The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-05-16
Not s'a Wond ,rful Victory"
70 The st. Paul Globe

TO Ihe ST. Paul GLOBE:
Dear Sir: 1 see some very inexplicab,e
things IN the newspapers nowadays regard
Ing our recent victory at Manila. They call
1t "a wonderful victory" brilliant achieve
ment. the most remarkable naval battle In
modern times, etc. They speak of our men
from commodore down to cabin boy as the
mightiest heroes. No other sailors ever
have or ever could have performed such
prodig!es of valor. apparently. If one is to
believe the papers on this subject, tie COM
modore deserves to be made an admiral, all
the other officers deserve promotion, and
everybody finally should have pension.
Let us see how this is. The newspapers
recently have published some tables showing
the relative strength of the two fleets some,
what as follows: Tonnage Of our snips,
about 5000; tonnage of Spanish ships, about
1.000. Our ships carrying about 120 guns;
Spanish ships about sixty guns. Weight of
metal capable of being thrown from Span
ish guns at one discharge, about 1000
pounds. =,
equipped with rapid-fre guns and everything
calculated to make them effective in modern
warfare. The Spanish ships were small and
old and poorly equipped, with guns aim2st
i obsolete. and with very few rapid-fire guns
The foregoing. shows that the Spanish
ships were about one-half CT one-third "r'
one-fourth the strength of ours. Is there
anything remarkable in the fact that we
should have won this battle? Wouldn't it
have been case of the grossest cowardice
and Incompetence if we had not done so?
one-third or one-fourth is own strength
do you call that very brilliant achieve
ment?" Is that the most remarkable naval
battle in. modern times?" Does anybody
have to show any very exalted heroism or
any very great naval skill? Or is it neces-
sary merely for the men to do their duty in
very moderate degree and without the ex-
hibiton Of any wonderful heroics?
Almost anybody can dispose of an adver-
sary who is only cne-hsif or onethird his
own size. 1t is only when the combatants
are evenly matched. or something near it.
that there is any chance for the display of
valor, unless indeed it be on the weaker
SIDE
The fact that the enemy lost hundreds of
men killed and hundreds wounded in this
battle. while we ourselves had onIy fifteen
wounded and none killed. shows conclusiye-
ly that our men were not at any time in
any danger; that it was merely a contest be-
tween one party fully armed and another
hardly armed at all, and that consequently
there was no chance for the display of any
thing like heroism valor on our part.
am Just as gratifed as any one that our
Meet mas been successful but 1 do not be-
or giving people credit for doing wonderful
things when, as matter of fact the enemy
at Manila did not have single chance with
cne guns soa ana equipment they had, TO sue
manned by crews as cowardly as Gilman n.
and such crews had shown their cowardice
as did the Cinnamon in the battle of the
Yalu. sAo
If you give our men credit for doing tb .ir
duty in very moderate degree, that is all
they are entitled to. They may be the
greatest heroes. as everybody claims, but
Will they have during the progress of this
war When the Atlantic fleets come to-
gether, the conditions will be Just the same
as at Manila Our fleet will be two or three
umes as strong as that of the enemy, and
there will be no real battle. Spain has no
snlps worth mentioning, and however vi
cicusly the Spaniards may fight. they can
not hope to succeed without ships.
Our navy will certainly not obtain any
lasting glory in this war. The coate st is too
one-sided. 1t Is too much like a full
grown man going out and thrashing ten
year-old boy. who happens to be doing
wrong. The man may be justified in dong
II, put you can hardly call him gallant
nero or very brave man: Yours truly.
st. Paul. May 9, 1898.
Mr.. Chamberlain is anticipating the
historian Of the next century who
writing in the calm of a half or mora
century's distance from the event. NAV
reach some such conclusion as does
our correspondent. But. whatever his
judgment, he will undoubtedly consider
one feature Of that battle which Mr.,
Chamberlain ignores. It did not re-
quire the courage to attack the Span
1sh fleet after Dewey reached II
that 1t did to go to the attack. Since
the Civil war new implement Of de-
tense has come into use whose posi-
bilities are yet to be determined. We
got little taste of what 1t could do
in the last year of our war. The ex-
periments in the use of the tor
pedo as a harbor defense made in Mo-
bile bay developed sufficient POSSIBLE
tiles to make any commander appre-
hensive Of the consequences Of entering
a harbor protected by the torpedoes
and mines Of today, so vastly improved
and made so much more controllable
by the use of submarine electricity
1t was the entry of his fleet into Manila
harbor, in face Of the knowledge that
1t had been mined and torpedoed. that
called for pluck and gave to the con-
test the rightful appellation of a great
victory. The premature explosion OF
couple of these mines near. Dewey,s
ships, coupled with the work they are
capable Of doing, as shown in the case
Of the Maine, but confirms the verdict
universal, excepting our correspondent
of the brilliancy of Dewey's achieve
ment. - If 1t were true that it is
over-estimated, something should be
allowed for the state Of mind OF the
public. It is hardly in that calm, cold
judicial frame in which Mr.. Chamber
lain evidently exists.