The age-herald., 1898-07-01
L INTERVIEW WITH
 GENERAL WEYLER No Mines Were Laid in the Har-
 .bor of Havana. BUTCHERS IDEA OF THE WAR Would Not Have Sent Ceryera to Cuba, but Would Have Ordered the Fleet to Make Dash for Americas Long Strip
 of Coast Line.
BUTCHERS IDEA OF THE WAR
From the London Telegraph.

In the course of an interesting conversa- tion which l had with General Weyler this morning l called his attention to the state ment published by the New York papers to the effect that a certain Carlos Grandall, alias Escandaro, had confessed to having laid torpedoes in Havana harbor by General Weyler's orders, and that Grandall had now committed suicide General Weyler said: Nowadays any and every calumny can be written and circulated wherever there is paper and printers ink. Personally, l at tach no importance to the accusation for all who know me must also know that this is a clumsy lie It is clumsy because it is self-contradictory When I was in Havana there no war with the United States, and nobody believed there would be, and, therefore, there was no need to lay down torpedo mines and I laid none. I placed Havana in a proper state of defense, as was my duty, and if war had been imminent l should have defended it against attack as well; but war was not imminent, nor even probable, in the opinion of those who possessed more data for judging than l. Monomaniac
 "As to this individual, Grandall, or Es- candaro, l have never met him and have never heard of him, but, judging by what you tell me, he must be nonomaniac."
 Did you not yourself foresee the war;" l asked.
 "Yes, but in a wholly different form. I expected that, once the rebellion was sup pressed, the United States would claim compensation for damage done to American subjects and interests, and in that way hos tilities would finally break out, and I ex- pressed my views to the prime minister
 What is your opinion, general, on the method of Conducting the war pursued by the present government?'
 "I have no right to offer to form any opinion until I know the data and the plans of the government; and until I am in po- session of all facts l am bound to assume that the government has done and is doing everything which the interests of Spain de- mand. It is my duty to respect even when I fail to understand its action, and l en- deavor to do my duty"
 Let me ask you, general, what course you would have pursued with such knowl- edge as you possess? Would you, for ex- ample, have sent the fleet to Cuba?"
 Weyler's Idea of War
 Certainly not. My private opinion is that even in the most favorable circumstances the presence of the fleet in Cuban waters cannot lead to any desirable result. It solves none Of the problems raised by the war. Cuba was well defended without the fleet What I should have done was to dispatch the squadron to the Canaries on the outbreak of the war and then to have made dash for the American coast, which is very extensive. The bombardment of some of the American commercial cities would have struck terror to the hearts of the enemy, and would have dampened their enthusiasm for having taken the offensive. In war like the present one Spain had hopes of gaining all that was possible to be gained only by gallant daring, enter prise and rapidity. This is just the strong point of our army and navy, and these are the brilliant qualities which l should have endeavored to utilize. That done, I am convinced things would have taken a very satisfactory course'
 "But supposing the government had eX- cellent reasons for not doing this, what course would you have taken?"
 "In any and every case I would have sent squadron to defend the Philippines The archipelago was never coveted by the United States, and therefore I should have kept the Yankees from taking it, and con- ceiving the desire of keeping it."
 Would that have been easy? I asked.
 Would Have Been Easy
 "In my opinion extremely feasible from every point of view. Possession of the Philippines would be an earnest and guar antee of Span's resusctation after the war, and I would have considered even great sacrifices a cheap price for their maintenance.
 "May I now ask you, general, were you prepared to practice what you preach and to go to the Philippines with endorsements and to hold them for Spain against all comers?
 "Most certainly, and in the senate l of- fered my services to my country" "Is it your opinion that If you had been sent you would have put an end to the re- bellion, made headway against Aguinaldo and his hordes, and maintained Spain's sov- ereignty in the archipelago"
 "Undoubtedly, for I know the country and the people well, and, what is more. I know and appreciate the inestimable quail ties of the Spanish soldier, and fiatter my self that I can bring them out to the full est extent so that I have no doubt as to what few thousand troops dispatched in time could have achieved. What are wanted in wars generally, and especially in wars like the present. are dash daring, enterprise and rapidity. All this Is, Of course, merely the private opinion of sof- dier and I repeat that I am not in posi- tion to offer any views on the plan of cam- paign followed by the government; but, personally, I would have taken the offens- i've. struck terror into the Yankees, and kent their forces divided"