942                          FOREIGN     RELATIONS.

of duty, and moved only by a noble sentiment of justice, to hake such ample
repara-
tion to a friendly power as the laws and usages of natious required.
   The undersigned is grateful to his excellency the minister of state for
the assurance
that the law will be vindicated and maintained in Cuba. The Government of
the
United States has never ceased to enjoin upon the undersigned to make every
appeal
and omit no effort that might convince the government of Spain of the urgent
need of
such measures as would stop the demoralization and ameliorate the situation
of that
unhappy island. And if at last, under the good auspices of Mr. Carvajal,
with the aid
of that serenity that is unmoved by slaughter and that energy that rejects
the voice
of humanity, which even the humblest may utter and the most powerful cannot
hush,
this government is successful in restoring order and peace and liberty, where
hitherto,
and now, all is tumult and conflict and despotism, the fame of this achievement,
not
confined to Spain, will reach the continents beyond the seas and gladden
the hearts of
millions who believe that the New World discovered by Columbus is the home
of free-
men and not of slaves.
  The undersigned avails himself, &c.
                                                                D. E. SICKLES.

                          [Inclosure 4 in No. 834.-Translation.]
                 Leading article in "EE Imparcial" of November
14, 1873.

                            THE QUESTION OF THE DAY.
  When so much is being said of the diplomatic complications in which Spain
may be-
come involved by reason of the late events announced to us by telegraph from
Havana
it seems to us not improper to touch upon a few. considerations suggested
to us by the
dispatches from Washington, which we found yesterday in the French press,
and by
that communicated to us last night by the Fabra agency.
  Little or no importance has been attached to the interviews the American
minister
has held with the President of the executive power, and with the minister
of state,
during the last few days. With that good sense which marks public opinion
in all
countiles when questions that'rise above the level of mere party rivalries
are under-
discussion, all have seen that this solicitude of the American minister was
completely
officious, and we do not know to what degree it reflects the views of his
Government.
Whatever use the Spanish authorities may make of their power, when their
decisions
involve persons put under their control by the laws of nationality, or the
extraordinary
ones of war, certainly no claim is admissible from the representative of
another power-
least of all if it be a friendly one;, and republican, treating, as in the
present case, with
a nation constituted as a republic.
  Fromh this view of the case, the American representative could not attempt
any
interference without making what would be called in legal language an impertinent
demand.
  Nor could the seizure of the steamer Virginius serve as a pretext for a
diplomatic
claim, except in case of a capture not having been effected within the conditions
es-
tablished by generally-recognized maritime law, and for such conditions to
be called
in question by the United States Government it would be necessary to acknowledge
that the pirate craft sailed under the protection of the stars and stripes,
and with
letters of marque-a supposition which can neither enter into the views of
the Wash-
ington Government, nor indeed would it be lawful, unless preceded by a declaration
of war. In any case, there might be a doubt as to whether or not the vessel
was cap-
tured in jurisdictional waters; but granting this, the right of protest against
seizure
would belong not to the United States but to England, if such a seizure proved
to
have been made on the coast of Jamaica. But no such hypothesis can be admitted;
for it is known, as has been affirmed by the press, that the capture was
effected more
than twenty-four miles from the Jamaica coast, and at a time when the vessel
was
being pursued from the shores of Cuba.
  We are confident, then, that there neither does exist any diplomatic claim
on the
part of the United States touching this matter, nor are there any grounds
for such a
claim, and -all that has been said of late about the affair can only be construed
into
officious interference on the part of the American minister, fomented, doubtless,
by
certain deputies anxious to trammel the government, in a spirit of patriotism
which
the opinion of the country eveni now estimates at its full value. And if
there should
be any doubt as to our statement- of the case, it would be dispelled by a
perusal of the
telegrams referred to at the opening of our article.
  We find in the Journal des Debats a dispatch from Washington, of the 8th,
which
  says :
  "Mr. Fish, convinced that the intentions of the Spanish Republic are
entirely pacific,
will conm to no definite determination in the affair of the Virginius until
exact infor-
mation of the facts in the case shall have been received."