The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-02-27
DAILY MEANS.

Cheyenne ....... .44-50 New York -. 1886
Chicago ....2 G-2SPittsburg ........ $3.50
DAILY MEANS.
, Barometer, 3O.2S; mean temperature, %;
maximum, 30; minimum, 10; daily range,
10; relative humidity, 50; direction of wind,
east; weather, cloudy; precipitation none
If the Spanish charge d'affaires, Du
Bose. tells the truth-and the word of
no Spaniard whom we recall in COR
nection with Cuban affairs is to be ac-
cepted without confederation, so versed
are they in intrigue, not to say down.
right lying-the harbor of Havana is
not planted with mines Of any sort.
II the Havana harbor has mines and
the senior is mistaken in his statement,
it ought to be easy enough for the navy
department to determine the truth, for
large sums Of American money are ex-
PENDED annually on military and naval
attaches, who are associated with our
legations abroad and whose business
it is to keep the American government
specially informed Of details of this
character. Exact information upon this
point ought, therefore, to be at the COM
mand Of tie naval intelligence bureau
IT Washington. / Assistant Secretary
Of the Navy Roosevelt, who is too blunt
10 be q diplomat, possesses information
10 The effect that this particular form
Of defense is unknown to Havana har-
Dor he owes it to himself to urge it
upon his chief and upon the president
to let that information be made pub
lie, not for the purpose of confirming
the veracity Of the Spanfard, but in or
der to dispel the impression that a
diabolicaI Spanish plot has been plan
ned and eXecuted-and to that extent
allay public apprehension.
If the senior has, in plain English, lied
upon this. particular point no official
statement, no matter from what quar-
ter can disabuse the public of the be-
lief that Spanish treachery was the
cause of the Maine disaster, and no
amount Of diplomacy can avert a war.
And the sooner the president and his
associates set all doubt at rest upon
this point. the surer will be their ex-
cuipation from q suspicion that they
would shield the Spaniards for a period
in the hope of ultimately averting the
horrors of war.
If, then, Du Bose speaks truthfulIy
2,
Maine or anywhere else in Havana
waters, the loss Of the Maine must be
attributed to some other agency-and
one source of disquietude to those who
be considered.
II Capt. sigsbee observed every pre-
caution prescribed by the rules, and
particularly by common sense. in en-
tering a hostile harbor, mooring his
ship and manning his booms with vigf-
liant eyes-as we are bound to believe
he did-no device known to such in
expert warriors as the .Spaniards ever
flcated or was projected against the
sides, the stern, the bow or the bot
tom Of the Maine, and so source of dis
qUietude No. can no longer be con-
sidered by the apprehensive.
If, then, no mine was exploded and
TO torpedo was projected which, in
some mysterious way, eluded the Wig
lance of eyes trained to watch this
kind of missile, and presumably at
their keenest focus in these waters,
then We must look elsewhere for the
cause of the terrible disaster
If the officers who compose the board
of inquiry are intelligent, experienced
skilled, practical sailors and dispas-
sionate men, as becomes their calling
and they are, every man of them
the public VIII be thoroughly informed
in due season of the cause of the dis
aster, and the tension is such that we
may rest assured that no time will
be wasted by the proper authorities
in announcing it.
If James Gordon Bennett, Joseph
Pulitzer and William R. Hearst were
more interested in getting exact facts
from Havana and less actuated by the
selfish desire to sell the New York
Herald, World and Journal by means
of scare news" the public would be
better informed, and there would be
less possibility of melting a war, in
which, it may be observed, neither of
these distinguished publicists will ever
participate, so long as the mental and
physical disqualification clause is en-
forced at the governments recruiting
stations.
If in a word, we think over calmly
the little we know about this matter
and wait patiently for the much we
shall soon learn, prepared, in the event
of the worst apprehensions" of the
alarmists being literally realized, to