The Portland daily press., 1898-06-20
ONE SENSIBLE sPANIARD.
Senior Ply margall Recognizes the Hope
1essuess of the Struggle.

senor piv Margall, the Spanish Repub
,;aon 1oader. says, in recent issue of his
naner El Nuevo Regimen;
twho1, Cuba arose so powerful, we, the
poaora1s Of Spain, at once recognized the
;n,nossihility of subduing her by force oi
arms We used to say;
q I'VE must offer the Cubans the same
.,+onomy that is enjoyed by the provinces
Of tbe Peninsula, and if they do not ac.
oon+ Il we should negotiate peace on the
hasis of Independent ce. We were com.
nollad TO recognize the independence of
+ho other colonies we had in America
Wbv should we not recogni 70 the indie
nandence of Cuba? None of the others
was more civilized, nor had any made
stronger efforts TO obtain their freedom,
uBut Spanish people would NOT Jistan
to our advice, and, although finally a re-
stricted autonomy was granted, when too
late, the war Went on and was followed
hy one Of still greater Importance.
-"We are now at war with the United
States. In one hight we lost more than 800
sailors and eleven men-of-war. The
enemy is now at Manila and we are also
anxiously waiting for news of a naval
battle to be fought in the Atlsntic ocean.
If victory does not favor us there, what
will become of ug?
"The country has been deceived. for
heretofore the United States have been
represented to be merely nation of mer
chants, unit for war, incapable of stand
ing long struggle, lacking of a navy,
and imbued only with greed for gold.
1t was concealed from us that this same
nation had fought two wars with Great
Britain, one with Mexico, and also the
civil war IN 1861, which gave liberty to
the slaves. Inc power and strength of
that nation have been hidden from our
people, as well as our own weakness.
Our possessions are now scattered all over
the world. we possess only badly defended
Notifications, a poor navy, and scarcity
of gold.
''We had nothing, but we acted as if we
had abundant resources. We were unsuc-
cessful in war which was merely
colonial and now have to sustain another
compelling us to fight in every part of the
world. What shall we do now? Some
propose that we should invade our
enemy S territory. Supposing this was
possible and an easy thing to do, what
could we get? The English invaded the
United States in the war of 1912 and took
possession of Washington. England later
on, however, was defeated and was COM
PEELED to sign the treaty of Ghent The
United States, now nation of 70, 600, 900
people, are capable of mastering Millions
of soldiers, and in all their wars have
shown a tenacity excelled by no other
country of the world.
'Some of our people rely on the media
tion of the great powers. Today Russia
in the East and England in the West, the
predominating powers of Europe, favor
the cause of the United States. That
mediation would not be tolerated by the
North American republic is conclusively
ley displayed in his last message in re
gard to the collective note of the six
powers.
"Others have proposed that we gain the
good will of foreign nations by
Offering them gifts. Servicesp We
cannot serve them at present, and as
for future services, no nation is willing
to make any sacrifices. Colonies2 Which
should it be? In 1883 the Sultan of Tur-
key turned the island of Cyprus over to
England. Could the Crown of Spain
initiate Turkeys example? The Consti-
tuition and honor of our country would
prohibit such an action.
"We must first of all end this war. The
evils that aft1ict us are terrible. On ac-
count of the high rate of exchange our in
dustr1es and commerce have suffered, the
necessaries of life have risen in price, and
hunger provokes riots in the provinces. 1t
is not enough to suppress the duties on
cereals; it Is necessary to forbid their ex-
portation. By what means shall we raise
the loans that the present struggle de-
mands? What revenue shall we give as
a guarantee? The revenues of the Custom
House are already absorbed by the last
loan of 800, 900, 900 pesetas issued.
Our credit has declined, our expenses
have grown, taxation has increased, and
the state of Spain finances daily becomes
more grteyous. What shall we do, re-
peat, to put an end to these lamentable
conditions?
The great mistake was in OF recogniz-
ing the independence of Cuba. We should
do SO now and ask for the immediate sus.
pension of hostilities We cannot believe
that the great republic has any intention
to annex Cuba. On the contrary it has
repeatedly declared that it has no inten-
tion to obtain possession of the island by
force. In the resolution of April II Con.
gress denied before the world that she in
te nded to exert in Cuba any Jurisdiction
or sovereignty, but only wished once more
to establish peace and concord. AS to the
philippines, we do not believe that the
United States will annex these islands.
Ihey nave no colonies. They never
wanted any. There are advantages that
Will aliow us to make a treaty without
injury to oar honor and to our interests.
livery day that the war lasts longer
Is further step toward our ruin. In
order TO carry on the war we must enlarge
our Notifications and continue to draw
our youth from the workshops and from
the nelds OF agriculture. Is this an easy
task for nation exhausted as ours? Can
we AFFORD to create further fleets, fortif-
caGlons, and armies to resist the
1ormloaole cannon of the United States?"
FIGHT WITH ITALIANS.
hyde Park, Mass, June ia dispu tie