The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-05-18


Spain.l
Qn0HEN Mr. Seward, at the very
NkUI height of the debate on the
WNW slavery question, declared that
(I(I the struggle between the two
principles Of freedom and slav-
cry was an "irrepressble conflict" he
clarified the whole situation. TO a great
many reluctant minds he brought home
the unWelCome truth that, while conf
promise might postpone the hral COILS
ION for time, collision was ineVltaOle;
the two systems could not co-eXist; one
must destroy the other. For the same
reason, the war between this country
and Spain was inevitable. 1t has oeen
long torcsceL, it has been postponed tro;a
time to time; but il could not be avoid
ed. To.those most reluctant to have re
course to the ancient Larbarism of war,
there has come recognition of the lact
that between the civilizations OF the Two
countries no division of the North Amer
lean world was possible, ANA that with
Il country 50 blind to the movement of
modern history as Spain there was no
other method of settlement thdn war.
In this conflict the men of today are
moved by historic forces which they dld
not set in motion and which tney Could
not escape. The war now being Waged
il the end of the campaign which began
in the reign of Queen Elizabeth; 1t is the
last act in the great drama which stirred
the world " hen little England faced thc
immense power of Spain on the high
seas, and English pluck, skill, and au-
dacity nCbly dared and won, as did Amer
lean pluck, skill, and audaClty at Md
mia. Between Anglo-SaNon and Spanish
civilization there IS an irrepressible con-
fiiCt. The differences are not merely in
habit, dress, and taste; they are cl-
vergenCes of principle so fundamental
that they cannot CO-eXist in the same
quarter of the globe. The two civlliza-
lions are mutually antagomstic at every
important point in civil, religious and So
C:al ideals; wherever they meet they are
compelled by their very nature to close
in Il death struggle.
d
The struggle began hen America was
discovered, and it will he ended only
when the last Spanish official leaves the
shore Of the New World. Martin Luther
nailed his thesis on the door of the church
in Nittcnberg in the same year in which
Spanish troopers were exploring and con-
querng Central America. In the struS-
gle for religious and civil freedom which
| the Reformation inauEurdtcd, Spain stood
! for merciess and arbitrary suppression
| of freedom of faith, worship action end
, lnOuRnl.
I Spanish priest has left an indelible i'm
/ age in the memory Of Christendom. Eng
| land and the Low countries fought not
for their own existence alone; they
waged a war for humanity. All the dear
| est interests OF the race were in their
| keeping; and nobly did they guard the
! spiritual and civil life Of the future. Ihe
heroic figure of Drake stands out, despite
! his faults, like a minister of light against
! 4 no. .Tnt1 ~ Ia
! Philip IL.
In that struggle for the right to live,
| breathe, think, and worship, England
! and the Low countries fought against
| great odds. Spain had the treasures of
the New World at her hand, and she set
the New World against the Old When
she was driven out of the Netherlands IN
| 1903, she had already taken from this
continent hundreds OF millions in sold
and silver ana had spent the greater
| part of it in the futile cndeavor to ami
hilate Professionalism, and with it civil
and religions liberty. The great English
sailors saw early that the only way to
destroy the power of Spain was to de-
| strOy the sources Of her revenue, and 1t
| is TO the foresight as well as courage OF
such men as Drake that the English
speaking peoples in all parts OF the world
| today largely owe their freedom and their
prosperity. The indomitable admiral
"singed the King of Spain's beard on
both sides of the continent, and his name
became a terror in that far Pacihc which
had until his coming been like ar In
land sea of Spain,
Out of that deadly conflict Spain
emerged crippled and manned. The
Dutch had taken her eastern possessions
and the English had secured the CoEdl'
lions necessary for English supremacy
on the American continent. For the fate
of America hung in the balance when the
Armada sailed; if Philip had crushed
England, no English-speaking colony
would have been planted in the western
world. THE defeat of the Invincible Ar
mada," says Mr.. Fiske, was the open
ing event in the history of the United
States. 1t was the event which made al
the rest possible"
The awful blight which has fallen upor
Spain and slowly but surely sapped the
| sources Of her life has rested upon every
| one of her colonies, one by one those
colonies have thrown off "A rule which be
! came intolerable. Stree the present trou
ble began, the Spaniards have assumed
that they had the chivalrous instincts oi
gentlemen ana that we were a race oi
sOrdid traders bent only upon money-get
| ting. AS matter of fact, history car
1 ehou no mora anna 1linq phaptqr Of greed