The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-07-30
FILIBUSTERS PUNISHED.

We have to acknowledge the efficien-
cy of British laws and the readi-
ness of British courts to stand, at
least to some extent, above and be-
yond the clamor of public opinion in
their administration of justice. The
trial, conviction and sentence of the
filibusters who led the attack upon the
Transvaal for violating the neutrality
laws of Great Britain is a signal trib-
ute to the respect of England's courts
for the obligations that England's
honor imposes. 1t is true that the
are light in the extreme. Were it not
for the fact that those Of them who
are members of the army will proba-
bly, receive a heavier military punish
ment as well, the penalty would seem
insufficient. But the important point is
that they were actually convicted and
placed under the ban of the law For
there can be no doubt that public
opinion ran strongly and almost
unanimously in their favor The trial
Of these men was like a public ova-
ton. The poet laureate of the empire
sang their deeds in verse which
yielded poetic quality to an uncon-
cealed admiration Of their Illegal at
tempts. Everywhere the passion of
the public mind forgot the grievous
wrong that these men would have
inflicted upon a friendly and peaceable
nation, simply because they shielded
themselves behind an alleged concern
for the glory Of the English name
To have had their enterprise put into
bald, unfeeling English, and their acts
rewarded with from ten to fifteen
months Imprisonment, like common
malefactors, witnesses the indepen-
dence of the English judges,
We can best understand the situa-
ton by imagining somewhat parallel
case in which we should be an interest
ed party. Let us suppose that down
in the disputed territory in Venezuela
British and American subjects came
into hostile collision. Suppose that the
American claimants to valuable con-
cessions in the disputed country
had organized force and actually
gone over the border into British
Guiana on a foray. Suppose, then,
that the British authorities, having
met and vanquished this force, should
have sent it's leaders back to the
United States for trial and punishment
according to the law We can
imagine how difficult 1t would have
been, in the face of an overwhelming
public sentiment, to secure from our
courts a conviction for violating our
treaty with Great Britain, and the
punishment, by Imprisonment, for
what would be claimed as upholding
the flag Of the United States against
the hated Briton. Such an episode is
full of the severest trials of a coun-
try's respect for law, and test of the
integrity of it's judiciary. While the
governing powers of England are by
no means released from completely in
this affair, the courts, at least, have
done their duty in setting upon it the
seal of their disapproval President
Kruger now sees the wisdom of his
shrewd move in sending Jameson and
the rest back to England for trial. He
has. secured punishment for what he
called, contemptuously, "the little
dogs" as severe as he would have
cared to impose himself; and the pre-
cedent set is such that it may not be
entirely clear sailing for the big dogs
when their time shall come.