The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-06-01
Nearing the Finish of the War.

Nearing the Finish of the War.
Safeguarded as the detailed plans of
the war department wisely are, enough
is now known as to its general pur-
pose to warrant the assertion that from
this time forward until the negotia-
tions for peace begin, the campaign
against Spain will be waged with the
whole energy Of the government and
not pause for an instant in needless
delay. Cervera's bOttling mp by Samp-
son and SChley is one preteXt for the
sounding of Forward, march, but
another reason not less important Is
the fact that the bureaus of supply
have only just begun to overtake the
necessities Of the eituatiOn, and enough
Of our willing volunteers have been
clothed and armed to enable the major
general commanding to go to Cuba
with force numerically superior to
that Of the weather beaten and half
famished Gomez. such tardness as
there has been is chargeable far less
to fear of Cervera than TO the improV-
ldenCe of congress- which forced war
without first providing a single extra
uniform or an available new gun.
BY working every arm Of the gov
ernment day and night and by spend
ing money like Monte ChristOs with the
usual emergency extravaganza, we
have succeeded at the expiration of
six weeks in starting toward Cuba
force one-half the size of the army
stationed there by bankrupt Spain.
Those of us who are disposed to sneer
at the decrepit condition Of the insur-
gents, who have had to smuggle
| through two Cordons of coast guards
their every rifle and every cartridge,
should pause to consider our own
shortcomings before indulging too en-
Enthusiastically in the language of dis
| dain. In order to get ammunition to
| fight Spain with. the insurgents have
| risked prison cell and gallows, not
once simply, but time and again, and
! the money for this has been cOntribut-
! ed mainly out of, the earnings of men
and women who have cheerfully gone
without food in order that their breth-
rem i'm arms might have the means
| whcrcwith to continue their righteous
revolt The United States, on the
other hand, rich beyond the dreams
of avariCe and possessing within its
own borders an abundance of every
necessity entering into either peace or
war. has, thanks to the ignorance of
congress, required six weeks of inces-
g,,,1 sttxy 70 ND1 10 n
| put on a battlefield a force of sol
diers equal i'm numbers to the joint
commands of Garcia and Gomez.
BE this as it may, the army is now
i'm motion and soon there ought to he
good news. We possess in every re-
spect save numbers and acclmatiza-
tion decided advantages over the
troops of Blanco. our regular and
volunteer officers are among the most
intelligent in the world. They are mer
who know not only the theory but also
the practice of war; experienced mer
whose shoulder straps have been earned
in some of the hottest battles that thi:
century has witnessed. Unlike
BlancUs subordinate, they have tC
lead troops as intelligent as themselve:
and are therefore not at liberty, il
they had any inclination, to pose az
soldiers while acting i'm secret the
role of embezzlers and thieves. The
American army, from general to pri
vate. will fight with the strength, tn,
courage and the best intelligence o
the Anglo-SaXon race against 70,
having courage alone to recommend it
What we shall lack in intimate knOwl
edge of the locality of the fightinl
and in ready familiarity with Spanisl
wies will be fully supplied by ou
Cuban allies, who for this partiCula
campaign will prove invaluable a
scouts and guides. Add to this the fac
that the supplies Of the invading force
once fairly got ready, will thencefOr
ward be inexhaustible while the enem
it cut off from succOr by both lam
and sea, and the situation admits of n
other outcome than a speedy America
victory.
With due allowance for possible hin
dranCes, the first day of neX+ autum
ought to mark the remotest limit q
the fighting part of the Spanish-Ameri
can war.