The Dickinson press., 1898-06-25
And All Energies Are to b. Com
centrated on suljug;atioh
of Cuba. !
Even Temporary Reverse There
Would Serve to Greatly Pro-
long the War.
Deportation of Prisoners From
Cuba Has Been Definitely
:. Decided On.

now regarded by, the highest military
authorities of both the army and navy
us practically removed from i'm :neiliate
consideration, and unless the ;iaath
rate of General Skaters army fem.
diseases indigenous to Cuban s.ii ) -.
ceedingly high, the PRESIDENTS 'ses::t'
for the prosecution of-a goaara! y--c;.
sive campaign throughout ,hs cniire
island of Cuba may be promptly ca
tered upon the moment Saa.ia:o is
captured.
The suggestion of a Porto Ricar vH.:..
paign to precede the invasion OF 60:
was put forth more than Il mouth a:.s,
before Admiral Sampson hnm.ar6.d
San Juan, and pending tho unc-rta!niy
regarding the destination of CerT@ya's
squadron, then several weeks at sea
from Cape Verde. The enterprise was
not abandoned, but was temporarily
pushed aside by tho more imperative
necessity of sending General Sha:tcr to
Santiago as expeditiously as possible.
shafter Needs All tho support.
His fleet Of transports lad barely
sailed from Tampa last week, before
many officials in Washington, ill t!:o
absence of any coun demanding ct tho
original orders for mobilizing the Porto
Rican expedition again took up its de.
tails and were hurrying the prcpara.
tons along on the original lines when
General Miles returned and convinced
the highest officials that the te3r OF
military reasons existed for concentrate.
ing every military resourc OF the gov
eminent, for the time being AZ .r"st,
upon the support of General Saaf'er,
whose campaign was of u more halArd.
Gus nature than had generally been ap.
preciated. Notwithstanding the ex-
cellent equipment and the large force
which had been provided i'll this army
corps the fact thai $4,000 mon were 10
be landed in n strange country in the
face OF a much more numerous :or:e,
| whose axact strength could only be
estimated, would probably prove the
| crucial event of the whole war.
Even Temporary Reverse Would BE Had.
Its success may be expected to result
in Spain's prompt realization ~ til,
futility of further resistance, w!iil'- IL
reverse, even Of a temporary character,
might indefinitely prolong the duration
| of hostilities. The illusion that Porto
Rico constituted any valid advantage
from an international law point was
speedily dispelled by tho citation OF
-.a.ala.Ao .4111 -, ,oo,,t ~ %In,, i,
ing the acquisition by Japan Of For.
moso 1t the treaty OF S!monossk!, al
though the island was in possession OF
China at the close of the war.
There seemed, therefore, not to bo
any valid urgent reason for sacrificing
General Shafter Tor the acquisition .:
Porto Rico, and it 0 appears to ba
conclusivelv settled that no fur her at
tention will be paid to Porto REQ for
the present until it develops as;rategi.'
calimportance not perceived at present..
The wisdom of General MUGS in adj
vancing the military exigeno;es of
strengthening General Skaters force
is evident on all sides. The decision to
send at least one regiment OF volun-
teers on the fast auxiliary cruiser Yale
from Newport News Oh Thursday to hs
followed by others OH the Harvard a
few days later and another brigade
from Camp Alger during the ensuing
week are fair instances of
the success of his recommendations.
Prisoners IL Serious Problem.
A serious problem whose solution has
been determined upon by the uu;hori-
ties is that of the disposition OF the vast
number of prisoners which must fall
into American hands whenever Santi.
ago c%apitulates. This number is vari.
ously estimated all the way from %, 900
to 80, 900 men, and as the United States
will not permit them to suffer any
avoidable hardships, provision has to
be made at once for their maintenance.
It has been definitely decided that they
cannot be permitted to remain i'll GAIA,
and it will therefore be necessary to
provide a large number of transports to
bring them to this country, where
they can be more readily fed and
guarded. This will require a much
larger feet Of transports than which
conveyed General Skaters army and
considering the extreme difficulty
which the war department. has already
confronted in securing an additiona
f ct under the impression that Porto
r co was still to be occupied, it is no
foreseen where all the ships for the
various enterprises are to be secured.
No Prisoners Can Remain in Cub.
This emergency, however, must b
met, for the president has finally deter
mined that no prisoners shall ba Der
mitted to remain in Cuba, an init
they are landed in this country and tn
transports can return TO Santiago
General Skaters army aud all the re
Inducements sent to him will be forcoi
e. remain there unless the health con
ditions Of the island result in order
I that may start them westward alon,
the route pursued oy Gomez two year
ago ina single grand campaign il
Z which their progress would be marke'
= by gradual additions to the forco fyor
= the various ports along the uorth an,
Iouth shore until the regiments now i
camp at Chickamauga and other places