The Times from Washington, District of Columbia • Page 6

THE TIMES, WASHINGTON TUESDAY, APJLUL 12, 1893. lA'iORMNG, EVENING AND SUNDAY.) Publication Office, HUTCHINS BUILDING, Corner Tenth and Streets Nprthwest. EcrscnirxioN Rate3. Konttilt. by CAnninn: Morning, Evening and Sunday Fifty Cents Morning and Sunday Thirty-five Cents Evening and Sunday Thirty-live Cents irr MAIL.

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Rejected communications will not be preserved, and only manuscripts of obvious importance will be returned to their authors. TUESDAY. APRIL 12, 1E9S. Tlic National DInktucc. The American people are breathless with, astonishment today.

They are something more than that. They are mad to the marrow. They see that they are being tricked and lied to, and that Congress, which ought to stand between them and disgrace or treason, is suffering either from senility and paresis or else is dying of decomposition, the result of stock ticker corruption. As the heroes of the Maine are eaten by the sharks of Havana harbor, so the honor of the nation Is being bitten, gnawed and torn toy the more miserable sharks who own and control the Hanna Administration. Inconceivably atrocious but expected thing has happened.

Spain wants more time, and Mr. McKinley thinks It should be granted. In the name of the God of Justice, for what? Nominally that Spain may treat with the Cuban patriots on the basis of offering them what they have sworn every day they would die to the last man rather than accept! The goodness of the Pope and the clemency of Queen Christina, not to mention the diplomacy of Mgr. Ireland, Mr. McKlnley's ambassador extraordinary to the Vatican, all affects our pious Executive to tears tears that have forgotten to flow for the victims af the Maine massacre! Tears of joy for the resurrected hopes of the Spanish bond conspirators! Why these crystal drops of holy happiness and sympathy? They trickle down the smug and smiling visage of greatness because their fountain-head has been aWe to "make his Easter" di-reotly with thj? head of Catholic Christendom, and because Blanco has been ordered to "suspend" the hostilities which he Is no longer able to prosecute.

Of course, as the official organ in MaArid cynically saysBlanco will continue to act In a military manner if attacked. The "suspension of hostilities" is not to affect him, but only Mr. HcKJttley. Congress and the stock market. Who could have the heart to AhhoW from the noble White House irn the few weeks or months of delay lie vwl Hke to secure, under such path' i-c circumstances? Oh, precious jc-aoel Oh, glorious gush! Distracted Spain must be nursed and cgdled, and the horrors of Spanish cruelty, rapine and butchery must be helped along a little while longer that Cuba raty be worried and coerced Into taking on the load of the filthy Spanish debt.

And one thing more, that Mr. McKinley and the Pope jointly may have the renown in history of saving the Spanish throne and Its late possessions Intact for the degenerate scion of a rotten and infamous dynasty, at the expense of human liberty in the Antilles and of American honor. This is the bumanltarianism of the President and of his ambassador extraordinary to the Vatican! Mgr. Ireland declares he is an American and that he has no thought but the good and glory of his country. Then His Grace the Archbishop of St.

Paul hath a patriotic vision as distorted as that of the Advance Agent of Autonomy! has America to do with Spanish or Hanna subterfuges, while the hapless victims of Spanish treachery are food for the fishes and worms of Spain in Cuba? The American people are not to be again put to sleep by the platitudes of pious peace or the grim humor of a holy humanity, awakened on one side by the desperate straits of McCook, and on the other by the peril of Alfonso Xin; Mr. McKinley could get along very comfortably while Weyler was torturing, burning, raping and butchering the innocents. And even to this day he has appeared placidly, tolerant of the crowning Spanish crime of all. Nor have the shrieks and dying groans of outraged, murdered Catholic women, girls and babies invoked the thunders of the church until now the Spanish throne is seen to totter to its fall. Let the dead past with its errors and callousness go; we have greater business, we Americans, to transact today, and in the days of vengeance that are to come.

Protestant, Catholic, Jew and heathen, all of us in this great nation, are united in a common creed and in a common crusade. There are no divisions among the masses of America at this juncture; no thought or recollection of differences on account of race, religion or politics. We have one belief, and it rests upon positive knowledge: the Maine was blown tip and its crew massacred by Spain. We have one determination: the atrocity must and shall be avenged! This is notice to the Spanish- government, not less than to all and singular those who would make themselves accessories after the fact to the crime, who would be guilty of malversation of justice in attempting to shield the murderers. The American people demand the punishment of Spain for the Maine massacre, and the expulsion of that brutal and hellish power from, trie Western Hemisphere, as the enemy of civilization and mankind.

Nothing less will appease the national wrath. To the devil with "intervention" on humanitarian or any other hypocritical grounds. We must have retribution and the freedom of Cuba without a cent of tribute to her late oppressor and persecutor! Remember the Maine! The Responsibility of CimrcKH. The message Is in the hands of Congress, and the responsibility it involves is for Congress also. It Is a message which has startled and surprised the most active critics of the Administration, and flayed alive Its friends.

Instead of being, as promised, an American battle song, it comes out as an apology and an absolution for Spain. This we may understand, because, al though the message does not say it, the communication was an Easter offering of Mr. McKinley and his envoy extraordinary to the Vatican, Mgr. Ireland. But it does not matter whether the American President counted upon Pope, Kaiser, or Hanna, he has rested his case in the hands of the American Congress.

The American people no longer trust him. They are waiting to see whether or not they can trust Congress. God help both if the answer shall be in the negative! Let us see what this communication is, concerning which the nation has been held in suspense for weeks. Considered generally, it will be found to belong to the domain of Executive apologetics, and by no means to that of state papers. The message, indeed, may be accepted for what it is, an attempt to excuse the Administration for its misdemeanors and crimes in tolerating the atrocities of Spain in Cuba, and an argument for Congressional permission to permit more things of the same kind, for the purpose of thereby promoting and protecting the interests of the Spanish bond conspiracy.

Mr. McKinley begins his essay by reverting to the irfany revolutions that, in the past, have distracted Cuba. He speaks with the boldness of conviction when he says that they have interfered with commerce. He fails to make one remark upon the fact that every one of them has been based, with superior reason, upon the principles which forced the American people to strike for their independence. Throughout Ins message it will be observed that- there is not a single word of sympathy for the struggle for political Independence, while there are many platitudes calculated to give aid and comfort to the Tory bond sharks.

Even when reciting the horrors of the Spanish war rule in Cuba, and calling attention to the cruelty "recon-centralion," Mr. McKinley fails, and we think purposely, to write one sentence concerning the arrest, torture and butchery of the American citizen, Dr. Ruiz, and he does not refer in the least to the young American correspondent, Mr. Govin, who was tied to a tree and hacked to death with ma-chetes. Such things would be better left unmentioned, because, among civilized nations, they would have been cause Tor instant war.

But Mr. McKinley does disclose with almost brutal frankness the eternal desire of his Administration to tolerate anything, the slaughter of the innocents in which he has negatively assisted included, in order that the deal of the international bond syndicate should be promoted and succeed. He declares that his whole course has been guided by a desire to bring the war to an end by enforcing terms of peace upon both belligerents, always having in mind the vested interests of his friends, and never for a moment considering the interests or wishes of the gallant people who have erected the Republic of Cuba. In this spirit Mr. McKinley asked that the order of "reconcentration" should be evoked, and It was revoked.

He plumes himself upon this diplomatic triumph, which the consensus of newspaper opinion assures us has been a humbug, and that Blanco, under the skin of a philanthropic person, hides the body of a hyena exactly like Weyler. The next step in the President's argument is -even less tolerable. He prates of the power which the "autonomous" Cortes of Cuba may exerl in restoring peace! He knows, at the same time, that those alleged" Cortes rest upon no legal foundation, and that their very conception was an unconstitutional subterfuge. Yet he speaks of them as something endowed with legality and power, which he knows, and Congress knows, that they have not. It would take columns of review ade quately to treat the useless words and vapidity of this message of shame.

We have only time or patience to take into serious consideration a very few of its points. And even that seems a waste of time. The communication itself is its own condemnation, and it has carried discredit and anger for its total lack of patriotism into every hamlet in the Union. Mr. McKinley attempts to excuse his offense against the genius of.

free institutions in refusing to recognize Cuban belligerency, and wickedly invokes the shade of Gen. Jackson to uphold him. This is unfortunate. He quotes a message of Jackson on the question of recognizing Texas, which does not bear upon the present case, and he is careful to ignore all American precedents and all dicta of international authorities which do. Mr.

McKinley asserts that the Cuban Republic has not such an organization and effective civil government as to entitle it to belligerent rights. It is evident that either his information or his honesty is at fault. He quotes his December message, in which he said: "It- is to be seriously considered whether the Cuban insurrection possesses dispute the attributes of statehood which alone can demand the" recognition of belligerency in it favor." What utter nonsense! The full "attributes of statehood" might form a condition precedent to the recognition of independence, and we may safely say that all the conditions have been fulfilled by the Cuban Republic; buf the question of belligerency rests upon different grounds. Judge Grier lays down the rule (2 667): A civil war is never solemnly declared. It becomes such by accident, the number, power and organization of the persons who orpinize and carry it on.

When the party in rebellion occupy and hold in a hostile manner a certain portion offtwritory, have declared their independence, have cast off their allegiance, have organized themselves, have commenced hostilities against their former sovereign, the world recognizes them as belligerents, and the contest as war. We might go on and cite Vattel, Bluntschli, Lawrence and other recognized authorities to the same intent; but the dictum of so great an American master of the subject as Judge Grier will suffice to show that Mr. McKinley is without a leg of justice, equity or precedent to stand upon when he attempts to apologize for his outrage upon civilization in refusing to recognize the belligerency of the Cuban patriots. A community which holds under orderly civil government four-fifths of the territory in dispute with the former sovereign, and which can rout with slaughter nineteen thousand troops of its enemy in open battle, as happened in Cuba last week, cannot be denied the right of belligerency with any regard to international law, American conceptions of liberty, or humanity. There are only two other things in the message that demand our attention.

As a whole it is too flagrantly and openly redolent of Hanna and McCook to justify analysis. The country will see through it without much exposition on our part. One of these things is that, notwithstanding his vacillation, his repeated offenses in saying one thing to Congress and doing another, air. McKinley asks that full faith and confidence shall be placed in him, to use the war power of the nation, when, how and to what extent he may see fit. This is something that the American people will not tolerate for a moment.

Congress is the war-making power. The Spanish situation is in its hands. It must not delegate that power, or any part or parcel of it, to a discredited Executive. If it should, then look out for trouble in this American Union! The country is tired ot seeing its interests and honor made subservient to the Spanish bond sharks. And delegation of power to President McKinley would be tantamount to putting the war force of America in commission in the hands of Mark Hanna and J.

J. McCook. Secondly, the message is outrageous in that it treats the Maine massacre as a diplomatic incident. Mr. McKinley states that the Board of Inquiry, "which Ft is needless to say-commands the unqualified confidence of the Government," was unable to fix the responsibility for the explosion.

This simply astounds us, in view; of the fact that Mr. McKinley has had for many days in his possession the most absolute and damning evidence that the Maine was blown up by a Spanish government mine, fired by prominent Spanish officials in Havana, and at the instigation of the late Captain General Weyler. But he is careful not to mention such uncomfortable facts. Possibly he may hope that, although he knows them to be in the possession of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and that Pitzhugh Lee is coming to corroborate them, in some way they may be suppressed. Let us quit consideration of this mass of Executive apologetics, and turn to the power which today holds what is left'of the national honor in its hands.

The people look with a watchful eye of half confidence and half suspicion toward Congress. They demand war in retribution for the massacre of the Maine. Not next monfh, or next week, but now. They wiV not consent to the remotest suggestioij that Congress shall surrender or delegate-Its war power to the Executive. ThlsyMdemand the im-mediate punishmentof Spain.

They demand that the Spaniards shall be driven from the hemisphere without more delay or talk. Remember the Maine! Remember the Maine! Mark Hanna regards the President's message as an excellent and conservative document. That also is the view taken of it by John J. McCook; but what does Congress think about it? It was received in both houses by floors and galleries in grim and gloomy silence. Why? Because it did not have a line or a word of true American patriotism in it from the address to the signature! Because it was not the ringing call to arms that the nation had been promised, but an apology for Spain and a plea for the Spanish bond sharks, thinly and transparently veiled under the language of platitudinous piety.

In the meantime the country waits upon Congress to decree the vengeance which America demands for her massacred sons, whose horrible sufferings under Spanish official treachery have made the world's flesh creep. Sharks in Spanish waters, and worms in the damp and noisome field fop unbelievers in Havana's cemetery, feed upon their corpses. No honest American word has yet been uttered that would look like the exaction of retribution for their murder. Far from that, it is said that the good President has been moved to tears by the representative of the Vatican, who told him how Christina, the poor widow, was trying to save Cuba for her boy, the grandson of the infamous Isabella. If he wept for the innocents whom he knew were being raped, tortured and butchered by Weyler, the fact has never been exposed.

If he has lost sleep because of the frightful torture and final butchery of the Philadelphia dentist, Dr. Ruiz, we have never of it. If the mute appeal of the massacred heroes of the Maine has ever reached his ears, history must find it out hereafter! But Hanna the stock ticker, though slightly disfigured, is still in the ring! Congress" also is in the ring. We hope notrin that of the stock ticker, although asTosome persons we have suspicions, concerning AVhich more anon. The ring that Congress is or ought to be in is the ring formed by the whole people of America, who encircle their National Legislature, and require and demand of it vengeance and war for the mdssaere of the Maine! No humanitarian humbug for the American people.

Remember the Maine! Hippj- Mr. Shcriuiiii. We note with pleasure and yet with some surprise that the Hon. John Sherman, whose name figures in the Blue Book as Secretary of State, has had nothing to do with the settlement of the Spanish-Cuban question. When the representatives of the allied European powers were presenting the communications of their sovereigns Mr.

Sherman was engaged in New York at a meeting of the directors of a small railroad somewhere near Mansfield, O. This is a safe distance from Spanish warships, no matter how far they can shoot. It will be a solacing reflection to Mr. Sherman in the next century that in this vexing and vexatious Spanish business he did nothing. Sufficient "unto the Day was sufficient unto the whole State Department.

A Damiiuhlc Conspiracy. Last evening there came to light a most despicable, atrocious and damnable conspiracy to throw dirt upon the memory of the heroes of the Maine, and to discredit and defame Capt. Sigsbee, the Board of Inquiry and Consul General Fitzhugh Lee. Friends of the Administration were industriously circulating the report that the officers of the Italian cruiser Amerigo Vespucci, which has just conveniently come here from Havana, satisfied themselves while there that the Maine blew up from an intornal explosion; that French naval officers who have also arrived opportunely in Wash-Inton, and who were In Havana at the time of the disaster, say the same thing; and that Commodore Schley expressed a like opinion in the Maryland Club at Baltimore the day after the massacre. The object of this plot is as obvious as It Is vile.

It is to throw doubt upon the Maine report, and to create a sentiment in Congress and among the pub lic which will tend to discredit the revelations that Gen. Fitzhugh Lee is coming prepared to make before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. It is, further, to prepare the way to relegate the one undeniable and legitimate casus belli to the limbo of diplomatic incidents, and clear the Congressional deck for the President to board with his armistice and l'econcentrado policy. This treacherou scherile will not work. The whole American people will revolt against it.

Mr. McKinley knows, because he has Overwhelming proor, that the Maine "Vas destroyed by a Spanish government mine, fired at the direct instigation of the hyena AVeyler by three Spanish military officials of high rank in He knows that Capt. Sigsbee and Gen. Lee can substantiate this, and. yet he allows his friends to nose around town spreading a false report if it were true, would forever disgrace some of the finest officers and gentlemen In our naval service, and cover with shame the honored name of a national hero, who may get here to find himself persona non grata with the Administration, because he knows too much and personally is vastly too popular with American citizens of all parties.

The treason of Benedict Arnold was not a bit worse than this last desperate conspiracy ol a gang to whom American honor is a hollow mockery, weighed in the balance against one dirty little Spanish coupon. The nation will not forget or sidetrack the Maine, Mr. President! And Congress would better not. That is the war issue, and all others must get? out of Its way. Remember the Maine! Tho McKinley message has made Congress and tho people very mad.

So mad that the next and only step possible to Air. Hanna may be to precipitate the foreign armed intervention for which the Administration has been diplomatizing for a month. That would be a burning out-rago upon tho nation; but extreme action sometimes must be resorted to when a four-hundred-milllon-dollar bond deal is Involved! Remember the Maine! While the Tories connected with the Administration continue to plot against Cuban liberty, the armies of the Cuban Republic are gathering for a descent upon Havana, to co-operate with the forces of Uncle Sam. They have just finished off Pando in the east, and have surrounded the remnant of his command, which they expect to capture within a few days. Are these heroes not entitled to belligerent rights? Remember the Maine! True to its traditions of hypocrisy and double dealing, the Administration leaves Gen.

Lee's consular staff at Key West, "waiting orders," In order to create the impression that the consulate general at Havana Is shortly to be reopened. Well, If it is, it will be with American guns and, after that, it ought to be a legation, and not a consulate, at the capital of the Cuban Republic. Spain whines to the Pope and the rest of Europe for peace. At the same time she sends six 'thousand fresh troops to Cuba, and re-enforces her fleet. Congress has not much time In which to undo the damage wrought by the President's vacillation and determination to hamper effective preparations.

Jf it does not think so, let its military committee summon some high Army and Navy officials. It is time to act. Remember the Maine! Tho London Times yesterday morning was apprehensive that President McKlnley's message would be so patriotic that ft would lire the heart of America, and make all further thought of peace as foreign as Afghanistan. Tho London Times Is reassured by this time. The message was a lump of ice down the national fjack, and It- Is being resented as such.

Remember tho Maine! Where Is the Evening Star's Pepper? Has he been left by Gen. Lee to roll back tho lurid cloud of war? When may we expect a cable and an extra about him? The New York Sun Is happy in the remark that not long ago Fitzhugh Lee was the favorite son of Old Virginia; "now he Is the favorite son of Old Glory!" Never was truer word said; but the unhappy implication is that, thereby, he is not the favorite son of old Hanna. It is a bad thing for any man in these Administration days to become either patriotic or popular. See what will bo done to Fitzhugh Leo at tho first opportunity! Remember the Maine! h'ltzhugh Lee Is coming to Washington, filled with patriotism and facts. It need not be mentioned that both are uncomfortable considerations for the Spanish bond conspiracy.

How will the conspirators meet the situation? Nobody knows; but how they will try to meet it developed last night. There was a hurried consultation at the Arlington, and it was decided to otter Gen. Lee a sinecure position In a great corporation at a large salary, In the hope of putting a muzzle upon his mouth. He is not the same Fitz Lee that he used to be if anything of that kind can affect nim. Virginia's ravorite son is above purchase.

Mark that, Mr. Hanna! Remember the Maine! Sagasta says: "We yield to the Pope what we would refuse to the United States!" Thanks, Sagasta, America is not in tho solicitation business! Traffic with you has been taken out of the hands of the solicitor with whom you have been having so much cheap fun. The transactions will now be conducted by peoplo who know something of tho art, and within a day or so, by the Army and Navy of a great nation. What you may "refuse to the United States" in future will not amount to enough to put in the bill. Remember the Maine! When American senators used to plead hopelessly for the cause of Cuban liberty, tho Spanish contingent on the floor was wont to sulk and snarl, and call the citizens in the galleries a "mob" because they applauded.

There was no occasion to find that kind of fault when the message was read yesterday. Galleries and floor were as silent as the President was on the subject of retribution for the massacre in Havana harbor. Remember the Maine! Gen. Lee Is coining with the truth: Remember that Americans! STARS AND STRIPES STONED. Spanish Mow Surrounded the Amcri-can Consulate.

Kingston, Jamaica, April 11. It was stated today that a few nights before United States Consul Hyatt left Santiago de Cuba for Port Antonio, a Spanish mob made a demonstration before the consulate and threw eggs and stones at the Stars and Stripes floating over the consulate. The mob had just left a theater where a performance had been given for the purpose of raising money to increase the Spanish naval strength. The crowd surrounded the consulate crying "Long live Spain," "Death to Americans," and in so doing pelted the Hag vigorously. They were dispersed by the police.

It developed today that Dr. Caminero, of the United States Marine Hospital at iantiago do Cuba was" visited by the local Spanish committee, who asked him to purchase tickets for the benefit of the Spanish navy. The doctor in very forcl-blo language told tho Spanish committee to "go to hell." Unys of CSrnce for Goolcfii. (From the Philadelphia Inquirer.) When war breaks out. if it does break out, it is apparent that Kditor (iodkin, the foreigner who makes the New York Evening Post the organ of everything anti-American, will have to modify his tone.

The Post said the other day that Weyler's methods in Cuba were no more brutal that were Sherid.in's methods in the Shen-andoalrValley or Sherman's on the march to the It was discovered the other day that there was no flagpole attached to the office of the Evening Post. In the event of war, Godkin will, of coute, display a United States flag. Should lie refuse to do so, he and his newspaper office would run the risk of being subjected to the panic kind of treatment that wjs accorded to the Philadelphia Age and other newspapers which, during the civil war, opposed the Government. Tim President's delay in sending his message to Congress will give Godkin the neided time to buy a flagpole. Munificence of Swinish Nobility.

(From the New York Tribune.) The Duke of Veiagua presents one of his bulls to the Spanish patriotic fund, and the flrst bull-fighter in the kingdom offers to turn in his fee for killing it to the same account. I Against the financial resources of the United States the joint contribution may not go far, hut is shows that the hearts of duke and matador beat high for their native land, the sentiments of the bull meanwhile not entering into flic Consideration. From Alpha (o Oiiiok.ii. (From the New York Tribune.) The first Spaniard who landed in Cuba declared it to be the fairest land the eye of man had ever seen. Tho last Spaniard who leaves it, after 100 years, will leave it the most distressful country on the globe.

NEUTRAL NATIONS. Their Rights nnil Oliliprntlons jn Time of "War. In the" Franco-German war of 1870 the whole of Gen. Bourbakl's army, composed of some men of raw, untrained levies, being hard pressed by the Germans under Gen. Von Werder, fled, across the Swiss frontier and sought refuge within the territory of the Helvetian republic.

The latter, In strict compliance with the requirements of neutrality, summoned to arms nearly 150,000 men of its militia, taking away the men from their ordinary occupations in civil life to guard the frontier and to place the fugitive French under arrest as fast as they crossed the boundary line into Switzerland. They were disarmed, and while the officers were accorded a certain amount of restricted liberty on parole, the men were kept under close guard in various camps and fortified places of the- little republic until the end of the war, and at the expense of the French government, which, in accordance with usage, refunded to Switzerland all that the keep of its troops had cost. So determined was the federal government to avoid any complaint on the part of the German government that the laws of neutrality had not been properly observed, that, although popular sympathy In the cantons De Vaude and Geneva was all In favor of the French, I can recall seeing Swiss sentinels standing" along the shore of the. lake shooting to kill at French soldiers who were endeavoring to escape across the water to the French shore on the opposite side, scarcely a couple of hours' row distant. It is in view of eventualities of an analogous kind on this side of the Atlantic that Great Britain is now goinff to the trouble and expense of dispatching a large body of troops, several thousand men, in fact, to and that, too, at the most unhealthy season of the year, the regiments which have been stationed at Halifax during the winter being especially likely to suffer from the change of climate.

Jamaica is the nearest neutral territory to In fact, there are places where the distance from shore to shore is even less than twenty miles. Therefore. It is natural when the Spanish troops are routed by the American forces, as England anticipates is certain to be the case, the defeated officers and soldiers will seek refuge In the "island of Jamaica. It will thereupon become the imperative duty of England to treat the Spanish fugitives in Identically the same manner as the French army of Gen. Bourbaki was treated by the Swiss of 1870; that is to say, the officers will be permitted to reside on parole in certain specified towns and settlements of the island, reporting themselves to the authorities on regularly appointed days, while the rank and file will be placed under strict guard in camps or within the precincts of fortresses, as far removed as possible from the coast.

At the present moment the British forces in the island of Jamaica consist in the main of a so-called "blackfoot" regiment; that is to say, a corps of West Indian negroes, officered by white men, who are not precisely the cream of the holders of Queen Victoria's commission, but rather the reverse; while of white troops there are not more than about 100, half a company of Berkshire infantry. These forces, of course, would be wholly unable to keep under proper control a horde of several thousand armed and desperate Spanish fugitives, who might either turn their attention to pillage or else use the less frequented portions of the Jamaica coast as a basis for renewed attacks upon Cuba. Two thousand English troops have already been ordered to the island, and it is probable that more will follow from England as quickly as possible. The English soldiers assigned to this duty are hardly likely to enjoy the job, for of all the tasks that fall within the province of the army this is assuredly the most disagreeable, especially when it has to be performed in so dreary an island as Jamaica, at the most unhealthy, depressing and demoralizing period of the year. The troops have to undergo all the hardships of campaigning without receiving any of the customary rewards in the shape of promotion, medals or fame.

Yet. were they to "be remiss in the performance of this work, disagreeable though it may be. the United States Government would have a valid cause for demanding heavy damages from England for any harm to life or property that Spaniards escaping from Jamaica and returning to Cuba might perpetrate. The new governor of Jamaica is a man of considerable energy and strength of character, whose tenure of office as governor of British Guinea has notoriously inspired him with a profound dislike for the Spanish races, both those indigenous to the soil of the Western hemisphere as well as those who hail from the land of Don Quixote. Sir Augustus Hemlng may be relied upon, therefore, to see that every Spaniard or every Cuban who sets his foot on the island of Jamaica after the war has once begun is put under lock and key and kept there safely until the struggle is at an end, at the expense, of course, of the Spanish government.

Another question which is going to give rise to a good deal of trouble, is that of a blockade. The United States will probably declare a blockade of the Cuban coast, and it is extremely doubtful whether any English or other -neutral ship will attempt to evade its provisions, but it is announced at Madrid, as well as other European capitals, that the Spanish propose to declare a blockade of the entire Atlantic coast of the United States, from Boston down to New Orleans, insisting that it has a sufficient naval force to render it, effective. Without a blockade neutral ships flying neutral flags and carrying American freight not contraband of war are perfectly safe from capture by virtue of the terms of the Paris convention of 1S56, and of a treaty concluded between the United States and Spain in ISIS. If a blockade be declared of the American coast by the Spanish government, the latter can, theoretically, assert the right not merely to search, but to capture and even sink every neutral vessel attempting to either enter or leave a United States port. Thus, if the Spaniards were to include New York in their blockade, as they certainly will, the Cunard, White Star, Campagnie, Transatlan-tique and other Old World lines of steamers would have to suspend their service, unless they wished to expose themselves to the risk of being captured or sunk by the first Spanish warship which they may happen to run Into.

It must be thoroughly understood that a blockade is not necessarily confined to a single seaport, but may extend along the whole coast line. It resembles a siege on land, with this difference, that therp is no intpntinn nn the part of the blockading power to secure possession of the blockaded place. but merely to prevent anyone from securing egress or ingress. Neutrals are under obligation not to interfere with the plans of the blockading power, and it must be borne in mind that the blockade extends beyond the so-called three-mile limit from, the coast and onto the high seas. -The various treaties and conventions dealing with this subject (especially wlth the rights and obligations of neutrals in time of war) have invariably decided that blockades must he ef- fectual in order to be valid and binding; that Is to say, In order to endow, the blockading- power with the right to capture and sink neutral vessels guilty, of infringing its provisions, the blockading power must have a "sufficient naval force" along the blockaded coasc to entail danger upon any neutral ship-, attempting to pass the line.

Now, there has always remained a doubt as to what constituted a "sufficient force." The Spaniards will certainly Insist that even the presence at a mere torpedo boat or destroyer, with, an armed liner as escort to keep her properly supplied with coal, ammunition and provisions, would be sufficient to blockade the port of Mew York, even if the two boats were merely to hover-around the entrance within twenty or thirty miles of Sandy Hook, and will hold that the torpedo boat In question will have a perfect rlghj. to fire upon any one of the great transatlantic liners flying a neutral flag that may leave or enter New York on her way to or from Europe. The English, however, whose commerce would be more seriously affected thereby than that of any other nation, would hardly be likely to tolerate such views or to be willing- to permit tho Spaniards to put them Into execution, and that Is why it Is believed that the Impending' conflict between the United States and Spain is likely to develop into a dispute between tho latter and Great Britain. MOVEMENTS OF WAR VESSELS Battleships Iowa and Indiana, cruisers New York, Detroit and Cincinnati, gunboats Nashville, Wilmington. Castine.

Newport and Helena, monitors Terror, Puritan and Amphitrite, torpedo-boats Dupont, Cushing. Ericsson, Foote, Wins-low and Porter, forming the fighting fleet under command of Capt. Sampson, are still at Key West. Cruisers San Francisgo and New Orleans were sighted southeast of Newfoundland banks by steamship Aller. They are due at New York Wednesday.

Battleships Massachusetts and Texas, cruisers Brooklyn, Minneapolis and Columbia, forming the flying squadron under Commodore Schley, remain at Hampton Roads, waiting orders. Ram Katahdin is at Hampton Roads awaiting orders. She Is not attached to the flying squadron. Dynamite gunboat Vesuvius and cruisers Newark and Montgomery are being repaired at Norfolk, navy yard. Battleship Olympla, cruisers Concord, Raleigh, Boston.

Monocacy. gunboat 'Petrel, forming the Asiatic Squadron are at Kong Kong waiting orders. Cruiser Topeka-and torpedo-boat Som-crs, which sailed from Weymouth, England, for New York, "put Into Portland, England, disabled. Some of the crew refused to continue the voyage. Dispatch gunboat Dolphin arrived at Hampton Roads.

Auxiliary cruiser Yosemite has arrived at Newport News to be remodeled and fitted out -as a warship. Cruisers Chicago and Atlanta are at tho navy yard being remodeled. Monitor Miantonomoh is at Island navy yard for repairs. Gunboat Annapolis is at the Brooklyn navy yard for repairs. Gunboat Bancroft is being repaired, at Charlestown navy yard.

Receiving ship is at Charles-town navy yard. It will be used as 3, hospital ship. THE AMEBIGO VESPUCCI. Italian Sailors See the Slsht.s of tha Capital City. A number of sailors from the Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian cadet ship, which Is anchored off Alexandria, were granted, "shore leave" yesterday afternoon, and they saw the sights of the city, in company with some friends they made during their short stay.

They were the cynosure of all eyes in their natty uniforms, and they displayed all the characteristics of the typical "Jack tar" In their renins' gait and sea-wise swagger. Nearly all them carried small American flags. There was no falling oft in the number of visitors to the vessel during the day, and in the afternoon there were even more launches, rowboats and sailing craft about her than on the day before. The commander of the vessel met all-" comers with courtesy. UTNETY T02JS OF GOHD.

"Ihe Present Imjiort Movement oZ Enornions Proportions. New York, April 11. The steamship Etruria brought $2,117,015 In gold todajv The actual arrivals in the present import movement from Europe are now and the total engagements 543:127,000, or nearly ninety tons. The banking firm of Muller, Seal! Co. today received S4GO.0CO in gold which arrived from Havana on the steamer Orizaba.

It was sent here for safe keeping, and makes 51,000.000 of gold thus received by the firm. Gold, however. Is not the only thing being sent from Cuba to jjet it away from danger from the destruction by bombardment and pillage in case of war. Every steamer from Cuba has lately been bringing boxes containing valuables, including heirlooms and paintings and these have gone to safe deposit vaults for safe keeping. DUEL RESULTS TJST DEATH.

Two Men Killed In a Desperate Pistol FiKht. Dallas, April 11. A desperate dual was fought this morning In Fannin, a little town in Golaid County. As a result Postmaster Goffe, a highly respected resident, and Edwin Pitts, a young merchant, are dead. Pitts had been for nearly a year paying his respects to one of Goffe's daughters, to which Goffe objected.

A few days ago Goffe forbade Pitts coming to his house. Pitts went this morning to Goffe's store, which is also the postofHce and said that he -was ready to settle their difficulty. The righting with pistols then began. Eight or ten shots were fired. One only from each weapon took effect.

"Won hy Ready AVit. (From the Detroit Free Press. "Ready wit can get a man ant of almost any kind of a said the visiting AVesterner to some of the boys at the club; "Jim Powerly was a strapping young lawyer when I first went to Breakup county. He was jovial, big-hearted, always reeady with a joke and very HaWe to turn the tables on any one who tackled him along this line. We knew that he was not specially scrupulous, but, despite his shortcomings, he was a favorite.

One fall he secured the nomination for prosecuting attorney, and pitted against him was the only other lawyer in our village, a conscientious man, without any sense of humor and always in earnest. Of course they had joint meetings, for Westerners Insist upon these political tournaments. "At one of these Jim's opponent was nagged into anger, and wound up his speech by saying that he might not he as brilliant as the opposing candidate, but he was honest with his clients, and had never taken a fee on both sides of a case, as Mr. Powerly had done. "It was expected that a charge so grave would call down a storm of dflunt abuse, but Jim came up smiling, and told a funny story just to relieve the tension of the crowd.

Then he said: Fekiw citizens, agree in condemning this practice of taking a fee from both parties to a lawsuit. Something should be done. I have often wished that I was not the only lawyer in our town, but as long as I am. no man shall apply for my legal assistance In vain. Here the5 other candidate shouted that he wis in the same town, but this only added to the fun, and the incident, as it Hew through, the county, assured Jim of a rousing majority.".