecy or an
Exception ?
The questions which I wish to notice
are two in number , and may bo stated
thus :
First because we undertook the de
liverance of the oppressed Cubans from
the domination of Spain are wo here
after to assume the duty of forcibly
emancipating all oppressed peoples or
were the circumstances surrounding our
interference in Cuban affairs such as to
make that simply an exception in our
history and policy ?
Secondly are wo to extend our do
minion by force , purchase or otherwise
over remote territory and outer upon
that career of colonial expansion which
has become the settled habit of the
great European nations , or are wo to re
main content with our compact conti
nental possessions and devote our ener
gies to the development of our own re
sources and the building up of the
United States of America within those
limits along the Hues of our past history ?
The questions thus presented are vital
and far-reaching. They are not to bo
settled dogmatically ; by epithet or by
denunciation ; not by saying that what
has been must bo , and that changed con
ditions bring no change in duty or pol
icy ; nor , on the other hand , that be
cause we are powerful , and can do so , it
is destiny and duty that we should.
Cant phrases do not change convictions
or determine right , and the American
people are not ruled by an epigram.
Fortunately , these questions are being
discussed without reference to party
lines , and in the most earnest , patriotic
and thoughtful manner by all.
Returning to the first question , it
must be noticed that if the circum
stances demanded any outside interfer
ence in the affairs of Cuba ( and that
they did the general concensus of opin
ion in this country asserted ) , then we
were so situated that it would seem to
have been our special duty to interfere ;
we were the near Samaritan. 1 know
there are some who "say that there is no
duty of a nation as of an individual to
act the part of a Samaritan ; that a na
tion , although an aggregation of individ
uals , is somehow or other relieved of all
obligations which rest upon an individ
ual ; that it is not only its privilege , but
its duty , to be guided in all respects by
selfishness ; that no matter what cry of
appeal may come from , far or near , it is
the nation's right to measure its duty ,
not by any questions of humanity , but
by the mere rule of dollars and cents.
To those who entertain such views of
national right and duty any interference
for the mere sake of relieving an op
pressed people is necessarily an excep
tion one to be discountenanced and
never followed.
A Moral Entity.
I do not agree with those views. A
nation is , in my judgment , a great
moral entity , expressing in its life the
sum of all the moral obligations which
rest upon its individual citizens , and so
there are times in the history of every
nation when humanity calls upon it to
look beyond the more matter of dollars
and cents , and even at personal sacri
fice to interfere in the affairs of other
nations. And yet , because this national
duty may sometimes arise , and when it
arises should alwnys bo bravely met , it
does not follow therefrom that there is a