Year: 1874

History sS the virginius Csse-The


Herald Dispatches.


Now that the case of the Vrginius is added


to the contents of that limbo of diplomatic fail
ures which our government has done 30 much
to fll. its history, so far as known, presents
one point of no little interest to the readers of
newspapers. 1t will be generally remembered


by the public that every important point in
the progress of the remarkable negotiation
with Spain was first given to the public in the
HERALD special dispatches either from Madrid
or Washington and. further. that the de-
spatches on this subject, as soon as published
by us were denied by other papers, the denials
being commonly given out as made upon the
authority of the State Department Perhaps
the State Department never was before in the
history Of the American press SO much con-
cerned to discredit any publications From
day to day the papers who live upon the
scraps of the official tables were supplied
regularly with instruction to publish that the
HERALD dispatches Of the day before were
false. that they never were received over the
wires. that they never came from Madrid.
and that they we're invented in this Office.
Ever sinoe tho newspaper press has given
tho news from distant parts Of the world
there have been quiet old gentlemen. well
satisfied with themselves in their chimney
corners, ready to prove to all comers that the
news never was sent from the place where the
events occurred, but that it was all sheer in
vention and written in tho Office of the paper
which printed it Indeed, this charming old
trait of human simplicity comes around 80
steadily and regularly as to provoke at once
the mirth of practical people and the despair
enough freshness in the human intellect to
invent new ISLANDERS. But tho HERALD de-
spatches were not only denied by other papers.
They were denied in terms Of peculiar malig-
nifty. We were held up to public reprobation
as having not merely invented and published
what was not accurate in point of fact but as
having done it all in wicked and malicious
intention to excite the public mind and pro-
woke war. Much of this was due to the fact of
ordinary rivalry and disappointment on the
part of other papers who have no dispatches
Of their own OF had very poor ones that came
day after the fair; for, whenever the other
papers are in bad straits and can scarcely
borrow money to pay their printers, they are
terribly fierce against the HERALD. For
many years we have been able to gauge the
financial condition Of the other papers by the
fury with which they have assailed us, their
bitterness being in exact proportion to their
impecunious state


In the cases to which We refer, however,
there was lofty rage against us, quite superior
in its style to the fearful morality of disap-
pointed speculators in Journalism, and its
origin in the State Department is explained
by the history of the negotiation. Our despatch
from Madrid announcing the way in which
the Spanish government had received the
communications that our representative in
Madrid was instructed to make, and the con-
sequently threatening appearance of our rela-
tons there; the despatch in which we gave
with almost literal exactness the demands
made by the United States government
against Spain. and finally, not to cata-
logue particularly the whole series,
the despatch which announced the resig-
nation of General Sickles; all these de-
spatches which were all denied by the State De-
partment, were oil exactly true We were Civ
ing, therefore, while the negotiation was
actually in progress, an accurate history of its
every step. Thanks to the energy and intelli-
gence Of our correspondents, the negotiation
was going on in broad daylight, and Nh. Fish
had upon him not only, like the famous Sena-
tor, the eyes of Delaware, bat the eyes of the
whole American people. Now the Secretary
has perhaps vanity enough to have enjoyed the
opportunity thus given to strut in view of
the people if he had felt that his
position in the negotiation was one in which
he conld take pride but he discovered very
carly that it was not of that sort, and there
fore he naturally preferred to have as little as
possible of the public attention. It would
have pleased him to keep the proceedings in
the deepest possible obscurity, and thus every
new despatch was thorn in the side Of his
intent, and he roared accordingly his magnif-
icent wrath, while his little dogs all around
re-echoed him with iudicrous chorus of
small yelps against our veracity. 1t turns out
now, as shown in our despatch elsewhere,
that General Sickles in Madrid would have
secured every point Of our demand % dc
tated by General Grant, but his hands were
tied at the critical moment by instructions
from Washington, and before he was per-
mitted to continue Mr.. Fish had concluded
his famous protocol by which he had aban-
doned every position taken by our govern
ment, save the mere surrender Of the ship and
the survivors, and even this was qualified
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