The sun. (Wilmington, Del.) 1897-19??, 1898-05-23
WILMINGTON. DELAWARE. MONDAY. MAY %, 1898.

tion OF England and Europe has been so
absorbed by the great personal ana ma
tional tragedy at Hawarden that the I'M
easiness over the vague political perlls
which threaten have been, for the
moment, forgotten. ,..,
The war situation also attracts little
interest outside of Spain and will require
an actual encounter of the rival fleets in
the Caribbean to revive European atten-
tion.
The growing distrust, not to. say
alarm, of those whose concerns are
touched directly Or indirectly by the po-
litical dangers is, however, causing per-
sistent demands upon the British author
ities, and those OF the Continental Gov
ernments for assurances which may al
lay the apprehensions caused by the
recent pessimistic words from Lord Sails
bury and Mr.. Chamberlain, or at least
some definite indication OF the nature OF
the peril. -,
Nothing is as yet forthcoming in the
way of positive information. Efforts
have been made in financial and COM
mercial circles to re-establish confidence,
and it has been protested with some
show of authority that the interpreta-
tions put upon the official utterances
have been gloomier than was justified,
and that, at all events, there is no dan
ger of the immediate general war which
some here feared was portending.
The feeling in political circles them
selves, however, is unchanged; rev
have been found who take a cheerful
view of the international situation. The
Franco British relations form the most
acute feature, but the fundamental hos
tilitv between Russia and England is the
most permanent source of danger.
Impatience over the slow progress OF
the war is not so great on this side as the
cables represent it. America has been
so much the absorbing interest in Europe
in the past fortnight that the people OF
the Old World are quite content to turn
their attention westward only when
some dramatic event is enactlng, or por'
tending.
There is a good deal OF admiration ol
Admiral Cervera's cleverness i'll ma.
npuvring his fleet, but this is almost lost
sight of in the general amusement over
tile Spanish exultation at an exploit
which in Madrid, has been magnified
into something equivalent to Il great VIC
tory. -,
One is, in effect, that Gen. Blanco has
succeeded in reaching some sort OF an
agreement with the insurgent leaders
which removes the cause assigned Dv
the United States for beginning hostill'
ties.
Another, and this has as basis Senel
Sagasta's remark upon the necessity o
allowing the Spanish Ambassador to re-
main in Paris for the present to complete
certain negotiations, set forth that SPAN
expects the friendly powers to arrange
peace with the loss only OF Cuba. :.
There is no longer any doubt that
Spain has obtained at least temporary
financial relief and is now spending
money quite freely, a large. part OF tins
being disbursel by the Spanish commls
sion which has its headquarters in Lon
don. Indeed, the chief source of spanisl
supplies is English, and most OF the ar
raigements for recoaling and revlctual
ing Cervera's fleet were made ir.,hondon
Agents here have made arrangements
for getting coal aboard the Spanish fleets
from several points in the West Indies
and especially from Venezuelan port
Large quantities of explosives have beeI
shipped recently from English potts tt
Cadiz via French ports.