{"1": {"fulltext": "rTsna\\nstfX", "height": "3506", "width": "2187", "jp2-path": "cubamustbefree00thur_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3125", "width": "1969", "jp2-path": "cubamustbefree00thur_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "F 1786 CUBA MUST BE FREE.\\n.T542\\n[Let the men whose loyalty is to the dollar stand aside, while tho men whose\\nCopy 1 .oyalty is to the flag come to the front.\\nThe time for action has come. Ko greater reason for it can exist to-moriow\\nihan exists to-day. Every hour s delay only adds another chapter to the awful\\nBtory of misery and death.\\nWe can not intervene and save Cuba without the exercise of force, and force\\nmeans war; war means blood. The lowly Nazarene on the shores of Galilee\\npreached the divine doctrine of love, Peace on earth, good will toward men.\\nNot peace on earth at the expense of liberty and humanity. 2STot good will\\ntoward men who despoil, enslave, degrade, and starve to death their fellow-meu...\\nI believe in the doctrine of Christ. I believe in the doctrine of peace; but, 2\\\\Ir.\\nPresident, men must have liberty before there can come abiding peace.]\\nSPEECHES\\nHON. JOHN M. THURSTON,\\nOW NEBRASKA,\\nSENATE OF THE UNITED STATES,\\nThursday, March 24, 1898, Saturday, April 16, 1898,\\nand Wednesday, April 20, 1898.\\nSHI^G-XOJST.\\n1898.", "height": "3125", "width": "1969", "jp2-path": "cubamustbefree00thur_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "\u00e2\u0080\u00a2rd\\nv^* SPEECH\\n*y op\\n\u00e2\u0080\u00a2fiW. JOHN M. THUKSTON.\\nS\\nFFAIRS IN CUBA.\\nMr. THURSTON.^ Mr. President, I am here by command of silent\\nlips to speak once and for all upon the Cuban situation. I trust that\\nno one has expected anything sensational from me. God forbid that\\nthe bitterness of a personal loss should induce me to color in the\\nslightest degree the statement that I feel it my duty to make. I\\nshall endeavor to be honest, conservative, and just. I have no\\npurpose to stir the public passion to any action not necessary and\\nimperative to meet the duties and necessities of American re-\\nsponsibility, Christian humanity, and national honor. I would\\nshirk this task if I could, but I dare not. I can not satisfy my\\nconscience except by speaking, and speaking now.\\nSome three weeks since, three Senators and two Representatives\\nin Congress accepted the invitation of a great metropolitan news-\\npaper to make a trip to Cuba and personally investigate and re-\\nport upon the situation there\\\\ Our invitation was from a news-\\npaper whose political teachings I have never failed to antagonize\\nand denounce, and whose journalism I have considered decidedly\\nsensational. Bu; let me say, for the credit of the proprietor of\\nthe paper in question, that I believe the invitation extended to us\\nwas inspired by his patriotic desire to have the actual condition\\nof affairs in Cuba brought to the attention of the American peo-\\nple in such a way that the facts would no longer remain in con-\\ntroversy or dispute.\\nWe were not asked to become the representatives of the paper;\\nno conditions or restrictions were imposed upon us;^we were left\\nfree to conduct the investigation in our own way, make our own\\nplans, pursue our own methods, take our own time, and decide for\\nourselves upon the best manner of laying the result of our labors\\nbefore the American people\\\\ For myself I went to Cuba firmly\\nbelieving that the conditionof affairs there had been greatly exag-\\ngerated by the press, and my own efforts were directed in the first\\ninstance to the attempted exposure of these supposed exaggera-\\n3165\\n/-jrp\u00c2\u00a3S~", "height": "3125", "width": "1969", "jp2-path": "cubamustbefree00thur_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "Mr. President, there has undoubtedly been much sensationalism\\nin the journalism of the time, but as to the condition of affairs in\\nCuba there has been no exaggeration, because exaggeration has\\nbeen impossible. I have read the careful statement of the junior\\nSenator from Vermont [Mr. Proctor], and I find that he has\\nanticipated me in almost every detail. From my own personal\\nknowledge of the situation, I adopt every word of his concise,\\nconservative, specific presentation as my own; nay, more, I am\\nconvinced, that he has, in a measure, understated the facts. I\\nabsolutely agree with him in the following conclusions:\\nAfter three years of warfare and the use of 225,000 Spanish\\ntroops, Spain has lost control of every foot of Cubanot surrounded\\nby an actual intrenchment and protected by a fortified picket line.\\nShe holds possession with her armies of the fortified seaboard\\ntowns, not because the insurgents could not capture many of them,\\nbut because they are under the virtual protection of Spanish war\\nships, with which the revolutionists can not cope.\\nThe revolutionists are in absolute and almost peaceful posses-\\nsion of nearly one-half of the island including the eastern provinces\\nof Santiago de Cuba and Puerto Principe. In those provinces\\nthey have an established form of government, levy and collect\\ntaxes, maintain armies, and generally levy a tax or tribute upon\\nthe principal plantations in the other provinces, and, as is com-\\nmonly believed, upon the entire railway system of the island.\\nin the four so-called Spanish provinces there is neither cultiva-\\ntion nor railway operation except under strong Spanish military\\nprotection or by consent of the revolutionists in consideration of\\ntribute paid.\\nSUFFERINGS OF THE COUNTRY PEOPLE.\\nUnder the inhuman policy of Weyler not less than 400,000 self-\\nsupporting, simple, peaceable, defenseless country people were\\ndriven from their homes in the agricultural portions of the Span-\\nish provinces to the cities and imprisoned upon the barren waste\\noutside the residence portions of these cities and within the lines\\nof intrenchment established a little way beyond. Their humble\\nhomes were burned, their fields laid waste, their implements of\\nhusbandry destroyed, their live stock and food supplies for the\\nmost part confiscated. Most of these people were old men, women,\\nana children. They were thus placed in hopeless imprisonment,\\nwithout shelter or food. There was no work for them in the\\ncities to which they were driven. They were left there with noth-\\ning to depend upon except the scanty charity of the inhabitants\\nof the cities and with slow starvation their inevitable fate.\\nIt is conceded upon the best ascertainable authority, and those\\nwho have had access to the public records do not hesitate to state,\\nthat upward of 210,000 of these people have already perished, all\\nfrom starvation or from diseases incident to starvation.\\n3165", "height": "3125", "width": "1969", "jp2-path": "cubamustbefree00thur_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "The Government of Spain lias never contributed one dollar to\\nhouse, shelter, feed, or provide medical attention for these its\\nown citizens. Such a spectacle exceeds the scenes of the Inferno\\nas painted by Dante.\\nThere has been no amelioration of the situation except through\\nthe charity of the people of the United States. There has been no\\ndiminution in the death rate among these reconcentrados except\\nas the death supply is constantly diminished. There can be no\\nrelief and no hope except through the continued charity of the\\nAmerican people until peace shall be fully restored in the island\\nand until a humane government shall return these people to their\\nhomes and provide for them anew the means with which to begin\\ngain the cultivation of the soil.\\nSpain can not put an end to the existing condition. She can\\nnot conquer the insurgents. She can not reestablish her sover-\\neignty over any considerable portion of the interior of the island.\\nThe revolutionists, while able to maintain themselves, can not\\ndrive the Spanish army from the fortified seacoast towns.\\nThe situation, then, is not war as we understand it, but a chaos\\nof devastation and depopulation of undefined duration, whose end\\nno man can see.\\nI will cite but a few facts that came under my personal observa-\\ntion, all tending to fully substantiate the absolute truth of the\\nforegoing propositions. I could detail incidents by the hour and\\nby the day, but the Senator from Vermont has absolutely covered\\nthe case. I have no desire to deal in horrors. If I had my way, I\\nwould shield the American public even from the photographic\\nreproductions of the awful scenes that I viewed in all their original\\nghastliness.\\nSPAIN S FORCES IN CUBA.\\nSpain has sent to Cuba more than 225,000 soldiers to subdue the\\nisland, whose entire male population capable of bearing arms did\\nnot exceed at the beginning that number. These soldiers were\\nmostly boys, conscripts from the Spanish hills. They are well\\narmed, but otherwise seem to be absolutely unprovided for. They\\nhave been without tents and practically without any of the neces-\\nsary supplies and equipment for service in the field. They have\\nbeen put in barracks, in warehouses, and old buildings in the\\ncities where all sanitary surroundings have been of the worst pos-\\nsible character. They have seen but little discipline, and I could\\nnot ascertain that such a thing as a drill had taken place in the\\nisland.\\nThere are less than 60,000 now available for duty. The balance\\nare dead or sick in hospitals, or have been sent back to Spain as\\nincapacitated for further service. It is currently stated that there\\nare now 37,000 sick in hospital. I do not believe that the entire\\n3105", "height": "3125", "width": "1969", "jp2-path": "cubamustbefree00thur_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "Spanish array in Cuba could stand an engagement in the open\\nfield against 20,000 well-disciplined American soldiers.\\nAs an instance of the discipline among them I cite the fact that\\nI bought the machete of a Spanish soldier on duty at the wharf in\\nMatanzas. on his offer, for ,$3 in Spanish silver. He also seemed\\ndesirous of selling me his only remaining arm. a revolver.\\nThe Spanish soldiers have not been paid for some months, and in\\nmy judgment they, of all the people on the earth, will most gladly\\nwelcome any result which would permit them to return to their\\n/onaes in Spain.\\nThe pictures in the American newspapers of the starving re-\\nconcentrados are true. They can all be duplicated by the thou-\\nsands. I never saw. and please God I may never again see, so\\ndeplorable a sight as the reconcentrados in the suburbs of Matan-\\nzas. I can never forget to my flying day the hopeless anguish in\\ntheir despairing eyes. Huddled about their little bark huts, they\\nraised no voice of appeal to us for alms as we went among them.\\nThere was almost no begging by the reconcentrados themselves.\\nThe streets of the cities are full of beggars of all ages and all con-\\nditions, but they are almost wholly of the residents of the cities\\nand largely of the professional-beggar class. The reconcentra-\\ndos men, women, and children stand silent, famishing with\\nhunger. Their only appeal comes from their sad eyes, through\\nwhich one looks as through an open window into their agonizing\\nsouls.\\nThe present autonomist governor or Matanzas (who speaks ex-\\ncellent English) was inaugurated in November last. His records\\ndisclose that at the city of Matanzas there were 1.200 deaths in\\nNovember, 1,200 in December, 700 in January, and 500 in Febru-\\nary 3,600 in four months, and those four months under the ad-\\nministration of a governor whom I believe to be a truly humane\\nman. He stated to me that on the day of hisinauguration. which\\nI think was the 12th of last November, to his personal knowl-\\nedge 15 persons died in the public square in front of the executive\\nmansion. Thinkof it, oh. my countrymen! Fifteen human beings\\ndying from starvation in the public square, in the shade of the\\npalm trees, and amid the beautiful flowers, in sight of the open\\nwindows of the executive mansion!\\nThe governor of Matanzas told us that for the most part the peo-\\nple of the city of Matanzas had done all they could for the recon-\\ncentrados: and after studying the situation over I believe his state-\\nment is true. He said the condition of affairs in the island had\\ndestroyed the trade, the commerce, and the business of the city;\\nthat most of the people who had the means assisted the reconcen-\\ntrados with food just as long as they could, but he said to us that\\nthere we?e thousands of the people living in fine houses on mar-\\n3165", "height": "3125", "width": "1969", "jp2-path": "cubamustbefree00thur_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "6\\nble floors who were in deep need themselves and who did not know\\nfrom one day to the other where their food supply was coming\\nfrom.\\nSPAIN S SELFISHNESS A STENCH IN THE NOSTRILS OF CIVILIZED NATIONS.\\nThe ability of the people of Matanzas to aid is practically ex-\\nhausted. The governor told us that he had expended all of his\\nsalary and all that he could possibly afford of his private means in\\nrelief work. He is willing that the reconcentrados shall repass\\nthe picket line and go back to seek work in the interior of the\\nisland. He expresses his willingness to give them passes for that\\npurpose, but they are no longer physically able to take advantage\\nof that offer. They have no homes to return to; their fields have\\ngrown up to weeds; they have no oxen, no implements of hus-\\nbandry with which to begin anew the cultivation of the soil.\\nTheir only hope is to remain where they are, to live as long as\\nthey can on an insufficient charity, and then die. What is true\\nat Matanzas is true at all the other cities where these reconcen-\\ntrados have been gathered.\\nThe Government of Spain has not and will not appropriate one\\ndollar to save these people. They are now being attended and\\nnursed and administered to by the charity of the United States.\\nThink of the spectacle! We are feeding these citizens of Spain;\\nwe are nursing their sick; we are saving such as can be saved, and\\nyet there are those who still say it is right for us to send food, but\\nwe must keep hands off. I say that the time has come when mus-\\nkets ought to go with the food.\\nWe asked the governor if he knew of any relief for these people\\nexcept through the charity of the United States. He did not.\\nWe then asked him, li Can you see any end to this condition of\\naffairs? He could not. We asked him, When do you think\\nthe time will come that these people can be placed in a position\\nof self-support? He replied to us, with deep feeling, Only the\\ngood God or the great Government of the United States can\\nanswer that question. I hope and believe that the good God\\nby the great Government of the United States will answer that\\nquestion.\\nI shall refer to these horrible things no further. They are there.\\nGod pity me; I have seen them; they will remain in my mind for-\\never and this is almost the twentieth century. Christ died nine-\\nteen hundred years ago, and Spain is a Christian nation. She has\\nset up more crosses in more lands, beneath more skies, and under\\nthem has butchered more people than all the other nations of the\\nearth combined.\\nEurope may tolerate her existence as long as the people of the\\nOld World wish. God grant that before another Christmas morn-\\n3165", "height": "3125", "width": "1969", "jp2-path": "cubamustbefree00thur_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "ing the last vestige of Spanish tyranny and oppression will have\\nvanished from the Western Hemisphere.\\nMr. President, the distinguished Senator from Vermont has\\nseen all these things; he knows all these things; he has described\\nall these things; hut after describing them he says he has nothing\\nto propose, no remedy to suggest. I have. I tun only an humble\\nunit in the great Government of the United States, but I should\\nfeel myself a traitor did I remain silent now.\\nSILENCE AND MODERATION NO LONGER TOLERABLE.\\nI counseled silence and moderation from this floor when the\\npassion of the nation seemed at white heat over the destruction\\nof the Maine; but it seems to me the time for action has now\\ncome. Not action in the Maine case! I hope and trust tnat this\\nGovernment will take action on the Cuban situation entirely out-\\nside of the Maine case. When the Maine report is received, if it\\nbe found that our ship and sailors were blown up by some outside\\nexplosive, we will have ample reparation without quibble or de-\\nlay; and if the explosion can be traced to Spanish official sources\\nthere will be such swift and terrible punishment adjudged as will\\nremain a warning to the world forever.\\nWhat shall the United States do, Mr. President?\\nI am a Republican, and I turn to the last platform of my party\\nand I read:\\nFrom the hour of achieving their own independence the people of the United\\nStates have regarded with sympathy the struggles of other American people\\nto free themselves from European domination. We watch with deep and\\nabiding interest the heroic battle of the Cuban patriots against cruelty and\\noppression, and our best hopes go out for the full success of their determined\\ncontest for liberty.\\nThe Government of Spain, having lost control of Cuba and being unable\\nto protect the property or lives of resident American citizens, or to comply\\nwith its treaty obligations, we believe that the Government of the United\\nStates should actively use its influence and good offices to restore peace and\\ngive independence to the island.\\nMr. President, when that declaration was read before the St.\\nLouis convention, over which I had the distinguished honor to\\npreside, it was greeted with a mighty shout which seemed to lilt\\nthe very roof of that great convention hall, and it was adopted as\\na part of the platform of the Republican party by unanimous vote.\\nOn the 29th day of June, 1896, William McKinley, standing upon\\nhis vine-clad porch at Canton, Ohio, in accepting the nomination\\nthen officially tendered him, said:\\nThe platform adopted by the Republican national convention has received\\nmy careful consideration and has my unqualified approval. It is a matter\\nof gratification to me, as I am sure it must be to you and Republicans every-\\nwhere and to all our people, that the expressions of its declaration of principles\\nare so direct, clear, and emphatic. They are too plain and positive to leave\\nany chance for doubt or question as to their purport and meaning.\\n3165", "height": "3125", "width": "1969", "jp2-path": "cubamustbefree00thur_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "That platform of the Republican party, that indorsement by its\\nnominee for President, was ratified by more than 7,000,000 Amer-\\nican voters. That platform has marked my path of duty from\\nthe hour of its adoption up to the present time.\\nRECORD OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IN KEEPING ITS PLEDGES.\\nIt is an honored boast of the Republican party that it always\\nkeeps its promises and that its platform declarations are always\\ncarried out by its Administrations. I have no reason to doubt, I\\nhave every reason to believe, that the present Chief Magistrate\\nof the United States still stands upon the platform of the Repub-\\nlican party. I have no reason to doubt, I have every reason to\\nbelieve, that he will make its fulfillment a part of the glorious\\nhistory of the world.\\nMr. President, that platform was adopted almost two years ago.\\nHas there been any such change in the Cuban situation as to re-\\nlieve the Republican party from its obligations? None whatever.\\nThere has been no change except such as to strengthen the force\\nof our platform assertion that Spain has lost control of the island.\\nTwice within the last two years I have voted for a resolution ac-\\ncording the rights of belligerents to the Cuban revolutionists.\\nI believed at those times, I still believe, that such a recognition on\\nour part would have enabled the Cuban patriots to have achieved\\nindependence for themselves; that it would have given them such\\na standing in the money markets of the world, such rights on the\\nsea, such flag on the land, that ere this the independence of Cuba\\nwould have been secured, and that without cost or loss of blood\\nor treasure to the people of the United States. But that time has\\npassed; it is too late to talk about resolutions according belligerent\\nrights; and mere resolutions recognizing the independence of the\\nCuban Republic would avail but little. Our platform demands\\nthat the United States shall actively use its influence for the inde-\\npendence of the island.\\nI am not here to criticise the present Administration. I yield\\nto no man living in my respect, my admiration for, and my con-\\nfidence in the judgment, the wisdom, the patriotism, the Amer-\\nicanism of William McKinley. When he entered upon his Ad-\\nministration he faced a difficult situation. It was his duty to\\nproceed with care and caution. At the first available opportunity\\nhe addressed a note to Spain, in which he gave that Government\\nnotice, as set forth in his message to the Congress of the United\\nStates, that the United States\\ncould be required to wait only a reasonable time for the mother country to\\nestablish its authority and restore peace and order within the borders of the\\nisland; that we could not contemplate an indefinite period for the accom-\\nplishment of this result.\\n3165", "height": "3125", "width": "1969", "jp2-path": "cubamustbefree00thur_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "The President further advised us:\\nThis Government has never in any way abrogated its sovereign preroga-\\ntive of reserving to itself the determination of its policy and course accord-\\ning to its own high sense of right and in consonance with the dearest interests\\nand convictions of our own people should the prolongation of the strife so\\ndemand.\\nThis was the proper, the statesmanlike beginning of the per-\\nformance of the promise of the Republican platform. It was in\\naccordance with the diplomatic usages and customs of civilized\\nnations. In the meantime the whole situation apparently changed.\\nIn Spain the liberal ministry of Sagasta succeeded that of Cano-\\nvas; the cruel and inhuman Weyler was recalled, and succeeded\\nby the humane Blanco, who, u..der the Sagasta ministry, has un-\\nquestionably made every effort to bring about peace in the island\\nof Cuba under the promise of autonomy\u00e2\u0080\u0094 a decided advance be-\\nyond any proposition ever before made for the participation of the\\nCubans in their own domestic affairs.\\nIt was the plain duty of the President of the United States to\\ngive to the liberal ministry of Spain a reasonable time in which\\nto test its proposed autonomy. That time has been given. Au-\\ntonomy is conceded tbe wide world over to be a conspicuous fail-\\nure. The situation in Cuba has only changed for the worse.\\nSagasta is powerless; Blanco is powerless to put an end to the con-\\nflict, to rehabilitate the island, or to relieve the suffering, starva-\\ntion, and distress.\\nTIME FOR ACTION NOW.\\nThe time for action has, then, come. No greater reason for it\\ncan exist to-morrow than exists to-day. Every hour s delay only\\nadds another chapter to the awful story of misery and death.\\nOnly one power can intervene the United States of America.\\nOurs is the one great nation of the New World, the mother of\\nAmerican republics. She holds a position of trust and responsi-\\nbility toward the peoples and the affairs of the whole Western\\nHemisphere.\\nIt was her glorious example which inspired the patriots of Cuba\\nto raise the flag of liberty in her eternal hills. We can not refuse\\nto accept this responsibility which the God of the universe has\\nplaced upon us as the one great power in the New World. We\\nmust act! What shall our action be? Some say the acknowledg-\\nment of the belligerency of the revolutionists. As I have already\\nshown, the hour and the opportunity for that have passed away.\\nOthers say, Let us by resolution or official proclamation recog-\\nnize the independence of the Cubans. It is too late even for such\\nrecognition to be of great avail. Others say, Annexation to the\\nUnited States. God forbid! I would oppose annexation with\\nmy latest breath. The people of Cuba are not our people; they\\n3165", "height": "3125", "width": "1969", "jp2-path": "cubamustbefree00thur_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "10\\ncan not assimilate with us; and beyond all that I am utterly and\\nunalterably opposed to any departure from the declared policy of\\nthe fathers which would start this Republic for the first time\\nupon a career of conquest and dominion utterly at variance with\\nthe avowed purposes and the manifest destiny of popular gov-\\nernment.\\n\u00e2\u0096\u00a0J Let the world understand that the United States does not pro-\\npose to annex Cuba, that it is not seeking a foot of Cuban soil or\\na dollar of Spanish treasure. Others say, Let us intervene for the\\npacification of the island, giving to its people the greatest measure\\nof autonomy consistent with the continued sovereignty of Spain.\\nSuch a result is no longer possible. It is enough to say that it\\nwould be resisted by all classes of the Cuban population, and its\\nattempt would simply transfer the putting down of the revolution\\nand the subjugation of the Cuban patriots to the armies of the\\nUnited States.\\nThere is also said to be a syndicate organization in this country,\\nrepresenting the holders of Spanish bonds, who are urging that\\nthe intervention of the United States shall be for the purchase of\\nthe island or for the guaranteeing of the Spanish debt incurred\\nin the attempted subjugation of the Cuban revolutionists. Mr.\\nPresident, it is idle to think for a single moment of such a plan.\\nThe American people will never consent to the payment of one\\ndollar, to the guaranteeing of one bond, as the price paid to Spain\\nfor her relinquishment of the island she has so wantonly outraged\\nand devastated.\\nINTERVENTION FOR INDEPENDENCE.\\n4 Mr. President, there is only one action possible, if any is taken;\\nthat is, intervention for the independence of the island; interven-\\ntion that means the landing of an American army on Cuban\\nsoil, the deploying of an American fleet off Habana; interven-\\ntion which says to Spain, Leave the island, withdraw your\\nsoldiers, leave the Cubans, these brothers of ours in the New\\nWorld, to form and carry on government for themselves. Such\\nintervention on our part would not of itself be war. It would un-\\ndoubtedly lead to war. But if war came it would come by act of\\nSpain in resistance of the liberty and the independence of the\\nCuban people J|\\nSome say these Cubans are incapable of self-government; that\\nthey can not be trusted to set up a republic. Will they ever be-\\ncome better qualified under Spanish rule than they are to-day?\\nSometime or other the dominion of kings must cease on the West-\\nern Continent.\\nThe Senator from Vermont has done full justice to the native\\npopulation of Cuba. He has studied them, and he knows that of\\nall the people on the island they are the best qualified and fitted for\\n3165", "height": "3125", "width": "1969", "jp2-path": "cubamustbefree00thur_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "11\\ngovernment. Certainly any government by the Cuban people\\nwould be better than the tyranny of Spain.\\nMr. President, there was a time when jingoism was abroad\\nin the land; when sensationalism prevailed, and when there was\\na distinct effort to inflame the passions and prejudices of the\\nAmerican people and precipitate a war with Spain. That time\\nhas passed away. Jingoism is long since dead. The American\\npeople have waited and waited and waited in patience; yea, in\\npatience and confidence confidence in the belief that decisive\\naction would be taken in due season and in a proper way. To-day\\nall over this land the appeal comes up to us; it reaches us from\\nevery section and from every class. That appeal i3 now for action.\\nIn an interview of yesterday, the senior Senator from Maine\\n[Mr. Hale] is reported as saying:\\nEvents have crowded on too rapidly, and the President has been carried\\noff his feet.\\nI know of no warrant for such an assertion, but I do know this,\\nthat unless Congress acts promptly, meeting this grave crisis as\\nit should be met, we will be swept away, and we ought to be swept\\naway, by the tidal wave of American indignation.\\nThe President has not been carried off his feet.\\nThe Administration has been doing its whole duty. With rare\\nforesight and statesmanship it has hastened to make every possi-\\nble preparation for any emergency. If it be true that the report\\nin the Maine case has been delayed, it has been delayed in order\\nthat we might be prepared at all points for defensive and offen-\\nsive action. There are some who say, but they are mostly those\\nwho have procrastinated from the beginning up to the present\\ntime, Let Congress hold its peace, adjourn, go home and leave the\\nPresident to act.\\nI for one believe that the Congress of the United States is an\\nequal and coordinate branch of the Federal Government, repre-\\nsenting the combined judgment and wisdom of the many. It can\\nmore safely be depended on than the individual judgment and\\nwisdom of any one man. I am a Senator of the United States,\\nand I will never consent to abdicate my right to participate in the\\ndetermination as to what is the solemn duty of this great Republic\\nin this momentous and fateful hour. We are not in session to\\nhamper or cripple the President; we are here to advise and assist\\nhim. Congress can alone declare war; Congress can alone levy\\ntaxes; and to this Congress the united people of this broad land,\\nfrom sea to sea, from lake to gulf, look to voice their wishes and\\nexecute their will.\\nVOICE OF THE MONEY CHANGERS AGAINST INTERVENTION.\\nMr. President, against the intervention of the United States in\\nthis holy cause there is but one voice of dissent; that voice is the\\n31C5", "height": "3125", "width": "1969", "jp2-path": "cubamustbefree00thur_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "12\\nvoice of the money changers. They fear war! Not because of\\nany Christian or ennobling sentiment against war and in favor\\nof peace, but because they fear that a declaration of war, or the\\nintervention which might result in war, would have a depressing\\neffect upon the stock market.\\nMr. President, I do not read my duty from the ticker; I do not\\naccept my lessons in patriotism from Wall street. I deprecate\\nwar. I hope and pray for the speedy coming of the time when the\\nsword of the soldier will no longer leap from its scabbard to settle\\ndisputes between civilized nations. But, it is evident, looking at\\nthe cold facts, that a war with Spain would not permanently de-\\npreciate the value of a single American stock or bond.\\nWar with Spain would increase the business and the earnings\\nof every American railroad, it would increase the output of every\\nAmerican factory, it would stimulate every branch of industry\\nand domestic commerce, it would greatly increase the demand for\\nAmerican labor, and in the end every certificate that represented\\na share in an American business enterprise would be worth more\\nmoney than it is to-day. But in the meantime the specter of war\\nwould stride through the stock exchanges, and many of the gam-\\nblers around the board would find their ill-gotten gains passing\\nto the other side of the table.\\nLet them go; what one man loses at the gambling table his fel-\\nlow-gambler wins. It is no concern of yours, it is no concern of\\nmine, whether the bulls or the bears have the best of these\\nstock deals. They do not represent American sentiment; they do\\nnot represent American patriotism. Let them take their chances\\nas they can. Their weal or woe is of but little importance to the\\nliberty-loving people of the United States. They will not do the\\nfighting; their blood will not flow; they will keep on dealing in\\noptions on human life. Let the men whose loyalty is to the dollar\\nstand aside while the men whose loyalty is to the flag come to the\\nfront. [Applause in the galleries.]\\nHONOR OF THE NATION ABOVE ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS.\\nThere are some who lift their voices in the land and in the open\\nlight of day insist that the Republican party will not act, for they\\nsay it sold out to the capitalists and the money changers at the\\nlast national election. It is not so. God forbid! The 7,000,000\\nfreemen who voted for the Republican party and for William\\nMcKinley did not mortgage the honor of this nation for a cam-\\npaign fund, and if the time ever comes when the Reptiblican\\nparty hesitates in its course of duty because of any undue anx-\\niety for the welfare of the accumulated wealth of the nation,\\nthen let the Republican party be swept from the face of the\\nearth and be succeeded by some other party, by whatever name\\n3165", "height": "3125", "width": "1969", "jp2-path": "cubamustbefree00thur_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "it may be called, which will represent the patriotism, the honesty,\\nthe loyalty, and the devotion that the Republican party exhibited\\nunder Abraham Lincoln in 1861.\\nV Mr. President, there are those who say that the affairs of Cuba\\nare not the affairs of the United States, who insist that we can\\nstand idly by and see that island devastated and depopulated, its\\nbusiness interests destroyed, its commercial intercourse with us\\ncut off, its people starved, degraded, and enslaved. It may be the\\niiaked legal right of the United States to stand thus idly by.\\nr I have the legal right to pass along the street and see a helpless\\ndog stamped into the earth under the heels of a ruffian. I can pass\\nby and say that is not my dog. I can sit in my comfortable parlor\\nwith my loved ones gathered about me, and through my plate-\\nglass window see a fiend outraging a helpless woman near by,\\nand I can legally say this is no affair of mine it is not happening\\non my premises; and I can turn away and take my little ones in\\nmy arms, and, with the memory of their sainted mother in my\\nheart, look up to the motto on the wall and read, God bless our\\nhome.\\n^ut if I do, I am a coward and a cur unfit to live, and, God\\nknows, unfit to die. And yet I can not protect the dog nor save\\nthe woman without the exercise of force.\\nWe can not intervene and save Cuba without the exercise of\\nforce, and force means war; war means blood. The lowly Naza-\\nrene on the shores of Galilee preached the divine doctrine of\\nlove, Peace on earth, good will toward men. Not peace on\\nearth at the expense of liberty and humanity. Not good will\\ntoward men who despoil, enslave, degrade, and starve to death\\ntheir fellow- men. I believe in the doctrine of Christ. I believe\\nin the doctrine of peace; but, Mr. President, men must have lib-\\nerty before there can come abiding peace.\\n..Intervention means force. Force means war. War means\\nblood. But it will be God s force. When has a battle for human-\\nity and liberty ever been won except by force? What barricade\\nof wrong, injustice, and oppression has ever been carried except\\nby force?\\nTHE PART FORCE HAS PLAYED IN THE WORLD S HISTORY.\\n\\\\j Force compelled the signature of unwilling royalty to the great\\nMagna Charta; force put life into the Declaration of Independence\\nand made effective the Emancipation Proclamation; force beat\\nwith naked hands upon the iron gateway of the Bastile and made\\nreprisal in one awful hour for centuries of kingly crime: force\\nwaved the flag of revolution over Bunker Hill and marked the\\nsnows of Valley Forge with blood-stained feet; force held the\\nbroken line at Shiloh, climbed the ilame-swept hill at Chattanooga,\\n3165", "height": "3125", "width": "1969", "jp2-path": "cubamustbefree00thur_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "14\\nand stormed the clouds on Lookout heights; force marched with\\nSherman to the sea, rode with Sheridan in the valley of the Shen-\\nandoah, and gave G-rant victory at Appomattox; force saved the\\nUnion, kept the stars in the flag, made niggers men. The time\\nfor God s force has come again. Let the impassioned lips of\\nAmerican patriots once more take up the song:\\nIn the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,\\nWith a glory in His bosom that transfigured you and me,\\nA.s He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,\\nFor God is marching on.\\nOthers may hesitate, others may procrastinate, others may plead\\nfor further diplomatic negotiation, which means delay, but for\\nme, I am ready to act now, and for my action I am ready to answer\\nto my conscience, my country, and my God.\\nMr. President, in the cable that moored me to life and hope the\\nstrongest strands are broken. I have but little left to offer at the\\naltar of Freedom s sacrifice, but all I have I am glad to give. I\\nam ready to serve my country as best I can in the Senate or in\\nthe field. My dearest wish, my most earnest prayer to God is\\nthis, that when death comes to end all, I may meet it calmly and\\nfearlessly as did my beloved, in the cause of humanity, under the\\nAmerican flag. [Long continued applause in the galleries.]\\nApril 16, 1S9S.\\nMr. THURSTON. Mr. President, I shall vote to recognize the\\nindependence of the Cuban Republic, and quietly and dispassion-\\nately, in the briefest possible time, I feel it my duty to present\\nthe principal reasons that guide my action.\\nI am a Republican and I have been urged by every considera-\\ntion of the welfare of my party to vote against this resolution be-\\ncause it is alleged to be of Democratic origin. No man has ever\\nquestioned my Republicanism, and no man can, but in a case of\\nthis kind I amsomething better than a Republican, I am an Ameri-\\ncan; and my duty as an American citizen places me above the\\nclouds and the fogs of party discipline or party decision. I aim to\\nstand in the clear sunlight of the duties and responsibilities of\\nAmerican citizenship.\\nNo man upon this floor or elsewhere shall outdo me in eulogium\\nof the President of the United States. I helped to raise the stand-\\nard of William McKinley and I helped to carry it to success in\\nconvention and at the polls. I am ready to stand by him for the\\nhonor of my country, and I repudiate here the suggestions made\\nto the public ear that the President of the^United States and the\\nCongress of the United States can be divided by any mere differ-\\nence in the terms of resolutions that are to be adopted by the\\nSenate and the House.\\n3361", "height": "3125", "width": "1969", "jp2-path": "cubamustbefree00thur_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "15\\nThere is, there can be, there will be, no division between the\\nCongress and the President. He has advised us that he has ex-\\nhausted his powers and responsibilities of diplomacy, and he has\\nasked us to exercise our judgment, not his. For our judgment\\nwe answer to our own consciences, to our own high ideals of public\\nduty.\\nMr. President, in the message from the President of the United\\nStates he states clearly and specifically and rightfully the three\\nalternative forms of intervention possible in the Island of Cuba.\\nHe says:\\nThere remain the alternative forms of intervention to end the war, either\\nas an impartial neutral by imposing a rational compromise between the con-\\ntestants or as the active ally of the one party or the other.\\nHe is right. There are but three methods of intervention possi-\\nble. As to the first he further properly and rightfully says:\\nIt involves, however, hostile constraint upon both the parties to the con-\\ntest as well to enforce a trnce as to guide the eventual settlement.\\nMr. President, I am opposed to intervention as an impartial\\nneutral by imposing a rational compromise between the contest-\\nants. We have declared that there is no compromise possible\\nbetween Spain and the people of Cuba. We will declare in our\\nresolutions that the people of that island have a right to be free,\\nand the only action which we can sanction as a nation is the\\nremoval of the Spanish sovereignty from Cuba.\\nMr. President, 1 am opposed to intervention which imposes hos-\\ntile constraint upon both the parties to the contest as web to\\nenforce a truce as to guide the eventual settlement. The dis-\\npatches from foreign countries every morning bring to our ears\\nthe deliberate opinions of the people of those governments that\\nthrough the intervention of the United States an end is to be put to\\nthe war and Cuba made free upon the condition of the guarantee-\\ning or assumption in some form or another of the obligation of the\\nSpanish debt. Mr. President, God forbid. When the deed of\\nCuban freedom is signed by the powers of the world, let there be\\nno stain of blood money upon it, and let it not be sealed by a dol-\\nlar mark.\\nMr. President, when we intervene in Cuba we know it means\\nwar\u00e2\u0080\u0094 war on the sea, war on the land. When we enter a Cuban\\nport, when we raise our flag, when we establish a base of military\\nmovement and supply, I do not want the American youth to go\\ndown there by the hundreds and the thousands, to take the chances\\nof fever and of disease and of bullets and of battle, unless it is ab-\\nsolutely necessary. If we recognize the Cuban Republic, if we\\nintervene as the friend of that government, which already has an\\narmy, not one American youth will ever have to march by land\\nupon Havana. The Cuban Republic has an army. Give it recog-\\nnition, give it arms, give it munitions, give it a base of supply at\\na port held under the guns of American battle ships, and it will\\ndo the fighting. It will drive Spain into the sea.\\nMr. President, I am done. When the Stars and Stripes go up\\non Cuban soil, I want our flag to share equally the free air of\\nCuba with another flag that bears a single star. Under the flags\\nof two republics, acknowledged before all the world, humanity\\nand liberty will be safe and secure.\\nApril SO, 1S98.\\nMr. THURSTON. Mr. President, nothing ever comes from\\nthrashing over old straw but chaff and dust. The joint resolution\\n3361", "height": "3125", "width": "1969", "jp2-path": "cubamustbefree00thur_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS\\n015 819 607 4\\n16\\npassed by the two Houses of Congress was signed by the President\\nof the United States at 11 o clock and 24 minutes this morning.\\nIt is now a part of the law of the land. The policy of that resolu-\\ntion is not in whole the original policy of the Executive as disclosed\\nby his message; it is not, as a whole, the policy of the House of Rep-\\nresentatives as disclosed by its first action; it is not, as a whole, the\\npolicy of the Senate as disclosed by its first vote; but, Mr. President,\\nto-day it is the policy of all the branches of this Government and of\\nall the people of the United States. At 11 o clock and 24 minutes\\nto-day, Mr. President, the time for party discussion ended. I stood\\nhere on the floor of the Senate with ten Republicans and I voted\\njust as long as there was a hope with the Democrats upon the other\\nBide for the recognition of the Republic of Cuba. From first to\\nlast I voted my conscience and my judgment. I deprecated any\\naction, I deprecated any speech, that could possibly be shaded with\\na partisan meaning.\\nUp to the time that this joint resolution became a law, it was a\\nproper thing for all Senators to express their views and to criti-\\ncise the views of others. I did regret that certain Senators on this\\nside, Republican Senators, found it necessary on yesterday to\\ncharge from this floor the Democrats upon the other side with\\nhaving voted against the joint resolution that is now the law. I\\nalso regretted the countercharge made upon the other side that\\ncertain Republicans on this side voted against the joint resolu-\\ntion which is now the law. On the first vote that adopted those\\nresolutions in the Senate sixty-seven Senators voted for them.\\nThose who voted against sustaining the conference report after-\\nwards did not thereby reverse their action on that vote, and I stand\\nhere as a Republican to say that those sixty-seven men, thus com-\\nmitted to the resolutions which are now the law, did support them\\nand never wavered in their support because of the vote passed on\\nthe conference report.\\nI also say, Mr. President, and it is true, that all but two of the\\ntwenty-one Senators who first voted against those resolutions did\\nto all intents and purposes vote for them, and made them the law\\nof the land on the final vote upon that conference report; and t*he\\ntrue record stands that the Senators on this floor. Republicans\\nand Democrats and Populists and Free Silver Republicans, or\\nwhat you please, all of them voted at one time or another for\\nthese resolutions which are now a law, except three Senators.\\nMr. President, we have raised the flag of the United States, and\\nall American hands are outstretched to keep it in the sky, to bear\\nit to victory against the enemies of our country. Let us not\\nweaken the upholding hands by any further partisan discussion,\\nby charges and countercharges as to which particular party has\\ndone the most to raise on high the standard of liberty and hu-\\nmanity.\\nMr. President, there will come a time on the hustings at the\\nfall elections and before the people when partisan debate may be\\nresumed. Let us wait until then. Until Cuba is free, until the\\nsingle star of that republic takes its place in the diadem of na-\\ntions, until the hungry women and children are fed, until Spain\\nis driven from the Western World, for God s sake let us rally\\naround the flag without distinction of party, stop our party quib-\\nbles, and. be American citizens for the honor and glory of our com-\\nmon country.\\n3361\\nQ", "height": "3125", "width": "1969", "jp2-path": "cubamustbefree00thur_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3125", "width": "1969", "jp2-path": "cubamustbefree00thur_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS\\n015 819 607 4 A\\nConservation Resources\\nLig-Free\u00c2\u00ae Type I\\nPh 8.5, Buffered", "height": "3424", "width": "2132", "jp2-path": "cubamustbefree00thur_0020.jp2"}}