THE WAR.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 3435, 17 May 1898, Page 3

THE WAR.

THE SQUADRONS NEAR EACH OTHER. Btf Telegraph.— Press Association.— Copyright. Booolvoa May IC, 10.00 p.m. Washwoton, May 15. The American squadron under Captain Sampson (consisting of two battleships, two monitors, five cruisers and a cruising steamer) has reached Puerto Plata, on the northern coast of San Domingo, on the south coast of Hayti. The Spanish squadron under Admiral Cervoras (which according to the last information consisted of four cruisers and three torpedo boat destroyers) is at the Dutch island of Curaooa, 40 miles off the coast of Venezuela. MARTIAL LAW AT THE CANARIES. Madrid, May 15. Martial law has been proclaimed at the Canary Islands, which belong to Spain. [The Canary Islands are a group in the Atlantic Ocean, the nearest being about 62i miles from the north-west coast of Africa. There are seven large and several small islets. The -joint population is about 289,000. One of the principal islands is Teneriffe, famous for its peak, 12,200 feet high.) THREE GABLES GUT. Received May 16,10,50 p.m. . NbwTobk, May 15. Three East (? West) India cables have been cut. THE AMERICAN’S LATEST SEIZURE. Sydney, May 10. The vessel J. V. Troop, which the American Squadron has seized at Manila, left Newcastle in February with 1900 tons coal. She is owned by Messrs Troop and Sons, of New, Brunswick. SPANISH FINANCE. That a financial crisis has occurred in Madrid, coupled with a run on the Bank of Spain, is by no means a matter for surprise, and it is doubtful whether the measures adopted to induce confidence are wise. Mr Ottomar Haupt, writing on the 15th March last to the Financial Times, from Paris, commenting on the then position of Spanish finance, says:—" Another feature of the week was the fresh depreciation of the Spanish exchange, which now stands at 359 f. for 600 pesetas—the lowest figure on record. The purchases of breadstuffs, coupled with remittances for stock bought iu Paris, have brought about the rise in foreign bills on the Spanish bourses, but the fresh coinages of silver have also something to do with this movement. At all events a bad impression has been made in our financial circles by the fact that again iu 1897 6,782,533 pesetas, in five peseta pieces, have been coined in the Madrid mint, thus raising the total from 1890 to ■46,777,000 pesetas. In the meantime the metal itself has fallen from 64)d in August, 1890, to 23Jd in September, 1897." SPANISH TROOPS IN CUBA. A writer in the Arena recently gave the following account of Spanish soldiers in Cuba:—“l suppose 75 per cent, of the regulars are under 21, aud 95 per cent, are utTder 25. They are mostly ploughboya, freshly caught by the conscription, and shipped across the seas without any training or drill whatever. Spain has kept her older troops at home to protect herself against the Carliata and the Republicans, who are supposed to be plotting against the Government. These boys are set down far from home, in a strange land, wher. \ yellow fever mud small-pox prevail by turns the year round. They are treated with the greatest brutality by their officers, robbed by the commissaries, insufficiently clothed and fed, shot down from ambush by enemies whom they cannot see and connot catch, and are paid irregularly or not at all. Can such soldiers be expected te

■pro ve efficient ? I have seen a whole company crying like children because one of their number had received a letter from Siome, and the rest were homesick. I hare seen a major-general in the Spanish army lash a private over hii face and head with a whip, because the. man did not notice his approach and' failed to salute him quickly enough- X have seen half a dozen .of these soldiers scrambling on the floor

oi’ a coffee house for a few ccppers contemptuously thrown to them by an American correspondent. Are these the proud soldiers of Spain, the descendants of the 'foot soldiery that were the terror of Europe a few centuries ago ? The contrast between the officers and the privates is most striking. The former are the handsomest race of men I have ever seen. Not very tall, but well set up, of good figure, with intelligence in every feature, kindly, courteous and polite in civil life, no doubt, but cruel in war. The men are heavy, dull, cvith vacuous faces, badly developed figures, ■aud, though young, are bowed by labour. No one seeing the private and his officers together would imagine that they belonged \to tie same race."