SPAIN-STEAMER         VIRGINIUS.                 
    943

  But lest the above dispatch- should be fe-gardeil as Old news, here is
another received
only last night:
  "Washington, 13.-The ministers have had a protracted council on the
affair of the
Yirginius, captured by the Spanish war-steamer Tornado. They have resolved
not to
take any definite action until full official information is at hand."
  It is well that the minister for foreign affairs of the American Republic
does not call
in question the pacific intentions of the government of Spain; but in so
doing he only
renders a tribute of justice to our policy, and acknowledges our perfect
right to govern
ourselves aswe please, and, above all, to protect our territory from the
schemes of wily
filibusters. But it should be observed that on the 13th, the Washington Government
must have had at least eight mails from Havana, with official information
from their
agents touching the capture of the Virginius, which these agents might have
received
as early as the 1st; and yet the council of ministers of President Grant
could come to
no decision for lack of official news. At all events, it is not clear on
what basis the
United States can lay a claim for wounded rights or even a pretext therefor,
when
their agents in Cuba were unable to furuish information of the supposed outrage
on the
American flag after the interval of eight days; moreover, it is not to be
supposed that
that Government will pretend to make any formal and admissible claim for
the acts of
severe justice administered in Santiago de Cuba, since, as, a colleague pertinently
re-
marks, neither Spain nor any other power has said anything official or officious
to the
United States for the horrid butchery of the Modoc Indians, commanded or
authorized
by that Government.
   As far as we know, no official claim has been made for these acts, and
none is likely
 to be made. From any nation rather than from the United States, some pretext
for
 interference in our affairs and for trammeling the government of Spain might
be
 expected. There, as in all countries where practical democracy is a fact,
public opin-
 ion is paramount and cannot be ignored by governments. In this affair, far
less than
 in any other related to European politics, can the Washington Government
afford to
 act self-inspired, and thus jeopardize their popularity. It must not be
concealed that
 the immense majority of the American people are in favor of the consolidation
of the
 Spanish Republic, and it would not be advantageous to the Government of
General
 Grant to oppose that popular current by involving Spain in international
complications
 at a time like this, when our government needs all its strength to solve
our internal
 difficulties.
   Furthermore, we do not know how far the American people will complacently
regard
 the officious zeal of their representative in Madrid and his efforts to
embarrass the prog-
 ress of the government, apparently seconding the schemes of the irreconcilable
depu-
 ties; for setting aside the fact that this behavior does not correspond
with what the
 government of the Spanish Republic has a right to expect from the American
people, it
 cannot even be justified by instructions from his Government, if the telegram
of the
 Fabra agency be true when it says that the council of ministers which met
yesterday
 in Washington were unable to reach a definite resolution for lack of data.
Will Mr.
 Sickles be likely to have fuller information than his Government'? It is
to be sup-
 posed that this is not the case, and therefore we attach no importance whatever
to
 these movements of the American representative.
   And while we are on the subject of relations with the United States, we
are bound to
 address to Mr. Castelar's government a few patriotic exhortations. Spain
was never
 in a better condition to solve the Cuban question than now. Everybody will
call to
 mind that when we were a monarchy not a day passed but that the Washington
Gov-
 ernment, under one pretext or another, made claims onus, and not a presidential
mes-
 sage was read in Congress but was pregnant withý censure and even
threats against Spain
 on her Cuban policy. Since the declaration of the republic in Spain, public
opinion has
 undergone, a complete change, and Mr. Castelar would do well to profit by
this favor-
 able disposition by putting forth a supreme effort to close out at once
the insurrection
 in Cuba. No government was ever so favorably situated to realize this end;
and
 should it be attained now, the present government would win laurels for
the republic,
 the only ones, perhaps, the country could justly place to its credit. We
at least would
 not grudge it this glory; for monarchists or partisans of whatever political
doctrine,
 we are, first of all, Spaniards.
   And we will close these lines, dashed off under the impression made on
us by the
 latest news, with one suggestion to the government, who will pardon us on
the score
 of the sentiment that dictates it, though it may be deemed impertinent.
   Mr. Sickles holds certain personal opinions on the maintenance of the
Spanish flag
 in America, and without doubt these find an echo in the great republic among
a few
 fanatics, not by any means the most influential, nor, as a consequence,
most esteemed,
 but the vast majority of the American people are more prejudiced against
Mr. Sickles's
 opinions than against Spain.