The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-07-07
Prisoners of War.

Prisoners Of War.
The destruction of the Spanish fleet
at Santiago and the immediate fall of
the city itself will place in our hands
large number of prisoners of war
which we will have some difficulty in
dsposing of satisfactorily. To hand
them over to the military authorities
in Cuba would necessarily hamper their
operations, and they are equally i'm
possible with the fleet. To send Ad-
miral Cervera, his commanders and the
superior officers of the Spanish navy
to Washington and release them there
on parole presents no difficulty, but
what to do with the ordinary prison.
ers is much more difficult question.
1T is not altogether a question of ex-
rense, although that will be consider
able, and will continue in a progressive
ratio as long as we continue to take
prisoners of war. Spain has, it is be-
lieved, some forty thousand soldiers in
Cuba. After the conquest of the ISL
and it is reasonable to suppose that
we will have some twenty thousand of
their men in our custody. We cannot
permit them to remain in the country
where their presence would infuriate
the natives and interfere with our
measures of pacification. Neither can
we permit them a stay in this country
for any considerable length of time af-
ter the war has closed. To propose
an exchange of prisoners would be rid
iculous. because there are no American
prisoners in Spanish hands except Hob
son and his few companions, who may
be released at any moment.
As it is we have nearly two thousand
Spanish prisoners of war at Key West,
and with Admiral Sampson and Cen
eral Shafter. The Spaniards them
selves are in no hurry to leave us, now
that they have ascertained our humane
intentions. They have learned to APP
preciate our courtesy, our food, and our
considerate sympathy for a fallen en-
emy. III our own civil war and in
wars generally the disposal of prisoners
of war comes within the limits of pol
icy and reciprocal exchange because
the frontier limits as rule overlap and
make exchange both desirable and
easy But in the case of the Spaniards
there lies the whole width of the At
lantic between these unhappy con-
scripts and their homes. Spain has no
ships to bring them back to their na-
tive land, nor money with which to
procure such transports and the sit
uation of the difficulty will not permit
of protraction or procrastination. 1t is
possible, indeed, that we will have To
undertake the task ourselves. Should
this come to pass, one of the strans-
est spectacles in the history of the
world will come about. the conquerors
transporting to their homes the con-
quered foe at their own expense.
The Spaniards must he gotten off our
hands in some way. Each day will add
to their numbers and the anxiety of the
administration in solving this seeming
ly ineXrlicable problem. The fall of
the Spanish monarchy may come about
at any moment. If this does not take
place before the arrival of Watsons
squadron in the Mediterranean, it may
Alfonso XIII may be forced to seek pro-
lection aboard our fleet. Such an event
| is not without precedent. Fallen mon
| archs have before now sought protec-
| tion from the vengeance of their in
| furiated subjects at the hands of the
enemy. This, indeed, was practically
what Napoleon III. did after the battle
| of Sedan. That he Quilted the soil Of
France alive was owing to the protec-
ton offered him by the old Emperor
| William. This, however, although a
possibility, is a remote contingency.
What we are brought face to face with
is the necessity of making immediate
provision in some manner for the hum
ane entertainment OF the survivors of
the Spanish army and navy. 1t is a
great consolation, however, to know
that we are able to do so.