Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 March 1896 — BIG BLOW TO SPAIN. [ARTICLE]

BIG BLOW TO SPAIN.

Defeat In the Recent Pinar del Rio Battle a Crushing One. * The Cuban insurgents have dealt Spain a crushing blow. Trustworthy information has been received from Havana that the battle fought a few days ago in Pinar del Rio, which the dispatches sent out with the sanction of the press censor described as a Spanish victory, was in reality a lamentable defeat for the forces of Gen. Weyler. This news reached Havana and was sent to New York in a brief cipher cablegram. The source of the information leaves no doubt of its reliability. The Spanish officials will not permit the report of insurgent successes to be sent out of Havana. The late press dispatches from Havana say that officials now admit that the battle was a fiercely contested one, and that it was attended with serious consequences to the Spanish. It is the firm opinion in New York among persons informed of events in Cuba that the Spanish cause is lost. It is also believed, despite denials, that this last defeat will so add to the dissatisfaction against Gen. Weyier that either his resignation of recall will noon follow. The engagement was more in the nature of a pitched battle than any previous one during the insurrection, and the attack made by the insurgents was bold and effective. The impression strengthens in Washington official circles that Spain has made a failure of it in Cuba, oxd that, the rebellion cannot be suppressed in any other

way than by wearing it out Until recently it wa* believed by both President Cleveland and Secretary Olney that the Spanish forces would practically be able to restore order in Cuba during the present winter and spring. It was because of this belief and because his love of fair play prompted him to give Spain a reasonable chance that the President has hitherto declined to take any step looking to interference into affairs of Spain and her colony. But it is now apparent the campaign in Cuba is nearly at an end, so far as this winter is concerned. The rainy season will set in soon, and then military operations of a serious or effective nature will have to end. Up to this time Gen. Weyler has made no substantial progress from a military point of view, and there is little reason to hope that he will accomplish anything in the short time remaining for field work. Moreover—and this is a condition of affairs for which President Cleveland has been waiting—there are many indications that the Spanish authorities are despairing of success. It is freely predicted by officials familiar with what might be called the inside of the situation that President Cleveland will intervene, and intervene successfully, within sixty days. The interests of the United States and of humanity require that the struggle be not allowed to continue another winter, after another summer of industrial paralysis.