The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1898-04-19
ECH0ESI FROM ABROAD.

Il
ECHOESI FROM ABROAD.
There is a disposition to give more
/ heed to the utterances of Don Carlos than
is generally supposed. The boasts of the
pretender are not without their effect.
/ The Spanish nation is one of braggarts,
/ and this man strikes the popular chord
oftener than one would suppose. There
has been feeling of unrest as result
/ of Don Carlos recent nanifestoes.
This unrest is not with the public 1t
is manifested in ministerial circles and at
the palace. where the queen and her boy
are no doubt filed with dismay at the
turn which affairs are taking in the king
dom. The threat of Don Carlos to find
men who will defend the national honor
should the Sagasta ministry bow TO the
demands of the United States, has had its
effect upon the military. The govern
ment fears the result, no matter what the
outward demeanor of the members of the
cabinet may be. Gen. Weyler is being
closely Swallowed by the police, the gov
eminent having been informed that his
sudden arrival in Madrid was due to his
receipt of an urgent telegram from his
sympathiZers here. 1t is explained that
( the fighting. which was reported yester
day to have taken place between the
| Spanish and insurgents in Cuba, proba-
bly, occurred before the armistice went
into effect
The rioting in front of the United States
| consulate in Malaga is a symptom of the
thrcat enintr condition of q fairs in Snain
as we'll as of hostility toward America.
In the latter sense it is puerile, but a
revolt against the authorities presents a
grayer meaning. In several other Span
ish cities the mob spirit showed itself last
week. The government is drifting into
war with signs of outbreak at home, and
this ugly Feeling will grow the diff
culties of the situation appear and the
disasters which are probable occur. The
more the sentiment in Spain takes the
form of riOting the harder it will be to
prosecute foreign war with any effective
purpose.
Don Carlos, who, in his manifesto day
or two ago, condemned the delay in
avenging 'Spain's honor to the enervat-
ing femininities of the queen regent, who
he declares to be responsible for the al
legged temporizing policy which has been
pursued with regard to the United States,
has signally failed to give any practical
proof to his loud and passionate profess
sions of patriotism by contributing sim
gle penny piece TO the defense of his
country.
In fact, in his manifesto he declares
that all that he can do Is to give his
prayers for the success of the Spanish
arms and permission to his adherents
in Spain to fight for their country against
the United States. Yet his private for
tune amounts to over $50. 600 COO or proba-
bly, more and it is free from all charges
of the kind that weigh upon the queen
regent, who has given 100000 pesetas
---
It is officially stated in Madrid that
there are at the present moment over
100000 Spanish troops in Cuba-the Heral-
do says 200, 000-who possess the advan-
tage of being Injured to the enervating
climate of the Antilles and who are.
above all, seasoned to hardship of which
the American soldier has little or no
conception. In the United States and in
many of the countries OF the Old World.
the most elaborate precautions are taken
to assure the welfare and the comforts
of the soldiers. But this is not the case
with Spanish soldiers, who. owing to
department, and TO the Indifference of the
commanding officers. have to fight under
| the most disadvantageeus conditions.
Old Cuban campagners point out that,
providing any stand is made against
American invasion, and the hostilities
prolonged beyond a fortnight or three
weeks, the United States troops will be-
come altogether demoralized by the eli
mate. and by the conditions of Cuban life,
which are altogether out of keeping with
American ideas of comfort and sanitation.
Then, too whereas the Spanish soldiers
have made up for the lack of elementary
drill and military training by the expe-
rience which the singularly difficult and
arduous campaigning against the insur-
gents has given them, the American
| troops are practically without any expe-
rience of active service, save such as
few hundred at the most may have ac-
quired in chasing the redskins in the
West.
Gen Weyler. in fact, does not make
any concealment of his convictions that
any superiority which the American SOL
dierS may at first possess in freshness,
in equipment and in physique unimpaired
by fever hardship will be more than
counterbalanced by the superior eXpe-
riences which the Spanish troops now in
paigning of the most difficult kind.
These views are confirmed by
Commander Sobral the former ra-
val attache of the Spanish lega-
ton at Washington, and likewise by ex-
Minister Dupuy de Lone at whose sug-
gestion possibly the Eccercito Militar has
published translation almost in full of
the speech which Gen. McClelIans son
delivered some months ago in Congress
showing the lamentable v aaAness of
the organization and training of
the United States Army The APP
pearance of this speech Of Congressman
Mcclellan has created great sensation
in military circles, and has gone far TO
encourage the belief abroad that war with
the United States may eventually result
States.
Nothing is any longer expected in Ma
drid in the shape of assistance or inter
vention from the foreign powers. But
Spain AT least has the satisfaction of feel
ing that she enters upon the war against
America with the good will of every con
tinental power, who would willingly see
the United States humbled by this coun-
try America has until now been, so to
speak. an unknown quantity in interna-
tional politics, and precisely on account
of this ignorance an ignorance of which
the people on the other side of the At
lantic have no. conception. there has been
a certain amount OF fear and apprehensioa
as to what she might or might not be able