The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-06-23
The Morn claim Against spain.


on the surface. the relations between
this country and Spain are very friendly.
I Only a short distance beneath the surface
| there is a considerable feeling OF animos-
Y ity. or prejudice. CT both. on each side.
! The spaniards have not forgotten the his
/ tory Of Florida before its cession to the
I Unlted States. and they look upon this
country az ready TO take advantage Of
whatever opportunity may present itself
/ to deprive them OF Cuba. The Span
iards have frequently given exhibit
tons OF their dislike Of the Americans.
on the other hand, the Americans have
not forgotten the Frye Incident, and 9TH
ers that might be mentioned. Il may be
observed that If. under existing ciTcum-
stances, another Frye incident were TO oc-
cur. the outcome Of it would probably be
totally different from the outcome Of the
other one. The Instruction in Cuba has
had the effect Of calling yankee" atten-
ton to Spain. and vice versa. and each
country is watching the other with a de-
gree Of suspicion that may properly be
called OmiDous.
therefore the note that was sent by Sec
rotary Of state Olney to the Spanish gov
eminent on June s. the very day that he
received his commission as the successor
10 the late Secretary Gresham, is full of
interest to both countries. It may lead to
a severance Of diplomatic relations be-
tween the two governments, and maybe
something worse.
The note in question was a vigorous
and pe-emptory demand upon Spain that
she settle the claim Of Antonio Mora, an
American citizen, which has been due since
1886, and which amounts to $l,5OO.O00 prin-
cipaI and some 100000 interest. During the
last Cuban insurrecton valuable sugar
plantations in Cuba, belonging to Mora,
who was an American citizen and resi-
dent of the state OF New York were seized
by the Spanish authorities, who collected
probably 81 100000 from the property before
they found out that they had made "a
mistake" The property was finally Or
dered by the Madrid government to be re-
stored to Mora, but the order was not
obeyed, for causes which seemed
sufficient to the Spanish Off
cials. After considerable dip
lomatic correspondence the Spanish gov
eminent agreed to pay Mora the sum of
81 10000 and interest, the United States
government being so lenient in pressing
the claim as to agree that it might be
paid in installments. That was in 1888.
The claim has never been paid. nor has
Spain taken any steps that looks like
she intends 20 pay it. The Spanish mino
lister who was in Office last before the
present minister had the effrontery to say
to this government that there were num-
erous claims by Spanish citizens against
this country for losses sustained by them
in Florida, before that state became one
of the United States, and that when the
United States paid those. claims, then
Spain would pay the Mora claim.
That statement, however, did not suit
the last congress. which took the view
that the Mora claim was already adjud-
icated. and had only to be paid to close
the incident resolution was, therefore,
passed, reciting the facts and instructing
the President to communicate diplomat
ically with Spain and insist upon the
payment of the claim, and to ascertain
why it had not been already paid. accord
ing TO the agreement of the two countries.
In obedience to the resolution, one of the
new secretary's first acts was to write
the note to Spain and forward it. through
our Minister Taylor, at Madrid. Should
the reply to the note be long delayed, or
should it be unsatisfactory, it might
transpire that Minister Taylor would be
recalled from Madrid and Minister De-
LONE recalled from Washington. Should
the Spanish government decline to pay
the claim. the result might be more far
reaching than a mere severance of diplo-
matte intercourse.
The Spanish treasury is known to be
none too full at the present time. The war
with Cuba is taxing its already depleted
resources, hence it is not likely the gov
eminent will pay the Mora claim as long
as it can escape doing so. Two millions
of dollars is not a very large sum to
great government when its affairs are
in good shape. 1t so happens that Span>
ish affairs are not in good shape. and that
it has urgent need for every dollar that
it can raise. Having insisted that the
claim be given immediate attention, this
government will be under the necessity
of sustaining its position with regard to
the matter. What will grow out of the
affair remains to be seen.
Grace Before Meat.