Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1896-01-09

aDNuL lily 1OuhiIJ
II 1t comes to fighting between Eng
land and Venezuela there will be some
fun and some hard knocks from an
unexpected quarter" With only $780,
900 people and no coast delenses to
speak of, England nigh. yet find 1t
easier to whip u country nearer her
own size on the other side of the
water. Venezuela 10 far beucr' uquip-
ped today to defend herself than Ahe
American colonies were In IT'S, and
has superior situation and natural
advantages that make her liicult for
an invading army to conducE ~ = he
North American colonists were peace
loving, but the smoke OF battle Is
the breath in the nostrils of the Ven
ezuean. With an earthquake on an
average OF once every six days, u
bombardment OF the capital would be
but trliling incident. There are DIFF
ficultles about that, too. England,
powerful, but taught by experience of
the doubtful advantage of even sue
cessful war ut long range declines
the challenge of every colonial contest.
IT, however, she sets aside the prcce-
dent of 100 years and attempts to settle
the boundary dispute with Venezuela
by force Of arms, this is the Kind of
people she viii have to fight and the
conditions under which she will have
to do It,
An insane, benighted, bigoted, fa-
natlcal blindness, riyaling that OF Don
Qulxote, marks the conduct Of the
Spanard In Spain; the slaves OF Spain
are damned In this world, whatever
comes to them In the next, but the
people who have freed Themselves
from Spain-and always by their own
unaided efforts fire eaters, and
lost eternally Ii the man OF them who
shows his back to an enemy. Their
courage IL of such description that
they dare be lngolent to superior force.
Not no long ago President Creapo, Of
Venezuela, gave the ambassadors of
England, France and Germany one
week to get out of Caracas. They got
out and nothing happened. Since 1897
no minister from Great Britain has
been received In the capital
In 1910 Spain owned the entire con
tinent of South America, with the eX-
ception of Brazil, which was portu-
guese possession, and French, Dutch
and British Guiana on the Caribbean
Sea. The extreme western boundary
of British territory was the Esequibo
River. In 1910 Spain was peculiarly
powerless in Europe; the Bourbons
had been succeeded by Joseph Bona
parte, the country was under French
tribute. tho priests robbed OF power.
Spain could torture and bleed nowhere
but beyond the seas Even when sick
almost to death, Spain has never
ceased to aim her feeble blows at her
progressive otfspringT
In the Spanish coldsAes the inqulsi-
ton was In force tltHDugh the first
quarter of the nineteenth century. The
grandees ruled with th@despotlsm of
the time of Isabella; hgretic was put
to the torture, republican hanged,
the builder of n factorypor ship or
developer Of mino was imprisoned
and his property contsmtod. The
colonies were kept agricultural TO con-
sumo the product of the raGtories and
maintain the commerce of spain, and
imposts and direct taxes rgplenished
the constantly depleted treasury of the
mother country. Tho native creole
population of partially Spanish cX-
traction, however wealthy and cult
waited, were treated with contempt by
Spanish officials, menaced bS'Rpunish
soldiers, progress defeated by Spanish
laws, confessed by Spanish priests In
short, the southern eontinentdpf the
western hemisphere WAS treated. much
MS Cuba was before the rebellion an !
will be again should the revolution be
n failure,
In 1910 Venezuelan creole Simon
Bolivar, returned to Caracas, the city
of earthquakes, with " bride from
Madrid. In the years he had passed
In European capitals, he had drunl,
deep of the revolutionary principles
everywhere rampant, He met IA Fay