Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1898-05-16

| Great is the difference between Span
| ish and American military methods a
| little reorganization Will show it On
| the morning of Feb. "a, 1895. there was
| great excitement and disorder in Haya-
| ma at the palace of the captain general
| of Cuba News had been received of "a
| conspiracy throughout the island against
| the Spanish government and of the up
rising OF small band of not more than
| 40 men in Havana province under Man
uel Garcia, of the presence at Matanzas
| of another band composed of 80 men
| ander Betancourt, and also that Barto-
| Tonne Maso had taken the field near Man
| zanillo. Santiago de Cuba, with about
| 200 followers II was the beginning of
the present revolution
The captain general, Don Emilio Cal
| leja Isasi, said by the Spaniards TO
have been a hero and great military
commander during the civil wars in
Spain. was bewildered that morning.
The news caused him to prepare de-
cree declaring the island in state of
siege, which he published in the even
ing; to plan a military campaign
against the revolutionists; to frame a
truce to propose to them, under promise
that Spain would grant Cuba ample and
fair reforms
He summoned to the palace a junta
Of Spanish authorities, a committee of
Autonomists, the colonies of volunteers
and many of his personal friends His
desk and two tables near by We're COW
cred with maps of the six provinces, re-
ports from the governors of all the i'm
portant cities, and with many other pa
pers of the kind He sought advice from
everybody, and everybody, from the Off
GERS of volunteers TO the most ignorant
Havana shopkeepers, explained in loud
voices, gesticulating, putting and spit
ting on the marble floor plans of their
own Nothing practical was done, of
course, for many long days, and the rev
olution grew stronger. Two months
after the Spanish cabinet of Canovas
recalled Calleja, and appointed Martinez
Campos captain general of Cuba.
Martinez Campos landed and was re-
ceived by the Spaniards as savior. He
was the general that pacified Cuba in
1873 and ended the civil war in Spain
in favor of Don Alfonso XII He was
said to be a military genius and man
of extraordinary luck. He made some 90
trips around the island, always leaving
Havana unexpectedly. He was defeated
Mt Peralejo, and on Dec "a, 1895, he
entered the capital pursued by the tri-
umphant forces of General Gomez who,
without any military organization and
with few arms and little ammunition.
had marched from east to west at the
rear of the Spanish columns.
Martinez Campos, as soon as he
hot low Il
another junta and with tears in his
eyes, confessed to all that he had been
defeated. The confusion was tremen-
dous. The first idea of the Spaniards
was to stand by him, the second to kick
him out The volunteers made a great
dsassesrs=er..tis.A d. 1.ss '-s+@.>s. .sf'Is "rV
DAVIS later compelled him to resign.
Troops marched through the streets
without order or concert As III the
times of Calleja, every man tried TO
have the army adopt his individual
plans. MARTINEZ Campos left in disgrace,
and Weyler replaced him
A witness of those scenes of disorder
and incapacity cannot fail to observe
the contrast between them and the calm
order of things prevailing now at Tam
pa at the headquarters of the American
army that within a few days viii prob
ably invade the island of Cuba Every
thing is done here quietly and we'll
Judging only by appearance, no one
could imagine that in the big hotel here,
where so many beautiful women gath
er N the evening, surrounded by hand
some officers and listen to the music OF
fine military bands, such a serious thing
as the invasion of a foreign land is ac-
tually being planned
General Shafter does not make a show
as Spanish general would. pretending
that he is too busy to talk to anybody
and keeping around him regiment OF
officers running here and there with
messages in their hands A foreigner.
used to the noise and hustle of the Lat
| in races has TO ask here who the gener-
al is to find him And vet that man,
with simple and severe uniform, con-
trasting so much with the gorgeous
dress of Spanish general, Is polite TO
| all who approach him and of modest
GeIneanor; that man has studied inch
| by inch the map of Cuba, as Blanco has
never done and is ready to strike de-
| cisiye blow against Spain with the
| mathematical precision of chess play
| sr moving his men ON the chessboard-
That same strange simplicity also inn
| presses the foreigner who has travelled
| in Spain when he first visits the war
| department building at Washington
| The absence of soldiers at the war head
| quarters of a nation engaged IN war Is
| a great contrast to the hundreds of sen
| tinels that YOU find everywhere at the
| Ministerio de In Guerra in Madrid Gen
| eral Miles dressed as civilian, polite
Il H. at .htT
| send him your card makes a remarka-
| BILE contrast to the Spanish m1nistro,
| dressed in s gala uniform, who deigns
J to receive a foreigner after making him
wait couple of hours, surrounded by
armed soldiers Spain with all this
| fuss. considers herself a great military
| nation. and vet she has lost all her
wars, while this plain. matter cf fact
nation has never been defeated
If the moral and intellectual differ
ences between h,th armies are so great,
| il the Americans are so superior to the
/ Spaniards in everything intellectual,
their superiority is no less marked.
| physically considered Observing the
/ American army ercamped at Tampa.
| one cannot discover q man who does not
seem physically perfect When they
drill they present a living example oi
that ideal army Of which Napoleon
dreamed 50 long and which is described
by Colonel Wagner in these words: q Ar
army Of men having the same physica.
and moral qualities. the same animatins
impulses and the same degree Of diSci
pline. They are simply machine.
moved by scientific impulse Nothing
more perfect can be imagined. and fol
man who has seen the Spanish army
in peace and war, il does not seem ex
travagant 60 say that one American reg
ular Is worth at least five Spanish regu