, 1896-07-11
THE C II OF CUBA.
(Spectator 9Th June.)

the paralysis winch raG8ppMently 1alIen on IL
in Cuba? Usually, when an army breaks down
az our own amy did for "A TIME III the Crl-
mea, an the CiIu, SO army dId IN ManchuIla,
the blame is first Of all attributable to the
Supply Departments. or The Transport Ser
vice, or The central admin stration. Ims
exDlluatiou Of the failure IN Cuba is not how
ever, so much as suggested. On the contrary,
the Government OF Madrid deserves credit
for a feat which, 50 far as We know, is I'M
livalled in the long annals Of military opera
tions. In perfect Hence, without tho small
est fuss, and without any hitch important
enough to attract attention, the Wal Ot1ce
of Madrid has forwarded to Cuba, over four
thousand miles of sea. an army OF a nun
drsd and seyenty-fye thousand men, that IL,
more than twice the whole British army IN
India. with a fuII supply Of officers, OF artillery,
of munitions. and Of food. That Is a feat
which would be creditable even to she British
marine. which reveals NJ Madrid an unex-
psctsd capacity for organization, and which
throws q quite novel light upon the strength
with which the Spanish people, If provoked,
could interfere III the politics OF the Medl-
tsrransan, say, for example, III the defence or
Morocco, if threatened with an attack from
Algiers. These troops, again. once IN the
island. are all housed, are all fed, and move
about Wn6n OTu6I6N WltuOuG Any SICCA"A W.
fculty. There appears, it is rue, to be S"me
deficiency either OF engineers or Pontoons, or
the rising of the rivers could not be SO en-
barrassing, but there seems to be no want OK
transport, for heavy columns make success-
full marches, we hear Of rapid retreats and
surprise" advances, and it is admitted on
all hands that the insurgents, who cannot
be better supplied than the troops, are nos
stopped either by the hills or the rivers or the
roads. Nevertheless, the vast force, which
In British or French hands would suthce to
garrison q continent, aud which is actually
four times the Cntire strength or the lnsur'
gents, is represented az absolutely p0WerleSs,
practically besieged in It's own quarters. Ac-
Cording to the Atme$' correspondents, whose
statements are in substance confirmed ny au-
thoritativs private letters, the opanlardS
hold only one province; the insurgents IaVAgs
with impunity within twenty miles OF daV"-
ia, the rSmoter villages are all IN the m
s~urgents' hands, and it IS declared Impossible
to protect the tobacco estates, whose produce,
which the insurgents destroy, as they DO all
buildings, is absolutely essential to keep up
any supply of revenue from Cuba. NO at
tempt ia made at the regular subJugatlOn OF
the island, it is officially declared impossible
to prevent the landing Of fllbusters, and the
ruling Generals have actually bullt a low
stone ratification of twenty-five miles from
sea to sea, SO that the gperlIl"s OF the
rest of the island may not JOIN hands
with the guerillas in the province OF
Pinar del Rio. The forrltication requires
twenty thousand men to watch 1t, and
vet it is not strong enough to prevent the
insurgents from crossing it, the whole exIe-
dent, in fact being almost CHINESE IN us
futile simplicity. The story seems lncredl-
BILE. vet it is not only repeated ON competent
authority. but it is sustained by the ofholalIy
admitted facts that the rebellion has lasted
unsuDdued for two years, that he authorities
attribute their failure to the people OF the
United States, who certainly have cot sent
three Thousand volunteers to the lsIahd,
though they have sent a considerable
quantity of cartridges, and that the
Government have been compelled to pro-
hibit the export Of tobacco because enough
is not produced to feed the factories without
which the artisan population OF Havana
would not have the means OF buying bread.
The accounts. too. from Madrid of the inces-
SAINT conferences between Ministers and the
War Department, of the slow but deadly
yelling out of money at the rate of about
E1.5OO. 900 month in excess OF the regular
military and naval OUTLAWS, aud above all.
of the constant despatch of fresh troops,
who. one would fancy, would be seen to be
.unnrAuous all noint tn the same COnclu sion,