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Show TOO PRECIPITATE. If the Cuban opponents of the present pres-ent regime succeed in overthrowing it and placing their man in the presiden-ital presiden-ital chair the government at Washington Washing-ton will be in a dilemma. With much precipitation it announced that the United States would recognize no govr ernment established by revolt. A similar simi-lar announcement a few years ago tied the hands of President Wilson when Huerta seized the presidency of. the Mexican republic, but 'the murderous acts and tyrannical administration of Huerta justified the United States in its refusal to grant recognition. Whether a like justification can be found in the Cuban crisis is more than doubtful. The merits of the election controversy in Cuba are not well understood in this country. Americans are quite prepared pre-pared to believe that President Meno-cal Meno-cal and his government are not giving the liberals a square deal and that the only way to get a square deal is to overthrow the government. It was the well-known custom of President Diaz to let all of his opponents vote without restriction and then to count the votes his own way. Usually his opponents were given just enough votes to make it clear that Diaz was. deriding them and hugely ' enjoying the joke. The returns re-turns from Santa Clara province in Cuba have the same aspect. Although the election was so close as to be in dispute, the reballot in' Santa Clara ' is ' overwhelmingly over-whelmingly in favor of the conservatives, conserva-tives, the liberals being conceded only a handful of votes. It might be entirely respectable and even commendable if the liberals submitted sub-mitted in the face of injustice, but suppose they refuse to submit and hurl Menocal and his clique from power? Would President Wilson be justified in clinging to his resolve not to recognize the new government? The president could find an easy way out of his difficulty by assuming that the new government was not one established estab-lished by revolt. He could assume that the liberals had triumphed in the election elec-tion and had merely asserted by force their right to take charge of the government. govern-ment. According to that interpretation the liberal candidate would be president presi-dent not only de facto but de jure. |