Year: 1873



 

 Since our last issue the excitement about the VirgiIiius affair has toned down very materially. Our best publi- sists, Senator Sumner. Mr. Caleb Cushing, and President Woolsey, all doubt wheth- CT, after all, there was any illegality in the seizure of the Virginius. There is no doubt of the illegal errand of that vessel. The only question is whether her known character justified the Spanish comman- der in disregarding her American flag and in seizing her on the high seas. If the case was one in which Spanish vessel, long engaged in transporting supplies for American insurgents, had been caught with whole regiment of rebels on board and supplies of every kind for their il- legal enterprise, we do not believe an American public would have been satis- fled with their release. The case does not begin to be as arbitrary an interfer- ence with neutral power as was the seiz- ure and hanging of Arbuthnot and Am OAACOOA bJ oOAC10A OcsChoOA HI OtIdLlSu territory. To be sure in that case, our government did not justify their hasty general, but did they punish him? He did not catch as many objectionable per sons by his invasion of Spanish territory as were captured in the Virginius, but did he not deal with those he did catch just as summarily, and would he not have hung an hundred more Arbuthnuts and Ambristers had he been unIucky enough to catch them?

 If by treaty, since concluded with Spain, the American citizens on that ship were entitled to trial by civil tribunal instead of by drum head court martial, that would make another technical illegality; but would not Spanish civil court have just as surely condemned these Yankee fillibusters to death as did the military tribunal? It must be recollected that by Spanish law these men had forfeited their lives just as the Fenians who invaded Can ada had done under British law. Nor can we wonder that the Cuban officials are greatly incensed against us. Their in- surrection has been fed by expedition af- ter expedition from our ports. Several times has this very vessel gone out on that errand. While, therefore,sw have no feeling but that of abhorrence for Gu ban saYagery, we must admit that it has had great provocation-that though there have been technical illegalities on the Spanish side, the men they caught were men whose use of the American flag was fraud, and whose errand was one that they well knew would lead them to the scaffold if unsuccessful.

 But our chief reason for avoiding war in this case Is the risk that our war might be. successful. It would not be very pleasant, indeed, to be beaten, but this is one of the cases where such a result would really be ga blessing in disguise

 We can conceive of no worse piece of luck for America than to succeed in an- nexing Cuba. In the first place it is so situated that we should surely lose it in war with any power that had better navy than we (and what first class power has not?. Hence, we should have to be at enormous expense building ships of war, and Cuba would be constant source of weakness to us. Worse yet, we should add to our heavy Southern load of igno- rance class of freedmen still less fitted for self government, and class of whites foreign in language, tastes and habits. Louisiana would be well governed nnmz mummy compared With the 'State" Of Cuba! Indeed, America never wanted Cuba except, in old times before the war, as 8 make weight in favor of slavery and against freedom. The cry for it's annexa- tion has simply survived the only reason for it, and that a very bad one.

 While, therefore, we certainly should have apologies and reparation from Spain, we see no reason for requiring Castelar, and the Madrid government to humiliate themselves before us and discredit them selves at home, by unreasonable conces- sions. We should much prefer any hon. orable peace to war that might have so disastrous result as the annexation of Cuba.