Arizona republican., 1899-02-05
WoOdIerd Tells Them to Army
 and Navy Club.
AIDOF THE BRITISH MINISTER
Nof Two Rounds of Ammunition Der Gun on Hand When inc Maine Was Blown Up-DeIaY Was sm- perafiVe - Sealed TrainIodd of Ammunition Hurried Across inc Continent for Dewey.

New York, Feb 4-General Stewart L. Woodford talked to members of the army and navy club and their guests last night about some of the happen ings at Washington and Madrid while he was United States minister to Spain Among other things, General Woodford said:
 ''Without introduction I will try to tell you something of such of the hap penings at Madrid while he who ad- dresses you was your minister to Spain as the proprieties of the occasion and the usages of the state department will permit Your minitser carried with him to Madrid instructions from the president to do three things. One was to secure justice for Cuba; another was to see that our commercial inter ests in that island were nc. longer en- barrassed and the third was to de- mand the withdrawal from Cuba of General WeyIer on or before October 31, 1S97-or to demand the passports of the American minister. I delivered my instructions to the duke of let uan, the Spanish minister of foreign affairs, and he promptly told me that under no circumstances would General Weyler be withdrawn from Cuba until the end of the two years for which he had been sent there.
 What the duke of Tetuan refused to do and what American diplomacy failed to secure was accomplished by providential means. The conservative government resigned, the Sagasta ministry came into power. and on Oc- tober 29, I think it was, two days be- fore the time set for General Weyler's recall by the president, Weyler was re- called.
 ''The weeks drifted by and February 15, 189S came, when our battleship was blown up in the ha-bor of Havana Through departments other than the state department your minister receiv- ed te1egraphic information c1 Febru- ary IS that there was not on American ships or in the ordnance dep0ts of the United States two rounds of powder per gun at that time, and I was told to exhaust the arts of peace until April l., the earliest date at which we could be anywhere near ready for war; and that, in any event, smokeless powder for both the navy and the army would be another impossibility.
 Your minister did the best he could; but let me tell you that had it not been for the unfaltering unchang- ing and lcyal friendship of England and the attitude of he- minister at Ma drid, he might have failed to dc the little he did do, because the reqresen- tatives at Madrid of continental Flu rope were ready at any time to inter- fore with the plans of the United States, if the British minister would only join them. In the meantime the work of preparation went on at home, and to show you how accurately the time was gauged, I may tell you Of the run of a sealed express train across the continent, the cOneents of which train no man outside of Washington and only two there knew When it reached San Francisco it's cargo was transferred to waiting steamer, which raced to Honolulu There the cruiser Baltimore was waiting, no one knew for what. The cargoi was shift cd to the Baltimore, which carried it to Hong Kong, and on April g the cargo was distributed among the American warships there, and Dewey had the ammunition he wanted. On April 24 he got his orders to sail for Manila. That ammunition on May day awoke echoes in Manila bay that were heard round the world and took from Spain an empire"
 General Woodford hastily sketched the remainder of his stay in Spain aGd in conclusion said: -%The war with Spain has been likened to the hun dred days in Italy. Those 100 days changed the map of Europe for twenty years The days Of our war changed the map of the world and changed it forever. You and I may differ as to politics, but upon one thing we cannot differ. We tore down the sovereignty Of Spain in the Philippines. We must either establish there a form of gov ernment as we know government or we must guarantee the protection of life and property there until the poe pies of those islands show that they can govern themselves. We must do one of these two things. l. is our duty and we cannot shirk it. I agree with any one who says that if we gov ern the Philippines as we govern this city we will not succeed. If we put in power there men who have been leaders of ward caucuses in your city Of New York, or 1n my city of Brook