The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-05-16

from its tobacco plantations. most 81
which are at this moment RACED. Bahia
Honda isl about fourteen miles further
away-a small town which ships sugar
and tobacco and Is iwellI sheltered in a.
deep bay, the entrance TO which rs mar
row and intricate. Unless the authors
ties have planted the approaches. with
mines, it is absolutely defenseless From
this place round Cape San Antonio. al
most as far as Cienfuegos, the coast is
nterestfng-nothing but mangroye
keys and a few insignificant inIets.
which only small vessels can thread.
One long line Of reefs, known as the
Colorados. makes 1t next to Impossible
for even schooners to effect landing
between Bahia Honda and Cape San
Antonio. This last. by the way, lies
low, and Is covered with pines, some
Of them 80 feet high, which are. seen
before the land itself energies into
view and sometimes present the APP
pearance of ships under sail. Glen
fuegos, or Port Xagua, boasts q har-
ber which ranks among the first round
all the coast. It has a population Of
about $4,000, and an export trade aver
aging close upon f2,000.000 per annum.
1t Is unfortified, like most Of the other
ports of the island, and the entrance
is over mile in width. The two ports
at the eastern extremity, Santiago de
Cuba and Guantanamo, have fortifica-
lions which are probably as good as
those of Havana, minus Gen. Weyler's
four new guns.
SPANS MOST VALUABLE COLONY
Hong Kong having been declared a
neutral port, and the American Pacific
squadron being thus prevented from
using it as base. 1t is worth CHANGING
at the probable effect Of the war on
Gen. Blanco's command of last year.
the Philippines.
They are Spain's most valuable COL
onial possession (we forget that Mir
danao is as big as England), two and
half days steam from Hong Kong,
and have Japan, China, Ceylon, Indo-
China and the Malay peninsula at no
great distance. 1t Is safe to say the
Philippines will not be taken in the
regulation way Many Of them have
never been explored yet, and the in
surgents in the late rebellion came I'M
comfortably close to Manila itself, the
capital of I.uzon. 1t is true, Of course,
that the latter have declared for the
Americans.
All operations will be directed
against Manila, the capital. It does
most of the trade, and the anchorage
of the Spanish fleet Massht Cavite ten
miles to the south. It looks far buster
than the average outeof-date Spanish
colonial town. But, fhe' prospects Of
Manila are decidedly gloomy in case Of
attack. The river Pasig. divides it in
two. Commercial Manila lies to the
north and the fortified. part of the
town to the south, connected by three
bridges. Candid visitoFs'Thave gone so
far as to say that couple of gunboats
very short time. TheretnIare bastions
and a double fosse ON the side unpro-
tected by the river, but fhese are use
Il SIS. A battery extends almost to the
waters edge seaward yofor defense
against men-of-war in the offing. At
the angle formed by ltheIiriver to the
north of the old town there is a fort,
many days. A new harbor is in course
of construction, but too much impor-
lance should not be attached to what
Spain intends doig in the near future"
in her colonies. AS it is, large vessels
have to lie a couple of miles away.
The trade of Manila, would be the OBJ
jeet of attack. Surprising blockade to
be effective, a good deal of harm could
be dore to the export trade of f7,5C0 900
a year (rnost Of this comes from Ma
nila), and it, is safe to say the hemp
would be discouraged,
hemp and sugar being. the chief exports.
As thereoare several lines running d.
taken as prizes. There Is a, so the trade
Of Ce'bu and Iloilo, in other islands. re-
spectacle enough for US to have vice
consuls there; but Manila is also val
liable onaaccounti Of its floating d5cS.7
The army in the Philippines has been
generally. acknowledged to be insuffi-
cient for defense. The regular number
Of 1900 has been conside rably inereas-
ed the slast ysar or two to mset the r.
bellion, but one authority has declared
Manila would want a garrison of 1900
to $4,000 men, half of them Europeans,
whereas the proportion of natives TO
Spaniards in the army is, about five to
CnesF When voluntary enlistment does
rot supply enough, the ordinary re-
cruitingi takes place, as In the Peni SD
lar army. Iloilo requires fertilization.
and should have a small European
brigade besides.
1t is needless to say any defense of
the Philippine is ands in general would
be impossible, being beth large indiv. d.
ually and very scattered. But as a
thousand shells. have been fired into a.
town befo-e row fer every man XII /, d, it
is unlikely the United States vessels
will waste much ammunition In this
way so far from home. Yet it is hard
to realize that an enterprising governor
of the Philippine ISLANDS, once asked the
home government to allow him to con-
Quer China. 435c