The National tribune., 1903-09-10

Ieateu OF captured IN SIX 0iffefent en-.
gagements, and driven from every posi-
ton they had taken up to that time. The
number of troops then in Porto Rico on
our side did not exceed 1896. only 6.342
OF whom had actually engaged the enemy;
and 1 advised the Secretary Of War that
no more of the large force which had been
designed by the Department for this ex-
petition need be sent.
"a PAR-FLUNG BATTLE LINE"
When the protocol was signed at 4:23
p. m, the bombardment Of Manzanillo had
been in progress for an hour, and it con.
tinued until the next morning, when the
news of the cessation of hostilities arrived
and put an end to the bombardment. Capt.
Goodrich commanded the attacking squad.
ron, which consisted Of the Newark. Hist,
Suwanee, Osceola and Alvarado. On that
same morning hostilities were renewed at
Manila, where the war had so gloriously
opened on the LIST Of May. The attack
upon that city by Dewey and Merritt be-
gan as previously planned, as 1t was i'm
possible to get news of the signing Of pre-
liminaries of peace much within a week.
A division of the naval squadron shelled
the forts on the south side of the city,
while the trenches were occupied by the
land forces under command of Gen. Msr-
rift. The squadron had no casualties; no
vessels were injured. and the losses among
our troops were only five men killed. Gen.
Merritts men followed the retreating
Spaniards into the walled city, where their
commander agreed upon terms of capitula-
ton. 1t will thus be seen that on the
morning Of Aug. Is actual lighting was in
progress between the Spanish and Amer
lean armed forces in Porto Rico, and in
the Philippines-an extreme distance OF
175 degrees of longitude, about 12,500
miles At the same time preparations
were in an advanced stage of progress for
demonstration upon the Spanish coasts
and the islands Of Spain, in the Mediter-
ranean as well as in the Atlantic, and a
state Of hostilities would undoubtedly have
been in operation there within very few
weeks at the furthest had not the prelimi-
nary terms Of peace been agreed upon.
1t is plain now to all, as it was to few
at the beginning, that grand strategy re-
quired the seizure of Porto Rico immedi-
ately upon the commencement of hostil-
tiles. That island, having enjoyed long
period Of peace, was then totally unpre-
pared to resist any considerable attacking
force, either naval or military. That is
land in our possession, reinforcements Of
Cuba, naval or military, would have been
out Of the question; that is to say, any at
tempt to reinforce or reprovision the Span
ish forces in Cuba would have resulted in
failure.
WHAT AXE The LESSONSs
What are the lessons that have been
taught by our recent war with one of the
ancient powers? The history Of the down.
fall of Spain should be warning to the
enlightened nations of the earth that they
cannot successfully rule a people by tyr
amy and cruelty; that past achievements,
military and naval glory and renOwn,
count as naught in a crisis where intelli-
gence, skill, enterprise and thorough
knowledge of modern appliances of war
determine the fate of a nation. The the
DRY that We can remain Indifferent to the
progress that is being made every day il
the art of war, that We can rely upon the
enthusiasm of the hour, the uprising of the
patriotic yeomanry, and that our people
will rush to arms and in a short time
achieve victories, is dangerous Illusion.
When our forefathers were accustomed to
keep their hunting rifles on the antiers,
ready to kill wild beasts or encounter q
savage foe skilled in the land-crafts and
the essential knowledge of the woodman
and the hunter, they constituted an irreg-
ular force that was irresistible and uncon-
querable in the sparsely populated timber
country of 100 years ago. So in our great
war, when the National Capital was in
danger, it is our pride and glory to point
to the fact that tens Of thousands Of men
suddenly left their farms and counting.
uOuSeS, tuclE WI hSuOpS anu COhCScs, uu0
rushed to the defense of the National Cap
ital. Yet in the Balls Bluffs, the Bull
Runs, and the Shiiohs, it was the result
Of one irregular, sparseIy equipped, I'M
drilled and undisciplined force against an
other in the same condition, and with the
same amount Of spirit, enterprise and
American courage. The success gained by
a mass of such physical forces against an
other Of the same character is no PROOF
that such a force could stand against
well-disciplined, welldrilled military body,
armed with the destructive appliances Of
modern warfare.
The two great wars that preceded our
recent one demonstrated this fact, that the
pride and glory Of the greatest military
nation of modern times. shouting ION to
Berlini" soon met its Sedan, and witnessed
the triumphant occupation of the city Of
Paris by the more skilled and better
equipped German forces. The vast hordes
of brave Chinese were no match for the
skilful japanese, though they outnumbered
the latter u to one. While we, in the
last war, raised the great force Of 2IS,OO0
men, it is perfectly well known to all mill
tary men that some of the appliances were
obsolete and insufficient. either for effect
i've service or to protect the lives and
health of the heroic men who had yolun-
teered in their country's service From
the days of Valley Forge to the present,
the suffering and death of large numbers
Of men can be traced directly to the want
of thorough and proper system. Of efficient
organization, of rigid responsibility and ac-
counta bility on the part of all officials.
added to the fact that the conduct Of mill
tary affairs has not been in the hands OF
military men whose experience and record
for efficiency and integrity has been DEM
onstrated by years Of service. If thou
sands of men are mustered into service
when there is not sufficient clothing, camp
equipage, tentage, transportation and
proper supplies of Quartermaster's, Com
missary, and medical stores to furnish
them the requirements and necessities Of
life, they cannot be considered an eff
cient army or army corps. They are SIM
ply so many men employed and kept or
bound to service by the sanctity of their
oath Of enlistment. Inferior, insufficient
and conspicuous white canvas, inferior
clothing material. inferior and unsuitable
food, inferior artillery, short-range, single
breachloading rifles, black powder, are
things obsolete, and should be classed with
the spear, the bow-and-arrow, the pike,
the flintlock, the smoothbore and other i'm
plements Of the past. This is the age Of
progress in the art of war, as well as in
all the other arts and sciences. 1t is the
day of the long-range, low-trajectory, Won
derfully penetrating, smokeless powder
rifle II Is the age of the rapid-fre ma