The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1898-05-11
sPANIARDs ARE SAD

/ London. May lO.-The Madrid CORES
pondent Of the Morning Post has had a
long interview with Senior Sagasta. the
premier. in the course OF which the Span
| ish statesman said:
The sad events of Manila have saddeni
ed all Spanlards. but have not made them
lose heart. We can say with confidence
of this disaster that nothing has occurred
10 wound our pride. Much has been said
regarding the causes Of the catastrophe.
but all discussion has been beside the
question. The truth is We were too few
and were overwhelmed by the great su-
perlority Of the enemy's forces and by the
fortunes OF war which unhapplly went
against US.
"In the present juncture there Is no time
10 lose. II Is useless TO debate. We must
reserve all our strength and all our energy
for tomorrow our first duty Is to unite
in order to vanquIsh our enemies and up
hold the honor Of Spain Now this ls pre-
cisely what grIeve's me. believed that
the first cannon shot fired by the United
States against our troops would be a Sig
nal for the union and fraternity NJ am
spanIards, as an are fully affected by the
assault Of the United States. / was mis-
taken. Certain parliamentary groups are
In disagreement with the government and
have the pretentIon to make conditions
In return for their support They thus
paralyze our efforts and diminish the
strength which is indispensable 10 the
government. In such difficult times some
reyOlutionlsts causelessly intriguing. 9TH
ere are fun of rctlcencc and all has been
done In the name Of the fathcrlanl At
tempts have even been made 20 1ss8l the
monarchy with their authors appearing
not to imagine for a moment that ~ ls
simply we3koneing the country. lowering
the prestige Of the flag, tending 10 the dis
engagement Of the troops and the on
cOuragement Of our enemies When our
political adyersarics attack the govern
mcnt, when they criticize the acts Of the
crown, while war is proceeding they are
committing a crime for which some day
they may have TO answer before the c0un-
try.
"On principle ] am opposed 10 war,
which is always disastrous even 20 the
y slttDIlDu1 Uhl'Ns 'fDu u my Hl|LtaN
that / did not wish a rupture with the
United States. ! realized perfectly lhat
we were exhausted by the war which we
have been wagIng 80 long and needed rest
on the contrary, ! desired a peaceful 500
luton which would have protected our in-
tercsts and honor, our rights and sovcr-
eighty. The government did everything
10 avoid a conflict. even more than 20
should have done. When our advcrsarles
began to treat us with contempt war be-
came inevitable and We were compelled
to accept Il. The situation IS very simple
and unfortunately cannot be concealed
Spain is desolated and ruined by internal
troubles The United States has coveted
Cuba for a long time, firstly because It Is
an excellent strategic point; secondly, so
as to be master of the oceanic trade To
attain their object they have literally hesi-
tated at nothing They knew the state
Of our finances and took advantage Of it
to attack us after having assisted the Gu
ban insurrection with a view Of compet-
ing our ruin and with cut-and-dried