UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



745 



ceased by that act. The American minister ac- 

 cordingly applied for his passports, turned the le- 

 gation over to the British embassy, and left for 

 Paris. A mob at Valladolid stoned the train and 

 attempted to storm it, and at Madrid everything 

 belonging to Americans was smashed by rioters. 



On April 18 the Spanish Government defended 

 its course in a circular note in which President 

 McKinley was accused of suddenly changing his 

 attitude when he perceived the likelihood of the new 

 institutions in Cuba proving successful, being de- 

 termined to paralyze all efforts at reconciliation in 

 order to realize the traditional American ambitions. 

 The joint resolution of Congress signed by the Presi- 

 dent after the proclamation of an armistice, could 

 only be regarded as a declaration of hostilities, and 

 hence Spain had broken off diplomatic relations 

 the continuance of which could only have exposed 

 her to fresh insults. The professed humane mo- 

 tives on the part of the United States, which has 

 the pretension to exercise absolute hegemony over 

 the American continents, were a mere pretext, since 

 President McKinley had declared himself against 

 the recognition of Cuban independence as well as 

 against Spanish sovereignty, leaving annexation 

 as the only alternative ; and certainly the island 

 would never be declared pacified until ripe for 

 absorption into the United States. In a circular 

 sent on April 23 the Spanish Government an- 

 nounced its determination to defend the right to 

 remain in America, and having been compelled to 

 appeal to force in order to repel the scandalous 

 aggression of the United States and defend the na- 

 tional dignity and historical integrity of the father- 

 land, having on its side right, correct procedure, 

 and prudence, while the United States was actu- 

 ated by disloyalty and unbridled ambition, it awaited 

 the attack with tranquil serenity, confident that it 

 would have the assistance of the Cubans, who also 

 are Spaniards. 



The work on the coast defenses, not only at New 

 York, but at Portland, Boston, Newport, Charles- 

 ton, Jacksonville, and Mobile, had been carried on 

 to such an extent, mines being placed in the har- 

 bors and guns placed in position in the forts, that 

 their capture or shelling by the Spanish fleet was 

 almost an impossibility. At New York no vessel 

 was allowed to enter the harbor between sunset and 

 sunrise, and in the daytime steamers were only per- 

 mitted to pass at slow speed through a special 

 channel. Patrol boats above and below the defenses 

 stopped all suspicious vessels, or those that disre- 

 garded the regulations, and shipmasters were warned 

 that if they did not observe instructions in passing 

 through the mine fields they exposed themselves to 

 danger from the mines, and moreover might be fired 

 on by the batteries. Nevertheless, many steamers 

 crossed the fields by forbidden channels, and fisher- 

 men cut torpedoes from their moorings in order to 

 spread their nets. 



The Naval Situation. In a war between the 

 United States and Spain it was a primary necessity 

 for either power, before it could make use of its 

 land forces with safety, that it should establish its 

 naval superiority within the sphere of operations, 

 either by meeting and defeating the enemy's naval 

 forces at sea or by shutting them up in port. Each 

 country possessed a modern navy, which they had 

 begun to construct about the same time. Except 

 the " Pelayo " battle ship in Spain, and the " Chica- 

 go "and "Atlanta" class of cruisers in America, 

 all the effective constructions in each country be- 

 longed to the extensive programme that each had 

 undertaken within a dozen years. The two fleets 

 were so nearly balanced in nominal strength that 

 naval critics could hardly pronounce between them. 

 Both consisted mainly of cruisers, with a superiority 



of battle ships on the American side, offset by the 

 Spanish flotilla of fast torpedo boats and dreaded 

 destroyers. Although war had been long talked 

 about, and the relations between the two countries 

 had been strained for many months, neither had 

 begun serious preparations for war until the last 

 month, when both powers exerted every effort to 

 obtain suitable vessels with which to augment their 

 naval strength. In the United States a board of 

 naval officers wa,s charged with the duty of selci t- 

 ing and purchasing passenger steamers, yachts, and 

 tugs, to be used as auxiliary cruisers, lookouts, tor- 

 pedo craft, or for harbor defense. Officers were 

 also sent to Europe, who made purchases or secured 

 refusals of any war vessels of good construction and 

 design that were to be obtained from naval con- 

 structors or foreign governments. To get such, the 

 American and the Spanish agents vied in bidding 

 high prices lest they should be added to the forces 

 of the other power. Thus the two Brazilian cruisers, 

 " Abreu" and "Amazonas," just completed in Eng- 

 land, a German torpedo boat which was christened 

 the " Somers," and the Japanese second-class cruiser 

 "Diogenes," renamed the "Topeka," were secured 

 for the United States, also the Brazilian cruiser 

 " Nictheroy " in Rio de Janeiro. The ocean grey- 

 hounds " New York " and " Paris," of the American 

 Line, were armed according to the prearranged plan, 

 and rechristened "Yale" and "Harvard." The 

 " St. Paul " and " St. Louis " were taken from the 

 same company to serve as armed transports. The 

 ambulance ship "Solace" was fitted out. Four 

 steamers of the Morgan Line were converted into 

 the cruisers " Yankee," " Dixie," " Prairie," and 

 " Yosemite," with 10 6-inch or 5-inch rapid-fire guns 

 in their main batteries. The yacht "Mayflower" 

 made an effective gunboat. All these vessels were 

 plated with light armor. All the revenue cutters, 

 coast-survey vessels, etc., were turned into vessels 

 of war. Torpedo boats and destroyers under con- 

 tract were hurried to completion. Colliers, trans- 

 ports, distilling ships and hospital ships were found 

 among the merchant navy. Of lighthouse tenders, 

 surveying steamers, etc., about 15 were added to 

 the fighting ships, while over 40 merchant vessels 

 were purchased. 



Both nations with the utmost speed hurried the 

 work on vessels they had purchased or were having 

 repaired in foreign ports, and withdrew the warlike 

 stores they had contracted for, lest an outbreak of 

 war should find these acquisitions locked up in for- 

 eign territory and inaccessible under the neutrality 

 laws. While Spain had a naval reserve of 25,000 

 trained men, exceeding the number in active serv- 

 ice, the reserves in the United States consisted only 

 of naval militia. Hence high nay was offered, $24 

 a month for seamen, and $40, $55, and $70 for the 

 different grades of machinists, in order to secure 

 experienced men for the new vessels. The cadets 

 at Annapolis were ordered to sea to supply the lack 

 of junior officers. 



When a state of war was declared the United 

 States had already assembled at Key West, the ad- 

 vanced military and naval base, the steel cruiser 

 " New York." flagship, the battle ships" Iowa " and 

 "Indiana," the cruisers "Cincinnati." "Detroit." 

 " Marblehead." " Montgomery," " Nashville." " Wil- 

 mington," and "Helena," together with the moni- 

 tors "Puritan." " Ainphitrite." and "Terror," t la- 

 torpedo flotilla consisting of the " Dupont," " Cush- 

 ing," " Ericsson," " Foote," " Porter, ' " Rodgers." 

 and "Winslow," the dispatch vessel "Dolphin," 

 the gunboats "Castine," "Machias," " Yk-ksburjr." 

 and "Newport," the dynamite cruiser " Vesuvius." 

 the dispatch boat " Ke'ni." and the tugs " Leyden" 

 and "Samoset." The "Oregon." at San Francisco, 

 was ordered to join the fleet. Capt. William T. 



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