The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-26 00:00:00

The Council of State has not yet discussed the
question of the Encyclical.

MADRID, Jan. 24.

The Epoca says :
"The advance in the form proposed by the Go-
vernment will cost an annual interest of 36,000,000
reals, and in four years, the middle period of the

redemption, 144,000,000.
" The amount of the advance, if issued in scrip,
could not be negotiated at more than 40 per cent.,
thus throwing 1,500 millions upon the market,
which represents a perpetual interest of 45 mil-
lions."

The same journal further says :
" It is stated that the Government will accept
any modifications in the measure recently proposed
that the Cortes may deem expedient for the coun-
try, provided always that the Cortes will grant to
the Government the means to meet the necessities
of the State."
In the Senate on the 20th inst., Duke de Torre
delivered a speech of great length opposing the
policy of the Government. He demanded a new
electoral law, the representation of the Spanish
Antilles in the Cortes, liberal solutions of foreign
questions, and the preservation of Santo Domingo
to Spain. The speaker dwelt chiefly upon the latter
point. He believed the annexation to be spontaneous
and national, and that the insurrection might have
been avoided. He considered that there should have
been a regular expedition commanded by a General
of distinguished ability. Nothing had been gained
by the sacrifice made in Santo Domingo, but on the
other hand the losses had been exaggerated. The
Duke de Torre said also, that according to informa-
tion a secret treaty for mutual support existed
between President Giffrard, of the Republic of
Hayti, and the Dominican insurgerit, and he believed
that upon the evacuation of the Spanish part of the
island by Spain, it would be occupied by Haytians.
He further pointed out the serious consequences
which the abandonment of the Island might have
for Spain, and said,—On the day that the blacks,
thanks to the Treaty concluded with the United
States, takes possession of the Bay of SamanA, the
Spanish trade between Spain and Cuba is destroyed,
since a vessel of three or four guns posted there
could altogether prevent navigation between the
peninsula and the coast of Cuba. The Bay of
Samana is the most important port of America, and
the peninsula on which it stands forms an extensive
slip of territory, where refuge and land might be
afforded to those familiar, who, from their attach-
ment to our cause, might be obliged to quit the in-
' terior of the Island. Here might be constructed
fortifications which would make it a second
Cronstadt or Gibraltar, and with this and
three or four other points on the coast,
we should, in the event of abandonment, follow
the same course in Domingo as in the Philippines,
where we only hold the coast and do not control

the interior.
The speaker concluded by expressing his firm
conviction that the evacuation of the island would
be tantamount to the loss of Spain's influence in
America, and her consideration in Europe.
Marshal Narvaez replied, maintaining the pa-
triotism and necessity of the abandonment, and
stating that he expressed this opinion to the Mira-
fibres, Lersundi, and Mon Cabinets, and would do
so in a Council of Captains-General if convened by
her Majesty.