The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1898-04-08
NO HELP FROM
BANKERS
Will not Supply Spain with
SineWs of War.
END OF CUBA'S WOES IN SIGHT.
Walter Wellman Predicts the Speedy Set
Element of Our Quarrel With Spain
The Influence of Spain's BOndhOIders Is
All Against War.

WASHINGTON, March 14.-It looks
now as If an end to the woes of poor
Cuba might be reached in a very
short time, perhaps in 60 days. The
great nations Of Europe are taking
hand in the affair. Not openly,
which form records, but by the secret
and insidiOus and powerful means
of diplomatic intercourse. Europe
wants no war between Spain aud the
United States. The reason is OBJ
vious, though containing many
phases. The first and most impOr-
tant of these is that after Spain has
wageG war upon the United States,
and lost, as she surely will lose if
she tries it, Spain will be in the
throes of revolution. | have here
tofore pointed out this fact to the
readers ofthese dispatches. 1t is EN-
phasized by the attitude of foreign
governments during the last week.
If Spain makes war and loses, with
the bitterness and desperation of de-
feat will come an upheaval of the
whole social and political fabric of
that kingdom. More likely than not
republic will succeed the empire,
and this sort OF an upheaval is pre-
cisely the object lesson which no
European nation wants to have af-
forded its own people.
EurOpe's interest in maintaining
peace between America and Spain
is keen. There is, in addition to the
| n or hn
mel cial point of view. No one can
foresee what disarrangemen of
commerce will come if war breaks
out. BesiC es, once let slip the dogs
of war betweea the United State s
and Spain, once redden the seas
with blood, and the statesman does
not live who is farsighted enough to
see the outcome. The peace of the
whole world might be broken. Then
there Is the money stake. Hun
dreds of millions of Spanish bonds
are held by bankers and their clients
in France, England, Germany and
other nations. The French are be.
lieved to be the heaviest holders OF
Cuban securities. War betwe en-
Spain and America meaus virtu al
forfeiture of all these loans. Spain
would not only lose Cuba, but she
would probably go to pieces herself
She could not pay, and Cuba would
not.
Bankers Cry Halt
At the foot of every throne in
Europe sits banker. In every Eu-
Iropean cabinet great banking houses
have their representatives. They
are often able to formulate policies
they are always able to mold them
one way or another. The bankers
are against war, and they have is
sued their command that there must
be peace. If Spain breaks the peace,
she does so at her peril. She can eff.
feet no war loan. The bankers have
gone as far rs they will go. They
will not give Spain money with
which to ruin herself. The very best
they could hope for in case of a di.
sastrous Spanish American wal
would be pittance OF 5Or 10 cents
on the dollar. For this reason peace
Is imperative, unless Spain loses her
head, unless her statesmeh become
so wild and vicious that they are
willing to plunge their country into
the very orator of bankruptcy, ruin
failure, humiliation, anarchy, revo
llution. In the opinion of the best
Informed men here in Washington
they will not do it.
The best barometer of war oil
peace is the quotation of Spanish
bonds in the European markets
When Spanish fOIrs decline, the sit
uatiOn is growing more serious
When they are steady, no new dan
gers threaten When they are up
difficulties are disappearing. Per.
haps the house of Rothschild has
more to say about deciding the ques
tion Of war or peace than Prime
Minister Sagasta himself. The
Rothschilds not only know what Ii
going on in the most secret council:
of the Madrid government, but they
are able to issue their ultimatum'
as to what shall or shall not be done
Moreover, they know how to pull tht
wires that set the governments oI
France and England in motion, and
to produce diplomatic pressure upor
Spain to keep the peace. This, ac
cording to information received
bere of an apparently trustworthy
character, is precisely what ha
happened. s.. L.- .H..t
do not mean to say that the bank
ers of Paris and London are able alb
solutely to control the question o
war or peace, but they will com
very near it. An extraordinary sit
uation, an accident, the firing of
gun by hot headed officer, nigh
bring on war without the desire o
the intention of either government
But such causes aside, ] find tn
best balanced and more thorough,
informed public men of Washington
convinced that there will be no wal
Our Policy.
They say the United States desire
only that which is right and proper
It is not the intention of the Unite
States TO seek Cuba for itself. 1t /
not selfish policy that controls thi
government. We are led to inter
vention solely for the purpose of saw
; ing thousands upon thousands of hu