The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-08-03

in Washington up to the present time,
however.
Under the circumstances there will be
{ no occasion for the French Ambassador $
going to the White House to present any
communication from Spain, and this In
itself indicates conclusively that the me-
gotiations have not yet reached the
stage where the final response of Spain
is ready for submission. At the same
time a call by M. Cambon at the State
Department today Is likely to cause spec
ulation though it has no reference to the
peace negotiations or to the affairs OF
Spain, but for the purpose Of discussing
matter relating to France and the
United States.
Some weeks ago United States war
ship captured the French merchant
steamer Olinde Rodriguez when she was
nine miles off San Juan. 1t was claimed
she was running the blockade and she
was taken to Charleston, S. c., where she
is still detained with number of pas
enger. freight and with the official mail
of the French Minister at Port Au Prince.
Both the French Embassy and the French
Transatlantic Steampship Company asked
for the release of the steamer on the
blockade. The Department Of Justice has
been considering the subject and the pros
poets are for a satisfactory adjustment
and release of the steamer, if no claims
for detention are made. M. Cambon
called at the State Department on the
matter today.
On the assumption that peace is near
at hand some attention is being given to
the steps by which this may be brought
about formally and the measures neces-
sary to be adopted Immediately after
wards. 1t is said to be not at all i'm
probable that the preliminaries leading up
to the signature of the treaty OF peace
may consume fully three months, so that
it may be we'll along toward the legal
date of the assembly of congress before
the President will be prepared to submit a
peace treaty to the Senate.
This allowance of time is rather moder-
ate than excessive We were two years,
from 1881 to 1888 in arranging a peace with
Great Britain, to terminate the Revolu-
ticnary War, and in the case of the
Chinese-Japanes War it was several
months before the commissioners We're
able to perfect the treaty of Shimonisaki
which terminated that war.
Under the terms of the Presidents note,
if they shall be accepted by Spain the
Spanish government is bound to evacuate
Cuba and Porto Rico Immediately This
action is not to wait upon the work OF the
peace commissioners, but is to precede It
and to follow Immediately upon the sig
nature of the memorandum accepting the
Presidents conditions.
The word Immediately in this case is
perhaps a little deceptive. The expert
ence of the War Department in the en-
deavor to remove to Spain the Spanish
troops surrendered at Santiago has not
justified the expectation that the large
force of Spanish regulars can be gather
ed up and shipped home to Spain in less
than about sixty days at best.
This estimate Is based ON the fact that
it is not expected by the Spanish authori-
ties who are directing the movements of
the Spanish troops transports that they
will be able to return all of the Santiago
prisoners to Spain before the first of Sep
teinber. Therefore, that is meant by the
word Immediately is that the Spanish
Government shall at least begin the ar
rangements at once for the evacuation
of Porto Rico with reasonable prompti-
tude.