Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. III.djvu/319

 GROVER CLEVELAND 267 of our people demands of their public ser vants. . . . &quot;A man of true honor protects the unwritten word which binds his conscience more scrupulously, if possible, than he does the bond, a breach of which subjects him to legal liabilities; and the United States, in aiming to maintain itself as one of the most enlightened ^of nations, would do its citizens gross injustice if it applied to its international re lations any other than a high standard of honor and morality. On that ground the United States can not properly be put in the position of coun tenancing a wrong after its commission any more than in that of consenting to it in advance. On that ground it can not allow itself to refuse to re dress an injury inflicted through an abuse of power by officers clothed with its authority and wearing its uniform; and on the same ground, if a feeble but friendly state is in danger of being robbed of its independence and its sovereignty by a misuse of the name and power of the United States, the United States can not fail to vindicate its honor and its sense of justice by an earnest effort to make all possible reparation. . . . &quot;These principles apply to the present case with irresistible force when the special conditions of the queen s surrender of her sovereignty are recalled. She surrendered not to the provisional government, but to the United States. She surrendered not