Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-11-27
SENATOR SUMMERS LETTER.

in New York, in which he places the
Virginius and the Alabama in the same
kinship, and assigns to the United States
the position occupied by Great Britain,
when the Lloyds and others of her sub
jects were building and fitting out in her
public shipyards piratical vessels to
prey upon American commerce. We
have no doubt that Senator Sumner in
tended to state the case fairly, but that
in the haste of writing and sending it
off, to be in time for the meeting, he
made assertions and statements that he
would not fully endorse as matters of
history and public law, upon reflection.
His comparisons were certainly unfor-
tunate as far as the questions of fact are
concerned, and his doctrines at variance
with those held by the leading publicists
on both sides of the ocean
The Alabama was built in a British
shipyard for the Confederate navy, for
the purpose of preying upon the COM
merce of the United States, friendly
power engaged in putting down rebel
lion. The American Minister, Charles
Francis Adams, importuned and wearied
the British Cabinet with representations
and protests, and at last, after the Ala
bama was we'll on her way out of British
waters, the order was issued to detain
her, too late to do any good. The Ala
bama sailed to the Western Islands and
was furnished her armament from
British vessel, and Captain Semmes and
his officers boarded her from a British
steamer She started then on her career
of robbing, burning and destroying
American merchant vessels, and murder
ing American citizens, and after this
was well known to all the authorities
of England, she was permitted to enter
British ports and be there supplied with
coal, provisions and naval stores.
Now, can Senator Sumner find any
anology between the Virginius and the
known record of the Alabama. She
certainly was not built in United States
yard to be used against Spain. The
United States was never requested by
any one to prevent her departure, nor
were our authorities ever notified that
her character was not perfectly peace
full She was never equipped as a ship Of
war. At the time of her captufe she
was not armed. She had never captur-
ed aud burned Spanish vessels on the
high seas, and the government whose
Registry and flag she fioated had never
neglected any duty towards Spain,
and Castelars government made no COM
plant of us. Then, again, even if the
Yirginius was carrying munitions and
materials of war to the insurgents in
CuDa, the offense was nothing more than
blockade running, if there had been a
blockade, which Mr.. Sumner will not
claim existed of Cuban ports. Did our
government ever resort to wholesale eX-
ecutions of the officers and crews of
blockade runners, or even of the Ala
bama herself? No, there is no analogy
between the two cases, and Mr.. Sumner
in his admiration for CASTELAR, has closed
his eyes TO the wholesale murder of our
citizens in the public square of Santiago
de Cuba The moaning sadness of
! American widows and orphans, as the
crash of Burriels musketry died away,
is of more Importance than Spanish
sympathy, or admiration for Spanish
Republicans.
Neither do we believe that the lives of
American citizens and the honor of the
| country, is to be outweighed by the pal
! try'dopars being. expended to fit cut a
fleet Of sufficient. strength to compel re-
spect for our flag and protect the lives
of. our people. The truth is, although
Spain does not acknowledge. a state Of
4 war, in Cuba and has never declared q
blockade of her ports, she is wholly tl1l+
4 able to enforce her authority in that
island, and the butchery of these people
took place in spite of the Madrid gov
ernnlent, and we. perhaps ought to treat
Spain as more unfortunate than sinful
in this offense; but it is idle sentimental
ism to talk of overlooking the deed on
| account of the distant shrek of pun
] 81 II 70 o 81.
ished slaves among the. insurgents, or OF
| sympathy for a people seeking to. estab-
lish republican institutions among the
nonarchies of Europe. We must pro
/ tect our flag on the high. seas, we must
see that our people are safe, even if we
have to wipe out all Spanish rule in Gu
ba. Spain may. not be able to punish
these crimes against the United States
and humanity, but our nation can, and
/ it would be a cruel neglect Of manifest
4 duty TO allow this .offense to pass into
history nnpunished, We don't believe
i that Mr.. Sumner would haYe.deliberate.
4. " written such a letter, it he bad seer
the perfect faliaey Of all: his eoempari.
/ sons, and the entire .subvefsan of every
E.principle upon which a government is
4 valuable to a people that mast result
4 from its. doctrines s. *.