No. 276.
Mr. Fish to Mr. Cushing.
Washington, June 4, 1875.
Sir: Your No. 388 has been received. I congratulate you upon what has been accomplished during the year of your stay in Madrid, and hope you may not be disappointed in your expectation of a speedy and satisfactory solution of all outstanding reclamations.
Concerning the case of General Burriel, to which you principally refer, it is quite natural that he should have retired from Madrid and should desire to avoid publicity.
After indemnity has been paid for acts which he claimed were justified by the authority of his government and after the enormity of military executions elsewhere has been brought home to the Spanish people, when practiced by the Carlists on their own soil, it must be expected [Page 514] that he would cease to be a prominent figure, and retire, temporarily or permanently, into obscurity. Still, under these circumstances, obscurity is a refuge, not a punishment. During all this negotiation I have been of the opinion that the government of Spain, both on account of the positive agreement in the protocol and on general grounds, ought not to allow the principal offender to remain unpunished.
I am still of this opinion. Moreover, it seems to me to be greatly to the interest of both countries that no one should be afforded the opportunity of saying that Spain has left an important part of the protocol unfulfilled.
At the same time I am quite content to leave the question as to the manner and time of its further presentation to your good judgment.
I am, &c.,