The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1898-09-15
GRANTS CUBAN POLICY.
he Had Seen wars Terrors and Guided
the Nation ont of n Renewal.

! sue Natioh otit vi u nou6Whfs
The action of President Grant in re-
gard to Cuba ia so frequently referred
to in certain quarters as a correct prec-
cdent to follow, that some reference to
the circumstances Of that time cannot
fail to be interesting at the present
juncture.
In 1873 the Virginius. an American
steamer. was engaged in ordinary COM
merce between this country and Cuba.
She was purchased by some American
citizens who were anxious to wrest the
pearl of the Antilles" from the pow
er of Spain. While engaged in head
ing with a mixed cargo Of passengers
and supplies Cor Cuba, the Virginius
was pursued, oyertaken and captured
off the shores OF Jamaica.
Those on board were taken to Ha-
vana, being starved and insulted on
the voyage back, and then subjected
to a mock trial such as Spain merci-
fully provides for military offenders Of
the worst sort. Conviction followed
without even the show of decorum that
accompanies the ordinary drumhead
court-martial. and the prisoners were
sentenced to be shot. The crew and
passengers shared equally the chivalry
Of Spain. The whole proceeding was
carried out with that fierce spirit of
brutality, that celerity of despatch
which the annals of Torquemada en-
balm in the pages of European history
From one end of this country to the
other a wave of popular indignation
swept when the people heard of the ex-
ecutions and the heroic spirit, which
bore up the nations hopes at Vicks-
burg and at Lookout Mountain, cried
to Washington to have the flag of Cas-
tile and Arragon share the fate that
had so lately befallen the Empire Of
Maximilian.
The nations excitement was quite
as intense as In the case of the Names
bluejackets. Blue and gray alike
Joined in the demand that the honor
of the United States could not be
atoned for by an apology and could
only be satisfied by prompt and effec-
tive measures of retaliation. Caleb
Gushing WSs then the American Minis
ter to Madrid. Hamilton Fish was
Secretary of State. Cushing was the
son-in-law Of the Secretary who did
so much to make Grants second term
the prelude to a third. Fish was an
able man but IN a crisis like this he
was weak man. He was the repre-
sentative also Of New York's interests
In the Cabinet, and New York was
then the pivotal state Of the Union;
and in ontra-distinction to the great
virile and unspoiled West, New York
then also represented much the same
forces as 1t does to-day.
Grant with the true instincts of
brave soldier ordered the Navy to be
puS on a war footing when the Vir-
gfnius affair had stirred the hearts of
the American people. The President
made undoubted preparation to vindi-
cate the honor of the country and to
punish Spain. Accordingly Fish was
instructed to tell the Dons that they
would have to lot the Cuban people go.
There ensued a long diplomatic corre-
spondence, and meantime the still
small voice of Wall street passed the
word along to keep cool about the Vir-
ginfus affair; to do nothing rash and
to act with the requisite prudence as
well as with the requisite energy. Such
was the gawky phrasing Of the period.
While Grant was firm and patriotic
American he was also the most tender
and humane of men. He had Quelled
the greatest rebellion In all history,
and was not anxious to subject a ma
ton which he had raised erect and up
on ita feet, 30 soon again to the dread
hazard Of war. The era of resump-
ton and Of reconstruction was in full
swing; and If Spain made suitable
reparation and compensation to the
families OF those butchered to make
q Spanish holiday 1t was said to be
savoring OF cruelty to smash Spain In
her distant colony at time when Ser
rano and his extemporized Cabinet
were earnestly seeking to bring the
Spanish Monarchy into the great fam
hy OF republics. Serrano was repres-
ented as the saviour of the Spanish
people, and as a great soldier himself.
ana as Marshal in the Spanish Army
he could toady the tenderest part"
the heart of another great soldier, then
too the President of a sister republic
in that new civilization which Spain
had formerly given to the world.
There was a sublime pathos in the
situation that was artfully turned to
account in the case of man whose
fame was linked with that Of Caeser,
Cyrus and Napoleon. and who could
not do a small, petty or inhuman thing
even II he tried to. Grant erred by
not Furnishing Spain then and by lis
tening to the influences to which he
was subjected, but he erred on mercy's
side. Thus the vacillations and sud-
den changes Of policy of that time fur
nish a painful precedent If prece-
dent at all for those of which they
remind US in 1898. The questions
than as now were uue,ettons of inter-