Omaha daily bee., 1896-03-02

! government Is not directly responsible. On
! the contrary, shown In the dispatches, II
! has taken precautions to protect the consulate
| and exercised due diligence in the matter
! This being the case, Spain may be expected
/ to, make an expression Of genuine regret or
! proper explanation for the unfortunate oc-
| currence and possibly reparatlon for the
! damage done.
This, at least, is the opinion Of Chairman
/ Hit Of the houee committee on foreign af-
! fairs. who, from his actual experience in
| diplomatic usages, Is well qualified to say
| what the requirements of international law
I and custom are in such cases. Mr. Hit Is
! confident that the attitude of our govern
! ment will be one OF great caution at this
| juncture and 1t is not probable that any act
! or expression that may emanate from 1t Will
add to the difficulty Of peaceable and honor
able settlement Of the trouble. The danger
/ to be apprehended, in his mind, is solely in
some Incorporate utterances in congress that
may add to the excitement and precipitate
a collision unnecessarily.
! As the case now stands nothing has hap
pened that cannot be easily and readily ad-
iusted by the means always at the disposal
of diplomacy, and that, too. in manner
that will leave no stain upon the honor OF
either Of the parties to this affair Even
If the Spanish government should be reluc-
taut to undertake to do what Is essential to
heal the wound voluntarily, which may well
be doubted there is every reason to sup
/ pose that some one or more OF the great
European powers who have sound reasons for
| preventing. If possible, any hostile collision
between the United States and Spain would
| exercise their good Offices to bring about
| peaceable conclusion of the incident. 1t is
Said TO be a fact that in countries OF Spanish
tendencies and extraction these attacks upon
the personal representatives Of an offensive
foreign nation are most common and scarcely
md iNf tha Eur has in
the course of the. present century, escaped
an onslaught on one Of its consulates, or
even legations, in some OF the countries of
South or Central America. Yet these Incl
dents rarely lead to anything more serious
than temporary straining of the diplomatic
relations and end in proper apology and,
in Of the destruction of property or i'll
treatment of an individual the payment of
an indemnity.
HAVE FAITH IN BROWN.
Herbert Bowen, the United States consul
general at Barcelona, is believed to be a
very good official to have in this trouble
some place at this time. He is man of
about 40 years Of age, New Yorker by
birth a son of the late Editor Bowen
Of the Independent. and Yale man, having
graduated there from the class of 1878. He
has the reputation of being man of sound
discretion and excellent judgment, cool and
we'll prepared to face an emergency with
nerve. Now that the Spanish officials have
taken steps to protect the consulate 1t is
not doubted that his personal safety Is as
sured no matter what the issue may be.
Senator Lodge of Massachusetts,, speaking
of the attack on the consulate, said to an
Associated press reporter "The news from
Spain in your dispatches Is grave, for 1T
shows the Spanish people and the Spanish
editors utterly fail to comprehend the stu
alton here. They forget that they recognized
tlp hall nf nnf flI yrith
three months after Sumter fred upon,
while We allowed ten years to pass in the
last Cuban war and enc year in this before
moving. We have shown long forbearance
which they failed to show us. 1 cannot be-
lieve the Spanish minister has been in
structed to protest against the action and
speeches Of the senate. Such a step is in
conceivable AS Mr.. Webster said in the
famous Hrlzmann letter, it would be an in
reference with our domestic affairs which
no independent state could admit for a mo-
ment. l trust and believe the Spanish gov
ernment understands their situation and ours
better than the Spanish newspapers and
popular meetings appear to do and / have no
doubt they do.
'There il nothing in all this which should
affect us. The United States must do what
is right and whatit is their duty to do. We
cannot suffer that useless brutal warfare to
go on and that slaughter to be maintained
and our large business interests In Cuba be
destroyed at our doors and under our eyes
without protest and without every effort
which great and civilized nation should
make and to people struggling for the
freedom which we ourselves enjoy"
Senator Sherman. chairman of the senate
foreign affairs committee, after carefully
reading the dispatch, said: "Of course
the Spanish people felt hurt at
the passage of the resolut on by
outbreak. 1t does not. however, change my
opinion CT the wisdom of the action by the
senate. do not think the incident will
lead to any trouble between the two govern
men.s"
Senator Lindsay of Kentucky who made
speech favcring Cuban independence in the |
senate. said: 1.-THE outrage seems to be the |
act Of an irresponsible mob. Trouble may |
come cut cs it. but there is no cause for |
such result. The mob spirit seems to be |
dominating two or three towns. but there is |
nothing to indicate that 1t has the approval |
Of the government"
The senator did not believe that the report |
of possibility CT the Spanish training |
squadron going to Cuba was the result of the |
passage o. the senate resolution. What |
that body had done was precisely right.
Senator Herbert and other prominent of
ficials who were called on could not be seen.
Efforts were made several times during the
evening to see Secretary Olney but the
latter gave dinner TO a large number OF |
friends and though he received the news of |
the assault on the consulate through the
dispatches of the Associated press, which
ware sent to him. he denied himself to the
rc.orters.
1t is believed the Spanish navy is not
sufficiently strong to warrant offensive oper-
ations by it and it probably would be kept
eff the Spanish coast to protect the Spanish
ports. The navy does not rank with that of
the United States, but it is still formidable
weapon CT war.
WAR VESSEL WANTED At CORINTO.