The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-13
lSPALN AND nLrRA


ution drag their slow lengths along and they
drag along so slowly that they scarcely seem
to move at all. In Spain the Regent and his
conductors have their hands more than full
with the entangled condition of their affairs.
The enemies Of the new dspensation are
working with secrecy and energy to obtain
the power of the State, and the whole infu-
ence of the clergy is given in favor of the
most dangerous aspirant to the vacant throne
that has yet appeared. The regency itself is
considered to be but temporary expedient
and it fails to command the confidence of the
people as a settled government would, and
each days delay only serves to excite discon-
tent and to increase the danger of counter
revolution which will overturn all the work of
the past year. cable despatch this morn
ing states that the treasury is empty, that it
is impossible to collect the taxes and that
popular discomfort is universal.
With these difficulties at home, Spain is
plagued by an insumection abroad which
threatens to cause her the loss of her most
valuable colony, and she can afford neither
the men nor the money to put it down. In
Cuba the insurrectionists and their opponents
do not appear to make any advance of inn
portance either way, although it is obvious
that each days delay conduces to the ad-
vantage of the former. Indeed, the Spaniards
have apparently given up the island as lost to
them, and although there has been no deci-
sive announcement, yet rumors come across
the Atlantic from time to time which
seem to indicate that the Gov
ernment is disposed to give up Cuba
and to make the best possible terms for them
selves in so doing. Unless a very great change
should take place in Spanish home affairs, it
will be practically impossible for the home
Government to send any large body of troops
to Cuba; and the various reports about selling
the island to the United States, giving it
up to the Cubans themselves for sum to be
guaranteed by the United States, and others
OF like character, appear to be intended to
prepare the public mind for a practical ac-
acknowledgement that it will be impossible for
the mother country to hold the island
longer. At the same time, to give up
Cuba under any circumstances would
be a dangerous experiment for the
regency. The national pride is involved in
retaining it, and to a large number even of
the most Intelligent people no explanation
would be satisfactory 1t must be acknow-
lodged that the situation of the Regent is one
of great and peculiar difficulty, and he is
entitled to the sympathies and regards of con-
siderate men in all quarters of the world: he
is apparently exerting himself to the best of
his ability to place the liberties of Spain on
sure foundation, and his shortcomings are due
in alprobability to the peculiar character of the
people and to other circumstances wholly
beyond his CONTROL rather than to a want of
energy, ability, and patriotism his part.
If he were ambitious he might, by vigorous
policy, reduce order out of the present chaos,
and establish himself on the throne; but, thus
far at least, he appears to have been actuated
by none but the purest motives, and his adj
ministration, therefore, lacks something of
the force which a more unscrupulous man
would infuse into it. So far as Cuba is con-
cerned, its loss will be practical gain to
Spain; and it is probable that it will be given
up in despite of the unpopularity which it
will bring upon the Government.