The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1896-11-27
HER HORDE OF FOES.
cUeA'5 STRUGGLE" FOR FREEDOM
COMPARED WITH OUR OWN. ,

Forces Arraycd Against the Island Pa
triots Five Times More Numerous Than
Our Revolutionary Foes-The
dous Discrepancy In Armies.
The inability Of The tremendous Span
ish forces in Cuba to end the revolution
has caused a good deal Of admiration
for the heroism of the Cuban patriots in
their struggle neutrality-suspicious.. A Gu
ban sympathizer in Washington, allud-
ing to the heavy forces that Spain has
sent into the island, makes az interest
ing comparison between the struggle in
Cuba and that in the American colo
MES. which resulted in the independence
Of the United States. He says:
THE population Of the united colo
MES during the Revolutionary war has
been estimated at about8 {, 900, 600. The
present population Of Cuba is given at
about |, 800, 900. As ut least 800, 900 Of
these are Spaniards, who are either non
oombatants or are actually assisting
Spain, ii will be seen that the popula-
ton Of the colonies in rebellion against
Great Britain was about three times the
present population Of Cuba in rebel
lion against Spain.
The following extract from the cor
respondence of John Adams, written in
December. 1909. will be read with in
terest as showing the forces against
which our Revolutionary forefathers
c%ontended. He says:
"'Great Britain, in q Revolution
ary war, never had in North America,
including the Canadas, at any one time
more than five and twenty thousand
men. During some part of the war |
thought they had 40, 900, but upon ex-
amining their most authentic docu-
ments and memorials l have long set
tied al opinion that they never exceed
ed 25 5000
"Mr. Sparks, who takes his figures
from the state papers, gives the number
more exactly as follows: June, 1777,
90, 957; August, 1878, "a, 064; May,
1879, 81, COS; August, 1850, 1913;
May, 1881, 20, 1877; June, 1882, 80, O29,
or al average of not quite 80, 900 men
for each Of the years named.
"On the other hand, / have never
seen the number of Spanish troops in
Cuba stated at less than 200, 900, to say
nothing of the Is, 600 or 10000 Span
ish Cuban volunteers or militia. To
properly appreciate, therefore, the enor-
nous disparity between the number Of
troops sent by Great Britain to subju-
gate America and the number sent by
Spain to conquer the Cuban patriots we
should contrast the figures as, follows:
Cuban patriot population .............. 1000, 900
spanish troops. dO,VOU
American patriot population ...... 10000
British troops. 5O,UO
But historians have everywhere con-
coded that without the Assistance of
France the American patriots would
have failed in their struggle for indie
pendence. What, then, would have been
the outcome had Great R@tain sent
against her colonies in rebellion 900, 600
troops? This would have been the num-
Der our forefathers would have had to
contend against, and that, too, without
the aid of France, if we contrast the
situation in Cuba today with that OF
the American colonies during he evo-
luton.
ut is, moreover. to be remembered
that the British troops were armed with
dintlock muskets, in which respect they
were in no way superior to our own
people. On the other hand, the Spanish
infantry Of today are armed with the
best modern rapid fire, breechloadine
guns, to oppose which 25 per cent OF
the Cubans have nothing better than
the machete. ...- + eel %. y...
THAT these men, insignificant il
numbers, poorly armed, barefooted ant
ragged, are able under such adverse cir
cumstances to put up a fight ant
maintain it for two years against suct
unprecedented odds is N of the mar
wells of patriotic effort. '-Philadelphi;
Press.
MISSING RELIC FOUND.