m Cuba of the insecurity of
property and life of American citizens had become more numerous than
ever. Still, the result of the dispute was a surprise to the world;
especially as the overt act of rupture had come from Spain, and not
from the United States, as had so frequently hitherto seemed probable.

The popular excitement throughout the country was intense. There was a
universal demand for war. It was pointed out that the country was never
so prosperous, or better able to bear the burden of a conflict; that,
with our immense resources, an army could be raised and a navy equipped
inside of sixty days; that such a war would be of short duration, and
that the result could be none other than the humiliation of Spain, and
the ceding to us of the Spanish West Indies as a war indemnity.

The House of Representatives fairly rung with bellicose speeches, and
the press, with a few exceptions, reflected the popular feeling.

On the other hand, however, there was a powerful party attempting to
stem the precipitancy of the nation. The great moneyed corporations
viewed the matter with alarm, and advocated peaceful settlement, or, at
most, inaction. This, however, was attributed to their fears of
unsettlement of values, and consequent depreciation of their property.

The Senate, refusing to be influenced by popular clamor, steadily
opposed all hasty legislation originating in the lower House. The
President and Cabinet brought down upon themselves the bitter
denunciation of the opposition press for "cowardly truckling to Spain,"
because no immediate steps were taken to place army and navy on a war
footing, and no volunteers were called for.

A month went by. The popular excitement in this period perceptibly
decreased; and, as it did so, the New York _World_ and _Tribune_, which,
from the first, had given but weak support to the cry for war, became
more outspoken against hostilities. The bill agreed to by both Houses of
Congress, providing for the immediate construction of ten swift armored
cruisers, was strongly attacked in both journals, and the arming of the
harbor forts, and the elaborate preparations which began to be visible
for protecting the harbor by torpedoes, were sneered at as "useless
precautions, dictated by an unworthy fear of a nation which would never
venture to attack us."

The stocks of the New York Central, Western Union Telegraph, Lake Shore,
and other corporations controlled by Vanderbilt and Jay Gould, wh