The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-08-22

Commercial Advertiser On the PENN
sula the war is carried on for u.s. better
than we could conduct it ourselves, by
internal discussions. And these dis
sensions are aggravated by each dis
turbance of the Spanish colonial pos
sessions, while they would be stilled
by an attack on the mother country
herself. 1t is interesting, therefore, to
note the widely distributed possessions
of Spain in all quarters of the globe,
! generally small and scattered, and
| badly protected or not protected at
all.
Beginning nearest the peninsula
there are several possessions of Spain
which are counted Is integral parts of
the government; though not on the
peninsula, the Balearic Islands and the
Canaries form politically each a prov
ince of Spain and send representatives
to the cortes, while the possessions on
/ the Mediterranean coast of Africa are
counted in with Cadiz. The last are
small, but would be cf great strategic
importance if they had better ports and
| more fresh water. The best and most
important is Ccnta, at the eastern
entrance of the straits and directly OPP
posite Gibraltar from which it is about
80 miles distant. 1t is a small town of
| about 10000 inhabitants, strongly forti-
| ned, with poor and artificial port, and
is in Spanish eyes a sort of offset to the
great fortress of Gibraltar, which is
loaned for the present to Great
! Britain
The other possessions or presidios on
the Moroccan coast are Penon de
Velez. Militia, small rocky peninsulas
with very poor harbors, and two small
rocky islet groups with no harbors at
all. All are devoid of fresh water ex-
| cept as rain is collected in cisterns
and are of no Importance except for
strategic reasons. All are used as penal
establishments, and those directly on
the coast have precarious existence
because of the attacks of the Riffs, a
Warllke Moorish tribe adjacent to
them. Of great value to Spain in pro-
.ectlng her commerce from the neigh
! boring plratical Moors, Ceuta alone
| would be of value in the war with
Spain. The title to the others would
at once exunguish by starvation and
thirst if SPANS commerce in the Medi-
terranean were disturbed
Inc Balearic Islands are five in num-
per, lying opposite Valencia, from 80 to
500 miles from the central Mediterran-
can coast of Spain They are about
midway in the course of French YES
sells plying between Marseilles and
Alglers, and are of high Importance for
any nation needing to control the COM
merce OF the western Mediterranean.
They are rich and populouS, have some
fair ports, and are fortified They have
total area of 1850 square miles and a
population of about $4,000. Spain is
reported to be strengthening their
fort1hcationS, but an American fleet in
the Mediterranean might be bottled up
unless Ceuta were in its possession
and SPANS home fleet rendered harm
less.
Very different would be the possess
sion OF the Canaries, though their har-
oors are poor and they are 600 miles
from Cadiz. They lie off the coast of
the Sahara, opposite the southern ex-
tremlty of Morocco at distances from
5O to 200 miles and are stretched in a
curve over 300 miles in length. The
group is composed of seven larger and
SIX smaller inhabited islands, aggre-
eating 2,S0S square miles in area and
nearly 100000 in population. The ma
i've Berber population has long since
disappeared and the people now there
are Spanish and presumably as patri-
otlc IN feeling as the Spanish on the
peninsula Being politically an actual
province of Spain, the Canaries have
less reason to complain of the govern
ment than have Cuba and the Philip
pine archipelago. The principal fort is
tortured in an antiquated fashion and
couid De easily taken. Being only two
or three days from the nearest Span
ish coast the possession of these islands
would De OF great value were it not
1or the poorness of their harbors.
Along the Atlantic coast of Africa.
Spain has several possessions. the most
OF them small, some of precarious ex-
lstence or contested title, and all of
very little value Ifni is a port and
town north of Cape Nun, on the Mo-
roccan coast, of value because of the
commerce between Spain and the Ca
naries.
About in the middle of the Saharan
coast is a small gulf. or large bay.
called no de Orc. This means golden
river, but there is no river there and
no gold. On this bay Spain has one
factory or trading station, the existence
or which is precariOus Indeed. she
CLAIMS large territory, aggregating 243.-
900 square miles and embracing the
oasis region to the southwest. which is
called Adrar. The population of the
whole district is estimated at 100 900.
but SPANS control over them. or in
huence over them, is of the fiimsiest
sort. Probably a large percentage of
these people have never heard of Spain
and the possession is only a paper con-
Ventlon with France, which Spain may
make effective in time, if she can.
on the Guinea coast Spain has sew
eral small islands, and a considerable
coast area. the possessions of the lat
ter being contested by France The
largest uncontested possession here is
the island of Fernando Pc. in the an
gle OF the Gulf of Guinea. with an area
of 800 square miles and a population
OF about $1,000. 1t is a beautiful is
land, but very unhealthy, and far away
from all strategic use to the Ameri-
cans. The other islands have in the
aggregate but few square miles of
territory, small population, a few trad
ing stations. mostly in hands other
than Spanish, and one has an Ameri- /
can missionary station. This is Cor |
isco, small island in a bay of the /
same name. Any one of these could be
taken with the simple effort to possess
them, but their value is not likely to /,
justify even this.
So much for the African possessions !
OF Spain. Her great American possess !
sions have dwindled to Cuba and Porto j
Rico. The character and condition of |
the first are very familiar to Ameri- /
cans, and those OF the second have been /
published.
The Asiatic possessions comprise the /
and the Sulu Islands. The
latter is geographically a part of the |
former, but politically it is a small sui /
of which Spain is suzerain.
The Sulu Malays are inveterate pi- !
rates. and the colonizing nations have
often found it necessary to chastise
them. Finally. by definite convention,
the responsibility for them was handed
over TO Spain. The islands are adju-
cent TO Borneo, or stretch to the north
eastward from il 10 Mindanao. They
have an area of $50 square miles, and a
population of abOI,+ * 000 IT is a viz