Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1898-04-09


DispassioDate Decision.
To the Editor of the Alexandria Gazette:
! The Gazette in recent weeks has 80
/ ably and fully demonstrated the ab
sence of any just cause for war with
Spain that l feel diffidence in under
taking further discussion of the grounds
assigned by its advocates for making
it, but some thoughts further may With
advantage be recorded.
! On Wednesday the Washington
Evening Star, referring, with i'll con.
cealed regret, to the improved prospect
that day for peace, uses the following
language:
"If peace for warning Cuba, relief for
starving Cuba. freedom for enslaved
Cuba, and full reparation for the de-
struction of the Maine can be secured
without war, it is WE'LL"
That is to say according to the lingo
programme, "peace for warning Cuba"
is to be gained by more war; "relief for
starving Cuba' ia to come by measures
which would cut off all supplies from
the famished reconcentradoes; Stree
dom for enslaved Cuba" is to be found in
the anarchy and bloodshed which would
inevitably follow its independence; and
"full reparation for the destruction of
the Maine," readily attainable now
through diplomacy, is to be secured by
an expenditure of blood and treasure
compared to which that involved in
her loss is trife.
Close inquiry as to what we are to
fight for before the die is cast which
determines for peace or war is not only
reasonable but indispensable.
What has Spain done TO as that aVe
should force her into war2 For no
sane man can deny that armed inter-
vention between her and her Cuban
subjects, and, still more, the proposal
to rot her of her most valuable colonial
possession leave that country no alter
native but to fight.
The commercial interests of the
United States, we are told, not only
Justify but oblige US to put stop to the
war in Cuba, or rather to do the fight
ing there ourselves. That those in-
terests have been seriously impaired is
indisputable, but no law of nations any
more than common sense permits US
forcibly to remove the cause. The loss
of southern cotton in 1S61-'65 was far
more serious thing to Great Britain,
and the South vigorously argued that
she should, and earnestly hoped that
she would, on that account interfere in
her behalf, but she did not.
Another ground for fighting Spain is
the alleged inhuman treatment of the
insurgents by her army. But Weyler
and his crueliies have passed away and
against Blanco, his successor, there is
no such charge. President Mckinley,
in his message last December, said ex-
pressly, "The policy of cruel rapine
and determination that so long shocked
the universal sentiment Of humanity lin
| Cuba) has been reversed" Are we to
go TO war in 1898 to punish Spain for
inhumauity in 1897? If 80, we might as
we'll make the case stronger and include
the enormities of Philip II in the Neither
lands in our Indictment.
But, it is said, the reconcentradoes, as
q consequence of Weyler's savagery,
are Starving and we must fight SO % to
relieve them, but fighting Spain is con-
fessedly the most effective way to kill
off, or rather to let die, the rest ofthese
unhappy people. AS ex-senator Ed
munds has happily said, Everybody
ought to see that if we went to
war on the score of the i'll treat
ment of the reconceDtradoes, the effect
would be to deprive them of the assist
ance that we are now giving them with
the consent of Spain, and would be fol-
lowed by the great majority of them
starving to death; for no sane man can
suppose that we can get into possession
of Cuba in time to extend relief 10
them"
Neither the interests of the United
States then nor friendship for Cuba de-
mands or permits our forcing Spain into
war. In such contest we would prob
ably get the best of it, but not without
a loss of life and property and injury to
material interests otherwise fearful 10
contemplate. To what extent We
should escape invasion, or at least de-
vastation here and there, on our ex-
tended sea coast it is difficult to copjec-
ture, but we are hardly invulnerable
at every point. Perhaps Virginia, per-
haps the New England or Jersey coast,
perhaps the Carolinas or Louisiana
might come in for the qttentioDs OF
| Spanish cruisers. We could not expect
to have everything our own way. I'M
patriotic as it may be to suppose any
thing else. Our soldiers during the ap-
preaching rainy season would die at a
fearful rate in Cuba, some of them of
course would be captured and languish
in Spanish prisons, and many probably
be slain 10 battle, but We must, the
limoges tell US, look at these things
simply as the fate of war and cheerfully
endure them in view of the vast advan.
tages to accrue from the conflict.
What are those advantages and aOhat
is to be gained By such Sacrifces2 Is the
independence of Cuba, followed by &
period of disorder and bloodshed, with
annexation later, worth such price?
Do we really want Cuba as part of
the United States or could we afford to
take her as such, with or without wal?
l.. M. B.
April 9, 1895.