{"1": {"fulltext": "E72(\\nSp\u00e2\u0082\u00ac\u00e2\u0082\u00acdi (p\\nWfv ChArl^ E Cechva/1", "height": "3511", "width": "2575", "jp2-path": "nothingshortofno00coch_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "LIBRARV OF\\nCONGRESS\\n013 902 140 A\\nHoUinger Corp.\\npH8.5", "height": "3912", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "nothingshortofno00coch_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "C66\\nCopy 1\\nNothing Sliort of a Notice to S])a!u to Ouit the Western\\nHemi! i liere vill Moot tiie llequire-\\nlueiits of the Situation.\\nSPEECH\\nIIOX. CHARLES r. COCHRAN,\\nOF MISSOURI,\\nIn the House of Eepeesentatives,\\nWednesday, March IG, ISOS.\\nThe House loeing in Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union,\\nand having under consideration the bill (H. R. 9008) making appropriations\\nfor the service of the Post-Office Department for the fiscal year ending June\\nSO, 1899\u00e2\u0080\u0094\\nMr. COCHRAN of Missonri said:\\nMr. Chairman: We live in an age in wliicli nations deal in high-\\nsonnding maxims of morality and indulge in practices which\\nNero would have spurned. Proclaimizig as the shibboleth of ad-\\nvanced civilization, peace on earth, good will to men, the great\\npowers of Christendom propose arbitration as a method of com-\\nposing differences among themselves, while devising, each for\\nitself and by the consent of all, a programme of cold-blooded,\\nwholesale robbery of weak nations and peoples by the more\\npowerful.\\nContemporaneous with ceaseless preaching of the propaganda\\nof perpetual peace, we witness on land the assemblage of armies\\nnumerically the largest known to the history of the world, armed\\nwith engines of destruction and death-dealing instruments hith-\\nerto unknown, and on the seas fleets of monster war ships capable\\nof destroying in an hour the creations of centuries of labor. And\\nwhat mean these vast preparations for armed conflict?\\nAccording to the teachings of statesmen who are continually\\ntelling us this is the age of arbitration and universal peace, they\\nare aimless; but, Mr. Chairman, actions speak louder than words.\\nThese fleets and armies are being used to overawe and despoil the\\nweaker members of the family of nations, and when the people\\ndemand their use for nobler purposes, governments are held in\\nrestraint by stockjobbers and speculators, who stifle every war-\\nlike movement that has not for its object the promotion of merce-\\nnary ends.\\nMr. Chairman, in the recent past we have seen diplomacy bind\\nthe hands of Christendom while the Turks executed the vengeance\\nof demons upon the Armenians\u00e2\u0080\u0094 destroying temples of worship,\\nconverting prosperous regions into a wilderness, reducing the\\nhabitations of the people into tenantless ruins, and consigning a\\nvast multitude of men, women, and children to bloody graves.\\nWe have witnessed a coalition of great powers girdling the\\nIsland of Crete with war ships to prevent the Greeks from going\\n3173 1", "height": "3631", "width": "2169", "jp2-path": "nothingshortofno00coch_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "Xu\\n68016\\n5r\\nCo\\nv.* to the rescue of the Cretan Christians, who for so many years have\\nsuffered the horrors of Turkish rule.\\nFresh in the recollection of lovers of liberty everywhere is the\\nnarrow escape of the Boer Republic from destruction, planned\\njA and desperately attempted by British adventurers engaged in the\\nexploitation of the wealth of plundered Africa, and as we sit here\\nhalf a dozen great nations are engaged in the pastime of dismem-\\nbering the venerable Chinese Empire.\\nMr. Chairman, such are the deeds, such the achievements, of\\nthose who, in the Old World, reecho the platitudes by which, in\\nthis free country, the maudlin pretense of aversion to violence\\nand bloodshed has been used as an excuse for the actual partici-\\npation of our Navy in a war of extermination waged by commis-\\nsioned assassins against a race whose only crime is the love of\\nliberty and heroic resistance of oppression. And what in the eyes\\nof Americans adds to the disgrace of this repulsive spectacle is the\\nknowledge that corporation mongers and gamblers who thrive by\\nstudying the stock ticker in London and New York have the ear\\nof the Government and are more influential in shaping public\\npolicies than the united and solemn voice of the people, and that\\nit is the exercise of their pernicious influence that has brought\\nabout the nation s degTadation.\\nI call the attention of this House and of the country to the fact\\nthat for more than a year, iipon this side of the Chamber, the de-\\nmand for the recognition of the belligerent rights of the Cuban\\npatriots has been incessantly made, and to the further fact that, in\\norder to evade performance of that plain duty, every subterfuge\\npossible to be invented has been resorted to by the Republican\\nmajority in this body. The law has been perverted. The notori-\\nous facts of history have been denied.\\nFor over two years the policy of our Government in reference\\nto the war in Cuba has been controlled by the subsidized press and\\nthe corporation managers, and the people know it. They know\\nalso, Mr. Chairman, that if at last the Hannaized Administration\\ngrudgingly approaches compliance with the will of the people, it\\nis because the Republicans in this body, who for a whole year have\\nsupinely permitted Hannaism to hold full sway, have become\\nalarmed at the anger of the people and demanded of the President\\na reversal of the policy of the Government, not for the purpose of\\nsaving the nation from dishonor and rescuing Cuba from destruc-\\ntion, but in order to prevent the annihilation of the Republican\\nparty at the polls next November,\\nMr. Chairman, nothing that has recently transpired will erase\\nfrom the minds of the American people the ugly impression made\\nby the surrender of the Presidential office to the control of Mark\\nHanna and his associates. The country has not been deceived by\\nthe subterfuges by which two Presidents\u00e2\u0080\u0094 first Mr. Cleveland and\\nafterwards his successor\u00e2\u0080\u0094 have sought to obscure the true cause of\\nthe policy pursued by our Government in reference to the Cuban\\nquestion.\\nThe people know that it is the paramount influence of the bond-\\nholders and stockjobbers of London and New York that has\\ncaused two Administrations to refuse the recognition of Cuban\\nbelligerencv. They know that for three years this country has\\nacted as the ally of Spain in the war of extermination which has\\nconverted the Island of Cuba into a sepulcher in which are en-\\ntombed over half a million victims of willful assassination. Noth-\\ning can expiate the fault that has made this Republic an accom-\\ntl73", "height": "3381", "width": "2044", "jp2-path": "nothingshortofno00coch_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "plice of the brutal dynasty which on the eve of its dissolution\\nand destruction has capped the climax of centuries of infamy by\\ndeliberately planning and fiendishly consummating the murder of\\na race.\\nMr. Chairman, may I inquire what has recently occurred to\\nsilence the gentlemen who, only a few weeks ago, on this floor\\nand at the other end of the Capitol, were revamping the quibbles\\nand pretenses by which the McKinley Administration has\\nattempted to Justify its policy\u00e2\u0080\u0094 quibbles, sir, founded on deliber-\\nate misstatement of the law and the gross perversion of current\\nhistory?\\nIndisputably, prior to the destruction of the Maine, there was\\nno sign of an intention of the Administration to go to the help of\\nthe Cubans. On the contrary, we know that until the Maine dis-\\naster upset all calculations, an early adjournment of Congress had\\nbeen planned. It was feared that the bosses might lose control of\\nthe Republican side of this House. A few Republicans might\\nslip their muzzles, join the Democrats, and precipitate a crisis.\\nTherefore the programme was to hasten the day of adjournment.\\nThe Maine disaster alone prevented the consummation of this\\nIH ogramme.\\nWe know that with a Senate resolution recognizing belligerency\\npending in this body for a year, action. has been prevented. The\\nPresident has refused to act, and his representatives on this floor\\nhave prevented the House from acting. The House of Represent-\\natives as well as the Executive has listened to the stock jobbers,\\nwhile, almost within sight of our shores, the fairest island on the\\nfootstool has been the scene of ruthless and savage butchery of\\nthe bravest people that ever fought for human rights.\\nAs evidencing the paltry methods used to execute this ignoble\\npolicy, I call attention to the use made of a message sent to Con-\\ngress by President Grant during the former Cuban insurrection,\\npart of which was incorporated into President McKinley s Decem-\\nber message, and afSrm that deliberate and willful misconstruc-\\ntion of the Grant message has been made the basis of the defense\\nmost relied upon by the apologists of the present Administration.\\nIt is my purpose to-day to remove the mask thus improvised by\\nshowing conclusively that for two years our Government has\\ndenied the recognition of Cuban belligerency, not because it was\\nforbidden by the law of nations, but in violation of every syllable\\nof international law applicable to the case.\\nWhen the diplomatic appropriation bill was up for discussion\\nunder the five-minute rule, I had a few words to say on this sub-\\nject. I then called attention to the fact that it had been argued\\nby the President and his apologists in Congress that the existence\\nof an organized civil government, located at a permanent capital\\nand exercising throughout a considerable area the powers of sov-\\nereignty\u00e2\u0080\u0094collecting taxes, administering justice, etc.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 is an essen-\\ntial condition precedent to the lawfulness of the recognition of the\\nCuban revolutionary forces as a belligerent power.\\nI declared the position untenable, and gave notice that later I\\nwould submit authorities proving that it has no foundation in in-\\nternational law, but that, on the contrary, even though no civil\\ngovernment at all had been organized, the conditions existing on\\nthe island and which have existed there for over two years have\\nthroughout that period not only been such as to justify, but such\\nas to demand recognition of the belligerency of the Cuban patriots.\\nIn the limited time at my disposal I can not comment at length\\n3K3", "height": "3438", "width": "2080", "jp2-path": "nothingshortofno00coch_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "4\\nTipon the authorities, but, in my judgment, comment is unneces-\\nsary.\\nI lay down as an incontrovertible proposition, sustained by all\\nthe great writers on the subject, that in order to justify the recog-\\nnition of belligerency it is only necessary that there exist on the\\nisland a condition of public war, and invite attention to the author-\\nities I shall cite to support this position.\\nBefore reading the authorities I beg to acknowledge obligations\\nto a distingiiisiied Republican member of this body [Mr. Wm.\\nAlden Smith] who, over two years ago, presented to the House a\\nrespectable array of authorities going to sustain the position I am\\ncontending for to-day. I include the fruits of the gentleman s\\nlabor in the list of quotations from the great writers which I now\\nsubmit.\\nManning s Law of Nations lays down this proposition, which,\\nin mj^ judgment, is so firmly grounded in reason and common\\nsense that its soundness will not be called in question:\\nThe concession of belligerent rights may, at a certain epoch of the strife,\\nbe claimed both in the interest of humanity and of neutral states. There\\nalways, indeed, arrives a moment at which such a concession is made (as in\\nthe case of the late Southern insurrection in the United States) by the very\\ngovernment against which the revolt takes place.\\nDiscussing the point at which, under the foregoing rule, a for-\\neign state should extend recognition of belligerency, Mr. Man-\\nning says:\\nIt mxist be neither so premature as to embarrass a friendly government\\nin suppressing what may prove only a transient or partial display of disorder\\nor treachery, nor, on the other hand, so dilatory as to protract the incon-\\nveniences and cruelty incident to a contest conducted on a large scale apart\\nfrom all the humane alleviations which the l3,ws of civilized war have intro-\\nduced.\\nIn the prize cases (3 Black, Supreme Court Reports) Judge\\nQrier says:\\nA civil war is never solemnly declared. It becomes such by accident. The\\npower and organization of the persons who originate and carry it on, when\\nthe party in rebellion occupy and hold in a hostile manner a certain portion\\nof territory, have declared their independence and cast off their allegiance,\\nand have organized armies, commenced hostilities against their former sov-\\nereign, the world acknowledges them as belligerents and the contest as war.\\nIn discussing the recognition of belligerency of the Confederate\\nStates by Great Britain and the grounds upon which the step was\\ntaken, Earl Russell pointed out that nearly 100,000 troops had\\nbeen placed in the field by the Federal Government, and com-\\nmented as follows:\\nAfter a recital of these immense efforts it seems quite inappropriate to\\nspeak of unlawful combinations. When considering the case of the Greek\\nrevolutionists, Mr. Canning said that the character of belligerency is not so\\nmuch a principle as a fact; that a certain degree of force and consistency ac-\\nquired by a mass of population engaged in war entitled that population to be\\ntreated as belligerents. Even if their right was questionable, it was to the\\ninterest of nations, well understood, to so treat them.\\nBluntschli thus distinguishes a revolutionary, military force\\nfrom a lawless and criminal revolt against the sovereign power:\\nEvery struggle with an armed band, even when it may be organizedin a\\nmilitary manner, is not a war. When, in southern Italy, brigands form\\nthemselves into armed troops, regularly commanded, and give battle to the\\nGovernment troops, they do not for that reason constitute a belligerent\\nparty, but only bands of malefactors. The distinction rest upon this\u00e2\u0080\u0094 that\\n\u00e2\u0080\u00a2war is a political struggle, engaged in for political ends. Brigands neither\\naspire to defend the existing political .system nor to create a new one; they\\nobey only the guilty desire of obtaining by violence control of the persons\\nand possessions of their neighbors. They properly fall, therefore, within\\nthe jurisdiction of criminal tribunals, and the law of nations is not concerned\\nwith them.\\n3173", "height": "3381", "width": "2044", "jp2-path": "nothingshortofno00coch_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "It is a different matter wlien in a state a large party of citizens or sub-\\njects, convinced of the necessitj- of a revolution, or of the .iustice of their\\nclaims, take up arms, organize themselves in a military manner and oppose\\nregular troops to the troops of the government. It can not l)e maintained\\nthat such an organized body of citizens animated by a political purpose does\\nnot possess a possible aptitude for the creation of a new state.\\nThe same principle is laid dowm in Hall s Treatise on Inter-\\nnational Law, as follows:\\nAs soon as a considerable population is arrayed in arms with the professed\\nobject of obtaining political ends it resembles a state too nearly for it to be\\npossible to treat individuals belonging to such populations as criminals. It\\nwould be inhuman for the enemy to execute his prisoners. It would be still\\nmf,re inhuman for foreign nations to capture and hang the crews of war\\nships as pirates. Humanity requii-es that the members of such a community\\nbe treated as belligerents.\\nIn tlie Institutes of the Law of Nations, Dr. James Lorimer con-\\ncurs in this view. Dr. Lorimer saj s:\\nThere is the recognition of the inchoate state as a .iural claimant for sepa-\\nrate recognition: that is to say, the acknowledgment of its right to contend\\ntor its recognition, or. to borrow a phrase from municipal law, of its title to\\nsue. The fcrm vvhich recognition usually assumes at this stage is that of a\\nconcession of belligerent rights.\\nThe same author thus defines the effects of the recognition of\\nbelligerency upon the legal status of the insurgents:\\nBelligerents have an international existence for one purpose only, viz. for\\nthe purpose of fighting and thus ascertaining by the verdict of battle their\\nfurther right to full, tinal recognition.\\nVattel says:\\nWhen a party is formed in a state who no longer obey the sovereign and\\nare possessed of sufficient strength to oppose him, this is called a civil war.\\nThe distinction between a revolutionary military movement\\nand organization and an established state is thus clearly stated by\\nBluntschli:\\nThe quality of belligerents is accorded to armed parties who, without\\nhaving received from an already existing state the right to combat with\\narmed forces, have militarily organized themselves and struggle in good\\nfaith within their own state for a political right.\\nIn his Lectures on International Law, in referring to cases where\\nmerely withholding recognition of belligerency necessarily compels\\na foreign power to render material assistance to the mother coun-\\ntry. Professor Pomeroy states with precision the rule of interna-\\ntional law applicable to the peculiar situation with which, in ref-\\nence to the Cuban war, Presidents Cleveland and McKinley have\\nhad to deal. He says:\\nTo refuse such recognition [that of belligerency] might, under certain cir-\\ncumstances, have the direct effect of causing the state so refusing to take\\nthe part of the mother country against the rebels. As a consequence, if an-\\nother countrv would remain strictly neutral to the contest, that very atti-\\ntude would involve the recognition of the insurgents aslielligeronts. L^nless\\nanother power desires to take active part in the hostilities and throw the\\nweight of its influence and, under some circumstances, the positive aid of\\nits executive powers in favor of the mother country, it must treat the rebels\\nas belligerents.\\nLorimer coincides with Pomeroy:\\nBy recognizing belligerent rights neutral powers pronounce no judgment\\nwhatever, either on the merits of the claim or the probaVnlity of its ultimate\\nvindication. Belligerent recognition is a mere declaration of impartiality.\\nTo withhold from the claimant for recognition the rights of belligerency\\nwhilst we extend them to the parent state would plainly be to take part in\\nthe war.\\nI submit that had the distinguished writers had in view the case\\nof the Cul^an Republic, they could not have laid down a rule more\\ncompletely Mtting it.\\nuir.3", "height": "3438", "width": "2080", "jp2-path": "nothingshortofno00coch_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "Mr. Chairman, 1 have here presented the law of the case as laid\\ndown by the leading writers of the civilized nations of both hem-\\nispheres. That it i\u00c2\u00bb the law is incontestable. I defy any gentle-\\nman in this Chamber to produce a respectable authority contra-\\nvening it.\\nThe quotation from the message of President Grant which\\nformed a part of President McKinley s message does not call in\\nquestion the principle laid down in the aiithorities I have cited,\\nbut, on the contrary, sanctions it.\\nPresident Grant stated emphatically that a condition of public\\nwar did not exist in Cuba, and therefore the insurgents were not\\nentitled to recognition. As one fact going to sustain that assertion\\nthat public war did not exist, he pointed out that the belligerents\\nhad no seat of government; that in fact no civil government had\\nbeen organized bj- them; and in order to justify Hannaism, Mr.\\nMcKinley pretends to misunderstand his illustrious predecessor.\\nHe pretends to believe that President Grant contended that in\\norder to justify recognition an organized civil government and a\\ncapital were necessary, when, in fact. Grant merely mentioned,\\nas one thing tending to show that public war did not exist, the\\nfact that no civil government and no capital had been established\\nbv the insurgents.\\nAnd, Mr. Chairman, the President is not the only offender, for\\nbetter lawyers than Mr. McKinley, in this Chamber and at the\\nother end of the Capitol, have found it convenient to adopt the\\nhypocritical tactics of their versatile chieftain, and when tlie\\nrecognition of belligerency has been demanded have replied: The\\nCiibans have no capital and no organized civil government.\\nI forego further comment because my time is limited, but again\\naffirm that the authorities I have read sustain as well established\\nprinciples of international law\\n1. If there exists and has existed for over two years in Cuba a\\ncondition of public war, this country should have recognized the\\nbelligerency of the revolutionary forces.\\n2. If a state of public war has for some time existed in Cuba\\nand on account of the proximity of the island to our shores and\\nattendant circumstances we could not maintain strict neutrality,\\nbut must necessarily actively aid Spain until we hail recognized\\nthe Cubans as belligerents, then, in order that we might remain\\nstrictly neutral, we not only had the legal right but it was our\\nduty to extend such recognition, and to do so would not have\\nbeen an act unfriendly to Spain.\\ny. Under conditions legally authorizing such a course, on the\\nground that it is essential to the protection of the interests of a\\nforeign power, the recognition of the belligerency of revolted\\ncolonists, if accompanied by a distinct avowal of a policy of non-\\nintervention and followed by strict neutrality, is not necessarily\\nan unfriendly act.\\nMr. Chairman, in siipport of the assertion that during the en-\\ntire year in which Mr. McKinley has been using our Navy to help\\nthe Spaniards public war has existed in Cuba, I might call atten-\\ntion to acknowledged facts\u00e2\u0080\u0094 facts patent to every member of this\\nHouse\u00e2\u0080\u0094 showing that the most destructive war the world has ever\\nknown has been in progress in the unhappy little island; a war, Mr.\\nChairman, which, according to reports unquestionably authentic,\\nhas already cost Cuba, with her small population, a larger number\\nof lives than the aggregate death roll of the Army of tliis great\\ncountry in all the wars it has ever engaged in\u00e2\u0080\u0094 more lives than\\n817.3", "height": "3381", "width": "2044", "jp2-path": "nothingshortofno00coch_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "were lost in the war of the Revolution the war of 1812. the Mexican\\nwar. the war of the rebellion, and a century of conflict with the\\naborigines; and I include in the estimate as well our soldiers who\\ndied of wounds and disease as those who fell in battle.\\nSir, how inexplicable it is that amid this carnival of death, this\\nremorseless destruction of a race, in response to the American\\npeople s demands for justice for the Cubans, we have been told by\\nthe executive that ^^pains legions are confronted, not by an army\\nfighting for the attainment of a political end, but by mere rioters.\\nTliink of it! Two hundred thousand Spanish sokliers iniable to\\nsuppress a riot! Two hundred thousand Spanish sokliers, operat-\\ning in a country comprising only 41,000 square miles of territory,\\nheld at bay for three years and mewed up in the cities and sea-\\nports by an unorganized rabble of lawltreahers, by forces so in-\\nconsequential as not to be entitled to be called an army or have\\ntheir desperate struggle for liberty characterized as war!\\nAnd, Mr. Chairman, it should be borne in mind that for over\\ntwo years Spain has held possession of less than one-half of the\\nisland, and that by a tenure so precarious that in order to main-\\ntain it her armies have been driven to measures more cruel than\\nthe bloody tactics of savage warfare. Unable to successfully in-\\nvade the territory held by the insurgents, suffering continually\\nfrom raids of the revolutionary forces, which have repeatedly so\\nclosely approached the capital as to creafea reign of terror within\\nthe very shadow of Morro Castle, the Spaniards long ago ceased\\nto make war upon the armed insurgents and began the systematic\\nassassination of noncombirtants.\\nTo maintain their feeble hold upon garrisoned cities they have\\nburned the habitations of the people, reduced the provinces occu-\\npied by their troops to a wilderness incapable of sustaining human\\nlife, and turned loose upon the defenseless, unarmed peasantry an\\narmy of butchers, who, day and night, have reveled in carnage.\\nMatchless, indeed, is the valor of the braves who have withstood\\nthis savage onslaught, who, notwithstanding Spain s resort to\\nthese fiendish measures, continue the struggle against frightful\\nodds, determined to drive the Spaniard from the shores or share\\nthe fate of their murdered kinsmen,\\nMr. Chairman, modern history records no such hideous savagerv\\nas has characterized Spain s war upon the Cubans. They have\\nassassinated political prisoners in their cells, shot suspects con-\\nvicted of imaginary political offenses by drumhead courts-mar-\\ntial, butchered the unarmed pacificos in their fields and cabins,\\nbayoneted sick soldiers in their cots, and to this horrible violence\\nand ruthless biitchery have added the atrocity of consigning hun-\\ndreds of thousands of men, women, and children, guiltless of par-\\nticipation in the conflict, to death from starvation!\\nSir, against the inhabitants of the island, those in arms and\\nthose engaged in peaceful pursuits, regardless of age, sex. or con-\\ndition, every instrumentality capable of destroying human life\\nhas been employed, until Cuba s death roll certainly exceeds half\\na million, and yet from the camps of Gomez and Garcia comes\\nthe battle cry with which Patrick Henry electrified the world.\\nGive us liberty or give us death! Never has the world wit-\\nnessed heroism more sublime, contending against diabolism more\\nrepulsive.\\nAnd Spain tells us that these crimes, so appalling that had they\\nbeen committed by the devils in hell they would have been re-\\nbuked by Satan, are necessary to the suppression of a mere riot.\\n3173", "height": "3438", "width": "2080", "jp2-path": "nothingshortofno00coch_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "8\\nThe President of the United States and his spokesmen in Con-\\ngress, when asked to place Cuba upon an equality with her tor-\\nipenter by recognizing belligerency, have told us that because they\\nhuve no established capital, no fully organized civil government,\\narmed forces which for three years have successfully resisted and\\nwhich continue to oppose the assassins are not, in contemplation\\nof international law, belligerents. Shame, oh, shame upon this\\npettifogger s plea!\\nMr. chairman, to the appalling panorama of violence which\\nI have depicted the Democrats in this Chamber have pointed\\nupon it alone I might continue to rely to prove that Cuba has\\nbeen for nearly three years the theater of a public war. But I pre-\\nfer not to rest the case on even the overwhelming testimony that\\nhas been furnished from day to day by the tragical and bloody\\nannals of the struggle.\\nI have said that a number of the authorities I have cited upon\\nthe question of international law involved were presented to tho\\nHouse two years ago by a distinguished Republican member.\\nHaving availed myself of this source of assistance in presenting\\nthe law of the case, I now summon to my assistance, in laying be-\\nfore the House the facts as to the nature of the struggle in Cuba,\\nanother eminent Republican, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr.\\nHitt]. He is the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs,\\nand therefore his superior facilities for ascertaining the facts\\nshould render his evidence as to the military operations in Cuba\\nof the highest value. He is profoundly versed in international\\nlaw and has had extensive experience in diplomacy, and therefore\\nhis opinion as to what is the duty of his Government is entitled\\nto unquestioning respect.\\nNearly two years ago the war in Cuba was imder consideration\\nin this Chamber, and the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Hitt] had\\nthe floor. Listen to what he said on that occasion:\\nFirst, as to the belligerency of the Cubans, if that is a fact, a truth, we\\nmay recognize it; if it is not, if it is a falsehood, wo ought not to recog-\\nnize it under any circumstances. Now, let us see what are the facts. That\\ntliere is a state of war, that there is belligerency, can hardly be denied in\\nview of the overwhelming evidence of a state of war. That it is a fact ia\\nshown by many things more than mere newspaper reports. The official re-\\nports of our consuls lying before the members of the House for weeks show\\nthe growth and extent of the war now raging in Cuba.\\nior-T^^?. \u00e2\u0084\u00a2\u00c2\u00bbgle is not a reproduction of the ten years insurrection of ISOSto\\nlS/8. Par from it\u00e2\u0080\u0094 far more than that. On the i:5th day of ,TuIy tho consuls\\nreport that the armed forces then in the field, contending with desperate\\nearnestness and unconquerable will, were three times greater than the\\nmen engaged m the rebellion of 1868-1878 when at the height of its power\\nand the tide of war has gone on since that time and swept on over the island\\ntrom one side and one end to the other, until to-day the Spanish authority is\\nnot in fact exercised over more than one-third, probably not more than one-\\ntourth, of the 41,000 square miles of surface of the Island of Culw. The Span-\\nish minister made public a statement on tho 22d day of February, with his\\nname signed to it, published to the people of the United States, in which he\\nsays that 13o,0()0 troops have been sent to the Island of Cuba by Spain.\\nIs not that war? Is that a police force putting down a street disturbance?\\nRecently the Captain-General ot Cuba issued two long proclamations, which\\nall ot you have read, and doubtless read with horror, in connection with the\\nnews that accompanied it, which contained detailed regulations and prescrip-\\ntions concerning this war in the very terms and spirit of the orders issued by\\nJNapoleon when he commanded the greatest forces ever enlisted in modern\\nwarfare Ihe Captam-General recognized the condition of war prevailing,\\nbo, too, trom the headquarters of the Spanish ministry dispatches are sent out\\nconstantly referring to two or three engagements nearly every day with the\\nIt will not do to say that this is mere guerrilla wai-fare. We can not pro-\\nscribe the way m which men do their fighting or in which they are to be\\n3173", "height": "3381", "width": "2044", "jp2-path": "nothingshortofno00coch_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "9\\norganized in governments or in which they live. Guerrilla warfare is a great\\nand tremendoiis instrument, and the genius of the Spanish race has shown in\\ntheir history that it is their resistless, deadly, and desperate resort in times\\nof emergency and that it is a system that caii not readily be subdued.\\nOne iTundred and fifty thousand of the finest French soldiers that Napo-\\nleon ever commanded marched into Spain, took possession of its cities, as the\\nSpanish troops have taken possession of the Cuban cities, and assumed\\nthereby to subdue a people wlio cuuld only resist by means of guerrilla war-\\nfare. But what was the result? Guerrilla warfare destroyed that splendid\\narmy. And it was the defeat and destruction of Kapoleon s forces in that\\nmighty war, conducted by this harassing and irregular system, that de-\\nprived him of his resources, so that after the liual blow in the retreat from\\nMoscow that greatest power of modern times crumbled and fell.\\nMr. Chairman the gentleman who delivered this excellent speech\\nis now and was when he delivered it chairman of the Committee\\non Foreign Affairs. He had unusual facilities for ascertaining\\nthe facts; we all know how familiar he is with the law. What\\ngentleman on his committee or on the other side of the Chamber\\nwill call in question this lucid digest of the history of Cuba s\\nstruggle for liberty, this cogent concept of the law of the case,\\nthis appeal for the performance of the nation s duty?\\nBut let us follow the gentleman a little further. He gives his\\nestimate of the value of the right which he says and I say has\\nbeen unjustly withheld from the Cuban patriots. I invite partic-\\nular attention to the fact that the gentleman from Illinois concurs\\nw^ith me in saying that this country has been an effective ally of\\nSpain.\\nIn the midst of his powerful plea for the recognition of bellig-\\nerency in this Chamber two years ago he was asked by a sympa-\\nthetic listener on the Republican side of the Chamber to tell the\\nHouse and the country what benefits Cuba would derive from\\nsuch recognition. Here is his answer:\\nPronounce that magic word belligerency Recognize those as belliger-\\nents who are truly belligerents, who are carrying on war, and you at once give\\nthem that advantage and that status among nations in our ports. The word\\nbelligerency exactly defines and describes what they are doin^\u00e2\u0080\u0094 they are\\ncarrying on war. Recognize them as belligerents and you enable them at\\nonce to do all that other nations are entitled to do\u00e2\u0080\u0094 to carry a flag, to pur-\\nchase in our markets munitions of war and supplies of every kind, to pur-\\nchase them openly and take them out openly, .just as the Spanish Govern-\\nment now does\u00e2\u0080\u0094 not hiding and skulking in obscure and distant ports by\\nnight to escape seizure, dogged every hour by spies and informers to give\\nnotice to our Government and have them arrested. Then men could go\\nopenly to join them, if not in armed expeditions. They could negotiate loans\\nand sell bonds just as the Spanish Government is doing now.\\nMr. Chairman, boiled down, the gentleman s statement mean3\\nthat conditions which prevailed in Cuba when Mr. McKinley be-\\ncame President rendered it the duty of the United States to rec-\\nognize the belligerency of the revolutionists. Why was recogni-\\ntitm denied?\\nIt was pointed out by IMr. Hitt that to withhold recognition\\nmade this great Republic an ally of the Spaniards. Why did the\\nPresident make our Navy an auxiliary of the forces commanded\\nby Weyler?\\nSpain has come into our markets, bought supplies, and shipped\\nthem to Cuba, while the Cubans, or those who desire to help their\\ncause, have been compelled to skulk, hide, have been dogged\\nevery hour by spies and informers appointed for the purpose by\\nthe Administration, and if detected in doing things freely per-\\nmitted to Spain s agents, have by order of our Government been\\narrested and thrown into prison. American war ships have\\nguarded our ports to prevent vessels from conveying supplies to\\n31 r3", "height": "3438", "width": "2080", "jp2-path": "nothingshortofno00coch_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "10\\nthe Cubans, while Spanish ships have been graciotisly received,\\ngoing and coming at their pleasure, laden with the sinews of war.\\nBoiled down, 1 say, the gentleman s statement means that pub-\\nlic war existed in Cuba two years ago, that it has existed ever\\nsince, that it exists now, a war between men fighting for inde-\\npendence and liberty and an alien army of assassins, and that the\\nUnited States has not remained neutral, because without the\\nrecognition of Cuban belligerency neutrality was impossible.\\nInstead of remaining neutral we have furnished arms, munitions,\\nand provisions with which to kill the Cubans, and gun cotton with\\nwhich to destroy our ships and murder our seamen.\\nMr. Chairman, over two years ago this House passed almost\\nunanimously a resolution favoring the recogiiition of Cuban\\nbelligerency. It thereby solemnly declared that in its .iudgment\\ncivil war, not a mere riot, prevailed in Cuba. If war prevailed\\ntwo years ago, I repeat, sir, it has x)revailed ever since\u00e2\u0080\u0094 it pre-\\nvails now.\\nWhy has this Chamber refused to pass the pending resolution\\nwhich merely and only recognizes this fact?\\nDuring these two years the United States have been in partner-\\nship with the Spaniards. Why have the Republicans in this\\nChamber, by refusing to recognize belligerency, acquiesced in the\\ncontinuance of this partnership?\\nMr. McKinley knew that long before the day of his inaugura-\\ntion the evidences of the existence of a public war in Cuba, so\\nforcibly i~)resented by the gentleman from Illinois and so unhesi-\\ntatingly accepted by this House, were in possession of the execu-\\ntive department of the Government, and the members of this\\nHouse know that from that day until this evidence of the fact\\nhas been accumulating. But, following the path pointed out by\\nHannaism, the President has not only permitted the slaughter to\\ngo on, but has made this great Rei)ublic a helper in the bloody\\nwork which has horrified mankind, and the ma.iority in this Cham-\\nber has by silence and inaction set the seal of approval upon the\\npolicy of the Administration.\\nMr. Chairman, who is responsible for this di.sgraceful neglect\\nof the nation s duty? What influences have tjeen siifficiently\\npowerful in the inner circles of Government to parah ze the con-\\nscience and the arm of the Executive and stifle the convictions of\\nthe representatives of the people?\\nMr. Chairman, for months there has been pending before our\\nCommittee on Foreign Relations a Senate joint resolution recog-\\nnizing the belligerency of the Cuban revolutionists. It has been\\nheld in the committee room to prevent us from acting upon it.\\nIt was there when De Lome denounced the President as a coarse\\npolitician. It was there when the Spaniards destroyed the Maine\\nand murdered 2GG of our seamen.\\nWhy has that resolution not been acted upon by the committee\\nand reported to the House?\\nFour hundred thousand noncombatants have been murdered by\\nthe Spaniards since that resolution came from the Senate to this\\nHouse. Sir, who doubts that its prompt passage by this body\\nwould long ago have ended the Cuban war and saved a majority\\nof these victims of Spanish savagery from their awful fate?\\nAnd how the President and managers of Spain s campaign have\\nplayed with the majority in this House! Why, the President sent\\nthe Maine to Havana as a means of pacifying what his friend\\nMark Hanna calls the Republican jingoes in the House of\\n3173", "height": "3381", "width": "2044", "jp2-path": "nothingshortofno00coch_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "11\\nRepresentatives. The gentlemen were growing weary of tlio gag,\\nand to prevent agitation on the Republican side of this Chamber\\nin favor of the recog-nition of belligerency, a battle ship was sent\\nto Havana. Accounts of the enterprise which appeared in the\\nAdministration newspapers were warlike in tone. They were for\\nhome consumption. Abroad it was represented that nothing waa\\nfurther from the President s intention than intervention, and this\\nwas the fact. The destruction of a battle ship and the murder of\\n206 of our seamen was the penalty paid for an expedition planned\\nby demagogues as a means of pacifying Republican Congressmen\\nwho had grown restless under the censiare of their constituents.\\nTo send the Maine to Havana for such a purpose was dis-\\ngriiceful; to anchor her in the harbor, within reach of an army of\\nassassins, commanded by officers who sanction the murder of\\nwomen and sucking babes, was to invite destruction.\\nSir, I repeat that had the belligerency resolution been passed ten\\nmonths ago. the Cuban war would have been ended long since,\\nsaving the lives of thousands who have been murdered, including\\nthe gallant seamen of the Maine. I believe the American people\\nare of this opinion, and that they will know how to deal with those\\nresponsible for the burial of the belligerency resolution in the\\narchives of the committee room.\\nThe voters of this country know that notwithstanding the tre-\\nmendous tide of public sentiment in favor of prompt action the\\nPresident, the State Department, our Committee on Foreign Re-\\nlations, and the Republican majority in the House of Representa-\\ntives have composedly witnessed the performance of the bloody\\nand sickening drama of Cubas immolation, and they know what\\ninfluences have dictated this monstrous policy.\\nIf evidence upon which to convict the Administration of bow-\\ning to the will of the stockjobbers is demanded, I need not use his\\npolitical adversaries as witnesses. The Coxgressional Record,\\nin the reported speeches of the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Hitt]\\ntells the whole story. He is the President s personal and political\\nfriend. His known probity and conservatism, his uniform and\\npunctilious adherence to paths befitting a high order of states-\\nmanship, his sturdy abhorrence of imfair assaults upon our\\nbusiness interests, preclude the suspicion that he thoughtlessly\\nor without sufficient gi ounds to justify it made the accusation\\ncontained in a speech delivered by him in this Chamber nearly\\ntwo years ago. According to Mr. Hitt the stockjobbers alone\\nhave tied the hands of this Republic and consigned the Cubans\\nto destruction. Hear him:\\nThat question of recognizing Cuban belligerency is the one on which the\\nAmerican people have been iixing their attention most earnestly. This\\nHouse has been flooded with petitions and memorials by thousands\u00e2\u0080\u0094 by leg-\\nislatures, chambers of commerce, societies, from churches, from associations\\nof every kind, and from individual citizens by tens of thousands\u00e2\u0080\u0094 your com-\\nmittee room has been choked with them. There is no other subject for years\\non which thei-e has been so vast and multitudinous an expression of the peo-\\nple s will as this question of recognizing the belligerency of the Cubans who\\nare struggling for freedom. They go to the very heart of the question.\\nThe people know just what is most wanted and they ask us to do it.\\nSome individuals, generally those who call themselves business men, bro-\\nkers, and financial men. write us letters deprecating action of any kind, op-\\nposing any agitation or discussion on any foreign question that may disturb\\nthe market. They are not in favor of the Spaniard: they are not in favor of\\nthe Cuban; they care nothing whatever for either side. They simply depre-\\ncate any acti(m which will affect the markets in which their hearts are bound\\nup. But the unmistakable voice of the people of the United States, as ex-\\nressed in the enorrootis majority given in this House a month ago\u00e2\u0080\u0094 :itK to\\nr\u00e2\u0080\u0094 and in the Senate\u00e2\u0080\u0094 64 to 6\u00e2\u0080\u0094 is in favor of immediately recognizing the bel-\\nligerency of the Cubans.\\n3173\\nF;", "height": "3438", "width": "2080", "jp2-path": "nothingshortofno00coch_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "12\\nMr. Chairman, this statement, based upon facts known to all of\\nus, but best known to members of the committee to whom tho\\npeople s petitions for prompt action, as well as the stockjobbers\\nprotests against any action whatever, have been atldressed, must\\nbe accepted as correct. It concurs with what is in everybody s\\nmouth and v/ith the newspaper reports of current events.\\nIt fixes the responsibility for the Cuban policy of the Adminis-\\ntration.\\nIt tells us why the rights of belligerency have been withheld\\nfrom the Cubans\u00e2\u0080\u0094 why our Navy has been used as an auxiliary of\\nthe Spanish butchers.\\nNobody will dispute its accuracy.\\nIn it is epitomized the story of the recreancy of two Presidents,\\nof the subserviency of one of the most important conmiittees of\\nthis body, of the puissance of the bureaucracy which has usurped\\nthe prerogatives of the House of Representatives and converted\\nits majority into tethered puppets, who are content to sit still or\\ndance accordingly as their master frowns or pulls the string.\\nStartling, humiliating, disgraceful as it is, the recital of the\\ngentleman from Illinois tells the truth, the whole truth, and noth-\\ning l)ut the truth.\\nHad a member on this side of the Chamber made such a state-\\nment, he would have been arraigned as a jingo; but nobody\\nwill make this charge against the chairman of the Committee on\\nForeign Affairs. When Democrats have demanded justice for\\nCuba and barely intimated that Hannaism was the obstruction to\\nprompt action, they have been accused of playing politics; but\\nnobody will accuse the chairman of the Foreign Relations Com-\\nmittee of playing politics.\\nConservatism in all things is his most notable characteristic,\\nand he is known to be especially conservative in matters relating\\nto the foreign policy of the Government. He is not one of the\\ncritics of what have been called trust methods in politics\u00e2\u0080\u0094 methods\\n\u00e2\u0080\u00a2which many believe are rapidly substituting the rule of plutoc-\\nracy for republicanism and deiuocracy\u00e2\u0080\u0094 and therefore his re-\\nmarks will not be called those of an anarchist or as an assault upon\\nour business interests. He is conspicuous alike in the ranks\\nof those famous for conservatism and in the leadership of the\\nHannaized Republican party\u00e2\u0080\u0094 a leadership wdiich seemingly glo-\\nries in the fact that party management, diplomacy, and the busi-\\nness of governing, like nearly everything else in the country,\\nhas been syndicated and placed under control of the Hannas and\\nElkinses.\\nBy this distinguished gentleman we are told that the committee\\nroom has been choked with petitions praying for the recogni-\\ntion of belligerency\u00e2\u0080\u0094 petitions from legislatures, from towns and\\ncities, from civil and religious societies and associations, from\\nchambers of commerce, from tens of thousands of individuals, in-\\ndicating a multitudinous demand of the people for the dissolution\\nof our partnership with the Spanish butchers; and that opposed\\nto this multitudinous expression of the peoi)le s will are some\\nindividuals who call themselves businessmen, stock jobbers,\\nand speculators, who are not the friends of either Cuba or Spain,\\nwho care nothing for either side, but who deprecate every\\naction that might disturb the market in which their hearts are\\nbound up.\\nMr. Chairman, the American people coincide with the gentle-\\nman from Illinois in the belief that the President s Cuban^ policy\\n3173", "height": "3381", "width": "2044", "jp2-path": "nothingshortofno00coch_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "13\\nlias been approved by the stockjobbers and condemned by the\\nremainder of manldnd. The chairman of the Committee on For-\\neign Affairs and the members of the committee know that their\\ncommittee room has been choked by petitions, indicating a\\nmultitudinous demand for prompt action, while only some\\nindividuals whose hearts are wrapped uj) in the markets are\\nopposed to it, yet the belligerency resolution has remained in the\\ncommittee room until, unaided, single-handed, but at an awful\\nsacrifice of life, the Cubans have weil-nigh achieved their inde-\\npendence.\\nMr. Chairman, it has been said in explanation of the action of\\nthe committee in pigeonholing this resolution that it deals with\\na matter with which the Executive and not the Legislature should\\ndeal. But this view did not authorize the committee to smother\\nthe suT)ject in the committee room.\\nDo the members of the committee imagine that they are charged\\nwith the duty of finally determining absolutely this or any other\\nquestion connected with the matter?\\nIs this body or its committees to pass finally upon questions of\\npolicy and propriety? If it is the opinion of a majority of the\\ncommittee that the President should be allowed to ignore a plain\\npublic duty, by disregarding multitudinous petitions of the\\npeople, and follow the advice of the stockj.obbers, such a view\\nwould authorize an adverse report by the committee, but it af-\\nfords no shadow of justification for making no report whatever.\\nThe chairman of the committee and a majority of its members\\nmay regard the Cuban war as a matter with which the Congress\\nhas no right to intermeddle. I know there are gentlemen who\\ncontend that the recognition of belligerency is a matter exclu-\\nsively committed to the Executive; but let me remind gentlemen\\nthat the powers of this House are conferred by the Constitu-\\ntion and can not without impropriety be abridged by committees.\\nCommittees are not supposed to act as censors of the body they\\nserve. In my opinion, Congress not only possesses the legal power\\nto dispose of the question but it was its duty to do so promptly.\\nHere and here only, in the Congress, rests the power to deter-\\nmine peace and war, and in this imperial prerogative are included\\nall lesser kindred powers, the exercise of which is essential to the\\nmaintenance of the dignity, honor, and safety of the Republic.\\nThe opinion that Congress ought not to iutorlere, no matter\\nwhat the delinquencies of the Executive, might properly have\\nled to an adverse report of the committee, but no possible view of\\nthe matter can justify the committee in making no report at all,\\nand thus effectively disfranchising the House of Representatives.\\nMr. SULZER. Does not the gentleman think we ought to rec-\\nognize the indoppudence of Cuba?\\nMr. COCHRAN of Missouri. I do not. Spain would not\\npromi)tly resent such a step, and might not resent it at all. What\\nthen? Why the war would go on lor mouths longer. Nothing\\nshort of a notice to Spain to quit forever pretensions to sovereignty\\nin the Western Hemisphere will meet the reqiiirements of the sit-\\nuation as it exists to-day. The butchers must be driven from\\nCul)a. Mere resolutions recognizing political conditions will not\\nsuffice.\\nIf we are to go no further than such measures as will give to\\nthe Cubans the rights of lawful belligerency, then I would prefer\\nthe adoption of the Senate resolution to which I have referred.\\nThe adoption of this resolution nine or ten months ago by this\\n3173", "height": "3438", "width": "2080", "jp2-path": "nothingshortofno00coch_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "14\\nHouse would have so strengthened the hands of the Cubans that\\nSpain would have been driven from the island long ago. Pass\\nthat resolution now, and within six weeks the flag of free Cuba\\nwill float over Morro Castle.\\nAs to the recognition of Cuban independence, if such a step is\\nto be taken, let me warn all true friends of the patriots that when\\nthey shall have passed through the ordeal of fire and blood which,\\nin the providence of God, is the only avenue to liberty, they will\\nbe confronted with fresh dangers. Having vanquished the Span-\\niard, they will face another foe. The holders of Spanish bonds\\nwill be on hand to insist upon saddling upon the Cubans the obli-\\ngations incurred by the Spaniards in carrying ou the war of\\nextermination.\\nMr. Chairman, this country has occasion to recall with shame\\nits participation in the slaughter of 600,000 inhabitants of the\\nIsland of Cuba. The blackened ruins of their homes, the return\\nof millions of fertile acres to a state of natiire, the spectacle of an\\narmy of winged A ultures preying upon the remains of unburied\\nvictims of Spanish violence such, sir, is the horrible picture\\nwhich will greet the eyes of the Cuban soldier when peace with in-\\ndependence shall reward the unparalleled valor of the followers of\\nGomez. Time and labor will efface the mementos of the ravages\\nof war visible in the blighted landscape. The martyred dead can\\nnot be restored to life. Future generations will treasure memory\\nof their sacrifices and bedew their sacred graves with tears. Let\\nus see to it that in the final settlement between Spain and the\\nCubans not a penny of the expense incurred by the butcher\\ndynasty in the war of extermination is imposed upon a people\\nwho. God knows, have suffered enough, and who ought not to\\nbe compelled to pay the expenses incurred in the attempt to exter-\\nminate them.\\nMr. Chairman I can not refrain from referring briefly to another\\nrespect in which the views of the Republican President and his\\nsupporters on this floor are vulnerable to criticism and censure.\\nThe President seems to entertain the opinion that upon him de-\\nvolves the responsibility of determining when and in what man-\\nner, if at all. the United States shall intervene in the Cuban\\nstruggle. Under the Constitution he possesses no authority to\\nintervene by force of arms. To take such a step would be to levy\\nw^ar upon Spain. The Congress, not the President, is authorized\\nto declare war.\\nThe Cubans have not reqtiested the United States to intervene.\\nThey have said over and over again during the past two years\\nthat if the United States would accord them belligerent rights\\nand cease to act as an ally of the mother country they could drive\\nthe Spaniards into the sea and achieve the independence of their\\ncountry.\\nWhy is it, Mr. Chairman, that the President withholds the con-\\ncession of belligerent rights, and that he and his supporters are\\ncontinually referring to intervention as the policy in contempla-\\ntion in Administration circles?\\nI confess, sir, that I distrust those who are known tohave supreme\\ninfluence at the White House to such an extent that I fear inter-\\nvention would result in constituting this Government the attorney\\nfor the prosecution of the claims of holders of Spanish bonds. The\\nachievement of independence by the Cubans without intervention,\\nwhich they could have achieved long ago had we recognized bel-\\nligerency, would have left them to settle all scores with Spain, and\\n3173", "height": "3381", "width": "2044", "jp2-path": "nothingshortofno00coch_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "15\\nit would have been impossible for the Spaniards to saddle upon\\nthe young Republic an unbearable burden of debt.\\nI believe that with this Government in the hands of Hannaized\\nRepublican politicians\u00e2\u0080\u0094 the fat-fryers who raised the McKinley\\ncampaign fund, and those who furnished it intervention may\\nmean peace, purchased by the Cubans at an expense of hundreds\\nof millions, and that should we permit this monstrous imposition,\\nCuba, bleeding from a thousand gaping wounds, almost depopu-\\nlated and rendered desolate by the ravages of the war, would face\\nthe future burdened with a bonded debt so large as to consign not\\nonly this generation, but the generations to come, to hopeless pov-\\nerty.\\nMr. Chairman, I have felt called upon to thus unreservedly\\npresent my views concerning the Cuban policy of the Adminis-\\ntration because I believe that, in violation of international law\\nand in contravention of the will of the jieople of this country, for\\ntwo years justice the recognition of belligerency has been\\nwithheld from the Cubans.\\nBecause I believe that this neglect of duty is attributable to the\\nundue influences of the class so accurately described by the gen-\\ntleman from Illinois [Mr. Hitt] in the speech from which I have\\nquoted a class generally called stockjobbers.\\nBecause, with the gentleman from Illinois. I believe that recog-\\nnition of belligerency would have materially strengthened the\\nhands of the insurgents, and since they have maintained them-\\nselves and even won decided advantages over the Spaniards with-\\nout this help, I believe that with it ere this they would have\\ndriven the Spaniards from the island.\\nBecause, as was so convincingly stated by the gentleman from\\nIllinois, failing to recognize Cuban belligerency, we have not re-\\nmained neutral, but have been the helpers of Spain in a war of\\nextermination waged by an army of savages upon noncombatants,\\nand have not only refused to rescue but have helped to destroy\\nthe victims of this appalling crusade.\\nBecause I believe that had this Republic performed its duty and\\nrecognized belligerency a year ago, war with Spain, which now\\nimpends, could have been avoided.\\nBecause I regard the fifty millions recently appropriated and\\nthe loss of the Maine and her crew as in the nature of penalties\\nand sacrifices paid and suffered on account of the wretched and\\ninhuman policy inaugurated by Mr. Cleveland and followed by\\nMr. McKinley, at the instance of men whose hearts are wrapped\\nup in the markets and in whose ej-es national honor, humanity,\\nand even the lives of 000,000 men, women, and children are of\\nless consequence than the gambling transactions of the bulls\\nand bears and the bond speculations of the financiers who fur-\\nnished the money with which to equip the armies that have made\\nfair and fertile Cuba the saddest and most desolate spot on the\\nfootstool.\\nBecause, notwithstanding the fact that an appropriation of fifty\\nmillions has been made preparatory to the forcible expulsion of\\nthe Sx)aniards from this hemisphere, these stockjobbers are still\\nhopefully at work, and. unless Congress remains in session to x)re-\\nvent it, may yet succeed in frustrating the will of the peoijle.\\nBecause it is being said that Congress will soon adjourn prob-\\nably as early as April 15, certainly not later than May 15 leaving\\nthe President to settle the Cuban question in his own way, and I\\ndo not like the President s way. Up to this time he has pur-\\n3173", "height": "3438", "width": "2080", "jp2-path": "nothingshortofno00coch_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "HBKHKY Uh CUNUKtbb\\n013 902 140 p\\n16\\nsued Cleveland s way, Mark Hanna s way, Colonel Mc-\\nCook s way, the stockjobbers way. I want him to try the\\npeople s way, humanity s way, God s way. I want my country to\\ndo its duty. Congress will be adjourned? By whom The Presi-\\ndent will be alloAved to settle the question, will he?\\nWhat right has the President to settle the question of\\nwhether peace or war shall be America s remedy for the assassina-\\ntion of 26G of her seamen? To adjourn and leave the imbroglio\\nwith Spain unsettled would be an abdication of the highest pre-\\nrogative of the legislative body the right to determine between\\npeace and war.\\nI am opposed to it. The country should be notified of tlie pro-\\ngramme. I would say to the President. Take the initiative, if\\nj ou will, in a movement for liberation of Cuba, and ixnited Amei\\nica will be at your back. There will be no North, no South, no\\nEast, no West, no Democrats, no Republicans, no Populists. But\\nunderstand that, by the Eternal, Cuba shall be free.\\n1 would serve notice on all concerned that the United States\\nwill see to it that the Cubans are not coerced into paying for the\\nimplements of war with which thousands have been killed, or for\\nthe services of the army of demons by whom thousands more have\\nbeen confined in stockades to die of starvation.\\nIMr. Chairman, we all know that when the end of the war is\\nreached the demand Avill be made that the Cubans shall paj not\\nonly the exj^ense incurred by them in the desperate struggle for\\nliberty, but also the expenses incurred by their oppressors. I do\\nnot believe the American Congress would sanction or permit this\\nmonstrous injustice, and if any such i^rogramme is on foot, it\\naccounts for the fact that somebody has fixed the day for the\\nadjournment of this body. We should remain in session until\\nCuba is free if it takes all summer. [Applause.]\\n3173", "height": "3381", "width": "2044", "jp2-path": "nothingshortofno00coch_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS\\n0013902 140 A\\nHoUinger Corp.\\npH8.5", "height": "3583", "width": "2615", "jp2-path": "nothingshortofno00coch_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS\\niiii iiMii!!ur! riii llillfiM\\n013 902 140 A\\nHolUnger Corp.\\npH8.5", "height": "3923", "width": "2044", "jp2-path": "nothingshortofno00coch_0020.jp2"}}