The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-07-26

the cholera had appeared, but in G mid form, a,
Sagua Ia Grande. The Spanish war vessels are
cruising about the island in search Of slaven.
a Fanasas yBctery-Des1rucskon Of an Amers-
can Iown ny Americans-sam Juan do NJ
careguA.
A general thrill ran through the city ycster-
day morning, The good people Of the metrop-
oils opened their respective papers and read,
with suspended respiration Bomhardment
and Total Destruction CT o-Sebastopol Cron-
stadt -" of San Juan de Nicaragua or
Greytown, by the U. S. Sloop Of War Cyanelo
The proximate cause OF this hombardment
and destruction Of San Juan, it is said was a
refusal on the part Of the town to comply with
certain demands made on behalf Of the Nicara-
qua Transit Company, amounting to $4,000,
land neglect or refusal to apologize
for an insult given some time since to
Hon. Scion Borland, OR late Minister
in Central America" 1t seems that Captain
Hollins, in the Cyane, appeared in the harbor
of San Juan, on the 18th instant, and made the
above requisitions coupled with the announce
ment, that unless they were complied with next
day, by noon, he should destroy the place,
They were not complied with, and the place
was accordingly destroyed.
Assuming this statement to be true, and that
the demand made upon the town was just, yet,
even then, the public, we think, win agree with
usin the opinion, that the refusal Of San Juan
to comply with their demands, afforded no
adequate justification for the punishment in
ficted upon the place. The civilized world
will require to know if those demands were
really just, before it can listen to any apology
for the barbarity of the act, or relieve its per-
petrators from the odium which rests npon
them. Americans will have q double right to
require ample explanations, for the town Of
San Juan was, in all essential respects, an
American town.
The immediate causes and influences which
led to the destruction Of the place must come
out in the discussion to which this event vii
give rise. We, therefore, do not enter upon
them now, nor upon the probable consequence
Of this most extraordinary proceeding OF Capt
Hollins, or rather, of those who instructed him
to do as he has done--for it is difficult to believe
that he would have resorted to such extreme
measures, except under orders. We coniine
ourselves, for the present, to indicating the
position and relations of San Juan previous to
its destruction.
San Juan, before the acquisition ofCalifornia,
had no importance beyond what it derived from
being the Atlantic port Of the insignificant
State of Nicaragua, and from the circumstance
that il was the only possible Atlantic terminus
Of the projected ship canal through Nicaragua.
The latter circumstance was not regarded a. Of
high importance, until tho necessity ofcommuni-
cation with California gave it a practical value.
Up to ls4s, therefore, San JUAN remained in
the undisputed possession--frst of Spain, and
afterwards of Nicaragua.
The people Of Nicaragua, as Province and as
State, had occupied ii in quiet for nearly
three hundred years, when, in the month of
January 1888, it was seized by an English force.
under the pretext that ii belonged to 6ct-
tious parsonage called the King Of Mosquito.
over whom Great Britain affected to exercise a
protectorate. The Nicaraguans were not only
driven ont. but their subsequent efforts to re-
occupy il repealed by British arms The mo
tive OF the seizure was the obvious one Of grasp
ing the key Of the then supposed only feasible
Route OF inter-oceanic communication
The English at once proceeded to organize
the post under the name of Greytown. AMI
ostensibly under the authority of the Mos
quito King But the sole power was vest
ed in parsonage styled Her Britannia
Majesty's Consul General in Mosquito who
took up his residence there, and with the assis-
lance Of a few negro policemen from Jamaica,
exercised uncontrolled sway. He was in every
sense Of the word dictator, acting without
reference TO the alleged Musquito King: and
the place became in fact British establish
ment.
The United States interiered on behalf II
Nicaragua, and against British pretensions. and
The opening Of transit through the country
'oon caused so large an emigration of Amer-
'ans to San Juan, us to cmbarrass the opera
ions Of the English agents The government
4 the town became very different affair from
THAT il lad been when there were no people
here except the ignorant and powerless Mica.
aguans. The newcomers could not be govera-
d except upon some form Of authority, and the
British agents dared not exercise the coercion
against them which they had applied to subdue
be natives.
Meantime the Clayton and Bulwer treaty
vas negotiated, which, it was alleged. would |
rive England to relinquish all her prctensions.
md restore San Juan to its legitimate owner. |
sut the English government did not so regard |
he treaty. II maintained the unimpaircd vi.
ality of its protectorate, but nevertheless prac-
ically relinquished its hold to the extent of |
the government Of the town to a
ouncil or "city government" to be elected by |
he people Of the place. Accordingly, on the
9th Of April, 1851, a convention was held and |
constitution formed which was sanctioned by |
he Mosquito King and the British agents |