The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1898-05-07
Saturday, May Z, 1898.
THE FIRST SEA FIGHT.

Tie vicory Of the American feet IN
der Commodore Dewey over thu
Spanish feet, at Cavite. in Manila
Bay, Philippine islands, demonstrated
the superiority Of our war vessels and
the superior fighting qualities CT our
men over those Of Spain. Admitting
that our ships were superior in size and
in armament, still considering that the
Spanish feet had the assistance Of the
forts. the fight vas fair test Of " hat can
be expected every time the two fleets
come together upon ANYTHING Ike equal
terms, and is all the more welcome
because it has removed all our doubts
and fears as to tue capabilities Of orr
navy, and places us in the front rank az
a naval power.
This achievement or the commodore
reads like the many daring explOit- Of
England < great naval hcr0cs-her Mel
sons, brakes and BIakes To navigate
channel believed to be flied with tor
pedoes, at dead Of night. was a deed Of
daring v ithout parallel in history. 1t
meant success or disaster, and aas Of a
piece with the resolve Of the ::paniards
"A resolve thew carried QUITO sink
their slips and die rather than sur
render. He ri-ked his feet, his men
and Lis reputation on the result, and
he covered himself with glory, whereas
had lie failed he would have covered
himself with disgrace How true it IL
that fortune favors the brave" A
fainthearted man in Dcwey'z position
would never have taken the risks
he did, aud, therefore, the Spanish
fleet would not have been destroyed
and Manila be ours to day.
To Dewey and his brave men lis
country owes a debt Of gratitude it
can scarce repay. The completeness Of
the destruction Of the Spanish fleet
would seem to show that " Remember
the Maine" was the hattie cry, and if
vengeance was their quest they Ger
tainiy drank of It's cup to the full.
Whether this victory in Asiatic waters
Will hasten the end Of the war remains
TO be seen. Opinions are divided upon
that point, and Spain goes on making
reparations to carry on the fight, de
spite intcrnecinc strife. Indeed many
wise heads think the victory Of Manila
Bay will prove danger rather than a
strength, az it Will excite the jealousy
Of other powers and lead TO serious in
,ernatlonal complications. Many hold
that there WAS no necessity for our car
rying the war into Asia-that We should
have kept con our own side" That
having started out to free Cuba we
rhonld have confined our cncrgies to
the accomplishment OF that purpose.
1t was no affair of ours what went on
Fix thousand miles away. We started
out with the intention Of lessening
human woes at our own door, but only
added to the woes of others on the OPP
fair in war ordinarily, there is logic in
This reasoning. The starving Cubans
should have been relieved without de-
lay, and any fighting we had to do should
have been done in that endeavor, then
we would have escaped the suspicion of
beng actuatcd rather hy desire to
crush spain than to free Cuba.
But the soldiers duty Is "'nOt to reason
why" his j. but to obey, to ''do and
die" whatever may be the mistakes Of
the governments 1t is his to carry Old
Glory 70 victory as their fathers did be-
fore their, as Dewey did in Manila Bay
and as others will, if need tie, in davs
to come.