The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-04-13

to murder and cajole.
Rumored Death or MIR. O'KcHy-
Tho American Government Moving
to His Rescue.
An alarming report comes to us from Key
West which we can only hope, from its
unlikely source, to be unfounded, that Mr..
OKelly died Of exhaustion from the close
confinement he had endured at Manzani1o on
his soay to Santiago de Cuba. We scarcely
dare credit this startling and affecting
news, which, if true, would stamp
upon the brow Of Spain crime that
torrents Of Spanish blood would not efface.
We trust, for Spain's sake as well as for the
unfortunate gentleman on whom the Captain
General had already loaded such indignity,
that the report is unfounded. If
Mr.. O'Kelly has thus died we shall invoke
o vengeance on the heads of his murderers
which will be q monument in the path Of time.
Sinister rumors that poison and prisons and
chains could do what dare not be done openly
have not been wanting in our ears from those
who know the Spaniards well. IF our COM
missioner has been assassinated in this way
we shall know what course to take. 1t
will be the death knell Of Spain in
America, and of many Spaniard, too.
AS we have at first said, we dare not
credit this news but shall wait with intense
anxiety for its confirmation or contradiction.
1t viii be gratifying in the meantime to learn
I,,k Iol RI fo1x
action in the case Of Mr.. O'Kelly.
In another part of the HERALD will be
found despatch from Secretary Fish to a
brother Of Mr.. O'Kelly, resident in this
country and forwarded by the latter
to us, in which the Secretary informs him
that he has instructed the American Con-
sui General in Havana to use his good
Offices with the Spanish authorities to
have Mr.. O'Kely's trial take place in
that city. Consul General A. T. D. Torbert
is instructed to take this action either in con-
junction with the British Consul or separately.
He is further instructed in his dealing with
the Spanish authorities that is, the Captain
GeneraD, to express the hope that Mr.. O. Kelly
will be mercifully dealt with. AS the simple
correspondent Of an American journal Mr..
O'Kelly has earned this mark of interest, and
we hope that the Captain General will act
upon such sound advice from SO high o
quarter. To ''deal mercfully" with Mr..
O'Kelly, the Captain General has only to
remember his word Of honor and to keep IL.
He distinctly promised that Mr.. O'Kelly
would not be shot upon his return
to the Spanish lines, but would
simply be expelled from the island
Of Cuba We are glad to see the
representatives Of the national will
thus undertaking to champion man whose
pure and straightforward action has been so
keenly in sympathy with the wishes of the
nation. We are certain that, with the mean
ing of the United States thus authoritatively
expressed, the Spanish authorities will find
their minds cleared Of great many obscure
ties that seem to have hindered them from
understanding how America can feel when
her warmest instincts are outraged. What
ever small pique may be exhibited in
the threats and the harsh conduct of
the Spaniards towards Mr.. O Kelly, it will, we
believe, need little reconsideration on their
part to find out how unworthy as well as
dangerous their action appears to the outside
world. The determined attitude of the Amer
lean government, indexing very plainly Che
desire Of the entire press and people, will serve
in no small manner to bring the Spaniards
in Cuba to sense Of their position.
The British government has gained just
reputation for jealously regarding the interests
of those who owe her allegiance when their
lives or properties are in danger on foreign
soil. The nation that undertook the Abys-
sinian war for the rescue of Mr. Cameron and
his fellow captives will surely not desert Mr..
OKelly in Cuba. In his mission they are
almost as deeply interested as America. The
bloody war which has devastated the beautiful
island is matter Of sorrow to all civilized
peoples and certainly to all commercial
peoples. There is at present in Havana
an able correspondent of the London Tines,
whose letters have been read with interest ON
both sides of the Atlantic He has. so far.
confined his labors of light to the cities
of the island; but should he be directed
by his superiors in London to plunge into the
rebel Businesses would England sit by with
folded arms if he were arrested and threat