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Show THE "VIROINIUS" FIASCO. The case of tho steamer Virji,uv continues to occupy more than an ' oahnury share of public attention and nnt without just reason. Evidently the Spanish minister at Washington j cleverly overretiched Mr. Secretary Fih in the diplnmntiu correspon-! correspon-! deuce which resulted in protocol averting war, mid now the empty I honor of saluting tho Ainorican fl ig, which was to have taken place to-day, j has to be abandoned by the terms of tlie protocol and the opinion of the Attorney General. Before i he V-riiiiiittS capture and the butchery of a portion of those on board, Americana were absolutely de?pised in Cuba; now the haughty and blood-thirsty advocates of the Spanish cause on that Island wili both despise and hold them in the most supreme contempt. The government gov-ernment of the United States has acted as if it feared a power which is neither able to preserve order at home, nor suppress au insurrection in a distant dis-tant colony sustained by a handful of ragged, bare-footed patriots. There is no question but the points presented by -Attorney General W'il-liams W'il-liams are well made. If Patterson, Pat-terson, by a lalse oath, obtained a register for a vessel owned by foreigners, for-eigners, unquestionably, in law, that vessel had no right to bear the Ameri-, Ameri-, can flag. But she had a register, no matter whether obtained by fraud or force, and the manner in which that register was obtained was a question for the United States alone to inquire into. Having that register, and flying fly-ing the stars and stripes in consequence conse-quence of having it, her capture and forcible taking into Santiago de Cuba was either an act of piracy or of direct war, while the execution of any of those on board was simply murder. The captain of the Tornado, when he boarded her, would have been justified, if he believed her register reg-ister fraudulently obtained, er her mission an improper one, in towing her into a neutral port, or even into a Cuban port., and having the case tried before a proper Court of Admiralty ; but when he made her h prize on the i high seas, and ironed her officers, crew and passengers, under the circumstances, cir-cumstances, he committed an outrage of the grossest character against the United States, outraged its honor and insulted its flag. If a number of men take passage m a steamer, from Sau Francisco or N'ew York, for which a register has cen obtained by fraudulent means, .re they to be held responsible for it? low t-ould the people on the Virgin-', Virgin-', extvpting perhaps a very few .dmitliug :iii that the Attorney Gen eral s opinion declares know that a raudulent register was the authority or hoUting the Americsiu flag? The rew to! that stealer, doubtless, hipped on her as they would on toard any other vessel, with probably i higher rate of wages by tbe.montu; aid yet Bnrriel butchers them, and ncn the question uf the legitimacy f the regUter is raised by Spain, and -ne paltry apology indicated by a saute sa-ute to the American flag is waived, vuile the ghostof murdered Americans Ameri-cans are left to lament in their bloody :omb3 the decadence of American -pirit and the humiliation of the American' Am-erican' government. The great voice of the nation declared de-clared at the outset what should be lone; and though the "sober, second-thought second-thought " of the people is often the safest guide, there 'are times when popular sentiment is as unerring as instinct. In thecaseofthe Viiyim'ns international law was defied; our national honor was trampled upon ; and our flag mocked at. And, to -add to our humiliation, hu-miliation, had it not beeu for a British Brit-ish officer there is little doubt that the butchery of the Virginiiis' passengers passen-gers 'and crew would have proceeded till further. Wu are no advocates of war, hating it with a deep-rooted feeling. feel-ing. But there are times when war is the surest precursor of peace. And at the time of the Viiyi.niu.s- slaughter, the rhifv nf npnil firant :inl his Secretary of State was plain : To de-maud, de-maud, on behalf of the United States, the return of the V irjitutis; compensation compen-sation for the lives taken, and for the expense to which the United Suites was put to prepare for the enforcement enforce-ment of its demands; the amplest apology for the wrong done and crime committed, and the trial of Burriel for murder. And these demands should have been sustained by such formidable preparations as would aave made Spain and other nations sec that we were determined to protect pro-tect American citizens wherever 'omul. But the country luw been igain humiliated, for which the administration ad-ministration is responsible; and now lucre is as much of an outcry over tiie return of an old rott-ju hulk of a learner, as if the national wounded uonor had been entirelv healed. |