The Press., 1898-08-04
Washington Letter.

Spain Is an up-to-date exemplihcation of the adage about the evils attendant upon a bad name. Although President McKiney has acted upon Spaln's request for our terms of peace as though he be- lIeved in It's honor and straightforward ness, there Is no reason to believe that his faith in Spanish honor is any greater than that of the average narrowing to his experience, 1t is probably not so great. Not one man out of ten In Washington believes that Spain made those overtures with any serious intention of accepting our terms of peace, although in the end 1t may do so. I has very nearly reached doesn't accept the present terms, which, under the circumstances, are liberal in the extreme, so liberal that the French ambassador, who Is now also accredited as Spanish minister, accepted them on the spot, more severe ones will have to are the evacuation of Cuba and Porto Rico, and leaving the Philippine question to be settled afterwards.
 In the general discussion which has followed Spain's plea for peace, some very interesting points have been raised. For instance, as an evidence of Spain's insin- cerity, one man calls attention to a clause in the Spanish constitution which prohib- It's the crown even entering upon negOtia- tions having in view the cession or ex- change of any portion of Spanish terri | tory, until authority has been granted by a majority vote of both branches of the national legislature. This Is met by an- other man with the claim that the recent declaration of martial law throughout Spain operates as a suspension of the constitution, and that the Spanish gov ernment can, if 1t so desires, negotiate a treaty on the lines laid down by the terms of this government without danger of having It's legality questioned.
 Gen. Miles Is having an experience in Porto Rico that Is unique in war. h. stead of finding himself and army In the enemy's country, he finds that they are among the warmest sort of friends. The | OAAO ANAS0uO OhOOA OuA huB OuA 6OA- dlers whenever town Is taken possession of, and declare themselves to be loyal Americans, many of them carrying the declaration to the extent of asking to be allowed to enlist in our army, and fight for the flag which they already consider their own. Owing to the retreat of the Spanish garrison of the captured terri. tory, Gen. Miles Is now in possession oi almost the entire southern end of Porto Rico, including Ponce and other towns oi more or less importance, and what Is bet. ter, he has not lost a man, and the health of his army is good. All of the Spanish troops on the island are being concentrat- ed at San Juan, towards which Gen. Miles Is slowly approaching, and there may be some severe fighting there, although but little surprise would be caused by the surrender of the garrison when our army gets near enough to assault their fortif. cations
 Gen. Shafter has officially confirmed the press statement of the worthlessness of Garcia and his Cubans in the Santiago campaign. #..g The fears of the administration that the Philippine insurgents were likely tC make trouble for us at Manila, have beer increased by dispatches from AdmIra Dewey and Gen. Merritt, who reachet there last week. Aguinaldo, the insur gent chief, is nursing bad case of tn, big head, and has had little enough senst to try to give himeelf airs in his dealingi with Admiral Dewey. One consolation in the situation is that Aguinaldo's rela- tions with the Spanish are such that there Is no possibility of his making a combi nation with them against us. After Ma. nilla Is taken and the Spanish disposed of, Gen. Merritt and Admiral Dewey will be in a position to administer a thrashIne to the insurgents, if their actions show them to be hankering after 1t. The talk ing of Manila is not likely to be much longer deferred, unless peace puts a stoI 10 the campaign.
 Although not freer from doubts thar everybody else about how long we shal walt for peace, Secretary Long has issued orders for the monitors and yachts com posing the auxiliary coast defense fleet generally referred to as the mosquito heet," to be put out of commission This Is the first step taken to reduc, the tremendous war expenses of the gov ernment. A naval officer was asked if h. thought this action on Secretary Long'i part indicated his belief that peace wal near at hand, replied: "Not necessarily l think the vessels composing this fee would have been ordered out of commis sion If Spain had not said a word abou peace. Secretary Long knows that Spail has no ships left to attack our coast, ant that this fleet Is no longer needed" Tn, same officer was asked what about tn, decision by Secretary Long 10 purchase only one floating dock for service 1T southern waters, instead of two, whicl 1t was decided to buy before Spain made peace overtures. He said: "It was thu destruction of Cervera's fleet, not peac, overtures, that caused that change"
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 Tomorrow Is day that never comes People have been waiting for 1t since tht beginning, and they will continue to wal until the end of time. Don't wait till to