New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1854-08-05


"a. made n Borlaud aud the $4,000 paid for one
ho.,ro,d If eeur and meal, with $4,000 more for
,wo hoard sbsnties with matched roofs, the said
:. Goa beipo intended not to compensate the party
which suffered the loss, but another which dld not
Having thus given ordess which contemplated the
destruction of San Juan as probable, and even made
il the duty of Commander Holins IN coh'lnsenc!
that wss most likely to happen, to punish the Town
with the destruction Of life and property anu
..eyfn 10 the extent OF determination the lmoecl!
Of the Executive failed to perceive that In this ex-
terminatory process those must suffer who had not,
% well as those had nsulted Borland and disobeyed
tie Transit Company. and thus made themselves
pirates and outlaws. Mr.. Pierce, Mr. Marcy aad Mr'
Dobbin failed also to perceive that IN exerm'natng
commercial town of some hundred wooden buildings
many of them employed as sterehouses Tor foreign
merchandise in transit and many of them belonging
IN English and French merchants who resided IN the
place merely for commercial purposes they would be
sssailirr parties on whose rights they could not
,rsmple with the same IMMUNITY as on those
oe American citizens similarly situated, and
6- whose losses they would be held accountable
bv powerful Governments Very possibly 1t Will be
said That the President and Mr.. Marcy did not mean
70 she'd blood or burn the houses and goods OF any
body whose re carnations would be SO well backed
mn and that this was done by the stupidity of Mr.
Uolljus alone; hut on the other hand how could the
Secretary expect to burn part of the buildings IN sucn
place and spare another part The hypothesis does
NOT helm the case much There is mbecillty on both
sides Of the dilemma Either horn is nearly as bad
as The third hypothesis, which The Richmond EH7"Trr
nut firth we hope without thinking of the inference
which il compes, ntmely, that the president ana
Secretary did not intend to destroy tie town at all
and that Holps did il solely on his own account.
This is jumping out Of the frying pan into the hrei
for il is equivalent to asserting tbs. Mr.. Marcy and
Mr. Dobbn were so extremely imbece as TO issue
orders that they did not comprehend aud to sign dis
matches whose sense they did not know
Rut Mr.. Marcy wanted an apology from the pre-
tended authorities" of this arrogant squat er SOW
ereuty which had even gone so far as to frame con-
stitution, elect magistrates, maintain public order
guarantee life and property and arrest and try muir
derers aud other criminals without consulting any
body but their own common sense and the necessities
of the case. They must apologize for having treated
the embassadoral accessory to bloody deed with
little natural Indignation though not half what he
deserved But what sort of an apology did he want
Whit sort of an humble disclaimer and expression of
regrets did the Secretary require in order to spare
the town the nfictOn which its act justly merits!
One had already been made to Mr.. Mayor Sigaud
to Mr.. BOrlaId on the spot AID another had
been CONVEYED ia writing to Mr. Fabens by the
CITY Attorney Of san Juan, along with the re-
quest for information TO the Of the indyid-
uas WHO had serenaded Mr.. BOrland with bottle ac-
Compartment a, far as they might be known to Dir.
Fabens in order that they might be subjected to trial
for tie oHense A special reward had also been Of
fered for the mIn who hove the bottle What more
did Mr. Marcy consider necessary What would he
have regarded as sufficient redress from the people of
San Juan for their "outrsges upon the property aud
"persons of citizens of the United States after
magner only to be regar led prstical" to borrow
the We rds Of Hollinsl 1t does not appear. We only
know that there were two parties with whom the
DECISION Of this point was left by Mr.. Marcy. If the
tow had submitted to the extortOn OF the Transit
Company and paid ii SIG, 600 for stolen boatload of
-four and corn meal which there was no proof had
been brought into the town, and So 600 for two
s!snties that had belonged to a third per,on; and
if the authorities were prepared to satisfy Com
"mandcr Hollins" touching the opposition of the
people TO Borland's release of an alleged murderer,
TO whose act be (Borand) w,s accessory, why well
and good if not HOns, with the advice of Fabens,
m1.t proceed TO tine work OF determination. Thus
that Mr.. Marcy gave precise directions as to
the apology required, as TO how it must exceed the
apology already repeatedly made but left it to be de-
cded upon by Mr. J. n. Scott, the Company's agent,
who bsdproyed his diplomatic capacities and the mod
Grafton of his mind By charging $4,000 for an apoc
ryphal boat load OF -four and meal-by Mr. Fabens,
who after having gone in person TO arrest the alleged
murderer whom Borland protected, had suddenly
changed his mind and proposed that very light to
burn the town on his own responsibility, and finally
By Commander Holins, who seems weak enough to
obey the most intooraLle and absurd orders instead
Of resgniDg like man Of decacy and sense Such
the persons to whose discretion, or rather to
whose ndiscretiOn the Executive entrusted the very
grave duty of settling with san Juan the three points
at issue, viz: insulting the accessory to a murder
paying Geo for yawl load of -four and meal aud
5000 for two sheds which did not belong to the
Company eXactiBg the money.
Did the President and Secretary intend that the
town should be destroyed at shy rate What imbe.
cy then not to give orders which should allow the
unofending foreign merchants to remove their goods
Did they in heart prefer that it should not be de-
stroyedl What imbecity, then, to charge such men
as Scott, Fabens and Holins with the final decision
Did they intend to punish British arrogance, which
their official newspaper tells us has been so rampant
at San Juan What imbecility, then, to burn the
town when American citizens must be the greatest
losers. Did they intend to chastise the Jamaica ne
sroos, said to be numerous and disagreeable
What inb,cility to set fire to houses of which these
negr6es could hardly have owned single one Thus,