The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1898-07-26
CONDUCT Of OUR WAR
HAS BEEN ENERGETIC
As Compared With Other Wars, Uncle Sam
Has Made Record. Progress Has
Been Satisfactory.

There are some persons in the Unit
ed States and a good many elsewhere
who find much cause for complaint in
what they are pleased to term the dill
atory prosecution of Uncle Sans war
against the Spanish Dons. Were these
kickers thoroughly familiar with the
annals of the present century they
would know that to date events have
moved with remarkable rapidity since
the beginning of hostilities last April
1t is true that the Franco-Prussian war
was showed along with much greater
celebrity and so, perhaps was the war
between the Italo-Prussian alliance
and Austria, but in these two cases
conditions were so different from those
prevailing in the present war that
comparisons are by no means fair In
neither case was it necessary for the
aggressive nation to put to sea, let
alone expand little group Of between
10000 and $4,000 fighting men, barely
enough to maintain military organiza-
ton, to an effective army of invasion.
Prussia and France are contiguous,
4
slams to advance to the French from
tier to begin operations, and condi
lions were not less favorable to the
expedition OF operations in the Austro-
Prussian war. Besides, all parties
were ready for both these wars, having
been perfecting military organizations
for many years.
nj IN hal
century that can be compared with the
current one with any degree of fair
ness were the Crimean war Of 1S54-5G,
and the conquest of Egypt in 1892.
Both were conducted with much great
er deliberation than that with which
our operations against Spain have been
carried on. Yet in both instances the
aggressive nations were provided at
the beginning with thousands more
trained soldiers than the United States
possesses even yet. Moreover, in the
Crimean war, England was not fighting
single handed, being in alliance with
France, while in the Egyptian opera
tions England had the moral support
of every European power, and her an
tagonists were all Asiatic or African
blood-people totally unable by nature
to put up winning fight against
Europeans. 1t is now two months and
four days since the present war began,
on April %, by the Nashville's capture
Of the Buena Ventura. Since then
the United States forces have COM
pletely destroyed one Spanish fleet il
waters thousands of miles from home,
annihilated another on this side
and the conquest of an enormously
rich group of islands is virtually ac
complished From an effective. force
of less than 5000 men the army has
been increased to more than 100000,
and the new troops are being rapidly
transformed into one of the most effec-
tive fighting organizations in the
world.
Events moved vastly slower in the
Crimean war. For causes which need
not be explained here, England and
France, acting Jointly, declared war
against Russia on March %, 1854. In
stantly the mobilization of large
masses of troops was begun both by
the French and the English. Consid-
ering the inferior means of transport:l-
ton then existing. they were moved
eastward with commendable CELEBRITY,
for, after spending some time at Gal
lipolis and other Oriental localities,
they landed at Varna on May 20 of the
same year. This, however, 1t will be
observed, was almost exactly as long
after the declaration of war against
Russia as the period which has now
elapsed since the capture of the Buena
Ventura, the first act of the present
war, and there was no end of com
plant, both in England and France,
over the delay But the war was not
actually begun by the end Of May,
1854. The authorities in charge de-
cided at once upon an expedition
against the Crimea, but they took their
time, and plenty of it, before they got
down to business, for they didn't en-
bark their forces until September 3,