River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1898-06-23

Dowell, was ordered forward before it !
was prepared TO move; long before it
was in condition to cope with the bril- |
liant generals of the confederacy. The |
result was inevitable The army did not
go ION to Richmond" very far until it
ran up against 'Stonewall," very
steep "Hil' and an inyincible Long |
street," and the army came streaming |
back into Washington defeated, de- |
moralized, panic-stricken. After that |
experience the administration became |
deaf TO public clamor. and took time
for the accomplishments of its pur-
poses.
Many men and newspapers of the |
present day howled and bayed and
yelped ceaselessly: 'On to Cuba but |
the Mckinley administration has calm
~ taken its time to prepare for an on
ward movement which should surely |
not be failure, much less a disaster. !
Consequently weeks have passed away !
while the volunteer army has been sue |
cessfully mustered and modified
1t is q common error for sanguine
men to underestimate the strength of |
the enemy. Many of us now living re- |
member that Gen. Sherman was called |
a crazy man because he said that not |
less than 100000 soldiers would be re-
quired for federal operations in the
Mississippi valley. The people who |
called Sherman crazy within two years |
saw that it required more than 100000 |
men to make any Roadway at all against |
the well-drilled. well-otlicered, brave
and efficient soldiers of the south.
Maj Gen. Miles, commanding the
army, has been severely criticised in
Washington and throughout the coun- |
try for not having marched "On to Gu
ba" as soon as war was declared No |
body went 50 far as to call him crazy, |
but by many he was deemed Inefficient |
None Of these things moved him. He |
foresaw the strong Notifications and |
earthworks, defended by a desperate
soldiery of Spain, under command of
shrewd leader, and he would not risk |
an invasion of Cuba by force which /
might he defeated.
The newspaper writer's and the men !
in our cities, towns, villages and ham I
let's who have joined in unreasonng de- |
mands for an invasion of Cuba evidently ,
have not thought Of what the result of
disaster to our army would mean. In
the first place, a small army landed in I
Cuba would have been attacked by the /
combined strength of Gen. Blanco, and /
they would have been sent marching I
over roads containing concealed mines +
of deadly explosives. There would have /
been great danger every hour and every (
minute, and the likelihood of complete
destruction and annihilation
Success for the Spanish forces would .
have meant the capture of our arms. am
munition and food supplies; enough to
have lasted the Spaniards long time.
But, worse than that. Spanish victory
would have warranted Spain in request
ing European aid to prevent the con
quest Of her Atlantic possessions. More
over, it has been well known that Aus
tria ana France would have been glad
of an excuse for interference Conse-
quently disaster and disgrace would
have been the result to this country if
there had been an unwise beginning of
the war.
Probably no man in all this land has
been so really anxious for a movement
''On to Cuba" as Gen. Miles The inva
sion of Cuba has been on his mind ever
since war was declared. Upon him has
rested the responsibility Of conducting
the organization and mobilization of
the army. He has been obliged to over
see all preparations for mastering the
soldiers. for clothing them, for feeding
81,
ships and for making safe landing on
Cuban soil With all these things on
his mind. while you and ! have been
attending to our daily duties. ii is safe
to say that he has been more intent or
the invasion OF Cuba than all Of the ed
itors, writers. public speakers and gen
eral wranglers for prompt action.
In addition TO the responsibility thus
briefly outlined, Gen. Miles has been
obliged to study the international pos
sibiities of failure. If be had been hur-
ried into any false movement, which
might have cost the loss Of thousands of !.
lives and the complete failure of our
cause. the country would never have
forgiven him, and his brilliant career
would have been ended in disgrace.
With an of these matters weighing up
on his mind do you wonder that he has
given no heed to the clamor crystal
lized In the unreasonable demand that
the army should AT once move ''0n TO
Cuba" II is well-known that the So
called business interests of the coun-
try opposed the war and endeavored TO
control the administration al Washing
ton, but unsuccessfully. The people of
the country believed that there was
ample cause for war in the destruction
81 their battleship. So the gar really