The New York herald., 1873-12-13

Will increuSe meanwhile, until the return
tide OF an active commerce, which has already
begun to flow, has acquired its full force, it is
better that small addition should be made
to our debt than that the people should be sub
jected to annoying and burdensome taxation.
The Surrender OF the virsinius-Bom-
bastes Swallowing All His Big
Speeches.
After all the bombast spoken, written and
acted by those heroic Havana volunteers the
virginius has been quietly taken out of port,
and by this time is probably under the protec-
ton of American guns. So long as the violent
rabble thought that bluster would be sufficient
to frighten timid Mr.. Fish their courage over
flowed. 1t was not until they became con-
vinced that in the event of refusal to deliver
up the captured ship force would be used
that reason resumed her sway. But it
only required the thorough conviction
that the matter was no longer in
the hands Of our ~avering diplomat
at Washington, but had been earnestly taken
up by the whole American people to convert
Zulueta and his cut-throat supporters to pru-
dence. The slave owners saw with real alarm
the war preparations pushed on to support our
demands for reparation, and what was inso-
lently refused to peaceful protest was at once
accorded to fear.
| We have before now pointed out to the
Washington authorities that the volunteer
party in Cuba only respect force. Appeals to
| right and justice have to them no meaning,
unless backed up with guns. We shall expect
| to hear chorus of satisfaction and exultation
set up by the administration organs over
this diplomatic success, although purchased at
such sacrifice Of dignity, as if the surrender of
an old ship had settled the Cuban question, or
had furnished a guarantee that in the future
Spanish men-of-war would not amuse them
selves hauling down our flag on the high seas
and carrying our citizens to some Cuban sham
bles, to be shot to death at the good pleasure
of Spanish butchers.
Whatever may be said by the Hessian
press over the delivery of the virginius, the
real question between America and the blood
thirsty Hispano-Cuban volunteers remains
to be settled Peace may be patched
up by the fears of timid Secre-
tary, and newspapers may be bought
up to proclaim peace where there is no peace;
but, in spite of corruption and of cowardice,
the question whether barbarism or civilization
shall triumph in Cuba will have to be fought
out in the end The present moment Of
fers a favorable opportunity Tor putting
an end once and forever to slav-
-. <1A 1oo
trace of Spanish tyranny from the New World,
if our government would only act. But the
occult influences that control our foreign rela-
tions are seemingly stronger than public opin-
ion or any consideration of national interest.
General O. o. Howard and the Late
Freedmen's Bureau.
It appears from report laid before Con-
gress yesterday by the Secretary of War that
General o. o. Howard, who, we believe, had
charge of the Freedmen's Bureau from the
time Of its establishment until the period
of its abolition, is defaulter to the govern
ment for over quarter of q million
of dollars. And, singular to relate, the
Secretary states that General Howard would
have been tried by military court of inquiry
''were it not that most of the matters are
barred by the statute of limitations Hence
it appears that, after all the fuss and fummery
attending the organization of the defunct
Freedmen's Bureau; after all the enormous
drafts upon the public treasury it was the
occasion of, and after all the humilia-
ton which the enforcement of its regula-
tons heaped upon the Southern whites for
the benefit of the Southern negroes and for
the personal aggrandizement of an army of
carpet-baggers, there was still room for over
quarter Of million to slip over on the wrong
side of the ledger in General Howard's
accounts. We want, Of course to find out,
if possible, why it got there. And the
''statute of limitations precludes redress
Well may people wonder that, amid all the
foul corruptons that notoriously infest many
OF the departments of the government, with
daily robberies of the most barefaced descrip-
ton, from Congress down, or up, as the case
may be, that we are able to hold up our heads
in the face of other nations and proclaim ours
an honest Republic. If official delinquencies,
if the hungry grabs for spoils and corrupt
jobs of all sorts go on much longer in the way
they have been going for years past, we may
be considered non est Republic indeed The
subject was referred by the House to the Com
mittee on Military Affairs.
sowing the Wind.
In the name of the prophet, figs! In the
name Of the workingmen, gas If people