The New York herald., 1874-11-24
The Settlement Of the vfrginius
Claims.

the claims OF the United States Tor the seizure
of the steamship Virginius and the execution
Of its crew upon the same basis upon which
the British claims were admitted is on
nounced to-day in a special despatch from our
correspondent at Madrid. A willingness to
settle is, we presume, equivalent to settle
ment and the mere payment Of damages by
Spain is secondary to her acknowledgment OF
the principle involved.
The Virginius, vessel sailing under the
American flag was captured of the Jamaica
by the Spanish gunboat Tornado, and taken
into the port of Santiago de Cuba On
November 4, before the American gov
ernment was informed of the capture,
General Ryan and other leaders were
executed as straitors and insurgent chiefs, !"
by order of the infamous Spanish General
Burriel This cowardly act was followed on
November by the shooting Of Captain Fry
and thirty-six others of the crew and passen-
gers These executions were ordered after
mock trials, AMI no protests or appeals for
mercy or for delay were needed by the Spanish
which was first published in the HERALD Of
November 6, created the most intense excite
ment in the United States. The American
people felt that their national honor had been
deliberately insulted, that their brethren had
been murdered, and with one voice demanded
immediate reparation. The history Of that
event is fresh in the memory of the
public and need not be repeated in
detail here 1t will be remembered how
the United States government slowly and
with deliberation that distressed and hQmili-
ated the netion, applied to Spain for redress,
and with what reluctance and haughtiness
Spain admitted the possibility that she might
be in the wrong The HERALD expressed the
feeling and the thought of the American peo-
pie when it said, November 16, 1873, that the
capture of the virginius was "in violation of
international law and treaty obligations, and
that the wholesale butchery of ffty-six of her
passengers and crew was, under any circum-
stances, brutal murder" 1t added that
the massacre was ''designedly an insult to
the United States as well as an act Of blood
thirsty vengeance against the Cubans." AS
such it will be registered in history, and with
it, unfortunately, will be the record Of the un-
pardonable inactivity and timidity of the
United States government.
The negotiations in the Virginius affair
were disgraceful and un-American from the
first It will be remembered that even in the
treaty it was agreed that if the two countries
could not agree upon q settlement the whole
matter was to be submitted to arbitration.
The principle of arbitration is a good one both
as regards the differences of individuals and
nations, but it can be carried to dangerous
extreme. There are situations in which q
nation cannot refer its wrongs to an arbiter,
but must announce itself the custodian of its
own dignity and honor. But the administra-
ton at Washington trifed with its duty, and
the country has not yet forgiven the failure to
assert the rights of American citizenship.
More than o year has passed since the
massacre, and now we learn that we are to be
indemnifed on the same basis as England has
been. This is itself disgrace. England
was not primarily interested in the matter.
On the Virginius few British subjects were
seized, and they were shot with the rest. But
the ship did not sail under British colors but
under American; the insult was not aimed at
England but at America. Yet England did
not consent to wait upon the slow movements
of our government but demanded redress in
wrongs. She enforced this demand with an
energy which speedily brought the ruling
powers at Madrid to terms, and refused to
recognize the present government of Spain
until all the claims had been admitted This
admission was first published in our special de-
spatches from London on the 18th of last Octo-
ber We then said that the Virginius massacre
was ''directly and peculiarly our affair and
only remotely and indirectly the affair of the
British government If there were any just
order Of precedence in making reparation for
the injury our claim should have been pressed
with most vigor and paid with most prompti-
tude, because we were the party whose honor
was most deeply involved and whose right to
redress was tire most incontestable. But,
finally, when Spain, after long delay, ex-
presses her willingness to settle the Amer
ican claims, she does 80 upon the principles
which England asserted, and we owe to that
country and not to our own government the
act of tardy justice. The settlement Of the
virginius claims is by no means triumph
for the administration. It is the result of
long series of discreditable negotiations, and
the best we can do is to accept the award and
boast as little as possible over the little glory
that comes with it.
The Indians OF the Plains-Their Pro-
posed Removal.
Friend Gibson, Agent of the Usage and
Kaw Indians, in his report to the Indian
Bureau, recommends that all the country west