Year: 1872

The Situation in Cuba-Our Commits


sion and the Island Press.


While the HERALD Commissioner to the
from Puerto Principe, on his dangerous task
of learning the actual state Of the insurrection
from the rebel chiefs themselves and his own
observation, the Spanish press in Havana, led
by the Diario de la Marina, discusses in the
midst Of popular excitement the question
why the HERALD troubled itself to send COM
missioner there at oil. This is not strange
A press unused to looking at matters Cuban
from any other but the government side; a
press afraid, even if it so desired, to publish o
word against the wishes of the Spanish police;
o press to whose dictionary enterprise is q
foreign word; and, above all, press which
does not know the country in which
it is published, must be excused for
this wonder or indignation, if you will,
at the HERALD's temerity. We have
simply to say that the entire world is the oys-
ter of the enlightened press. We open the
thick shells Of Misrepresentation and igno-
rance which lie closed up on either side Of the
truth, and our readers devour the nutritious
and luscious contents Sometimes we meet
with pearl of beautiful shape and exquisite
lustre, and then the world applauds our work.
To the Diario and its yoke-fellows we recon-
mend this without prejudice. Cuba, after all,
is only very small portion of the habitable
globe although fertile and lovely place when
the yellow fever is not abundant, and we now
interest ourselves in knowledge of its condi-
ton because those most interested in the mat
ter fail to furnish such knowledge If, as says
the Diario, Spain will be the gamer by the
truthful report of our commissioner, why
bother itself further about what is SO far from
its own conception? We can say all this Sc
riously; but when in the next paragraph we
encounter the Knight Of La Mancha, with his
pasteboard visor down, and mounted on a
vicious Spanish mule, charging full tilt
upon the United States and threatening all
sorts of horrid things on behalf of his
posterity, we burst like the gods in the meta
morphoses into inextinguishable L.ughter.
AS the blue blood of Castillo warmed the
Moors just five centuries ago, no doubt it fred
the original Don Quixote to most Of his deeds
of high emprise ; but we think his Cuban
descendant might look q little nearer to his
time for something to frighten us withal. The
tenacity with which she held her South Ameri-
can colonies (on paper) would be ON admir-
able instance to swear by and much nearer the
truth Of what we would have to expect When
we thanked the Captain General and his
subordinates for their courtesy to our CORE
spondent we were doing SIMPLE act of JUS
tice, something we shall ever be proud TO per-
form. 1t was on his part recognition OF the
good faith in which we sent our representa-
tive. The fact is that the news from Cuba has
been SO strangely contradictory regarding the
insurrcction that, to the outside world, it was
a source of mystery how two accounts, often
Of the same occurrence, could be SO
strangely at variance. We could not presume
to say without investigation whether the in
surrection on the island was myth or a real
ity. This is what our commission means md
nothing more. When it seemed from the
arrest of our correspondent that the authori-
ties had resolved to thwart this rational in
quiry-if not to take our commissioners life,
either directly by the garrote or indirectly by
pointing him out for private Spanish ven-
geance-we felt naturally indignant. When,
however, the authorities, in o gentlemanly
manner, made the amende honorable, we has
tened to thank them for an exhibition of
good sense, creditable to their government and
themselves. Let the Diario send out rep
resentative on the same mission and learn
for itself.