{"1": {"fulltext": "711\\nCuban X\u00e2\u0080\u009ediaenl\\nmf", "height": "3046", "width": "2055", "jp2-path": "cubanindependenc00gree_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "E 721\\nCUBAN INDEPENDENCE.\\nSPEECH\\nHON. WILLIAM L. GREENE,\\nOF NEBRASKA,\\nHOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,\\nTuesday, Aprii. 12, 1898.\\nWASHINGTON.\\n1898.", "height": "3551", "width": "2257", "jp2-path": "cubanindependenc00gree_0003.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "4-\\n7^\\n68104", "height": "3400", "width": "2309", "jp2-path": "cubanindependenc00gree_0004.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "J\\ni\\n-si\\nSPEECH\\nOF\\nHON. WILLIAM L. GREENE.\\nThe House Leing in Committee of tlio Whole on the state of the Union, and\\nhaving under consideration the bill (S. 924) to authorize the Washington and\\nGlen Echo Railroad Company to obtain a right of way and construct tracks\\ninto the District of Columbia COO feet-\\nMr, GREENE said:\\nMr. Chairman: We have reached a critical point in the history\\nof tliis nation. We have reached a point where partisanship\\nshould be forgotten. We have come to a place in the pathway of\\nour nation s history where Vv e ought to be American citizens and\\nnot partisans.\\nIf I were consulting simply what is best for the party to which\\nI belong, or what is best for the minority in this Chamber, I would\\nwant to see the majority delay. I would favor the continued sus-\\npense as to what shall be the outcome of the great question now\\nuppermost in the minds of the people. I am devoted to the prin-\\nciples of the party to which I belong; devoted to them because I\\nbelieve they are embedded in truth, because I believe they will\\nmake for the upbuilding of the American people.\\nBut, Mr. Chairman, while I am devoted to the principles of the\\nparty to which I belong, I am, first and above all, an American\\ncitizen, and I seek first the welfare and glory of my country. I\\nseek the honor of my country, the upbuilding of my country, and\\nwhatever I believe makes for this purpose, for its peace, its honor,\\nand its permanent prosperity, I welcome, whether it comes from\\nthis or that or the other section of this Chamber, or any one of\\nthe political organizations into which it is divided.\\nWhile differing widely from my Republican friends upon eco-\\nnomic questions, yet I trust and believe I shall never reach the\\npoint where I can not believe that Republicans are patriotic, as\\ndevoted to their country as I am. I, as a member of this House,\\n3250 3", "height": "3608", "width": "2252", "jp2-path": "cubanindependenc00gree_0005.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "have no riglit to call in qnestion the patriotism of this side or that\\nside of the Chamber, and I conscientiously believe that there is\\nas much genuine love of America and American institutions on\\nthe one side as upon the other.\\nIt afforded me the greatest satisfaction a few weeks ago to see\\na unanimous vote by this House, and by the other end of this\\nCapitol, turning over to the President of the United States \u00c2\u00a750,-\\n000.000 to use as his judgment might dictate for the protection\\nof American interests and the maintenance of American honor.\\nI have wished and still hope that we may arrive at a position in\\nthe crisis which now confronts us, and which we soon mustmeett\\nand settle, where there will be no division; that we can arrive at\\nsuch a solution of the question that we can say to the world that\\nthe American Congress is a unit; that we march forward in solid\\nphalanx to uphold and defend our common country. But we must\\nstop and consider what is presented to us\u00e2\u0080\u0094 what we are asked to\\ndo, and the result of the step which we are about to take.\\nNow, there are a number of views in this Chamber. There are\\nthose who believe that we ought to declare open war with Spain.\\nThere are others who believe that we ought to recognize the in-\\ndependence of the Cuban Republic and stop there. There are\\nothers who believe that we ought to intervene in the Island of\\nCuba for the purpose of stopping hostilities. We ought, there-\\nfore, I repeat, as careful, conscientious men, to stop and consider\\nwhat is presented and what will be the outcome of the adoption\\nof either of these propositions.\\nIt is not enough for us to shut our eyes and say that some good\\nwill come out of it, or that it is not probable that this thing or\\nthat thing will occur. I have long since learned, sir, that when\\nwe embark upon any issue, it is the part of wisdom to ask,\\nWhat do we make possible by such a course? Not what will\\nlikel/ occur, not what will probably happen, but what may hap-\\npen if we adopt that course, because we never can tell what tho\\nfuture will develop.\\nSo, I beg of you to-day to consider well all tho possibilities as\\nwell as th3 probabilities that surround either of the propositions\\nwhicji will soon be submitted for our consideration.\\nTJe President of the United States has sent us his me/sage, and\\nS350", "height": "3545", "width": "2221", "jp2-path": "cubanindependenc00gree_0006.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "I am not here to criticise it cr review it in a partisan spirit. A\\nlarge part of it is patriotic and statesmanlike and will receive\\nthe approval of the American people; but what do we have pre-\\nsented to us in it for our action?\\nWhat are we asked to do? We are simply asked to permit the\\nPresident of the United States to intervene in the Island of Cuba,\\npeaceably if he can. forcibly if he must. And what more? To\\nrestore order on the Island of Cuba and give the people a stable\\nform of government. Is there a gentleman upon this floor who\\nknows what kind of a government is proposed for Cuba? Is it to\\nbe a government by the people of Cuba and for the people of Cuba,\\nor is it to be a stable government under the Spanish flag? Does\\nany gentleman know? If he knows, he can look further into the\\nfuture and can divine mysteries far beyond any capabilities that\\nI possess.\\nBut let us stop and ask, What does intervention in the Island\\nof Cuba mean? If we simply intervene, we say, first, that we have\\nno cause for war agamst Spain. We say that the children of the\\nSpanish Government have become recreant and disobedient, and\\nthat the friendly power of Spain is unable to control those chil-\\ndren and to restore peace in her territory, and we intervene for\\nthe purpose of settling it for them. That is all. Nothing more\\nthan that, nothing less than that. And here I will remark that\\nif we have cause to intervene in Cuba to-day, the same cause has\\nexisted for two long, weary years.\\nMen and women have been starving. Babies have starved in\\ntheir mother s arms. Sword and fire have devastated that island.\\nHorrors beyond the power of human language to depict have ex-\\nisted there, and yet we have remained silent. What has arisen\\nlately to demand the intervention of the United States? Nothing\\nnew. The same old story of atrocity and of Spanish brutality,\\nthe same old story of inhumanity and brutal force, of ignomini-\\nous death and ruin, that for two years have confronted the Ameri-\\ncan people.\\nI say that if we simply intervene we admit that Spain is a\\nfriendly power. We further admit that all Cubans are Spanish\\nsubjects. We say there is no government in Cuba that we can\\nrecognize except the Spanish Government. Simple intervention\\n3250", "height": "3608", "width": "2252", "jp2-path": "cubanindependenc00gree_0007.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "6\\nis not a declaration of war. I want to ask this House, if we do\\nintervene and Spain should elect not to treat our intervention as\\na. cause for her making a declaration of war, then all Spanish\\nsubjects on that island must be pacified and pacified by us. Sup-\\npose that Spain, as I have said, refuses to regard our intervention\\nas a cause of war and lays down her arms, ceases to fight, and\\nsays, Why, I am ready to be pacified!\\nMr. SMITH of Kentucky. She has done that now.\\nMr. GREENE. She Has already done it. She has notified the\\npeople of the United States that she is ready to declare an armis-\\ntice over the island now. In what position do wo find ourselves\\nwhen we enter the island and Spain agrees to stop? Will we not\\nthen have to turn against Gomez and his band of patriots? Sup-\\npose Gomez, with his band of 30,000 patriots, says: For three\\nyears have we waged this war; for three years we have struggled\\nand suffered to obtain our liberty. I am unwilling, to lay down\\nmy arms at this juncture. If we should enter into an armistice\\nwith Spain and lay down our arms indefinitely, the rainy season\\nwill pass by, the one in which Spain can not fight; the hour of our\\nopportunity will have passed away; and I will not, therefore, lay\\ndown my arms. We will fight on for liberty.\\nI want to ask, gentlemen, what are we going to do about it?\\nSpain is pacified. Spain has laid down her arms. Gomez says\\nI will wage the warfare until liberty shall perch upon the Cuban\\nbanner. If we are simply going over there to pacify the island\\nwhat is there left for us to do if what I have said should occur,\\nexcept to turn our guns upon the Cuban patriots and compel them\\nto lay down their arms!\\nWhat else could we do? They refuse to lay their guns down;\\nthey refuse to quit fighting. Spain agrees to stop. We are there\\nto pacify. If we pacify them, that means we will pacify them\\nwith the sword unless we can do it by peaceable means. Is there\\na Representative upon this floor who would lift up his voice or\\ngive his vote to make it possible to turn American guns on brave\\nGomez and his 30,000 patriots?\\nWhat would be the condition of affairs in this country if we had\\ngone there for the purpose of pacifying the Island of Cuba and\\nAmerican guns had been turned on Gomez? What would be the\\n3- 50", "height": "3545", "width": "2221", "jp2-path": "cubanindependenc00gree_0008.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "effect of it? How would you feel confronting your constit ients\\nwhen you voted to make such a condition of affairs possible? Ah,\\nbut, say gome gentlemen, I am not in favor of that. Such a con-\\ntingency as that will never arise. No American will ever fire his\\ngun in the direction of a Cuban patriot.\\nBut I am talking about what may result. If Gomez will not\\nlay down his arms, then we are either compelled to fight Gomez\\nor vacate the island. Either one or the other. Now, that is what\\nsimple intervention may lead to. That is, at least, one of the pos-\\nsibilities. Are we ready to do that? Are we ready to make any\\nsuch thing a possibility? I trust there is not one here who is\\nready to do it. After we get the island of Cuba pacified, I want\\nto ask gentlemen, what does the President intend to do with it?\\nMr. BRUCKER. Give it a carpet-bag government under quasi\\nmilitary rule.\\nMr. GREENE. I am not discussing this in a partisan sense,\\nbut I fear that will be the result. Suppose we have got Spain to\\nlay down her arms, and Gomez has laid down his, and we have a\\nperfect state of tranquillity from one end of the island to the\\nother. They are all pacified. Now, what are we going to do with\\nthe island? There is one of three things we can do. We can\\neither pacify the island and turn it back to Spain, or can take it\\nourselves, or we can turn it over to the people of the island.\\nNow, which one are you going to do? Is there anything in the\\nmessage of our President that gives us an intimation of what he\\nintends to do with the island after it is pacified? Is there any gen-\\ntleman on that side of the House who knows what he intends to\\ndo with it?\\nMr. STEPHENS of Texas. How about Hanna?\\nMr. GREENE. I was not going to allude to Hanna, but h\u00c2\u00a9\\nmay know. Is there an American citizen who woiild ever con-\\nsent that v/e should turn the island back again to the Spanish\\nGovernment? Would anybody tolerate it in this country? Are\\nwe to expend our money, take the chance of death from fever ou\\nthe island to pacify the island, and then turn it back to the Span-\\nish Government? I say such a thing would never be tolerated by\\nthe American people because it would be an outrage ou the peo-\\nple of Cuba.\\n3250", "height": "3608", "width": "2252", "jp2-path": "cubanindependenc00gree_0009.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "8\\nI want your careful attention just here. If Spain is a friendly\\npower and we admit her to he when we intervene and say we have\\nno cause for war; we go to subdue her rebellious children can we\\nsfford, as a Christian nation, to turn around and steal her island?\\nAre you in favor of that? A friendly power a power in which\\nthe President has expressed the greatest confidence as to its hon-\\nesty and integrity. Well, you say, we are going to let the people\\nput up a government for themselves.\\nGentlemen, there are some qiiestions confronting us just at this\\npoint that we ought to carefully and seriously consider. You\\nmust bear in mind that there are held by the people of foreign\\ngovernments large sums of bonds issued by the Spanish Govern-\\nment and predicated largely upon the revenues which Spain de-\\nrives from Cuba. If we go and take the Island of Cuba, admit-\\nting Spain to be a friendly power, and when we get it pacified we\\nturn around and take that island away from the Spanish Govern-\\nment, what will be the attitude and right of the foreign powers\\nwhose citizens hold the obligations of Spain predicated upon the\\nrevenues of that island?\\nDo you not know that France, Germany, and England would step\\nto the front and say to this country, You can not steal the terri-\\ntory of a friendly power unless you make the obligations good?\\nDo you not know they would do it? Is there a man doubts it? I\\nwant to ask you, in all candor, if you do not believe European na-\\ntions would have a right to demand it if we admit Spain to be a\\nfriendly power?\\nIf we go admitting Spain to be our friend, admitting she is the\\nsovereign government of the island, and simply go as a pacifier,\\nand when pacification has taken place we attempt to steal the\\nterritory, would not foreign nations that hold the obligations of\\nSpain have a right in equity to say to us, Before you take that\\nterritory you must make good the obligations of Spain based upon\\nits demands?\\nOh, but you say, we do not intend to take it ourselves. If\\nwe attempt to take it from Spain and give it to somebody else, it\\nwould be just the same as if we took it ourselves. If we attempt\\nto deprive the Spanish Government of their land, admitting her\\nto be a friendly power, it matters not whether we take the terri-\\n\u00c2\u00a32o0", "height": "3545", "width": "2221", "jp2-path": "cubanindependenc00gree_0010.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "9\\ntory ourselves or take it and turn it over to somebody else. Here\\nlies the danger, and I shall miss my guess if this thing does not\\nrise tip to plague us.\\nMr. LOVE. But suppose we recognize their independence?\\nMr, GREENE. I am coming to that.\\nMr. SMITH of Kentucky. Do you believe the other nations of\\nthe world would permit us to take the territory, if it is a friendly\\npower?\\nMr. GREENE. That is what I say; they would not. We are\\nto intervene, and when that is accomplished\u00e2\u0080\u0094 we attempt to seize\\nthis territory either for ourselves or to turn it over to the Cubans\u00e2\u0080\u0094\\nthe foreign powers will be to the front, the citizens of which hold\\nthe Spanish bonds, saying you must do one of two things; you\\nmust either guarantee the payment of those bonds yourselves or\\nyou must slip the government that you are going to establish in\\nCuba under them and have her assume them. There is where we\\nare going. You have noticed all along that two words continually\\ncrop out in this whole Cuban matter. One is buy and the\\nother is bonds.\\nMr. MAHON. We are not going to take Spain.\\nMr. GREENE, Of course you are not; but if you take Spanish\\nterritory and thereby deprive her of it, that makes the obligation\\nto foreign nations a matter of contention. These nations will tell\\nyou that before you can take the territory of Spain and deprive\\nher of the power to meet her obligations, you must in some way\\nmake the obligations good. That is what they hope and what\\nthey believe. You know the power behind the throne as well as\\nI know it.\\nThey tell us we are going to organize a government there or\\nallow the Cubans to organize one themselves. Now, follow me\\nalong. Suppose we say that foreign powers would not step in and\\ncompel us to assume the Cuban bonds or slip the Cuban govern-\\nment under them. Then what? We are going to have a govern-\\nment by Cuba in which, as the gentleman remarked the other\\nday, that only the people of Cuba shall participate in. Do you not\\nknow that the towns and cities on the Island of Cuba are Span-\\nish? They are loyal to the Spanish Crown.\\nNow, we are going to have an election and we are going to let all\\n3350", "height": "3608", "width": "2252", "jp2-path": "cubanindependenc00gree_0011.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "10\\nthe people vote in the towns and cities and conntry. The Cuban\\npeople throughout the rural districts know nothing about popular\\ngovernment. The bondholders of Spain will be at that election and\\ncontrol it. You all know something about the power of money\\nin a popular election. Do you not know what would happen in\\nthat election in Cuba when the joower of Spanish bondholders was\\nbrought to bear upon it -with, the influence of Spanish subjects and\\nSpanish sympathizers.\\nThe CHAIRMAN. The time of the gentleman from Nebraska\\nhas expired.\\nMr. GREENE. Mr. Chairman I would like a little more time-\\nsay half an hour.\\nThe CHAIRMAN, The gentleman from Nebraska asks to have\\nhis time extended one-half hour.\\nMr. MAHON. I ask, Mr. Chairman, unanimous consent that\\nhis time be extended half an hour.\\nMr. GREENE. I shall not occupy all that time.\\nMr. JENKINS. I would like to know how much time the gen-\\ntleman will occupy?\\n]\\\\Ir. GREENE. I ask that my time be extended twenty-fivo\\nminutes, and I may not occupy over twenty.\\nThe CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to the gentleman s time,\\nbeing extended twenty-five minutes? The Chair liears none.\\nMr. GREENE. As I was saying, Mr. Chairman, such an elec-\\ntion would be controlled by the Spanish sympathizers and the\\nholders of Spanish bonds. Nobody doubts for a single moment\\nbut what the moneyed interests of America would also take part\\nin that election, and that they would elect a government that\\nwould voluntarily slip the people of that island under the bonds\\nof the mother country. So that all the way through it, I do not\\ncare on what side you look, 1 do not care on what corner you may\\napproach it, you will find all along bonds! bonds! bonds!\\nEverywhere Spanish bonds, like Banquo s ghost, serenely pre-\\nsent themselves for settlement. I want to say to you that is what\\nthere is in the question of peaceful intervention, and nothing\\nmore.\\nBut the President says we ought to turn the whole question\\nover to him. In the first place, gentlemen, the power to declare\\n3.150", "height": "3545", "width": "2221", "jp2-path": "cubanindependenc00gree_0012.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "11\\nwar is granted to Congress. I have very grave doubts whether\\nwe can delegate that granted power if we wanted to do so. 1 am\\nwilling to assert my fixed belief that Congress has no authority to\\ndelegate any such power to the President of the United States, no\\nmatter how much or how little confidence we may have in him.\\nMr. McCLEARY. Docs the gentleman say that the power to\\nconclude peace is vested in Congress?\\nMr. GREENE. The power to declare war. Now, then, not\\non]y in my judgment have we no right to delegate this power,\\nbut it strikes me the proposition that we should do so is the most\\nmarvelous ever presented by a President of the United States to\\nthe American Congress. What might it mean? In view of the\\npast, we can all tell what it might mean.\\nWhy, sir, we could have war to-day and peace to-morrow; hot\\nto-day and cold to-morrow; rain to-day and drought tomorrow.\\nThe fellows on the inside, knowing just when the cold was going\\nto be blown and when the hot oh, what a time they would have\\non Y/all street! Just imagine! Now, I am not on the inside.\\nMr. FISCHER. That is not your ground of complaint, is it?\\nQ [Laughter.]\\nMr. GREENE. No; but the history of the recent past makes\\nit all -important that no such power should be lodged in the Presi-\\ndent.\\nWe can all understand what might hax)pen in such a contin-\\ngency. It is dangerous to turn over to the President or any one\\nelse a power that can keep this great nation of ours in a per-\\nturbed condition for six or twelve months at his own pleasure.\\nWhat we want is to have this Cuban question settled. We want\\nit settled now. We want it settled so that the American people\\nmay know what to depend upon. I agree with you Republicans,\\nwe want to have a wave of prosperity sweep over the country\\nwe do not want to have it retarded or disturbed by this blowing\\nhot and cold that we have had for the past few weeks. This is a\\ngood thing, perhaps, for Hanna and some other people; but we\\ndo not want a continuation of it. We want this thing settled;\\nwe have the power as the representatives of the people to stop it.\\nand to stop it effectually.\\nMr. BRUCKER. How do you propose to stop it?\\n3250", "height": "3608", "width": "2252", "jp2-path": "cubanindependenc00gree_0013.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "12\\nMr. GREENE. I am coming to that point. The way to stop\\nit, and the only safe way, in my judgment, is, in the first place, to\\nacknowledge the independence of the established Cuban Republic.\\n[Applause on the Democratic side.] When you have acknowl-\\nedged the independence of the Cuban Republic, you have said\\nthat Spain has already lost the island. We do not have to take it\\nfrom her; she has lost it, and has lost it by the arms of the Cuban\\npatriots.\\nAh! but it is said they have no government over there. The\\nPresident thinks they have no government. But every gentleman\\non this floor who is conversant with the facts knows it to be true\\nthat they have a government. The Cuban Republic has control\\nto-day of two-thirds of the Island of Cuba. It has control, in fact,\\nof the whole island outside of a few fortified towns and cities. It\\nhas a postal system that is said to be better than that of Spain her-\\nself. The mails are regularly distributed over the island, bearing\\npostage stamps issued by the Cuban Republic. It has an army of\\n80,000 well-armed and well-eqviipped soldiers. It has a system of\\nlevying and collecting taxes. Under the system which has been\\ninaugurated it has collected more than $400,000 Yet it is said\\nthey have no government over there that we can recognize!\\nOther gentleman say, It will not do to recognize Cuban inde-\\npendence, because they have issued a lot of bonds. Why, sir, on\\nthe floor of this House the other day my distinguished friend from\\nOhio, General Grosvenor, unblushingly declared that the Cuban\\nRepublic had issued and scattered $400,000,000 of bonds. Hence,\\nhe argued, we can not afford to acknowledge the Cuban Republic,\\nbecause that would bind them to the payment of those bonds.\\nMr. BRUCKER. No one took him seriously.\\nMr. GREENE. But the very next day the deputy treasurer of\\nthe Cuban Republic went before the Senate committee and swore,\\nand by his books proved, that they had issued only $1,000,000 in\\nbonds and had sold only $120,000 of such bonds. That was a wide\\nmargin between the statement of the gentleman from Ohio and\\nthe facts. Only a difference between $400,000,000 and $120,000!\\nA Member. And those had been taken by their own people.\\nMr. GREENE. And some by ours. But suppose that they have\\nissued bonds. It strikes me that a little over a year ago I heard", "height": "3545", "width": "2221", "jp2-path": "cubanindependenc00gree_0014.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "13\\na great deal said in this country about repudiation and repu-\\ndiationists. I heard a great deal said ahout men wanting to\\nscale down the debts of the country, and you can not imagine my\\nsurprise when my venerable friend from Ohio stood up and bla-\\ntantly and brazenly, in the Halls of Congress, said that he wanted\\nto devise some kind of a scheme to make the Cuban Republic\\nrepudiate its bonds.\\nLet me say to you, gentlemen, I am in favor of paying every\\ndebt this Grovernment owes. I am in favor of the Cuban Repub-\\nlic paying every debt that it owes. I am not a repudiationist. I\\nbelieve In paying every dollar that this or any other country owes,\\naccording to the exact letter of the contract that was made with\\nthe payees of the obligations.\\nIs there a man here who wants to arrange some kind of a trick\\nfor preventing the Cubans paying their honest debts\u00e2\u0080\u0094 debts con-\\ntracted in securing their freedom? American citizens, Mr. Chair-\\nman, have loaned them money to carry on this uneqiial warfare\\nthat they have sustained so long with the Spanish Government.\\nThat money has been expended in buying bread for their starv-\\ning families and guns and ammunition with which to shoot down\\nthe cruel and inhuman oppressors sent over from Spain. And\\nnow does the gentleman from Ohio, or any man, say that these\\nAmerican citizens who were kind enough to loan money to these\\npeople to help them fight their battles ought not to be paid? Is\\nthere a man on this floor so dishonest as to advocate the repudia-\\ntion of the debt thus honestly created\u00e2\u0080\u0094 a debt due to American\\ncitizens?\\nWhy, Mr. Chairman, I can not believe such a thing to be true,\\nand must treat this statement as a mere joke. If we acknowledge\\nthe independence of Cuba, there could be no question of the lia-\\nbility of the United States for taking it away from Spain. We\\nwould not then take it from Spain; but we say to the Cubans\\nthat they have fairly and legitimately, in the judgment of this\\ncountry, won their freedom and are entitled to independence. I\\nam, sir, not only in favor of acknowledging their independence, but\\nin favor of following up that acknowledgment with a declaration\\nof war against the Kingdom of Spain. [Applause,]\\nBut you say there is no cause for war with Spain. Ever since", "height": "3608", "width": "2252", "jp2-path": "cubanindependenc00gree_0015.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "14\\nthat lamentable autl fatal night of February 15 last we have had\\njust and proper cause for war with that Government. Turn your\\neyes to the harbor of Havana, and behold the scene of an Amer-\\nican battle ship, peacefully slumbering in what we had reason to\\nbelieve was a friendly harbor. But was it a friendly harbor?\\nLook now at the wreck that is left. Two hundred and sixty-six\\nbrave American seamen, in the twinkling of an eye, were sent to\\nmeet their God, by a villainous Spanish mine, touched off by the\\nhands of a murderous Spaniard.\\nBut some may say We do not know that they had anything to\\ndo with it. Mr. Chairman, nobody thinks that private citizens\\nin Cuba are carrying around mines of this character in their\\npockets. Nobody believes that a Spanish private citizen is laying\\nmines in Havana Harbor. Does any man here believe that a pri-\\nvate citizen could have been able to understand the complicated\\nconnections of the mine with the mainland, so as to have enabled\\nhim to touch it off without the knowledge and consent of the\\nSpanish authorities there?\\nThat in itself was a cause of war; and that cause exists to-day.\\nIt has not been relieved or removed by anything that has occurred\\nsince, and tmtil there shall be a full and complete settlement with\\nSpain, not only for the destruction of our war ship, but for the\\nmurder of our American seamen, that will always remain a cau^e\\nof war, and no other settlement, unless it be adequate, full, and\\ncomplete, will ever satisfy the American public. [Applause.]\\nYou may patch it iip if you will; you may try to plaster it over\\nas yoxi will but I tell you that the blood of these men will cry up\\nfrom the harbor of Havana until vengeance shall have been\\nmeeted out by the hands of American soldiers.\\nDo you want to fix it any other Vv-ay? Can you fix it any other\\nway? If you declare war with Spain and acknowledge the inde-\\npendence of Cuba, we can fight Spain on the Island of Cuba, in\\nPuerto Rico, in the Philippine Islands, and under the dome of her\\nown capitol. And, Mr. Chairman, the American heart is ready\\nand fired for the ordeal of battle whenever it shall come.\\nYou say this is jingoism. Mr. Chairman, I would rather be\\ncalled a jingo than a Dongo. I would greatly prefer to be called\\na jirgoist than to be found apologizing for the atrocious and mer-", "height": "3545", "width": "2221", "jp2-path": "cubanindependenc00gree_0016.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "15\\nciless action of the Spanish Government. [Applause.] Call it\\ntherefore what j-ou will. The American people will respond to\\nthe cause of justice and right.\\nThe American people are ready to fight, and they want to fight.\\nOur ships are tugging at their moorings now, ready to avenge\\ntheir dead sister ship. Our brave soldiers ask but for an oppor-\\ntunity to be permitted to avenge their dead comrades, some of\\nwhom still sleep in the sunken ship. What, then, are we to do?\\nPatch it up?\\nMr. Chairman, I desire to occupy but a moment further of time.\\nI repeat what I have said. This country is ready now for the con-\\nflict. If we take that position, we do not make the Cubans our\\nenemies and we do not become theirs. If we must meet Spain,\\nwhile we bombard her forts in front, if Gomez can fight her in the\\nrear we have no objection in the world to it. Gentlemen, the\\ntime is here when we must do something, and do something that\\nhas a meaning.\\nWe can not afford to do less than that. I said I could only hope\\npolitically that you would not, for there will not be enough of you\\nhere next year to call the yeas and nays if you do not. You know\\nthat as well as I do. It is not news to you. But, I repeat, it has\\nwith me passed out of the realm of politics. I want to ask you,\\nRepublicans on this side and Democrats on that side, let us as\\nAmerican citizens and as representatives of a great country meet\\nthis crisis and meet it now. [Applause.]\\nWe can not afford to do otherwise. I believe that on both sides\\nof the Chamber there are true, loyal hearts that will follow that\\nold flag wherever it goes and follow it to victory. I believe you\\nare just as unwilling to see its stars and stripes sullied as I am.\\nAs a common people, as patriotic citizens, laying aside our parties\\nand our prejudices, I want to appeal to you in the name of my\\ncountry, in the name of our murdered dead, and in the name of\\nGod, let us vindicate American honor and the American flag.\\n[Applause.]\\n3350\\nI", "height": "3390", "width": "2211", "jp2-path": "cubanindependenc00gree_0017.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "LIBKHKY Ul- CUNUKtbb\\n013 902 137 P\\nI.\\nf", "height": "3545", "width": "2221", "jp2-path": "cubanindependenc00gree_0018.jp2"}}