The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-17

century. 1t is the same treachcrous en-
envy which publicly advertised for an assas-
sin who would take off the Prince Of
and rewarded him. after ne had perpetrated
his dastardly deed.
Proceeding further with the history Of
SPANS dependencies in the Atlantic and
the Pacific, Mr.. Fernaid draws curiously
interesting parallel between the British war
Like the America of to-day. England deter
mined TO seize upon the West Indies and the
philippines 10 enforce her terms upon the
Spaniards. Fleets were dispatched to both
dependencies.
FIRST CAPTURE OF CUBA.
In the West large squadron. under Lord
Albemarle, speedily captured Cuba and the
Caribbean islands. His lordship was amply
provided He had no less than two hundred
vessels Of all classes, transporting an army
of 14.01 men. The Spanish garrisons mus
tered a grand total OF 1900. The defense
was brief. The English began operations
on June 6. On July 80 Moro Castle sur
rendered. On Aug. II the city OF Havana
capitulated. The booty divided among the
captors amounted to So 10000.
Meanwhile another British fleet of tfir-
teen ships. under Admiral Cornish, had been
dispatched to the Philippines. j did not
arrive off the bay OF Manila until Sept. IL,
for those were the days of sail and not OF
steam. The British ships pursued tactics not
dissimilar to those so triumphantly ex-
of the night of Sept. q they entered tho
bay, and the first beams of the early dawn
showed them anchored in front of powder
magazine. A demand for the surrender of
the city having been refused. the British
admiral opened fire The fight was an un-
equal one. Manila had no war ships Its
entire force Immediately available was six
hundred men belonging to the Kings regi-
ment. The forts possessed but eighty pieces
or artillery. On the other hand the forces
OF the British numbered 100 European
troops, 5000 seamen and 1900 Sepoys The
Spanards hurriedly impressed FIVE thousand
recruits from among the natives of the sur
rounding districts. With their aid they de-
Tended the city until Oct. 8. when they were
forced to surrender. An indemnity of A.-
OC0OO0 was claimed by the conQuerorS, and
was eventually paid.
1t will be seen that neither in the attend
ant dangers nor in the difficulties to be
overcome was the eighteenth century feat
or the British comparable with the nine-
teenth century achievement of the Ameri-
When Admiral Cornish arrived OFF Manila
bay he found nothing to oppose his tri-
umpnal entry save the guns of forts that
ammunition. He had an Overwhelming pre-
ponderance of trained troops. Commodore
Dse.Wey. on the contrary, was confronted
with the perilouS possibilities of submarine
mines and the actuaIites of forts that wero
Inoroughiy equipped, and fleet that was
nuIrmerically al least his superior.
The future historian will class the battle
OF Manlia with the greatest naval victories
hnoWq in the annals of the word-with
AAeeAoASdI anu tue ME ana Lake Erie. But
It Will be Commodore Dewey's not Admiral
CORNISH S. exploit which he will thus COM
memorate.
SPANIARDS ARE EDWARDS.
Mr.. Fcrnald grants to the Spaniards even
of the present day the qualities of heroic
courage. 1t would be fattering to our
American pride to believe that the oppo-
nents whom we have met and conquered
are worthy of our steel. Yet one cannot
forget that in fba hot Of
Vincent and in all the peninsular campaigns
under Wellington the Spaniards did not up
hold the reputation which Mr.. Fernald con-
cedes to them. Indeed, the most impartial
of Nelson's biographers admit that the
brilliancy of HIS victory over the Spanish
paired by the cowardice of his opponents.
Wellington found himself continually ham
pered by the pusillanimity and Incompetence
of his Spanish allies.
Mr.. Fernald give readable and accurate
account of the Virginius affair and of the
more recent troubles in Cuba and the Phil
ippines. He sees in the latter merely the
natural reaction Of the oppressed against
the oppressor. In Cuba the aborigines have
been virtually eXtirpated, but the crueltics
which Spain inflicted upon them have been
continued in a modified form upon the col
onists of her own blood
In the Philippines the case is different. The
natives immensely outnumber all the for
eign colonists. SpaniardS and pure blooded
or half-bre colonists, together with all
men, Germans and Chinese and their adj
mixtures, cannot muster l per cent of the
total eight millions of souls who people the
various islands of the Philippine group.
Many of the native tribes have never been
conquered; a not insignificant fraction have
never even obtained a glimpse of white
face. recent French traveller into the in
terror of LuZon has described large settle
mentS of natives to whom the sight and
sound of rifle carried the same terror that
it inflicted on Robinson Crusoes man FRI
day.
In fact SPANS actual hold upon the
Philippines is hardly greater than was Eng
lands upon North American territory when
she occupied only the strip of coast land
represented by her thirteen colonies.
And this after three centuries of nominal
possession! Never was there more Inn
pressive story of wasted opportunities. The
Philippine archipelago presents large area
of territory lowered with infinite riches. Its
resources lie almost untouched. Hemp and
tobacco are produced there from whose ex-
port Spain derives a large revenue at the
expense Of the natives and the colonists.
Yet this production, opulent in itself, is
really but a scant fraction when compared
with the infinite possibilities of the soil that
still lies virgin and untouched.
Will 1t remain for the United States to
open UP this virgin soil for the advantage
of the entire civilized world?