No. 664.] No. 413. General Sickles to Mr. Fish. UNITED STATES LEGATION IN SPAIN, Madrid, July 24, 1873. (Received August 16.) SIR: The following is a transcript of a cable message I had the honor to send you at 2 o'clock to-day: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State, Washington: Minister of finance of new cabinet announced yesterday in Cortes that no reforms would be granted Cuba until insurgents laid down arms. Announcement received with great applause. JULY 24. I am, &c., SICKLES. No. 414. D. E. SICKLES. No. 668.] General Sickles to Mr. Fish. UNITED STATES LEGATION IN SPAIN, Madrid, July 27, 1873. (Received August 16.) SIR: Last week Lieutenant-General Contreras put himself at the head of a seditious movement in the city of Cartagena, and being followed by a turbulent element common in most Spanish towns, he declared the province of Murcia an independent state, and renounced all allegiance to this or any other government. A considerable part of the troops of the garrison, and the crews of five or six of the best ships in the Spanish navy lying in the harbor, joined the outbreak. Cartagena is a fortified place, and a naval depot of importance. The government at once took measures to stop the revolt. Among other steps a proclamation was issued denouncing the people on board the war vessels as pirates, and authorizing and inviting their capture by the armed forces of other nations as good prize. I sent a copy and translation of this decree to Admiral Case, commanding our European fleet, and also to Captain Wells, of the Shenandoah, the latter supposed to be lying off Malaga.. Our consul at Cartagena transmits to me, under date of 24th instant. a communication addressed to him by General Contreras, and a copy of his reply. I have the honor to forward herewith copies and translations of these several documents, and the correspondence incident thereto. It is not supposed that General Contreras can maintain himself many days in Cartagena. He is not distinguished for address or ability in the conduct of his rash enterprises. If he escapes the resentment of his disappointed adherents, and is able to quit Spain for foreign parts, he may congratulate himself, as the government just now is not in the humor to deal leniently with such characters. A sort of epidemic seems to seize town after town in succession. The symptoms are the same everywhere. Under the influence of the disorder a revolutionary junta is improvised, the militia and the troops fraternize. the authorities are ousted, occasionally the civil governor and the mili tary governor join the insurgents, and almost uniformly these officers acquiesce in the movement or leave the place. In Cartagena a thousand or two sailors and soldiers profited by the occasion to have a frolic in the streets. One of the Spanish fleet, the Vigilante, commanded by a committee appointed in the forecastle, put to sea under a red flag, and hav ing visited Torrevieja and levied a contribution of thirty-six thousand dol lars, was returning to port when she was overhauled and captured by the German iron-clad, Friederich Karl, and taken to Gibraltar. The movement in Cartagena having as usual exhausted its strength in about a week, is understood to be near a collapse. In Cadiz the volunteers, joined by some regular artillery, made an attack on the adjacent naval station of San Fernando, and were easily repelled, with severe loss. In Malaga a serious collision occurred in the streets between the forces led by rival chiefs, resulting in a hundred killed and wounded. In Seville there seems less disposition to fight, and the consuls are negotiating for terms with General Pavia, commanding a division of the army sent by the government to restore order in Andalusia. In Valencia the resistance is more obstinate, although it can scarcely be prolonged, since General Campos has sent for some mortars to bombard the city, and will open fire to-day if necessary. The government maintains a firm attitude and is supported by public opinion. I have, &c., [Inclosure A.-Translation.] MINISTRY OF MARINE. D. E. SICKLES. Decree of July 20, 1873, declaring the naval insurgents at Cartagena pirates. PREAMBLE. In the midst of the grave situation through which the country is passing, when an interrupted series of intestinal discords have brought it to its present melancholy condition, a new complication unhappily arises which may be followed by varied and distinct consequences, the more transcendental in that they affect or may affect our international relations. Several vessels of the navy at anchor in the port of Cartagena, making common cause with the insurgent masses in that maritime department, have set at nought the legitimate authority of their commanders and officers, and in open rebellion against the sole power organized by the will of the Cortes, have put to sea with the purpose of carrying out their criminal designs on the Mediterranean coasts. The government in consequence cannot allow itself in any way to be held liable for this action, hitherto unparalleled in naval annals, nor permit that, perhaps under cover of party aims of a certain character, these vessels should commit acts of positive piracy which would compromise the dignity of Spain in the eyes of foreign nations, for, according to international law, all vessels are pirates which hold no lawful commission from a government, or carry no legal sailing-papers, and which are not under the command of an officer competently authorized to represent the public forces. In view of this and of the urgent necessity of attacking the evil at its birth, the un- MADRID, July 20, 1873. DECREE. ARTICLE I. The crews of the frigates of the national navy, Almansa, Victoria, and Mendez Nunez, the crew of the steamer Fernando el Católico, and of any other war vessel among those in mutiny in the department of Cartagena, shall be deemed to be pirates wherever found in the jurisdictional waters of Spain, or beyond them, by Spanish or foreign naval forces, according to articles 4, 5, and 6, section 5, chapter 6, of the general ordinances of the navy. ARTICLE II. Commanders of war vessels of powers friendly to Spain are hereby authorized to seize the vessels specified in article I, and to pass judgment upon the individuals composing their crews in the sense expressed in that article, the Spanish government reserving to itself the ownership of the vessels, to be established by the proper reclamations through diplomatic channels. ARTICLE III. In like manner are declared pirates any other vessels of the national navy, which, being in a state of mutiny and not under the command of officers of the navy, may put to sea from any port of the peninsula. ARTICLE V. (IV?) The minister of marine is hereby charged with the execution of this decree, and shall communicate to the minister of state for the information of the foreign diplomatic body. MADRID, July 20, 1873. The Minister of Marine, JACOBO OREYRO. To the President of the Government of the Republic, NICOLAS SALMERON. [Inclosure C.] General Sickles to Capt. C. H. Wells, commanding Shenandoah. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Madrid, July 22, 1873. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith, for your information, a copy and translation of a decree of the government of Spain, dated 20th instant, and published yesterday in the Official Gazette, denouncing as pirates the officers and crews of certain Spanish vessels therein described, and inviting their capture as lawful prize by the armed ships of other powers. This decree of the executive was yesterday approved by the legislative authority. You are therefore authorized by public law, and by the express consent of the government to which these piratical cruisers belong, to capture any one or more of them that you may encounter, and take them into port for condemnation. I am, &c., [Inclosure D.] General Sickles to Rear-Admiral Case. D. E. SICKLES. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith, for your information, a copy and translation of a decree of the government of Spain, dated 20th instant, and published yesterday in the Official Gazette. The same documents have been sent to Captain Wells, of the Shenandoah, with a letter, of which a copy is inclosed. I am, &c., [Inclosure E.] Mr. Molina to General Sickles. D. E. SICKLES. CONSULATE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, SIR: I beg to inform you with reference to the political movement of this town, as mentioned in my last communication of the 13th instant, that the iron-clad ship Vietoria left this port to pronounce Alicante in the morning of the 20th instant, having returned on the 22d, without any particular news further than they had seized the Spanish gunboat Vigilante. The member of parliament, Antonio Galves Aree, the chief of the movement, went on board the Vigilante to Torrevieja for funds, and in coming into port yesterday morning was seized by the Prussian iron-clad ship Federico Car los, (Friederich Karl,) mounted with sixteen heavy guns, and commanded by Captain Werner. This has been done on the strength of the decree issued by the Spanish government declaring said vessels to be considered as pirates. The Vigilante was immediately manned by a Prussian crew, and hoisted the Prussian flag, and the Spanish crew were retained by the Prussians. Immediately the news came on shore the whole of the town was in a most alarming state, and actually many threats were given to the Prussian consul, who had to go on board of his vessel with his family. General Contreras summoned all consuls of this locality to inquire if we had received any instructions from our respective governments to hostile vessels belonging to, as they term themselves, the Canton Murciano, to which we all answered in the negative. Then he appointed a deputation, composed of the members of parliament, Sanvalle, Caravajal, and some members of the Junta de Salud Publica, to go on board of the Federico Carlos and arrange matters. This was at once done, and the result has been, that they, together with Galves, came to the conclusion, and signed an act to the effect, that the Vigilante was legally seized, not having on board any official documents nor crew, in consideration of which Galves and his crew were left at liberty, together with the funds they had, and the Vigilante, under the Prussian flag, left yesterday afternoon for Gibraltar. The Prussian consul leaves to-day for Madrid, with the act signed in proper order. In consequence of the before stated, and as very likely we will be called again, I beg CIRILO MOLINA Y CROS. [Inclosure F.-Translation.] General Contreras to Mr. Cirilo Molina. (Appendix 1.-Mr. Molina's letter.) FEDERAL ARMY, CANTON OF MURCIA. I have the honor to transmit the accompanying note to you as the representative in this port of the government of your nation, in order that you may be pleased to give it due course, and requesting you to kindly acknowledge its receipt. Health and federation. CARTAGENA, July 23, 1873. To the UNITED STATES CONSUL. The General-in-chief, [Inclosure G.-Translation.] Circular of General Contreras to the consular body in Cartagena, dated July 23, 1873. [Inclosed with appendix 1, Mr. Molina's letter.] The Constituent Cortes having proclaimed the federal republic as the form of goverument of the Spanish nation, the people looked for the fulfillment of that solemn pledge with all the speed that their anxiety and their enduring efforts in the cause of federalism merited, and on beholding a month and a half pass by without either the Cortes or the government performing even the most insignificant act in favor of the speedy establishment of the federal cantons, the Spanish provinces wherein the liberal spirit has ever attained, its highest development erected themselves into cantons without thereby entirely refusing to recognize the powers of the Constituent Cortes. One of the provinces, that of Murcia, joined to its declaration of cantonal independence the naval forces of this port and a portion of the army, and with these tendered her aid to the spontaneous movement begun in the neighboring provinces, when she was surprised by the decree of the central government declaring the sailors who had joined the people pirates, and invoking the aid of foreign powers to prevent the people from realizing the fulfillment of the solemn constitutional enactment. The committees (juntas) of the Murcian canton cannot believe that the powers friendly to Spain will intervene in a pending question between two political groups which as yet have not declared mutual hostility. They cannot believe that the navies of enlightened nations will come to interfere in differences involving no great or transcendental issues for the future, when in other civil struggles, disastrous in their effects and protracted in their duration, no intervention has taken place. But our position demands a declaration of the fundamental facts of the present movement, not by way of convincing foreign powers, but as a refutation of the bases on which the forces of friendly nations might rely for intervention in our acts. The attitude of the Murcian canton, like that of the others proclaimed in Spain, is sustained and justified by sixty representatives of the nation holding seats in the Constituent Cortes. And there, where the sovereignty of the people is embodied in the three hundred and fifty-eight deputies legally proclaimed, the attitudes of our cantons cannot well signify a transcendental crime when a fifth part of the representatives of the nation justify our acts. Seven of them are now in this canton, legalizing by their presence all that is done here. Five are in the neighboring canton of Valencia, who authorize the realization of the constitutional resolution, and all who, both in Madrid or in the provinces, have made declarations favorable to the immediate organization of the cantons are ready to sustain them on all occasions. If, therefore, a simple question of procedure separates the cantonal authorities from the system established by the Cortes, can this be an adequate motive to call forth a declaration of civil war against whole provinces animated by the memory of the ener getic struggle of eighteen hundred and eight in the cause of our independence? The cantonal committee has declared treasonable the executive power of Madrid, or its decree of foreign intervention. The Spanish federation holds the fortified cities of Cartagena and Cadiz, and of Marcia, with the important cities of Seville, Valencia, Alicante, Jaen, Granada, and a multitude of the intervening towns, and therefore we have a right to demand that our acts be respected. On the other hand the cantonal authorities have the full assurance that foreigners resident in the territory, under their jurisdiction, shall not be molested in the least degree, and pledge themselves to give them assurances for the future, because not only has the present prudent movement given rise to no acts of disturbance, and still less of bloodshed, but also because it has been an unequalled example of wisdom and moderation. To the cantons belongs the right to ask for the fulfillment of the constitutional resolution. Justice is on their side because the cry raised by the people in aid of the government that convened the Cortes is now repeated by the cantons; and, lastly, abundant reason is on their side when they demand respect and consideration from foreign powers because of the proportions of the movement, the order with which it has been realized, and the facility with which all the authorities of the cantons continue in the full exercise of their powers. Founding his action on these considerations, the undersigned, captain-general of the federal republic of Spain, general-in-chief of its army and navy, fully authorized by the first temporary authorities thereof to treat with the representatives of foreign powers, requests them to suspend the action they are called upon to execute by the decree of the government of Madrid of the 21st (20th) instant, and to maintain meanwhile all customary consideration toward the constituted authorities of the cantons of the Spanish federation. JUAN CONTRERAS. I wish for you many years of life and prosperity for those you represent. [Inclosure H.-Appendix to Mr. Molina's letter.-Translation.] Mr. Cirilo Molina to General Contreras. CONSULATE OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CARTAGENA. GENERAL: I have received the communication you are pleased to address me under to-day's date, accompanied by a document which you request me to transmit to my government, which I hasten to do forthwith. Up to this time I have received nocolmunication from my government concerning the decree of the minister of marine, of date 20th instant, published in the papers, and to which you refer in your communi cation. Until either I or the commanders of the war vessels of my nation receive instructions, you may rest assured of the amplest neutrality on my part. Receive, general, the assurances of my most distinguished consideration. |