, 1896-06-20

constructions of internal law, and appeal to
the broad principles Of international equity
and craftsmanship.
On merely technical grounds the United
States Government can make out a strong case
against the execution Of these prisoners.
American citizens have treaty rights in Spain
and Spanish possessions which have been
overridden by the Court martial. They are
entitled to a civil trial, and the bubble that
this privilege belongs only to residents is one
which Spain can hardly put forth seriously.
Then the proceedings, even of 3 Court mar
tial. ought TO be conducted with some regard
to regularity. In this case the accused seem
to have had practically no facilities for de-
fence. The charges were framed too vaguely
or so it is commended on their behalf. 10 ad-
NIT of being thoroughly sitted. The prisoners
had no counsel except a Spanish lieutenant,
who probably had neither the ability nor the
desire to do the best possible for his clients.
In the view of the Court-martial these de-
fects in procedure may have seemed Of no
account in presence Of the fact that the men
were captured on a vessel engaged in flibus-
terlng. They might have passed nnobserved
had the Court contented itself with some
milder sentence than capital punishment, but
the merest martinez ought to have known shat
they would not go uncnallenged when Ameri-
a OlC1HOL1o WOLF SSllUCllC6u ~ GdlA. OIGd6
pressure has been pnt upon President Cleve
land to acknowledge the Cuban insurgents
as belligerehts, and great indignation has
been excited in Spain by the demand. Had
he yielded to Glamour on this point, these
men would have been prisoners of war, en-
titled to the privileges Of such. In the Cir
eumstances 1t would certainly be singularly
bad policy to present the American Gov
eminent With an irresistible reason for con-
ferring upon the insurgents the advantage
hitherto withheld. The Spanish Govern
ment would now a. well to see in the first in
stance that the prisoners emj ~ to the fullest
extent every advant rge shat can be given for
their defence, and in the second place to re-
wise whatever conclusion the Court may come
to in the light of the international situation
in which it finds itself. IT is already sufi-
GENTLY difficult for the United States Gov
ernm ent to maintain a friendly attitude to-
wards Spain. AS our Correspondent observes,
only a strong Government with strong men
at its head could have persevered 50 long in
resistance to popular Glamour. Both the
Spanish Government and the Spanish Press
ought scrupulously to avoid anything that
may tend to make it's continued neutrality
impossible.
General Weyler, it is said, threatens to re-
sign his commsnd unless the sentence Of the
COurt-martial is carried out. In that case
it must be said hat he is sadly deficient in
the sense of proportion, since it cannot be
seriously argued that the execution of a
couple Of prisoners would have any apprecia-
able effect either upon the strength Of the
insurrection within the island or upon the
enterprise of sympathizers without. His
resignation would appear a greater calamity
if he had succeeded in making Iany consider
able impression upon the insurgent forces.
But, though great results were expected from
his suppression of the mild hammered Mar
shall Campos, there is no p%ercoptible improve
ment in Spanish prospects. 1t seems diff
cult to explain the inability of the large
army under his command to protect even the
western provinces from the inroads of the
insurgents. But, whatever the explanation
may be, circumstances seem 10 be rapidly
settling she Cuban question in a sense very
unfavourabls to Spain. The island is pHac-
tically bankrupt. It's industries are para
lyzed and it's trade is nearly annihilated.
The sugar crop, by far the most important
of its staples, has fallen off to q mere frac.
ton of it's normal amount, and there is too
much reason to fear that it is about to vanish
altogether. Failure to cope with the insur-
rection in its earlier stages has removed all
incentives to industry, and men who no
longer see any prospect of a return from
honest labour naturally join the ranks of the