The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-02-15

Mr.. Woodford was directed IL lay the
facts developed petn"r TIM Spanish GOV
eminent together with tn statement
fhtt in view Of the Minister'S refusal
to deny the authorship of the letter, the
Spanish government is looked to with
confidence To dead with the case prop
arlv. This amounts 10 an invitation 10
recall the Minister. presumlng that ne
himself has not already taken steps 10
yacate his position. No doubt Is enter
tanned OF Il compliance with the implied
suggestion hut in case there should be
anduc delay in acting the State Depart
ment would feel called upon to move
directly in the matter and give the Min
:ster his passports rs was done when
Sir Julian P~auncefote'S predecessor
wrote the celebrated MurchesOn letter.
The circumstances under which a let
ter Of this character could escape from
thc privacy of the W. persons between
whom it passed eXcitcs much Comment.
The general belief is that it WAS never
delivered to Senior Canaleias bat WAS
stolen while Ell route. Canalej3S WAS
III Washington some months o and
then went to Cuba for tn. PURPOSE Of
observing the condition of affairs there.
As II former Minister in Liberal Cabi-
nets. having been Minister If Justice
and as the editor of II llera,do ut
Madrid. he was accorded a warm re
ception by Niilister- DuDuy De Lone,
Who gave 4 BANQUET III rs homo" which
was attended by Il number of prominent
public men. lie thcI! eft for Clha, AMI
his mission necessarily brought htm ITO
continued corr - 1riel.c With Minister
De Lone. rs tho letter bears 10 date.
he time that It WIS forwarded can only
la fynI nv HhA FAutn\t hlr WI =
after the Presidents message /, evident.
Ilia mention Of The preaching aut"llo-
nous Cabinet establish . that it was ne
fore the Inauguration Of the Cabinet.
January l.. This places the letter. ac-
.ording to the prevailing impressions. as
having been written about the middle of
December. AT that time emo Cana.
.ejaS is understood To have been NJ
Havana, prosecuting his mission. The
handling of the mail is done by The
Spanish authorities, so that in this ease
t is believed the loss Of a lette, of
his character could occur only IN one
If two Nays-eitler through trJacierv
If an official at the postal service, or
" being taken after it had reached the
lGtel where Senior CaEalejaS was stop
ing.
The rule as laid down in the Sackville
case is generally regarded as the stand
ard precedent for our guidance in such
matters. though there are not lacking
other presidents. To plead that the let
ter was purely personal, that it WAS not
even addressed to an official or a citi
zen Of the United States, will not SUI
fee. Lord Sackville set up such an eX~
cuse. but President Cleveland declared
that it was insufficient and the Minis
ter was compelled to leave Washington.
Inasmuch as the line of action in that
case may form the basis for action iii
this. always presuming that the Spanish
Minister does not himself cut the knot
and relieve the government from the nee
essity of performing Il disagreeable duty,
it may be stated that with Lord Sack
Vile the Department of State itself II
lated the action.
Lord Sackville had written 4 letter to
one Murcheson in Pomona. California
in September. 1888, in reply to his re-
quest for guidance, ais a naturalized Am
erican of British birth. in casting his
vote for President. The reply was sent
from Beverly, Mass, where the Minis
ter was stopping and would not now, nor
probably at any time except III the heat
Of one of the great four yearly elections,
he regarded as particularly offensive.
AAir MI ~ hS'h' tA4.st t'iI l'1'''
cal party which openly favored the
mother country at that time would lose
popularity and the party then in power
was well aware of this fact. He be-
lieyed. however. that President Cleyc-
land would manifest n spirit Of concsi
liation i'll dealing with the questions in
yolved in his message.
Upon seeing this letter printed. Sec
rotary Bayard sent for Lord Sackyille
and the latter frankly confessed the au-
thorship. Thereupon Mr.. Bayard cahled
to Mr.. Phelps, our Minister at London.
under date of October -, that Lord
Sackville had declared that his reply to
Mucheson had been strictly private and
not Intended for publication. Mr.. Bay
ard ~thereupon expressed his surprise
and amazement and condemnation Of
the Minister'S act"
The government of the United
States.' he said, could not be indiffer-
ent to any interference in the domestic
issues by foreign representatives" and
Mr.. Phelps was directed to Invite Lord
~Salishury'S attention to the occurrence
and express the confident reliance Of
his government upon the action Of Her
Majcsty's government in the PREMISES
But Lord Salisbury did not take kind
ly to the suggestion. He replied that he
cOuiu not act nfltll he mad received the
Minister'S explanation. He did not re-
gard the letter alone as sufficient to
warrant the Minister'S recall. thus end
ing his diplomatic career. which would
not necessarily be the case il he were
dismissed by the government of the Uni
ted States, for which of course there are
preccdentS.'
Mr.. Phelps having advised that the
intimation Of Lord Salisbury be acted
upon as there Was no prehu-
bility Of his recalling the Minister immc-
diat"ly. Mr.. Rayard proceeded to dismiss
Lord Sackyille in the following terms:
The President of the United States
has instructed me to inform YOU that for
good and sufficient causes which are
known to yourself and have been duly
brought to the knowledge of your gov
eminent, he has with great regret be-
come convinced that it would he in
compatible with the best interests and
detrimental to the good relations of both
governments that you should any longer
hold YOUR present position in the United
S~tateSShnd that accordingly the govern
ment Of her Britanic Majesty will with
out delay be informed CT this determina-
fIDn IN - ~1 - III