Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1897-07-22
MEANS BUSINESS.

spa1n Arraagned ny the Ccmanfaene 50
Foreign Relations. Whaeh Reports q
Joint Rsaolusaon Empowexlng the Rxesl.
the 9mmedfnee Release 81 American Prise
oners In Cuba.
WASHINGTON. July EX-SENATOR Da-
Wis. chairman of the committee on for
eign relations. yesterday reported from
that committee the following joint res
OR ton:
% take such measures rs in his Judgment may
be necessary 20 obtain the release from the
Spanish government OF Ona Melton. Alfred O
Laborde and VIM Gildea, and the restoration
OF the schooner Competitor 60 her owner and
60 secure this he is authorized and requested 20
employ such means or exercise such power a.
| may be necessary.
The report recites all the facts that
have been brought out in the Competitor
case, her ownership, capture and citi-
zenship of the three men named In the
resolution together with the proceed
ingS thus fae had by the Spanish
authorities, the trial, sentence, etc.
The report characterizes it mock
cry of q trial" The affidavits of the
parties are cited TO show that they
were coerced into Spanish waters, in
which case they were not amenable
TO Spanish Jurisdiction. They We're
aot subject to piracy and intended no
act of depreciation on the seas nor were
they subject to the Spanish authorities
on account of alleged rebellion.
The report then says:
Irrespective of any of the foregoing
considerations the conduct Of Spain,
49,
such delay and denial of justice, and
such an infection of injustice upon
these, men as to make it the duty of
this government to demand PREPARATION
therefor irrespective of any act which
these prisoners may have committed
up to the date of their capture.
Among the acts of repara ton which
ought to be demanded should be the
release of these captives."
Secretary Evarts is quoted to sustain
this position. The report declares
that the rights of the men have been
violated, and continues:
They have been tried and sentenced
to death by a summary naval court
martial in a proceeding which has been
annulled by the appellate courts of
Madrid, upon the ground that such
court-martial had no jurisdiction what
ever over them. Ten months have
elapsed since this death sentence was
annulled, and they have not again been
brought to trial. In the meantime they
have been subjected TO protracted pre-
lminary examinations preparatory to
their trial by another court-martial,
which differs from the first only in the
fact that it is less summary and more
formal in its character than the first"
The report says that the men at the
first trial did not know until after
the testimony for the prosecution was
in that an interpreter was present and
the only translation made to them
was at the close of the sanguinary pro-
ceedings when they were asked il
they had anything to say, and neces-
sarily they could have little to say,
yet one of them protested that he had
not understood one word of the pro-
ceedings against him by which his life
was adjudged forfeited.
with these protests" continues the
report, 1.-THE trial ended and the de-
PENDANTS were Immediately sentenced
to death. 1t is now fourteen months
since they were arrested, during all of
WA4Cn bILuC GnSy nave DG6n Ae10 III
Cabanas fortress as prisoners. Melton
and Laborde are unquestionably citi-
zens of the United States. Gildea is a
British subject, but he was sailor
upon an American vessel when taken,
and acting as its mate. and it is the
opinion of your committee that he is
entitled to be protected by this govern
ment. He was serving under the flag,
and he is entitled to be protected by it.
I'm our opinion, these acts of delay
and denial of justice, and of the infiic-
ton of injustice, vitiate and make void
any right which Spain had in the be-
ginning of this transaction to proceed
criminally against any of these men.
This government should demand that
they be set at liberty, and that the
Competitor be restored to her owner,
as there is no evidence that the owner
knows anything about the divergence
of the vessel from its regular voyage
70 Lamon City, Fla.