tspoken comments of the American press deeply wounded the sensitive
pride of the Spanish nation, which could ill brook anything that even in
the remotest degree savoured of censure, or of interference with its own
private affairs, the determination of that nation to manage those
affairs in such manner as seemed to it most fit led to many ill-advised
acts, tending to further strengthen the sympathy of the freedom-loving
American for the oppressed and persecuted Cuban--a sympathy which found
expression in the generous supply of munitions of war to the insurgents.
This feeling of mutual hostility was further strengthened about this
time--that is to say, in June of the year 1896--by what was spoken of at
the time as the _Competitor_ incident. The _Competitor_ was a vessel
manned by a crew consisting, with one solitary exception, of citizens of
the United States; and in the month above-named she was surprised and
captured on the north-west coast of the island by the Spanish
authorities, immediately after landing a cargo of arms and ammunition
destined for Maceo and his little army of patriots. The crew of the
ship were forthwith tried by court martial and sentenced to be shot: but
under the treaties existing between the United States and Spain it was
specially provided that, unless American citizens were actually in arms
against Spain when captured, they could only be proceeded against before
the ordinary tribunals; the United States, therefore, through General
Lee, its Consul-General in Havana, promptly intervened on behalf of the
crew, declaring that their trial by court martial was illegal. Spain as
promptly retorted that she was perfectly justified in the action which
she had taken, and manifested a very strong disposition to abide by the
decision of the court martial, and execute its sentence. But the United
States remained so inflexibly firm, and made it so clear that it would
tolerate no departure whatsoever from the terms of the treaty, that
Spain, after holding out as long as she dared, was at length compelled
to yield and order a new trial by ordinary process; with the result that
the ship's crew, after having been kept for a long time in prison, were
eventually released and expelled from the island. This incident greatly
embittered the relations between the two nations, Spain especially
resenting the humiliation of defeat; and there seems very little doubt
that it was the primal cause which led up to the Spanish