Our War with Spain

OUR WAR WITH SPAIN.

BY RICHARD H. TITHERINGTON.

THK STORY OK THK STRUGGI.IC IN WHICH TIIK UNITIJD STATICS HAS WON" SO RKMARKABI^K A TRIUMPH, OPIJNING A NKW KRA OF OUR NATIONAL liXPANSION—TIIi; THIRD INSTALMIVNT SKKTCHKS Tin; MOA'ICMUNT OF FVUNTS UP TO THIC STRIKING OF THIi HOUR F'OR INTICRA'IJNTION IN CUBA, AND THE FINAL DFFINITION OI' THF: ISSUKS UPON WHICH THli SWORD WAS DRAWN.

HE destruction of the Alainc in as a friendly visit, and there had been T Havana harbor, on the night of no sign of a hostile demonstration, yet February 15, 1898, was a tragedy as the situation was such that her com extraordinary as it was starthng and mander had ordered an extra degree of momentous. The vessel, a battleship of watchfulness on the part of all those 6,682 tons, lay at the buoy assigned her responsible for the care of the ship. by the authorities of the port. Al There had been no alarm of any sort though her errand had been announced when, without a moment's warning.

GENERAL MAXIMO GOMICZ, COMMANDICR IN CHIEF GKNhKAl. CALIXIO GARCIA, COMMANDER OF THE OF THE CI'BAN INSURGEXrS- , INSURGE.N'TS IN SANTIAGO PROVINCE.

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from deep down in the bowels of the the ship had been blown up. The cap vessel, there came the shock and roar tain ran on deck, and ordered the maga of a tremendous explosion—or rather zines to be flooded; but the magazines, of two explosions with a brief but dis partl}^ exploded, were already filled by tinct interval—instantly transforming the water that rushed through the rent the entire forward part of the Maine frame of the vessel.

\.'reck of the .\I,ui ClCXiCK.YL VIi;\V OF THE CITY AND HARBOR OP HAVANA—

into a shattered wreck, scattering The Maine was blazing fiercely and debris over other vessels anchored in sinking fast. In a few minutes she had the harbor, and breaking windows and settled down in about thirty feet of extinguishing lights along the water water, her upper works, a mass of front of the city. wreckage, remaining above the surface, Captain Sigsbee was sitting in his and continuing to burn, with occasional cabin, writing a letter, when the up explosions of ammunition, for four heaval came. Before he reached the hours more. Three of her boats, which door an orderly, from whom no explo hung aft, were intact, and were sion could shock the habit of discipline, launched before she sank ,• and in these, marched in and formally reported that and in boats from two neighboring ves sels—the Spanish cruiser Alfonso XII and the American steamer City of Washington, of the Ward line—the survivors were carried ashore. Most of the crew, whose quarters were di rectly above the seat of the explosion, were instantly killed, or were drowned with the sinking ship, the total loss be- mg 260 men, including two officers. Lieutenant Jenkins and Engineer Mer- ritt. A third officer, Lieutenant Blan- din, died some months after from causes attributed to the shock of the disaster.

SORROW AND ANGKR IN AMERICA. To his brief announcement of the loss of his ship, cabled as soon as he went ashore. Captain Sigsbee added the sen tence : BARTOLOMEO MA6.SO, PRESIDENT OF THE CUBAN Public opinion should be suspended until INSURGENT GOVERNMENT 1897-1898. further proof.

PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED OUR WAR WITH SPAIN. 431 The circumstances were such that a in time to prevent disaster, although suspension of tlie popular judgment some of the shells it contained had ac- was impossible. The case was one tliat tuall}' been charred by the heat. decided itself. The simple fact that an .Ar.iong other cases cited was that of American n:an of war had gone to a the liritish man of war Dotterel, de- Spanish port, and there, moored in tlie stroycd in the Straits of Magellan, in

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fabaiias Castle. -AS si:i;x FKoii THE SUBURB OP RECI.A, EAST OF THK UAREOR. sjjot assigned by Spanish officials, had 1873, by ati explosion which remained been destroyed by a nocturnal explo a mystery until it was traced to the sion, led inevitably to one conclusion. paint room, where a dangerous inflam At another time it might have been mable gas had generated. possible to consider, as was urged by a technical journal,* that " the combina SPANISH TRI5ACIIKRY AI^liAlGNKD. tion of steam, electricity, high ex But no technical plea of the possi plosives, and coal that may become self bility of accident to the Maine could igniting, is not a happy one, and the avail against the overwhelming sus- most exact precatitions against acci dents may fail at times, as they have in the case of other vessels." There had been narrow escapes from disastrous ex plosions on at least three others of our new steel war ships, due to the esca|)e. in the coal bunkers, of the gas that causes " fire damp" explosions in mines—a gas which, innocuous in the open air, is a very dangerous explosive vdien it accumulates in a confined space. About two years l)efore, while she was stationed at Key West, some of the Cincinnati's coal was fired by spon taneous combustion, and the steel bulkhead which—just as in the Maine— separated the bunker from a maga zine full of projectiles and ammunition became red hot. The imminent peril was revealed only by a tiny curl of smoke, and the magazine was flooded

SALVADOR CISNKROS BKTANCOURT, MARQUIS OP * 77;;? Army and Nazy Journal, February SANTA LUCIA, PRESIDENT OF THE CUBAN 19, 1898. INSURGENT GOVERNMENT 1895-1897.

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J'RAXEDKS MATKO SA(;A,STA, I'RIOIIER OF SPAIN. BORN IX 1S27, AND EDUCATED A,S AN ENGINEER, Sl.NOR .SAGASTA ENTERED THE CORTES IX 1854, AND I'OR TWENTY YEARS HAS BEEN THE LEADER OF THE SPANISH LIBERALS. From a photograpji by Debas, Madrid, picion—nay, the practical certainty— The sinking of the Maine meant war engendered by tlie broad facts of the between the United States and Spain. case. She had been destroyed, by de That soon became evident even to those liberate and fiendish trcaclicry, and her who least desired hostilities. But war destroyers must be brought to ac was not to be proclaimed without count. That was the verdict rendered proper formalities, and these could not by a public opinion so strong, so imani- ])roceed with undignified haste. They mous, so earnest, that no official au might have moved faster had our armed thority, however anxious to avoid a forces been better prepared. The game conflict so long as an honorable way of was in our hands, but we were not escaping it was to be found, could re ready to play the trump card that our strain the voice of national indignation. vast and imdoubted superiority of 10 SI

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strength gave us. Every day's delay tain Chadwick, Lieutenant Com enabled us to organize that strength mander ;\Iarix, and Lieutenant Com for action, and much invaluable work mander Potter. Their sessions began in was accomplished during those eight Havana harbor, on board the light weeks of suspense, when impatient house tender Mangrove, which brought critics were denouncing the administra- them from Kev West, on the 21st of

CwiVif'....- . -, 'rsS™"" .' ' CUSHMAN K. I) WIS, IMllD STATES Sli.XATOR FKO-M :MIXXESOTA, CHAIRMAN OF THK SFXATE COMMITTH, ON KIRFICN AFFAIRS, AND AFTHOR OF THE REPORT OE" APRIL 13, l8gS, ON A\HIeH eoNOKI SS BASED ITS RESOLUTION E'OR ARMED INTERVICNTIOX. Friyjii a j>hoto^rnph by Bell, IVasJiij/gton. tion for its supposedly timid and half February. Divers and wrecking ap hearted policy. paratus had already been sent from the United States, but it was soon de TIIi; COilMISSIOX OI-' IXOUIKV. termined that the ]\Iaine could not be The President's first step was the raised. About a hundred of her dead natural and regular one of appointing were never recovered from the wreck; a conunission of inquirv to make a the rest were buried in the Cristobal formal report on the disaster. Four Colon cemetery, the funeral of those naval officers of ability and experience first found being attended by a great were selected—Captain Sampson, Cap- demonstration of public svmpathy.

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HOW A WARSHIP COALS AT SEA—THE CRUISER CIXCIXXATI TAKING A SUPPLY OF FUEL FROM A COLLIER OFF THE; CUBAN COAST, APRIL, 1898. From a photograph l>y Byro7t, New I 'ork.

The commission of inquiry sat for Havana from Matanzas (March 9). twenty tliree days in Havana harbor The Spanish cruiser Vizcaya entered and at Key West, closely following the the harbor a few days earlier. To keep work of the divers, and examining of up the polite fiction of the Maine's ficers and men of the Maine and a few " friendly visit " to Havana, the Vizcaya others who had been near the scene of had been dispatched to New York, to the disaster. No Spanish witnesses return the courtesy. She had arrived were summoned, and suggestions for a there in time to hear of the destruction joint inquiry were declined; but no ob of the American vessel (February 18), jection was made to the inspection of and had spent a week in the port, the wreck by Havana divers, whose evi watchfully guarded by the metropolitan dence was taken by a Spanish board police, before sailing for Havana, appointed on the night of the explosion. where she was joined on March 5 by During the inquiry the ^Montgomery, her sister ship, the Almirante Oquendo which had been ordered to Cuban —doomed to share her fate in Samp waters with the Elaine, arrived at son's marine graveyard at Santiago.

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Awaited with intense eagerness by suggested by honor and the friendly relations of Congress and the country at large, the the two governments. commission's report—signed by Cap It will be the duty of the executive to advise Congress of the result, and in the mean time de tain Sampson as president and Lieuten liberate consideration is invoked. ant Commander Marix as judge advo cate—was dehvered to the President on PREPARATIONS FOR WAR. the 2ist of Alarch, but was not trans- This was highly unsatisfactory to-

GENERAL STEWART I.. WOODFORD, AMERICAN MINISTER TO SPAIN. /•ram a fwtografh hy Anderson, Nem York. mitted to Congress until the 28th. that portion of the American public The message that accompanied it was which retains its old time appetite for brief, formal, and non committal, re flamboyant oratory. Our lack of prep citing the facts ascertained by' the aration for hostilities was not generally court, and concluding: appreciated, even by those who should I have directed that the finding of the court have understood it; and fiery spirits in of inquiry and the views of this government thereon be communicated to the government of Congress and in journalism continued her majesty the queen regent, and I do not per to talk war with the " light heart " with mit myself to doubt that the sense of justice of which Emile Ollivier, in 1870, sent the the Spanish nation will dictate a course of action unready legions of France against the

PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED OUR WAR WITH SPAIN. 439 perfectly organized armies of Germany. " I do not tliink," declared a Senator, on the 28th of March—and his easy confidence was by no means excep tional—'• that any war measure will be necessary, except to blockade two or three Cuban ports and compel their capitulation." The President's utter ances and actions were in a different spirit. As befitted his vastly greater responsibilities as the official head of the government, he moved with a dig nified deliberation; as commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States, he was preparing for the de cisive moment with the whole energies and resources of the government. The army and navy departments—the lat ter, it would seem in the light of later revelations, working with the greater foresight and efficiency—were busily making ready for hostilities. Enlist ments were hastened, the navy yards and arsenals worked day and night, SENOR AUXOX, ^UNISTER OF MARINE IN SAGAST.A'S CABINET. guns and ammunition were hurried to From a photograpll by F'cr7iaiidez, I\Iadrid, strategic points, orders were placed for all kinds of military material. As early as the 9th of March, a trusted agent (Commander Brownson) was sent to Europe to make purchases ^^^ffi^tt^y^ abroad. Had all this, which of course was done as ciuietly as possible, been more widely known at the time, dt might have silenced the popular iiii- patience.

MII,I,IONS FOR DEFKXSi;. Congress, as well as the administra tion, deserves a share of the credit for these wise and patriotic efforts. On the 7th of ]\Iarch, as the result of a confer ence at the White House—the most important participants being Secre taries Day and Eong, Senator Hale, chairman of the Senate committee on naval affairs, and Representative Ding- ley, chairman of the House committee on ways and means—Representative Cannon introduced a briefiy worded bill appropriating $50,000,000 " for the na GEXERAL LUIS M.\NrEL I'.A.XDO, CHIEF OF STAFF TO CAPTAIN GFXRRAL BLAXCO. tional defense and for each and every From a pkotL!g;raph ly Feyfiaiidez, Madrid. purpose connected therewith, to be ex-

PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED AVILLIAM MCKINLEY, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE^ rXITED STATES ARMY AND NAVY. From a photograph— Copyrighted by Baker''s Art Gallery, Cohmibus, Ohio. " In the name of humanity, in the name of civilization, in belialf of endangered American interests which give us tlie rlsiit and the duty to speak and to act, t!ie war in Cuba must stop."—President ^IcKinley's message of April ii, J8Q8.

PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED OUR WAR WITH SPAIN. 441 pended at the discretion of the Presi If the country enters upon war, we want that war to be a popular one. To make it so, the dent." The appropriation was passed patriots of the land must be invited to take part by the House, on the 8th, by a vote of in it, as they have done in all previous wars. 311 to o—a signal demonstration of the Had the Hull bill been passed, we fact that all political parties were united should have had, even at the eleventh in support of a firm policy—and by the hour, a regular army large enough to Senate, on the 9th, without change or conquer the Spanish colonies, while our debate. militia could have been relied on for Another valuable preparatory meas service as a home guard. The suffer ure was the Hawley bill, passed by the ings of the volunteers in the field and Senate on the 22nd of February, and in camp would have been minimized or approved by the House on the 7th of entirely avoided, and we should have March, adding to the army two regi escaped most of the unpleasant de ments of artillery, urgently needed to velopments that have tarnished the man our coast defenses. glory of our victory. If the lessons of THE; FAILURE; OK THE; HULL BILL. the war with Spain are heeded, as those of previous wars have not been, we It is very greatly to be regretted that shall have an adequate force of trained a bill providing for a much larger in regulars for the next emergency, in crease, reorganizing our regular forces stead of depending upon a hasty " in and augmenting them to 104,600 men vitation " to the " patriots of the land." —four times their present numbers— failed of passage, meeting with an op THE REPORT OF THE MAINE BOARD. position that might seem unaccount The proceedings of the Maine com able were it not of a piece with the his mission had been carefully kept from torical policy of Congress. Ever since the public until the report was pub- the ending of the Revolutionary War, Hshed on the 28th of March. It was when it reduced the Continental Army another comparatively brief and formal to eighty men, and refused to send gar document, giving a general descrip risons to the frontier posts surrendered tion of the condition and discipline of by the British,* our national legislature the ship and crew previous to the ex has shown an extraordinary jealousy plosion, a technical summary of the in of a standing force. The statesmen of juries she had received, and the follow 1784 may be excused for fearing that ing momentous verdict: such a body might one day subvert their hardly won popular liberties, as it The court finds that the loss of the Maine was had done in ancient Rome; but in 1898 not in any respect due to fault or negligence on the part of any of the ofiicers or members of the prudence seems to have degenerated crew of said vessel. into prejudice. In the debate upon the In the opinion of the court the Maine was de Hull bill—so named after the chairman stroyed by the explosion of a submarine mine, which caused the partial explosion of two or of the committee on military affairs, more of her forward magazines. who fathered it in the House—Repre The court has been unable to obtain evidence fixing the responsibility for the destruction of sentative Lewis of Washington is re the Maine upon any person or persons. ported as describing our regular army as consisting of " gilded military sa The commission had been able to traps on the one hand and tasseled so gather comparatively little definite and ciety sapheads on the other." Mr. positive evidence; and no ray of light Hepburn of Iowa voiced the traditional has since been thrown upon the sub sentiment of Congress when he said, in ject. Only one of the Maine survivors the same debate (April 6): was actually an eye v.dtness of the ex plosion—Marine William Anthony, * McMasters History of the People of the United States, Vol. I, p. 186. who testified that he saw " an immense

PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED 442 MUNSEY'S MAGAZINE. shoot of flame " and " debris going up of the island of Minorca. There had with it," but did not notice any column been an official search of the harbor of water, such as might have been ex early in the morning after the disaster, pected to be thrown into the air by a and no dead fish had been found—a submarine mine. Captain Teasdale point on which the Spaniards laid much of the British baric Deva, anchored near stress, but which was, at best, negative the destroyed battleship, " saw no wave and inconclusive. Their conclusion, of after the explosion "—another negative course, was that the catastrophe was piece of testimony. On the other hand, due to internal causes; and this was the divers—whose work was accom confirmed by the statement, officially plished under great difficulties, owing made through the Spanish legation at to the terribly shattered condition of Washington, that no mines had ever the wreck and its rapid settling in the been placed in the harbor of Havana. soft bottom of the harbor—testified positively to finding a hole in the mud THE MYSTERY THAT REMAINS. under the Maine's bow, and some of There is much about the destruction her bottom plates bent inward and of the Maine that still remains unex thrust upward; and this testimony, no plained. The Spaniards have only doubt, was conclusive with the board of themselves to blame if their official re inquiry. .One diver spoke of wires and ports are disbelieved and disregarded. pieces of plate, not belonging to the The investigation by the American ship, lying near her in the mud—not a naval officers was to a certain extent very suspicious circumstance in so fre an ex parte inquiry. Those who virtu quented a harbor. A large piece of ally stood before it as men accused of a cement found on the deck of the City frightful crime—the official authorities of Washington after the explosion, and of Havana—were not, and could not be, at first supposed to have come from the represented by counsel. Had they Maine's bottom—which would have been so represented, it is at least con been striking evidence—was after ceivable that the evidence on which the wards identified as part of the floor of court based its findings might have a wash room on the berth deck. been modified at material points. The proceedings of the Spanish Those findings suggest interesting and board of inquiry were belittled by the important questions. A submarine American correspondents in Havana, mine powerful enough to destroy a war but they resulted in a voluminous re ship is no ordinary article of com port—it fills more than seventy pages merce. It costs hundreds, or even as a Congressional document—which thousands, of dollars; it weighs sev at least made a display of careful ex eral hundred pounds; it is not likely amination of such slight evidence as to be possessed or operated except with was procurable. The Spanish divers official authority and by expert hands. flatly contradicted the American divers. Who set so mighty an engine of de Witnesses from the Alfonso XII, struction under the keel of the Maine? moored only about a hundred and fifty Was it exploded there—exploded with yards from the Maine, and from the such fatal precision, such a maximum Legazpi, which lay at twice that dis of destructiveness—by some accident tance, testified that there was no dis of criminal carelessness, or by the foul turbance of the water, as from the ex est act of deliberate treachery that ever plosion of a mine. One of these blotted the name of Spain ? How was witnesses was Ensign Guillermo Far- it all accomplished without leaving be ragut, said to be connected by blood hind any apparent trace of telltale evi- with the famous American admiral, dence? If no later revelations answer whose father was a Spaniard, a native these questions, the loss of the Maine

PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED OUR WAR WITH SPAIN. 443 will go down in history as one of the certained by an impartial investigation most extraordinary and mysterious by experts, whose decision Spain ac events ever recorded. cepts in advance." To this no reply was made. On the nth of April the I'Hi; riwivA 01' Tii]-; POWERS. President sent to Congress his mes The last interlude in the drama, be sage reviewing the whole situation, re fore the government at Washington capitulating the position of our govern took the decisive and irrevocable step ment during Cuba's years of agony, for which it was preparitig, came on the and declaring that at last the hour for 7tli of April, when the representatives intervention had struck. It was an able of the six great powers of Europe, and dignified state paper, and of such headed by the senior ambassador. Sir importance as defining the issues upon Julian Pauncefote, called at the White which America stood ready to draw the House to present a joint note urging sword, that it deserves extended quota further negotiations for the maintenance tion. The opening paragraphs de of peace. Whether undertaken at the scribe the intolerable conditions exist request of Spain, or at the suggestion ing so close to our southern shores: of one of the powers, the proceeding— which miglit have carried an unpleas The present revolution is but the successor ol other similar insurrections which have occurred ant meaning as a hint of possible inter in Cuba against the dominion of Spain, extend vention in the coming struggle—was ing over a period of nearly half a century, each treated as simply a humane formality. of which, during its progress, has subjected the United States to great effort and expense in The President's reply was perfectly enforcing its neutrality laws, caused enormous courteous, but showed no sign of stirr losses to American trade and commerce, caused ing from the policy upon which he had irritation, annoyance, and disturbance among our citizens, and, by the exercise of cruel, bar now fully determined, and which he barous, and uncivilized practices of warfare, was to announce to the country and to shocked the sensibilities and offended the the world four days later: humane sympathies of our people. Since the present revolution began, in Febru The governnietit of the United States recog ary, 1895, this country has seen the fertile nizes the good will which has prompted the domain at our threshold ravaged by fire and friendly commutiication of the representatives sword in tlie course of a struggle unequaled in the of Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Great history of the island and rarely paralleled as to Britain, Italy, and Russia, as set forth in the the numbers of the combatants and the bitter address of your excellencies, and shares the ness of the contest by any revolution of modern hope therein expressed that the outcome of the times where a dependent people struggling to be situation in Cuba may be the maintenance of free have been opposed by the power of the peace between the United States and Spain by sovereign state. affording the necessary gfuarantees for the re- Our people have beheld a once prosperous establishment of order in the island, so ter community reduced to comparative want, its minating the chronic condition of disturbance lucrative commerce virtually paralyzed, its ex. there which so deeply injures the interests and ceptional productiveness diminished, its fields menaces the tranquillity of the American nation laid waste, its mills in ruins, and its people by the character and consequences of the struggle perishing by tens of thousands from hunger and thus kept up at our doors, besides shocking its destitution. We have found ourselves con sentiment of humanity. strained, in the observance of that strict neutral The government of the United States ap ity which our laws enjoin, and which the law of preciates the humanitarian and disinterested nations commands, to police our own waters character of the communication now made on and watch our own seaports in prevention of any behalf of the powers named, and for its part is unlawful act in aid of the Cubans. Our trade confident that equal appreciation will be shown has suffered; the capital invested by our citizens for its own earnest and unselfish endeavors to in Cuba has been largely lost, and the temper fulfil a duty to humanity by ending a situation and forbearance of our people have been so sorely the indefinite prolongation of which has become tried as to beget a perilous unrest among our insufferable. own citizens which has inevitably found its ex pression from time to time in the national legis THK I'RESIDlvN'r'S WAR MKSSACK. lature. The Spanish answer to the communi The war in Cuba is of sucli a nature that short of subjugation or extermination a final military cation of the verdict of the Maine board victory for either side seems impracticable. The was a proposal " that the facts be as alternative lies in the physical exhaustion of the

PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED 444 MUNSEY'S MAGAZINE. one or the other party, or perhaps of both—a a passage already quoted, and Mr. Mc- condition which in effect ended the Ten Years' War by the truce of Zanjon. The prospect of Kinley's earlier messages had reiterated such a protraction and conclusion of the present it. And as to our moral right to in strife is a contingency hardly to be contemplated tervene : with equanimity by the civilized world, and least of all by the United States, affected and injured The forcible intervention of the United States as we are, deeply and intimately, by its very as a neutral to stop the war, according to the existence. large dictates of humanity, and following many historical precedents where neighboring states The President then recounted his of have interfered to check the hopeless sacrifices fers of friendly mediation, which Spain of life by internecine conflicts beyond their had uniformly declined, and discussed borders, is justifiable on rational grounds. It involves ho.stile constraint upon both the parties an alternative course which had been to the contest, as well to enforce a truce as to so frequently urged in Congress—the guide the eventual settlement. recognition of the insurgents either as The grounds for such intervention may be briefly summarized as follows : belligerents or as an independent pow First. In the cause of humanity and to put an er. He pointed out that in avoiding end to the barbarities, bloodshed, starvation, this step he had followed the precedents and horrible miseries now existing there, and which the parties to the conflict are either unable clearly established by Jackson and or unwilling to stop or mitigate. It is no answer other chief magistrates, and had con to say this is all in another country, belonging to tinued the policy consistently main another nation, and is therefore none of our business. It is specially our duty, for it is right tained by his more recent predecessors at our door. before whom the same question had Second. We owe it to our citizens in Cuba to come—Presidents Grant and Cleve afford them that protection and indemnity for life and property which no government there land ; and he added, in a passage whose can or will afford, and to that end to terminate foresight will now be admitted: the conditions that deprive them of legal pro tection. Such recognition is not necessary in order to Third. The right to intervene may be justified enable the United States to intervene and pacify by the very serious injury to the commerce, the island. To commit this country now to the trade, and business of our people, and by the recognition of any particular government in wanton destruction of property and devastation Cuba might subject us to embarrassing condi of the island. tions of international obligation toward the Ifourth, and which is of the utmost import organization so recognized. In case of inter vention our conduct would be subject to the ance. The present condition of affairs in Cuba approval or disapproval of such government. is a constant menace to our peace, and entails We would be required to submit to its direction upon this government an enormous expense. and to assume to it the mere relation of a friendly With such a conflict waged for years in an island ally. so near us, and with which our people have such trade and business relations—where the lives and When it shall appear hereafter that there is liberty of our citizens are in constant danger within the island a government capable of per and their property destroyed and themselves forming the duties and discharging the functions ruined—where our trading vessels are liable to of a separate nation, and having, as a matter of seizure and are seized at our very door by war fact, the proper forms and attributes of nation ality, such government can be promptly and ships of a foreign nation ; the expeditions of readily recognized. filibustering that we are powerless to prevent altogether, and the irritating questions and en OUR DUTY TO INTERVENE;. tanglements thus arising—all these and others that I need not mention, with the resulting Recognition of the insurgents being- strained relations, are a constant menace to our peace, and compel (is to keep on a semi war inadmissible and inexpedient, and me footing with a nation with which we are at diation being declined, nothing but in peace. tervention remained. That the time All these sinister conditions had been would come for the United States to patiently endured until there came the take action, Spain had long ago been crowning and intolerable outrage of the warned. President Grant had declared destruction of an American battleship, that " the agency of others, either by while " reposing in the fancied security mediation or by intervention, seems to of a friendly harbor." be the only alternative which must The naval court of inquiry, which, it is need sooner or later be invoked." President less to say, commands the unqualified confidence Cleveland had repeated the warning, in of the government, was unanimous in its con-

PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED OUR WAR WITH SPAIN. 445 elusion that the destruction of the Maine was message said—as anything else but a caused by an exterior explosion, that of a sub marine mine. It did not assume to place the virtual declaration of hostilities. responsibility. That remains to be fixed. In any event, the destruction of the Maine, by SENATOR DAVIS' REPORT. whatever exterior cause, is a patent and impress ive proof of a state of things in Cuba that is Two days later (April 13) the Senate intolerable. That condition is thus shown to be committee on foreign affairs, to vv^hich such that the Spanish government cannot the President's two messages had been assure safety and security to a vessel of the American navy in the harbor of Havana on a referred, with several resolutions, most mission of peace, and rightfully there. of them in favor of recognizing the Cuban insurgents, presented its report. THE CAI^L TO ARMS. This, written by the chairman of the On all these convincing and carefully committee. Senator Davis, was another stated premises the President based his document of such historical importance concluding- call for immediate and de that its salient points must be cited cisive action: here. It first dealt with the situation The only hope of relief and repose from a con created by the destruction of the Maine, dition which can no longer be endured is the a catastrophe which enforced pacification of Cuba. In the name of humanity, in the name of civilization, in behalf excited to an unprecedented degree the com of endangered American interests which give us passion and resentment of the American people. the right and the duty to speak and to act, the The event itself, though in a certain sense a war in Cuba must stop. distinct occurrence, was linked with a series ol . . . I ask the Congress to authorize and precedent transactions which cannot in reason empower the President to take measures to secure be disconnected from it. It was the catastrophe a full and final termination of hostilities between of a unity of events extending over more than the government of Spain and the people of Cuba, three years of momentous historyj Standing by and to secure in the island the establishment of itself it would be, perhaps, merely an ominous a stable government, capable of maintaining calamity; considered, as it must be, with the order and observing its international obligations, events with which reason and common sense insuring peace and tranquillity and the security must connect it, and with animus by Spain so of its citizens as well as our own, and to use the plainly apparent that no one can even plausibly military and naval forces of the United States as deny its existence, it is merely one reason for the may be necessary for these purposes. conclusion to which the investigating mind must The issue is now with the Congress . . . come in considering the entire subject of the Prepared to execute every obligation imposed relations of the United States with that govern upon me by the constitution and the law, I await ment. your action. The message was received with a ANOTHER PLEA EOR RECOGNITION. marked and rather curious absence of Coming, then, to the policy proper enthusiasm. The impression it made in these untoward circumstances, the in Congress was one of disappointment. report took issue with the President's In the House, where it was read to opposition to any recognition of the in crowded galleries, it was greeted with surgents, and defended the constant only two faint outbursts of applause. moves—all of them fruitless—that Con It was not regarded as a call to arms, gress had made in this direction : though it certainly seems such as we The United States ought at once to recognize read it in the light of its consequences. the independence of the people of Cuba. . . . Many in Washington had expected a It is believed that recognition of the belliger ency of the insurgents in Cuba, if it had been direct and unqualified declaration of given seasonably, when it was suggested by con war with Spain; they were dissatisfied current resolutions to that effect passed by Con with a policy of intervention, seeing a gress, would have insured the speedy termina tion of the war without involving the United possible loophole in the fact that no States in the contest. date for action was fixed. It is difficult The recognition of the independence of the to see how they expected Spain to re people of Cuba is justified and demanded by the gard the announcement of forcible in highest considerations of duty, right, and policy. terposition—" hostile constraint tipon This very positive assertion was sup both the parties to the contest," the ported by a description of the " Cuban

PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED 446 MUNSEY'S MAGAZINE. republic " and its supposed established ter power had itself forcibly intervened control of the eastern half of the island. in Turkey to put a stop to flagrant mis- The insurgents hold the eastern portion of the government—and in 1867 the United island, to the practical exclusion of Spain. This States, " by threat and show of force " possession extends over one body of territory compelled France to evacuate Mexico. comprising fully one half of the area of Cuba. . . . . The insurgents comprise in the east Egypt, Crete, and Greece have fur ern half nearly one third of the population of nished further instances in point. the island. That third of the population pays After a final summary of the injuries taxes to them, serves in their armies, and in every way supports and is loyal to them. suffered by American interests, already The cause of Spain has continually grown stated in the President's message. Sen weaker, and that of the insurgents has grown ator Davis' report concluded by sub stronger. The former is making no substantial effort for the recovery of these lost provinces. mitting the following resolution: Their people are secure from invasion and cruel administration. Spain has never been able to sub Whereas, The abhorrent conditions which ject them to her unprecedented and murderous have existed for more than three years in the policy of concentration and extermination. island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have Her control over the western portion of the shocked the moral sense of the people of the island is dominance over a desolation which she United States, have been a disgrace to Christian herself has created. Even there she controls civilization, culminating, as they have, in the only the territory occupied by her cantonments destruction of a United States battleship, with and camps. 266 of its officers and crew,* while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana, and cannot longer This description accorded with the be endured, as has been set forth by the Presi prevalent impression of the existing dent of the United States in his mes.sage to Congress of April ii, 1898, upon which the ac state of affairs in Cuba, but it was quite tion of Congress was invited ; at variance with the facts given in the Therefore, Resolved by the Senate and House consular reports quoted on an earlier of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled : page,* and with the conditions which First. T.hat the people of the island of Cuba our forces _ found confronting them are, and of right ought to be, free and inde when the war began. The President's pendent. Second. That it is the duty of the United view was, as has been said before, the States to demand, and the government of the better informed one. United States does hereby demand, that tlie The plea for recognition of the insur government of Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the island of Cuba gents was little more than a thrashing and withdraw its land and naval forces from of old straw. The report touched a Cuba and Cuban waters. Third. That the President of the United more vital point in its justification of States be, and hereby is, directed and empowered intervention by sufficient precedents, to use the entire land and naval forces of the and by the opinions of authorities on United States and to call into the actual service of the United States the militia of the several international law. It pointed out that States to such an extent as may be necessary to the great political principles that guide carry these resolutions into effect. national policies in the old world and A MEMORABLE WEEK IN CONGRESS. in the new—the " balance of power " in Europe and the Monroe Doctrine in A week of vehement debate followed America—are distinct assertions of the in both branches of Congress. The right of intervention in certain contin House was the quicker to act, passing gencies. Under those principles, in a resolution, framed by its foreign af 1878, united Europe intervened be fairs committee, on the 13th of April, tween Turkey and Russia—which lat- after a discussion in which the strained feelings of the hour found expression in * Page 222 of the November MUNSEY. It is strauge that the committee's report should speak of the passages of violent disorder. The lie eastern provinces as having escaped the horrors of the war when our consular agents were giving such was passed between the two sides of the frightful pictures of their sufferings—sufferings far more severe than the distress of the western prov House; there was much shouting and inces, serious as that was. " I do not believe," Consul Hyatt wrote from Santiago, February i, 189S, shaking of fists; one Southern member "that the western continent has ever witnessed death by starvation equal to that which now exists * This seems to have been a slight inaccuracy. The la eastern Cuba." figures given by the Navy Department were 260.

PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED OUR WAR WITH SPAIN. 447 hurled a heavy book at an opponent, President's message and reaffirmed the and another ran along the top of a line Congressional antagonism to his policy of desks to plunge into the fray, which of non recognition. As Mr. McKinley was finally quieted by the sergeant at had very justly pointed out, it would arms. have ended our freedom of action in The resolution adopted amid such Cuba. Having once acknowledged the scenes of excitement was couched in authority of the insurgents, we could terms that were certainly sweeping and not have appeared in the island without vigorous. It declared that for three their permission, nor have acted except years Spain had waged war upon the at their direction. inhabitants of Cuba without making any substantial progress toward sup OUR SEL? DENYING ORDINANCE. pressing the revolution; that she had The other amendment, moved by conducted her warfare in a manner Senator Davis, was the addition of a contrary to the laws of nations, had fourth paragraph to the resolution: caused the death by starvation of more Fourth. That the United States hereby dis than two hundred thousand non com claims any disposition or intention to exercise batants, and had destroyed the lives and sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island, except for the pacification thereof, and property of many American citizens; asserts its determination when that is accom that the long series of losses, injuries, plished to leave the government and control of and murders for which Spain was re the island to its people. sponsible had culminated in the de With these amendments the Senate struction of the Maine. With all this as passed the resolution by a vote of 67 to a preamble, it authorized the President 21, on the night of April 16, after a con to intervene at once to stop the war in tinuous session of eleven hours. Cuba, " with the purpose of establish The difference between the House ing, by the free action of the people and Senate resolutions necessitating a thereof, a .stable and independent gov conference, the representatives of the ernment of their own." It passed the former branch agreed to the fourth House by 322 votes to 19, Represent paragraph, but refused to accept the ative Boutelle of Maine being the most recognition of the insurgents. The re prominent member of the minority. fusal, in spite of the strong feeling in The debate in the Senate was also favor of recognition that had always marked by an excitement rare in that existed in the House, was a fortunate dignified body, and the lie was passed and patriotic concession to the judg when one speaker alluded to another ment of the President, as well as a re Senator's visit to Cuba as the " com markable tribute to the influence of missioner " of a sensational New York Speaker Reed. It is to be regretted that newspaper. It ended in the adoption of the other Senate amendment could not the resolution submitted by the Senate also have been left off the record. Well foreign affairs committee, and already intentioned as was the disclaimer of de quoted at the conclusion of Senator sire for aggrandizement, and correctly Davis' report, with two notable amend as it expressed the feeling in which the ments. One was the addition—sug United States entered upon the war, it gested by a minority of the committee, is easy to see now that its wisdom was including Senators Foraker and Turpie doubtful. History moves rapidly in war —of the following words to the first time, and it is difficult to predict, before paragraph: drawing the sword, what policy will And that the government of the United States best meet the problems that may have hereby recognizes the republic of Cuba as the arisen when it is sheathed again. It true and lawful government of that island. would have been better to follow more This was in direct opposition to the .strictly the lines laid down in the Presi-

PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED 448 MUNSEY'S MAGAZINE. dent's message, and avoid all the " em the morning of the 20th, of the signing barrassing conditions" of which he of the joint resolution, and of the in spoke in warning. structions that had gone to General Woodford. He at once replied with a THU ULTIMATUM TO SPAIN. request for his passports. " The resolu The final debate took place on the tion," he wrote, " is of such a character 18th, lasting beyond midnight and end that my permanence in Washington be ing at half past one in the morning of comes impossible." At seven o'clock— the 19th, when the conference report after an interview with the ubiquitous was adopted by the House. The Presi newspaper correspondents, to whom he dent held the resolution for a day, add foretold victory for Spain in the coming ing his signature on the 20th, at 11.24 struggle—he took a train for the north. A. M., in the presence of most of his Police guarded the station to prevent cabinet. In accordance with its terms, any hostile demonstration, but none instructions were immediately sent to was attempted. His destination was General Woodford, United States min Niagara Falls, just over the Canadian ister at Madrid, to present to the Span frontier, whither Seiior du Bosc, first ish government a formal demand that it secretary of the legation, followed him should " at once relinquish its authority on the following day, leaving the affairs and government in the island of Cuba, of the Spanish government in the hands and withdraw its land and naval forces of the French ambassador, M. Cambon, from Cuba and Cuban waters." For a and the Austrian minister. Baron Hen- " full and satisfactory response," the gelmiiller. American ultimatum continued, the President would wait till noon on April SPAIN -BRKAKS OFF DIPLOMATIC EfiJ^A- 2'i,; in default of such reply, he would TIONS. use the power of the nation to carry it Meanwhile, there was great excite into efifect. ment in Madrid. On the 19th Seiior That Spain would comply with the Sagasta addressed a meeting of his sup demand was not to be expected. Al porters in the Cortes—which had been though diplomatically she had admitted summoned in special session—and that the conduct of the United States called on " all sons of Spain " to " repel during the Cuban civil war had been with the whole might of the nation a correct, she bitterly resented the fact most odious outrage, the like of which that the insurrection had been to a has never been seen in history." On great extent organized and directed the following day the boy king and his from this country, and assisted by il mother, the queen regent, went in per legal expeditions recruited here. She son to open the legislature, and their had been the subject of constant abuse, appearance was the signal for a great both just and unjust, in our newspapers demonstration of enthusiasm. Maria and in Congress. Her proud and sen Christina herself read the opening sitive people, ignorant of the real char speech to the Cortes, which body, she acter and resources of the American declared, would " undoubtedly indorse republic, would not have suftered her the invincible resolution which inspires statesmen to accept our terms even had my government to defend our rights they themselves desired to do so. Such with whatever sacrifices may be required a concession would have unseated Sa- from us." It is impossible not to feel gasta's ministry and upset little Alfon a touch of personal sympathy for this so's throne. hapless princess, a pathetic figure amid Sefior Polo, the Spanish minister at the troubles of her adopted country, Washington, was notified by a mes and never, perhaps, more pathetic than senger from the State Department, on when, on the eve of a disastrous war

PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED OUR WAR WITH SPAIN. 449 that was Spain's just punishment, she the ofhce of an American life insurance told the Cortes that " with the self de company. votion which always guided our an cestors in the great emergencies of our APRIL 21—WAR BEGINS. history, we will surmount the present Such were some of the incidents of crisis without loss of honor." the day that was to be memorable in The American ultimatum was never history as the first of the war; but its officially presented, for on the morning great and decisive event was the flash of April 21, before General Woodford ing of a brief message along the wire had handed it to the Spanish govern from Washington to Key West, where ment, he received a note from Pio Gul- the most powerful fleet of war ships lon, the minister for foreign affairs, in that ever floated in American waters forming him that diplomatic relations lay waiting with intense eagerness the were at an end. Congress, said Seiior word for action. Before entering upon Gullon, had passed a resolution which the mighty battle drama that ensued, it " denies the legitimate sovereignty of may be well to give a brief review of Spain and threatens immediate armed the forces that the combatants had intervention in Cuba—which is equiva marshaled for the struggle thus sig lent to a declaration of war." American naled to begin. newspapers saw in this another piece Four hundred years ago Spain rose of Spanish treachery, and declared that suddenly to the foremost place among the President's despatch to General the nations- but she fell almost as Woodford must have been surrep speedily, and in the present century titiously copied at the telegraph office she has not been reckoned as one of in Madrid; but the supposition is un the great powers of Europe. At the necessary. As already stated, the ultima beginning of 1898, her population was tum had been communicated to the estimated at eighteen millions—about Spanish legation in Washington twenty a quarter of that of the United States; four hours before, and Seiior Polo had and in other respects the disproportion no doubt promptly informed the home of her resources to ours was still great government of so momentous a piece er. Her one point of advantage—on of news. paper, at least—lay in the fact that she On the afternoon of the 2ist General had more trained soldiers than we had. Woodford left Madrid, leaving Ameri The issue of the conflict depended on can interests there in the hands of the the command of the sea, and her navy British ambassador, and instructing was weaker than ours, though the tre our consuls in the Spanish cities to take mendous inferiority it was to display similar steps. He was escorted to the under the guns of Dewey and Samp station by Seiior Aguilera, the gover son did not appear in the navy lists. nor of Madrid, who preserved an atti Almost overwhelmingly burdened with tude of grave Castilian courtesy till the debt, her government had neither train was moving away, when he led ready money nor credit—the sinews of the bystanders in cheering for Spain. modern war. Her financial condition, There was an unpleasant incident as indeed, was in itself a handicap that the departing minister passed through predetermined the result of her strug Valladolid, where a mob yelled " Death gle against her rich and powerful to the Yankees! " and threw stones at enemy from the day it began. the train, in spite of the efforts of the There is no boastfulness in saying local police. In IMadrid, that same eve that the American is a better fighter ning, excited crowds thronged the than the Spaniard. Napoleon stigma streets, and there was some disorder, a tized the British as a nation of shop gilded eagle being pulled down from keepers, and in that historical epigram

PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED 450 MUNSEY'S MAGAZINE. he unintentionally phrased the strength unfavorable—perhaps a too unfavor of the peoples whom we classify by able—opinion in the United States. the oft abused term of Anglo Saxon. Americans who saw them there des The qualities that win in the arts of cribed them as not lacking in bravery, peace will also win in the arts of war, but undisciplined, undrilled, and badly and the greater energy, intelligence, officered—criticisms that agree with and organizing power—in a word, the those made by Wellington during the superior business ability—of the men Peninsular war. They were wretched who speak the English language is marksmen, the correspondents said, setting them further and further ahead never doing target practice, and so of the Latin races in the struggle for careless in action that they seldom world wide dominion. raised their rifles to the shoulder, find Of all the Latin countries, Spain is ing it easier to fire with the butt held probably the least advanced, the most under the arm. They spoiled their medieval. Her people live primitively weapons by ignorant misuse, knocking by agriculture; her manufactures are ofi^ the sight, for instance, because they utterly insignificant in comparison to complained that it tore their clothes. the vast industrial forces of the United In the face of the American navy, States. In 1889, 68 per cent of her Spain had little prospect of sending any inhabitants were returned as illiterate. further reinforcement to her army in In such a soil good government does Cuba. The strength of her garrison not thrive, and she has ^ufifered sorely there, at the outbreak of the war, was from misrule and civil disorder. Her not known with anything like exacti lack of great men is sufficiently shown tude. According to Mr. Springer, vice by the disastrous ineptitude with which consul at Havana, official records her best soldiers and statesmen have showed that since February, 1895, she met the military and political emergen had despatched 237,000 men across the cies of the last three years. Atlantic ; a few of these had been killed in action, many thousands had died of THE ARMY OF SPAIN. disease, many more thousands had As in practically all the countries of been invalided home. Consul General continental Europe, Spain's army is Lee testified before the Senate foreign raised by conscription, 80,000 recruits affairs committee, on April 12, that being levied annually. Their term of there there were probably 97,000 or service is twelve years—three in the 98,000 Spanish troops then in the is line, three in the first reserve, six in the land, of whom only about 55 000 were second reserve. The full force of the capable of bearing arms. This was un army is nominally 1,083,595 men, but doubtedly an underestimate; 120,000 this is on paper only, as nothing like that men would probably have been nearer number could be equipped for service. the mark, besides the volunteers and The standing army is stated at 128,183 perhaps 10,000 guerrillas. on a peace footing, 183,972 on a war footing. The infantry is equipped with SPAIN'S NAVAL INI'ERIORITY. the Mauser, a good modern rifle that is It has been repeatedly stated that also used by the German and other Spain's naval power, on paper, was armies. It is of German make, a maga quite equal to ours; but the navy lists zine rifle of small caliber and great do not bear this out. Her total number range and power, using smokeless of vessels in service was given as 137, powder, and shooting five bullets with against our 86; but such figures mean out reloading. nothing. Of first rate men of war—the Of the morale of the Spanish soldiers, ships that win sea fights—she had in their ill success in Cuba had created an commission six against our nine, and

PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED FIREI.IGHT. 451 hers were individually inferior to ours, by the American newspapers, in March In our second line we had eleven good last, as part of Spain's hostile prepara modern steel cruisers—besides the tions. As a matter of fact the Colon New Orleans, bought just in time for was bought in 1897, an order being the war; she had only five that could placed with the same builders for a be classed as such. The rest of her sister ship, which is still on the stocks. navy consisted mainly of old iron and At the Spanish yards—the most im wooden vessels and of small gunboats portant are those at Cartagena, Cadiz, used in patrolling the Cuban coast. Ferrol, and Bilbao—some other ships Of her six first rates, only one was were building. Two were the unfin a battleship—the Pelayo, a steel vessel of ished cruisers Cardinal Cisneros and 9,900 tons, built at La Seyne (Toulon) Cataluna, similar to the Vizcaya class. eleven years ago and since fitted with Another, the Isabel la Catolica, a 3,000 new boilers. Another battleship, the ton cruiser, was to be paid for by a fund Emperador Carlos V, launched at raised in Mexico ; a third small cruiser, Cadiz in 1895, was at Havre, taking the Rio de la Plata, was building at her armament aboard. Spain had no Havre, as a gift from the Spaniards of other ship of this class in service or South America. None of these could building. be made ready for service; but two The fighting strength of the Spanish swift torpedo cruisers had just been navy lay in its armored cruisers. Nine completed in Thomson's yard, at Glas of these were listed, but two of the nine gow. In bringing them south, their were unfinished, and two—the Numan- Spanish crews ran afoul of the Irish cia and the Vittoria—were iron ships coast, and one was badly damaged. more than thirty years old, very slow, Never, since the days of the Armada, and practically useless for distant work. has Spain's navy been famed for good The other five cruisers were fine mod seamanship. Her people do not possess ern vessels. Four •— the Almirante the mechanical ability that is proverbi Oquendo, the Infanta Maria Teresa, ally an American characteristic; and in the Princesa de Asturias, and the Viz- handling so complicated a piece of ma caya—were sister ships, built in the chinery as the modern warship a lack Spanish yards during the last eight of intelligent care is speedily ruinous to years. Each was of 7,000 tons, with a efficiency. During the last three years speed stated at twenty knots an hour, her vessels had suffered many mishaps, and costing three million dollars. The and four had actually been lost—one fifth was the Cristobal Colon, built at being the cruiser Reina Regente, which Sestri, Italy, as the Giuseppe Garibaldi went down with all on board oS Cape II, the purchase of which was reported Trafalgar in 1895. (To be continued)

FIRELIGHT. WHENE'ER at evening on the pictured wall I watch the flickering firelight rise and fall, From out the changing shadowry there come The forms of those who marched to martyrdom- Unflinching souls no agony could tame, A martyr wraith for every tongue of flame! Clinton Scolhrd.

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