The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 3, 1896, Page 1

amey o Ly Al g VOLUME LXXIX.— o . 94, PRICE FIVE CENTS. SPAIN REGRETS Precautions Taken to Guard | the American Lega- tion at Madrid. TROUBLES COMPLICATED Passage in the House of the Res- olution Recognizing Cuban Belligerency. SENATE PREPARES FOR WAR. Meanwhile Attempts Are Being Made Abroad to Form an Entente Against Uncle Sam. D. C., March. r 8 long conference with the President retary Olney gave out for g cablegram from rister at Madrid, WASHINGTON, Act r date of March 1: The Minister of State has just called to s ceep regret that the mob had Barcelona consulate, breaking express ted windows, and offered comnplete reparation. He informed me that the Government its own motion has taken every precau- on and my resi- tion dence. b3 to guard the leg: I have asked no protection.” r to the receipt of this dispatch mes- es reporting th consulate Minister Tayl assault on the Barce- | received from nd Herbert Bowen, 18 . the Spanish Min- rrmed of the news. and called on the v at his residence yesterday to ex- of instructions the regret ent over the occurrence. ations of a desire on the Spanish Government to v amend for the insult to the consulate were carefully considered by the President and Secretary Olney at the conference this morning. They were con- vinced that no affront had been given for which the Government was responsible. It is understood that Secretary Olney has a dispatch to Minister Taylor instruct- ing him to make known to the Spanish sughorities the appreciation of this Gov- aent of their prompt disavowal of the 1t. The incident-is believed in official e practicaily ended with Spain’s ny responsibility for the attack, ident desire to make all amends ¥ to the United States. e CONCURRED IN BY THE HOUSE. Adoption of the Resolutions Recognizing Cuban Belligerency. WASHINGTON, D. C., March 2.—The House to-day, after two hours’ spirited de- bate under the hmitations of a suspension of the rules, by a vote of 263 to 17, agreed to (in lieu of the resolutions adopted Fri- day by the Senate)the concurrent resolu- tions reported last week by its Committee on Foreign Affairs, declaring that, in the opinion of Congress, a state of public war exists in Cuba, the parties to which are entitled to belligerent rights, and between which the United States should observe a strict neutrality. ‘They further declare that Congress be- lieves the only permanent solution of the contest isin the establishment of a gov- ernment by the people of Cuba, and that it is the sense of Congress that the Govern- ment of the United Staies should use its good offices and influencesto that end; and | that the United States should be prepared to protect the legitimate interests of its | citizens in Cuba by intervention if neces- sary. The last of the series of resolutions reported by the committee pledging the support of Congress to the President in carrying out the foregoing was stricken | out, it being thought unnecessary, being covered in the others. Hitt (R.) of Illinois, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, called up the Benate Cuban resolutions and moved to suspend the rules and pass the resolutions reported by the House Foreign Affairs Committee in lieu of the Senate resolu- tions. The resoiutions are as follows: Resolved, By the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring) that in the opinion of Congress a state of public War exists in Cuba, the parties to which are entitled to belligerent rights, and the United States should observe a strict nentrality between the belligerents, ‘Resolved, That Congress deplores the destruc- tion of iife and property caused by the war now waging in that island, and believing that the only permanent solution of the contest equally in the interest of Spain, the people of Cuba and other nations would be in the estab- Jishment of & government by the choice of the people of Cuba, it is the sense of Congress that the Governmentof the United States should use its good offices and friendly influence to that end. Resolved, That the United States has not in- ened in struggles between any European Governments and their colonies on this con- tinent, but from the very close relations | between. the people of the United States and the people of Cuba, in consequence of its proximity and the extent of the commerce ween the two peoples, the present war is ailing such losses upon the people of the I'niited States that Congress is of the opinion that the Government of the United States ehould be prepared to protect the legitimate interests of our citizens by interventiom, if necessary. Joutelle (R.) of Maine demanded a sec- cond to the motion, and it was ordered by a vote of 175 to 19. At the request of Hitt thirty-five min- utes on each side wasallowed for debate. The debate was opened by Hitt. The resolutions, he said, had been considered with great care by the committee in many meetings, passing through several months, and after consultation with many eminent jurists. 1t was the belief o the committee that in the interest of peace, in the inter- est of the United States and in the interest of those who were struggling in Cuba and with whom the committee sympathized, the resolutions presented were a practical, | ent rignts. | the field of over 40,000 men. | stitution, republican in form. | Gec THE INSULT 70 OLD GLORY| conservative and effective mode of opera- tion. Hitt recalled the fact that the belliger- ency of the Southern Confederacy had | been recogmized by Spain a month before the first battle of the war—the battle of Bull Run. The Government of the United | States should now, through the State De- partment, ask that the people of Cuba should have a government of their own choice. Wherever American interests were imperilled, Hitt declared in conclu- sion, marines were landed to protect th®m. The great arm of the republic, he ex- claimed, ought to be ready always to fol- low its people and protect their interests, their property and their rights anywhere in the world. [Applause on the floor and in the eries. ] McCreary (D.)of Kentucky, a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, de- clared bimself emphatically. in favor of the pending resolutions. He spoke of the brutal outrages and barbarous atrocities of the Spaniards in Cuba, and deciared the time had come when Congress should do something. The time had come when the war in Cuba should be stopped. Cuba had an organized government, s legislature, an organized army, and her people had successfully met 100,000 Spanish soldiers. In his opinion the resolutions reported from the Committee on Foreign Affairs were proper and should be adopted. He wanted to see Cuba free, and he beliaved that, in God's own time, Cuba would be a free and independent republic. [Ap- plause.] Adams (R.) of Pennsylvania advocted the resolutions and spoke oi the Liberty Bell of Independence Hall, Philadelphia, echoing among the hills of the Queen of the Antilles. His own opinion was that the actual recognition of a new government was an executive function. Sulzer (D.) of New York argued that the Cuban patriots were entitled by every | principle of international law to belliger- They had a standing army in They had made their declaration of independence similar to the American declaration, and more justifiable. They had adopted a con- They had elected a Presidentand Vice-President and a constitutional Assembly; and they had a Ministry whick was competent to-day to treat or negotiate with any power on the face of the globe. If he had his way he would—— But before having a chance to say what he would do if he had his way, Sulzer was cut off in the middie of the sentence by the fall of the Speaker’s gavel and heard a shout of laughter from all sides of the House and from the galleries. The debate on the opposite side of the question was opened by Turner (D.) of gia, who commented on the fact that the Committee on Foreign Affairs had not seen fit to report the facts on which its recommendations rest. There were no facts presented, and & pamphlet from the State Department contained only a dreary record of mutual outrage, incendiarism and assassination. “And yet,” said he, “we are asked to declare that a state of public war exists on the island of Cuba.” As to the recognition of the Southern Confederacy by Spain, Turner recalled the fact that the people of the Confederacy held at the time a region of country ex- tending from the mouth of the Potomac to the Rio Grande, and that it had an army against which the combined legions of Cwsar and the phalanxes of Alexander would have been utterly unavailing. [Ap- plause.] “What information,” Turner asked, ‘“have we from the gentiemen represent- ing these resolutions on a single one of these important and material questions? Who is the President of this so-called re- public? I understand be is a citizen of the United States, and I understand that he is now in the United States in- stead of taking his fate along with the patriots fighting for freedom. Where is the capital of that country? How many men have the in- surgents in their army? Who knows? What great battles have they fought? Where are their gallant chieftains who have met the ememy in the open plain? Instead of war we have had only stories of conflagration, incendiarism, dynamite, de- struction of property and assassination. “Ii I had my way the first time that an outrage is committed on any one of our own citizens in Cuba I would send our navy to the island. I would send 10,000 | men to rescue any American citizen from wrong and oppression. And the question is whether we shall, in the dark, without information, take a measure which would affect our friendly relations with Spain and on which may depend such a mo- mentous question as that of peace and war.” Turner was followed on the opposite side of the question by Smith (R.) of Michigan, who expressed his surprise that a distinguished lawyer like the gentleman from Georgia would question the right of the United States to recognize the bel- ligerency of the insurgents, because it had been decided in the Supreme Court of the United States in the prize cases that the vower to control the established govern- ment entitled those who exercised such power to the rights of belligerency. As to the President of the Cuban repub- lic being a citizen of the United States Smith asked Turner to look at the picture of Lafayette on the wall near him—the picture of one who God inspired to come to America from the land of France to help the struggling colonists. He recalled also the services of Pulaski and Kosciusko in the cause of American freedom, and asked whether the people of the Uni‘ed Stdtes would refuse to give their sym- pathies and services to the cause of other people struggling for their liberties. 'The island of Cuba was as large as the State of New York and had vefore it a magnificent future. Boutelle (R.) of Maine asked Smith % whether the effect of the resolutions would not be to surrender all claims against Spain whizh American citizens in Cuba bad for the destruction of their property. Smith denied that the resolutions would have any such effect. In the course of his remarks he referred to the Spanish in- quisition. “The Spanish inquisition!” Boutelle re- peated in a tone of derision; ““I ask unani- mous consent that the Spanish inquisition be abolished.” Smith remarked that the Spanish in- quisition existed to-day in the island of Cuba, and that the only redress for the de- struction of American property there . TUNCLE SAM-‘STOPRP!” would come by driving the Spaniards out of the island. “Spain,” he exclaimed, “is | the greatest tyrant in the civilized world to-day. Boutelle opposed the resolutions. *He | be hardly expected to convince all the resolutions. He desired, however, to em- phasize his expression of a few days ago, when be objected to the summary dis- position of a question of the gravest char- | acter by what ought to be (in the absence of conservatism in the Senate) the con- servative body of Congress. He bad at that time disliked exceedingly to inter- pose an objection to the prdpogition made by the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and nothing but a strong sense of public duty would have im- pelled him to do so. If he needed any justification he found it in the fact that objection then made to hasty consideration of the resolutions had had at least the effect of having one of them revised by the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. That gentleman had deemed it wise to modify the form of one of the resolutions, and he (Boutelle) agreed with Hitt in the wisdom of that modifica- tion. He spoke to-day for those members of the House, who were more numerous than was supposed, who, whatever were their sympathies with regard to the struggle in Cuba, had grave doubts as to the expediency or propriety of the House of Representatives voting ‘“a practical declaration of war against a power with which we are now at peace,” under a sus- pension of the rules. He was opposed to passing such an im- portant resolution without a fair amount of discussion and without essential delib- cration. His judgment was against com- mitting the Government to a course which might turn the whole trend of public affairs from the paths and avocations of peace to those of war. He was not enam- ored with the prospect’ of war. not afraid to stand in his place and say that he deprecated war. There was nothing seductive about the prospects of war. War was horrible and was only to be entered upon when honor and neces- sity demanded it. He did not mean to say that the adop- tion. of the resolutions would necessitate or produce war, but he would say that it was the entering wedge. The House was en- tering upon a course which might lead to war, and that, whether rightfully or wrongfully, the House ought not to do that under a suspension of the rules, but | commenced with the sarcastic remark that | members of the House that their public; duty did not require them to vote for the He was | | only in accordance with every rule of de- | liberation to safeguard such action. [Some | applause.] He repeated that the repre- | sentatives of the American people should | hiot proceed in a matter of tbis kind with | unseemly haste. Cummings (D.) of New York advocated the resolutions. The gentleman from Maine (Boutelle), he said, objected on ac- count of lack of information. If that gen- tleman had read the proclamations of General Weyler he had all theinforma- tion he desired. If General Grant, when made commander of the American army, had issued such proclamations, the whol civilized world would hav> gasped in hor- ror and every nation w .ild have recog- ‘nized the Confederate . stes. He (Com- mings) would not compare Weyler with Alva or with Balmaceda; ror would he call him a wolf, as he had been called in the Senate: but he would say of 1 im that he was ‘a Gila monster of despotism,” [laughter ana applause] poisoning with his breath the atmosphere of American civilization. In answer to Turner’s argument as to the Cuban patriots having no territory or capital, Cummings asserted that they held more ground in Cuba than the Confeder- acy had held (in proportion) one year after the firing on Fort Sumter. And he inridge and General Early had maintainea their position around Washington as long as Maceo and Gomez had maintained Confederacy would have been much brighter than th2y were at the time of the battle of Bull Run. [Applause.] | McCall (R.) of Maseachusetts opposed the resolutions. He yielded for no one in sympathy for the Cuban patriots. but the House of Representatives should be go erned not by its sympathy but b its judgment and should not start out with haste and enthusiasm on a pathway which might lead the country into war. The fact that there were many American citizens in Cuba might count for nothing. The fact that the millions of | American capital that were invested might count for nothing. The fact that the bus ness men of this country had been over- years might count for nothing. | seemed” to him that the Committee on | Foreign Affairs should give to the House | (if it was on the people of the island. He under- stood that the benefits to be conferred by belligerency were very vague, and that also declared thatif General John C. Breck- | theirs around Havana the prospects of the | { | | | | | | A telegram'w under international law Spain would de- rive about the same benefits as the Cabans. Moody (R.) of Massachussetts aiso op- posed the resolutions and expressed his concurrence with the views of Boutelle. Tucker (D.) of Virginia said that as the only member of the Committee on For- eign Relations who opposed the resolutions be ‘“felt like one who treads alone some | banquet-hall deserted,” but that he must not be diverted because of the unanimity of the sentiment expressed by his brother members of the committee. The plain English of the resolutions was, he said. if pain did not grant the Cuban patriots (so called) a government of their own, based upan. the choice of the people, then the United Blates was to give it to them by force of arms. g *The Southern people,” Tucker contin- ued, “are not for war. They have h enough of it. They know what it They have borne the burden and heat of the day through four years of war, and they know what it means. They are to- day pursting their peaceful avocations. When the proper time comes they will come to the support of this Government and defend its interests against attack. But to-day without cause, except sympa- thy, we are boldly and defiantly challeng- ing war with Spain. This resolution, in my judgment, should not be passed.” Tucker’s speech closed the arguments in opposition and then the arguments in support of them were wound up by Hitt. He expressed his hearty concurrence in the views expressed by Boutelle and Tur- ner as to appreciation of the gravity cf the hour. The Committee on Foreign Affairs had considered the subject for two months. Nearlv six months ago, said Hitt, the re- ports showed that there were 25,00 men in arms defending the organization of the Cuban republic. So that the revolution- ists had an armed force, even if they had not altogether a government. They hada great organized movement and that was belligerency and war, and was eatitled to recognition. “We are not seeking a war,” Hitt con- tinued, “nor is the (Government of Spain. h I have received from of State while this debate has the Secretary whelmed with burdens for the last three | been progressing shows how utterly un- But it | likely it is that an attempt will be made by Spain to pick a quarrel with us. and to bring on an -unnecessary war. The tele- | goine to usurp legislative func- | gram read: ‘I have received a dispatch | tions) some definite information as to the | from Taylor, United States Minister at effect which the resolutions would have | Madrid, ivhich i think your committee and members of the House should know; Min- ister of State has just cailed toexpress deep regret that the mob hasinsulted Barcelon, I BES I P fuuvmwmnu;m N:-w—‘ 2 P LY "l General View of Madrid, Capital of Spain, Wheére the Amecrican Legation Was Threatened. DECISION RENDERED IN THE STANFORD ST consul, breaking windows; he has offered complete reparation, and informed metbat his Government, on 1ts own motion, has taken every precaution to guard legation.”” Boutelle ashed Hitt what impression that dispatch had made on his mind. He added that it should prevent hasty action in taking a course that would provoke hos- tilities with a nation that manifested so strong a desire to deal with usin amity and peace. [Applause.] Hitt expressed his belief that the resolu- tions would not bring any consequence that could possibly bring regret. The resolutions were important. The House was willing to do its duty. But the reso- lutions were not bluster. They were wise and conservative. The right of search | might, as General Grant had said, bring | verilous collision; but, as had been just shown, Spain was not seeking a quarrel. The debate here closed, and several | propositions for a division in resolutions | and for separate votes on them were ruled ! out by the Speaker. i At 3:45 the previous question was or- dered, and on a viva voce vote the ques- tion of adopting the House resolutions | was agreed to, the few dissenting votes being drowned in the chorus of ‘'Yeas.” The ayes and noes were then demanded and the Cuban resolutions were agreed to by a vote of 263 to 17. Those voting in | the negative were: Atwood of M&ssa-! chusetts, Boutelle of Maine, Gillet of | Massachusetts, Grout of Vermont, McCall | of Massachusetts, Mooay of Massachusetts, | Simpkins of Massachusetts, Walker of | Virginia and Wright of Massachusetts, Republicans; Black of Georgia, Cobb of Alabama, Culberson of Texas, Eiliott of | South Carolina, Harrison of Alabama, Kussell of Georgia, Tucker of Virginia and Turner of Georgia, Democrats. et guentag REGARDED AS SIGNIFICANT. Passage by the Senate of a Bill to En- large the Navy. WASHINGTON, D. C., March 2.—In | view of the war talk that has been heard | at both ends of the Capitol the action of | the Senate to-day in passing a bill to en- | large the navy is significant. It was agreed to without a dissenting voice, ad through it there is placed in the hands of the President a restrictive power, | with which to deal with tte Spanish- | Cuban situation should the emergency ! arise. - | The bill provides for the enlistment this | fall of 1000 men for the new ships now in commission, and appropriates §380,000 for their compensation. It also gives the President power, in the event that such | authority becomes necessary, to enlist | such part of the naval militia (about 5000 men) for a period of two years, | giving full complement for. such vessels that do not have full crews, and authorizes | him to charter steamers for transports for | troops of the revenue cutter service by establishing & permanent retived list on three-quarter pay; also the omnibus bridge bill relating to the construction of bridges over tlie Mississippi and Missouri rivers. The Cuban resolutions, as passed by the House, were laid before the Senate and | referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations | Call (D.) of Florida offered a resolution requesting the President to demand from the Government of Spain a state- ment as to the truth of the charges made in a letter ~published in the newspapers purporting to be from Mr. Gomez, late editor of La Lucha, a newspaper published in Havana, that he had been tortured while confined ina dun- geon on the bare ground for two months | in Ceuta. the penal colony of Spain, to extort from him evidence against Julius Sanguilly, a naturalized citizen of the United States, and subsequently killing the said Gomez; also to insist on a full report | of the evidence and ail the proceedings in | the alleged civil trials of Julius Sanguilly, in which it is charged that the said San- guilly was condemned to imprisonment for life at Ceuta on suspicion only and without evidence; also to demand the release of Charles Michaelson and Lorenzo Betancourt, correspond- ents of the New York news- Fapers, who are charged only with enter- ing within the insurgent lines to obtain in- formation; als), to demand of Spain that American citizens who shall be captured by thie Spanish forces shall be treated as prisoners of war and be accorded humane | treatment, and to inform the Spanish Gov- ernment that th2 United States will insist upon this demand. After remarks by Call the resolution was referred to the Committee on Foreign Re- lations. e ADVOCATE AN ENTENTE. Spanish Liberals Would Combine With Powers Against Uncle Sam. MADRID, Spary, March 2.—There has been to-day somewhat of a lessening in the popular feeling against the United States, but there is still a strong under- current of animosity which shows itself in various ways. The authorities have not relaxed their precautions to prevent an outbreak, and the guards are stiil main- tained about the public buildings and the American legation. The more turbulent spirits among the students made strenuous efforts during the day to start demonstrations, but the gendarnres were alert and prevented them. Fourteen of the ringleaders were arrested. The Republicans throughout Spain are making capital of the agitation against the United States, which was increased this evening by a report that the Ameri- can authorities had released the filibuster- ers who were arrested at New York. The Liberal papers now advocate an en- tente with the powers to protect their com- mon colonial interests against the United States. It is stated that Italian ship-own- ers have offered to seil or loan steamers to the Governmert to be fitted out as pri- vateers. The provincial governments haye noti- fied the Government of the excitement prevailing within their jurisdictions and stating that in their opinion it would be dangerous to check the display of ani- mosity against the United States. The Government at once telegraphed to the Governors instructing them to suppress demonstrations. There was a further decline in values at the Stock Exchange here to-day. Spanish interior fell 656 centimes and exterior 80 centimes. Bank of Spain declined 5 points, Nortbern Railroad 5 points and Continued on Fourth Page, As Was Predicted the Claim of the Government Is Defeated. AN OPINION BY HARLAN. Reasons Why the United States Supreme Court Sustains Judge Ross. GREAT JOY AT THE UNIVERSITY College Students Arrange a Big Cele- bration After Receiving the Good News. WASHINGTON, D. C., March 2.—The efforts of the United States authorities to collect from the estate of the late Senator Leland Stanford of California $15,237,000 has been unsuccessful all alang the line. Justice Harlan, speaking for the Supreme Court ot the ited States, to-aay de- clared that no liability attached to the estate upon the grounds set forth by the Government, and thus ended the litiga- tion. The case was begun in the Circuit Court for the Southern District of California, the biil proceeding upon the ground that the constitution and laws of California at the time the Central Pacific Railroad Com- pany of California and the Western Pa- cific Railroad Company, which were con- sohdated as the Central Pacific Railroad Company, were organized as well as when they. received the bonds of the United States held each stockholder liable in pro- portion to the stock held by him, for all its debts and liabilities and, conse- quently. that the estate of Stanford was liable to the United States in the sum named, that being his proportion of the bonds advanced to the railroad company and now overdue and unpaid. The Cir- cuit Court dismissed the bill and that judgment was affirmed by the Court of Apveals, front which latter court the At- torney-General brought the case to the Supreme Court of the United States. The appeal was argued in January last just before the recess, Joseph H. Choate appearing for Mrs, Stanford and Solicitor- General Conrad and Assistant Attorney- General Dickinson for the Government. Owing to the magnitude of the claim and the consequent interests involved, one of them being the fate of Leland Stanford Jr, University in California, the case excited an interest that was limited only by the extent of the country. Discussing the questions presented Judge Harlan asked: *“Was it part of the contract between the United States and the corporations re- ceiving its subsidy bonds that the stock- holders of such corporations respectively should be personally liable for the princi- pal and interest of these bonds? Or did the United States make provision in the acts of Congress for all the security ine tended to be taken for their payments? “These questionscould only be answered by examining the provisions of all these acts in the light of the circumstances under which the United States made grants of lands and provided for the issuing of bonds in aid of the construction of the railroad and telegraph lines from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast.” The opinion reviewed at length the acts of 1862, 1364 and 1865, from which review, said Justice Harlan, it appeared that they related to the same general subjects, and must be regarded as one enactment for the purpose of ascertaining the object of Con- gress. That case was no longer a 'subject of in- quiry by the Supreme Court of the United States—having been settled in the case of the United States vs. the Union Pacific Railroad Company, decided by Justice Davis and reported in ninety-first United States—which declared the building of a railroad from the Missonri River to the Pacitic Ocean to be a National work. The next question was did Congress make any and if so what provision to se- cure the United States against liability on account of its bonds, issued in aid of the construction of the National highway ? The important fact disclosed by the Pa- cific Railroad acts, said Justice Harlan, was that none of them contained any clause imposing upon the stockholders of corporations receiving subsidy bonds per- sonal responsibility for any debt due the United States from such corporations by 1eason of its failure to pay those bonds at maturity. It is not too much to say,” the opinion continues, “‘that if the acts of 1862-64 had made stockholders of the corporations therein named personally liable in propor- tion to their stock for the repayment of the bonds delivered to such corporation the accomplishing of the objects Congress had in view would have been seriously re- tarded if not wholly defeated.” It was not claimed, said the Justice, that any such liability was imposed ‘upon the stockholders of the Union Pacitic Company, and the position that it did at- | tach to Central Pacific stockholders could be sustained only upon the theory that Congress intended to take a larger security in respect of that corporation than of the Union Pacific. But there was nothing in the legislation of Congresa from which that could be con- ferred. Throughout the whole of the acts is manifest the purpose that the California corporation should enjoy the rights, immu- nities, benefits and privi'eges given to it { upoa the same terms and conditions as were prescribed for the Union Pacific. In conclusion the opinion said: “The relations between the California corporations and the State were of no concern to the National Govern- ment. Congress chose this existing artificial being as an instrumentality to accomplish National ends, and the re- lations between the United States and that corporation ought to be determined by the enactments which established those relations; and if those enactmentss do not expressly ner by implication sub- ject the stockholders to liability for it debts, It is to be presumed that Congress