Rocky Ford enterprise., 1898-06-23

almost provcrbinl fiction of .'the cow
ardly business man." which for years
has been by-word In Congress. has
been cffcctually demolished. and 1t is
this class which is to-day most effect
lively supporting those features of the
military campaign which promise eN
tension of markets for American prod
ucts and the widest trade relations.
The men who pay the bills of war
have apparently awakened TO the ne
cesstics of proiiting by their invest
mcnt. and business men have suddenly
come to n full realization that trade
follows the flag, and that the United
States with its Ovcrproduction, cannot
afford TO surrender the commerce of
the world to II few foreign countries
These are the interests which have ell
ablcd the government to float n $780,
OOO,OOO per cent. loan without send
ing abroad Il single penny and without
undergoing the modification of dicker-
ing with foreign syndicatcs.
In fact. no more significant object
lesson of the progress of the war can
be found than in the steady decline of
Spanish securities to the bankruptcy
limit and the strong contrasting pre-
MUM inscparable from American pa
per. From the proclamation of the
Cuban blockade. April %. until to-day.
the active prosecution of the war has
devolvcd altogether upon the navy
and every blow that has Inundated
Spain and crippled her forces has been
struck by vessels of that splendid force
which was found ready for action ut
the first signal of hostilities.
Until to-day. when the first troops of
the army will possibly be landed sim
ultancollSly in the island of LuZon and
in the province of Santiago. the mill
tary service has taken no aggressive
part on account of the necessities for
radical and thorough preparation. The
delay has demonstrated the grave
dangers of unprepareduess which have
monaccd the country for nearly three
decades through the policy of MAIN
taining the insignificant standing army
in the fnncied security from hostile at.
tack
The futility of Spain's resort to arms
has been moro thoroughly dCmUnstra-
ted nt Santiago than anywhere else.
Since Admiral Ccrverl cntrappcd him
self in that hIrhnr thr American ships
having cruised about its entrance for
three weeks repeatedly bumbarding
the fortilicationS and fearleSsly ap-
pi'h'tlhS W W Nllllll Upiill-iliilk IIHStS
of the ccntr"Echmcnts. The Spanish gun
ncrS hnvc thus far been unable to
land Il single shot. though they have
been repeatedly driven from the ruins
created by the guns of the hattlcshps
and even the secondary batteries of
the smaller cruisers.
TO destroy Cclvcra's fleet and to So
cure control Of the eastern half of
Cuba. Major ShnftCr's vmbarkation.
with 1j.OOO troops on thirty-two trans
ports. accompanied by sixteen armed
convoys from Tampa on the lith,
marked one of the most important en-
terpriScs ever undertaken by the Amer
lean army. This was the largest single
military force ever set atlOat by the
United States. The project was one
involving manifold difficulties. alto
gethcr beyond the appreciation of the
public nj large or even of the army
officers charged with its details.
As it was finally organized. the cx-
pedition was probably rs efficient as
similar undertakings have been in Eu-
rope, where they are familiar with
such affairs. 1t will be Il matter of
only n day or two before the wisdom
of its thorough preparation is demon
strated by the difficulties the regi-
ments meet and overcome in effccting
landing in the cncmy's country.
Some of the difficulties at least will
have been removed by the magnif-
cent performance of Colonel Hunting