The Philipsburg mail. [volume] (Philipsburg, Mont.) 1887-current, 1898-03-11
THE CUBAN SITUATION.

The CUBAN SITUATION.
In the midst of the swirl Of events in
Cuba and the vacillating cowardice
that distinguished Spaniards in au-
thority during the struggle for free
dom, one figure has stood firm as a
granite pillar. Americans have been
proud OF him from the start, and well
has he upheld their reputation for good
Judgment in choosing foreign repre-
sentatlvos. 1t is almost needless to
say that the man referred to is F'itz-
hugh Lee, our consul in Havana. The
country is fami iliar enough with his
name and his admirable firmness in
dealing with crises in Cuba that have
threatened to involve this country in
a war with Spain. It has taken more
than an ordinary strong man to hold
the consulship reins in Cuba during
the stormy times there. No one has
been able to say anything but words
of admiration about the way Fitzhugh
Lee has done it. He has been the
first to respond to charitable calls, as
well as to make his voice heard when
the. high handed actions of the naughty
Dons have called for the talons of the
American eagle to be displayed just a
little to remind Spain that there is a
limit to Uncle Sans patience. With
batt!eship anchored III Havana har-
Dor the consul has little need to bother
about the action of mobs that rise in
a moment with cries of death to
Americans, and disappear as quickly
when threatened with the butt end
of a rifle. He has therefore been con-
| centrating his energies Oh the work of
relieving the needs of the starving and
dying among the pacifcos, and trying
to save the lives of the innocent ba-
bies on whom the curse of war sits
heavily at the present time.
To demonstrate what poor showing
Spain would make in q duel between
her complete feet and that of the
United States, the figures are all that
is necessary. Against our 33 armored
ships, Spain could only bring IL the
1910 guns of our navy would only have
opposed to them 96O Oh the boats of
the Spanish navy in weight of ord
nance the United States would::be i'm
measurably superior. for we have a.
guns from 40 to so tons, 1888 of from
20 to 20 tons, 317 of from to 20 tons,
and 1880 guns of tons weight The
opposing guns that Spain could bring
against us would be 10 Of from 40 to so
tons; 10 from 20 to 40 tons 1856 of
from 4 to 20 tons, and 554 under 4
tons.
Concentration being of Importance
in the art of war, the fact that Spain
has in point of numbers, few more
ships than the United States would be
a disadvantage to the Dons, for our
fewer ships are infinitely more formid-
able and heavier armed. Thus the
United States possesses SO unarmored
ships. while Spain has 81, but having
three times as many steel armored ves-
sells makes the advantage all on the
side Of this country. for one modern
battleship is more than a match for
whole feet of old-time unarmored
boats.
In the matter of torpedo boats. those
terribly uncertain factors IN future sea
fights Spain has the advantage, for she
possesses go of the first class variety,
and 10 of the second, while the United
States has only IS Of the first and 8 of
the second class.
To offset this advantage of Spain.
the United States has powerful feet
of rams and monitors, some built for
the express purpose of sinking an enc.
my's boat with blow from the steel
spur. 1t is a toss-up whether or not
these formidable steel proved boats
will not be able to give the torpedo
boats a good start and then beat them
in the competition. of destroying
hostile feet. In the opinion of some
experts 1T will be more effective to ram
a battleship with a steel beaked mon
ster than to explode q torpedo under
her bows. The nation may leave its
foreign affairs safely in the hands of
the government. knowing that, what.
ever comes. the country is tolerably
safe. from capture by Spain, thank
you.