Year: 1873

Tho imprisonment OF tho Herald


Commissioner In Cuba-Deman nds Of


tho British Authorities.


A telegraphic despatch from Havana,
published in yesterdays HERALD, conveyed
the intelligence that the commander Of the
British gunboat Plover, after consultation
with the British Consul at Santiago dc Cuba,
had arrived at Manzanillo, where the HERALD
commissioner, Mr.. James J. OKelly, is now
imprisoned, and 'politely asked" the
Spanish authorities to release that gen.
be conveyed to Jamaica by the Plover
and should not return to Cuba. The
Manzanillo authorities, we are told COM
municated the British officers message to the
new Captain General at Havana, and the
latter replied that it was impossible to accede
to the request, that he was powerless to alter
the laws of the country, and that the trial
must proceed according to law. A later
despatch from Havana advises us that the
commander Of tbs Plover s'has demanded the
removal of Mr.. O'Kelly to Havana for trial, an
immediate change from his present unhealthy
place Of confinement and other measures for
the mitigation Of his Imprisonment


The response of the Captain General to the
request Of the commander Of the Plover is
unworthy of the position Of that high official
It is q palpable evasion Of q responsibility
which he has no right to refuse to accept
He is the military autocrat of Cuba,
and his decision in all such matters is final.
There is no pretence that Mr.. O'Kelly has
violated any law of the island. The most
that has been laid to his charp is that he has
broken extraordinary military rules, only en-
forced on account Of the existence Of the in
surrection. Over these rules the Captain
General, as supreme military head, has abso-
lutte control. As o new ruler over the island
and as the representative Of not too secure
Republic, he may fear to incur the enmity and
opposition Of the bloodthirsty volunteers
whose excesses have outraged civilization.
Cowardice may thus have prompted his reply
to the British commander; but the assertion
that as Captain General Of Cuba, he is pow
erless in the matter, is palpable falsehood.
His order would release Mr.. O'Kelly from his
unjust imprisonment tomorrow if he had the
courage and the honesty to do an act of JUS
tice to an innocent man.


The demand of the commander of the
Plover is full of significance. The British
nation has not heretofore been in the
habit of demanding justice for British sub
ject as q mere matter Of form and then leaving
him to his fate. Its polite requests, when
made through q man-of-war, have generally
been backed by cleared decks and shotted
guns, and thus have always been effective. It
remains to be seen whether in this instance
the subterfuges of the Captain General will be
accepted as satisfactory, and whether the re-
quest for the release Of an unjustly imprisoned
British subject will be abandoned on the first
rebuff Mr.. O'Kelly has broken no law of the
country in which he is imprisoned. His own
published correspondence, written before his
incarceration, triumphantly establishes his in
nocence and vindicates his honor. His deten-
ton in Spanish dungeon is gross outrage
upon his person and an insult to the powerful
nation whose protection he claims. The
Spaniards cannot afford to protract the farce
and the wrong Of his imprisonment. Every





grace and an injury to his jailers. The action
of the commander of the British gunboat i'm
plies that the English government is not dis
posed to submit patiently to the insult put upon
it by Mr. O'Kelly's arrest, and the sooner the
prisoner is set at liberty the better will it be
for Spain. There is no just cause or excuse
for Mr.. O'Kelly's further detention, and the
A.
stand that an arbitrary exercise of their power
over defenceless prisoner will only be re-
garded by the world as proof Of the weakness
of their cause in Cuba.


The HOUSE OF COMMONS AND THE TREATY
OF wAsHNoros-ANoTHER Tory GRowL-
In the House of Commons last night vain
and foolish debate took place on the decision
Of the German Emperor on the San Juan
boundarv ouestion The debate was COM