The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-04-16

Retaliation or the Spanish Charges.
We publish in to-day's HERALD dispatches
from the British and American Consuls at
Santiago de Cuba, emphatically declaring that
the life of our special Cuban commissioner,
now imprisoned at Manzanillo, is in immi-
nent peril, and press report from Havana,
which takes a more hopeful view of his case,
although indicating that he may be for some
time deprived of his liberty. Consuls Rams
den and Young. who are in that part of the
island where popular prejudice is the strong
est against the daring and successful CORE
spondent, and where exaggerated rumors are
the most likely to be circulated, evidently fear
that Mr.. o Kelly may not be accorded fair
trial, and that his reasonable request for the
transfer of his case to Havana will be refused
The Havana report, more likely to be inspired
from official sources, states that the life of the
prisoner is in no danger; that the trial will
take place in that city; that the decision of
the case will be left by the present Captain
General to his successor, General Pieltain
who represents the republican govern
ment of Madrid that the prosecution
is based upon the fact that Mr.. O'Kelly when
captured had upon his person letters or let
ter from Cespedes and that the English Con-
sui ct Havana favors the release of the pris-
oner, although he ''has acted contrary to the
advice of the Consul in violating the laws of
the country" Of the two conflicting views
of the peril in which our commissioner stands
we are disposed to accept as the most reason
able that which is taken from the standpoint
of the seat of government We can readily
believe that the friendly interposition of Presi-
dent Grant and Secretary Fish, united with
the protest Of generous press, may have in
duced the Captain General, who is all-power-
full in the matter to direct that when the case
shall have been prepared through the prelimi-
nary examination, it's trial shall be transferred
to Havana, and we cannot fear the result if
the tribunal before which the prisoner is ar
migned shall be presided over by fair-minded
and honorable judges Hence, while we de-
sire to express our high appreciation of the
interest and zeal in our correspondents cause
manifested by Consuls Ramsden and Young,
we incline to the belief that tho fears they
entertain are groundless.
simultaneously with these reports we have
received and publish to-day timely and
interesting letter from Mr.. O'Kelly, giving
an account of his arrival in the Cuban lines
and of his interview with President Cespedes
and other leaders in the insurgent camp.
This important communication affords the
best commentary that can be made upon both
the dispatches to which we have alluded. It's
calm, impartial tone; its unvarnished picture
of the condition of the insurgent government
and of the insurgent forces; its unsparing de-
nunciation of the savage cruelty that marked
the conduct of the victorious Cubans in the
affair of Jiguani; it's just tribute to the bravery
Of the Spanish troops engaged in that en-
counter, are one and all unprecedented re-
Dukes of the threats made against our cor
respondents life, and of the charges
made against his honor. And while
this letter, written and forwarded
long prior to his arrest, when he had no reason
| to fear imprisonment or trial before Spanish
tribunal, furnishes irrefutable proof Of the
writer neutrality and good faith; it also sets
/
importance and beneficial character of the
mission in which he was engaged. It sup
plies the governments and the people Of the
| United States and of Europe with information
they have long desired and failed to obtain.
They will learn from its contents the true con-
dition of the insurrection-its weakness and
its strength the hard fare the insufficient
clothing, the scarcity of arms and ammuni-
ton, the rowing government, toiling over
mountains and hiding in forest Businesses; the
patient endurance Of the men through all
these trials and privations, proving their devo-
ton to the cause of free Cuba and
their determination to continue the
desperate struggle for independence. For
the first time Spain and the United States
will be made aware, through the statement OF
General Calixto Garcia, that in the earlier
DAYS Of the revolution the Cubans received
encouragement and aid from England, and
that the British government, eager to avert
the supposed danger of the annexation of the
island to the United States, proposed to the
insurgents o confederation Of the Antilles,
expressing willingness to abandon Jamaica
for the purpose of facilitating its formation.
| Our statesmen will learn from this develop
ment that the formation of Republic of the
Antilles is not an impracticable scheme; that
it may be promoted by the recognition
of Cuba as free and independent
Power accompanied by positive re-
nunciation Of oil ideas and desires for
an extension of our territory by annexa-
ton. They will discover that we may find in
England colaborer in the work of establishing
independent republics over the whole Ameri-
can Continent Where provincial governments
now exist, if we can only succeed in removing
from her mind the erroneous impression that
L. Ill