H.T.


DEAR H.T.:

Our country promises to take care of all her citizens, and so we have
not the slightest doubt young Mayer will be properly looked after.

As soon as our Ambassador in Germany has given the German Government
satisfactory proof that young Mayer was born in this country, there is
very little doubt that he will be excused from serving in the German
army.

You are a very good little boy to be so full of sympathy for Cuba, but
you must not wish any harm to Spain--for that is _not_ good of you. You
must remember that there are always two sides to every question. If we
could look at the Cuban war from Spain's point of view, we should
perhaps think that the Cubans were a rebellious, tiresome people who had
cost Spain much money; and the lives of many brave men. We might perhaps
think that they deserved punishment, and that General Weyler was only
trying to do the best he could for his country, and was not punishing
the Cubans more than they deserved.

I say, we might think this if we were Spaniards, and the war was taking
our dear friends away from us and making us poor besides.

As we are neither Cubans nor Spaniards we are able to look calmly at the
whole affair, and judge it without any personal feeling creeping in to
prejudice us. We have decided that Cuba ought to be free, and that hers
is the righteous cause, but for all that we must not wish harm to Spain.