The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-03-28

States, do solemnly protest against the
son or persons for their performances, IT.
regularities, trials condemnations that
may occur to any and every American citi-
zen or citizens concerned, detained and i'm
prisoned for all damages and prejudices
whether personal or otherwise which may
happen to any and every one Of the Ameri-
can citizens on board of the American
steamer Virgnius. as well as to all inter-
ests of value Of the aforesaid steamer
which may be claimed by her owners or
Whomsoever interested. all of which shall
be transmitted to the consul general at
Havana and to the department Of state at
Washington
Forty-eight hours after Mr.. Schmitt's
first letter Gen. Burriel replied as fol-
lows:
I'm my desire to correspond duly to the
exquisite zeal which you show in this mat
ter, / would have replied at once to your
communication, but, as / received 1t pre-
c1sely at the moment Of peremptory and
important affairs, to which l had to devote
myself exclusively-for the past two days
were holy days, upon which the officials do
not come to the office, being engaged as
well as every one else, in meditation upon
the divine mystery Of all saints and the
commemoration Of All Saints day, as pre-
scribed by our holy religion-conseuuentIy
1t was impossible for me, until early this
morning, to comply with your wishes, as
well as my own, to answer your commune
cation.'
Burriel then admitted that he had
Consul Schmitts kilograms to the con-
suls at Havana and Kingston, and, in
coarse and brutal language, expressed
surprise that Consul Schmitt should
nave expected any replies to his COM
munication in regard to 1.-THE pirate
Virginius," which was sailing under
American colors." He claimed that
the latter phrase was unintelEigible to
him, because there were as many
American colors as there were nations
on the continent, and even on some of
the islands. He alluded to the mark
ed off1ciousness'' of Mr.. Schmitt's con-
duct. and denied the American citizen
ship Of Gen. Ryan. He fatty withheld
permission to visit the JAIL and ex-
pressed the intention Of applying to the
government to propose the withdrawal
of the exequatur for the performance
OF the duties Of vice consulate. This
communication closed piousIy with the
phrase God preserve you many years."
Another Massacre.
On the 5th Mr.. Schnitt made another
protest. On the 7th the four men were
murdered in the manner described.
Later in the day thirty-six of the crew
Of the Virginius were executed. Capt.
Fry sent an Intellectual appeal to the
helpless American representative. He
wrote:
Sir: I have made several Intellectual
eHorts to communicate with you and am at
a loss to understand why the agent of q
government as powerful as the United
States should not at once communicate with
the master of an American vessel, cap
tured' on the high seas In time of profound
peace by a Spanish man-of-war I desire
that the papers Of the virginius should be
dents OF her attempted voyage noted and
communicated at once by telegraph to the
government, as 1t may serve to save further
complications between the governments of
Spain and the United States.'
Just before his execution Capt. Fry
made declaration under oath which
concluded thus:
o, II have been refused. officially, all
chances Of application or appliance to my
consul for protection, and have been con-
oemned to death with the greatest part of
my crew, under no known public law or
pre1ense, and have only time to make this
for DEATH p0p"- ''''1'
Inc day of his execution two Spanish
soldiers and a corporal were stationed
at the door Of the American consuIs
house, without any previous notice
having been given Of such an intention
on the part of the authorities. The
Americans, marching to their death,
saluted the consulate, from which the
american flag was not hung-Mr.
Schmitt probably refrained from irony
so bitter.
: =, British Captain Stops 1t.
The massacre would have been con-
t1nued to the end had not news Of what
was going on reached Jamaica, where
the British gunboat Niobe, commanded
by Capt. Sir Lanbton Lorraine, was
stationed. He belonged to a. nation
which looks after it's citizens and who
may even. under proper circumstances,
stretch Its mantle of protection to
cover other Engl1sh-speaking races, SO
he set sail with such haste that he left
some Of his crew on shore His ship
was not at her anchorage before he was
ON shore In his boat. He wrote no let.
tiers and conferred no titles upon Gen.
Burr1el. He simply declared that he
would lombard the town if another
American citizen was executed, and his
guns showed their noses at the port
holes to prove 1t. Ninety-three men
were under sentence of death but the
argument OF the guns was too strong,
and their sentences were suspended.
1t may be incidentally mentioned that
afterward resolution Of thanks was
proposed in the lower house at Wash
ington to this gallant gentleman. but it
was tabled. Apparently 1t was not
worth while to even extend thanks for
the preservation of the lives of Ameri-
can citizens, or, possibly, there was
apprehension that the government at
Madrid might be injured in its sensi-
b1l1t1es by such a course. The common
people Of New York city, however.
tried, upon an occasion when he visited
the city, to extend him a reception.
This he declined. They therefore made
him present Of a silver brick, bearing
the words: BLOOD is thicker than
water'''-a sentence which may have
caused the Englishman to smile, in
view of the facts of the Virginius case.
In the letter of Secretary Fish to Gen.
Sickles, our minister at Madrid, under
date Of Nov. II. 1873, 1t is shown that
our government had heard nothing of
the capture Of the Virginius until the
evening of the 5th, and not until the
7th did it learn Of the execution of the
persons on the 18th. A long correspon-
dence followed between the authorities
at Cuba, those at Spain, our secretary
OF state, and our minister at Madrid.
Nothing more humiliating has occurred
in American history.
Indignation, but No Action.
For time public indignation ran
very high. Mass meetings were held
in many places. the newspapers showed
deep resentment Of. the insult to the
American flag and the atrocities which
American citizens had suffered. I'M
mediate vengeance was called for and
the government made faint show of
preparations for war. 1t went so far
as to threaten to withdraw Gen. Sick.
les from Madrid. The United States
were the laughing stock of the world.
and Spain, after playing with the uues-