The New York herald., 1873-12-24

| refused. The trial OF Burriel and his asS0ol-
ates in crime and the indemnity to the fami-
lies OF the men murdered at Santiago de Cuba
are already treated as absurdities, and we are
to-day threatened with reopening of the
whole oontroversity by the demand of the
Spanish government for the return of the
yirginius and of the survivors of her pas
sengers and crew, for trial under Spanish law
This is the sort of settlement which lying
diplomacy and secret negotiations have
secured. Meanwhile, the people have been
taught to lose sight of the insults
offered to our Acting Consul at Santiago de
Cuba for his efforts to protect the lives of those
who were under the protection of the American
flag; Of the outrageous interception of his
official dispatches; of the open boast of the
butcher Burriel that the prisoners should be
killed before "outside Interference could
save their lives; of his wilful interruption of
telegraphic communication in the carrying out
of this brutal threat; of the murder without
trial of American citizens and others
who claimed our protection-a savage
crime which ought not to have been a
subject of diplomatic negotiation for forty
eight hours. Thanks to the sssecret diplo-
macy which lyingly denied the truth
of the HERALD's news, the national honor has
been sacrificed, and we stand to-day threat
ened with a reopening of this particular diff
Guilty and in danger of repetition of the Vir-
ginius seizure and butchery at any moment
Under these circumstances we cannot but re-
gard it as unfortunate that our government
did not ayow and adhere to the demands it
first advanced, when they were made public
in the HERALD, for in that case we should
have had in one way or another final settle
ment, not only of the yirginius dispute, but of
our long standing controversies growing out
of the Spanish rule in Cuba.
Those of our contemporaries who are accus-
toned to give themselves unnecessary trouble
about the HERALD, and who were so keen to
denounce our Virginius dispatches from
Madrid and elsewhere as fabrications, must
be less intelligent than We take them to be if
they fail now to discover that envy, jealousy
and personal squabbling and abuse are not
the ingredients of which successful journal
ism is composed. An intelligent community
estimates public journal on it's own merits
alone. Party journalism must always be
sscabined, cribbed, confined" for its
intelligence is colored by party interests,
and its service to the public is held
secondary to its service to political friends.
1t is of no value except to those who believe
as it believes and desire no news save such as
suits this belief. An Independent journal
supplies the people with the news, no matter
whether it may be of character to harm
or benefit this or that party 1t does not hesi-
tate to tell the truth or to condemn to-day the
may have applauded yesterday. No political
power can injure journal thus conducted
journal which pays no heed to partisan
or personal interests, but serves only the
people, who, after all, are, or ought to be, the
real sovereigns in our scheme of government.
In this lies the true groundwork of success.
The full and interesting specials published in
yesterdays HERALD in relation to the
surrender of the Virginius are of more
value to the reading public than all the snarl-
ing abuse which jealous paper could shower
upon its more successful neighbors within the
next six months. A Livingstone or Cuban ex-
pedition; a Modoc or Polaris enterprise; a
Vienna, Ashantee or Khiva triumph, brings its
own reward. The proper spirit of journalism
is to strive to make newspaper acceptable on
its own merits, for on these alone can it obtain
success.