THE New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENDO. SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 1874.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XI, Issue 3993, 29 August 1874, Page 2

THE New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENDO. SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 1874.

The intervention of Germany in tlie afl'airs of Spain may easily lead to further difficulties in Europe. The German Government has more than once expressed its keen resentment at the part taken" by French Legitimists and Ultramontanes in encouraging German Catholics to hostility against the Empire into which they have been recently absorbed. So far has this been carried by Prince Bismarck, that rumours have gained, credence of his deliberate design to provoke France to a fresh conflict whiie still unprepared to meet it. Nothing could be better calculated to gain iJiis end than sending a German fleet to Spyin to stay French sympathisers from assisting *.he Catholic Carlists in their attempt to put Don Carlos on the throne. The French—so long accustomed to dominate the South of Europe—cannot but feel the presence of a powerful fleet avowedly sent for such a purpose, as a direct insult, and would long eagerly to resent it. The telegrams are vague and somewhat confused ; but, if we read them aright, the position taken by the German Government is one which may produce complications) of a serious nature. Spain, the cause of so many wars and the excuse for so many more, may yet furnish the plea for a<'ain convulsing Europe. Nor is she secure from the danger of collision, through Cuba with the United States, which cannot much longer remain a passive spectator of the atrocities committed in the name of the Spanish Government on the unhappy people of that beautiful island. The wonderful insurrection of the Spanish fleet; the rebellion of cities and districts eager for a federal republic, as the only means of securing liberty by keeping the national Government dependent on the people instead of the army for its support ; the communistic theories that sway her working classes; and finally, the intense bigotry of the mountaineers fighting for Don Carlos, are tearing the unhappy country to pieces. If the intrigues of the followers of the late Queen be also taken into account, it will be seen that stiife and confusion must prevail, making Spain a standing danger to her neighbours and tlirough them to the world.

Little has hitherto been known of the insurrection in Cuba which is draining away tile flower of the Spanish army and keeping the Government comparatively powerless at home. But the 'curtain behind which the contest has been conducted for the last four vears is being gradually torn aside and the world enabled to see more, of the causes which have produced the insurrection, and of the horrible deeds of blood by which the ruling powers have sought ' its suppression. It is needless to speak of the beauty, the fertility, and the richness of this wonderful Queen of the Antilles. In 1870 the value of the sugar

and "tobacco crops alone wasiestimated at £15,000.000, and the total import and export trad© ' at. £30,000,000, of "which England enjoyed one-fourth;. -The population is aboiit a million a-half, one-fourth slaves, one-fourth being free coloured people, and the other half of European descent. Of the latter about ona- hundred and twenty .thousand are Spaniards direct from Europe, whose chief interest in the country is to make out of it what they can, who enjoy the benefits of the monopolies established by the Government, who occupy all the public offices, and between whom and the natives of European descent there is the bitter ill-feeling which such a condition must needs engender. The slave trade has been to these officials a source of enormous profit and Captains-General have always had notoriously the lien's share. The Government is a pure and perfect despotism. The will of the Cap-tain-General and of his Council is law, subject to a difficult, uncertain, and invariably partial revision, 011 the appeal of an injured party to Spain. The use of slave labour has been steadily decreasing and tlio tobacco plantations, of which there are more than 10,000, are worked almost entirely by white men, who, with the free coloured population, have long striven for the abolition of slavery, as a system injurious to their personal interests, and degrading to the labour in which they share. Insurrection has been more or less frequent in Cuba for many years, varied occasionally by a descent of sympathising fillibusters from American shores. Hitherto it has been invariably unsuccessful, and put down with a remorseless hand. Prisoners are shot in groups, and garrotted in dozens, while the lash and the torture have killed numbers in the effort to extort confession during the proceedings—called legal—to which they ace subjected. Martial law has become the normal state of the Island, and the deadly hatred between the rulers and tlio ruled can not even be imaginod by those who have not witnessed it for themselves. At last in IS7O the present which, from its persistent endurance, promises to be the filial effort for freedom, began. A rich planter, Manuel de Cespedes, raised the standard of revolt at the head of a small body consisting chiefly of his own slaves, whom he emancipated in the ranks. The movement rapidly spread over the eastern and more mountainous districts, and a revolutionary Government was established. Defeated at one time and conquering at another, this Government still holds its own, supplied with arms and money through sympathisers in other parts of the Island, and through a Junta of friends established in New York. In their declaration of independence the Cubans charge Spain witli governing with an iron and blood-stained hand. Cubans are illegally prosecuted and sent into exile, or executed by military commissions in time of peacc —prohibited from public meeting—forbidden to speak or to write 011 affairs of State—devoured by hungry officials who trade in justice and sell for their own profit the monopolies they have established— keep the people ignorant and uninstrueted as a deliberate part of their policy— and finally enforce on them by a grinding taxation the support of the Spanish army and navy whom they employ to keep the people in misery and subjection. "To the God of our conscience, and to all civilised nations, we submit the sincerity of our purpose. We want only to be free, and to see all men with us equally free, as the Creator intended mankind to be," are the concluding declarations of the Revoluntarv Junta. The rebels may be for a time overcwine, but must in the end, by tho moderation and the wisdom of their course, gain tho recognition of the civilised world, which cannot remain much longer passive spectators of the atrocities employed to subdue them.

It is duo to .Spaniards to state that these atrocities are committed by the volunteers whom, in an evil moment, the local Government called to its aid. They consist entirely of the colonial residents enrolled to the numbiv of sixty thousand, of whom from olov<m to t.weivs thousand are in Havanah. Their murder of the unhappy and innocent students who were suspected of favouring the rebellion sent a thrill of horror through the world. The doings of that horrible morning when the poor lads were cruelly taken out, and deliberately shot without trial or condemnation, will not soon be forgotten. On two other eventful occasions these brave supporters of law and order distinguished themselves by the unprovoked slaughter of the crowd which had just exhibited sympathy with the rebellion by applauding some allusions to it in the course of a performance at the theatre. Two battalions of the Volunteers surrounded the building and deliberately fired volley after volley into the unsuspecting and unarmed crowd. The foreign men-of-war in the harbour had steam up, ana were prepared to interfere, but were too late to stay the slaughter. On at? ether occasion, in mere wanton display >:f poiver, they surrounded a cafe frequented by the Creoles and shot them down like dogs—like which in fact they regard them. A list has been published by the .I unta in New York, in which they give the names of eighteen hundredand twenty-eight persons executed since 18(50 in cold blood, without taking note of those slain in battle or by the fusillades of the Volunteers. Great as these atrocities appear, the proclamation of the Governor-General suffieiently accounts for them. He orders that " every man from the age of fifteen years upward found away from his habitation and unable to prove a justified motive therefore shall be shot." " Every habitation unoccupied will be burnt by the troops," and finally, " every habitation from which does not iloat a white flag as a signal that its occupants desire peace, will be reduced to ashes." Aiul this power, be it remembered, is placed in the hands of infuriated soldiers or still more infuriated and irresponsible Volunteers. At the beginning of the insurrection, Spain had leas than twenty thousand soldiers in Cuba. She has since sent sixty thousand of her best l.roups as reinforcements and is compelled to keep a large navy on the spot. It is estimated that thirty thousand of the soldiers have been put /tors Je combat by the bullet or by the climate, and so small comparatively in the force now at the command of the Governor-General that his authority is defied by the armed Volunteers, who compel him to personify their hatreds and to condone their wanton and most brutal action. The local Government is between the two fires of the insurrection, and the Volunteers whom it has armed to put the insurrection down. The proud Government _ in Spain demand unconditional submission as the indispensable prelimin- * ary to reforms. The experience of 1 centuries has deprived the Creoles of the 1 confidence - without which such terms < could not be accepted. They refuse to hand themselves over helpless and un- 1 aimed to the tender mercies of the ? hated Volunteers and to the corrupt 1 nireaucracy formed during two centu•ies of systematic extortion and bad government. Conquered for a time they c nay be, but after keeping the field 5 or four years they can never be f, ■gain thoroughly subdued. Ko lover of p

liberty, and of . colonial ' liberty more especially, can regard the struggle without deep sympathy and emotion. In many of its features —thojiigh'liaptily not in the worst—it recalls the long, • the bitter, and the noble struggle of our Yankee cousins. Happily for colonial freedom that struggle was successful, and with it a new era for British colonies begun. To the lesson then taught we owe perhaps the happy contrast between Cuba, rent and devastated by internal war, and Canada, close at hand, enjoying perfect freedom and her population living in loyal devoted attachment to the mother country, without one English soldier among them.

In reply to a question from Mr. Fox on Thursday night, the Premier said that he had no doubt in future the Judges of the Supreme Court would have an interchange of judicial circuit. Probably this will be found to be a wise course, although it has never been doubted but that the fountains of justice in our higher Courts of Judicature have run pure and undeiiled. It could, however, be wished that the change proposed was adopted in the ease of our stipendiary magistrates in many of the centres of both Islands. Only those who have lived in small towns of the provinces can know or be made to feel the evils which result in stipendiary magistrates presiding over the seat of justice for an unlimited term of years. These magistrates become the leaders of coteries, giving and accepting invitations among the elite of the community, outside of which their sympathies never extend. In hundreds of instances cases might be cited where the most unfair decisions have been arrived at, due to the fact that one of the parties to a suit is the personal friend of the magistrate, while the other, whose claim may be strictly righteous, is merely an outsider. It has often been asked in one of these small communities, when some man has received a legal wrong, why he does not seek magisterial redress, The reply is that it would be 110 use, as the wrong-doer in question is on intimate terms with the stipendiary magistrate, and no hope of obtaining relief could be looked for. This complaint against magistrates may appear very harsh, but it is none the less, in very many instances, true. We could on the instant name half-a-dozen towns where the resident magistrate has so intimately identified himself with the upper hundred that those outside of the charmed circle would not think for a moment of seeking legal redress at his hands. It may be very inconvenient, and probably very expensive, to change the locale of a stipendiary, but we feel quite sure that the administration of justice would not be subjected to such miscarriages as there is too much reason to fear is now permitted.

TnE Otago Press deals with Mr. Fox's amendments and resolutions on the Licensing Bill in two ways. One section views them seriously, and deprecates the way in which the ex-Premier is bringiug the subject into contempt. Another, which includes the Otago Daily Times, simply indulges in badinage. The latter considers that of all the stupid and impracticable ideas upon this subject to which Mr. Fox's fertile brain has ever given birth, the most stupid and impracticable of all was surely that about public-houses having open glass fronts to the street. We suppose that there are very few, indeed, who will not concur in this. We have it upon the authority of Hansard, now lying open before us, that, while the bill was under consideration, Mr. Fox contended for "glass fronts unstained and uncoloured, so that persons passing by might see what was going on inside." To this our Dunedin contemporary makes the following rejoinder Poor Mr. Fox! pity he has been debarred the luxury of going the rounds af all the towns and cities in the colony, and having a peep through the open unstained glass fronts of every public-house in each of them, and so satisfying his craving for ' useful knowledge,' by learning what was 'going on inside' of each ! By way of consolation, however, we would suggest to him to try his hand in another direction, in which we think we may venture to promise him much better success. There are just a few places other than publichouses that a very large section of the outside public would have no objection whatever to learn a little of what is ' going on inside,' by means of open glass fronts, uncoloured and unstained. For instance, all places where weak tea and small talk are dispensed to the delectation of antiquated females, and their worthy and congenial friends and associates of the masculine gender. Again, if Mr. Fox cannot gain for himself and his friends a peep at the working man taking a tug at his pint of beer after a hard day's work he might, on the other hand, afford to the working man aforesaid and his friends an opportunity of taking an edifying and improving peep at the great statesman himself when he sips his cup of coffee at Bellamy's, or takes his nightcap of cocoa at his club or his home. Above all, and in all fairness, let the principle be applied to the Good Templar Lodges as well as the public-houses. If the rumours that have long been in circulation have any foundation in fact, it really would be interesting to learn a little of what was ' going on inside' in these instances. It might throw a flood of light upon the much-dis-puted question about 'kiss-in-the-ring,' and many others of equal importance. We hope Mr. Fox's sense of fair play will induce him to move in the direction we have indicated. According to the good old saw, 'What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.' The goose has had her sauce: now let the gander have his also."

The farmers' " Granges'' are a great and a growing political as well as social power in the United States. The growth of the Granger organisation in America must be regarded as one of the most remarkable political phenomena of the times. From a few formers' clubs in Illinois, whose purpose was only imperfectly understood, it has spread until it has taken in nearly the whole Union. There is at present only one State in which Granges are not reported—Rhode Island. In the country at large there are 20,000 Granges. It is estimated that they number at least one million of votes. HereWe have an enormous power, especially when we consider the classes which are sure to unite with it. The Granges lead tha attack in most of the States upon the monopolies. All other citizens of the same way of thinking join them. The Granges are the foes of high taxation. The owners of property everywhere in city and country strike hands with them. The Granges are opposed to corruption in all its forms. All those whom salary-grabs, moieties, rings, and credit mobiliers have alarmed are likely to make commoD cause with them. The labouring men are also organising in several of the States. Whenever they appear on the scene they fraternise with the Granges. They want to save their little homesteads from confiscation for taxes. They also know that the less taxation the greater the general prosperity. It is not too much to say that we have here, beyond question, at this time the strongest and most compact political element in the country. A million voters (and that estimate is low) with so many and such powerful and extensive affiliations are a power which cannot be coughed clown or thrust aside, especially in view of the disorder which prevails in the ranks of the old parties. It is also to be noted in this connection that the purposes of the Grange movement are expanding with its growth. The Granges at first had no object but to eliminate unnecessary middlemen, and secure that influence for the farmer in the general management of the affairs of the country which he considered had heretofore been denied to him. By the inexorable logic of facts they advanced from this stage to an opposition to monopolies, high taxation, and malfeasance n office. They are also gradually taking {round on the other great national , questions >f the day. The general tendency in the :eiitral States is to occupy a safe middle pound on the financial question. The foreping remarks are contained in an artiela in he San Francisco Bulletin discussing the lower of the " block" vote of the " Grangers,"

in which is also given a detailed list of the various Granges in each State. „■ '

The Maoris are' apt -political scholars, and are actively mindful of all-that _ concerns their own interests pecuniarily. ~ Did such unanimity of feeling in such matters exist amongst the North Island members of the Assembly as between the North Island natives (not to make an undignified comparison) our interests would be better conserved in the House. The proceedings in the House upon the Native Lands and Native lands Court questions have been, narrowly watched in Wellington by the various chiefs assembled there, and a course of action has been planned out by them to prevent, if possible, any injustice being done to them by the Government. Our own correspondent telegraphed us on Thursday evening the report of a dinner given by Henare Motua and Wanganui chiefs to the natives assembled in Wellington, at which about 150 sat down. Mr. Sheelian was present on the occasion, and tendered his opinion to the natives on matters affecting their interests. That gentleman, who is an authority upon native affairs, and carries great weight with tke Maoris, said he could not agree about the manner in which the Government conducted their land-buying transactions; he thought it should be left to the owners to say whether they would sell or not; but, under any circumstances, he considered it right that the Government should negotiate with the chiefs in the first instance. At the conclusion of the dinner, arrangements were made for an annual gathering of the chiefs in Wellington during the session, to watch the proceedings of the session.

On Thursday evening Mr. O'Neill asked whether, during the recess, the Government would cause enquiries relative to the working of the Koyal Mint in Melbourne, and report the same at the commencement of the next session, to wliich the Premier replied that the Government would endeavour to procure all information upon the subject calculated to be useful to New Zealand. Mr. O'Neill, as a strenuous advocate during many sessions for the establishment of a mint in this colony, will, we feel sure, be deeply disappointed when he has had placed in his hands the information he seeks. Colon'. 1 Ward, at the request of the Government, has only recently published his report upon the working of the Victorian Mint, the establishment of which

was heralded with such a flourish of trumpets. In this he states that the Ijss to that colony since the establishment of the Mint hiis been annually £10,000, and unless the most liberal concessions are made, some ol which the Colonel points out, he is of opinion that ii; cannot be made even to pay expenses. This annual loss of £10,000, it must be borne in mind, does not include the original outlay in building and fitting out the Mint. These facts are not such as to encourage a hope that a similar institution would be an advantage to this colony, and we fear Mr. O'Neill's well-intentioned efforts will receive a serious check when Colonel "Ward's figures are laid before the House.

The Government at Wellington have decided not to have any connection with New Sou th Wales for a temporary mail service to San Francisco, nor indeed, so far as we understand the telegram which appears under its proper heading, do the Jsew Zealand Government intend to enter, into any further postal partnership. The PostmasterGeneral proposes, in the iirst instance, to wait until the present complication in connection with the breach of the mail contract rectifies itself. In the meantime provision will be made for carrying the mail to Melbourne, to be forwarded via Suez. Probably the Government has not been able to determine what course shall be adopted. The Suez mails arrive and depart with such strict punctuality that if we can only depend upon aline of branch steamers serving us faithfully, no great inconvenience will be felt, except so far as our somewhat limited connection with San Francisco and Honolulu is concerned.