The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1852-11-17
THE REPU BLIC .
NGTON:
WEDNESDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER It. 1852

NON
There is manifest determination In certain
quarters to misrepresent the action OF the Ad-
:ninistration in regard to the Havana difficult
ties, and to use them as material to strengthen
fiibustering influences throughout the coun-
try The Cleveland (Ohlo) Plain Dealer, for
example, has the following editorial in the
number last received:
"DrsoRAoKruL.-It appears from the dispatches
u published Yesterday in regard to Cuban offairs,
that the miserable dcspotic Captain General of
Cuba still insists upon his former requistion in
regard TO Purser Smith aud Captain Porter. Cap
tain Davenport, who now has command OF the
Crescent City, Who after long parley with the Gu.
ban authorities, was gracionsly permitted to 60
on shore certain restrictions on his late trip
there; but he refused to avail himself OF this poor
privilege. His correspondence with the consul
there brought out the important fact-viz., that
the Spanish Minister at Washington had obtained
an assurance from Mr.. Conrad, the Acting Seorc-
tary of State, that neither Captain Porter nor
Purser Smith should be permitted to return to the
island Shame shame upon such cowardicc and
pusllanimity An administration that " i'll thus 10
forget the rights of citizens aud the honor Of
our Government, ought TO be hurled from power
sans cssemonie.''
Writing on the same subject, the New Or
leans Delta announces that arrangements are In
prleress to give Purser SMITH public dinner
on the mex, return of the steamer 10 that city.
The Plain Dealers :" important fact" was
shown in this paper on Monday TO be ground
less invention Of Mr.. GEORGE LAW; and to it,
therefore, we pay no further attention. Still 1t
may he worth while to inquire once again
wherein the Administration has forgotten the
rights Of our citizens and the honor of our Gov
ernment," and what distinguished services
Purser SMITH has rendered to his country
that New Orleans should esteem him worthy
Of public reception.
The Crescent City affair is wholly unde-
serving of the importance that has been attached
to it, and would never have excited attention If
reckless speculators--in powder and politics.
had not magnIfed and perverted tho facts re-
latinp b. il. The government of Cuba acted
lndiscreetly. it is true, and in manner which
ane desiring to maintain friendly relations
should have avoided but there was nothing
in its action. after all, that can be construed
into a reasonable ground of quarrel, still less of
War.
What publicist-what man OF common
sense-denies to country the right Of enact
ing and enforcing such police regulations as its
rulers may deem necessary to. its peace or
safety? France in seasons of domestic trouble,
DEGREES that certain suspected individuals and
classes shall not cross her boundaries; and mel
Their LEDaU RoLLIN nor LOUIS BLANC questions
her right to do so, however little they relish
the hardship it occasions. When Ireland was
in a state of incpient rebellion, England seized
and cast into prison American citizens who
were suspected of fomenting mischief; and
though Mr.. BANCROFT demonstrated against
the harshness of the proceeding. neither he
nor MIR. BUCHANAN, the then Secretary of
State, disputed the right on which it rested.
At this moment South Carolina asserts her
right to hold in duress colored subjects of Br
tain entering Charleston harbor in British YES
sells; not because they have committed felony,
but because their color brings them within the
range of police provisions, which the local au-
thorities hold to be essential to the good order
Of the city. Still more: South Carolina and
Louisiana claim aud enforce the right of i'm
prisoning-and, under certain contingencies,
selliDg-colored citizens of Boston, New York,
or Philadelphia, sailing as servants on board OF
merchant ships or steamers, when they trespass
against local laws; laws not levelled against
theft or drunkenness or riot, but simply against
the presence, in particular circumstances, Of
free colored individuals. Surely, then, the
right conceded to England in times of peril.
and exerted even now by France and by States
of this Union, may without improperly be
claimed by Spain, and be exercised by her in
any precautionary measures she may adopt to
maintain her colonial possessions intact. 1t is
the right of self defence and nothing more. If
Cuba, having disaffected population amongs,
the Creoles, be menanced by organized bodies
in the United States, her government is clear
ly justified in declaring who shall and who shall
not be permitted to land upon her shores; and
this country has no ground of offence if one or
another of our citizens be excluded by the ar
rangement thus devised.
fPurser SMITH availed himself of the visits
of the Crescent City to Havana to obtain in
formation which he communicated to parties in
New York, who afterwards used it to the pre-
judice of the. Havana authorities, they commit
ted no offence against our rights or honor when
they prohibited his return. They did what
the Government of the United States, or of any
other nation, would have done in similar cir
cumstances. We do not say that SMITH did
what he is alleged to have done; we are will
ing to believe that he did not, after wha,
Lieutenant PORTER has said upon the sub
jecr; but SO long as the authorities Of
Havana consider that their grounds of sus-
picion against him are valid, neither he nor
we can complain. They are to be satisfied
of his innocence, and he must abide by the
consequences of the suspicion until the evil
dence adduced be sufficient to remove it. They
now ask for his own disclaimer as the only
proof required; and we cannot but think that
Passed Midshipman DAVENPORT was need
lrssly punctilous when, on the last visit, he
III Ill 4.