The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-02-06
One Disadvantage of the Little Dog.

The feet Of American war vessels masslng
| In Southern waters, within striking distance
| of Havana, is there TO protect American IN
terests and citizens, and to carry out by
force of arms, If necessary, the policy of this
government It's presence gives weight to the
diplomatic utterances that Minister Wood
ford may make In Madrid; 1t enables Consul
General Lee to execute his consular functions
with dignity and security, and no words are
spoken by Spain or the United States which
do not have direct reference to that formid-
able row of teeth, their keenness, their readi-
ness and their effectiveness. Very likely
they will not be called upon to do anything
more than show themselves, but IT is possible
that they may. Fleets are not playthings,
nor ara- steel cannon. They are the awful
implements of war, and II war should arse,
If Spain should feel called upon to defend
her Cuban possessions from what she regards
AS foreign interference, or II, what Is more
likely, the United States, In the interest Oh
humanity and upon the broad plane OF PM
anthropy. should say Come, now, you nave
gone far enough with these people; you nave
slaiu and tortured them without subduing
them, and IT'S time TO let up why the hght-
ing would begin ut once.
Having thus suggested tW) ways by when
war could arise and these are scores of 9th
ers, as for example, mob attacking the
consulate of the United States In Hayanb,
| the next question which arises where would
the fighting be- The answer that everybody
makes to this question is that IT would be IN
| the waters adjacent TO Cuba, that II would
be ut sea for the most part and that we
| would take Havana. That's very likely But
| suppose the defeat OF the Spanish fleet In
| West Indian waters were not decisive, ana
| that the capture Of Havana was equally non
| resultant. 1t would be no trouble to take
| Havana, the overwhelming strength OF the
| American squadron makes the defeat Of the
| Spanish ships ms near as may be assured
| But that doesn't necessarily mean that the
I would
| willing TO sing out cali of your dog after
| n little furry like that II might be only pre-
| linary exercise for either side, and although
tho Cuban question might be settled by It,
| the war might Just be begun. OF course. all
these things are only Prescriptions, but with
| our fleet massed, md within call. they are
| nIghty interesting questions
| In this connection the philadelphia Times
reports what retired admiral of the navy
said The old gentlemnn's L-9ad pennant
| few at the main truck Of n hghting ship
| during the civi war and he gives his Views
/ with the privilege of withholding his name.
! chiefly because he has declined to write them
| for great monthly magazine. II Is needless
TO say that the old salt IL lingo fiom the sole
! OF his feet mp and he has no liking for SPAIN
| I've ought to have licked her In 1873, when
| thoy took the VirgIulus. and had NIL this
| trouble over II had been in command when
| Boegs was commodore down there in ISIS. !
| would have given them the rrettiest chance
| for n scrimmnge that was ever seen, and all
! this trouble and these years of murder and
misery IN Cubn would have been over. And
II would have been blessing for Spain She
I would have escaped her Carlist troubles of
| recent years. because war would have chnsol-
| idated her people have given her n real pa
| triotism st home that might have saved her,
and by this time Cuba would probably have
| been state OF the Union, with free schools,
| peace, prosperity and the English language
| However, that's not the way II fell out The
situation today is one that makes US look at
the possibility OF war as thing of tomor-
row. The immediate causi belii are In sight,
aud they concern Cuba Within twelve hours
OF an act Of open war the Spanish ships would
drop cuba like hot potato and steer for the
| North Atlantic const. They would be fools
TO do anything else.
coast that the weakest cruiser of the Spanish
fleet could successful attack. They are Bos-
ton. Providence and Philadelphia. and viii,
the latter Wilmington. II Is possible that a
hut they could get at one OF them and bring
the war home to us before we knew what wa
wcro about Take the Spanish warship Wis
cayn entering the Delaware SteaminG at q
Island before the Columbia or Minneapolis
got ont OF the back basin at that place. AND
she could knock Mr.. Penn oft the city hal
! and cover him with Its ruins before sumo
suppose she did not venture up to League
| lsland-for. OF course, II sc came that fal
she could never get out nsain--and stopped
| at Wilmington. What could stop her from
destroying. with her two twenty eight cent?
meter guns, the whole bodybuilding Industry
of Wilmington and Chestcr2 Now at IN,
breaking out OF war Our feet would probabl,
divide into one aggressive and one defensive
squadron on this coast. the former TO attach
| Havana and other Spanish ports in the main
the latter to patrol the coast to meet tn,
attacks that would be made on our defense
less harhors. Cuba would fall ont OF sigh
like shot The war at FIRST would be on on,
| coast and be defensive As wc gathercr
strength and were successful 1t would become