ep open the cable,
that it might be used under restrictions by both belligerents. They
mentioned their change of mind, and were told they were too late. The
American Admiral may have been apprehensive, and he had reason to be,
that the Spaniards, knowing they would be crushed in the West Indies
if they risked a decisive naval engagement there, might send all their
available ships of war to the Philippines, and secure a superiority
of force, possibly to destroy their enemies at Manila. It is clear
now that this is what the Spaniards ought to have tried to do. The
Americans were committed to the blockade of Cuba, occupying all
the vessels of war they had at hand, and the whole fleet of Spain
could have been in the Suez Canal, on the way to Manila when the
movement was known to our navy department. Then Admiral Dewey would,
of course, have been warned by way of Hong Kong and a dispatch boat,
that he should put to sea and take care of his men and ships. The
result might have been the temporary restoration of the Philippines to
Spain. Our Admiral, six hundred miles from Hongkong, the closest cable
connection, could not afford to leave Manila in direct communication
with Madrid. It was for this reason and not that he desired to keep
out of way or orders, as some able publicists have kindly promulgated,
that the Admiral cut the cable.

The gravest of his responsibilities came upon him after his victory
freed the harbor of declared enemies, and placed the great city at
his mercy. If the Spaniards used their big Krupp guns against his
ships, he could bombard the city and burn it. He held the keys to the
Philippines, with Manila under his guns, and the question before him
then was the same before the country now. The question that incessantly
presses is, whether the Dewey policy is to be confirmed, and the logic
of the stay in the harbor, and the dispatch of troops to take the town
made good. We hold the keys of the Philippines. Shall we continue to
do so? This question transcends in immediate importance--inevitable
consequence--remote as well as near, all the war with Spain has
raised. So broad a matter should not be rested on narrow grounds, nor
decided with haste. It ought to be scrutinized in all its bearings,
and all susceptibilities and material affairs regarded, for it will
affect all the people for all time.

What are the Philippines? They are the richest prize of soil and
climate that has been at hazard in the world fo