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 Copy 1 « TH£ AMERICAN p E 0PLE WANT CUBA TO BE FREE." 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 OF 
 
 / 
 
 HON. WM. SULZER, 
 
 OK NEW YORK:, 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 
 
 JUNK 1 7, 1 897. 
 
 WASHINGTON. 
 
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 Jf.u.S. 
 

 
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SPEECH 
 
 OF 
 
 HON. WM. SULZEE 
 
 On the joint resolution (S. R. 26) declaring that a condition of 
 public war exists in Cuba, and that strict neutrality shall be 
 maintained— 
 
 Mr. LACEY. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from New- 
 York [Mr. Sulzer] feels, I understand, a profound in- 
 terest in Cuba and I yield him five minutes. 
 
 A Member. Give him ten. 
 
 Mr. SULZER. Mr. Speaker, in the few moments given 
 to me by the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. Lacey] I desire 
 to speak for Cuban liberty. On Monday last I had the 
 honor to present to this House 
 
 Mr. WILLIAM A. STONE. Will the gentleman al- 
 low me a question? 
 
 Mr. SULZER. I have only five minutes. The gen- 
 tleman can have all the time he wants after I conclude. 
 
 The SPEAKER. The gentleman from New York [Mr. 
 Sulzer] is entitled to the floor upon the pending bill. 
 
 Mr. SULZER. Mr. Speaker, to continue, on Monday 
 last I had the honor to present to this House a monster 
 petition signed by hundreds of thousands of citizens of 
 the United States 
 
 Mr. WILLIAM A. STONE. It is on just that point 
 I wanted to ask the gentleman a question. 
 
 Mr. SULZER (continuing). Requesting this House to 
 pass Senator Morgan's resolution granting belligerent 
 rights to the Cuban patriots. That resolution came over 
 to this House several weeks ago. It passed the Senate 
 by an overwhelming vote. I am informed it has never 
 
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 been referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, be- 
 cause the Committee on Foreign Affairs has never been 
 appointed. 
 
 We are wasting time here day in and day out while 
 hundreds and hundreds of American citizens are lan- 
 guishing in Cuban jails for no offense whatever. Our 
 trade with Cuba ruined, our flag fired upon, our citizens 
 robbed, insulted, and assassinated, or driven like wild 
 beasts from their homes and farms in the interior of 
 Cuba to the Spanish fortified towns on the coast to starve, 
 to sicken, and to die ! The history of the last two years' 
 struggle in Cuba is the saddest in all the annals of the 
 world. It is high time this great Government should 
 protect its citizens and their property in Cuba. It is 
 high time we should intervene in the name of humanity, 
 civilization, and Christianity, and put a stop to this 
 brutal, blood}?", devastating carnage. 
 
 These citizens of the United States in Cuba look to 
 this country for their rights and protection. Apparently 
 they look in vain. The flag of their country, which should 
 protect them, is spit upon by the brutal Spaniards. These 
 cruel and bloodthirsty Spaniards trample our flag in the 
 dust, ignore treaty rights, and bid defiance to this great 
 Republic. 
 
 It is time for us to act. If we do not, we will stand 
 disgraced in the opinion of our own liberty-loving citizens 
 and before the Christian powers of the world. If we do 
 not put a stop to the fiendish barbarities and refined 
 cruelties of these Spanish brigands, our boasted republi- 
 canism will become a byword and our flag of freedom a 
 reproach and a farce. How long shall we submit ? How 
 much longer shall we permit poor Cuba to be a human 
 shamble ? 
 
 I desired to-day to correct the Journal of the House in 
 regard to the petition I presented. Parliamentary tac- 
 tics precluded that. We do not know what has become 
 of that great petition in favor of "Cuba Libre." The 
 House Journal simply says : "To the Committee on For- 
 
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eign Affairs. " That can not be a fact, for the reason 
 that the Committee on Foreign Affairs has not been 
 appointed. It should have been appointed long ago. 
 The joint resolution of that venerable Senator and friend 
 of humanity, Mr. Morgan, granting belligerent rights 
 to the Cubans, should be speedily submitted to a vote of 
 this House. Some one is responsible for its suppression. 
 Somebody is responsible for its delay. Who is the man? 
 
 The Cuban cause is the cause of liberty. By the grace 
 of God it will and must triumph. 
 
 The American people to-day are in favor of granting 
 to the Cuban patriots belligerent rights. If that ques- 
 tion could be submitted to the people of this country, 
 they would decide in favor of it by an overwhelming 
 majority. The American people would like to know 
 why the resolution of Senator Morgan lies on the 
 Speaker's desk. They would like to know why no ac- 
 tion has been taken by this House on that joint resolu- 
 tion of belligerency. If there is "hell on earth," as 
 John Sherman said when he was in the Senate, it is in 
 Cuba. Does he believe that to-day? If so, then why 
 does he not act? We send relief to India; we sympa- 
 thize with the Greeks; but we allow our citizens to be 
 butchered, murdered, and assassinated in Cuba without 
 a protest. 
 
 The policy of that great assassin, Weyler, the greatest 
 thief, the greatest coward, the greatest brute, the great- 
 est liar, the greatest murderer, the greatest enemy to 
 humanity the world has ever known is devastating the 
 fairest island in the world within gunshot of our own 
 shores, and exterminating as brave a people battling for 
 freedom and for independence as ever fought for self- 
 government on the face of the earth. If that resolution 
 of belligerency could be submitted to this House, I have 
 every reason to know that it would pass by an over- 
 whelming vote. The American people want Cuba to be 
 free. They will see to it sooner or later that Cuba is 
 free. I do not know who retards the joint resolution. 
 
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 I do not know who is responsible for the delay in x>ro- 
 curing action upon it; but I do know that the day of 
 reckoning is not far distant, and the American people, 
 who sympathize with those brave and struggling Cuban 
 patriots, will hold some one responsible. And woe to 
 that man! 
 
 I saw in a newspaper yesterday that the President of 
 the United States was in sympathy with the Cuban 
 patriots; that he wanted them to succeed and achieve 
 their independence, as our forefathers achieved their 
 independence. I hope that is true. I am in favor of 
 his policy to annex the Hawaiian Islands; but before 
 the Hawaiian Islands are annexed I hope the President 
 will take some action to make Cuba free and independ- 
 ent. He could not do a more popular thing. I read 
 from an editorial in last evening's Washington Times 
 this statement: 
 
 On Monday last a petition from 600,000 American citizens asking 
 recognition of Cuban belligerency was presented. 
 
 Here the hammer fell. [Applause.] 
 
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