Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 March 1898 — DOGS OF WAR GROWL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

DOGS OF WAR GROWL

I Belief that a Conflict with Spain Is Inevitable. m UNDER TIE MINE * Destruction Said to Be Beyond the Power of a Torpedo. DISASTER DDE TO DESIGN. American People Believe the Spaniards Are Guilty. The Most Reliable Advices, Pendinjr Official Reports, Are to the KfTect • that the 111-Fated Ship Met with Foul Play—Senators and Representatives at Wnshincton Become Aroused —Governors of Many States Offer Troops—Crisis in Our National History.

Since the terrible destruction of the battleship Maine in Havana hnrbor the United States has been facing the gravest crisis of the last thirty years of its history. The people have been stirred by the disaster as they have not been since the close of the war for the Union. From the South, from the North, and from the far West have come magnificent outbursts of national sentiment showing how profoundly this great nation is agitated. The Maine was one of the finest battleships afloat; one of the most perfect in construction, one of the most complete in equipment. AH that modern invention, long experience and trained intelligence Could do to make her efficient and safe 'had been done. And yet this magnificent vessel, at anchor in the harbor of a friendi|y nation, was destroyed with greater loss •f life than would have followed an engagement with the whole Spanish fleet in Ouban waters. Had 'the Spanish cruisers and torpedo boats attacked the Maine, iand sent her to the bottom with the loss .of 250 lives, the calamity would have been Ihard to bear. But to have the Maine destroyed as she was destroyed is calamity innbearable. It was useless to cry paitience when there was no patience. It iwaa useless to ask for suspension of judgiment when judgment had been given. That judgment was against Spain, and if

“Minnesotians are fighters, and will only be satisfied in the front ranks.” Gov. Stephens of Missouri declares that if war is declared he will issue a call for 150,000 troops. ——J. —' i.—And so it goes and so it comes, with other warrior States to hear from. There is no lack of soldiers. Spain can depend upon that. Old Glory was at half-mast because the tears were being shed for the dead in Havana, bnt it proudly and defiantly waves in the breezes that blow from the north, south, east and west, and it will be well for the Spaniard if the good ship Maine went to the bottom of the Havana harbor as the result of an inscrutable act of providence. This Washington correspondent, whose assertions are thought to be reliable, says that private talks with members botli of the Senate and House clearly indicate that there is a Tolcano at the Capitol which may burst into activity at almost any time. The pictures of-the wreck received in Washington, reproductions of which are shown on this page, coupled with the general tenor of newsnnper tlis patches, have gobe far to convince members of Congress that the Maine was blown up from the outside. They are willing to wait a reasonable length of time for the board of inquiry to discover something definite, hut ns the general opinion is in favor of a torpedo or submarine miqe, failure to discover positive evidence of an accident will only serve to confirm this opinion. Several well-known Senators talked with say that they are beintr fairly inundated with letters aud telegrams regarding the catastrophe in Havana harbor, and that ninety-nine out of a hundred of them look upon the explosion as the result of a Spanish plot and demand action accordingly. Conservative leaders are becoming startled by these expressions of public opinion, and they say this is oviduct Of a rising tide of popular Indignation which will sweep Congress from its feet unless something is done to allay the excitement. The newspaper reports indicate with j surprising unanimity that a submarine mine destroyed the Maine. T£ these re- | port& are not contradicted promptly and ! officially Congress will surely respond with a declaration of war. which is clearly within its powers, and which the JPresi-

will.be forced to obey. The people demand that if ships and men are to be lost it shall be in open warfare, and not in so-called peaceful harbors. Any police magistrate would hold the Spaniards under the evidence now at hand on suspicion nnd require them to prove their innocence. This is exactly the position taken by nine-tenths of the members of Congress. This opinion, declares the correspondent, represents clearly the private

wrong. It has been suggested to the i’resident that an indemnity of $10,000,000 might bo demanded from Spain if the board of inquiry reports that the battleship was blown up by a torpedo or submarine mine. Some members of the cabinet are reported to favor such demand, but it is not favorably considered by men in Congress with wider raiige of experience in such affairs. Should it be established clearly that the Maine was blown up by a torpedo or mine placed in Havana harbor for defense, it is not probable that thus Government will present any claim for damages. It will be regarded as a hostile act —as the beginning of a war in the most barbarous and treacherous manner. ' Had one of the guns at the fortress opened on the Maine as she entered Havana harbor it would have been regasded ns a declaration of war and the beginning of war. A Government torpedo exploded under the Maine by a trusted Government official is as hostile if not as open an insult. It matters not that the Spanish officials in Havana expressed their horror of the destruction of the Maine, and the Queen of Spain sent her condolences to the President. When the board of inquiry establishes the facts that there are torpedoes in the harbor, that Blanco's naval officer guided the Maine to her anehoragQ, and that a torpedo was exploded by means of the secret cables controlled by the Spanish Government officials, there can be no further investigation or inquiry. This Government will' not try to find out who exploded the torpedo. The whole case then rests with Spain. On her rests the responsibility. Qn Spain will be the suspicion of having made another treacher-

war if it should be established that the Maine was blown up by a torpedo or mine. They hrush Rgide the suggestion that it could have been the act of a fanatic off either faction in Cuba, No mere enthusiast 6r fanatic could have access to thesecret keyboard which communicated with the torpedoes laid in the harbor un-

der .Government supervision. Spain must stand responsible for the men who could Kain access to that keyboard, just as she is responsible for the men who control the guns in her forts and on her big cruisers. Governments do not have such secret agencies open to the access of fanatics, and if they do they must be held responsible for their acts. The work of the board of inquiry will therefore end when they have examined the ship and found the evidenced of foul play. There will then be left no alternative for this Government but war, unless Spain sues for peace and 'asks for conditions of peace.

MARINE HOSPITAL, KEY WEST. Where some of the wounded of the Maine crew are being cared for.

ENTRANCE TO HAVANA CEMETERY. Here lie many of the Maine victims.