Cuba: Its Past, Present, and Future

by A. D. Hall

It is unnecessary to refer except in a brief manner to the Spanish-American war, as the struggle is at the present time of writing only in its inception, and no one can tell how long it will last or what reverses each side may experience before peace is declared.

One thing is certain, however. The result is not problematical. It is assured. The United States will be victorious in the end, be that end near or distant, and Cuba must and shall be free.

If ever there was a war that was entered into purely from motives of humanity and with no thought whatever of conquest, it is this one. The entire people of the United States were agreed that their purpose was a holy one, and instantly the call of the President was responded to from all parts of the country. Sectional differences, such as they were, vanished like mist before the sun. There was no Easterner, no Westerner, no Northerner, no Southerner, but "Americans all."

We are proud of our army and navy, and justly so. Dewey destroyed a large fleet, without the loss of a man, a feat unprecedented in the annals of warfare, ancient or modern. Sampson bottled up Cervera's fleet in the harbor of Santiago, after the wily admiral had attempted a diplomacy which was nothing more nor less than absurd, and when Cervera, on the eve of the surrender of the city, attempted to escape from his self-constituted trap, his four armored cruisers and two torpedo boat destroyers were literally riddled and sunk outside the harbor by the skilful gunners of the American fleet. Hobson, in sinking the Merrimac, displayed a heroism that has never been surpassed. And on land, General Shafter's achievements have been brilliant in the extreme.

It is interesting here to examine for a moment the attitude of other countries toward us since the declaration of war with Spain.

Of course they all declared neutrality.

At first France apparently was very bitter against us, declaring that it was a war of aggression and one that was unjustified. We think we have already shown in these pages how unwarrantable such an accusation was. There was a reason for France's feeling, outside of the fact that her people, like Spain's, belong to the Latin race, and that reason was that a large proportion of Spanish bonds was held in France. Even the best of us do not bear with equanimity anything which depletes our pockets. But it was not long before a great change took place both in press and public and a wave of French sympathy turned toward us. This is as it should be and was inevitable. There could be no lasting rancor between us and our sister republic, the country who gave us Lafayette and presented us with the Statue of Liberty.

The press of Germany has unquestionably said some very harsh things. But we are confident that the feeling is confined to the press and does not represent the mass of the people. We do know that it is in no way representative of the German government, which from the very beginning has showed itself most friendly to us. The ties between Germany and the United States are too strong ever to be severed, with the thousands and thousands of Germans in this country who rank among our very best citizens.

Russia, who from time immemorial has been our friend and given us her moral support in all our troubles, has treated us with the utmost cordiality.

But the pleasantest thing of all has been the attitude of Great Britain, our once mother country. She has stood by us through thick and thin, hurling defiance in the face of the world in her championship of us, and rejoicing in our victories almost as if they were her own. This has done more to bring the two great English-speaking nations together than anything else could possibly have done, and will probably have far reaching consequences in the future.