The times., 1898-04-06

adults should be sold into slavery in
Italy and other countries, and the chill
dren sold to Spanish families, that they
might forget their religion and their
parents and grow up new Christians -
as converted Moors We're termed
With the West Indies as a center,
Spanish piracy. another easy way of
gaining wealth, became the curse of
the high seas. All the books of the
period are full of references to the fear
! full crimes perpetrated by these fiends
in human form. 1t was enough to say
! of any particularly depraved desperate
of English blood. in those turbulent
times. that he learned his trade Of
/ Spanish pirates in the West Indies.
] The buccaneer had his origin there.
and so did the name by which he was
designated. In part of San Domingo.
where there were plenty of wild cattle.
progeny of animals brought there by
the Spaniards and allowed to run wild,
there were camps of cruel and reckless
| men, feeding mainly on this wild beef.
which was cured in sort of contriv-
ance called a buccan. From some
special rendezvous these crews would
sally forth and engage in barbarities
such as no historian has ever portray
ed, for the simple reason that, although
here and there was a man who had es-
( capped them, those fortunate captives
We're few, and just enough has been
told of these horrors to assure the stu
dent that an infinite deal more lies hid
den in the depths of the sea.
At last, after a hundred and fifty
( years of the tyranny of Spain, the
! Spanish-American republics, one by
| one. rose against her and wiped out
| her deputies and established their own
! independence. During the first thirty
years of the century-from 1910 to 1880
the whole of Spanish South America,
with Central America and Mexico,
passed out of the hands of Spain. Her
| power was broken. She could no longer
/ hold by force of brutal tyranny and
/ merciless injustice vast extent of
! territory inhabited by ignorant natives.
. 1t took only two or three great leaders
/ to emanciDate nearly whole conti-
nent The name of Bolivar is connect
/ ed with half these wars of independ-
ence. Chile led the way, becoming in
/ dependent in 1910. Then followed Para
I quay, in 1911 The Argentine Republic
/ was formed in 1916. Colombia, under
/ the name of the United States of Co.
/ Iombia, became a recognized nation in
1919, Venezuela and several other
+ states being included in it's borders.
/ Peru, Uruguay, and Bolivia all came
I into the parliament of nations in 1924.
Meanwhile in 1921, Mexico had gained
/ her independence, and the proudest
/ boast of a Mexican now is that he is
I descended from the pure Aztec which,
Z by the way is a particularly fine type
/ of humanity. Gen. Mejia, one of the
bravest and finest Mexicans who ever
lived, was of the pure Mexican stock,
and oddly enough, was a fair-haired
I and fair-complexioned man. An Amer
( lean, under a mistaken impression Of
/ Mexican feeling, once asked him if he
We're of Spanish descent. He looked at
/ the questioner with flashing eyes and
exclaimed: DO you mean to insult me.
| sir?" The American eagerly disclaim-
ed any such intention. and the general
| courteously accepted the apology. But
he added, IF L thought that one drop
/ of that accursed blood flowed in my
veins. 1 would with an expressive ges-
ture) cut it out" As any student of
current affairs must know, the ad-
vancement of Mexico during the last
generation in every art of civilization
l.
enal. Meantime Spain. and the coun-
tries under her rule have been retro
grading.
The sole American foothold now left
to Spain is in the West Indies. This
she has kept for two or three different
reasons One is. that no other power
has interfered with her keeping these
colonies. and the colonies themselves
have not been able to resist, because
they are islands. In the case of the
South American republics, the emanci-
! patton of one meant the emancipation
of all, for all We're equally concerned,
! and would stand by each other: and
/ the experience of the Spanish army in
! Cuba has shown the effectiveness of a
/ Spanish land force. With large coun-
| tries possessing resources of their own,
and little seacoast, she was powerless.
! With small powers, which are nearly
! all coast, as is the case with Cuba, an
/ ironcIad can do effective execution, and
/ so long as there is no port which can be
/ captured, independence cannot be had.
To these things alone is due the fact
| that Spain has not been wiped off the
! map of the Western Hemisphere dur
ing the last seventy-five years. 1t is
| time now that she should be thus elm
J