The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-09-08

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would fail. No greater discretion was
ever given to any general commanding
an army and what is more, as Will be
1 observed. he was authorized to accept
the surrender. which in the interest his
| subordinates he generously declined to
do. and went away, leaving all the
honor to his next in rank, General
Shafter.
REPLY FROM TORAL.
On the morning of the first interview
! a letter was received from General
Toral. of which the following is literal
| translation:
Santiago de Cuba, July Ii, 1885,
| General in Chief of the American
| Forces: Honored Sir-His excellency,
! the general in chief of the army of the
| island of Cuba, telegraDhs from Ha-
vana yesterday, at p. m, the follow
! ing:
| Believing the business Of such i'm
| portance as the equalization of that
| place to be known and decided upon by
| the government of his majesty, give
| you notice that 1 have sent the condi-
| tions Of your telegram, asking an i'm
| mediate answer. and enabling you also
J to show this to the general of 4. the
| American army, to see if he Will agree
| to await the answer of the govern
ment. which cannot be as soon as the
time which he aSsdeeided, as COM
munication by way of Bermuda IS
| more slow than by Key West. In the
meanwhile, your honor and the general
of the army may agree Upon caDltula-
| ton on the basis OF repatriation, re-
turning to Spain
Il have the honor to transmit this TO
you, that in case you may consider the
tir-fa .ff hof he
| ignate persons in Representations or
himself who, with those in my name,
may agree to clauses of the ca9itula-
ton uDon the basis of returning to
Spain, accepted already in the begin,
ming BIZ the general in chief OF this
army.
Awaiting a reply, am, very re-
speetfully your servant,
JOSE TORAL."
TORALS REMARKABLE OFFER.
At the meeting on the following day
i, General Toral stated that he was pre-
pared to surrender. with the approval
of the captain general of Cuba, but II
would require little time to have his
acts confirmed by the home govern
ment; that in the meantime ne was
prepared to appoint commissioners to
arrange the clauses of caDitulation.
Not only this. he offered TO surrender
the balance of his command, which had
not been under fire during the CAM
paign The remarkable offer was on
his motion. and was in the nature or
a surprise to the American generals
present However, at the conference
of the day previous, General Miles had
reminded him that he had been tender
ed the most liberal terms ever offered
to an enemy; that his fleet was destroy
ed, and that they were 5000 miles from
home. Toral'S offer could be accounted
for in one of two wayS-elther- thaI the
II oops were wanted at home TO meet
threatened revolution. or that they
wanted to get home, and regarded tins
as the only means of doing so at the
expense of the United States. whether
Blanco and the rest of the Spanish
forces in Cuba would have surrendered
on the same terms is not now, and per-
haps may never be known
PORTO RICAN PLANS.
The place of landing the Porto Rican
expedition had been so thoroughly dd-
vertised IN communications sent over.
the French cable, and in the newsoa-
pers of our own country, and teleSl apn-
ed TO Madrid. and from there to san
Juan, that. not having received the
necessary appliances with which to dis
embark, General Miles decided, after
leaving the Windward Passage TO
change his course and land on the
south side of Porto Rico, where the
SpaniardS were the least prepared ana
the least expecting to receive MIN, ana
where he knew that the dtSembarka-
ton of the troops and supplies could be
most easily effected. From the time
of that Decentralization, during the fol-
lowing 10 days of the campaign, ne
kept the Spaniards guessing what the
next move would be. When they with
drew along the line of the great mill
tary road between Ponce and San Juan,
they destroyed the bridges, INSTRUCTED
the roads and fortified strong positions
in the mountain passages, and then
were surprised to find column OF his
army was sweeping around the west
end of the island, capturing the prln-
cipal cities and towns, while another
had passed over the mountains over
the trail which the Spaniards had sup
posed impossible, and, therefore, had
not fortified or guarded 1T, and the
first they knew of the march or the
American army was the appearance OF /!
a strong brigade within 20 miles of the
northern coast. at the terminus of the
railroad connecting San Juan With Ar ,
recibO.
WON THE ISLAND.
The island of Porto Rico was fairly
won by the right of conquest, and has
become q part of the United States. |
The sentiment of the people was in no
sense outraged by the invaders, but. on !
the contrary, was successfully proptt- /
lated. A people whe have endured the /
severity of Spanish rule for centuries
hail with JOY the protection of the I
great republic. One of the richest sec
tons OF the country over which our !
flag now floats has been added and I
will be OF lasting value to our nation. |!
politically, commercially and from /
military or strategic point of view.
Possession OF that island has also /
rendered any further resistance of the I
Spanish forces in CUBA hopeless, and /
General Miles firmly believes that by /
fair and just treatment the people OF 1
Cuba can be easily controlled, either as l
a friendly ally and neighbor, or to be-
come part of our country as the peo- I
pie of Porto Rico.
General Miles remained in Porto Rico /
as long as he deemed his presence nee .
essary Cor carrying out the wishes of |
the president, and now returns TO the I
United States. bringing with him near
ly 5000 men who are no longer re- 7
uuired there being some 12,G00 remain h
ing. amply sufficient for all purposes. !
He returns at once to Washington,
where he believes he can be most use 4
full. as he considers the most important !
need of the hour now to be the irr.me- /
date reduction of war EXPENSES and /