Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1873-11-14
The Slaughter at santiago De Cuba.

We copy the following from the Balti-
more Gazette of yesterday:
We scarcely know how to characterize
in words fitting the occasion the bloody
slaughter at Santiago de Cuba of fifty seven
of the men captured on board the steamer
| Virginius. The summary execution OF
General Ryan and three other Cubans-
one of them, like Ryan, citizen of the
United States without trial, and at an
hours notice, was of itself well calculated
to draw down upon the assassins the in
dignant reprobation of the whole civilized
world. But the later news adds fresh
horror to what, even in its milder form,
was barbarous enough. It was on the
morning of the 4th instant that Ryan and
his three Cuban companions were shot
On the 9Th, five other Cubans were shot.
On the 18th, the Commander of the Virgil
Mus, Capt. Frey-himself an American CT
tizen, and at one time lieutenant in the
United States navy-together with thirty
six of the crew of the same steamer, were
taken out and shot, and, on the following
day, twelve more of the Cuban volunteers
were shot. The two last mentioned acts
of savagery were perpetrated after tele-
grams had been sent from Spain, and re-
|ceiEed in Cuba by the captain General, or
dering peremptorily stay of proceedings.
They were done in defiance of Spanish au-
+thority, and at the instigation of the blood
thirsty Spanish volunteers, who profess to
be loya1ists, but who only yield obedience
to the Home Government when it suits
their purposes, AMI whose atrocities Meth
er the Captain General at Havana, nor the
H., GeJ1 hou no
to SUPPRESS less to punish. They
have conducted the war like savages; they
have put to death innocent Cubans, as in
the case Of the students at Havana-falsely
accused of mutilating a tomb. They have
shot every Cuban prisoner of note that fell
into their hands. They have hunted, har-
assed and imprisoned the peaceful relatives
of the insurgents, sparing neither age nor
sex, and have confscated, often on the
shallowest of pretexts, property valued at
many millions of dollars. So long as these
sanguinary excuses were committed with
in the island, and the native Cubans were
the only victims, other governments, tho
shocked at the inhuman way in which the
war was conducted, felt bound to refrain
from active interference. Now the case is
different If the capture of the Virginius
took place in Cuban waters that fact might
be urged as an excuse for the passionate
killing of the captives. But after orders
for a stay of proceedings were received
from the Home Government, the men who
killed them in defiance of those orders were
as much insurgents as the men they shot,
and should be dealt with accordingly
The plea that Spain cannot control these
volunteers, and therefore ought not to be
held responsible for their acts, has no val
idity whatever. If she claims possession
of the island, and recognizes these men as
in her service, it is her duty to control
them. Otherwise her claim is sham, and
entitled to NO respect. Her failure to do
what it is incumbent upon her, even to the
limited extent of protecting American cit
liens from immediate death, and holding
them for trial for the offenses of which they
may chance to be accused, justiies the
United States in taking instant action in
the matter. What that action ought to be
cannot properly be discussed until the cir
cumstances surrounding this bloody affair
are better known. That it should be such
as will vindicate the honor and dignity of
the country, and put a stop to similar acts
of slaughter in the future, every one will
acknOwleCpe