The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1897-01-23
ssme Rambling Thoughts.
By MEMO.

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can people at this time as the Span
ish. This is because its methods of
management in Cuba come very near
to our own shores. Whether our in
dignation, political or actual, would
be as deep if Cuba were 5000 miles
away, is an open question; for much
that is said and done in congress and
out Of its savors greatly of politics
and wire-pulling. while real sympa-
Shy never savors of either.
So
So, though by letter | have been
asked for an expression of opinion
upon the Cuban question, shall
not give it Cat any rate not YETI, fof
the great ones of the country still
feel uncertain of the right thing to
do. However, if your readers will
allow me, ] will spend short time
considering Spain as a nation. Its
desperate methods in Cuba may then
be more clearly Understood. To CON
slider an individual carefully. to
weigh his faults and strength, Is fl-
ways interesting. To do the same
thing to a nation is always interest
ing also, but more complicated. l
may, therefore, be in error in my
Judgments. That leave to your
readers.
In the fifteenth century Spain was
respected power in Europe. As
nation it had been solidified out Of a
number of Christian elements, by
common antagonism to the Moorish
conquerors. In the sixteenth cen
tury it had grown to an enormous
empire, with vast territories in the
richest portions Of the New World.
Streams of wealth were constantly
pouring into its Golfers from these
conquered possessions. At the close
of the eighteenth, and the beginning
of the nineteenth centuries, the out
lying portions of this vast nation be-
gan one by one to sever all relations,
until at present it retains its hold
upon only two sections of any great
Experimentation in the West,
and the Philippine Islands in the
East. Judging by the past century,
and the loss to Spain OF every pos
session in both South and North
America, it seems not unsafe to pre-.
diet that the beginning of the TWEEN
tieth century will see it return once
more to the actual limits Of its pos
sessions in the fifteenth century.
Now, then, what causes have oper
ated to bring ON such decay of pres
tige, while other European nations,
like Germany and England, Russia
and Italy, France and Austria, have
developed and in some measure kept
close together in their development
mental and moral? Briefly put, |
should sum the causes up as q IT.
religious solicitnde for God; (2)
Greed for gold; (3) The Grandee
spirit; (4) A wrong colonial policy;
Unprogressiveness. On only two
of these features shall / have space
to dwell this week. The balance will
be referred to in my next
~
Altogether Spain seems to have
been possessed of demon that has
taken varied forms in four centuries,
but which, through them all, has
been forcing Spain steadily onward
toward annihilation. Its wars with
the Moors fostered a strong nation
al spirit, and because the wars were
religious in character, they tended
also to make Spain the stronghold
of Catholicism. So long as there
was fair fighting Spain was strength
ened by the conflict; for in certain
stages of human progress war, with
its attendant horrors, seems to have
been, if not necessary feature, at
any rate, an aid to civilization. But
Spain, when the conquest was prac--
tically complete, and the remaining
Moors had settled down to agricul-
ture and to trade, burning with zeal
for the God of bloody imaginings,
called in to aid in the complete ex
termination of every heresy, that
iiendish device for populating Heav
en- and saving souls, "The Inquisi-
ton" Their conquests in the New
World also were in the beginning re-
ligious conquests. Their adventur-
ers were to win vast glory for the
Church, and so in the name of AL
mighty God, most joyously did they
slay without conjunction.
-
The demon of Spain, burning with
the lust of conquest, drunk with
the blood of it's best children, per-
sonified by Pizarro in Peru, and Cor
tez in Mexico, by treachery and by
superiority of army, by ambush and
by outrage, destroyed the civiliza-
tion OF the Incas and ravished the
possessions of Montezuma. Every
where the thought was supreme to
win a greater realm for the Catho-
| lie faith. But, as always with re-
ligion lacking the true religious ele-
ments of unselfishness and mercy, it
became a mere cloak for greed and
wickedness indescribable.
1t is safe to say that any nation
that places it's hopes for permanent
cy upon a misconception of Gods
character, is building its structure
upon the sands.
~
That strange royal pair, Ferdi-
nand and Isabella, combined in
themselves an intense greed for gold
and fierce religious intolerance.