The age-herald., 1898-04-24

struggle with the United States the fate Of
 Cuba and the duration of the war will en>
 tirely depend on the respective navies.
 "The Spanish minister of marine, Ad-
 miral Bermejo, is cautious man, and has
 done his best to push on the naval prepa-
 rations within the means at his disposal.
 He has been well assisted by the high or
 fieials in his department and by the ad-
 mirals commanding at the Ferrol, carta-
 gena and Cadz arsenals, who have made
 their staffs and men work night and day
 to complete the outfit and armament Of
 many vessels and 10 provide war stores
 for the colonies
 "The first available squadron is now at
 Cape Verde. under Admiral Cervera, who
 went out with the cruisers 1nfanta Maria
 Teresa and the Cristobal Colon, and has
 been joined there by the cruisers Nizcaya
 and Almirante Oquendo, with view to
 protecting the torpedo hotilla. This squad-
 ron is considered quite match for the
 American flying squadron and may even
 be ordered to pay an unpleasant visit to
 North American ports if war breaks out
 "A second squadron will be formed at
 Cadiz, where Admiral Churruca, de-
 scendant of the Spanish commander at
 Trafalgar, is busy preparing the fleet. The idea is to concentrate, as soon as they are ready, the battle ships Peiayo, now at Carthagena, Emperador Carlos ", now at Ferrol; Cardinal Cisneros and the Numan, Cld anu NlllOTld, pICduSlut =-Slipai AiiS cruisers Alfonso XIII and Princess Mer> cedes; the torpedo cruiser Maria Molina; three destroyers just received from Eng land, and three torpedo vesse's-which would make a respectable gathering. Spain has in her merchant fleet and
 coasting population large supply of able
 seamen. all having served in the royal
 navy, and a strong force of marin's s, among them three fine battalions just returned
 from hard service in the Philippines.
 Admiral Bermejo, like his predecessor, Admiral Berenger, has paid special atten- ton to making of the fine large steam CTS offered by the Compania Transatlan- tica mail line and other firms as auxiliary cruisers, with crews and officers from the royal navy and heavy and auick-hring | guns, which have already been placed on | the fourteen vessels.
 Great enthusiasm prevails in the ar senals and among the seafaring popula- | tion In fact, the minister of marine has received numerous applications for per mission to equip privateers, but no decis- ] ion has yet been taken in the matter. | Spain will do exactly what America does. I The government would much prefer to | make use of the auxiliary cruisers com 1 missioned regular war vessels"
 The Daily News this morning publishes | an interview with "a Spanish diplomatist | who is in the secrets of the Madrid gov | ernment."
 I've will not critcise the American fleet | or the American army" he said ''because | we know their officers are well trained | and that they are brave, but what material | have they to work upon? The American navy is worked by motley crew of black | men. yellow men and sailors of all na- | tions. Well officered, it is true, but what | is this to the crew of a Spanish ship all | of one nationality, under strict discipline | and fighting for their very kingdom? "The United States navy will no doubt l fight well, but their drawback is that they are fighting for cause not exactly patri- l otc. but for the independence of a rebel- l lious party in an island which even the | American government refuses to recog- l nize as capable of forming government. '"There will be hard sea fighting. It Is l difficult to say on which side victory will | lie. We are superior in torpedo boats, the | Americans in battle ships, but. conceding 1 the superiority of America in this respect l she will suffer a disadvantage in havir | her fighting done by men hired for the pur- | pose.
 | 'orhere is no question of money. Spain | is not so financially moribund as some peo- 1 ple seem to believe Our resources are 1 enormous where the national honor is at | stake A suspension of payments on the l debts of the country would only be last l resource and would not go hard with any l one Every man in the army is willing to l wait for his pay until the war is ended"