Rocky Ford enterprise., 1898-08-04
MAY GET PEACE SOON
ANSWER SENT TO SPAIN.
She Must Leave the Western Hemisphere,
but the Fate of tho Philippines L. I'm
settled-Cambon Had Powers of q
Minister of spain.

| IIlOSt IllOIleutOuS cIluTuSteT OCCuTTeu ~
the conference at the White House
yesterday afternoon between the Pres
ident, Ambassador Cambon Of France
and Secretary Day, carrying the peace
negotiations far beyond the mere sub
mission Of terms of peace by the Unit
ed States and reaching the point Of Il
preliminary basis Of peace between
the government of Spain and the gov
erDment of the United States, needing
only the ratification o; the Madrid Cab
| met in what was done to bring the
war to an end.
This was accomplished on the part of
Spain when Ambassador Cnmbon pre-
scented to the President credentials he
had received from the Spanish govern
ment appointing him envoy extraordi-
nary and minister plenipotentiary with
complete instruction rs to the manner
of acting upon every one of the peace
conditions presented by the United
States, including the disposition of
Cuba, Porto Rico. the Philippines, the
Ladroncs, indemnity, armistice and all
other questions likely to arise in the
course Of the negotiations.
| With these credentials authorizing
him to speak as plenipotentiury for
the government of Spain, and with full
instructions on every point at issue.
Ambassador Cambon, in behalf of
Spain, not only received the peace con-
ditlons laid down by the American
Cabinet earlier in the day, but there
upon entered upon their final discus
sion with view to reaching q final
and complete agreement.
After strong argument, the President
and Secretary Day consented to n
modification of the American terms In
one particular. What that modlfica-
ton relates to Is not disclosed, but 1t is
believed not to apply to the condition
for the absolute independence Of Cuba,
the cession Of Porto Rico. or the grant
Ing of adequate coaling stations to the
United States In the Pacific, or to d.
minish In any vital particular the
terms on which peace will be restored.
The modification brought about practi-
cal unanimity between the President
and Ambassador Cambon. as plenipo-
Tertiary for Spain, and the latter has
now transmitted the results of the con-
ference to Madrid for approval, which,
II given, will end the war.
| On the main points of the answer
there was no disagreement, and these
propositions were ratified as they stood
yesterday, namely: Cuba to be freed:
Porto Rico to be coded to the United
States; one of the Ladrone islands
probnbly GuanD to be coded to the
United States as n coaling station, and.
rs an immediate step. all Spanish mil
itary forces In the West Indies to be
Withdrawn, with the formal relinquish-
ment by Spain Of her sovereignty over
any POSSESSIONS among those islands.
As to the Philippines. the Cabinet
agreed upon the following point: That
Manila bay, with the city and sur
| oh I,r, tho Il
in the possession of the United States
ut least for such length of time MS Is
necessary to devise and put In opera
ton some plan for the future govern
ment Of the group.
After that point the main divergence
Of opinion began, and all sorts of prop
ositions were put forward and urged
by Individual members as the best
means of dealing with the future of
the islands.
In the very midst of the discussion,
the element that had strongly urged
the necessity of protecting Aguinaldo
in any settlement we should arrange
received severe check through the re-
celpt of cablegram from Admiral
Dewey, stating that the insurgent chief
has assumed n defiant attitude, and
Admiral Dewey expressed the opinion
that the United States would be obliged
to make war upon them, necessitating
the requirement of $4,000 troops to sub
due the Islands. While this did not
bring about complete dismissal of the
proposition to take the insurgents Into
account In settling the terms of peace.
1t did have the effect to cause an agree
ment upon the proposition to defer ac-
ton upon the question rs to the dispo-
sition Of the Islands until after the 9th.
err phases of the pence negotiations
have been satisfactorily adjusted,
meaning by that that the matter goes
over until the Spanish flag has disap-
peared from the Western Hemisphere
and the American flag is hoisted to
stay over the coaling stations we re-
quire in Micronesia.
The discussion lasted two hours and
n quarter before the Cabinet hit upon
the best course for the United States to
adopt. 1t was finally decided that
what we desired could be best done by
the appointment of joint commission,
limited in its representation to the gov
ernments of the United States and
Spain, which commission is to endeay-
or to settle the details of the govern.
ment Of the Philippines and determine
what treatment shall be accorded the
insurgents, the United States army and
| - y Ashh" oNSupS .hunlla anu
Manila bay, and thus retaining a po-
sition to enforce speedily the verdict
that shall be finally reached by the
commission.
As the Cabinet meeting adjourned
the members went Off to their lunch
cons with n pleasant consciousness
that they had succeeded In disposing of
the very difficult problem.
| The profoundly important results de-
veloped today came about most unex-
pectedly. Ambassador Cambon's call
was set for o'clock and 1t was ex-
pected to last but few minutes, while
the answer of the United States was
being handed to him. But since the
original proposition of Spain was pre-
scented. last Tuesday, NJ. Cambon has