New-York tribune., 1896-09-27
NETWORK DAILY TRIBUNE SUNDAY SEPTEMBER q, 1896

seven others of considerable size. and uncounted
hundreds OF smaller ones. down to the merest
dot, Of verdurous rock on the sea. They are all
made of volcanic rock and coral. and abound in
valuable minerals The climate is tropical, but
the height Of the mountains and plateaus makes
1t endurable to Europeans The total area OF
land Is 81 900 square miles, and the population
profuse. comprising teak sandal and camphor
trees palms. tea, vast variety of spices and
perfume-bearing flowers. rice, and the famous
manila hemp. The fauna shows no dangerous
beasts OF prey save the crocodile. There are
buhaioes. pigs. antelopes. and monkeys anq
lemurs galore. As for the people. they
much mixed as those of Spain itself Negrtos
were probably autochthonous. Then Polynesians
came in, and then Malays. Chinese also came
in great numbers ard of late years the
japanese have been focking. with intent. it may
we'll be, to possess the isla i'd when the Spanish
are expelled. The Spanish population is very
small. Industry and commerce considerable.
There are steamship lines, railroads. telegraphs
and cables, and foreign trade of S60,0OO.OOO
year.
Manila is a splendid city. set on the margin of
one Of the finest harbors in the world. 1t has an
ancient fortress fine churches gay parade. busy
streets and canals. parks and palaces. hotels and
theatres. The inhabitants are an amiable and
handsome race. They dress in semi-EurOpean
garb, of cloth made of the fine hemp fibre, or of
the still more exquisite pineapple silk. Their
dwellings neat and orderly. almost invariably
adorned with colored pictures OF the Madonna
and some of the saints. Music everywhere
abOunds. Never was people more given up to 1t.
Every plays some instrument. and on feast
DAYS and holidays brass bands are plentiful as
blackberries, while lumnations. decorations and
general merrymaking. unmarried by drunkenness
or rowdyism surpass anything of the kind to be
found elsewhere in the world. The people would
have made this a model colony If only some
ure Of just and generous government had been
given to them.
SOME MINOR REMNANTS
Besides these what is left to Spain? There
the Canares but they are, like the Balearics,
reckoned administratively part OF Spain itself,
and not as colonies. The Sulus are really part
of the Philippine group. There are the Carolines,
with 220OO population in the Western Pacific.
They have belonged to Spain for centuries. but
were long neglected that Germany raised her
flag over them a few years back. Spain protested.
with M. camor. and the Pope. arbitrator,
sustained ner title to them. But, all told. they are
not worth the firing OF siX-pound shot
Still less significant are the neghborng La
drones. or Mariana Islands one OF the most
worthless groups in Polynesia Least Of ALL the
Pelews, also in that region. In Africa there is
the desert coast from Cape JUDY to Cape Blanco.
of some little value. perhaps, to the hshermen OF
the Canaries. Spain claims protectorate over
it, but France owns all the "hinterand, and the
coast is as barren as rock and sand can make IL.
She claims. too. a portion OF the French Congo,
from the Campo to the NUM- Rivera claim
which France denies and which will never be al
lowed Fernando Po she does own. an island off
the coast of the Cameroons. and also the tiny isle
of AnnobOn. 800 miles to the southwest. ADD 10
these a bit of la Id on Corsco Bay lfnl, and
Ceuta, the last a mere fortress ana prison ana ana
we have the extent of her holdings on the DARK
Continent. All Of them put together and all the
Polynesian islands added, would not make one
fair province Yet, apart from Cuba and Porto
Rico and the Philippines now in fierce ana prop
ably final revolt. these are all that are lett
HOW RUIN CAME
The cause of Spain's decline resides in the
Tha alq
given them distinction have also caused their
ruin. First. pride. Not noble, generous pride,
though indeed there have been flashes of that.
but a narrow, selfish and ntolerant passion, fit
neither to rule nor to obey. There is fine
memory of the COrtes, in 1893, and its dealings
with despOtic King. 1t voted one tax he asked
for but added as a sort of rider on the appro-
priatOn BILL the declaration that If he should give
orders to raise another tax without the authority
of the COrtes. his orders should be obeyed, but
not executed Remembered, too, are the proud
Judges of AragOn, who in the fourteenth century
took this oath before the King: I'VE, VINO lndl-
viduay worth as much as thou. and who to-
gether worth more than thou, Will obey thee
If thou art faithful to the conditions imposed
upon thee: but if not. nOti
That spirit is no more. Instead the spirit pre-
walls that expelled the Jews and the Moors.
through sheer arrogance and blgotry: the spirit
that reckoned each colonial province not an equal
member Of the common Empire, but an inferior
thing, to be worked to the uttermost for the sole
colony and the secret of every colonys revolt.
As in our day in Cuba, so in the past in Peru, in
Mexico in New Granada. in Buenos Ayres. The
Vceroys were appointed by the King, and served
him alone. The provinces under them were treat
ed as conquered aliens. All the subordinate Off
GERS were imported from Spain No colonist was
reckOned worthy Of recognition. OF 40 Niceroys
who in three centuries ruled South America, only
four were natives of that continent OF 6lo Cap
tains- General and Governors, only fourteen were
Of colonial birth.
In cuba only the Spanish "carpet-baggers' are
allowed to vote or hold office In one sample dis
trict C;uincs there are 1900 inhabitants. Only
800 of these are Spaniards; all the rest are
Creoles Yet on the poll list are the names or 4oo
of the former ard only 81 of the latter. Eighty
Der cent of the Spanards may vote but only one
fourth Of | per cent of the Cubans. SO, in the
Spanish Cortes. the Cuban representatives, nave
NOT been Cubans at all. but Peninsula Spaniards;
two or three. most six. Creoles being admitted
Even in local government the same rule holds
good or thirty-siX Aldermen In Havana only
FIVE were Cubans: the other thirty-one were from
Spain In Ciuines there WIS not one Cuban. Ana
so all over the island OF the last twenty Governors
of NatanZas eighteen have been Spaniards ana
tvo Cubans The same Is true in all adminlstra-
five Offices down to the smallest clerkships. All
ssx MF
IS NAASTo&-N
T%e *