Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1873-12-05
VT, FIR Z E
The yirsiaias Case.
RrTzRDY IouvsoS's orISIoS


letter to the Baltimore American, his views
upon the Virginius case. Mr.. johnson :
experience in pnblie affairs as an ext nlteo
States Senator. ex-Attorney-Generai OF the
United Stairs and ex-Minisisr 10 England,
and his acknowledged smineace a> lawyer
and statesman, give e=pecial weight to ms
sieE= He thinks, Of course, as does every
man Of any humanity. that the wholesale
execution Of those captured on the Nirgini-
NJ, was 'harharous N The extreme.
The capture further involves questions.
which he thinks shonia he left to the deci@-
ion OF the President and his Cabinet. M
one, he says. can reasonably donht that the
President viii 30 ell that he constitutional
Il ran 40 - =rrure the rights and TO Eindi-
cate the honor Of thu nation such public
meetings, therefore. a have heen held, SEEN
to him to be unjust to the President
tecause, though not 80 intended, they imply
an apprehension TINT be viii not he equal
to the emergency unle=e urged hy the voice
Of the people
Proceeding - the .aw Pcinrs involved,
Mr.. johnson asks
r.: VS. the capture q legal one?
From the beginning of our government We
have insisted that an American vessel,
regularly dncumentei and carrying onr nag,
cannot in time of peace he visited OF search
ed on the high seas. II wa mainly Tor
violation Of this doctrine that the wsr Of
- D-rl,,l declared Qn1
although ct the termination Of that war the
claim of England was not formally renounc-
ed, il was practically abandoned and has
never since been acted upou. The immunity
of vessel carrying the necessary papers
and flag rests upon the theory that the
ocean is open 20 al alike, and that vessel
Of any nation. while in that element, - IN
contemplation Of law, s. pnri oil its National
territory and a. exempt from INVASION a the
soil itself ifthe NircinirS had our nag and
was rarulariv documeutfd GS an American
7s.=el and wce on the nigh sens when cap
tured. her capture wGs Illegal and contrary
n nrhhr law &c understood. not only by
Fnrlnud and the United States. hut hY all
other nations. including Spain. " neither
the Tirginius wae thus possessed di the nag
and document or had obtained them fraud
ulentlv. nr WIS uging them for an Illegal
purpose. are matters for in4siry, which
aur govern men. has 10 daubt already made
II will he no inst fcation oi the capture that
the object Of the en:rrnri-F was 10 render
assistance T. Cuban insurgents. 10 that
VS. the ease the offence 81 the iimc al zap
tnre was q violation of the neutrality avs
Of the I nited States, and not ut the ~oyer-
eighty of Spain, and the I nited States alone
possessed jurisdiction over the subject. The
Il 20 B. .an.
then. wa rs r-cS7 q disregard VI the
authority OF the nited STATES q il would
have heen II the Tornado had seized her IN
the harbor If New York. and she was as
much under the protection oi uur -1yern
menf 10 one ease q another
Ill am co-rect in the above view the next
point g., Had Snain g right to carry the
Tez=e. INTO g Spanish port Clearly she hsd
none Nhen captured the only offence the
Virgiuiua had committed va= one against
the nitel state @uppo>.ng that ,he con
terminated landing men ana arms N Cuba
In AID OF th@ in5ur9=nf=. f Wa Int an IN
executed purpose This purpose ste might
have abandoned and Il she had. To wrong
vhatev-r would have heen done 10 spain.
She ZOO va= liable O. he captured by an
American man-oi-var. and To be brought
into the 1 aited States for Judgment tOr
violation OF our neutrality avs and then.
81 80 NJ offence would nave been committed
arain=t Spain ~ wrong done her Can Il
be iouhted that the steamer before the cap
ture. ~ even afterwards. while being car
RED 10 Gaia. could have claimed protection,
Of auv nircd State man-oi- war. or that %
would have been the duty of the latter, ii
present, o. have presented her capture. ur
10 tzvf rfcautured her. and ty force. j nee
10
hv any -f orr navel office. may. ! -hink.
be conside-ei certain
IG.-I-The atrocltie- committed "n the
crew and pa =-enre-e Of the 4.l-iated steamer.
Independent ofthe =acrei laws &c humanity.
were without iusIihHation OF exruSp under
ths public law Of the world Not having
heen legn.y captured. tr-y were not
prisoner az VIZ. md we-- o. much
exempt from the jurisdiction Of spain as
when they stood upon American sol,
and Spain j.. ron=F4 ueut!y, a responsible
n the Z nitr1 STATES f1r their eXecu-
ton n she would have been u She had
gotten po--a--.1u ef the men hv invasion Of
our territory. What shall be the measure
Of The re-regs l1- rrPsr wrongs msy De sal elv
lett 10 the Judgment of the President
The difficulty ehau.d moi Land 90 Nar
with Spain President Castelar, j. vel
known g en- enlightened eIatesGan, and
one who $ firmly attached 90 the republic
can form of government which he IS now
using hi great = ens- FIRMLY go sr-Iah.lSh
and preserve. II prompted rv no higher
motive, he cannot iaI 90 --s th7t an m
riEhtr01s VIZ with the I niIat States would
have the tendency 20 frustrsie his patriotic
design and ire-.ieu. Grant r. nnlly rust
ard patriotic snd nere==arlly dc lrons that
the rrpuh.ir af Spain NAV h= continued.
vii avoid demanding of her any apology ~
indemnity inconsistent with her rights and
honor cr1 not necessary t6 maintain auf
own. l.ETEEri i0HN70N.
twill re noticed that Ny johnson
opinion rests upon the assumption that The
Virgin.u-Shsd regular American papers,
and night % carry ths American dag.
This Spain iznis- The Spanish Minister
"a Nsghinrtan. ia recent interview To-
ported IN the Sew York IT,. sad
There haz been no insult done or intend
ed to the American flag, because the VIZ
ginius We m more entitled u It than 10 the
aar Of y enerueia, and perhsp- not quite a.
much The \ irEinIus IN been engaged Tor
three YEAR in l1w.e-- pur--.t during
al that time -he has not heen once in an
American port There i= ample nroof that
she WIS owned tY Cuban insurgents. snd hy
nc Mr. Patterson or sn7 other American.
1t i well known that she hs= Ian 1ed several
expeditions il Cuha 2hs t1nE part 10 the
civil wEr of Venezuela. carving troops Tor
Gu-nan Biaucn. which fact was enough 20
deprive her Of her American nationality, If
he had not forfeited it before lie added
thai the NirFinius obtained heE papers from
the American consul n Jamaica, by irand.
ans fhst they were therefore yoit