The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-12-19
Success OF Our Com missIoner's Tour In
Cuba-The Revoiution-A Terrible War
that Should he Ended.


successful is given full confirmation in the
pages of this days HERALD The story of his
exciting adventures and triumphs in accom-
plishing his perilous task is told at length
from his departure to his return. The diff
culties which beset him and the manner in
which he met and vanquished them are best
learned from his own narrative. The Spanish
authorities, although casting him into prison
at first when once convinced of the bona .tide
character of his mission, extended to him every
facility for accomplishing his purpose. and
we thank them for this later marked courtesy
to our representative. When once within the
Cuban lines he found that the name Of the
independent American journal he represented
caused complete confidence to be placed In
him, and induced the rebels to conduct him
before the master spirit of the revolution, Presi-
dent Carlos Manuel Cespedes. He was thus
enabled to reach all classes on both Sides from
the Spanish Captain General to the lowest camp
follower, and from the Cuban Commander-in-
Chief to the full-blooded negro soldier who
fought in the ranks under his command.
This much accomplished, and treated with
the high impartiality of an honorable neutral,
is what we lay before our readers as the latest
instance of our endeavors for universal light
When the HERALD. some three weeks since.
received brief despatch from Mr.. Hender-
son, dated at Cape Haytien, announcing his
departure from Cuba, under, apparently the
threats of the Spanish volunteers, we natu-
rally concluded that he had abandoned his
post through fear of his life We could not,
1 from the information then in our hands, be
aware of any other reason Mr.. Henderson,
however, now states that as his dispatches,
even that from Cape Haytien, passed through
Havana, and hence through Spanish hands,
he did not deem it prudent to state the full
measure of his success before his return. This
he fastened as much as the slow mode of
communication in the West India islands
would permit The HERALD, therefore, now
takes the opportunity of applauding its sue
cessfu envoy as warmly as it felt itself COM
PEELED to animadvert upon what it deemed
three weeks ago dereliction on his part In
doing so the HERALD does simple justice (; but
the action marks phase in Independent jour-
nalism which might, unexplained, escape the
attention it deserves. An independent news
paper, which owns no controlling ties outside
Of its legitimate business, like an Independent
nation that acknowledges no exoteric power as
its master, is as free to select its agents the
latter is it's public servants. The policy Of
each and its application belong to itself AS
failure to perform deputed duty or malfeas-
ance in Office is treated by the nation, so in
the perfect newspaper, with its far-reaching
requirements, must similar lapses or trans
gressions be visited upon those guilty Of either
What the free government owes to the people
the independent newspaper owes to the pub
liza wider term still There should DO
no official whitewashing in the one or the
other. On the other hand, the acknowledge
ment Of 1aeritorious service and It's adequate
reward are incumbent on both.
The extreme delicacy Of the undertaking, in
view of all the facts, cannot be over-estimated.
The war which has ragged for over four years
in Cuba finds those engaged in it to-day strug-
Cling Intellectually for an end in all the force
of inaamed passions. Suspicion, jealousy,
blood-thirstiness, mercilessness and hate
seemed all bound writhingly together in the
destiny Of Cuba, like monstrous LAGOON, by
the serpents of selfshness and desperation.
The faint evidence of it may be felt at this dis
lance in the impotent rage Of one side or the
other at utterances which a free press
may make to o free people; but if
it needs stronger instance scarce month
old, let the reader follow our commissioner
in his description of the horrors of the battle
field Of viamones. 1t was not large battle
such as arrests the attention of history, with
its great casualties and consequences, like
Marathon, Gamma, Sadowa or Appomattox
Court House. It was OF best skirmish, an
outpost fight, volley, o retreat, o pursuit by
comparatively handful on either side; but
it shows greater intensity of ferocity and re-
fnement of savagery than either of those
great battles we have mentioned, with all
their roll of dead. The task of passing be-
tween two such lines Of foes and calmly weigh
ing the qualities, the endurance and the
means Of each Will be easily understood.
The mist Of doubt which hung over this
struggle cat our doors will in great measure
be dissipated by the results Of our commits
sioners tour Of inspection. The battlefield
proper may be said to lie in the Central and
Oriental Departments. In the work Of quell-
ing the rebellion Spain has engaged num-
Der of soldiers of all arms, varying
between forty and fifty thousand men.
After careful computation and personal
observation our commissioner places the
Cuban forces at twelve thousand active armed
insurgents. Some idea Of the difficulty in
gauging this force on hearsay alone will be
formed when various opinions are collated
Captain General Ceballos placed them
at twenty-five hundred, General Fajardo
at six thousand, General Riguelme at eight to
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