Birmingham age-herald., 1895-05-05

been necCS CSSary 10 nBnl defIntiny III oiuSh to accomplish this He is even now try ing to increase his dominion over large part of Venezuela. The president of the United States tried to give him HaWan, for to establish the British supremacy over one island in that group, as was pro posed by the cable concession, would have surely been to give Great Britain absolute control of the entire country.
 And here in Nicaragua, and in this day of enlig ghtenment, we see this same nation, with it's record of centuries, a record of aggression, deSpotic squeezing of weak nations, bulldozing, braggadocio, attempting to obtain a foothold in land where the interests of the United States are paramount. To let Great Britain Se- cure this privilege now would be to give her control of American commerce and to jeopardize almost every American inter- est I do not believe that the American people are ninnles, and cannot see these things as they really are. I do not think that they have become arrant asses and are purblind to the commonest principles of protection and precaution.
 The Flimsy Pretext.
 "Nor do think there is a man livnig in this country today who can read who does not laugh to scorn the pretext that Great Britain is making today that she has anything like case against Nicara- qua. rhe cause of the present contro- versy is shallow fiimsy and nonsensical It is so palpably case where a great, big, strong fellow has deliberately put a chip on his broad shoulder, and when the little fellow has not knocked 1t off has shaken it off himself in order to pick a quarrel. The Nicaraguan government found this man Hatch fomenting strife among the Indians and negroes on the Mosquito coast. He was a plain, ordi- nary citizen, probably an adventurer. To be sure, he might have been British consul if Great Britain had appointed him such, which she had not done, and he might have been recognized diplo- matcally under these circumstances if Nicaragua had issued to him an exequa- tur, which she had not. Of course there was within him the possibility of being of great importance, which, unfortunately for the position today, he was not He was taken away from the territory where he was causing trouble. just as this gov ernment would take him away from a region where he was fomentng sedition, and sent out of the territory. He was not punished, he was not hanged, nor was he treated with any great indignity. His case presents none of the elements of severity shown in the case of MT. Waller who has been sentenced to twenty years of imprisonment by French court-mar- tial
 The British Pride Sadly Hurt.
 - eI tnlS Slnpie act or Dfecaut1On Dy this weak, defenseless nation has SO wounded the British pride, has so harmed the prestige of the great English nation. and has so besmirched and bedraggled the dignity of that empire, as to have in- fiicted damages on Great Britain amount ing exactly to $75,OOO Now. this sum Is merely the amount of the pecuniary value of the injury done to the sensitive British feelings. Great Britain distinctly says that she will put aside for the present, to be adjudicated later. the con- sideration of the damages inflicted on MT. Hatch and his property. That, you will mind, is side issue, an unimpor- tant, insignificant question: but the nation, however, has been wound ed in pride and spirit $75,000 worth. and England says to Nicaragua: If you don't pay I'll take possession of you. If you don't satisfy this claim for an insult under which the entire British nation is bursting with an- ger, we'll seize your coasts, destroy your commerce, pillage your towns, perhaps we'll kill few thousand of your people incidentally while we are doing this, but at any rate, we'll have satisfaction for this horrible affront you have given us
 ''Why, do you know, if any American citizen were to set up such a plea as that in any court of the land he would be laughed at by judges and by jury, and would be driven from the court house with his cause ground to powder. If the president of the United States in his pri- vate capacity should thus automatically set up such plea for damages to his personal character and dignity he would be sneered at from one end of the land to the other, just as I know the American people are today sneering at Great Britain for it's childish, puerile, weak ex- cuse for belligerent attitude toward this dcfenseless country.
 Enough Spirit in America to Protest. 'I think there is enough American spirit in the American people to put . stop to this proceeding. Great Britain is not going to stop it of her own voli- ton. Somebody has got to step in and be disagreeable, and this seems to be a