The herald., 1898-09-08

telegraphs from Havana yesterday at p.
m. the following:
believing the business Of such 1Gnpor-
tance as the capitulation OF that place to
be known and decided upon by the govern
ment Of his majesty. give you notice that
I have sent the conditions Of your tele-
gram asking an immediate answer and en-
abling you also to show this to the general
of the American army to see II he will agree
to await the answer Of the government.
which cannot be as soon as the time upon
which he has decided. al communication by
way of Bermuda Is more slow than by way
Of Key West. In the meanwhile your honor
and the general Of the army may agree
upon capitulation upon the basis Of repatri-
ation-returhing to Spain
II have the honor to transmit this to you,
that in case you may consider the foregoing
satisfactory, that he may designate per-
sons In representation of himself, who, with
those In my name, may agree to clauses of
the capitulation upon the basis OF return
ing to Spain, accepted already in the be-
ginning by the general-in-chief Of this
army. Awaiting reply, am, very re-
spectfully, your servant, JOSE TORAL."
Agrees to Surrender
At the meeting on the following day Gen.
eral Toral stated that he was prepared to
surrender with the approval Of the captain
general Of Cuba, but 1t would require a III
tie time to have his acts confirmed by the
home government; that In the meantime he
| was prepared to appoint commissioners to
arrange the clauses Of capitulation. Not
| only this he offered to surrender the bal
| ance Of his command which had not been
under fire during the campaign. Tho re-
markable offer was on his motion and was
in the nature Of a surprise to the American
generals present.
However, at the conference Of the day
previous General Miles had reminded him
that he should be rendered the most liberal
terms ever offered to an enemy; that Ills
| feet was destroyed and they were 1900 miles
from home. Toral's offer could be ac-
counted for In one Of two ways-either that
the troops were wanted at home to meet
threatened revolution or that they wanted
to get home and regarded this 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
known, and perhaps may never be known.
| 3oHto 1SACuu GXpeO1ClOu
The place Of landing the Pogto Rican ex-
petlition had been so thoroughly advertised
in communications sent over the French
cable and in the newspapers Of our own
country and the kilograms to Madrid and
from there 20 San Juan, that, not having
received the necessary appliances with
which to disembark. Gen. Miles decided,
after leaving the Windward passage. to
change his course and land on the south
side OF Porto Rico, where the Spaniarls
were the least prepared and tho leae: ex-
pect!ng to receive him, and where he knew
the disenba rkation of the troops and sup
plies could be most easily effected. From
the time OF the Decentralization and during
the following nineteen days Of the cam
paign he kept the Spaniards guessing what
| the next move would be- When they
withdrew along the line Of the great mill
| tary road between Ponce and San Jun n
they destroyed the bridges, obstructed the
roads and fortified strong positions In the
| mountain passes, and then were surprised
| that one column Of his army was sweeping
around the west end Of the slhnd, captur-
Ing the principal 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 it, and the flrst they
knew Of the march of the American rmy
was the appearance of a strong brigade
within twenty miles Of the northern coast
San Juan with Arceibo.
The Island Won
The island of Porto Rico was fairly won
| by the right of conquest and has become a
part of the United States. The sentime Mt
of the people was In no sense outraged by
the invaders, but, on the contrary, was
successfully prop!tlated. A people who
have endured the severity Of Spanish rule
for four centuries hail with Joy the protec-
tion Of the great republic. One Of the rich
est sections of the country over which our
flag now floats has been added. and will be
of lasting value TO our nation. politically
commercially ard from military or STRAIT
egic point Of view.
Possession of that island has also rendered
any further resistance by the Spanish
forces IN Cuba hopeless, and Gen. Miles
firmly believes that by fair and just treat
ment the people of Cuba can be as easily
controlled, either as friendly allies and
neighbors, or to become part OF our coun-
trty, as the people of Porto Rico.
Gen. Miles remained in Prto Rico as long
as he deemed his presence necessary for
carrying out the wishes Of the president,
and now returns to the United States,
bringing with him nearly 5000 men. who are
no longer required, there being some 1000
remainirg-an army sufficient for all pur-
poses. He returns to Washington, where
he believes he can be most useful, as he
considers the most important need of the
hour now to be the reduction Of war ex-
pensets and the return of as large portion
of those in the military service as possible
TO their former occupations, where they are
most needed.
Arkansas Election
LITTLE ROCK, Ark, Sept. 7.-Unoffi-
cial returns show that the Populist party
has become almost extinct in Arkansas.
It appears that they have lost Nevada,