Evening star., 1898-10-25
BEFORE THE CABINE T
Matters Considered by the Presidents
Advisers.
LANDING TROOPS ON CUBAN SOIL
Significance of Using Lighters O.
Piers.
LAWS FOR PORTO RICO

The cabinet met in regular session toda,
and talked over home and foreign affairs
giving little time to almost every mattel
now under consideration.
Secretary Alger carried with him TO IN,
cabinet meeting a mass of data relating Il
the evacuation of Cuba by the Spanish
troops and to the establishment of camf
sites for the occupancy of the American
troops. Col. Hecker's commission furnish
ed nearly all the information in regard 1,
the sites, and there We're no less than thre,
separate reports on the subject. The colo
mel methodically kept a daily record of tn,
observations of the commission, treating
! in detail, the features of each of the sitei
examined. the railroad facilities the a.ces
sibility to water and such other matters D.
vital consequence it is desirable to ac
quaint thu department with. The commits
sion has already pretty well exploited Ha
vana province. has made some excursions
into MatanZas province and at last aceounf
was working in Pinar del Rio. This lcavcs
only the central portion of the island to b,
inspected, for Gen. Woods judgme ni sup.
plementcd J V that of other army Officers
who have been campaigning in that lection
will be accepted as to the disposition ol
military forces in eastern Cuba.
Gen. Wade had a good many important
and pertinent suggestions to make which,
though not always connect ii with the
work of the evacuation commIsslcn, rola;e
to subjects of interest TO the admiDistrd-
ton. The administration has reached a
cor clusiOn that the disposition of such
property as cannon in mounts and other
fixed properties by the Spanish people in
Havana is a viola lion of a spiiU of the
protocol and is taking steps u suspend the
practice.
Regarding the occupation OF Cuba. it is
st:ued that no protest has been address d
II the Spanish government about yiol;.tioI.s
OF the terms of the peace protocol ny Span
ish authorities in Cuba This government
will not send any such I'ru,csr. The com
misSionerS of this county il Cuba an. tfn-
powered 10 send protests TO the authorities
there, and if these are not complied Witt
the President can order their enforcement
as he sees fit. If the Contingency arises,
warships can be seut to HaN ana, ana th.i
VIC uld be done if necessary.
Landing the Troops.
The cabinet gave good deal of attention
TO the Hecker board reports, and it may be
regarded as significant that it left still I'M
determined the question as 10 whether The
United States government should erect
piers and other permanent aids to landig g
troops or should rely upon lighters. such as
were used at Santiago, for landing them.
The significance Of the decision to be reach
ed lies IN the fact that 1t may indicate a
determination on the part of the admins
tration to make a longer or shorter oCcup&-
ton Of The Island of Cuba. Ii The stay ot
the United States troops in Cuba is to be
short, probably lighters would serve all
needs; If on the other hand long military
occupation is looked forward too, perma-
nent landing structures would be the most
economical and serViceabe as the means of
keeping the troops supplied with quarter
master and cOmmissary stores, and facili-
tatng their movements from one part %
the island to another.
The Paris Commission.
There was some talk at the cabinet meet
ing of the work Of the Paris commission.
and although ii is realized that the situa-
tion is not satisfactory, confidence was eN-
pressed in the ultimate success OF the
American contention. The Spanish COM
mssioners, as it was stated, were asking
for everything in the hopes Of getting
something.
The official reports coming to the admin
istration from the American peace comlnis-
sioners substantiate the newspaper reports
in the charges that the Spanish govern
ment is trying to saddle on the United
States the bonded Indebtedness of Cuba.
1t is said that no new Instructions on this
subject will be sent the American com
mssicners, as they went away with in
structions that the United States would
assume no indebt edneSS, and that il would
not even recognize the validity of the Gu
ban debt 1t is pretty well settled, how
ever, that the peace commissioners VII!
finally agree to recognizing the municipal
Indebtedness of the island. This govern
ment will in no way assume the debts q
the various cities, but in paternal way
will recognize the validity of the obliga-
tions. 1t will not attempt to force this rec
ognition upon the Cuban cities. A great
deal of this municipal debt is owed to citi-
zens of the United States, who hold bonds
for improvements made throughout the -
land.
The annual reports of the cabinet officers
the condition OF affairs in the various de-
partments, and their bearing on the Presi-
dents message, took up most of the time.
The President Will begin on his message
Immediately after coming back from Phila-
delphia.
Government of Porto Rico.
The intentions of the administration in
Porto Rico until Congress meets have been
decided upon. Affairs will be allowed TO 20
along there without any more change than
can be helped The military governor Of
the island will not issue any more orders
than are necessary.
1T is thought that the President will sUg-
gest the appointment of a commission 10
visit the island and study the situation,
with view of recommending laws suitable
to this new possession. Secretary Gage
will at least recommend this with regard 10
the financial affairs of the island.
ADMIRAL HOWELL's ASSIGNMENT