Her position on this continent was that of a Gulliver by whose side the other southern republics looked like Lilliputians. Providing that the giant is gifted not only with strength and a stout heart, but governed, also, by good principles, why should the Lilliputian Republics of Central and South America fear? Would it not be better for them to make common cause with their great American neighbor and live under one flag?
In 1899 the tendency of the period was to consolidate; the “trust epidemic” then Uncle Sam’s Big Trust. raged at its height; the aim of that period, at least in commercial affairs, was to gather together the small concerns and unite them into a whole. The United States of the Americas in 1999 was largely built on the trust principle. Uncle Sam was running the biggest concern in the government line and the little South American Republics had simply been gathered in by the big fellow. They all were merged into one great American nation, governed by the same constitution, and all lifted up their gaze with patriotic pride to the Stars and Stripes.
At this juncture it might be interesting to learn by what means and in what manner was this vast American Republic protected by sea and land in 1999. Conscious of her vast resources and enormous strength, America from the close of the Civil War in 1865 to the year 1885 remained practically unarmed, keeping on hand a mere corporal’s guard in the shape of an army. Her navy up to 1882 consisted of an aggregation of warships of more or less antiquity, mere washtubs with smooth bore guns, whose ordnance, discharged against a modern battleship, would have about the same effect as throwing boiled peas at a brick wall.
Twenty years after the close of the Civil War, in 1885, America had commenced to Uncle Sam Wakes Up. rub her eyes and to awaken from her perilous Rip Van Winkle siesta of two decades and to realize, at last, that a strong navy had become a national necessity. Over-confidence is a dangerous foe to national safety. America, a land filled with liberty-loving patriots and master mechanics, set to work none too soon to provide herself with a navy; fighting machines that in point of speed and prowess would compare favorably with the output of the best foreign shipyards. It became obvious to the veriest child that if our national dignity at home or abroad were to be maintained, and, if we did not proposed to be bluffed by small concerns like Chile and Spain, the best thing to do about a navy would be to build it at once, forthwith, “and on the word go.”
Congress took spirited action in the matter, making liberal appropriations for the construction of a first grade fleet of modern warships, armed and equipped with best and most penetrating rifles. This patriotic and sensible policy had been inaugurated none too soon.
The month of January, 1898, found America in possession of a small, but highly Small but Powerful. efficient navy and on the brink of war. What we had in the line of war vessels was of the best, but America could proudly boast of something immeasurably better than a few fine ships and heavy guns. We possessed what no Congress or Parliament could make to order or purchase by appropriation, and that was a keen, patriotic sentiment throughout both the American army and navy.
“The man behind the gun,” anxious to lay down his life by the side of the powerful The True American Hero. breech-loading destroyer he loved so well to train and groom; “the man behind the gun,” who loved and cared for his mighty weapon as a father would his child; watching it by night and day, praying for the hour when he might belch from its throat missiles of destruction into the enemy’s ranks,—“the man behind the gun,” God bless him, is America’s own true born. In the hour of peril, at Manila, Santiago and at Puerto Rico, these heroes, man and gun, did their duty right nobly and well. In 1999 the world still rang with the valor of their deeds.
But America in 1898 found herself still unprepared. The war issue was lodged with a power of the third magnitude. Left alone with the Dons the tale would soon be told. Only one year before our war with the yellow and red flag, an American gentleman summed up the situation in a very concise manner: “When we get at the Spaniards, they’ll hold together just long enough to get kicked to pieces.”
But Spain had other partners, two powerful nations, who, for selfish reasons, would have been only too glad to give Uncle Sam a punch in the ribs. Germany, having been fortified by a bribe from Spain for her co-operation against America, having been promised by Spain as a reward for assistance the entire group of the Philippines, was only too eager to close the bargain. The Teutons were spoiling for a fight with Uncle Sam, ostensibly in behalf of Spain, but more especially for a grab at the Philippines. France, on the other hand, distinctly recollected that she owned and held the bulk of Spanish securities and if the Dons in their brush with America took “a header,” these Spanish securities would not be worth a last year’s bird nest. And now comes an important question: Was America prepared in 1899 to clash in naval combat with the combined forces of Spain, France and Germany? Josh Billings would have made short shift of his reply by saying: “Well, hardly.”
Spain’s two unhappy partners, in their dilemma then turned their eyes and steps Called at the Captain’s Office. toward a little island that lies slightly north of their territory. France and Germany heard the growl of the British Lion and before they joined Spain in a war against America, John Bull must be consulted. As a result of their interview this ill-mated pair became well convinced that England would put up with none of their nonsense and would not remain neutral should they join Spain in hostilities against America. France and Germany became converted to other views and very wisely decided to remain at home, meek as lambs, while Uncle Sam was carving up Spain to suit the queen’s taste.