_May 13._ In the Spanish Cortes, Señor Molinas, deputy for Porto Rico, protested against the bombardment of San Juan without notice, as an infringement of international usage. To this General Correa, Minister of War, replied that the conduct of the Americans was “vandalism,” and that the government “will bring their outrageous action under the notice of the powers.” He echoed Señor Molinas’s eulogy of the bravery of the Spanish troops and marines, and promised that the government would send its thanks. An authority on international law thus comments upon the bombardment, in the columns of the New York _Sun_: “There is nothing in the laws of war which requires notice of bombardment to be given to a fortified place, during the progress of war. When the Germans threatened to bombard Port au Prince, a few months ago, they gave a notice of a few hours, but in that case no state of war existed. Again, when Spain bombarded Valparaiso, in 1865, an hour’s interval was allowed between the blank charge that gave the notice, and the actual bombardment. But that interval was intended to allow Chili an opportunity to do the specific thing demanded, namely, to salute the Spanish flag, in atonement for a grievance. Besides, Valparaiso was wholly unfortified, and the guns were directed, not at military works, but at public buildings. “The case of San Juan was far different. Hostilities had been going on in Gulf waters for weeks, while, as Doctor Snow, the well-known authority on international law, says, ‘In case of war, the very fact of a place being fortified is evidence that at any time it is liable to attack, and the non-combatants residing within its limits must be prepared for a contingency of this kind.’ This is true, also, of the investment of fortified places by armies, where ‘if the assault is made, no notice is given, as surprise is essential to success.’ In the same spirit Halleck says that ‘every besieged place is for a time a military garrison; its inhabitants are converted into soldiers by the necessities of self-defence.’