The New York herald., 1873-11-09
ciates-The Attitude OF Oar Govern
ment.

ment.
The murder by the Spaniards at Santiago dc
Cuba of four OF the persons found on board
the American vessel Virginius, at the time of
her capture by Spanish gunboat has shocked
the civilized world The cruelties practised
by both parties TO the miserable struggle that
has been going on in Cuba for the past five
years have been a disgrace to humanity and
have long excited universal indignation. But
this last crime is one which affects all peoples
and all governments; which outrages those
laws upon which the friendly intercourse
of the world is based, and without which
the nations of the earth would be thrown
together as wild beasts, to tear and
destroy each other, without any protection
except that Of brute strength. The slaughter
of the young students at Havana about three
years ago; the murder of the wounded on
battle fields the mutilation of the dead ; the
butchery of prisoners, male and female, with
out trial-all these barbarities have been hor-
rible to contemplate but they have not
directly affected the outside world, and deeply
AZ they have been deplored by all civilized
people, they have not seemed to demand their
active interference. In the hurried assassina-
ton Of Ryan and his associates the Spanish
authorities in Cuba have shown their contempt
for the rights Of other nations their readi-
ness to ignore the obligations they owe to the
rest Of the world in the qualification of their
malignant hatred Of the Cubans and their
sympathizers.
NJ So tha ukatrr nf fba
| virginius and her liability to seizure by the
Spaniards has by their own indiscreet action
become of secondary consideration. There
is enough evidence to show that she carried
men and arms with the intention of landing
them on the island of Cuba. No person will
pretend that these arms and individuals
were not designed to aid the Cuban
cause. Ryan, Cespedes, varona and del
Sol, it is very well known, were
not likely to fight on the Spanish side and if
they had been captured on Cuban soil by the
| Spanish troops they would have been properly
subjected to the fate of war. If they had
been taken on pirate vessel, or vessel that
had been lawfully condemned as prize after
a proper trial in an admiralty court the
| Spanish authorities would, no doubt, have
been entitled to hold them as prisoners and
to subject them to the penalties they had
incurred under Spanish law. But there is
grave doubt as to the right of the seizure
of the Virginius by the Spanish gunboat,
despite the we'll known character of
the former, and that doubt should have been
settled before any injury was done to a single
passenger or individual on board the Ameri-
can vessel. If the Virginius had been carried
| into port, the American government notified
of her capture the trial held and the boat
condemned as lawful prize no voice could
have been raised against the action of the
/ Spanish authorities. But no vessel can
be condemned without trial, even in
times of war, and until the Virginius
was condemned every soul on board
was entitled to the protection of the
American flag. The execution of the four
persons who were captured with the boat was
not, therefore, the carrying out of any legal
sentence. 1t was simply assassination, urged
by that brutal ferocity that distinguishes the
! Spaniards in Cuba, and hastened by the fear
that the victims were entitled to protection
and might receive it from the United States
that every civilized nation becomes an inter-
ested party and must desire that full atone
! ment be demanded of Spain for the crime her
authorities have committed
| We have looked with anxiety for some in
timation of the position that would be taken
1 hy orr amt in ~.
intelligence of the views Of Secretary Fish was
| given yesterday in our Washington de-
spatches We then learned that the Secretary
does not think that we "need fear any
trouble J" that the Spanish government lis
opposed to quarrels, and that we ought to be
satisfied with due explanation from the
! Spanish government" even if we should find
that the capture Of Ryan and the other vic
Tins was, like the capture Of Mason and
| Slidel in 1862, without proper warrant. We
did hope, for the honor of our country, that
/ the Secretary Of State had been enormously
| reported. or that these were his precipitate
and immature views, which would have
/ been recalled or corrected before
now. The fippant manner in which
the murder Of the four men was dismissed,
with the hope of an explanation or 'apol-
ogy" from Spain, appeared revolving in view
OF the hurried and cruel death of the victims.
Our Washington dispatches this morning are
Of more hopeful character. They give
promise that something will be done by our
government to vindicate the honor Of the
nation. even though they cast slur over the
memories Of the men who have been sacrificed
to Spanish vengeance. Admiral Scott has
been ordered to repair to Santiago de Cuba, or
to despatch o vessel to that port forthwith, to
protect the interests Of the United States
Dispatches have passed between Washington
and Madrid the result of which has been