New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-03-11
SULLIVAN AND SPAIN.

rho dramatic entrv OF the Hon. John /. Sui
Ivan unon what our Gallo friends in pict-
uresQue phrase call the theatre dc guerr'
NAV be fraught with consequences. III VIII ho'
avert war. Of course. He does not expect lhit
himself But If the warlike resources when
we understand him 10 offer the Government are
properly utilized and applied. II Will he the
shortest war on record. What he proposes rs
,yc understand Is to click Spain In fifteen min
utes": that Is 10 say. in three or four ROUNDS
under the Marquis of Queensberry rules Mt
Sulllvan'S temperament Is sangulne as wen rs
sangulnary. and II may be that the limit oi
fifteen minutes, including intermisslonS spar
ring for an opening. getting second wind beihS
sponged and so on, is too confident an esu-
mate But it's dollars 10 doughnuis that he
could do it inside of twenty. And il, after en-
tcrlng into contract to do II IN fifteen, ne
should actually occupy twenty. there breathes
not an American citizen with soul so dead as
10 begrudge him the other five or hold MN 10
the letter OF the contract. Indeed, the pro-
loncation of the struggle for five additional
minutes. instead Of being disadvantage. would
be in the nature of n boon 10 the newspapers
which have so nobly maintained the National
honor and so vigorously prosecuted the war mp
10 date. II would give them time to issue nj
least five more blOod-red extras.
There Is reason TO believe. too. that Mr..
Sullivan was never IN 50 prime condition 10 lick
anybody as he now is TO lick Spaia. The three
weeks he has spent in weeping since he first
woke up and heard of the Maine disaster have
been Invaluable rs n process Of training. by
this time all the water must he on. Of him.
This obvates the danger. In case the contest
t,l,o Of biG
Ing watorloggcd in the fight. Mr.. Sullivan's
chief anxiety during the whole of his dis
tinguished career has been TO avoid getting
watcrlogged, and 1t seems somehow provldcn-
tlal that the news of the Maine disaster should
have reached him in time 10 give him three
weeks Of weeping 10 clear his system before en-
tering upon the task OF licking Spain. But we
do not apprchcnd that the contest Will be ma
rine in character. Mr.. Sullivan has not sent
his castor skimming across seas by way OF
challenge TO Spain, but has frankly and grace
fully SHE'D it into the ring. If Spain should
meanly undertake TO divert the issue by pro
posing something marine, submarine or ultra
marine, in place Of a stand-up, hand-to-hand
contest without gloves upon Mr.. Sullivan's
native element in twenty-four-foot ring. the
civilized world would rise up and point the
finger Of scorn at her and say, "Sho.'
No; Spain must either meet Mr.. Sullivan In
the ring or retire from Cuba, after paying Mr..
Sullivan the expenses he has already incurred.
What will happen doubtless will he this: As
soon as President Mckinley conveys Mr.. Sulli-
vans challenge 10 Spain the Sagasta Ministry
will select one Of Spains most famous toreadOrs
for the contest. There need then be no delay.
Mr.. Sullivan VIII not have TO be confirmed by
the Senate. He and Spain-ln The person Of the
toreadOr-can Immediately get together, either
In Nevada or on some one of the Canary Isles,
or perhaps on neutral territory, say the island
OF Samoa, and have Il out in fifteen minutes
or twenty at the outside. Nothing could be bet
ter than that. It's so simple, so condensed, so
concrete Better even, than arbitration; it's so
much quicker. Wars have often been settled in
that way. Instance David and Goliath Hector
and Achilles, and various others, TO say moth
ing of the talking match now going on between
the Hon. Richard Croker and the Hon. David
g. Hill TO settle the war in the Democratic
party.
The whole country waits for further develop
mcnts In this new phase of the war with in
tcnsest interest.