Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-11-29
CERVERAS WARNING
Had Spain Needed His Advice She
Might Have Saved Much That is
Now Forever Lost.

Washington, D. c., November 2S.-
The Navy Department to-day pub
lished through the Office of Naval In
telligence, the Views of Admiral Ger
vera regarding the Spanish navy in the
late war"
This is a reprint of a number Of let
tiers published in La Epoca, of Madrid
on the 9Th of the present month. The
letters are dated from before the war
up to May 5. They were written by
CerVera in protest against Spain rush
ing into war in the face OF certain de-
feat, due to the naval strength of the
United States and the unpreparedness
of the Spanish 4-uv
Cervera writes:
1 ask myself if it is right for me to
keep silent and thereby make myself
an accomplice in adventures which
will surely cause the total ruin of
Spain. And for what purpose? To
defend an island which was our. but
belongs TO us no more, because even if
we should not lose it by right Of war
we have lost it in fact and with it ali
wealth and an enormous number of
young men, victims Of the climate and
bullets In the defence Of what is now
no more than a romantic ideal. Fur
thermore, | believe that this opinion
OF mine should be known to the Queen
ana by the whole council Of ministers
L nave donrn6
my opinions to the proper authorities
clearly and without beating about the
push. Now let orders be given to me:
Will carry them out with energy and
decision; | am ready for the worst"
captain Glover says Spain had neg
lected her navy and Cervera shows it
was imprudent for her to attempt war
against a superior naval power. Taking
up some OF the vessels in detail in
letter written in January, he shows
the Vizcaya carried defective guns.
now the Carlos ". was failure, be-
cause of a lack Of. power; and how the
Catalina, begun more than eight years
before, was still incomplete. And then
ne predicts that a conflict would be
disastrous 10 Spain. In letter writ
ten In February the admiral speaks of
the Colon having no guns; OF other
vessels being defective, Of the inability
or the fleet TO coal at Cadiz; Of their
being obliged to go out with half ra-
lions, and finally their having no chart
Of the American seas. He saws that
the eight principal vessels on the Ha-
vana station are worn out and that
taking things as they are, the Spanish
naval force, compared with that Of the
f= in ha 81
I 10 3. In such conditions a campaign.
he writes. would be disastrous if not
an offensive one. and all that could be
done in an offensive way would be TO
make some raids with few vessels.
The admiral points to the futility Of
to blockade the United
States ports and asks how the Spanish
navy would repair even should they
win great victory without resources. /
He says:
1T would be foolish to deny that wh-.
we may reasonably expect is defeat
which may be glorious but all the same
defeat which would cause us to lose the |
island in the worst possible manner"
e
only in case We could count on some /
powerful ally could be aspire TO obtain I
! satisfactory result
The admiral refers to the Spanish /
Pacific force as not able to afford even /
1 shadow Of resistance to the American /
naval force Further on he speaks Of /
he war as az last In sight. /
and laments the incomplete state /
" the Spanish vessels. But after all. he l
says that he Is glad The end IS coming. /
and IS prepared to do his duty He is on /
-eeord as protesting against the sending |
IF the little torpedo fotilla to Cuba. /
pointing ont that naval defeat for
spain would precipitate the loss Of Cuba.
he speaks Of the surprise and astonish-
nent experienced by all Of the officers
4 his squadron on receiving orders from |
;pafn 10 sail from Cape Verde FOR Cuba.
as they had united in pointing
ut the condition Of the ships Says the
idn1iral:
with an easy conscience go to the
acrifce. but l cannot understand that
lecision Of the navy general officers
gafnst my opinions
The last letter in the series Il ore
rom Admiral yIllamiI. Of cervera.s
quadron. addressed directly to sagasta.
,ointing out that. the sacrifice Of the
spanish naval forces win be as certain as
| will be useless and fruitless Tor the ter
nination OF the war.