[Inclosure.—Translation.]
Mr. José de
Carvajal to General Sickles.
Ministry of State,
Madrid, November 18,
1873.
Sir: You having presented, under date
of the 15th, the same day on which you also answered my reply of
the 14th to your protest of the same date, reclamations based
upon the seizure-of the Virginius and the shooting of a certain
number of her crew and passengers, the correspondence in
relation to the protest might be considered, terminated and
merged in the correspondence upon the reclamation, did not the
truth of the facts and a just appreciation of the conduct of the
Spanish government make it fitting to call your attention to the
unfounded supposition you advanced, that I “applaud the chief
actors in the bloody tragedy,” (I presume this means the Cuban
authorities,) and that I denounce “the unfortunate victims of a
cruel and sanguinary administration” (I presume this refers to
the prisoners shot) “as criminals deserving instant death.”
I need to render evident the inexactitude of these appreciations.
In the note to which you reply there was not an idea or a word
which could have made such appreciations valid, and my opinion
remains the same as before, that until the facts are obtained to
give a new phase to the question it is more proper to have
confidence in the authorities than to censure them, and still
less denounce them for the sentences they have authorized to be
executed.
As to the applause, it would be characteristic of hot-headed
persons and not of the executive power, which keeps within the
limits of a prudent and polite reserve; and
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as to whether the delinquents
deserved the penalty they suffered, when the law speaks the
government should be silent, and this government should not
admit a doubt that the application of the law has been just,
although rigorous, as long as it is ignorant of the character of
the crime in each case, the details of the proceedings, and the
relation between the crime and the punishment.
Your attribution to me of opinions I could not have ventured to
put forth, not only involves a suggestion that the proceedings
may have been irregular, but it also tends to disculpate the
captured persons from all criminality, whereas in every way, and
from every point of view, those who rise in arms against a
regularly-constituted government and foment insurrection in its
territory are criminals, whose delinquency is not diminished by
the legitimate and elevated sentiments excited by their
misfortune.
I improve this occasion, &c,
