The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-30 00:00:00

SPANISR HONESTY.

Among the sundry acts of malice imputed to
England on the occasion of the Spanish expedition
, against Morocco is that of having seized the oppor-
tunity to embarrass the Spanish Government by
suddenly presenting an old half-forgotten account,
and requesting payment for the same. Such a pro-
ceeding would, of course, admit of unpleasant in-
terpretations. When an old friend who has been
your creditor for a long while, and has said nothing
about it, comes abruptly upon you with a demand
for a settlement just as you are in want of every
sixpence you can raise for a pressing and manifest
emergency, the proceeding undoubtedly savours of
hostility or spite, and, though the case is not ex-
actly analogous when the parties concerned are
States instead of individuals, we should be free to
confess that if the facts were as they have been de-
scribed the conduct of England would have been
rather shabby. It happens, however, that the facts
are otherwise, and that there is not the slightest
foundation for the story so freely circulated. We
are in a position to place the whole truth of the
case before the public, and, if the affair is not a
very important one, yet right may as well be done
us in small matters as well as great.
During the civil wars in Spain, when the liberal
part of the nation was struggling for constitutional
rights against the partisans of absolutism, the assis-
tance of England was contributed in various forms
to the supporters of Queen Isabella. In particular
we supplied them with the stores and munitions of
war indispensable for the contest. Muskets, bayonets,
uniforms, and equipments of all kinds were de-
spatched from the arsenals of this country for the
use of the Constitutionalists, and these supplies
aided very materially in securing the Spaniards
their freedom and the Queen her throne. As a
matter of course, the stores in question, being
public stores, were public property, and of this
property the British Government of the day
had to render an account. There was no vote
or resolution of the Legislature sanctioning a
free gift of such supplies to Spain, nor can we
suppose, indeed, that the Spaniards would have
desired them on such conditions. They were de-
livered in the ordinary way at the ordinary price,
and, though it was not a ready-money transaction,
there was a perfect understanding on both sides
that sooner or later the stores were to be paid for.
Accordingly, when the account was made up, it
appeared that Spain was indebted to England in
the lawful sum of £440,000 for goods delivered.
These transactions took place in the year 1834,
and in the very next year the Duke of Wellington,
in a true businesslike spirit. called the attention of
the Spanish Government to the state of the account.
At the same time he observed that it was not the
intention of the British Government to press for
payment at a period when the embarrassments of
the struggle were still felt, and the resources of the
country so imperfectly available. He proposed,
therefore, that the settlement should stand over for
the time, but that the Spanish Government should
fix a period at which, with less inconvenience to •
the Treasury, the claim might be liquidated. To
these reasonable proposals the Spanish Minister,
M. Martinez de la Rosa, replied, with a most ample
acknowledgment of the obligation, though with a
less definite response to the Duke's concluding
suggestion ; but Count Toreno went, at any rate,
so far, in communicating with Mr. Villiers on the
subject as to say that her Catholic Majesty would
proceed to an arrangement as soon as circumstances
would permit; and he further intimated that,
though little could be done until the termination of
the civil war, the debt would then undoubtedly be
discharged in full. With these assurances, there-
fore, the British Government contented itself, and
the matter was allowed to rest on this footing till
the year 1840, when Mr. Aston, our Minister at
Madrid, was once more instructed to open the cal*
and to inquire whether the Spanish Government
could yet see its way to that period of convenience
which had been fixed for the liquidation of the debt.
As this application produced no results, he was de-
sired to take another step in the year following and to
express the hope entertained by the British Govern-
ment that the Spanish Ministers would be able to
provide an instalment of £lOO,OOO in the course of
the year, and to authorise an announcement to that
effect in the House of Commons. To this request
also, however, the reply was unsubstantial, for the
Spanish Government simply promised to occupy
itself without delay in providing the means of com-
plying with Mr. Aston's desires. Such being the
position of the affair, and the state of Spain being
notoriously such as to furnish some explanation of
the case, the account was allowed to stand over. It
would have been neither dignified nor politic on
the part of England to press the demand year after
year upon an impoverished exchequer. Spain had
acknowledged the debt, and had undertaken. at -11
convenient season, to discharge it. That appeared
sufficient, and in that arrangement, therefore, we
acquiesced until the finances of the Spanish nation
had experienced a most material improvement.
When, however that fortunate circumstance became
known, and when the resources of the Spanish Go-'
vernment were matter of common boasting and gra- ,
tulation, we moved once more in the affair, and in
November, 1858, Lord Malmesbury instructed Mr.
Buchanan to bring our claims again under the no•
tice of Queen Isabella's Government. Once again,
too, that Government acknowledged with alacrity
its liabilities and its obligations, and entered
promptly upon a discussion of arrangements for
liquidating the account.
The foregoing statement, which may be received'
as authentic, will distinctly show that England is
not chargeable with the petty act of spite, which
has been so volubly talked about. Our claim is s
just claim, and admitted to be so by the Spaniards
themselves. It was never pressed upon them in
their times of difficulty ; it was always suspended
to suit their convenience ; and, though it was re-
vived after a long interval by the late Foreign Se-
cretary, that proceeding was suggested only by the
improved circumstances of Spain, and was
adopted, be it remarked, before the expedi-
tion to Morocco had entered into anybody's
conception. The application for payment had
been made and entertained, and the dis-
cussion of the matter was pending at Madrid, be-
fore it was even so much as rumoured that a Spanish
army would cross the Straits of Gibraltar on a cam-
paign against the Moors. We venture, indeed, to
think that we deserve credit rather than censure
for our conduct in this affair, and that our proceed-
ings are characterised rather by extreme liberality
than malicious rigour. We may further remark,
for the information of the Spanish people, that we
are really not jealous of their progress or desirous'
of their discomfiture. We do not think the war
was unavoidable, and, in the interests of humanity,
we would fain see it terminated, but we acknow-
ledge that the Moors gave their antagonists some
provocation, and we are by no means certain that
they offered sufficient amends. However, on that
point we will add no more at present. Our purpose
in these remarks has been simply to show that the
report of our proceedings in the matter of the debt
is utterly unfounded, and the proof, we submit, is
undeniably complete.—Times.