New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-01-12

| "samo provisions made and enacted by the
Government of Her Majesty the Queen OF
"Spain on June II, 1861, on the occasion OF
"the outbreak OF the civil war in the United
Estates" We must presume that Mr.. Como
yer knows what the provisions are OF which
he speaks. The Spanish proclamation OF June
II. 1861, simply conferred upon the Southern
rebels the character of belhgerents. and was a
close COPY of the British declaration OF May
IS. which formed the first chapter in Our long
discussed complaint against the British Gov
eminent and was duly set forth as
cause of olicnse in the very forefront
of the American. Case as presented 10 the
tribunal of Arbitration at Geneva. Queen
Victoria's proclamation of neutrality carried n
recognition of bclligerencc without actually
using that term. Queen Isabella's, while COM
handing and prohibiting the same things as
the other, was perhaps even more offensive,
for it repeatedly employed the word belllg-
erents,n which Lord Russell avoided. For
instance, it closed with the warning: Those
"who violate the foregoing provisions shall
"have 10 right to the protection of my gov
"ernmcnt, shall suffer the consequences Of the
"mcasures which the bcllgerents may die
"tate, and shall be punished according to the
Z" laws of SPAIN"
In discussing the British proclamation, Sec
rotary Fish, in dispatch to Mr.. Motley
while admitting that every Power has n
sovereign right TO decide for itself whether
facts Justify the recognition Of insurgents as
belligercnts insisted " that the rightfulncss OF
"such an act depends upon the occasion ana
"the circumstanccs;' and our Government
never ceased to complain that the recognition
OF the Confcdcrates under the conditions then
existing was prccpitate, unfIiendly, and an
unvarraufablc injury to the United States.
And pray what would be said Of our recog-
milton of the Cuban insurgents rs bel
ligcrcnts when cur own Executive, i'll
the most formal manner, has just declared
that they possess none OF the conditions which
cntitle them to that character :" lal TO find
" in the Instruction. says President Grant,
"the existence of such a substantial political
Organization, real, paipablc, and manifest to
" the world as 10 take tao contest ont
"of the category OF mere rcbcluous lnsur-
erection or occasional skirmshc', and place
:" it on the terrible footing Of war to which
"rccognition of bclligeTcncc would aim to
elevate it, And he concludes that the ac-
cordance of bcigcrcnt rights would be "un"ise
"and premature as a matter of cxpcdioncy and
"indefensible as Il measure of right Prob
ably Mr.. Conovcr has not forgotten the
serious consequences which the message emu
meratcs as certain to he cntIllcd 10y rccoGn-
ton upon our own citizens. II would release
Spain from all responsibility for acts done by
the insurgents 1t would make it unlawful fol
us to carry arms and munitions of war for
either party and subject contnband cargocs to
seizure ard it would give Spain undcr the
treaty Of 1875 right TO search our vessels
on the high seas.
Mr. Couoyci's resolution of course is not
likely TO pass, If indeed it is ever heard Of
again; but such foolish and ill-consldcrcd
proposals often have mischicyous effects nj
together disproportionatc TO the personal i'm
portancc Of their authors, and il seems to be
a pity that the strong Administration majority
in the Senate cannot exercise some control
over its feathcr-bmincd members, lest they
bring upon the party an altogether supcnGouo
di.creait