Evening star., 1898-05-14
KNOW LITTLE ABOUT US
Spanish Are Generally Ignorant of All
Things American.
Think We Are Devoid of Courage
victims Of Systematic and De-
liberate Mtsrepresentation.
Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star.
''one fact that needs to be appreciated
In order to understand the situation in tha
present war between the United States
and Spain," said General Dan" Sickles
formerly cur minister TO Spain the other
day, rs the difference in the extent and
accuracy of the Information which each
country posses ses in regard to the e-other
Americans are. as a rule. well read anc
wen informed, went on General Sickles.
They don't know all about Spain. but they
know in a more or less general way Of its
extent and its resources They know. too
something OF the character and habits OF
the people. A good many Of them have
actually visited Spain and have seen the
country for themselves; nearly all the
others have read about it. To he sure. I
think the ideas which our people have
formed regarding Spain are not altogether
accurate We are apt to regard the upper
classes OF Spain as ignorant lazy and
worthless and to believe that the rest of
the nation is made up OF bull-fighters and
'iuleteers who are good for little else. As
a matter OF fact the resources of Spain are
apt to prove surprisingly great consider
ing the desperate condition in which she
is now placed; and the average SpanIard
though he may he averse TO ordinary
labor, looks upon fighting as an honor
able and worthy employment and general
~ has enjoyed some training for il. Mind
l am not casting doubt on the result of
the present war; il can have bat one end
frg. What l nay say is that we must
not expect Spain TO crumblo to pieces at
the first touch OF hostile nation. The
fully Informed people of this country do
rot expect that, but they realize that
Spain is immeasurably weaker than the
United States. In general the ideas in re-
gard to our oi ponent which prevail IN this
country are pretty accurate.
Know Little of Us.
when one turns to Spain. however. the
situation is very different. The people OF
Spain. taken en- masse, are not well edu-
Gated or widely ira, eled. and they are par
ticularly igLCiant as to what this par
tcular pant of the world is ike. Even
those whom one would expect to find we'll
posted in this particular cherish singular
delusions. That these incorrect ideas eN-
ist is due, | believe, 10 the fact that they
are constantly put forward by the editors
of newspt Iers and the civil leaders.
who know them to be false. One cannot
avoid the conclusion that there is system
attic and willful Misrepresentation of the
United States on the part of the Spanish
leaders Why this is so is hard TO saw but
it accounts for the general misinfor
nation that obtains throughout Spain on
this particular subject. Well-educatec
Spaniards believe that there is small cul-
! tured class in the United States. hut that
shop keepers and ditch diggers.
Expect to Whip Us.
They have been told over and over
again that We have no courage. that We
are afraid to fight, that our navy is use
less or early so and that our leaders are
all blowhard politicians. Naturally they
have come to believe this. and conflict
ly expect to whip us. As for the lower
| Classes, they actually believe that the
principal industry CT America is the rails
ing of hogs, and at the word Americanos
they conjure UP visions of swineherders
and their Groves.
zone or two instances will give better
| idea of these popular misconceptions. a
comic paper has just been started In Mad
| rid. 1t is called The Porker." and is devot
| ed to the ridicule of Americans. lhe title
| does not seem at all crude or exaggerated
| to the average Spaniard, I'll wa-"'ut. Ti.s
| other day the Spanish press printed Il re-
| port that the savages of Ohio ana Illinois
had risen, and that all the reg il'r troo-fs
wouli have to be called from the scabpart
| to quell the outbreak. From what fcow
of the state of public Information in Mad
rid, l dare say this story didn't raise
smile of incredulity in all the capital. un-
less it was in the case of some American.
born resident. 1t seems to be Che settled
policy of the Spanish officials ana ncwspa-
pers to increase rather than u dis spell this
Ignorance. Therefore the Spa.lisn people
are likely to experience "A rude awakening
before this war is over, ~, awakening tnat
may be fraught with dang" to these sal@a
officials.
The Spanish Fighting Spirit.
"At the same time | believe that those
who expect Spain to yield the present cor
test without struggle are badly mistaken.
The Spaniard is really desperate tighter
when he is pushed to it. What Spain has
done toward quelling the insIrrec,iou III
Cuba is not to be taken as Il fair test OF
what she can do in extremity. ThCIe
may have been sufficient reasons why the
Spa nish generals did not wish To- bring Ihs
Cuban war to a speedy end and any way IN
that contest the Spanish nation has not
been straining every nerve as II viii
against the United States. The Spaniards
boast about shedding the last drop Jt blood
in defense of his countrys honor may be
partly Duncombe, but IL is not altogether
without foundation.
Some of the wars between the South
American countries, whose people are Of
Spanish blood, give instances Of this des-
perate species of bravery. In the war be-
tween Chile and Peru, after the Chilean
vessel had been sunk and while her crew
were struggling in the water, they still
fought with their knives against the Peru
vians who came to rescue them and died
rather than accept aid at the hands of
their enemies"