Our War With Spain For Cubas Freedom | Page 6

piled
in one avalanche on her own head.
Liberty has grown slowly. Civilization has been on the defensive. Now
liberty fights for liberty, and civilization takes the aggressive in the
holiest war the world has even known.
Never was there a war before in which so many stimulating deeds of
bravery were done in such a short time, and this in spite of the fact that
the public has been restless for more action. It is almost worth a war to
have inscribed such a deed of cool, intelligent heroism as that of
Hobson and his men with the Merrimac, in the entrance to the harbor of
Santiago de Cuba. That is an event in world history, one never to be
forgotten, and in the countries of Europe quite as generously
recognized as by our own people. There is a word to say for the
Spanish admiral. In his chivalry after that act of heroism, Cervera
proved himself a worthy adversary, who could realize and admire
bravery in a foe, even when it had been directed against himself with
such signal success. Not every commander would be great enough in
that circumstance to send a flag of truce to the opposing admiral, in
order to inform him that his brave men were safe and that they were
honored as brave men by their captors.
Of another sort was the bravery of Dewey at Manila, more notable in
its results but in no other way surpassing that of Hobson and his men.
Dewey went forward in spite of unknown dangers of torpedoes, to
engage an enemy in the place it had selected as most favorable for
Spanish arms, an enemy with more ships, more men, more guns than
had the American. A day later the nation was at the feet of Dewey and
the United States had taken a position among the powers of the world
never before admitted by them. In larger degree than ever before, from
that moment the United States became a factor in the international
history of the world. At this writing one cannot tell what will be the end
of the relations of the United States to the Philippines and the Orient,
but the solution cannot fail to be of profit to this nation. This was a holy
war for the liberty of Cuba, but like many another good deed it is
bringing its additional rewards. Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and
the Caroline islands are to be liberated, four colonies of Spain instead
of one, and the direct and indirect profit, looked at from a purely

commercial basis, will be far more than enough to compensate the
United States for the cost of the war. The annexation of the Hawaiian
islands as a war measure must be credited to the same cause, for the
success of that effort under any other circumstances was problematical.
Yet another sort of bravery was that in the harbor of Cardenas when the
little torpedo boat Winslow lay a helpless hulk under the rain of fire
from the shore batteries, without rudder or engine to serve, and the
Hudson, a mere tugboat with a few little guns on deck, stood by for
forty minutes to pass a hawser and tow the disabled vessel out of range.
Both were riddled, the Winslow had half her total complement of men
killed and wounded by a single shell, but there was no faltering, and
they all worked away as coolly as if nothing were happening.
If one started to catalogue the instances of personal bravery that the war
brought out in its first few months, the list would be a cumbersome one.
It is enough here to say that there have been a hundred times when
personal courage was needed to be shown, and never a moment's
hesitancy on the part of any man to whom the call came. Furthermore,
in every case in which a particularly hazardous undertaking was
contemplated, and volunteers were called for, the number offering has
been in every instance far more than was needed. This was eminently
notable on the occasion of Hobson's sinking of the Merrimac, when
more than a thousand in the fleet volunteered for a service requiring but
six, and from which it seemed impossible that any could come out
alive.
The public must know all about the war, and the only avenue of
information is the press. Never before has any war been covered as to
its news features with the accuracy and energy which have
characterized this. American journalism has outstripped the world. The
expense of a news service for this war is something enormous, with
little return compensation. Yet the work is done, metropolitan papers
have from ten to twenty correspondents in the field, and the public has
the benefit. Dispatch boats follow