160 



CONGRESS. (CUBA.) 



Resolved by the. Senate and House of Repre- 

 ,,f //it- I'nitfd Slates of America in Con- 



of t 



gress assembled. That the President is hereby au- 

 ihori/i-d and directed to intervene at once to stop 

 I la- war in Cuba, to the etui and with the purpose 

 of securing permanent peace and order there and 

 establishing by the free art ion of the people thereof 

 a stable and indMMMtat government of their own 

 in tlu- island of Cut>a. And tin- President is hereby 

 authorized and 'iii|M.w.-ivd to use the land and 

 naval forces of the I'liiled States to execute the 

 purpose of this resolution." 



This was the measure proposed by the Repub- 

 lican majority of the committee, but it failed to 

 fy the Democratic minority, and the gentle- 

 men <"-., in posing that minority offered a substitute 

 as foil 



/.'. .,/r, ,/ by the Senate and House of Repre- 

 sfntafirts of thf United States of America in Con- 

 gress assembled 



i iox 1. That the United States Government 

 hereby recognizes the independence of the republic 

 of Cuba. 



.'. That, moved thereto by many considera- 

 tions of humanity, of interest, and of provocation, 

 among which are the deliberate mooring of our 

 buttle ship, the 'Maine,' over a submarine mine 

 and its destruction in the harbor of Havana, the 

 I'r.-ident of the United States be, and he is hereby, 

 directed to employ immediately the land and naval 

 forces of the United States in aiding the republic 

 of Cuba to maintain the independence hereby rec- 

 ognised. 



- SKC. 3. That the President of the United States 

 i- hereby authorized and directed to extend imme- 

 diate relief to the starving people of Cuba." 



There was a disposition on the part of the ma- 

 jority to shut out this resolution and the report in 

 its favor, and the result was a disgraceful scene, as 

 the Democrats who had been very forward in the 

 movement for war were eager to put themselves on 

 record in the matter. As usual in recent years, a 

 special rule was reported for the purpose of rushing 

 action on the resolution; but in the course of the 

 brief discussion the point urged by the minority 

 was granted as a matter of favor. 



Mr. Bailey, of Texas, said amid strong expres- 

 sions of Democratic approval : 



" 1 am gratified to know that after fifteen months 

 of delay and suspense, it has at last dawned upon 

 the Republican majority of this House that the 

 time for action has arrived. For more than a year 

 we have been entreating you to take some action. 

 During the whole of this session we have appealed 

 tn you to act. And it is at least some satisfaction 

 that you have resolved at last not to heed our ap- 



Eal. but to heed your angry constituents at home. 

 it true to vour policy and your traditions, you 

 have resolved that when at last you are compelled 

 to act you will deny to members of this body the 

 Opportunity to di>ciiss your conduct. 



"There is a radical difference between the reso- 

 lutions rejxirted by the majority and those reported 

 by tin* minority. There ought to be time and op- 

 |-rt unity allowed for those of us who think the 

 minority resolutions the wiser to point out to the 

 House and to the country the reasons for our belief. 

 And yet I know as well as the members on that M.!.- 

 that these resolutions that involve the question of 

 or war are to | N > rushed through this body 

 with a short and insuffloienl debate, and that, to.'., 

 when every man in the country knows that noth- 

 ing can be done until the Senate acts, and you 

 know that the Senate will act with proper delibera- 

 tion. 



" But. Mr. Sponker. we would rather have action 

 at last without di-cuv-ion than to have the practice 



of the last twelve months allowing ample discus- 

 sion and no decision." 



Mr. McMillin, of Tennessee, said : 



"The resolution of the majority does not propose 

 to recognize the republic of Cuba, and the resolu- 

 tion of the minority does. The resolution of the 

 majority does not force the President to send our 

 army and our navy to back up this action immedi- 

 ately; the resolution of the minority does. They 

 differ as the poles differ, and their differences ought 

 to be shown and the Representatives here given an 

 opportunity to show which one of the resolutions 

 best accomplishes the work to be performed. 



" You heard the President's message. You know 

 the spirit that it breathed. You know the inde- 

 cision that characterized it. You know there was 

 no free Cuba in it; and yet you propose to turn 

 over to him the army, you propose to turn over to 

 him the navy, and turn back to him the Treasury, 

 and give him discretion to fight or not to fight, as 

 he pleases. So far as I am concerned, and I believe 

 I represent the members on this side of the House, 

 we are not only in favor of free Cuba, but we intend 

 that the President of the United States shall not 

 stand in the way of that freedom. 



"Let us have ample discussion; let us have de- 

 liberate action. When we shall send the army 

 there, how much we shall send, is important ; how 

 we shall raise revenues is important. We are tak- 

 ing a step that is of the utmost importance, and 

 yet we are about to tell the American people that 

 in this momentous question there shall not be calm 

 deliberation. It does us injustice to legislate in 

 such a way." 



The argument for the majority resolution was 

 put by Mr. Adams as follows : 



" Our country must proceed in order, under the 

 rules of international law, if we wish to preserve 

 our standing among the nations of the earth. 

 Our President has pursued a consistent course. As 

 soon as he entered the Executive chair he made 

 propositions to Spain, all of which have been grant- 

 ed. He had not been in office sixty days until every 

 American citizen, native born, or those bearing the 

 official stamp of our courts, was set free to breathe 

 that air of freedom which God meant we should 

 enjoy. 



" The alleged republic of Cuba has my sympathy. 

 I believe that the men who have struggled so long 

 to obtain their freedom are entitled to our sympathy, 

 and, if possible, to our recognition. But they must 

 first have a standing, such standing under interna- 

 tional law as will justify the executive department 

 of our Government in giving such recognition. The 

 conditions now do not fulfill those obligations. It 

 would be impossible for our Government to recog- 

 nize the insurgents in Cuba. The very fact, if you 

 wish to send an envoy there, you would have to 

 send him by force through the Spanish lines, or you 

 would have to land him on a beach, the same as the 

 insurgents and filibusters have to land their muni- 

 tions in that country, is enough to show that they 

 have not standing for recognition. 



" They have not that stable government which is 

 entitled to recognition. They have not power to 

 carry on civil government. They have no capital 

 or permanently located seat of government. They 

 have not a single port in their possession. They 

 have not a single ship on the high seas. They have 

 not a government under civil authority that can 

 enforce its laws. 



"They are surrounded entirely by the Spanish 

 army. And it is a principle of international law 

 which will not be disputed by any man who knows 

 anything on that subject that until the parent 

 country has practically ceased to enforce its gov- 

 ernment against the rebellious subjects, no other 





