Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 1898. America and Spain.

Manawatu Herald, 19 April 1898, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 1898. America and Spain.

A war between these two countries will be a valuable object lesson to Great Britain as the most of the lighting will be upon the sea. Cuba will, naturally, be the first point of contest because it is most easily reached by the United States, ana is a point where a landing can be effected and the employment of soldiers be of use in forcing the Spanish forces there to Gubmit to the demands of the Yankees and revo lutionista combined. The Spaniards will have the difficulty of tranporting Gtoupe, stored ami aruuiunuiuu aoroo., he Atlantic in the face of the war ships of the United States, and thus it will ba most necessary for them to clear the way that they mus* travel to Cuba, Spain has very little seaboard open to the Atlantic for attack, her longest coast lini being in the Mediterranean, where it us unlikely an American ship would care to place herpelf, with her rotreai through the Straits of Gibraltar so easily stopped, unless of course shtook the round by the Suez Canal and by the Cape of Go.d Hop . We may therefore expect that th. Americans will seek to attack the few colonies remaining to Spain rather than the Mother country. Sere again the Americans will experience a difficulty as the Spanish colonies lie so far asunder, there being only Cuba close under that portion of the United States wh»re the chief naval force is station, d. In the Gulf of Guinea, on the W-s' Coast of Africa Spain has a few islands but they would be of little value to their enemies ; then there are the Phillipine islands, acd the Sulu Archipelago, but what a distance they lie away. If the Americans had a strong navy these points would be easy of attack and very difficult for Spain to defend, but then the United States navy only numbers 79 vessels of all descriptions, and it would appear aa though they would have all their work cut out to oppose the 126 vessels belonging to Spain, as well as having to defend their commercial interests. However sure it may be that the United States, with its wealth, must win in the end in a war with Spain, still it looks equally sure that at the start Spain will have the best and will be able to inflict enormous loss •m the mercantile marine before the United States has had time to build more fighting ships. There are 22,908 vessels belonging to the American mercantile marine, 6595 being only steamers, and this will show what a golden harvest is likely to b 9 reaped by the privateers Spain is certain to grant letters of marque to, and which the Americana cannot obj : ct to, as they refused to com' 1 into the general agreement when invited. The ports on the east coast of the United States must be vor} much exposed to attacks and owin^ to the attraction of the great trad"' leaving New York there are bound to be Spanish war vessels often in tht'ir vicinity ready to take them at some unexpected moment. It hardly appears likely that the United Stafcps will detach any war vessels to harrasn the Spanish colonies when they will fiud so much to do to take care of their own mercantile marine. The best safety for the United States would be the fomenting of the troubles of rival claimants to the Spanish throne, of which no doubt they are fully alive to, but should such attempts be in any way partially successful it may be the means of setting the whole of Europe by the ears, each country taking the oppor tunity of endeavouring to carry out their own ends without outside in interference. The war between the United States and Spain would mean the forcing of all her carrying trade into neutral bottoms, mostly English, and this alone would be a heavy annual loss. The cable new? each day will become more interesting and no one can be surprised at whatever happens. We very much regret that war should be resorted to, and from kinship hope the Yankees will win, but we still think the Spaniards so far have the right on their side, and their troubles in Cuba have been very considerably in creased through Yankee interference and sympathy with the rebels.