The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1898-05-12
RE ENTRANCES;
THURSDAY, MAY 10, 1893.
What Triumphed at Manila.


When, after long suspense, the
American people received the official
report of the great victory at Manila,
Commodore Dewey's brief and extra
ordinary announcement that the an
Inhalation of the Spanish fleet had
been accomplished with our squadron
uninjured" and "only a few men
slightly wounded, was received with
unbounded qualification and delight.
On its face, the victory was one with
out parallel in naval history, and it
was wonderful to think that not a sin
gle American home was darkened by
this signal triumph of the country's
arms.
But this very circumstance, that our
victory was won without injury worth
mentioning to single ship, and with
out so much as the serious wounding
of a single man, must naturally have
suggested to many minds the idea
that the dangers and difficulties over
come may have been too slight to en-
title the achievement, however impor-
tant its consequences, to rank justly
with the great victories which have
shed lustre ON the naval heroes of the
past. No room for such doubts re-
manned when the details of the en-
gagement were made known. 1t is
now perfectly plain that the blood
lessness of the engagement, so far as
our side was concerned, was due, not
to the insignificance of the enemy, but
to that combination of cool and in
trepid daring, of naval skill and disci-
pline, and of superb gunnery, which
have ever been characteristic of the
American Navy. Only trained eX
perts can determine what was the rel
alive advantage or disadvantage of
the contending forces, in position and
equipment; and even among these, if
the problem had been put to them on
the last day of April, it is most proba-
BILE that there would have been a SER
ious division of opinion. While the
Spanish fleet was inferior to ours, we
make little doubt that the advantage
of fighting under cover of the fortifi-
cations at Cavite and Manila would
have been held by many to more than
balance the difference in the ships
Dewey won his battle without loss,
but, as its history shows, not without
the coolest running of great danger
and not without the necessity of the
most skillful as well as the most dar-
ing manoeuvring. Nor can it well be
doubted that more cautious and
hesitating plan of attack would have
given the enemy time to prepare far
more effective resistance. The vic
tory was not mere triumph of heav-
was also triumph of such cool and
daredevil courage as probably would
not have been shown by the com
mander of the fleet of any nation but
our own.
Another thing which is established
by the report of the battle is the per-
sonal bravery of the Spaniards, from
the Admiral down. There may have
been total lack of that cool courage,
without furry or excitement, which
characterizes our fighters; but there
was no deficiency in the brave spirit
which faces death and defeat without
finching. There will be no desire in
any quarter to detract from the praise
due to the valor of the vanquished
but we may expect to hear from those
foreign critics whose prejudice against
our country is as intense as their
that the only credit we are entitled
to in the matter is that of having had
an overwhelmingly greater weight of
metal to put into the contest. Thus
the Saturday ReUieaC, which had pre-
viously been indulging in serious
warnings as to the difficulties we
might encounter from the Spanish
feet at the Philippines, no sooner
heard the news of the American vic
tory than it INDUCED in such silly
talk as this, in which no mention was
made of the forts, and the Spanish
ships are both seen through power
full diminishing glass and unscrup-
ulously deprived of their iron protec-
tion:
At Manila the Spanish ships were
all wooden, with not one protected
cruiser, and mostly about one-fifth
the size of their opponents. The big
American protected cruisers, with
their powerful modern armament,
had, OF course, no difficulty in burn
ing and sinking the fragile Spanish
eockleshells, but America has no mis-
givings. She raises the deafening
warwhoop of victory.
The London Times, on the other
hand, after the full reports had been