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Latest News from the Seat of War: Milton
Owen Milton, who was captured by the Spanish authorities on board of the Competitor and condemned to death, left Key West as a newspaper correspondent, hoping to consummate plans for furnishing reliable news to the correspondents of the Florida Times-Union at Key West, who in turn were to transmit such reports by cable to the Southern Associated Press and United Press through the medium of this paper. He must have had with him, at the time of his capture, credentials showing his connection with the Times-Union as its duly authorized representative. Such a letter was furnished him by me. I send you this information to assist you in your efforts in behalf of young Milton.
T. T. STOCKTON, General Manager Florida Times-Union. It is not certain that credentials as a newspaper man will aid Mr. Milton in producing a good impression on the captain-general, whom I found in a bad humor with correspondents. When asked why correspondents should not go through the lines and report the facts about the rebels, if they were as badly off as he thought, as it would be worth something to his cause to have his opinion confirmed, he said, "all these Cubans are editors or correspondents, and if I granted the permission suggested to newspaper men, I would have the Cuban cavalry riding through our positions on the press passes." Indeed, he insisted that correspondents were much worse than editors--that the editors were deceived by false information given by letter writers. The law that is supposed to protect American citizens from trial by martial law is this in our treaty with Spain:
No citizen of the United States, residing in Spain, her adjacent islands, or her ultramarine possessions, charged with acts of sedition, treason, or conspiracy against the institutions, the public security, the integrity of the territory, or against the supreme government, or any other crime whatsoever, shall be subject to trial by any exceptionable tribunal, but exclusively by the ordinary jurisdiction, except in the case of being captured with arms in hand.
The secretary of state of the general government of Cuba, the Marquis Palmerola, said the statement of the Competitor's men proved they had arms in their hands, but Milton's case was "different from the others." This acknowledgment of difference we may trust will be very important. Milton is the only one of the captured crew who is an American citizen. It was believed Captain-General Weyler determined to have the condemned men shot, because he held it was important to prevent the filibusters from returning upon expeditions under the impression they are picnics, and it happens that the very New York papers that give the news of the sentence of death upon the Competitor's crew, have accounts of two other expeditions-one starting from New York-this the Laurada. The Junta disowns the Competitor's expedition. The sailing of the Competitor was from Key West, on the night of April 20th. The Herald's Key West correspondent says: "General Weyler has been anxious from the outset to make an example of the filibusters, in order to deter other similar expeditions from trying to land on the Cuban coast. Captain Ladorde and his companions are the first filibusters caught in this war. "It is believed that Weyler objects to following the advice received from Spain, not to execute the foreign citizens captured on the Competitor, even if found guilty. "The cases have already been the subject of lots of diplomatic correspondence. Captain Laborde asserts that he has been treated cruelly by the Spaniards. He showed me his wrists when I called on him in his cell in the arsenal. They were encircled by festering sores. "He says that after his arrest a stout string was tied to his wrists, and an iron bar placed in the middle and twisted until the string cut into the flesh around the wrists, in an effort to make him confess. He declares that when he announced that he was an American, the Spaniards threatened to shoot his companions and himself immediately. They had previously shot at the mate when the latter attempted to raise the Stars and Stripes. The mate's arms are badly lacerated by ropes which were tied around the biceps." The question over the disposition of the Competitor's men is the most serious that has occurred between the governments of the United States and Spain during the Cuban war. The insurgents have the intensest solicitude that something very serious may happen, and we are told the secretary of state is in a condition of threatening excitement on the subject, and that the president is angry and very determined. There is too much actual gravity in the situation to permit us to believe in melodramatic demonstrations by the highest officers of the government.
The fact that Washington and Madrid are in communication with Havana insures full if fast consideration. That which is done on either side will be upon perfected intelligence, with a full sense of responsibility. At the moment the secretary of state of the United States, and the prime minister of Spain, and the captain-general of Cuba have this matter in hand, and are in communication by cable, we are entertained by the news that the Bermuda has been heard from again at Honduras, and the Laurada is off from New York, and there is no sort of question as to the character of these vessels. At the same time it is proposed, with Jingo vigor, that the American fleet is concentrating in New York to make a demonstration at Moro Castle and the Spanish palace; but the yellow fever and the pestilential harbor forbid the appearance of our fleet there on any lesser errand than the bombardment of Havana. There are so many points of resemblance between the Competitor case and that of the Virginius that the public will be pleased by the refreshment of recollection in the production of despatches that passed in 1873 between Secretary of State Fish and Minister Sickles. These communications are highly instructive as to the attitude of our country regarding the rights of persons who sail under the national flag, and show they will find it well to have the right to the use of the flag, and be able to prove it. There is a great deal said in the United States of the attitude of this country toward Cuba at this most interesting juncture, and we present the most pertinent of the official papers: