The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-08-22
The Cuban Struggle from Spanish
Points OF View.

folmts OF view.
The letter from Spain, printed in other
columns, gives copious account OF de-
bate in the Cortes which throws valuable
light ON the state of Spanish feeling re-
specting the instruction which has so long
bafiied the authorities in Cuba We do not
attach as much importance to tho In
trepid opposition of General Salamanca to
the conduct Of the war as our correspond
ent seems to do. His vigorous assault
made great sensation only because OF
its boldness and because it required so
much moral and political courage to
make it. General Salamanca fought his
battle single handed, having not a single
ally in the Cortes nor any supporters In the
press or public opinion Of the country, and
yet the Ministry SO dreaded him and the
disclosures he was prepared to make that
they were forced into great deal Of par
liamentary twisting and squirning to avoid
facing his demand for information. 1t was
his purpose to call the government to ac-
count for its mode OF conducting the war
which has been waged against the Cuban
insurgents for eight or nine years at
enormous expense with no perceptible sue
cess. Instead of meeting him with frank
explanations, as the government would
naturally have done if it felt it had
a good case, it resorted to frivolous ex-
cuses for postponing the subject and parry
ing General Salamancas inquiries. The
fact that one man could put whole
al hxr ha
nous Cortes into such hutter betrayed
their consciousness that he was able to state
facts which they were not prepared to face.
But before drawing interences we must
consider what it was that General Salamanca
protested his ability to prove. 1t was not
by any means that the instruction which
has stood its ground since 1859 is too strong
to be subdusd, although the vain sacrifices
Of life and treasure for so long period
tend to that conclusion, but that the manage
ment Of the war has been tissue OF
blunders tainted with corruption. If this
opinion of General Salamanca is correct it
is ground of hope for Spain as well as OF
reproach for her rulers. The whole texture
OF General Salamanca's charges imply that
the war might have been successful if
honestly and skilfully conducted, and that
all that is needed is q better organized
system of operations. He does, indeed, hint
that if the imbecility and corruption Of the
last eight years are to continue Cuba will
90 the way Of the South American col
onies but he does not think this dis
graceful mismanagement past remedy. He
maintains that in any other government
such uniform succession Of failures would
have led to a parliamentary scrutiny Of
the conduct of the war, and the protested
object of his inquiry is to reform abuses and
thereby insure success. Even from General
Salamanca's point OF view there would be
no justification for abandoning Cuba to the
insurgents In the whole Spanish mind
there is vigorous, passionate unanimity
as to the necessity Of retaining the island,
and SO long as this feeling prevails the
struggle is not likely to end, except by the
subjugation Of the insurgents.
The chief significance Of this remark
able debate, as we estimate it, does not lie
in the boldness Of General Salamanca's
arraignment of the government, but in the
expectations held forth by the Ministry as
to the success of this years campaign.
They object to an inquiry now, and refuse
explanations now, on the ground that they
would be ill-timed and premature in the
midst of operations which are expected to
result in decisive success. General Sala-
manca replied, with annoying pertinence,
that precisely the same expectation had
been held out in connection with the CAM
paign of every season, and that all these
successive vaunts had been falsitied by
events.
There is no reason to doubt the state
ment of the Ministry that u strong and
formidable effort is to be made in the cam
paign Of the approaching autumn. In ad-
dition to the Spanish army already in Cuba
O fresh force of fifteen thousand troops is to
be sent over in September, and there are
ample funds for the occasion, as the last
loan is yet untouched. Strong confidence is
expressed in the skill of the generals now
in command, and the Ministry is apparently
ready to stake it's reputation on the success
of the immediate campaign. TO outsiders
this expectation does not seem quite absurd,
Notwithstanding the ignominious failure of
so many similar predictions. Since the be-
ginning OF the Cuban instruction Spain
has had two revolutions and o formidable
civil war at home. She is at length free
from those internal troubles and the drain
on her resources which they entailed and
after the short period OF repose and recuper-
alton which has interviewed she ought to be
in better position to deal efficiently with
Cuba than at any previous time since
the breaking out of the instruction.
The strong confidence of the Ministry that
they will end it this year ought not then,
perhaps, to be classed with former Spanish
boasts of the same kind. But General Sala-