The gold leaf., 1898-04-07
baltimore Sun, March 30

| unnecessary anu uH Just CIItiClSul Dc-
cause in his message to Congress on
Monday he did not take stand upon
the Cuban question generally, and
also because he did not take more
aggressive position in regard to the
destruction of the Maine The de-
struction of the Maine, as we have
endeavored to point out, has no nee
essary or logical connection with the
question Of intervention for the pur-
pose Of terminating the war in Cuba.
1t was an incident, as we said yes
tcrday, which might have occurred in
any other port Of any other friendly
nation, and was SO properly treated
by the President in his message. 1t
was unfortunate, most unfortunate,
that the Maine should have been blown
up while anchored in supposed secur-
ity, in Spanish port. The fact Of
itself, however, is not a cause of war,
responsibility for the explosion upon
Spain. That is mixed question Of
law and fact-principally and prima-
rily a question Of fact.
The court of inquiry, whose findings
upon the subject the President trans
mitted to Congress, dealt solely with
the question Of fact. AS matter Of
fact it found that the Maine was blown
up in the harbor Of Havana at a point
where she had been moored by direc-
tion Of the local authorities; that the
explosion was caused by an external
agency, apparently that of a sub
marine mine, either floating or fixed,
and that there was no evidence Of
want of care, diligence or discipline
on the part of the officers or crew of
the Maine contributing to produce
the disastrous result. 1t is not likely
that any evidence can or will be pro-
American people in this verdict of the
court Of inquiry. The theory appar-
emily INDUCED in by the Spanish
authorities that the court was biased,
influenced by feeling of hostility to
Spain or a desire to shield Captain
Sigsbee, described as lone of the
most popular officers in the American
navy" is too absurd to receive con-
sideration on this side Of the water.
The plain fact is that the findings
of the court of inquiry take the de-
struction of the Maine out of the
category of possible accidents and
demonstrate it to have been a crime.
1t is crime of such hideousness as
to cast a reproach upon the civiliza-
ton of our times-this wholesale
murder of hundreds of seamen in
their sleep, to say nothing of the de-
struction of the ship of friendly
country rocking at her anchor in con-
tident reliance upon Spanish hospital
ity aud good faith. 1t is a crime
which must for all time cast stigma
and strain upon the Spanish char
acter. 1t occurred in Spanish waters
and must have been committed by
Spanish hands; whether loyalist,
rebel or autonomist does not appear
The court are careful to say that the
evidence in their possession does not
enable them ''to fix the responsibility
upon any person or persons.
Such being the facts, the question
of law, of legal or international re-
sponsibility, remains an open one.
The very monstrous character of the
crime entities Spain to a fair hearing,
to say and to adduce whatever proof
she can in her own defense The
burden of proof, as we said yesterday,
is upon her. Mere denials, appeals
to Spanish honor and the like, amount
to nothing. She must be able to
show that our court of inquiry is in
error as to the fact that the explosion
was caused by any external agency,
or failing in that, that such agency was
beyond her control and without her
connivance, and that she cannot even
be approached for lack of due dill
gence in protecting ard safeguarding
ship which was her guest.
The law of the case is most admir-
ably stated, as it seems to us, in
lecture delivered on Monday night
before the law department of the
Brooklyn Institute of Arts and
Sciences, on the subject of Inter
national Law with Special Reference
to the Rights of Nations in Respect to
Vessels of War" by Judge Goodrich,
presiding justice of the Second APP
pellate Division of the New York
judiciary. Judge Goodrich's lecture,
it is stated, was largely attended by
members of the bar and his colleagues
on the bench. attracted by their inter
est in the subject and his reputation
as an admiralty lawyer and member
of the International Maritime Confer
encc in 1889.
Judge Goodrich enlarged upon the
right of the warships of every nation
to enter in time of peace the ports of
friendly nations, and said that 1.-The
right of entering carries with it the
right to immunity while in the harbor
against injury from external causes
within the power of the government
to prevent. 1t is customary for the
local government officials to indicate
the place where war vessel shall
anchor, and this naturally and neces
sarily imposes upon the officials the
duty of selecting place of safe
anchorage" He admits the right Of
every nation to 'adopt any means
which it may see tit for the protection
of its coasts and harbors in time of
war. 1t may have the bottom of its
harhors covered with mines and tor
pedoes in time of war. but they must
be so arranged as not to put in dan
ger the visiting war vessel in time of
peace, and when it assumes the right
to locate the anchorage of the vessel,
it would seem to follow conclusively
that the power which selected the
place for anchorage is responsible for
any injury which necessarily and
naturally results" But the Judge
does not limit his view of Spanish re-