The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-08
The Scope of the War.

When We began the war with Spain We
had no intention TO do anything more
Than 10 drive the Spaniards out OF Cuba.
Our intention now is to strip Spain Of all
of her colonial possessions. We may not
keep these POSSESSIONS. What we shall do
with them is a question which will not be
settled until the war is ended. Having
them, however. we shall be in a better
position to dictate the terms Of peace than
If we did not have them.
We have taken possession of the Lad
rones. and we shall soon take pos
session of the Philippines, if, in fact,
they are not already under our control.
Our next step viii be to capture Porto
Rico It is believed that we shall do more
towards bringing Spain to terms by tax
ing that island than we would by captur-
ing Havana, and II will be far easier 10
capture Porto Rico than Havana. If Spain
should stll refuse to ask for peace, after
losing Porto Rico, movement on Havana
would no doubt be begun at once.
The troops which are now being sent to
Santiago are intended it is believed for
Porto Rico. Some OF them may be left at
Santiago to take the place of the regulars
there, while The regulars viii be used in
the movement on Porto Rico. 1t is prob
able that Santiago will have surrendered
before they reach there.
The sending of fresh troops there win
not interfere in any way with the Porto
Rico movement Santiago may be made
the base of operations against Porto Rico
If the health of the troops there remains
good it could be used advantageously for
that purpose. Spain is practically power
less on the sea, and our transports can 80
and come as they please without the ne
cessity Of being accompanied by warships.
That condition of affairs has been made
possible by the destruction of Admiral
Ceveras squadron.
No estimate has yet been given out by
the war department of the number of men
hkely to be sent to Porto Rico, and none
will be given out probably until il is known
what the strength of the Spanish force
in that island is. The Notifications Of
San Juan were bombarded a few weeks
ago by Admiral Simpsons ships, but as
far as known they were not injured beyond
repair. The plan of the campaign, how
ever, would hardly include the destruction
of those Notifications before the landing
of troops. Troops would be landed at
some other point of the island and would
assist in the capture Of San Juan.
The purpose of sending a squadron 10
the coast of Spain to attack Spanish ports
has not been abandoned. There is moth
ing to interfere with the execution of IT,
What few warships Spain has are on the
way to the Philippines, and the Spanish
coast is practically defenseless. What
the President desires is TO bring the war
to a speedy end, and il is probable that if
Spain were threatened by an American
squadron of cruisers and battleships she
would see the necessity of haste in suing
for peace.
Our war with Spain, instead of being
confined 10 the island of Cuba, is stretch
ing over a large part OF the world and
when it is ended Spain win have much
less territory than when 1t began. How
much we shah retain of what Spain loses
is a question which is likely to become a
very important issue in our party politics